Cafe Mosaic

I love weekend brunches with the girls!  It's great relaxing in a nice cafe, catching up on gossips over coffee and yummy comforting food.  It somehow makes the upcoming week of work a bit more bearable.  I have a few favourite spots for brunch, but I'm also always happy to discover new places.

I heard about Cafe Mosaic 4 months ago, and went to check it out with W.  This Spreydon cafe is located on the outside of the recently renovated Barrington Mall. It's easily seen from the mall's carpark along Barrington St, near the mall entrance.  The decor of the cafe is modern and bright, with white furniture and blocks of colours along the wall.  True to it's name, each table was topped with a cute mosaic sugar pack holder.

As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed by a large glass cabinet of beautiful food.  There were the usual savoury options of sandwiches and pies, but we could hardly take our eyes off the desserts!  Lots of yummy looking cakes and slices, guaranteed to make any dessert lover happy.  We've been to the cafe twice now, but never got the chance to try the sweets after the substantial brunch.  However, this would be a good place to come for afternoon tea if you happen to be in the area.

We started with the coffees, I had the usual soy latte and W had a latte.  The coffees were nice, and I was glad to get some caffeine in the system!

Cafe Mosaic's all day breakfast menu is quite extensive, and has the standards dishes such as eggs on toast, eggs benedict,  french toast, and all day breakfast.  But W was instantly drawn to the breakfast burrito ($16.50).  This American Mexican style breakfast is not your usual kiwi breakfast food, and is more like a lunch meal with some breakfast ingredients.  The breakfast burrito here was made with scrambled eggs, cheese, and beans wrapped inside a tortilla, and topped with fresh salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.  It also came with a home made hash brown, with options of adding bacon or sausage ($2 each), or spiced chicken or beef mince ($4.50 each).  This was quite a substantial dish, and absolutely delicious.  The scrambled eggs were soft and flavoured with spices.  The tortilla was soft, and there were plenty of toppings to go with the burrito.  W was so impressed with the dish, she ordered it again on our second visit.  The only minor flaw was the hash brown, which was slightly burned and a bit greasy.  But otherwise a near perfect dish.

On our first visit, I was deciding between the french toast and the pancakes.  As I hadn't had pancakes for a while, I decided to go with it.  Cafe Mosaic's classic American pancakes were served with bacon, banana, and maple syrup ($16.50).  There was also an option of mixed berry compote and yoghurt.  My pancakes looked pretty good, with lots of toppings.  The grilled bacon was crispy and tasty.  Unfortunately the pancakes weren't as good as I imagined, as they were more like cakes, and just didn't go well with the bacon.  A bit disappointing, but it didn't stop us from going back.  On my second visit, I actually ordered the breakfast burrito, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We enjoyed both visits to Cafe Mosaic so far.  It has a nice setting and friendly staff.  The food is generally pretty good, and the dessert cabinet is very enticing.  Cafe Mosaic is open 7 days for breakfast, brunch, and lunch.  It is also open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday.  The menu has a mixture of Western and Asian influenced dishes.  It is featured in the Entertainment Book, offering 25% off the bill, up to $30.


Cafe Mosaic
Shop 21, Barrington Mall
256 Barrington Street
Christchurch
(03) 337 3720
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-Mosaic/150404528369755