Atelier Shu — café review!
Welcome to my blog! I wanted to start by reviewing one of my favourite cafés so far — Atelier Shu in Newmarket, Auckland. It had been on my list for about 8 months so I finally visited it before going back home. I don’t expect anyone to actually read this but it’ll be something nice for me to look back on later :3
The atmosphere of the café felt really nice and comfortable, the lighting was perfect, the seating area was comfortable, and I didn’t feel awkward being alone. They had soft music playing and the temperature inside was perfect for me too. There is a seating area at the front near the counter, but also a lot more seating in the back area (as pictured below), but the tables are a bit small if two people were to share them. My only complaint is that the area at the front near the counter can feel really tight if there’s more than one person there.
They have a large selection of desserts to choose from, mostly special cakes and a few items which always stay on their menu such as their madeleines and canelés. Every month they introduce themed, limited edition cakes and desserts with different flavours. They have a drinks menu on the wall with a few of their more basic options displayed. They are on the expensive side, but it makes sense due to the combination of flavours and intricate designs :) The image below only shows one of the cabinets, but the other cabinet had their more basic items which are always present on their menu.
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I chose to get an iced chocolate, and it was around $9. I really didn’t expect their iced chocolate to be so good, it’s definitely one of the best iced chocolates I’ve had in Auckland (and probably my life). The chocolate flavour was really rich but not too overwhelming, there wasn’t too much ice, it was also a bit creamy and just soooo goood. 10/10!
For my dessert, I picked a lemon madeleine because I love lemon-flavoured things. It really didn’t disappoint! It was my first time trying a proper madeleine and it had the perfect amount of lemon flavour inside, and there was also a layer of lemon glaze (or icing?) on top of the madeleine which isn’t visible in the pictures, but more evident in real life. I was soooo happy with it and impressed, and the madeleine was $4–6. It was still sweet and the lemon was a perfect addition to its sweetness. 10/10!
The service was good and I was served pretty quickly — they brought my iced chocolate to me, and put the madeleine on a plate for me to take to a table after I paid. The view from my seat wasn’t anything special, just the parking area but on the other side (visible in previous pictures) there was an inner courtyard area which seemed really pretty. I didn’t sit there since it was taken at the time, but I’ll try next time!
Overall I really enjoyed this café and everything was perfect, the iced chocolate was the best I’ve ever had and the lemon madeleine made me really happy. I’ll be back here again :3
