Latte Lab Cafe & Eatery sits at 19/68 Marsden Road in Paihia, in the Far North, and holds a 4.8 rating on Google — a strong mark in a town with plenty of choice. In a Bay of Islands township, the measure of a good cafe is consistency: a flat white made as carefully in the January rush as on a wet winter Tuesday. Morning trade in towns like this builds early, with swimmers, walkers and boat trips to feed, so the better spots have the cabinet stocked and the machine warm before the day gets going. Regulars often look one street back from the waterfront, where the pace slows and the coffee is taken seriously; a cafe that stays busy with locals through the quiet months says a lot. On Paihia's main road, handy to the waterfront, Latte Lab Cafe & Eatery is well placed for the first coffee of a Bay of Islands day.