Tartan Rose Cakery and Deli is a boutique cafe on Devon Street East in Strandon, New Plymouth, known for beautiful hand-iced cakes in amazing and unique flavours and a menu made from scratch using an abundance of fresh, in-season produce.
The cafe side serves a from-scratch brunch menu Monday to Saturday until 1pm, with creative plates such as brioche French toast stuffed with banana and butterscotch, Mexican masala benedict with smoky paprika hollandaise, and smashed pumpkin with fried haloumi, pistachio dukkah and tahini dressing. Vegetarian and gluten-free options are marked throughout, and eggs your way on multigrain or sourdough covers the traditionalists.
Beyond the kitchen, Tartan Rose is a proper cakery — hand-iced celebration cakes are the speciality — alongside catering services. Doors are open 7:30am to 2:30pm, Monday through Saturday.
On the eastern side of Devon Street in Strandon, Tartan Rose Cakery and Deli does exactly what its name promises: it is half cakery, half deli, and entirely committed to food made properly. This boutique New Plymouth spot has built its name on two things — beautiful hand-iced cakes in amazing and unique flavours, and a cafe menu made from scratch using an abundance of fresh, in-season produce.
The result is a place that works for almost any occasion. Stop in for a leisurely breakfast, pick up something sweet from the cabinet, order a cake for a celebration, or arrange catering for an event. Few local addresses combine all of those roles under one roof.
The kitchen runs its menu Monday to Saturday until 1pm, and it is worth arriving hungry. The line-up leans creative without losing sight of the classics. Sweet tooths are well looked after: there is creamy oats topped with plum poached pear, stewed rhubarb, brown sugar nut crumble and cream, and a brioche French toast stuffed with banana and butterscotch sauce, served with caramelised banana, biscuit crumb strawberry mascarpone and a hot chocolate maple syrup.
Savoury options go well beyond the usual smashed avo — though there is a very good version of that too. Smashed pumpkin arrives on sourdough with fried haloumi, roasted baby carrots, pickled red onion, pistachio dukkah, candied pepitas and dual green herb tahini and feta dressings. The Mexican masala benedict pairs three-bean masala beans and grilled cheddar with soft poached eggs and a smoky paprika hollandaise.
Traditionalists are covered as well. Eggs benedict comes gluten free, with thick-cut champagne ham, potato gratin and wholegrain mustard hollandaise — or with sauteed spinach and slow-roasted tomato for vegetarians. The Tartan Breakfast is the full works: eggs your way, bacon, kransky sausage, slow-roasted tomatoes, creamy potato gratin, a mini croissant and house-made relish.
Smaller appetites can choose eggs your way on multigrain or sourdough, a grilled cheese toastie with field mushrooms, provolone, pesto and rocket on brioche, or a toasted bagel in three styles — peanut butter and banana with housemade jam, smoked salmon with caper berries and rocket, or caprese with melted mozzarella, tomato and pesto. Vegetarian dishes are marked throughout the menu, and a gluten-free bakery loaf is available for toast dishes.
Brunch may bring people through the door, but cakes are what Tartan Rose is built around. The team specialises in hand-iced cakes in amazing and unique flavours, and the cakery side of the business extends to dedicated cake and catering services. For anyone marking a birthday, wedding or workplace milestone, it is a natural first port of call in New Plymouth for a cake that looks as good as it tastes.
Pair that with the deli offering and the made-from-scratch kitchen, and you get a cabinet and menu where very little arrives from elsewhere — the relish is house-made, the jam is house-made, and the cooking leans on whatever produce is in season.
Tartan Rose opens Monday to Saturday from 7:30am until 2:30pm and closes on Sundays, so plan brunch for a weekday or Saturday morning. The menu is served until 1pm, so earlier visits get the full range. You will find the cafe at 326 Devon Street East in Strandon, and can call 06 757 2933 or email [email protected] to discuss cakes or catering.
Whether you come for a plate of French toast, a gluten-free benedict or a hand-iced celebration cake, Tartan Rose keeps the focus where it should be: beautiful food, made from scratch, in the heart of New Plymouth.