Soul Boul Cafe is a nourishing, sun-soaked cafe on Maunganui Road serving smoothie bowls, acai bowls, specialty coffee and wellness drinks in the heart of Mount Maunganui. Open from 7am to 3pm, seven days a week, it was born from a simple idea: bring the vibrant, nourishing cafe culture the founders fell in love with in Bali back home to New Zealand.
The story started with friends Alexandra Handcock and Stacey Horton, who met studying in Dunedin in 2015. After five summers serving from a gifted food truck, Soul Boul opened its first permanent home on the Mount's bustling Main Street in 2021. Community support carried them to a bigger space, and in 2024 into their first standalone cafe — the same year both founders welcomed babies into their families.
Today the menu centres on beautiful bowls — Snickers, Hello Yellow, Greenpeace and three acai varieties — alongside slow-cooked porridge, gourmet toast on Mount sourdough, focaccia toasties, protein smoothies and a creative drinks list of wellness lattes, ceremonial matcha and proper espresso coffee. It's a warm, family-minded space built around the motto "Eat Well. Together.", where locals, beachgoers and first-timers are all equally welcome.
Soul Boul Cafe has become one of Mount Maunganui's favourite spots for smoothie bowls, acai and specialty coffee. You'll find it at 143 Maunganui Road, open from 7am to 3pm every day of the week, serving fresh, nourishing food and good coffee just steps from the Mount's main strip.
The story begins with two friends. Alexandra Handcock and Stacey Horton met while studying in Dunedin in 2015, bonding over a shared love of wholesome food, health and wellness. The idea for Soul Boul took shape during a family trip to Bali, where Alex fell in love with the island's vibrant, nourishing cafe culture and set out to bring that feeling home to New Zealand.
A generous family friend believed in the vision and gifted the pair the use of a food truck, giving them the chance to test the dream without borrowing from the bank or their families. After five summers on the road, Soul Boul found its first permanent home in Mount Maunganui in 2021 — a tiny hole-in-the-wall cafe on the bustling Main Street.
Community support carried them through two more moves: first to a larger space around the corner when the little cafe grew too small, then, in 2024, into their first beautiful standalone cafe on Maunganui Road — a year that also saw both founders welcome babies into their families. That season reinforced what Soul Boul has always been about: balance, family, community, and a business that puts people first.
Smoothie bowls are the heart of the menu. Each one is finished with vanilla and raspberry granola, banana, Raglan coconut yoghurt, raspberries and coconut sugar. The Snickers Bowl layers peanut butter with Seleno Health organic cacao and maca powder, himalayan salt, banana and dates; Hello Yellow blends passionfruit, mango, vegan vanilla protein and marine collagen; and the Greenpeace Bowl packs in mango, spinach, spirulina and vegan pea protein.
The acai bowls are the crowd-pullers. Choose from Nutella with manuka choc nut granola and cacao nibs, the PB Acai Bowl made with Fix & Fogg peanut butter (a vegan version is available), or the fully plant-based Biscoff Acai Bowl, finished with biscoff crumb and freeze dried raspberries.
When the weather cools, the porridge — oats slow cooked in coconut milk with vanilla protein, cinnamon and coconut sugar — comes topped with options like Whittakers dark chocolate and peanut butter, poached pear with house-made salted caramel, or Dorris plums with house-made vegan custard.
Savoury cravings are covered too. Gourmet toast is served on Mount sourdough: one savoury with avocado, feta, cherry tomatoes, pickled onions, chilli and lemon, and one sweet with Fix & Fogg peanut butter, banana, raspberries and organic maple. Toasties come on focaccia, gluten-free on request, with fillings including the Hammy — champagne ham, cheddar, swiss cheese, pickles and house-made gherkin mayo — the Chicken Pesto, the truffle-kissed Mushy Truffle, and the plant-based Cashew Cheez.
Coffee is treated seriously, with flat whites, lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, piccolos and long blacks, plus soy, coconut, almond and oat milks. The wellness drinks menu is where Soul Boul gets creative: maca cacao with Flow State mushrooms, spiced cacao latte, turmeric latte, ceremonial grade matcha and Hakanoa chai. Over ice, try the Matcha Cloud with house-made maple salted foam, the iced strawberry matcha, or nut-butter iced lattes blended with Forty Thieves hazelnut or almond butter.
There's more beyond espresso: protein smoothies, premium ethically sourced teas, lemon and manuka honey ginger tea, Best of the Bone Broth, Dr. Buch kombucha and organic sparkling coconut water.
The ethos is simple: Eat Well. Together. Whether it's a post-beach acai bowl, a 7am flat white before the walk up the Mount, or a warming turmeric latte on a quiet morning, the team hopes you leave feeling more inspired than when you arrived. Order online to skip the queue, bring the kids — there's a kids hot chocolate and a fluffy on the menu — and settle into one of Mount Maunganui's warmest cafe experiences.