Caffe Windsor is Inglewood's much-loved café on Kelly Street — formerly MacFarlanes Caffe, still run with the same friendly staff and favourite menu the people of Taranaki made popular. New owners Munish and Diksha took over in September 2023 and kept faith with what worked: food prepared onsite from the freshest local ingredients, scrumptious cabinet food, daily blackboard specials, and coffee the house describes as the best for miles. The café occupies one of Inglewood's first shops, built in 1878, and sits on the popular Windsor Walkway — a natural starting or finishing point for the 4.5km loop, with maps available from the team. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all covered, from the Farmers All Day Breakfast and eggs benedict served on homemade hash browns through to lamb shank, beer-battered fish & chips and warm sticky date pudding, alongside Ozone-roast coffee, T2 teas, milkshakes and a short wine and beer list. Open daily from 7:30am to 2:30pm, with table reservations and private function hire available by phone.
Caffe Windsor sits at 1 Kelly Street in the heart of Inglewood, pouring coffee and plating generous café food for a following that stretches right across Taranaki. Older regulars still remember it as MacFarlanes Caffe, the name it traded under from 1995, and the transition has been a gentle one. When Munish and Diksha took over management in September 2023, the promise to locals was simple: the friendly staff stay, the wonderful menu stays, and everything people loved about the place keeps on coming.
The café occupies one of Inglewood's first shops. The Curtis brothers built it in 1878 for their butchery business, and the address cycled through the decades — solicitors Weston & Weston from 1911, then Deem & Billing and later Deem & Shearer, and by the eighties Yvonne's Sun & Beauty clinic. After extensions and restoration it opened as MacFarlane's Caffe in 1995, and it has been feeding the town ever since.
That history gives the room a character you don't find every day, but it's the kitchen that keeps people coming back. Everything is prepared onsite from the freshest ingredients, with the chef constantly sourcing the best local produce, and the cabinet food and daily blackboard specials make choosing the hardest part of any visit.
Breakfast runs all day, and it's the Farmers All Day Breakfast that reviewers single out: two eggs any style with bacon, cheese kranskys, grilled tomato, homemade hash browns and mushrooms on toasted Vienna. Eggs Benedict here comes perched on crispy homemade hash browns rather than muffins, with hollandaise and tomato salsa and toppings from spinach to salmon — one traveller called it among the best they've had. The Second Mortgage stacks smashed avocado, poached egg, feta and house-made dukkah on ciabatta or super grain, while the French Toast arrives golden from a cinnamon batter with bacon, grilled banana and wild berry compote.
Lunch leans equally hearty. There's a Mixed Grill with sirloin, kransky and a poached egg, chicken fettuccine in white wine and cream, zesty lemon prawn pasta, corn fritters with melted brie and chipotle aioli, and a keto-friendly plate of chicken, bacon and mushrooms. The falafel and pita pockets, finished with a creamy coconut and sweet chilli peanut sauce, look after vegans. Burgers, salads and blackboard specials — including a fish of the day — round out the all-day menu.
Come dinner the kitchen shifts gear: slow-cooked lamb shank, surf & turf with a creamy citric prawn sauce, salmon in lemon and parsley cream sauce, beer-battered fish & chips, chicken parmigiana and vegetarian lasagne, with warm sticky date pudding, homemade brownie or ambrosia to finish.
The baristas take their coffee seriously, and the house line — the best coffee for miles — gets plenty of backing from reviewers. The beans are an Ozone roast, pulled into everything from espresso and flat whites to affogato and liqueur coffee, with alternative milks and syrups on request. T2 teas, thick milkshakes, iced coffees and a short list of wines by the glass and Panhead craft beers cover the rest.
Caffe Windsor sits on the popular Windsor Walkway, a 4.5km loop around Inglewood, and the café leans right into it: park at the café, collect a map from the team before you set out, do the walk, then return for a well-earned refreshment or lunch. It's a ritual for plenty of locals and a handy tip for visitors passing through.
The numbers back up the reputation — a 4.4-star Google rating from more than 540 reviews, with praise for the lovely service, excellent meals and very generous serves. Reviewers warn, cheerfully, that small eaters can share the eggs benedict and still leave satisfied, and that the cakes in the cabinet are worth a look.
The practical bits: the café opens 7:30am to 2:30pm seven days a week, tables can be reserved online or by calling 06 756 6665 with any special requests, and private function hire is available by phone. The menu marks gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options, gluten-free bread is available, and the team asks you to flag any allergies, as some dishes are garnished with gluten, dairy and/or nuts. Whether you're an Inglewood regular or plotting a Taranaki detour, this is the kind of café that makes the trip worthwhile.