Cafe Edge & Artisan Bakery
59 Edgeware Rd, St Albans, Christchurch.
We’d seen... Cafe Edge’s fetching facade at the top of Colombo St. The sizeable building, formerly a Mitre 10, had caught my eye on numerous occasions and I’d been looking forward to trying out this newcomer.
The first thing... We did was join the queue to order. It was a Saturday lunch and the cafe was about half full. The spacious location with its ample seating handled the crowd well, meaning it didn’t feel overly crowded or noisy. Unfortunately the staff didn’t handle its customers quite so skilfully. The line to order moved slowly as a waitress struggled to negotiate the till. On the plus side this gave us plenty of time to gaze into a cabinet of filled rolls and pastries.
My lunch partner ordered the beef and bacon burger ($21) and I chose the salmon filo ($8.50). We also got an adorable looking raspberry tartlet ($4.50) and a couple of coffees ($4.70). The server apologised, informing us there would be at least a ten minute wait on our drinks, this didn’t phase us, but there were a few grumbles from people who wanted to grab and go.
We took a seat in a comfortable booth and first to arrive was the sizeable burger. The bun was stuffed with two thick beef patties, gooey cheese, bacon and lettuce. It was difficult to tackle, but the taste was on point. The chips on the other hand were soggy and left a greasy taste in our mouths. We were slowly drip-fed the rest of our meal over about half an hour. My filo had a decent quantity of salmon and a pleasant taste and the cute raspberry tartlet was a delightful treat.
Unfortunately our coffees were the biggest let down. We didn’t mind the wait, but our brews had a strong sour taste that couldn’t be cured with sugar. We walked out, coffees left half full, wishing our experience had been better.
The service was… Apologetic and noticeably stressed. Cafe Edge opened almost five months ago, so perhaps the staff are still settling in, but I would expect teething problems to be ironed out fairly soon.
If you go... Check out the racks of artisan bread. It bakes its own bread fresh daily and there’s plenty of variety.
Rating out of 5: 2.5 –Laura Baker