The Waffle Room, Kerikeri

Guide and Alana, two of our student ambassadors from Kerikeri High School went to The Waffle Room in the centre of Kerikeri township to check out their famous waffles.

Maura and her family have owned Café Zest for 12 years and about 6-7 years ago they added The Waffle Room to their café.

Both, the café and the waffle room, are very popular with students after school. Maura employs a few travellers as well as long term Kiwi staff and together with the international students it makes for an interesting mix of nationalities.

“They make all their food on site. For their waffles they use buttermilk and they even make the buttermilk on site.”

At the moment there are 6 different waffles available. Previously they had a bigger selection and they also had waffle sticks which the younger kids used to love.  Maura is looking at bringing them back and she is also planning something completely new for the menu which she is super excited about, but for now it is a well-guarded secret.  Can’t wait to check this out.

Guide enjoyed his Banoffee Waffle and Alana had the Classic Berry. Both were super delicious.

Comments from Alana

“I really like how Zest’s environment is cozy, comfortable and suitable for all ages (that’s why so many international students go there) and the waffles are not only delicious but also very pretty and delicate. It’s good that we don’t need to wait long to enjoy it since the service is quite fast and the staff is very lovely. Is a very nice place for celebration of a birthday, for example. My favorite one is probably the classic blueberry because, not only it looks very beautiful, but it’s also not as sweet as the others, which for me is a good thing. “