Twenty minutes north of Rotorua on the road to Tauranga, this beloved roadside institution has earned genuine cult status among locals, rafters fresh off the Kaituna River and anyone in the know passing through. Part cafe, part store, part leafy beer garden, it wears many hats and wears them all well. The kitchen roasts its own coffee and turns out generous, made-with-care fare from breakfast through lunch, with the famous smash burgers headlining Friday’s Burger Wars nights. The taps pour an ever-rotating lineup of hard-to-find New Zealand craft beer, fourteen of them at last count, with plenty more in the fridges to take away. Browse the little store for local honey and artisan goods, then settle into the garden and let the afternoon slip by. A true original, and the definition of worth the drive.