The $5.50 cheese scone sold at High Tide Cafe comes with complimentary jam.

How much would you pay for the perfect cheese scone?

A $5.50 cheese scone has raised eyebrows - and some ire - on the Kāpiti Coast. But the woman behind the baked goods says they're worth every penny.

Leigh Healy, owner of High Tide Cafe at Paraparaumu Beach, north of Wellington, was surprised when a disgruntled customer took to social media to protest against her recent $1 price hike, but she stands by her scone.

VIRGINIA FALLON/STUFF Owner Leigh Healy and chef Andy Shaw at High Tide Cafe in Paraparaumu Beach, Kapiti, with their $5.50 cheese scones.

"Our customers have told us they're the best scones in Wellington."

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Those customers flocked to defend the cafe, quashing price comparisons between the beachside cafe and its capital city counterparts.

Debate raged over the 22 per cent price increase, and just how much a cheese scone should cost.

Healy said she had been nervous about increasing the price of her scones but rising costs and construction work outside the cafe left her no option.

"We've survived for months with it looking like we were closed so we had to do something."

VIRGINIA FALLON/STUFF Samy Yousif, of the Cake Society Cafe in Porirua City, said the secret to a good cheese scone is that the baker must love their job.

Quality scones needed quality ingredients and, with the rising cost of dairy products, a cheesy scone wasn't cheap to make, she said.

"These are substantial and there's a generous amount of cheese in each scone because people value generosity."

The comparison between her cafe and the big-city scone stars like Pravda were unfair, she said.

MAARTEN HOLL/STUFF Pravda Restaurant chef Dom Mackie during a scone making demo (file photo).

"If we were in [Wellington's] Thorndon Quay I'd have four chefs in the kitchen making cheese scones all day."

Feedback on the price had been mostly positive, with some loyal customers suggesting it should have been raised a long time ago.

Glen Houston, general manager of Wellington's Pravda cafe, said their scones are so popular that bookings for the restaurants how-to classes caused the Wellington On A Plate festival website to crash.

VIRGINIA FALLON/STUFF Lisandro Walfisch has owned his Tawa cafe for four years and sold 44,000 scones.

"I think $4.50 is a fair price for a scone but $5.50 is getting up there. It would have to be something special."

Lisandro Walfisch's cafe El Porteno, in the Wellington suburb of Tawa, has sold 44,000 cheese scones in the past three and a half years, retailing at $4.50.

The secret was consistency, which made them popular in a city that took its scones very seriously, he said.

SUPPLIED Vegan cheese scones made by Kristine Bartley at Sweet Release, Wellington.

"You grow up eating them and they taste like home."

Kristine Bartley, owner of Sweet Release vegan cafe in Wellington, said a great cheese scone doesn't need to have real cheese.

Their dairy-free cheese scones sold for $4.20 and Bartley said people were surprised they could buy a vegan cheese scone.