Pollen Bakery Reviews Summary

Atmosphere and Location

Pros:

• "The place is mega cool and facing the Ancoats marina."
• "Every detail is so well thought! The place looks lovely, the stuff is very friendly and their uniform fits the interior so nicely."
• "At their new location there are outside seats, ducks and water. It's great on a sunny day and there is odd free spaces parking around the corner."
• "The decor is stylish and cosy, and the views of the Marina are pretty on a hot day."
• "The atmosphere is great and the views are wonderful."
• "A lovely airy place filled with the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee."
• "Lovely location next to the canal."

Cons:

• "Used to have such a wonderful charm under the railway arches, that's not translated across."
• "It can get quite crowded and might have to queue if want to sit in during weekends."
• "Parking is not easy around the bakery, but there are plenty of pay and display street options near by."
• "They need to do something about their queues, it was confusing. There were 3 different queues, one for to give a takeaway order, one for to get the takeaway coffee and one for to wait for a table to sit in. And all in the same small area."
• "Also the door was open and the inside was pretty cold."
• "The only downside, and a Huge downside it is as well, is that there is not enough seating - a long wait to be seated, nowhere to stand while waiting."
• "The stupid thing is that we as a group of three had to wait indefinitely while groups of two could just sit down as soon as they come in."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Favourite place to come for breakfast on a weekend. Incredible selection of pastries and sourdough bread dishes, as well as lovely coffee."
• "The tiramisu french toast (yes that is a real thing!) is legit rating 18/10"
• "Delicious cakes, pastries and breakfast dishes."
• "Food was delicious! I had the hot smoked salmon with poached eggs for breakfast and it was divine."
• "Food is tasty. Small selection on menu, all made fresh."
• "Both were flavoursome and you could tell that each ingredient had been made from scratch."
• "The hash brown brioche bun was awesome."

Cons:

• "Sandwich was only OK once I’d picked off half a forest of greenery."
• "The bacon sandwich was tasty but the ratio of bread to the filling was a bit off (too much bread)."
• "Chicken and bacon sandwich is not worth it - slices of chicken did not taste good and sourdough wasn’t the best."
• "The mushroom and egg on toast was hit and miss. One portion was perfect and the other was beyond salty! Too much seasoning."
• "The loaf I bought was overdone quite dark on the outside and it was very tough to chew."
• "The cinnamon bun was nice but a little dry."
• "The rhubarb-based Seasonal Danish made for a delish breakfast to kick things off: the pastry was wonderfully crumbly."

Service

Pros:

• "Staff happy to sort us a table for 5 only waited 10 mins even though says 30 to 40 mins."
• "The staff is truly lovely, the cappuccino I had was lovely, and I enjoyed the sun, while being seated outside."
• "The team are amazing and understand excellent customer service."
• "Staff are very friendly."
• "The staff were very friendly and welcoming and helped to make our visit memorable."
• "The service was great. Everyone was smiling and happy."
• "Staff is very friendly too."

Cons:

• "The service felt really cold. This is from the two members of staff that were serving at the time."
• "However the speed of service (25 minutes for three coffees and two cakes?) and the attitude/friendliness of staff leave a lot to be desired."
• "I always feel rushed and not welcomed when ordering from them."
• "Really bad service. They took almost 25 minutes to serve a coffee and a hot chocolate to take away while they served other customers on the tables outside several times, some of whom arrived after us."
• "Service was not good. Staff not particularly friendly. Food took far too long to be served - 20 minutes for a croissant."
• "Service is hit and miss, the place is often packed and I imagine the staff are struggling to cope."
• "The staff did not offer any assistance, and actually seemed quite pleased we had an excuse to leave."

Value

Pros:

• "Incredible coffee, beautiful location and an amazing basque cheesecake."
• "The bread is soft and spongy with a crispy crust."
• "Good quality, fair prices."
• "Considering the exceptional quality and taste, it was definitely a good value."
• "A touch expensive, but I didn't begrudge having to pay a little extra for that quality of food."
• "The 28-hour sourdough was so good we even bought a loaf back, and it was reasonably priced at 4.20."
• "Always consistent and always 10/10."

Cons:

• "It feels like the food menu could use more options to offer."
• "However, I couldn't help but notice that it was fairly pricey at £4.50."
• "Cruffins are nice but not £4 per one, come on..."
• "OVERPRICED, and very overrated - I Feel very ripped off here."
• "The place is really really pricey. We used to live in central London and this place is even more expensive than places in Soho, Carnaby and Chelsea!!"
• "Massively overpriced. Very overrated."
• "Prices too high - £11.50 for posh beans on toast..."