Mellow

This is a large café to just serve dessert and coffee on high street. Very nice seatings and staff. Not much option in the cabinet when I go there, 2 types of cheesecake and 2 crêpe cakes. It’s about 530 in the afternoon and they open till late… so are these all they have left? Anyway we tried the green tea crêpe cake with red bean filling which is nice and something different.

Shaved ice, anyone? Mellow has taken over what used to be Yogoberry and opened a month-​ish back, but it’s fast becoming popular for its mountains of shaved ice and cold stone ice cream (seriously, all over my Instagram feed!). We dropped by on a dreary and rainy afternoon, and the place was still packed. Only outside seating was available, but they moved a table from outside to the inside — a good first impression!
The menu features quite a few options of shaved ice to choose from, and I think the most popular are Green Tea and Roasted Bean. We got the large-​sized Green Tea shaved ice ($ 13.50), which came with red beans, cornflakes, flaked almonds and a photogenic swirl of green tea froyo. The ice consistency was spot-​on, while the crunchy cornflakes and almonds added a nice texture. Creamy, silky and not overly sweet — yum! There are actually two variants of the green tea flavour — one that comes with a milk shaved ice base (what we got), and another called «Matcha» with a green tea ice base. Definitely a great dessert to share as well, and please do… a large is good for 2 or 3 people.

The place is brightly lit and the décor is totally cute, with a laidback mint-​coloured theme, playing cards as table numbers, and a handwritten menu board. You can also pick from the selection of cabinet items, and I think I even saw pizza being served? I’ll definitely be returning to try to conquer the other shaved ice flavours though… it’s surprisingly satisfying on a cold winter’s day!

Yay for cold stone ice cream now available in Auckland! Seeing it made right in front of me was quite a performance — from chopping the pan, to crafting the ice cream rolls. The texture is quite interesting — almost feathery because of the way it was rolled. It then melts into a creamy pool in your mouth. I thought it was a steal at $ 5.
I also tried the regular Roasted Grain Shaved Ice at $ 7.50. I had only eaten shaved ice at Meet Fresh, Momotea and the likes before so I was pleasantly surprised at how soft and airy the shaved ice was. Get a bit of everything on the spoon! Filled with red bean, almond flakes, peanut shavings — I loved it. Not as sweet and syrupy as mango or intense like green tea, it was a new flavor combination in for me. The only downside was the half-​hearted swirl of yoghurt on the side that made the dish droop like a sad face. Spying on others, the rest all came out in perky swirls though so maybe that particular waiter just needs some McDonald’s soft serve training!
I went to Mellow wanting something sweet after dinner. Just after 7:30pm, the cabinet still had enticing choices of macarons, cake slices and tarts.
Mellow is a really cute and modern chic café. Think of its neighbour The Shelf on High Street with their cute décor, it has the same modern Korean style. Bright with the stylish plush sofas all in the white and Tiffany teal blue, it has all the appeal to make passerbys walk just a little slower to look inside.
I’d come back again to try the richer options, perhaps not after a big meal next time!

I first walked by this place when it still had ‘Coming Soon’ signs and screeds of paper hiding the interior view from passers-​by. I liked the font on their sign and immediately decided I’d visit when it opened.
Typography, people. It changes lives.
The next time I passed — only a few days later — it was open, and happening (as I always am) to be looking for a coffee I veered straight in. It may well have been opening day for all I know. Certainly there were a few kinks in the service they were ironing out. But I’ll get to that.
The interior is clean and cute — white walls, blue-​green chairs and wooden finishes. It has much the same vibe as The Shelf, its neighbour down the road. It is light where The Shelf is dark, though, and subsequently feels very roomy (if you’re into that kind of thing). The food cabinet is bright and they’ve taken great care with presentation — even if the regular cheesecake and the berry cheesecake are exactly the same cake but for a dollop of berry jam on the top.
There were four men behind the counter chatting away when I entered, but when I asked one of them what something in the cabinet was he apologised and said he didn’t actually work there. Someone who DID work there quickly took over, though, and explained everything for me. The drinks menu looked interesting, but I was really only after a flat white so I ordered that and a piece of cheesecake (the berry one) and made myself comfy in a big green chair. The coffee and cake took a little while to arrive, especially given there were few customers at that point. The coffee itself was not the best in Auckland, but also not the worst. The cheesecake was good though — real New York style, not this weird sloppy stuff Kiwis seem to like. I’d try it again — maybe in a month or two when they’ve really got their groove going.