Tastebud Cafe is a cafe at 382 Ngati Maru Hwy, Thames, in the Thames-Coromandel district, rated 4.0 on Google. A good New Zealand cafe stands or falls by its coffee, and the flat white is the usual test — regulars tend to judge a place within the first cup. Cabinet food matters just as much in a small town: slices, filled rolls and pies are the everyday backbone, and the best of it tends to be gone by mid-afternoon, which is why locals turn up early. A small-town cafe also doubles as the local meeting place, so the tables where regulars cluster in the morning are usually a fair sign of honest coffee. On the highway at the edge of Thames, Tastebud Cafe is a natural stop whether you're headed into town or out along the peninsula.