Apr 4, 2018 Bars
The Hideout is a new cafe on Symonds Street with Kokako coffee, kombucha on tap and a pared-back menu
It’s easy to rag on cafes like Robert Harris and Sierra with their garish fit-outs, rubbish music and bowl lattes – they’re the low-hanging fruit of the hospo world. But, like the food and coffee you get under the golden arches, there’s one thing you can be sure of at a chain: consistency.
Many hospo pros cut their teeth at places like these, learning the art of systems-based efficiency and how to do one thing the same way over and over again. After nine years working his way up from dishwasher to barista across several Auckland chain cafes, simple consistency is what Anderson Mar hopes to provide at his independent Symonds Street espresso bar, The Hideout.
You won’t find any frou-frou here, just a cabinet filled with simple sandwiches, brioches, and sweet treats made by friend Hayley Namgung of The Three Words patisserie. The menu, created by chef Chloe Buksh, is only seven items long and does not list a smoothie bowl or 62-degree egg. Her favourite item – and go-to breakfast order – is eggs bene with bacon.
Mar’s serving Kokako organic coffee – filter, espresso and nitro cold brew – and there’s kombucha on tap. The kombucha and nitro are two of the few nods to recent cafe trends you’ll find at The Hideout, alongside standard-issue MDF shelving and a ubiquitous fiddle leaf fig tree.
The Hideout Espresso Bar
233 Symonds St
Eden Terrace
