Massimo Cafe

I only ate here because my wife and I were invited to lunch by friends. What a pleasant surprise!
First, it’s handy to park underneath the shopping centre and just walk up the ramp. Second, I was expecting a café, but the dishes were more of restaurant standard. They’re licensed, too, so we could have a wine with the meal.
Out of the four meals, three were exceptional. As in, so delicious we were raving about them. For example, I had a chicken caesar salad — which I thought was a safe option at an unfamiliar café. It was as good as I’ve had anywhere! There was a perfectly poached egg, whole anchovies, plenty of chicken and a well-​executed sauce.
The fourth meal was good enough, but more of a case of misdescription. As in, she was expecting calamari rings, but got whole calamari. Not a problem as such, but maybe better explanation on the menu would help.
Desserts? Yeah, we had to try them (it was a long lunch!) Two sticky date puddings, which were generous portions, with sauce and a huge scoop of home made ice cream. We asked for pouring cream, which the server was happy to get. No. 3 dessert was baklava and my wife was happy with it.
If you’re expecting fine dining at steep prices, go somewhere else. If you want a great meal at reasonable prices, give Massimo a go. (This was at Albany — I haven’t been to any of the others.)

Service was nice, coffee was good but the food was a bit of a let down.
I have been to a number of their cafes around Auckland and you would expect a reasonable amount of consistency from one café to the next. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case here.
Luckily there are a number of other fine cafes in the area as I probably won’t revisit this one although may give it another chance.

Similar to a café experience, but better. Sweet treats on display in cabinet.
Simple but varied menu to cover most bases and tastes.
Would have liked my coffee before getting my brunch, but did arrive a short time later, and was good.

Great cabinet selection– a few different types of cheesecakes available that I have still yet to sample. Got their chocolate orange ball which was a heavy orange cake surrounded by chocolate shell with sliced almonds on top. Came on a nice rectangle plate with chocolate sauce and cream in a small pot and dusted with icing sugar. Simple but beautiful presentation.
They make real good iced chocolates if you aren’t feeling a coffee. Came in a cool mason jar with a handle with a swirly chocolate sauce pattern on the outside. Generously topped with whipped cream and a big marshmallow. Drank it so fast– made really yum.
Great indoor space and small outdoor tables available as well if the weather allows. Definitely a nice café in the Albany Westfield mall if you don’t want fast food.

I visited Massimo on a busy Sunday afternoon for lunch with the family. We managed to get a table in the centre of the restaurant which was ideal as the other end of the restaurant had tables channelling to the bathroom area.
The restaurant was busy, and with the open plan layout you can easily be entertained watching the staff fill drink orders, whilst the chefs coordinate to get food up onto the pass for the wait staff to deliver. It creates a busy and active vibe to the place (also makes it a little noisy — so not ideal if you wanted somewhere quiet for an intimate chinwag).
We didn’t have one consistent waitress for our table which made it difficult getting service at times. When water finally arrived for the table the glasses were slightly murky, the water warm, and the glass bottle was as foggy as a forgotten fish tank.
We ordered our meals which came in a timely fashion — I ordered the risotto and i couldn’t help but feel my meal had been rushed (i.e not stirred and slowly cooked as a risotto should be) to ensure it came out on time with the rest of my tables meals– which would have been alot easier and faster to prepare. The rice was still lightly hard and the sauce was watery and quite bland — as if they had used plain water instead of a stock. Even copious amounts of salt couldn’t save this dish. On the menu it said it had almonds — I didn’t realise this would be shaved almonds from a packet you would buy in the baking aisle at the supermarket. They were tasteless, and quite horrible in texture — almost like shards of plastic– and made the undercooked rice seem even worse. They added nothing to the dish — and in fact made it almost inedible. The whole dish was very disappointing and for $ 23, I felt as if I had been ripped off.
The side of chips our table ordered came out in a less than clean «bucket» — it had food stuck to the outside and could have done with a wipe down to remove the fingerprints and buildup on the sides. The side was a decent size though for their price.
The drinks — $ 5 for a soft drink I thought was quite steep — especially when most of the restaurants down the road charge $ 3 – 4.50. And the iced mocha I had looked great when it came out, but unfortunately had been made with some low quality chocolate making it seem watery– not to mention the lack of freshness in the cream.
Overall– my experience here was far from perfect, some of the staff were lovely — others need to practise their happy faces some more as they appear hard and unapproachable. I would definitely not recommend the risotto or the chicken caesar (unless you enjoy limp lettuce, and soft croutons that taste as though they’ve been preserved in a mildew jar for the last month). Will not be in a rush back to dine here especially with much better establishments like «The Merchant» just a few metres down the line on the concourse.

I love this place mainly due to it’s ambiance and romantic vibe. It’s a very personal restaurant even though it’s located outside the Westfield Albany mall. If you ever walk past here you will see a lot of couples having a nice meal and wine together. It’s pretty caaaaaute you have to say. Although regardless of who your company is, this place is great for food or even just to pop in for a coffee or tea. The staff are bubbly and alive with energy which makes the experience even more inviting. Always a good selection of safe and adventurous food options in their menu. They also have a large fire place with two big leather couches in front of it which is great during the winter months! Another little favourite of mine in Albany.