Shaky Isles

Shaky Isles is a favourite for us whenever my son and I are in the city. In the CBD, family-​friendly options can sometimes be limited but Shaky makes a concerted effort to make little ones feel welcome with both a high chair and a toy box full of trucks to play with. For the thoughtfulness of this alone, Shaky has our custom whenever we’re in the city together.
Coffee is decent here, cabinet food delicious although you are definitely paying CBD prices. This visit we had a pumpkin pinwheel to share which was delicious. I had to order a mocha this time round because I love the decadence of a whole small bar of chocolate just standing in the drink… Yum.

If there’s one place in town to get a milkshake it’s shakey isles ! We had chocolate milk shakes! Not many places in the CBD so old fashion shakes! A great treat in the summer ! :) Food is great, I had a chicken pie which the pastry just melted in your mouth. Great place to bring children! Very affordable and great selections of sweets! Staff are super sweet !

Love the décor here as it is roomy and welcoming — I’ve been both with friends and alone and it’s always relaxing and a good paper reading spot. The food never quite lures me back though sadly. I’m not a fan of eggs bene with a brioche instead of toast /​muffin split. It’s all too sickly.
The coffee is good though I just need to give the menu a better go maybe.

Eating at Shaky Isles is an exercise in frustration and left us cursing our decision. Pleasant staff can’t mask a poor overall experience, and quite frankly I wouldn’t recommend any of the menu food to anyone. Thrice food was returned to the kitchen as half of our group were served snotlike, depressing eggs that looked like the product of a suicidal chicken. The excuse given was ‘we are going through a menu change’. If food reminisce of an autoerotic triple murder suicide is the menu of the future then kill me now. The reason our food was staggered over 40 minutes was ‘you all came in at once’ which is an excuse so staggering my brain melts thinking about how unacceptable it is. It frustrates me as we gave Shaky Isles an opportunity for recourse but you shouldn’t have to. I’m so incensed that I actually signed up to Unilocal specifically to write this review. 8 thumbs down.

God bless bottomless coffee. Their staff is so sweet, but their getting-​your-​food-​to-​you process is sooooo slow. And then it gets to you, and it’s just ok. I would come back here if I needed to post up at a café to get work done with free wifi and plenty of coffee, but wouldn’t suggest making their food your main priority. I will note that the presentation is fun, with many dishes being served on wood slabs. And really, the staff is so nice.

I’ve been here a few times and normally the food is pretty good. I can recommend the Haloumi Bruschetta. Today I tried the poached eggs with cavolo Nero. Poached eggs they most definitely were not. In fact they were so overcooked that they were too dry to eat. I could see it as soon as the plate hit the table, so question why that wasn’t picked up in the kitchen? Have given 2 stars based purely on the toast being buttered. It seems that in the attempt to keep the menu different to other establishments, the basics, such as how to poach an egg, have fallen by the wayside. Disappointing.

Been to Shaky Isles a few times before but haven’t been for a couple of years now. I had a solo breakfast and ordered a long black, with smashed peas and feta on toast that came with a poached egg, smoked mackerel and a beetroot and lettuce salad.
Service was OK. Coffee was OK. They didn’t burn it which is always a start. I did want a smoothie but they all came with dairy or banana and I wanted neither, but for some reason they weren’t able to make a smoothie that came with no dairy and banana.
The food looked really good, but was pretty average. The feta was plentiful but tasteless. As in cottage cheese tasted stronger than this feta. It really let down the whole dish. I kept comparing it to a similar fish breakfast dish I’ve had at Orphans Kitchen and it just didn’t compare.
EDIT: went back here yesterday and had eggs benedict with bacon. The eggs were poached perfectly and the bacon crisped just to the right level. The brioche was great. However, what let it all down is the hollandaise. It was tasteless. Really disappointed.

Great food, awesome customer service! Their eggs were perfectly cooked and their haloumi bruschetta with yogurt and avo is simply the best thing ever. Definitely going back there.

First time here by random Unilocal search. Did not suit my taste at all. Ordered the all in one breakfast. It was a base of hard rye bread, then a layer of leaves then the poached eggs on top. None of the three layers had any flavor. Also, the consistency of the layers were not conducive to cutting with a regular knife.
There is a reason why a classic eggs Benedict works well — the consistency of the eggs, ham and muffin are ideal to cut a perfect mouthful.
Coffee was good.
The jam doughnut was nice and soft.
There was free WiFi, which, for visitors to the city, was a bonus.

I haven’t been to Shaky Isles for a while but we popped in after an open home at the bottom for Queen St for a late brunch on a Saturday.
I’ve been before and find it a great place to chill with a laptop, have a nice breakfast and get some work done courtesy of the free wifi.
We sat down and were a little perplexed by the lack of service as the staff whisked by with food until we were told that we order and pay at the counter. No problem, I’m sure they used to have table service and some indication of this where we say would have been nice. Anyway Kerry who normally bitterly complains about these things seemed more bummed that he couldn’t afford the gorgeous apartment he had just seen to bitch and moan and we ordered.
So the food was awesome! I ordered Haloumi Bruschetta with Smoked Yoghurt, Roasted Vine Tomatoes and Avocado. I added a side of Poached Eggs and it was sensational. I will come back for this! Many times!
Kerry and Ryan had the Eggs Benedict because that’s what they always do anywhere it’s on the menu.
Coffee was good, the place was clean but avoid the men’s toilet on the left as the basin tap squirts water all over your pants! Happily this happened to Ryan not me.
We reckon the apartment will sell for over a million!

Well, this comment is only for the coffee, maybe it’s due to I ordered a wrong coffee. Vietnamese Brew, so not good made me wanna cry.

What a cool café — with free wi-​fi! I had ‘pig in a bun’ with my usual triple shot coffee. The milk shakys (milkshakes) look the business! Some of the menu is vegetarian too — for my herbivore friends and fam. Loved the space, the creative walls, the presentation of the food and authentically happy staff! I go here for meetings regularly, normally park in Emily Place or Customs St if I am lucky! They have a sister store in Kingsland too. Unilocal Unilocal

Now that I’m co-​working at The Generator, Shakey Isles is my local. Whether it’s for coffee, meetings or just a change of scenery, Shakey Isles is my go-​to. Why? Well, It helps that there’s a door directly from our foyer into the café but on top of that there’s plenty of seating, there’s free wi-​fi and the staff are both friendly and efficient. A combo that can be hard to find in café staff…
I’ve got to admit I don’t eat here very often — Box of Bird’s my go-​to for that — but they do make a decent cup o’ joe or if you feeling decadent, killer smoothies.
Beware that although there is plenty of seating, the free wi-​fi means people linger, for hours! I’ve never not been able to get a seat but a couple of times the only option has been a corner on a communal table — not overly ideal for a meeting.

Felt a bit overrated… prices were a bit higher than the quality of the food. That said, the presentation is beautiful, the space is big and airy, the location is convenient, and… FREE WIFI.
They don’t bug you if you sit here all day and work. There are plugs under the table for your laptop, and the coffees are legit.
I had the halumi bruchetta and I was disappointed with the mealy tomato… it’s winter, i know, but how about switching to some grape tomatoes or something if you must, or do a seasonal winter twist on bruchetta?
The coffee took a bit too long for how hangry and coffee deprived I was (why oh why isn’t Federal & Wolfe open on Sundays??? I always forget…) but when it arrived, it suited just fine.
I also tried the green machine smoothie, and it was good — not overly sweet like some smoothies I’ve had here in Auckland, nice flavor, I can’t complain.
Bottom line, it’s a good option if you’re looking to get out of the house and get some serious work done in a nice atmosphere. Oh and the music selection was REALLY good :)

A little expensive and free wifi is a let down. Coffee is excellent worth stopping by for a cup. Eating in is a little pretentious — really a desert on a wooden board? It closes quite early, so late afternoon pick me up won’t happen.
Come for a coffee to go, skip everything else unless u want to indulge in slow wifi and yuppies.

Presentation is everything for me. I love quality, over the top service paired with marvelous presentation. Here they certainly exceeded my expectations. When my cappuccino arrived with powdered cocoa sprinkled on top, along the saucer rim with a dainty tea spoon on the side I just melted. My request for honey when ordering was not frowned upon, nor was I charged extra. Rather it too arrived in its own mini ramekin.
Free wireless internet inside. Upbeat, hip music playing in the background, with the hum of coffee conversations rumbling in the background. I would guess this is a very old building based on the exposed brick, high loft ceiling and floor to ceiling windows.
If I can have this sort of excellence all the time here I will happily pay $ 4.00 per cup!

Funky. Cool. Hipster?
There are three very amazing things about this place:
1. Lots of space! Shaky Isles boasts a large seating area to relieve the «im-​so-​crammed» feeling you sometimes encounter at other Viaduct area cafes.
2. FREE WIFI.
3. The Green Machine smoothie ($ 7.50). It’s packed with spinach, spirulina, banana, orange and pineapple and, well, I love it.
They always have the latest Groove Guide and various other magazines/​newspapers for one to peruse as well, which is handy.
I can’t wait to try a cabinet dessert as they look absolutely divine (gluten-​free options available too). I think I see a Shaky Isles dessert-​coffee pairing in my future…
Pro-​tip: no surcharge on public holidays, thank you!

The first thing I noticed about Shake Isles is super spacious and comfortable. None of that «trying to utilise every inch». And it makes it a great café to chill at. Was here to have a quick catch up with some people and
Didn’t get a chance to check what beans they use, but the Americano I ordered tasted great!
Free Wifi! Look out for the password on the big mirror.

Shaky Isles is the café that embraces all things Kiwi; Vogels toast, pikelets and wilted silverbeet instead of spinach on your eggs Bene. And you can’t leave out the Whittakers chocolate bar that melts into your hot chocolate as you stir it in — sweet as.
The little brother to the original Kingsland café, Shaky Isles Britomart was opened in late 2010. Located in Excelsior House on Customs Street East, the interior of the café embraces the historic nature of the 1897 building. The walls are stripped back to the original cladding or tiled, and decorated with the company’s distinctive graphics. You can choose from large communal tables or an annex with smaller table seating. It all combines to create a very funky, inner-​city, New York-​style vibe.
We visited on a cruisy Sunday morning, and the kitchen seemed to be in cruise mode too. Our coffees were quick to arrive but breakfast was a little longer in getting to us. Shaky Isles’ tag line is «putting the (serious) fun into coffee» and they mean business. You can stick to your regular espresso hit, or branch out and try their specialty syphon coffee (think bunsen burner crossed with a plunger). They are also making filter coffee cool again, and the bottomless mugs on offer entice you to stay & linger whilst using the free Wifi. The cold drip coffee comes in neat, still or sparkling varieties if you feel like a refreshing caffeine fix. But it is hard to go past those mochas and hot chocolates with the unctuous, melting Whittakers chocolatey-​ness oozing from them…
The breakfast/​brunch menu offers a unique, if limited, selection of meals, supported by a cabinet display of salads & sandwiches. Each meal comes served on a large wooden board; muesli, fruit & yoghurt in quirky glass jars & bottles to be mixed at your pleasure, and the more substantial cooked meals come stacked on Vogels toast with a heaped pinch of loose sea salt & cracked pepper adorning the corner of the board. The hollandaise on the Eggs Benedict had a delicious lemony tang, and the silverbeet was perfectly wilted. These guys are committed to using the highest quality ingredients and sourcing local, organic and free-​range wherever possible.
If you are serious about coffee, Shaky Isles is your kinda place. This café oozes style, and as the substance continues to measure up, Britomart will have another jewel in it’s rather overloaded crown.

Good coffee. Nice setting. Great Food.
I dont think there is a need for a long review. They always lift my spirits