food, reviews and of course coffee
One of the reasons I like coffee from Caffe Nero is that the experience across the different branches is consistent.
It isn’t necessarily the best coffee you can buy, but I like the coffee. It also helps that I have a regular Three offer a £1 coffee deal.
In Bristol in the Clifton Triangle is a branch of Caffe Nero which is deceptively larger on the inside than it looks on the inside.
I had a flat white, which was really nice.
When I go out and buy coffee I usually drink in, and have a proper cup. I always think if I am spending a lot of money on coffee, I want it in a china cup, and not a paper cup.
I was at Paddington Station with some time before my train, and using my Three+ offer I had a £1 skinny flat white from Caffe Nero. As this was a kiosk, the coffee was in a paper cup.
They did something which they think is helpful, whereas I don’t. The Caffe Nero flat white comes in a smaller cup, which the cardboard sleeves they use on their larger cups don’t fit. The cardboard sleeves act as an insulation layer. As the sleeves don’t fit on the smaller cups they double cup; use an extra cup instead of a sleeve. They do this, so that it acts as an insulation layer.
Now I get this, but as a result I personally find it difficult to drink from the doubled up cups after removing the lid. I also find it quite challenging to remove the spare cup without spilling the coffee.
Yes, it is not a major problem, just a minor annoyance.
I need to remember the next time, to ask for a single cup.
Popped to Caffe Nero on Farringdon Road for a coffee. I had a skinny flat white. It was well made (even if there was no coffee art). It was a bustling cafe, but didn’t feel busy. A place I may visit again.
As my phone contract is with Three, they have an app, Three+, that provides rewards and money off. One of their weekly offers is get a drink from Caffè Nero for £1.
I try and use it most weeks, but sometimes either I am not in the mood for a coffee, sometimes I am nowhere near a Caffè Nero (like when I am at the motorway services) or as happened recently at Paddington, there was a really long queue and I don’t want to miss my train.
I have visited the Caffè Nero on Corn Street in Bristol a fair few times and have had some great coffee.
This was the flat white I got on my most recent visit there.
This wasn’t the best looking flat white I’ve had from Caffè Nero. However it was a really nice coffee.
Taking advantage of a special offer, I had a very nice skinny flat white from the Caffe Nero at the top of Union Street in Bristol.
The service was excellent, and I really enjoyed the coffee.
I had been on a visit to Scotland and was making my way home via Edinburgh Airport. Having flown through security (for once) and mooching around the shops I decided to go for a coffee. I chose Caffe Nero as I usually get a decent coffee there and across their different branches at least a level of consistency.
I ordered a double macchiato, which is different to my usual flat white. It was served in a paper cup, despite the fact I was sitting in. I prefer my coffee in a real cup, and actually will make the time for a coffee, rather than do take out. I was reminded how nice it was to get a proper coffee at Bristol Airport on my way out, not just coffee in a cup, but also table service.
So I sat down with my cardboard cup and took the lid off. Was I impressed, no I wasn’t!
Now as far as I am aware a macchiato is an espresso coffee with some milk foam on top. What I got was an espresso coffee with milk! Not what I wanted and certainly not what I ordered.
I know I should have taken it back, but there was a huge queue and I didn’t really have the time.
Sometimes I have had to explain what a macchiato is to the barista I am ordering from, makes me wonder why they have it on the menu if they don’t know how to make it.
Next time I will probably just order an espresso or a flat white and be done with it.
Popped into Caffe Nero for a flat white. They had a special offer of a coffee and a brownie for £4.50, so I had a flat white and a chocolate brownie.
It was just what I needed after going through my inbox.
The brownie was chocolatey and gooey, but wasn’t over rich, light enough to be enjoyed.
The coffee was excellent, there is something about the consistency of experience I find with Caffe Nero, virtually every time I have a flat white at Caffe Nero is I get the same kind of experience, which is nice.
Killing some time before my train I went to Caffè Nero at Central St Giles. Nice warm welcome from the staff and I ordered my usual favourite, a flat white. I didn’t order anything to eat (as I wasn’t very hungry). I found a place to sit and drink the coffee. It was a really nice coffee, and a nice place as well.
I was walking past Exmouth Market one evening and decided I wanted a coffee. Most of the usual coffee places were closed, but Caffé Nero was still open. I went in and ordered a flat white.
Despite the fact it was late and I was the only person in the place, the coffee was excellent. Well made and great coffee.
I had been there before on the way to a meeting at City, University of London a few years ago (pre pandemic) and it was nice coffee back then. I had also visited when staying at a nearby hotel.
Exmouth Market is quite a place for restaurants and cafes and after finishing my coffee I walked down the road, getting tempted by the different establishments. I was a little saddened to see that Paesan had closed down. Well not so much closed down, but turned into a pizza and craft beer place. I had had some excellent pasta there two years ago.
I enjoyed my coffee and carried on with my walk.
Back in 2010 I wrote a blog post about when I went out for coffee in Weston-super-Mare I went to Druckers, as it wasn’t just about the coffee, but about the whole coffee drinking experience.
Then there was very little choice in the town for drinking coffee, quite a few tearooms who did some nice tea, but no real coffee places.
Today the landscape is very different. There are the major chains of Costa, Coffee #1, Caffe Nero as well as a plethora of independent coffee places too. We have a much greater choice. There are now four branches of Costa in the town for example. We still don’t have a Starbucks, but as I don’t like the coffee there, I am okay with that.
Since I last wrote Druckers has shrunk considerably. The owners of the Sovereign Centre wanted to create a new eating experience, with multiple food outlets and a shared eating space. Alas the reality is that all there is, is Druckers. So what was an okay place for a coffee and cake, is now more like the inside of a fish and chip shop, but with stools and benches. Not a place for coffee.
My first choice is Coffee #1, though I prefer the coffee in Caffe Nero, the service always appears rushed and it’s popular, so not always a lot of space available.
From an independent perspective, I do like the new(ish) coffee place in the Waterstones in the Sovereign Centre.