Cube Bakery & Cafe is a small, family-run bakery on Taranaki Street in Mount Cook, Wellington, that has been quietly perfecting the art of the celebration since 2007. Its founding philosophy still anchors everything it does: everybody deserves to celebrate their birthday and enjoy a happy time. True to that spirit, the shop's shelves and online catalogue span classic birthday cakes, customised themed cakes, Chinese desserts, mooncakes, and a dedicated catering line, all presented bilingually in English and Chinese for the community it has served for nearly two decades. The bakery is best known for its cakes — made to order for birthdays and special occasions — but its Chinese dessert range has earned a loyal following too. Think flaky wife and husband cookies, Taiwanese pineapple cookies, black sesame and walnut pastries, chewy red bean mochi, taro yuanbao, and delicate Japanese-style wagashi, alongside Basque and New York cheesecakes, pistachio cheesecake, coconut tarts and banana ganache crunch. Seasonal ranges, like Mid-Autumn mooncakes and Christmas treat boxes, keep the catalogue moving through the year. Open seven days a week from 9:00am to 6:00pm, Cube Bakery & Cafe welcomes walk-ins for everyday breads and pastries, takes custom cake orders by phone or email, and runs its full product range through its online store, with card, contactless and UnionPay payment options available.
On a quiet stretch of Taranaki Street in Mount Cook, a short walk south of central Wellington, Cube Bakery & Cafe has spent close to two decades doing one thing with real devotion: making beautiful cakes. It opened in 2007 around a simple philosophy its owners still repeat today — everybody deserves to celebrate their birthday and enjoy a happy time. That idea shapes the whole shop. This is a bakery built for celebrations, large and small, and it treats a single after-work pastry with the same care as a hundredth-birthday centrepiece.
Birthday cakes sit at the heart of the business. Alongside classic birthday cakes, the bakery takes on themed and customised designs, so a cake can be built around a favourite colour, character or idea. Orders are arranged directly with the shop — by phone, email or through the online catalogue — which makes it easy to plan a party cake without visiting in person first.
True to its bilingual English–Chinese presentation, the bakery has long served Wellington's Chinese community alongside the wider city, and the range reflects that. The cabinets hold Western-style bakes and the pastries of Chinese teatime side by side, with seasonal ranges — mooncakes at Mid-Autumn, festive treats at Christmas — marking the calendar through the year.
The Chinese desserts range is where Cube is most distinctive. There are flaky wife cookies and husband cookies, sold as a playful pair; Taiwanese-style pineapple cookies; fragrant black sesame pastries; crumbly walnut cookies; and melon pastries. Chewier pleasures include sweet red bean mochi and taro yuanbao, shaped like the traditional gold ingot, plus delicate Japanese-style wagashi — chestnut and matcha versions come boxed in fours, and a twenty-piece wagashi giftbox makes an effortless gift.
Western-leaning treats fill the rest of the cabinet: Basque and New York cheesecakes, pistachio cheesecake, coconut tarts, a banana ganache crunch, and mixed nut chocolate. Around the holidays, the kitchen adds hazelnut tarts and Christmas party treat boxes, so the range keeps moving with the seasons rather than standing still.
For larger gatherings, the Petit Love Catering line gathers party and reception treats — petit bites suited to functions, work do's and family celebrations. Gifting is covered too, with curated boxes such as the Four Seasons Giftbox and the Joy Love Phoenix Giftbox assembling assortments of the bakery's pastries in presentation packaging.
Day to day, the bread and pastry range covers the everyday side: breads and Western-style pastries for morning tea and lunchboxes. The full catalogue is browseable online at cubebakery.co.nz, where each collection — from themed cakes to Chinese desserts — can be seen before you visit or get in touch.
Practical details are straightforward. The shop keeps consistent hours, opening at 9:00am and closing at 6:00pm every day of the week, so an after-work pickup is as easy as a weekend one. Payment is by card across the major networks — Visa, Mastercard and American Express, plus UnionPay — with Apple Pay and Google Pay also accepted.
Cube Bakery & Cafe sits at 240 Taranaki Street, Mount Cook, within easy reach of the central city, and can be reached on 04 801 9080 or by email at [email protected] for custom cake enquiries, catering and orders.
Nearly twenty years in, the shop's founding thought still reads as its promise: everybody deserves to celebrate their birthday and enjoy a happy time. Whether you arrive to collect a custom cake or leave with a single pineapple cookie, that is the spirit you are buying into — a neighbourhood bakery that has quietly made Wellington's celebrations sweeter since 2007.