Clara Café Silverdale is the Silverdale branch of the Clara Group, a small family of Auckland cafés that also includes Clara Northwest and HARPER Mt Wellington. Found on Brian Smith Drive, it serves an all-day menu that stretches from big brunch plates and high tea through to burgers, pasta, salads and a genuinely deep drinks list — a café that works as well for a long weekend breakfast as for a late-afternoon catch-up.
The kitchen's calling cards are its all-day brunch dishes and its high tea. The Signature High Tea — an elegant selection of savoury and sweet treats — is available all day for two or more guests with no booking required, while the Grand High Tea adds an enhanced selection and a complimentary sparkling wine. Beyond that, expect eggs Benedict on hash browns, chilli scrambled eggs with Manchego, French toast crowned with candy floss, and the popular Clara Fried Chicken with its thin crackle crust in three flavours.
The drinks side is a real strength: coffee in several sizes, iced and specialty creations like the Biscoff latte and banoffee frappe, Harney & Sons teas, Panhead beers on tap, New Zealand wines and a short cocktail list. Table bookings are taken online, and the team is easy to reach by phone or email or via @ClaraCafeSilverdale on Facebook and Instagram.
Clara Café Silverdale sits on Brian Smith Drive in Silverdale, Auckland, and is part of the Clara Group — a small family of cafés that also runs Clara Northwest and HARPER Mt Wellington. The formula here is an all-day kitchen with a wide brief: brunch plates, high tea stands, burgers, pasta, salads and a drinks list that runs from flat whites to espresso martinis. It is the sort of café you can use for a big weekend breakfast, a working coffee, or a slow afternoon that drifts from high tea into a glass of Marlborough sauvignon blanc.
Brunch is the backbone of the menu, and it leans generous. The Clara Big Breakfast covers the full plate — eggs your way, toast, rosti, streaky bacon, beef sausage, grilled mushrooms and vine tomatoes — while the eggs Benedict arrives on English muffin and hash browns with a choice of mushrooms, free-range streaky bacon or house-smoked king salmon. There are chilli scrambled eggs lifted with spring onion, fried shallot, chilli oil and Manchego; mince on toast with a poached egg; an open omelet; corn and feta fritters; and creamy mushrooms with chorizo on sourdough. Sweet-toothed visitors tend to land on the French toast — brioche with caramelised banana, berry compote, maple syrup and candy floss — or the buttermilk pancakes.
High tea is a genuine signature. The Signature High Tea, an elegant selection of savoury and sweet treats, is available all day with no bookings required, though a minimum of two guests applies. For something more of an occasion, the Grand High Tea adds an enhanced selection and a complimentary sparkling wine, and the team recommends booking ahead for that one.
Later in the day the menu turns to mains: a house beef burger loaded with caramelised onion, bacon, cheese, fried egg, aioli and BBQ sauce; a crispy chicken burger with beetroot relish; beer-battered hoki with chips; calamari; pesto seafood pasta; and a beef mince pasta. The most talked-about plate is the Clara Fried Chicken — a thin, crackle crust with slaw, served in a choice of Secret Original, Soy & Garlic or Red Chilli Spicy. Salads are proper meals, from grilled prawn and Thai beef to a vegetarian Vietnamese rice noodle salad with cashews and crispy kumara, and the not-too-hungry list covers bao buns, bagels and a toasted sandwich with fries.
Coffee comes in several sizes, alongside iced classics and specialty creations — the Biscoff latte, iced dolce latte, iced French maple latte, banoffee frappe, strawberry matcha frappe and blueberry peanut crunch among them. Smoothies, frappuccinos, milkshakes and Harney & Sons teas fill out the non-alcoholic side, with sparkling iced teas and a feijoa and lemon fantasy for something fizzy.
When the afternoon stretches on, there are tap beers including Estrella Damm, Heineken and Panhead's Supercharger APA, Rat Rod Hazy IPA and Port Road Pilsner, plus Somersby apple and pear ciders. The wine list is heavily New Zealand — Kopiko Bay, Babydoll, Kim Crawford, Squealing Pig, Brancott Estate — and the cocktail list is short and classic: mojito, mimosa, Aperol spritz and espresso martini.
Table bookings can be made through the booking page on the Clara Group website. Dishes made with gluten-free ingredients are marked GFI on the menu, alongside vegetarian and vegan callouts, and soy, almond, coconut and oat milk are available for coffee. Because the kitchen is small and busy, the team asks guests to mention any allergies to their server — foods are prepared to order in shared areas, so cross-contact cannot be fully ruled out.
Younger visitors have their own options, including a kids' hot chocolate and a fluffy. You can follow the café at @ClaraCafeSilverdale on Facebook and Instagram, email [email protected], or call 021 210 4475. Whether you come for the high tea, the fried chicken or simply a long coffee, it is a relaxed, well-stocked neighbourhood café doing a bit of everything — and doing it at all hours of the day.