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Rating: 4/5 Coffee Cups

In the midst of red cards and Otago Graduation mania, M and G found time to pop down to Kiki Beware on George Street to see what they had on offer, since they were both pretty stoked when Kiki migrated from their former faraway location up in Roslyn to Dunedin’s main drag last year.

Kiki seems to be where edgy and cute meet to hook up; its trendy-cool décor is like a little slice of Auckland in our midst, although the Saturday brunch crowd was surprisingly elderly. M and G noted the change from their awkwardly small seating to svelte new booths, a dramatic improvement that enhances the vibe and practicality of the place – though don’t expect to go there with more than three friends, as four to a booth is about the limit.

M and G took M’s hung over sister out to brunch to get the goss about her red card, and M had the best bagel of his young life. The bacon buttie bagel is included in Kiki’s Radio One card deal, and is simply the best you will find anywhere.

M and G both opted for a long mac to see how Kiki were treating their Supreme beans, a personal fave of M’s. The long macchiatos were smooth and easy to drink – a definite must for those wanting to train themselves to like black coffee.

G had a cappuccino at Kiki earlier in the week that was pretty good, but she much preferred her long macchiato. The sweet pork buns are an oriental delight and perfect to munch on between lectures on a cold Dunnaz day, but G was a little disappointed that every single item of baked goods on display was priced at $4. Is a piece of brownie really worth the same as a sweet pork bun or lamington?

M and G were also pleased to see that Kiki has installed the “coffee vagrant” app, a little wooden block that you QR scan to deduct a coffee from your virtual coffee card. So much easier than carrying around a million stamp cards, but not such a bonus for those paupers without smart phones.

Kiki put G in mind of Madam Puddifoot’s Teashop in Hogsmeade, the site of Cho and Harry’s ill-fated courtship in the fifth Harry Potter novel: somewhere cutesy to take your sweetheart, Kiki provides an intimate setting where you can sip on delicious spiders or Soda Streams from Mason jars and gaze longingly into one another’s eyes.

With delicious (albeit rather pricey) food, classic cool décor and well-looked after Supreme beans, Kiki Beware definitely has an edge over some of the other cafes in the area on George St. M and G definitely recommend checking it out and trying the bacon buttie bagel and a long macchiato whilst perusing the stack of magazines on a sunny day.