Hydro Cafe

33 Jellicoe Drive

First of all, major kudos to the staff at this Ham East café. As soon as we were through the door, there was a “hello,” and the two girls remained totally attentive the entire time. Granted, there weren’t many other diners to pay attention to, but we all love smiling wait staff, don’t we?

The coffee was also excellent, in fact I ordered a second long black ($3.50), because near-perfect espresso, like sunshine and the opportunity to sleep in, is never to be wasted. Hydro uses Wellington-based Supreme coffee, which I’d never tried before but plan to seek out in the future after this initial experiene.

Unfortunately, two (really important) things let this place down. The décor is bleak and a little cold, like you’re sitting in a hastily renovated garage with very little colour. A couch or two would go a long way here, especially since the place is so big. It’s in a lovely spot and there’s so much room to work with. Why don’t they make the most of it?

And the food: overpriced and almost cold. Nick orders the Hydro Vege Stack, a compilation of wholegrain toast, poached eggs, hashbrowns (in this case it’s those boxed hashbrowns you buy frozen, though Nick secretly thinks those are the best ones so we won’t mark them down for this), pesto and chutney ($19). It’s expensive for a vegetarian breakfast, and his food is the same temperature as the table it’s sitting on. There isn’t very much of it either.

I go for the Eggs Florentine ($20), which is really just eggs bene with salmon: ciabatta toast, baby spinach, house-smoked salmon, two poached eggs and hollondaise. Again, the eggs are not hot, possibly from sitting on cold salmon for too long before being served…something which has also cooled down the toast. The portion is medium-sized for a $20 price tag, and for some reason the salmon is sugary-sweet.

We came here two years ago and loved Hydro for its big portions and high-quality food. Something has gone amiss. In a (fragmented) sentence: Great service, delicious espresso, boring ambiance, and overpriced food (the toilets were also a bit stodgy).

2 ½ stars