A local returns to the far north to visit the country’s new supreme cafe – and leaves with more questions than compliments.
To say I was surprised to hear a cafe in the country’s northernmost town of Kaitāia had been awarded the country’s top hospitality prize would be an understatement. With roots in the town boasting a population of around 6,000, I suspected the only likely nominee for the award was Peekaboo Backyard Eatery.
Set just back from the main drag of Kaitāia, Peekaboo is situated in an unassuming grey building. Previously known as the Bushmans Hut, a steakhouse popular with the locals, Peekaboo took over the premises in 2022 and quickly set about renovating.
The cafe, owned by swiss-born Daniel Fasnacht, was recently awarded the top cafe award, sustainability champion award, and supreme award at the Lion Hospitality New Zealand Business Awards, hosted at the Tākina Convention Centre in Wellington. Fasnacht also owns the now closed Beachcomber Restaurant and the Wayfarer Motel and Beachcomber Lodge and Backpackers in Kaitāia.
I arrive at Peekaboo last Thursday morning at around 10am to a mostly empty cafe, with just a few patrons enjoying coffee and food. Inside, ‘Put Your Records On’ by Corinne Bailey Rae was playing over the speakers and the modern dark industrial chic aesthetic provided a respite from the dated architecture of the township. Inside, there were wooden tables and wicker chairs with black metallic trim and large basket lights hanging over the bar, all adding to the ambience. Outside, a partially covered courtyard housed bar learners, large tables, and games such as cornhole.
After deciding to pass on the cabinet offerings, which included an appetising range of pies, slices, sandwiches, croissants and scones, I eventually settled on the kūmara rosti, served with two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, spinach and feta. The menu also included all your expected cafe staples – french toast, a big breakfast, smashed avocado. I sat at a small table at the far end of the building, next to the peculiar widescreen faux fireplace, displaying an image of a gas heater.
First to arrive was my long black. It was everything I wanted from a long black – strong, not too hot, and no bitterness. This was a good start. Unfortunately, shortly after my coffee arrived, I heard one of the two ladies in the kitchen declare they had run out of rostis. The kind, older lady from behind the counter came to my table and asked me what I would like instead. I opted for the scrambled eggs, which were surprisingly priced the same as the rosti – I say surprisingly because the rosti came with two eggs and feta cheese, the scrambled eggs came with bread and microgreens. Regardless, I wasn’t sure if the rosti shortage was a result of the cafe’s popularity or poor planning, but suffice to say I was disappointed.
My eggs arrived less than 10 minutes later, complete with a garden salad of mixed lettuce leaves, julienne carrots, sunflower seeds and a simple oil dressing. The salad and egg mix was a little jarring for a breakfast meal, but wasn’t awful. The oil helped with the texture of the salad but the whole thing lacked any real flavour. The white bread underneath the eggs was thick but slightly undertoasted – soft in the middle yet crusty on the edge – reminding me of the toast we used to get served at boarding school. The eggs, the stars of the show, were slightly over for my liking. I personally would’ve added a bit more cream and not had them on such a high heat. They definitely lacked seasoning, especially pepper. Not awful, but nothing special either.
About halfway through my meal, a fellow patron took her pie up to the counter, asking for it to be reheated properly as it was still frozen in the middle. I thought perhaps the lunch menu, served after 11.30am, was more popular than the breakfast menu – the table of five teenage boys and two women sitting next to me who chose to wait 45 minutes to order from it suggested so. The lunch and dinner offerings included sourdough pizzas, salads, burgers and a range of small plates. They also serve ice cream and cocktails. However – whether it be my chef father’s influence or outright foodie snobbery – there wasn’t anything that necessarily wowed me on the menu.
For a cafe that had just won the country’s supreme hospitality award, a frozen pie and average eggs was a bit of a shocker. Disappointed, I began wondering just how this place won so many awards and if the judges even visited themselves. Reading the Hospitality New Zealand Awards judging process outlined on their website revealed that the judges may elect to not travel to entrants’ venues and could instead opt to carry out remote assessment methods “as deemed appropriate at the discretion of Hospitality New Zealand”. It is not known if the judges actually visited Peekaboo Eatery in the process of judging this year’s awards.
In a desperate attempt to find something nice to say in this review, I ordered a banana smoothie. The smoothie was as advertised, but nothing more. With a $12 price tag, I would’ve appreciated some added flair – maybe a touch of peanut butter, cinnamon, or some real vanilla ice cream to boost it a bit. At that price, it was slightly smaller and runnier in consistency than I would’ve hoped for.
All up, my meal cost $41.82 for two coffees, scrambled eggs and a smoothie. Coming from the north, I was so very eager for this to be a good experience. Unfortunately, I left with a feeling that I perhaps would’ve enjoyed a big breakfast burger from McDonald’s more. From what I gather, Peekaboo is popular with locals in the summertime, with courtyard entertainment for the kids. Perhaps I will revisit and try the lunch menu then.
Peekaboo is nice, for Kaitāia. It is a community hub and a favourite among the locals, but I am suspicious of it being the supreme cafe in all of New Zealand. I’m not trying to chop down a tall poppy here, but my guess is the real reason Peekaboo won these awards was because Hospitality New Zealand desperately needed some good media coverage. There’s nothing quite like a feel-good story about a small town champion knocking over the big name metro cafes to get a story or two in the papers. Either that, or Peekaboo was truly the best nominee of the lot.
