Visited on the 12th September, 9:30am.
Here in Apia, it’s another one of those busy bustling Saturdays, where the city seems to carry that freeing weekend vibe, paired with the flurry of moving masses as people do their end of the week shopping.
It’s a picture-perfect Saturday morning without a single rain cloud cluttering the vibrant blue sky. The blaring sun smiles down at me, and I must wear sunglasses to shelter my eyes.
It’s only 9am, yet both my mother and I can hear our stomachs growl with emptiness. As we pick up a friend, we unanimously decide to find a place for breakfast. It’s my mother who decides that the three of us should try something new, and immediately I pop out my phone to google.
With a simple search, I find an unfamiliar name amongst the lists.
Nova café.
On closer inspection, while there weren’t many google reviews, each of them provided a 5-star rating. It was a 5-minute drive from where we were, and so we decided to check them out.
Located on Vaea Street, right near the traffic lights is where they sit.
They have a small white banner hung on their yellow concrete boundary walls with the name of their café displayed for all to see. You might also know this place as the RHEMA bible training college.
It’s a very well-known ministerial training centre here in the Pacific for Christians hoping to further their understanding in the religion.
Both the college and the café share the same compound.
They seem to provide spacious parking which is shared between their students and café patrons.
As I waltzed through their wooden walnut-coloured doors, I was struck by the quaint atmosphere that greeted me. The cool gush from the air conditioner soothingly embraced me as I moved to sit, a welcome feeling; preferred over the outside uncontrollable heat. The café takes on a rustic aesthetic with its wood plank ceilings, warm lights, metallic black café chairs, and greenish brown wood tables.
The café also flirts with an early 2000s preteens tv show vibe with its green, white and various shades of brown colour scheme. The pillars of Nova café are decorated in these Pinterest looking checkered white and lime green tile patterns.
The cement walls have these cute peppermint green with brown swirls that give the place a sort of cutesy look to it.
I glance out the wide paned windows and watch as cars zoom past the bustling street. The café also has a patio for those interested in sitting outside.
Cutesy metallic chairs and seats that look sort of Paris themed with its backdrop of vines wrapping itself around and over the gate.
As a Fijian living in Samoa, one thing I’ve come to appreciate how each café I visit seems to have its own charm and aesthetic. Different places seem to shine in different ways, with some cafes being similar but never truly the same. I’m always impressed by how each vary from each other in terms of ambience, décor, menu, music, etc.
Very quickly a young and impressionable, and perhaps shy looking waitress comes over to provide us with the menus. With further conversation she shared to us that she was from Vanuatu and was here as a student under the Rhema bible training college.
I liken her to a bumble bee in the way she moves about.
Staring down at the menu, I notice an interesting variety of options. However, we did bump into a small problem where we had to ask the waitress to further explain what exactly comes with each dish as there is no sub text provided.
I quickly ordered the Works omelette and an Iced Matcha latte.
As you can see, the works omelette comes with toast, butter, and hashbrown. The bacon and the sausage were an added cost that I specifically asked for. The original dish costs 25 tala ($20.45 FJD) and adding the bacon was 3.50 tala ($2.90 FJD), while the added sausage was an extra 3.50 tala ($2.90 FJD). The total was 32 tala ($26.10 FJD).
The works omelette truly was… THE WORKS!
A heavily stuffed omelette with a lemon piece on the side, a small fresh piece of pawpaw, 4 pieces of toast, butter and hashbrown. And of course the added sides to it.
When taking a bite I found a generous amount of gooey cheese that melted in my mouth, the sharp bite of the tomato, the smooth button texture of mushrooms, and chunky pieces of spam perhaps? The egg itself was fluffy and soft.
The omelette as a whole, it just felt so right. So comforting.
Usually I’m not a hashbrown lover. I always find it too crispy or too oily so I generally like to stay away from it. However, much to my surprise these were one of those times where I found it pleasant to delight in. It was light, just right, not too crispy and definitely not too oily.
The added sides of sausage and bacon were quite lovely. The bacon has this beautiful mouth watering crunch to it and the sausages were an explosion of flavours. I found myself savouring each bite of these.
Meanwhile, the iced Matcha latte comes in either medium or large. I ordered mine in a medium with one sugar. It costs 15 tala. I love Matcha and it is not often I bump into it in either Samoa or Fiji, so to find it on their menu was exciting.
I was slightly disappointed by this drink as I personally felt that there could’ve been more matcha added to it. I stirred and drank and stirred again but could not get the satisfying amount I would’ve preferred. It was mostly tasting of milk.
Overall, this café has easily snuck its way into my heart as a favourite. This café is one of those quaint little spots that I find so relaxing. It’s not a place I would personally study in, nor is it a place I’d bring my friends to hang out in. It’s one of those places I’d go when I simply want to enjoy a quiet start to my day.
To take in the calm before the storm.
UPDATE: on the 24th of September I revisited Nova café to find that once I ordered the iced Matcha latte again, it was much better than last time and had the deeper greener kick it previously needed.
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Hi guys! I’d just like to first give a shout out to Luisa Tumoi, who asked me quite a while ago for a part 2 of this series! Sorry girl… I’ve been real busy but here it finally is. I didn’t forget about it; I just seem to have too many things piling up on me.
I’d also like to thank Uncle Illisoni for playing as my photographer that day, which is why my photos for this post look extra crispy clear.
If any of you reading this have any suggestions of where I should try next let me know through the comments below!
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