Hot Bread Shop Cafe - Whakatane

Been to here twice. Excellent environment. The food is delicious, especially the egg Benedict, it’s really mouth watering.

It was Sunday and this is the only cafe open in Ōpōtiki. We hadn’t been here for over 3 years, since before Covid lockdowns in early 2020. The cafe was busy. It’s next to the intercity bus stop and near the junction is SH2 and SH35. An ideal location. There is seating indoors and outside. The outside seating is somewhat perfected by a fence to the north and the tables have umbrellas. It’s still managed to be a bit windy but much less than an unprotected site would be on the sort of day it was. The asphalt under the tables was warmed by the bright sunlight so it was comfortable enough overall. I had the omelette and it was pretty good. I will often order an omelette when uncertain about what’s on offer. They are hard to mess up. My wife had a ham melt and it had too many wet ingredients (including dill pickles or gherkins) and was soggy and she found it unpleasant and didn’t eat most of it. So when choosing from the menu, consider carefully what might be in each item. To be fair, someone else might have loved the melt. This is true for any place that offers food. Go with what you know at first unless you’re happy to experiment. The service was definitely acceptable. You order and pay at the counter. They offered a wide range of pies or hot chicken and chips or various baked confections (ginger slice, etc). Plus the set menu. There should be something here for everyone. My coffee was a trim flat white and it was fine. Everything was delivered to the table fairly quickly though items did arrive at didn’t times. Drinks first then each main as it was completed. I’ve given 4 stars for being overall pretty decent while individual elements were variable but generally good enough. I’d stop here again on a Sunday afternoon if I was hungry and wanted a coffee.

Lovely place. Clean and a good variety of food. Coffee was good. Busy so thats always a good sign even in a small place like Opotiki. Friendly staff which is always a bonus.

Always such a good stop. Even if we don't need anything its tradition to stop.

One of the best cafes in NZ. Reasonably priced, super fresh food and always a friendly smile from the staff. A must stop on our way through Opotiki. Highly recommend the chicken avocado sandwiches and the seafood rolls yummy!