Essence Cafe is a café on Bank Street in Regent, Whangārei, and its main draw is a hidden courtyard behind the dining room, which is sunny on a fine day. The cafe also takes reservations, which suits catch-ups and small business meetings, and it does catering for groups. One customer booked it for a 60th anniversary with 40 guests, and said the food was plentiful, with gluten-free options.
The cabinet holds paninis, rolls, savouries, quiches, wraps and sweet treats, all baked and prepared in the cafe's own kitchen. Breakfast and lunch are served all day from the main menu. Opening hours on the website are Tuesday to Friday, 7am to 2:30pm, with Saturday and Sunday open until 5pm. The cafe delivers through DoorDash and Uber Eats. Customers say the coffee and the sausage roll are good, the staff are friendly and the atmosphere is quiet, and one mentions that dogs are welcome with pup cups. Open Locally lists 11 other cafés within a kilometre, and the nearest are Lieto Gelato Cafe and Fat Camel Cafe, both 0.1 km away, followed by KofeKai Cafe and Brew'd Coffee Bar at 0.2 km.