Eating Some Food in Wellington, a review: Deluxe

Part four of an infrequent series

In Part Four, I visit Deluxe, have a savoury muffin, and continue to enjoy a cafe at which I've never worked.

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Deluxe is my local and my favourite Wellington cafe: close to school and home and work. They make the best savoury muffins, vegan cupcakes and vegan sandwiches in the whole of Wellington, bar none. I’ve never had a better savoury muffin than those I get regularly from Deluxe. A contentious statement indeed! And yet, I will stand by it, and defend Deluxe savoury muffins against the inferior muffins that will maybe suggested as competitors (bring it ON!).

Frankly, I don’t believe it’s possible to have a bad bit of baking from Deluxe. The pizzas are good, as are the big bean and lentil salads and tempeh wrap things. The vegetarian foccacia has a perfect blend of pumpkin, pesto and feta, sweet and salty and cheesy. I’ve never had one of those quinoa ball things because there is something about the concept of ball-shaped foods that I don’t really like, but Eli was eating one the other day and I believe she said it was good. They make lovely sweet treats and pies and interesting sweet breads. I guess that the style of baking is similar to Midnight Espresso in terms of it’s vegetarian and vegan slant, but with the difference that Deluxe’s food is inevitably delicious and never disappointing like Midnight Espresso baking can frequently be.

The cafe serves Havana coffee, which I love. However, Havana has no strict training schedule that they give to their baristas, and the coffee served at all cafes with Havana as their roastery blend can be a bit hit and miss. I rarely have a not-decent coffee from Deluxe, but sometimes if you get your coffee at the end of a rush you can taste that the barista needs to backflush the machine or adjust the grind ever so slightly - the coffee tastes slightly dirty or burnt. Truth be told, I like my coffee a bit rough and ready so this does not make me unhappy - but if you’re some kind of L’Affare or Fuel or Mojo lover and you like your coffee smooth and predictable you could be disappointed. Keyword: strong.

Deluxe is located at the far end of Courtenay Place next to the Embassy Theatre. It’s a tiny sliver of a place with a tiny kitchen and counter area, and they only serves counter food. There’s no bathroom in the cafe and the closest loos are the epic bathrooms at the Embassy; any excuse to use these palatial pots is good by me. I’m pretty sure the front of house staff is at least partly hired on their indie cred, but are usually friendly and aren’t adverse to sharing a joke. The tall guy with the long hair and nose (John?) remembers my coffee order and doesn’t tell me off on the days I forget my Keep Cup. Suzy is a great baker and pretends to still recognise me from Fidels days, which I appreciate. I like the new girl with the topknot better than the other girl with the topknot. This morning there was a new girl with a feather in her hair. I have no idea what she’s like as a front of house person, but this coffee that I’m drinking right now is rather delicious and I thought the feather was a nice touch.

Finally: one of the things I like best about Deluxe is that it’s a well established Wellington cafe that I feel comfortable in and that I haven’t worked at. I went through a stage where I worked at a lot of cafes in a very short amount of time, and it changed my relationship with all of them - I still HATE going to Fidels. The fact I haven’t had an anxiety attack behind that counter still preserves The Mystery, and that I deeply appreciate.