The Hardware Cafe

Such a great little place on the main road. The barista was singing to the music today which made the whole experience so much better. This place is a local favourite of mine. Plenty of seating options, road side, indoors and under an awning. Ample parking nearby as well but it pays to head there during the quieter parts of the day. Great job guys! Keep it up

This place is a must! My wife and I have been traveling all over New Zealand (which has been great) and we stumbled across we this great place! Awesome people, surprisingly tasty food, good price, and great music… Don’t wait just eat there you won’t be disappointed!

This is my go to café in Titirangi. Always gets good service and great coffee, and it’s in Titirangi!
The breakfast food is pretty good — nothing to rave about but they do a good big breakfast, eggs bene and omelettes. The lunch food is a bit more disappointing. They do burger and wedges etc, nothing too out of the box or exciting and not as nice as the breakfast. Overall though the food is OK and the coffee and service more than make up for it.

This place always has people in it, day and night which is always a good sign. I often stop off on the way to work here and the coffee is good, consistently good. I’m not saying is the best, but it’s consistent. Which is why I keep going back.
The staff are always friendly. And the plum and white chocolate Brioche, is yum!
Recommend it if you like your Soy latte.

Second best café in Titirangi… Only because of the great coffee and staff, but food has become more and more careless it seems… Cabinet food is dry and tasteless, rarely changing selection, and menu meals are average now– about a year ago they were incredible. I’ve been a lot in the last year and always wonder why I keep going back… It’s the coffee … Stripe wins sorry hardware.

Amazing customer service! Located in titirangi with heaps of parking. Definitely a place to check out

You could be forgiven if you thought the Hardware Café was pretentious, but lighten up, dude… it IS in the heart of Titrangi, so pretentiousness is a given.
The staff on the other hand, aren’t, and this is what brings the venue down to earth in what is arguably West Auckland’s most prestigious suburb.
With a hopping café scene, driven by quality espressos turned out by skilled baristas, you can choose to just relax and recaffeinate… or you can enjoy food from the menu, which runs all day.
Given the fact I already knew the quality of the food (and the coffee), I did both. Steaming hot latté, and corn fritters with bacon. Fritters can be hit and miss, and there have been too many that I’ve tried in recent years which have been misses, so this was a welcome change.
The latté was served in a bowl, which I like, because there’s no pressure to hold a pinky out when drinking. I did anyway, because it’s all about the little things in life.
The meal was reasonably priced and on reflection after filling the car up, I’d go so far as to say it was a bargain.
Smiles, and good food make for a great experience. Street front dining/​drinking if you prefer, but indoor seating is more than adequate. Just watch for the rush at lunch, or you’ll be taking everything to go. This place rocks.

Even though the atmosphere is alright and the staff is helpful and kind, the hot chocolate is not really hot chocolate. It is more a cacao, and not that tasteful. Peppermint hot chocolate is the same. Don’t get me wrong, the café is alright and deserts are super big and tasty. Just don’t order hot chocolate.

Hardware Café is a Titirangi institution — it feels as much a part of it as the weird sculpture on the roundabout at the end of Titirangi road.
The menu at hardware is pretty good — there is nothing amazingly different but the prices are right on for the portions, and every poached egg I’ve ever had has come out perfectly. They serve up great Allpress coffee, and it comes quickly and just as you ordered, even when you come with a particularly fussy Aunty. Apparently Hardware is BYO wine which is pretty awesome for a café, and means you could have a great afternoon drinking in the sun. It’s a good place to come after a hard day at the beach or in the Waitakere Ranges.

My favourite Titirangi Village hot spot. That doesn’t mean it is the best thing ever it just means it hits all the good things. It is in prime location, right on the corner from the car park and the street. I swear it gets all day sun. All day! And it attracts all the lovely locals. This is why it is and has been so popular for years and years.
The food is pretty good. I prefer dinners there over brunch and all that, but its all relatively good. the flavours are there, the volume is there, the presentation is sometimes lacking but it suits the place because it isn’t so pretentious.
The prices are pretty decent too so it wont break the bank. I come here a couple of times a month and always leave feeling relaxed and content. There is jsut a carefree way about this place, its hipster but not try hard, its just works. IT hits the mark without even trying — where so many others try desperately.
It has survived the competition of other newer more contemporary village hot spots and continues to trump them all.

I was really impressed when I visited the Hardware Café in Titirangi.
I had heard good things and it did not disappoint. You must try the wedges when you visit, get some for the table to share. The group I was with all loved this place and some have since gone back for dinner (unfortunately I couldn’t make that time, tear).
You are able to sit inside, or outside at tables on the footpath, which are a lovely spot in the sun. I’ve heard stories about a singing barista but while I can’t give my review on the singing, my coffee itself was great.
Walk one of the beautiful walks in Titirangi and then visit the café — that way you won’t have to feel guilty! Life is too short to drink bad coffee.

Driving back from a family day out at Cornwallis, the post-​swim munchies kicked in and we decided to stop at the Hardware Café for an early dinner (and bottle of Pinot Gris — parents need to drink).
The last time I was here was a few years prior and I remember seriously enjoying a lovely summer fish dish that involved mango salsa. Unfortunately for us the dinner menu was not available (it was around 5.30) so we ordered Nachos plus Bread and Dips from the Snacks Menu.
The service was friendly enough although each delivery to the table was for four people not five. Which was kind of funny — «can we have another water glass please?», «can we have another knife/​fork and plate?». I know, sometimes counting can be hard.
The Nachos were a bit iffy; topping ratios all over the show, not enough cheese, too much sour cream and the mince being pretty much just, well, mince. Not so tasty. The Breads and Dips however were great; a nice mix of brown, white, croissant etc served with a tapenade, creamy pesto, onion jam and something fishy which was probably salmon but due to fussiness issues, we didn’t eat.
The prices were fine considering we were ordering snacks but overall it was a bit disappointing. Nachos are so easy to get right and even though the chips were good quality, what was on top was pretty lame. Having said that, you can’t beat sitting outside in the late afternoon soaking up the sights and characters of Tits (as I like to call it). The entertainment value in the passerbys and vehicles alone is worth it and The Hardware Café is something of an institution — just do a drive-​by on a summer’s eve and you’ll wonder who is left at home.