Lunch Bar Coffee is a cafe on McLean Street in Waitara, in the New Plymouth district, holding a 4.3 rating from 207 Google reviews; its Facebook page, under the name SHolmes Coffee & More, is the place to check for updates. In small-town New Zealand, the lunch bar that also pours a proper flat white is a local institution, and it lives or dies on two things: coffee consistency and cabinet freshness. The machine needs to be dialled in each morning — a regular notices within a cup or two if the grind has drifted. Cabinet food — pies, filled rolls, sandwiches — is best judged by turnover, because a busy counter at midday means nothing sits around long. The regulars' trick is to arrive just before the rush, when the choice is full and the wait is short. On Waitara's McLean Street, Lunch Bar Coffee serves that role for locals and anyone passing through north Taranaki.