After two weeks of eating the bland lacklustre food at the cafes in the Hospital I ventured out with a very low bar but the food was fantastic. It was flavoursome and the menu whilst small offered a variety of options. The cabinet food looked amazing. The cafe is worth the extra few steps out the front door. I regret not discovering it sooner!
For anyone who does not want to get a coffee with any of the coffee places within the hospital and anyone wanting something more substantial for breakfast, people come to Columbus Coffee which is conveniently situated outside the hospital. It's a good place to work on laptops, considering the multitude of power ports scattered throughout the café and it is mainly an issue of finding a convenient spot and connecting to WiFi. That said, it isn't free and tends to be a tad slow so hotspotting it would usually be a better idea. A bonus for any Auckland DHB staff - proof of staff ID will give you a bonus discount, whether it is food or coffee related. I did not order breakfast the day the pictures were taken but I would normally go for the big breakfast - hearty but eggs have a tendency to be overdone especially when ordered scrambled. Sunny side up or over easy is probably the easier way to go.
Disgusting service and appalling behaviour from manager on duty. First and formost, tables are dirty cups have lip marks and service was atrocious. Hot drinks came out cold. We ordered a “hot chocolate “ and a cup of tea. Ordering off the menu, we ordered the tacos and eggs Bennie. Food was cold and I found a long black hair in my food. I am blonde when confronting manager about the food she said we were making up stories and that she wouldn’t offer a refund. After this experience I didn’t wanna eat at such a dirty place. I felt very stressed as my son was having surgery in the hospital next door, she made my welcome very unpleasant and I would not recommend anyone with allergies to eat here. 1/10 recommend. Not only did I not want to eat here again, she continued to be very rude to me and told me it was my problem. I will not be back and I will be letting my friends and family know how horrible the food, service and overall experience was.
19/06/23 around 11:30am ordered a Large Soy Gingernut Latte, the taste was bland again faint flavour, no coffee taste. Taste like it only has 1 pump of Gingernut and 1 shot of Coffee. Recommendation: x2 pumps of Gingernut, x2 Coffee Shots for a Large 14/11/22 around 9am ordered a Soy Gingernut Latte it only comes in one size, this didn't taste like Gingernut as the taste was bland & it wasn't hot enough, one word for it 'disappointed' .. customer service person needs to be attentive, could've suggested other items, instead came across as quite rude must've woke up too soon.. decor was modern
This used to be a nice cafe about 6 years ago. Every time I come here it gets worse. Ordered a chocolate milkshake and got ice blended with some drinking chocolate - that’s not a milkshake. My husbands sausage roll was gross with raw pastry and dry wilted lettuce leaves thrown on the side. Everything in the cabinet looks stale. They are cheap out on quality, captive market here with the hospital and yet it’s empty inside. Everyone has given up.
Disgusting service, as stated with my partner being allergic to eggs, nuts and soy, the lady whom was the manager put mayo all over the only “eggless” option on the menu, we explained again that we couldn’t have that. And asked for a replacement - or a refund she said no refunds or replacement. Then we asked if she could please remake it as we didn’t want to waste our $26 only for her to be very rude about our allergies. Would not recommend this place, service was disgusting, tables are dirty. And over all a horrible experience 1/10. As I work in the hospitality industry this was a massive let down. When I had received my meal, I found a piece of long black hair in my food, and showed the manager for her to say, we are making up story’s even though the hair looked exactly like hers, she had her hair down which is a no no in hospo.
Decided to go for a hot chocolate and this place was the closest cafe near work which was still open around 1630. They were packing up but we were still able to go in and order some drinks. The cabinet was empty at this point though. We had the Belgian hot chocolate and it was alright. Came with a chocolate fish. It was nice that we could just sit for a bit and we weren't rush out.
Columbus Cafe have catered for me twice now for a small working lunch. The selection of club sandwiches were delicious, beautifully presented and the process from ordering to pick up was excellent. Much appreciated and will definitely use again. Thank you!
Absolutely terrible experience. The blueberry muffin was stale and worse, served cold and I had to ask for butter. But did not matter as the muffin was inedible. The hot chocolate seemed to be made without chocolate. This branch is lucky that they can get away with this low level of service because they are right next to the hospital. Next time will go to the hospital cafe because they are not great, but at least they are reasonably priced and the pastries not stale.
Columbus Grafton is conveniently located by Auckland Hospital, The Domain and Med School with buses just outside. It's my preferred cafe to visit whenever I'm visiting family in hospital because the coffee is always fantastic, service is friendly and their food is delicious, a treat on the eye and the palate.