Good eats, Good vibes, Good coffee

If I had to describe Wellington to a Californian, I would choose to illustrate it as a mini San Francisco. It definitely pulls from the beauty found in art, old fashion, renewal, and culture. Almost “hipster” in a way… although I hate using that word because it feels like there are a million and one definitions for it depending on who you are talking to. What I am trying to say is that it doesn’t follow the business style form of the regular city life. 

Wellington prides itself on its little street corner cafes, the hidden hole in the wall soda pop shops, and the amazingly good coffee that has beaten out any other coffee cups that i’ve come across in my 22 years of age. 

I’ll begin with,

Deluxe Cafe: 

This was definitely a cafe that was right up my alley. A vegan/vegetarian cafe offering an assortment of delicious and creative meals as well as beyond tasty lattes and mocaccinos to enjoy with the food.

Located on: 10 Kent Terrace, Wellington 

Right off of Courtenay Place, this is an easy walk from Te Papa museum and not too far from the shops on Cuba street. 

I enjoyed a Vegetable Tempeh wrap and a latte. I highly recommend this pace to any passerby’s. It also serves as my family friend’s (Wellington locals) most favorite cafe in the city… where we got the recommendation of course. 

 

The Little Waffle Shop:

One of my most favorite things that I found in Wellington were the cute little side street huts with different foods and desserts. One that definitely caught our eye was the Little Waffle Shop on Courtenay Place. The man inside the hut made all the waffles right in front of you and loaded the waffles squares with tons of goodies like maple syrup, almonds, powdered sugar, various fruit purees… etc.  

So delicious and warm to taste on the cold rainy day. 

Here pictured is Ellie, praying to the waffle gods at The Little Waffle Shop

Six Barrel Soda Company:

This little cafe in particular was another favorite of mine. As we walked down the street, basically just wandering through Wellington, a small blue sign caught my eye down an alley near Deluxe Cafe. All it said was, “SODA”. I am not sure why it intrigued me, but I think it was the bright color of blue down the empty alley way that brought me in. 

 

We followed a small white stairway in the side of the building up to the second floor. This is where we walked into this little gem, (picture above). The Six Barrel Soda Company, literally a soda pop shop where they brew their own soda, making the syrups right there in front of you while also serving some delicious looking foods and hot teas. I ordered a vanilla soda float. 

Any soda can be made into a float by adding various flavors of ice cream. It was extremely delicious! And the entire perimeter of the cafe was lined with windows facing toward Courtenay place giving guests of the shop a perfect place to people watch from the second story. 

I was so pleased to have stumbled upon this cute little shop. 

 

In addition to all the delicious food in Wellington, we were also able to do some great thrifting at stores on Cuba street, as well as shopping from street corner to street corner. I snagged an old fashioned leather backpack, a white flowey tie-top and a couple of hand-made, wire wrapped crystal jewelry pieces from a gypsy on the streets selling her crystal artwork out of a suitcase. 

It was so nice to get away from the fast buzz of Auckland, and walk into a chill and vibing city like Wellington for the weekend. I am sure to visit again someday. 🙂