New Zealand Herald

Reviews for Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar

by Chloe F.
2nd May 2013

Having caught wind of this place via Facebook, we made a special trip up from Waiuku just to check this place out – and it didn’t disappoint!

I don’t usually write reviews on places, but I like that the owner takes the time to read them, so here is some constructive feedback:

In short; the cookies were great. We tried 3 different flavours. They were not “dry, bland, flavourless or overpriced” as some reviews on here state. The texture was beautiful and they tasted wholesome and home-baked. The pricing seems appropriate so long as you are making profit. When you consider cafe prices, $3.50 for a cookie would be about standard. Keep it up!

The appeal of the hot chocolate was better than the actual hot chocolate itself. I like the idea of the chocolate-milk method, but milk and chocolate separate when combined like this.

(side note to owners): Schoc in Wellington used to do a good one where they used powdered chocolate and then put a square of their flavoured chocolate in the bottom of the cup. It came with a steel spoon/straw so that you could drink the melted chocolate. I much prefered this style personally and think it would improve the drink a lot.

The venue looks awesome; though yes, it is too small (and I felt “cramped” as opposed to “cosy”). It was quite busy when we were there. However, being that it is in the center of the city and the business has been started from scratch, people going there and enjoying the cookies is the only thing that will help it grow.

So don’t let the reviews on here hold you back – head on down and enjoy a delicious cookie and a glass of milk!

by Emma
20th April 2013

I love the cookies and the atmosphere of this place !
The chocolate chip cookies with plain milk to dunk them in was the best, the cookies were perfectly warm and made to perfection !
We Will defently be comming back here again soon, as it is much better and high quality than any other cookie place around. And I actually thought the price was quite reasonable .
Perfect way to spend a rainy day!

by Sarah H.
27th March 2013

Moustache is the best place in town! I have nearly had one of everything they offer… freshly baked cookies, coffee, ice cream sandwich, huge milkshakes, and tea. (I am drooling now!!!) awesome service too, all the staff are so lovely! Flavour of the week is always good… hot cross bun tastes like the real thing! all the cookies I have had were delicious, moist and chewy… even hours after baked. MMMM.. The milkshakes are full of flavour! Cookies and cream is my favourite!

by Lizzie
26th March 2013

I think this place is a little overrated. Sure, the cookies look incredibly yummy, but in reality they are quite mediocre: bland and on the dry side, especially for the price. For $3.50 I can bake a dozen amazing cookies at home.
However there was one particular cookie that stood out more – the Red Velvet one, which I suppose was the Valentine’s Day special. It was quite nice.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 28/03/2013    Hide »

Heya Lizzie! Really respect your opinion & would love to invite…    More »

Heya Lizzie! Really respect your opinion & would love to invite you to our kitchen and learn from you. You say you can bake a dozen cookies for $3.50 which is pretty amazing considering one block of butter costs $5 and a block of Whittakers chocolate (what we use – we use one entire row of Whittakers per chocolate chunk cookie) costs $4.30 at the supermarket. So I’d love to learn how you make an entire dozen cookies for under $3.50 (remember we have to pay thousands of dollars in rent and wages – we don’t believe in minimum wage here either!) We also don’t use eggs from caged chickens and some of the most expensive cocoas (premium dutch cocoa). You are always entitled to your opinion but we have hundreds of regular customers coming in every week who religiously come back over and over again because they love the high quality ingredients and the freshness of the cookies. I hope you have a wonderful week Lizzie, ciao bella x

by Meghan W.
5th March 2013

I’ve been here on quite a few occasions and had the cookies. I know people say they are a bit expensive ($3.50), but these cookies are the best I’ve ever had, and i think they are worth the $3.50 (unless you want to have multiple cookies in a day, everyday).

They are always VERY fresh, and the oreo marshmallow one is my favourite. Considering that if you go to a cafe, you could be paying up to $4 for a cookie that has been in a jar for months, I don’t see a problem with the price.

The milkshakes are a bit bland though, and I do think they are a bit too expensive. The flavours on the menu sound really great and tempting, but the taste just isn’t really there.

But all in all I think if you are in the area and just want a little treat this is the best place to go, much much better than mrs higgins

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 22/03/2013    Hide »

Thanks Meghan, it means a lot when people write their thoughts out…    More »

Thanks Meghan, it means a lot when people write their thoughts out I’m glad you like our fresh cookies – we have a policy to only serve cookies that we bake that same day and anything leftover is donated to Auckland City Mission. Will look into the milkshakes and keep trying to perfect them – you should try the chocolate or banana one – they are to die for and are explosive in flavour. We use Kohu Road Ice cream for those shakes which is one of the most premium brands of ice cream you can buy ($20 a litre in supermarket!) and do not use syrups or powders in our shakes. We try to only use real products e.g real oreos in our cookies & cream, a block of real aero peppermint chocolate in our Aero milkshake etc etc.

But all in all, we’re constantly striving for improvement and wanting to be the best we can be. We love having you in the shop and really value your opinion. Much love, Team Mo xx

by Lena
16th February 2013

Decided to pay a visit after hearing all the hype and having my interest piqued from the boom in boutique bakeries with cupcakes and the like. Obviously the decor is adorable and makes you feel like you’re in New York and not dinghy Wellesley Street, it’s worth a visit just to check out the fun use of milk bottles as interiors.

I guess I didn’t visit earlier because I’m not really a sweet tooth to begin with but it’s in a convenient location so I wandered in and bought a chocolate and marshmallow cookie. Surprisingly it wasn’t sweet at all, and I don’t eat sweet things very often so it’s not like I’m desensitized to sugar or anything.. however I’m not entirely sure whether that’s a fault or a plus? I think they cut down the sugar in the cookie batter because the marshmallows were in there but the cookie part was almost entirely flavorless, only a vague hint of cocoa. I think it was a good idea to balance out the sugar but a cookie can be chocolatey without being sweet. The experience was sort of like I was eating a crunchy marshmallow.

I really like that the owner reads the reviews on here and interacts with her customers, there is something very sincere and admirable about that. The concept of this place is super cute and it seems most people love it. I still haven’t tried their beverages so I’ll come back soon for those and another cookie.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 5/03/2013    Hide »

Hey Lena! Thanks heaps for the feedback – really loved that you…    More »

Hey Lena! Thanks heaps for the feedback – really loved that you took the time to come on here and write! Just as a side note, the cookie in question is an “Oreo Marshmallow” and is specifically made for the customers who keep asking for “cookies without chocolate” in them which is why it isn’t too sweet and chocolatey. We also use one of the most expensive cocoas around (premium dutch cocoa) so I’m sorry you felt it was not cocoa-y enough! Will look into it! Thanks again for visiting x

by Raina S.
2nd February 2013

I absolutely love everything about Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar. I am obsessed with the snickers cookies, the cinnamon cookies… you know what, I could go on.

I adore the salted caramel milkshake, and I love that their mochas are made with REAL chocolate – and it’s your choice or white, milk, or dark chocolate. YUM. No syrups or powders here, only the real deal! I have heard amazing things about the nutella and cookies & cream milkshakes, though I am itching to taste the peppermint aero milkshake – OMG.

For people who comment that Mrs Higgins & Subways Cookies are cheaper… obviously they’re not using Whittakers chocolate in their cookies, Green Valley milk, quality butter, flour, etc. And! They sell by far the best gluten free cookies I have ever tasted.

The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, and care about the product and their customers. The owner is super passionate and simply a wonderful person, I love her drive and determination to put out the best tasting, freshest cookies around.

Cannot recommend them highly enough.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 22/03/2013    Hide »

Thanks Raina, people like you are the reason that we are here…    More »

Thanks Raina, people like you are the reason that we are here today. Every week we see hundreds of wonderful customers who understand what it means to use only cage-free eggs, NZ Whittakers Chocolate, premium dutch cocoa and understand that we do NOT believe in paying minimum wage and of course, have to pay city rent prices. Business in NZ is such a hard task but truly, it is the support from our loyal customers that make us want to keep doing the hard-yards. Much love and respect, Team Moustache x

by Bonnie M.
1st February 2013

I had a milkshake and was excited by the different combinations you could choose from! It was a really nice milkshake, I had the nutella one, although it just didn’t have enough of a flavour kick for the price.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 1/02/2013    Hide »

Hello Bonnie! We have tested the nutella shake numerous times with…    More »

Hello Bonnie! We have tested the nutella shake numerous times with different levels of nutella to give it that flavour kick – and many people commented that when too much nutella is used, it becomes far too sweet and were unable to finish it. It’s sometimes hard striking that perfect balance! Thanks so much for the feedback – I will keep it in mind & consider redoing the product testing on a wider sample of test people. Cheer

by NomNomPanda
18th December 2012

Great concept, great decor, great location. However, agree with the previous reviewers that the food just wasn’t exceptional enough to justify the price. I tried the salted caramel milkshake and peanut butter milkshake ($7.50 each) – both were milky and sugary and didn’t have the flavour explosions that you can find, say, in Wellington’s Fidel or Sweet Mother’s Kitchen. Equally, the cookies looked amazing and I was tempted by the oreo and marshmallow cookie and the Snickers cookie ($3.50 each, down from $4 each when this shop opened). They were nice and chewy, but to be honest, I prefer Mrs. Higgin’s cookies down the road for less money. Also, as others have mentioned, there isn’t really space for sitting in this “bar”, unless the outside little table is free…

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 1/02/2013    Hide »

Yello NomNom! Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to…    More »

Yello NomNom! Thanks for the feedback and for taking the time to write it! We do have 3 seats at the bar area at the counter, 3 seats in the window and 2 seats outside. We only sell milk & cookies so unfortunately can’t really justify having a huge cafe with lots of seats! Maybe in the future! Thanks again, ciao! x

by Nat S.
4th December 2012

I got a choc chunk and peanut butter cookie ice cream sandwich, YUM. The chocolate was all fresh and gooey and the peanut butter filling inside was so good with the ice cream. Very delicious & the staff are super friendly. Amazing hot chocolates!! They put an entire slab of Whittaker’s Chocolate inside…drool.

by Gary M.
30th November 2012

Awesome service, cool decor. Try the choc chunk fresh out of the oven…amazing.

by Cath M.
12th October 2012

I tried the cookies and cream milk shake and holy moly it was the best milkshake i’ve ever had, hands down!

Also tried the choc chip cookie as recommended by one of the friendly staff and that was amazing!

Bit on the pricey side but would definitely go back as the quality of ingredients is obviously high!

Bit disappointed there was no where my partner and I could sit – maybe in the future

by Leah
4th October 2012

Was keen to support young people doing some good stuff, so was really excited to visit. I turned up, the decor was awesome, the place is really well put together, except for the “bar” bit? Where was it? Nowhere. Atmosphere was a little lacking. The music was very very quiet over the fact that we were all squished in there like canned bananas. I expected some kind of cookie aroma to lead me there, but no aroma, no coffee scents either.

I bought 2 cookies, one cinnamon and one choc marshmallow and a Nutella milkshake. Price, not too bad for a boutiquey place, as long as they were mind explodingly good. Unfortunately the cookies weren’t very good – looked awesome, taste not so awesome. I mean, great imaginative flavours, but they were a little average for the price. Sorry to say, Subway does better cookies. The novelty of Mrs Higgins down the road is that they’re hot and smell awesome, not just some baking in a jar as well as being scrumptious. Milkshake, a little on the average side which was a let down.

I feel like you guys have relied a little too much on the kitschy aesthetics to sell the product rather than the actual atmosphere and quality of the goods. Otherwise, friendly people behind the counter.

by Nikki S.
3rd October 2012

Was pretty excited to go there when i found out about it.

However the cookies were very over priced and were not kept in a warmer or anything. The 4 cookies I got tasted average and weren’t warm or soft really. Much prefer Higgins or subway.

The milk shake was good, however again very expensive.

The dunking milk was just poured out of a milk container, no authentic milk jar or anything which was disappointing.

The worst part I think is the location. It’s silly to call something a ‘bar’ when it has practically 2 seats to sit in, so you pretty much have to take away… which isn’t good for wanting to dunk biscuits..

Overall, definitely not up to expectation. Will not be going there again.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 3/10/2012    Hide »

Hello Nikki! Thanks so much for your feedback, always love to…    More »

Hello Nikki! Thanks so much for your feedback, always love to improve and hear opinions!

Because cookies have egg, chocolate and butter inside it is not hygienic or food safe to keep them in a warmer otherwise the cookies will go bad. We also cannot put warm cookies inside the cookie jars as soft cookies straight from the oven break and crack. Our staff are very happy to heat up cookies for you:) we bake on site every day so also feel free to ask staff which cookies are being baked at thE moment, we would love to help!

I’m so sorry your milk was poured out of a container – we do pour from glass milk bottles but because we go through about 60 liters of milk each day, sometimes we cannot refill the glass containers fast enough. We endeavour to pour as many as possible out of glass jars however.

I also apologies for our small premise! I wish it were bigger but Moustache is a very small NZ business which is a result of me working 3 jobs to save for – hopefully in the future I can afford a bigger space!

Thank you SO much for popping in and giving us a chance, we are two weeks into opening and will strive to keep improving and coping with the unexpected demand. Your feedback is important to me.

Warmest regards,
Deanna

by Jam T.
29th September 2012

I went to Moustache Cookie Bar on Thursday and I absolutely fell in love with the place! Its decor is adorable and you can tell that the management is working really hard. The staff were friendly and the service was excellent.

I had 2 cookies (cinnamon + Oreo & Marshmallow) and a hot chocolate and all were delicious! The cookies are huge so I think $4 is pretty decent! This will definitely become a regular stop for me whenever I’m in town. Would 100% recommend popping in!

by Nicky
28th September 2012

Was excited about trying this place, but the price is way too much. I’m pretty sure I got 2 Mrs Higgins cookies for $3.60 the other day. I wouldn’t pay $4 for a cookie, and it wasn’t that big, just flat so looks big.

Good ratio of chocolate chunks to dough though.

Perhaps the prices will come down when the business is more established.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 22/03/2013    Hide »

Kia Ora Nicky! Thanks so much for your feedback!! I truly love…    More »

Kia Ora Nicky! Thanks so much for your feedback!! I truly love hearing from people whether it is good or bad feedback. You came by during our first week of opening when we were only sleeping 1-2 hours a night and had to increase the price of our cookies due to having people in the shop baking 20+ hours a day to keep up with demand. We make our cookies fresh on site everyday by hand NOT on a production line in factories like some other business do. We only use NZ Whittakers chocolate (not cheap compound choc like other businesses) and we do not use caged chicken eggs. We also are not a takeaway shop/fast food shop – we are a niche cookie shop offering a new flavour every week such as lemon meringue cookie, creme brulee cookie or blueberry pancake cookie. We also do not believe in paying our staff minimum wage. If you would like mass-produced factory food – that is your prerogative. But that is not what we do and we only use expensive ingredients so therefore we cannot be as cheap as Mrs Higgins. I am really sorry for your disappointment but the only other options would be to 1) make no money and shut down or 2) use cheap ingredients and pay our staff poorly. I do also hope you would realise in the kindness in your heart that you came in our first week of trading & that running a business isn’t as simple as that – you can’t use expensive products and charge next to nothing. Hope you are well Nicky – have a wonderful week! Team Mo x

by Barb C.
27th September 2012

After seeing an article in Metro about Moustache I thought I would try them out. I usually buy Mrs Higgins which I cannot fault. At Moustache there were only 6 varieties and the two I bought were White Macadamia and M&M. I have to say that I did not think they looked as good and felt that the texture was also not as good as Mrs Higgins and at $4 each found them a bit pricey. So sorry Moustache I will be going back to Mrs Higgins as they are always consistently good and love the variety.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 22/03/2013    Hide »

Apologies that we only had 6 varieties of cookies – you came in…    More »

Apologies that we only had 6 varieties of cookies – you came in our first 2 weeks of opening when we were literally working 23 hour days to meet demand. We make a new cookie every week for our customers – such as our lemon meringue cookie, creme brulee cookie, blueberry pancake cookie. From my knowledge, I don’t think any other small business in NZ has this type of sophisticated variety of cookie and we do not make cookies on a production line in factories such as other businesses – we only hand make our cookies. I do hope you are well Barb, I always love hearing feedback from customers! Please remember that you came in our first week of trading when we were sleeping only 1-2 hours a day. Warmest regards, Deanna

by Kathryn W.
25th September 2012

Was excited about the cookies – until I saw the price $4…
Like another customer mentioned, subway cookies you can get for way less. Even Ma Higgin cookies are cheaper.

Not enough flavour in the Nutella one

Friend purchased strawberry milk for $1.5 – which tasted like Primo… Definitely need to review the price even if trying to break even and even if it’s starting out. Because the scary thing for customers is that the price would only go up from now on… and it would be madness paying anything more than $4 for a cookie.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 22/03/2013    Hide »

Hey Kit! Thanks for popping by. You came by during our first week…    More »

Hey Kit! Thanks for popping by. You came by during our first week of opening and therefore we were only sleeping 1-2 hours a night and we had to increase the price of our cookies due to having 3x labour costs to keep up with demand. They are $3.50 a cookie usually. Please remember we do not use factories like other businesses do – we make our cookies fresh on site everyday. We only use NZ Whittakers chocolate (not compound choc like other businesses) and we do not use caged chicken eggs. We also are not a takeaway shop/fast food shop like the others you mentioned above – we are a niche cookie shop with people who care about you serving you. If you would like mass-produced factory food – that is completely fine. But unfortunately, that is not what we do here and we only use expensive ingredients so therefore we cannot be as cheap as Subway. I do hope you are having a wonderful start to the year – really loved reading your feedback Much love, Deanna

by Johann O.
18th September 2012

Decided to try this place out amid much fanfare and hype, and I must say my personal experience was an ambivalent one. Their flagship items, the cookies themselves, are excellent. Generous sizes and a decent range (although this will hopefully be expanded upon in future). Soft, chewy, the perfect texture and taste, they simply cannot be faulted. Their drinks on the other hand are appalling and severely limit my overall rating for this place. The milkshakes are tasteless and overpriced, and the less said about the hot chocolate, the better. One of the worst I’ve ever had actually, and I’ve drank a lot of hot choco in my time. Prices in general are a bit on the steep side (I know the cookies are large but $4 is quite a bit, compared to competitors’ offerings).

All in all, a great store and concept that is likely to become a hit and grow into the future. The drinks problem needs to be sorted out, but I am sure they can handle that.

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 23/09/2012    Hide »

Hey Johann. I’m glad you really enjoyed our cookies. We are…    More »

Hey Johann. I’m glad you really enjoyed our cookies. We are constantly seeking to improve and your feedback is heard and appreciated by the team and I. We are a tiny small business and have been overwhelmed by our wonderful customers that it has been difficult to keep up. It has been a crazy first couple days of trading and I pride myself on striving to do the best in each category – I am sorry you could not experience that full experience – every small business that is put under so much pressure and demand from the public will go through a teething period. This will be amended soon I promise. Again, thanks for your time and wish you all the best! Warmest regards, Deanna

by Melissa
18th September 2012

Was very excited to try this milk and cookie bar, drove a long way especially for it. The range of cookies was very poor, there were only 3 or 4 choices, and all the popular yummy flavours were sold out at only 2pm?? The service was poor in that the lovely lady couldn’t remember who ordered what, and misplaced some milkshakes, and gave them to the wrong people. Our milkshakes were relatively tasteless. Although they were a perfect texture, and really cold . Our friend gets coffee everyday, and he said the coffee was disgusting, one of the worst hes ever had. My boyfriend didn’t even bother buying a milkshake because they were ridiculously expensive at $7.50 for a smallish cup. Cookies were $4 each, which is expensive however they were quite big and tasty, in saying that Subway cookies are almost the same size, are only $2.60 and also tasty. The place was cramped, probably why the lady was so confused as to who ordered what, as people had to stand outside to wait for their order. There were only 4 bench stools to sit in, so even if we did want to sit down and enjoy dunking cookies in milk. we couldn’t!

Comment from Deanna Y. of Moustache Milk & Cookie Bar 23/09/2012    Hide »

Hey Melissa! Firstly apologies about your experience. I am really…    More »

Hey Melissa! Firstly apologies about your experience. I am really sorry there were only 3-4 choices – I truly do stay up until 3am every single day and wake up at 5am the next day just so I can bake as many cookies as possible. It is almost impossible for me to keep up with demand without collapsing. I am in the process of hiring new staff and buying new equipment but I am a small business and it has only been 7 days of trading – good things do take time to make. I pride myself on customer service too so I profusely apologise for getting some orders mixed up – as you can tell the first week has been absolute madness and I am running on next to no sleep trying to keep up with everyone. Again, incredibly sorry but am always striving to improve and make customers happy. Unfortunately our small little business does require a little patience in this hectic time. Hope you are well.

by Mija T.
15th September 2012

I think I’m in love with this place. The decor and store itself has a great feel to it and the staff are super friendly. The coffees and milkshakes were pretty tops too. Now… The cookies… Better than anything I’ve had from Miss Higgens or Cookie Time. They look and taste amazing with a real homemade feel. Great location being just next to my bus stop This is definitely my new regular coffee and treat shop.

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