The Perc Cafe

It was a rainy April morning, and Dunedin was wrapped in one of its signature mists. A perfect day to seek comfort and breakfast at The Percs turned out to be just that. The place offers a cozy, welcoming vibe, ideal for easing into the day. I went with “The One”—a hearty plate featuring toasted ciabatta, hashbrowns, grilled tomatoes, and a perfectly poached egg, topped with a tangy barbecue sauce. Simple, satisfying, and well put together. The menu has plenty of other tempting options too: a delightful frittata, various styles of toast served with eggs or bacon, rich chowder soups, and a selection of freshly baked pastries. And of course—the coffee. A real highlight. The Percs serves a thoughtful selection of beans, with brews that are both flavorful and smooth. Whether you’re into a bold espresso or something more mellow, the quality shines through. Overall, it’s an easy 5 out of 5. The food is genuinely enjoyable—especially the frittata and chowder. The coffee adds that extra touch. Service is warm and attentive, and the ambiance fits perfectly with a misty Dunedin morning. Visitors will likely enjoy the atmosphere just as much as the breakfast.

Busy busy we got there 1 minute after tbey opened and it was nearly a full house! This speaks volumes when another Cafe is only 10 metres away. My Coffee was first rate and breakfast was excellent, when next we are in Dunedin we won't be shopping around for breakfast anymore this is the only destination. Bacon was a highlight not wafer thin and certainly did not appear to be from a supermarket. Zero complaints but endless compliments!

Only came for eggs benne and that’s exactly what I got, it tasted as it should - perfect. Although the bread just needed to be a bit bigger as I had more leftover eggs and bacon than bread but otherwise it was great. Love the interior of this place, could do with more tables by taking out one of the larger ones but what would I know.

Great cafe, we visited twice during our stay in Dunedin. Vegetarian friendly with lots of options, really great coffee. Everyone I visited with enjoyed their meal. Also the staff were really friendly. Worth waiting for a table.

Perc Café comes highly recommended by the i site, but our breakfast experience was mixed. - Food: - Salmon Bagel:Basic and slightly dry, lacking the wow factor. - Eggs Benedict: Average, with a pale and flavorless hollandaise sauce. - French Toast: A standout! The best we’ve had – a perfect combination of berries, mascarpone, poached pear, and nougat. A must-try. - Drinks: - Latte:Decent but unremarkable. - Mocha: Watery and served cold, disappointing for a café of this reputation. - Ambience:Simple and functional, but nothing extraordinary. Overall, while most items were underwhelming, the French Toast is worth the visit. A little extra attention to the other menu items could elevate the ambience.

The Perc Cafe was started in 2007. The intension of owners to open the cafe was with fancy Tea n baking stuff. But later on due to popularity they started with full breakfast menu😊 Well I had been to cafe and was so impressed with the interior. This place has a good vibe with good food. I ordered Chilli scrambled eggs 🍳which were very delicious.Then I ordered curly fries with airoli 🍟which was surprisingly good as well.Also had tried Strawberry milk shake🧋which i belive was fine. But overall I had good time here❤️

We ordered soup of the day and egg benedict. The food is nice and soup portion is bigger than we thought.

Average food & ok coffee. The staff behind the counter was friendly. A waiter who brought the hot cooked meal asked if we were waiting on anything else, to which we replied YES, but left without a follow up question and we thought she was going in to check. We waited for a while. After asking another waiter to check for the smoked salmon & cream cheese on bagel, it was brought out 15 minutes later but on a cold toasted bagel.

Fresh lox on a bagel, a strong pull in my latte, unlimited savory and sweet homemade treats, and friendly staff.

This place is great. I was sitting outside and a random seagal came and grabbed my food right out of my hand. A waitress immediately came to help and offered me another bagel. Super thoughtful and nice of them. The food and ambience were so good too! Great baked goods and coffee as well with good WiFi.

Big fan of this cafe. Enjoyed a nice oat milk flat white and the Vege breakfast. The Veg was perfectly portioned and I loved the charred tomatoes. Would recommend popping in!

The Perc is a wonderful coffee shop with excellent food and coffee. It's a small, comfortable, bright-from-natural-light place, with warm, friendly, patient staff members. The decent-sized menu has a good variety of options. One note: The coffee menu is on the board on the wall above the staff area. I mention this just in case you too don't look around and instead wonder why a New Zealand coffee shop -- all of which take great pride in their coffee -- only has "coffee, tea, chocolate" for the hot drinks on the paper menu. (Fortunately, I phrased my question a little more benignly when asking about the coffee options, and the staff only laughed -with- me -- I think... -- when they pointed out the big board I'd missed.)

Free wifi, funky Melbourne style decor, happy staff and some darn fine baked goods. This place has all the things I love about cafe life. A big menu with some fancy writing sits high above the coffee machine. Making it easy for customers to know what to order before getting to the front of the line. We stopped by for an express brunch before hitting the road home. Little did we know that it was coffee o'clock in Dunedin. The staff here happily took orders and pushed the line through with great efficiency. Despite our funny accents and confusion of New Zealand coffee sizes and etiquette we still ended up with a great result. The coffees were served at a typical Kiwi hot. Note to self-ask for warm coffee next time. No burnt milk and the AllPress beans were served up perfectly. A super delicious pinwheel/scroll/thing was full of bacon, spinach, Spanish onion. A recipe I'd love to get my hands on.

Very yum food, however forgot about milkshake so had to ask them to bring it over. Everything was delicious would recommend

Good food. It's kind of busy in there though. Funky and cute decor. I had the cold oat muesli thing (whatever they were called), and honestly was underwhelmed because it wasn't what I expected as an American. Seriously though, whatever breakfast my husband had was so good.

A wonderfully friendly and welcoming cafe just off the Octagon. The staff are amazing, the coffee is excellent and they offer a variety of tasty dishes to eat while planning out the day.

Excellent food - my poached eggs on five grain toast with tomato and mushrooms were excellent. Coffee was good but inconsistent. Two "trim lattes" were at opposite ends of the spectrum so far as strength was concerned but I enjoyed both. My friends loved their avo smashes and a request for a well-done poached egg was handled perfectly. Service was a tad slow but, hey, I just got in from Sydney :-) Oh, did I mention free wi-fi? A valuable commodity in NZ!

The Perc is located just steps from the Octagon in a great downtown location. It is also one of the earliest open breakfast joints in Dunedin, as my friends and I were looking to have a light meal before heading to the Cadbury Factory Tour at 9 am. We strolled into the Perc a little before 8 and were greeted by a funky little cafe atmosphere and smiling faces. We sat at a four top (they also had a communal table and comfy chair options) and stared at the loaded breakfast menu. Three of us ordered the Avo Smash which was basically an Avocado Eggs Benedict, and probably one of the best breakfasts I've had in a while. They don't skimp on the avocado either! We all ordered different coffee variations which came out one at a time about 5 minutes after we ordered them. Our breakfasts were nowhere to be seen by the time we had all finished our coffees, which is why I have to dock the star - there were only 6 people total in the whole place and it took 35 minutes to get our food. If you're not in a rush and looking for a filling breakfast, this is definitely a great place to check out.

Went here for a coffee after the dawn parade, got a mocha, not as hot or as chocolatey as I'd like it. Still pretty good though, and food I've had here in the past has been A+

I hadn't been here in 7 years and it used to be great. This time, not so good. My coffee tasted funny - my daughter said the same about hers.