Felix & Oscar

If it’s a pretty vintage dress you choose to splash out on at Felix & Oscar, just be sure you’re still able to fit into it by the time you leave, by resisting the temptation of the eye-popping range of cakes at this unusual design shop and café.

It was the shop part with which proprietors Sandy Welch and Sandra Payne began their business 12 years ago, on the corner of Great Western Road and Otago Street, before adding the hot drinks, cakes and savoury treats in 2012. There are just a handful of tables, positioned in and among the quirky shop stock of cards, cushions, crockery and kitchenware. Payne not only does the baking – her specialities include caramel and vanilla cheesecake and rose and pistachio meringues – but dressmaking too. Several of the frocks you’ll see in the window or dotted around the shop floor on mannequins, in colours good enough to eat, are her designs.

Eye-catchers among the gifts include Pantone mugs in bright tones, Orla Kiely and Cath Kidston handbags and other assorted chintz, and Alessi kitchen accessories for various slicing, dicing, stirring and draining. There’s also some nice pieces of non-cutesy kids’ fashion.

When it comes to finding a present for a friend or loved one or their youngsters, Felix and Oscar is the first place to try. And not just for the cakes.