Overview
Whether you're living the life of a young mogul perpetually cofficing or are more the type to camp out at a restaurant and enjoy the vista, the new HTC One has got your smartphone experience covered.
And with its new Boomsound feature they've got your ears sorted too so you can enjoy your music and videos without those annoying distortions, whatever your style. To pay tribute to this incredible feature, we've taken a sound safari to some of the best and different cafes across Auckland to see what they're playing while making that all important brew.
York St Mechanics
The sophisticated quirk of York St Mechanics combines a real in-store bike workshop with a warm fireplace and characterful wallpaper and murals. This place feels like a lick of Easy Rider, a little bit of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, and a quick trip through one of Scott Fitzgerald's parties to pick up some jazzy tunes from artists like Melody Gardot as well as dash of country, blues and folk artists like Kelly Joe Phelps and Eilen Jewell from the American countryside. A place to take people you want to casually impress.
3 York St, Newmarket, Auckland
Miller's Cafe
Miller's Cafe collects cool things. There's a pinball machine, art, inspirational quotes, letters, filing cabinets, a pile of doilies and goood music. Think of the last time you had a strangely shaped Christmas present wrapped up under the Christmas tree and after much groping and shaking made a list of possible cool things it could be, and then on Christmas day found out that it was something even cooler - that is the feeling you discovering some of the objects they harbour as well as listening to the music of Miller's Cafe. Think along the lines of Atoms for Peace, David Axerod, the Mills Brothers and The Clean.
St Kevin's Arcade, K-rd, Auckland CBD
Conch
You may be looking at that photo up there and be thinking 'well that just looks like some place in Bolivia' and you wouldn't be quite off track. Conch leads a double life as a music store cum cafe, catering to your ears (with talents like the Owiny Sigoma Band, THEESatisfaction, Om'Mas Keith and Thundercat) and your caffeine needs. After walking through the music store you'll have a bit of a Dorothy experience since the little courtyard out back does actually feel like some other exotic country. Great for those times you'd like to catch the next flight out to a faraway adventure, but unfortunately are too much of a responsible adult or too broke to commit.
115a Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, Auckland
Zomer
Cousin to Ponsonby's Zuz & Zo, this Takapuna new release is a cafe that epitomises the word fresh. Parked practically next to the Beach, this cheerful cafe plays upbeat tracks from artists like Mayer Hawthorne and DJ Cam Quartet, has a nice little outdoor bit for those blue-skied days and a clean Swedish-type vibe on the inside. An ideal dig for a cute girl date or any kind of casual munch or coffee.
4 The Strand, Takapuna, Auckland
Little and Friday
This place is cute. It's cuteness that's been boxed up in a slightly bigger box of cute boxed into yet another box called cute - like one of those Russian dolls. Their food... man, I almost don't want to think about it, my mouth starts watering too much. Then come the cool little quirks like their apparent plant growing project they've currently got going on all their tables and the cool little miniature dinosaur, cow, antelope or some other creature they give you instead of a number for your order. Music-wise they play some well-loved conventions like Angus and Julia Stone and Flume as well as getting their exotic kicks with artists like Manu Chao.
No.43c, Eversleigh Ave, Devonport, Auckland North Shore
Honey Trap
New kid on the block Honey Trap has that romantic industrial edge - a place where you would expect Tramp to take Lady out on a date. Although, while accidentally sharing your strand of spaghetti, the music may be a little bit less off-kilter than an Italian man with an accordion crooning over your table - think Little Dragon and Billy Withers. A good quant little cafe for a date-that-isn't-a-date-that-is-a-date.
St Kevin's Arcade, K-rd, Auckland CBD
Catalina Cafe
Tucked away near the Air Base, Catalina Cafe puts a retrograde wash on things - one of its corner's dotted with antique furniture, the other hosts an old box piano and in the middle of the cafe hangs a quite giant aeroplane mobile. All of this decorated and painted in the palette of an early 60s Brady Bunch episode. Being a humble country cafe, Catalina only plays New Zealand talents like the Woolshed Sessions, as well as hosting live local acoustic acts.
Cnr Buckley Ave & Hastings Cresent, Hobsonville Point, West Auckland
Fusion Cafe
A chilled out nook of Jervois Rd, Fusion cafe is littered with odd pieces of decor, a cosy brick fireplace and some dug-up musical classics playing in the background. During summer it has a nice backyard courtyard to soak up some rays, but for winter it transforms itself into the perfect excuse to snuggle up over a warm coffee brew and watch the world go by while as Frank Sinatra and other classics like Dusty Springfield serenade you.
32 Jervois Rd, Ponsonby, Auckland
Ben Gusto
Situated across the road from Browns Bay beach and with walls decorated with hand-drawn sprawly letters and detailed squiggles, miss-matched wooden chair and super friendly and well-dressed waiters, Ben Gusto has a young kicked-back style, coupled up with rare mixes of Jazz and Nu Jazz from cats like Benjamin Herman, Club des Belugas and Sven Hammond Soul.
111 Clyde Rd, Browns Bay, Auckland North Shore
Kokako
Kokako is that place where you can a) take your mother for a cup of tea b) meet a potential client and c) have some me-time doing journal-writing or reading the paper. I don't really understand how this semi-industrial but colourful Grey Lynn cafe manages to pull off all of the above, but I believe that some mysteries in life should be enjoyed and not questioned too much. With chirpy beats from bands like The Avalanches and RJD2, the music is just as fresh but humble and timeless as the freshly-picked flower arrangements they have on their tables.
537 Great North Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland