Its name, Maison 8, may suggest an upscale French restaurant, but it has fairly standard café fare, with a touch of finesse, at standard prices.

What really makes it though, is the setting: a nice two-story house with shrubbery partially covering the windows which inside gives the feel of being in the middle of a garden; a principle we use.

You see it on the left just after crossing the Waikanae river bridge on the old SH1 when heading north, and is within an easy walk of the railway station.