The setting has no street appeal, Eiffel en Eden occupies a large shed alongside a bed factory. It backs onto a large hole in the ground where gravel has been quarried for so long that the entire neighbourhood has fallen measurably because the soil is drying out from the water that is pumped out of the hole! However, the decor is good, light and airy with the food cabinets as the focus. It was a nice morning, so we sat outside and people-watched, lots of folk come for a takeaway from the patisserie.

Coffee: Not bad. My long black came (bonus points) with a separate jug of hot water (though a steel jug which cooled quickly - so less bonus). The beans are (I believe) from Atomic roasters, which I think are among the best. However, the brew though rich was slightly bitter. So overall, not really good, but not bad either.

Food: could do better - but maybe we could have chosen better. Perhaps, judging by the takeaway clients, we should have chosen patisserie.

But I didn't. I chose bacon and eggs. The bacon fat (it was streaky bacon so lots of fat) was not crisp, but soggy white. The eggs were OK, though the yolks were only semi-soft and I do like a really gooey yolk over my spinach and toast. The toast was some soft bread, perhaps corn bread, which did not offer the crispness that poached eggs need. (It would have been better to toast rounds of baguette...)

I am not convinced by the patisserie claim though, because Barbara says her croissant was cold (as in straight from the chill-cabinet) and "not quite as good as the ones from the Vietnamese baker up the road" - he's almost on the corner where Mt Eden meets Duke St, or Landscape Rd, and his baguettes and croissants are superb). However, the patisserie cabinet did look mouthwatering, and all those takeaway people must know something...

Maybe it's a case of good pastry chef, let down by poor service? Or maybe we'll try it again and take away a different impression...