The Mount’s changed – but the tea’s still good.

It’s late morning, we didn’t have time for breakfast, my blood sugars are all over the place and I’ve got a powerful need for tea.

The Ornithologist, who visits the Mt Maunganui often (my workmate Rebecca, who came on a tea-party tour with me last year) knows just the place to get me back on track – the Sidetrack Cafe.

My Marks Out of 10:

Cup Acme: That’s a 1. Here’s why.

Tea Total English breakfast 8: Consistently good, and just what I need.

Setting 8: The Mount’s changed a bit since I was last there, about three decades ago. Everything is bigger, faster, brighter, and the Narnia shop, with its crushed velvet shirts and incense that was a magnet for girls of a certain age, has disappeared without a trace.

But the fundamentals – the mountain, the beach – are still the same, and the Sidetrack is strategically placed for both. And the food – poached eggs and an industrial-style salad, is good.

Dog-friendly? Yes.

Open after 3pm? Yes.