Originally published by The Spinoff . Madeleine Chapman crowns a reluctant winner in the Auckland cheese scone division. OPINION I have been meaning to write this story for nearly two years, because it was about two years ago when I first had this cheese scone.
As someone who apparently enjoys being disappointed, my default order at any cafe between 2012 and 2022 was a cheese scone. No matter what they looked like or what strange additions the chef had made, I was ordering a cheese scone with my coffee . And eight times out of 10, I was disappointed.
Why order them then? I have a lot of allergies (including all nuts and raw egg) so cheese scones were the most reliable safe item for me to eat. But after a decade of eating them all over the country, I started to wonder if it wasn’t a matter of cheese scones being hit or miss - maybe cheese scones were just bad? Maybe they’re supposed to be dry and floury and bland. Maybe some people love to sweep up a mountain of crumbs after taking a single bite.
Maybe everyone was making a really good cheese scone but even a really good cheese scone was bad. What a sad realisation to have, hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars later. READ: A highly subjective guide to the best cheese scones in Auckland .
Then I went to Burnt Butter in Avondale and had the best cheese scone in Auckland. I don’t even know how to explain why it was so good but I’ll try. Many cheese scones are just so unbelievably dry.
Like messy-to-eat dry. You can tell.