Overview
Good Day has found the perfect balance between being on-trend and providing a warm and friendly local cafe for Orakei. Well considered simplicity defines this cafe from the decor to the food, while the standard is kept high by the love that owners Jacqui Crichton and Dan Shaw bring to the business.
Being seasoned baristas, Jacqui and Dan have put a strong emphasis on making sure that the coffee is excellent. And they've nailed it, their coffee is very, very good. They serve all the usual espresso-based coffees as well as filter coffee and cold brew (served with or without sweetened condensed milk) all made with a variety of Supreme beans. As well as excellent coffee, Good Day also has a range of T2 teas, Karma cold drinks and smoothies. What really takes the cake out on the cold drinks menu however is the Choccy Fish Mater Milkshake, which somehow manages to actually taste like a chocolate fish without tasting even a little synthetic.
The food at Good Day is simple, affordable and very good. The menu is changing at the moment to include more winter warmers such as Dan's Chilli Con Carne and roast tomato soup. My personal favourite was sardines on 5-grain toast for $12, which was a great dose of omega 3 served with chilli, diced tomato, spring onions, olive oil, smashed horseradish and a wedge of lemon. The spice of the chili, spring onion and horseradish made a beautiful balance to the rich and oily fish, while the diced tomato brought a much-needed freshness to the dish. From the cabinet a bunch of made-on-site sandwiches are available, as well as some tasty looking cakes.
The little cafe is warm, but does not quite make it to being cosy as such, due mostly to the hardwood seats. The long narrow space is open from the large front window to the small panel window at the back, providing plenty of natural light even on a gloomy winter day. This openness also allows for a sense of intimacy between the patrons and staff, so that even if you're venturing there for a lonely coffee/breaky-for-one you'll have the chatty staff to keep you company. The music was good (more bFM than chart) and played at a quiet enough level to facilitate conversation.
The only thing I might fault Good Day on is the location: it's about a ten minute drive east of the city, which is quite out of the way. However, parking is plentiful and free - and the distance out of the city definitely helps with the cafe's community feeling.
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