Koru Cafe

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#2 of 16 Restaurants in AitutakiCafe, International, ₱₱ - ₱₱₱

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Koru Cafe

Review

At a glance

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Website

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About

Open everyday from 7am to 3pm and now offering dinner services every Friday and Saturday from 5pm till late (high season only). Good food, good friends, good times... See you soon!

Features

CUISINES

Cafe, International

Meal types

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Late Night, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

Delivery

Free off-street parking

Highchairs Available

Live Music

Mastercard

Outdoor Seating

Parking Available

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Takeout

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

Located on the way to Ootu beach Main Road, Amuri Cook Islands

Free off-street parking, Parking Available

Can a gluten free person get a good meal at this restaurant?

Yes

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Hours

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Closed now

• Opens at 7:00 AM

Sunday

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Monday

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Tuesday

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Wednesday

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Thursday

7:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Friday

7:00 AM - 10:00 PM

Saturday

7:00 AM - 10:00 PM

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4.7

1,195 reviews

Excellent

883

Very good

272

Average

Poor

Terrible

annieandnick

Wellington357 contributions

Our fave

Mar 2025 • couples

Over the course of 17 years (and eight visits to Aitutaki) we have had many lunches (and a few breakfasts) at the Koru Cafe. Whenever we visit Aitutaki we return time and time again as they always deliver excellent food and outstanding service. The staff are consistently friendly, welcoming and attentive. This visit it was our pleasure to be looked after by the lovely Miti, Lulu and Frances. The food is always beautifully cooked and well presented. It’s a great casual atmosphere and a perfect place to relax. Steve and Trina - keep up the great work! Great food, great friends and certainly great times!

Written March 10, 2025

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BZONCE

Auckland989 contributions

Quick stop

Oct 2023 • couples

Just a quick stop at Koru Cafe as it was on our list to try and we really needed a coffee!! We had a mocha each was ok and also a lime donut which was actually a really nice flavour and the donut was nice and soft. Service was average, the first person we dealt with didn’t offer a smile or any form of customer service other than taking our order but the second younger lady was lovely.

Written October 7, 2023

Peanold

Hamilton7 contributions

There's a reason for all the good reviews

Nov 2022 • none

This was our first time back in Aitutaki for 13 years and we were very happy to see that Koru cafe was still operating. The food here is great (and, yes, the fish sliders are awesome) and the staff are super friendly. We ate lunch here a couple of time and also ordered a BBQ pack to take back to our accommodation. Even though it's stated that 24 hours notice is required, they were able to provide us steaks and salad with super short notice. See you next time!!

Written November 26, 2022

Michelle C

Christchurch85 contributions

Deceptive Manager/Owner

Aug 2023 • couples

We came here for lunch last Sunday just after we'd arrived in Aitutaki. Even though we'd arrived close to their closing time we were quickly greeted by friendly staff and encouraged to sit down. After having a quick look at the menu though we realised cocktails weren't served at this cafe and, as we really felt like having a drink with our lunch, we explained to the lady who we assumed was the manager/owner that we would try one of the other cafes nearby. However, she explained that, because it was a Sunday, none of the cafes would be serving alcohol until after 6pm. With that in mind, we decided to stay there for lunch. We ordered a fish sandwich and bowl of fries to share. The sandwiches were priced on the menu as "from $10" and, when we enquired (to avoid any nasty surprises at the end) we were informed by the manager that the fish sandwich was "around $12". The food was just okay - we'd had better fish sandwiches in Rarotonga and some of the fries were undercooked. When we went to pay, we were charged $14 for the sandwich. $2 wouldn't have made any difference to whether or not we ordered it but, as the manager, I can't imagine she wouldn't have known exactly how much it was, and she should have been transparent about it. Worse though was that, after lunch, we wandered around to the other two nearby cafes to check them out as possibilities for dinner and were very surprised, after what we'd been told, to see both of them serving alcohol! We stopped for a drink at the Boatshed Cafe and the person who took our order asked if we were ordering food as well. We explained that we would have but we'd just had lunch at Koru Cafe where we'd been told that none of the cafes served alcohol during the day on Sundays. Needless to say, she was not at all impressed by the underhand tactics used by Koru Cafe. Sure, by blatantly deceiving us, the manager at Koru Cafe scored our lunch business that Sunday. However, it was very short-sighted on her part as her deception left a sour taste in our mouths and we certainly didn't return. Upon chatting with several other guests on different occasions at the resort we were staying at about nearby cafes, we mentioned our poor experience at Koru Cafe and that was likely enough to deter them from going there also. So don't waste time and money here when you have the Boatshed Cafe and Blue Lagoon very close by. We never ended up eating at the Blue Lagoon although we had drinks there a couple of times, but we did enjoy a very nice Fish Burger at the Boatshed Cafe.

Written September 24, 2023

Trina Armstrong

Kia Orana Michelle Thank you for taking the time to write a review for our café. I am an owner and manager of the café and can confirm that it was not me whom you spoke to during your visit but instead one of our friendly team members. I am glad that our team were friendly and efficient and am sorry that they misquoted the cost of the sandwich. I can confirm that our team were truthful in saying that we are not licenced to sell alcohol prior to 6pm on a Sunday; this is in accordance with our Restaurant Liquor Licence, issued by the Cook Islands Liquor Licencing Authority. There would have been no intentional deceit by our team members, only the fact that they are aware of the liquor licencing legislation for Restaurants/Cafés in the Cook Islands. (It's possible you may have been served by a newer team member of ours whom would not have been aware of other nearby establishments licences, however they are truthful in saying that Restaurant/Cafe's are not allowed to serve alcohol prior to 6pm on a Sunday). Please note, other premises with accommodations attached may have a different licence, which does allow alcohol to be served to inhouse guests/bonified diners, hence why you may have been able to purchase alcohol at other premises on a Sunday. I do hope this clarifies the situation for you and again do thank you for taking the time to write a review via Trip Advisor.

Written September 24, 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Ray T

Brisbane191 contributions

Average, fish sliders were bland. The latte was full of froth, & not nice I told the waitress who gave me a bored look.

Sep 2023 • couples

This venue was ok, the fish sliders were very bland and tasteless. The latte coffee was full of froth, when I told the waitress this she looked at me and didn’t offer an explanation or a replacement. There are far better cafes on the island, I suggest look elsewhere.

Written September 22, 2023

mjoy93

49 contributions

Very average

Feb 2024 • couples

The food here was very average and very typical - big breakfast, calamari salad (that was just lettuce) etc.. The milkshakes are very sweet and while they offer gluten-free bread it wasn't very good. The service was very good and the staff very friendly, but I would not recommend going here for a meal if you have other options.

Written February 11, 2024

Katrina Petero

Kia Orana MJoy93, Thank you for your review. We appreciate your feedback and hope that we can take your next review from average to "Outstanding!"

Written February 13, 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Pamela W

8 contributions

Fantastic food and service!

Feb 2025 • couples

We went to Kuro everyday. The highlight of our day was visiting with Mitieli!!! He always had a smile and was so informative to talk to. The food was delicious as well with the best coffee on the island. No matter where you are on the island you MUST make Kuro one of your stops for breakfast or lunch.

Written February 8, 2025

spraggbj

Christchurch160 contributions

Amazing place

Jul 2022 • couples

It’s no surprise that this place is rated the best eating experience on Aitutaki. We visited at least four times in our seven day stay on the island as it’s just so, so good! Delicious coffee, great cakes and muffins, lovely setting, helpful, friendly staff … superb. We each had the special pulled pork and prawn tacos for lunch on our first visit. This is just about the most perfect lunch I’ve ever had. Tasty, succulent and beautifully prepared and presented. We returned to enjoy sliders and ika mata for lunch and on our final day we ordered a takeaway chicken curry to reheat for dinner. The dish came with rice, salad and bread and it was divine. You can’t miss at least one visit to Koru Cafe if you’re in Aitutaki. We’d recommend going every day!

Written July 19, 2022

CMacNZ

Blenheim25 contributions

Delicious food, friendly locals

Aug 2022 • none

We had a lovely lunch at the Koru Café - very reasonably priced, and very generous helpings. We both had the seafood platter and it was delicious. The café seemed to be mainly patronised by locals which I always see as a good sign. Highly recommended.

Written September 11, 2022

spraggbj

Christchurch160 contributions

A little disappointed

Sep 2024 • couples

We’ve been visiting Aitutaki every couple of years for about 15 years now and Koru has always been a favourite. This time however we found the menu to be lacking - no pulled pork or fish tacos, no sliders, no ika mata. The food all seemed a bit stodgy - burgers, sandwiches, chips. There was also an evening meal pick up option (curries etc) two years ago, but no more. Still really good coffee and cakes/muffins.

Written October 1, 2024

Barbara D

Mangere1 contribution

50th Birthday Trip

Feb 2022 • family

My hubby and I came from NZ and found this cafe so awesome. Great service and the excellent quality of their food was cooked with love... Coffee is delicious, pizza bread and muffins takeaway on the go was delish... We had a family breakfast and also a family lunch. Prices we paid were worth it.

Written February 1, 2022

Dale Blyde

Christchurch19 contributions

Lovely cafe

Jul 2022 • couples

Great coffee, great food at reasonable prices too. They also do heat and eat meals which are super handy if you want to stay in for the night. Can't fault the team there, great service and very helpful with logging into the local wifi hotspots too.

Written July 8, 2022

Jane A

Wellington203 contributions

"Exceptional food"

Nov 2022 • couples

Stopped off here to have lunch while staying in Aitutaki. My Husband had the big breakfast which was very substantial and everything was cooked very well. I had the fish sliders and they were so so good. Service was great and a lovely setting while dining. We will definitely be back when we return to Aitutaki which we so enjoyed.

Written November 11, 2022

sydneysider48

Sydney1201 contributions

A pleasant cafe.

Aug 2023 • couples

We lunched here on a number of occasions during our holiday on Aitutaki. In rural surroundings with lots of chickens wandering around and indoor or outdoor dining, this is a pleasant spot for lunch or breakfast. The lunch menu is limited, but each of the dishes we ordered was very good. Prices were reasonable and the staff were always friendly and attentive.

Written August 31, 2023

annieandnick

Wellington357 contributions

We love it here!

Mar 2022 • couples

We visited five times in the seven days we were in Aitutaki. This was our 7th visit to the island and we always return to the Koru Cafe. The food is consistently good. Steve is a great chef. This time we were fortunate to enjoy fabulous service from Ana. She was so much fun, so natural and really made our lunches a great experience. There’s lots of great options on the menu, plus a daily special and delicious desserts. We absolutely recommend the Koru Cafe and we loved returning for more great food, nice chardonnay and outstanding service.