Paolo & Donato's Italian Deli Reviews Summary

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Everything is utterly delicious, and there's even proper Italian soft drinks like chinotto."
• "The selection of freshly baked/made pastries, cake etc are incredible."
• "Food was fantastic.. Can recommend the Eggs Benedict."
• "The food is excellent and reasonably priced."
• "Gorgeous food and such friendly staff."
• "Proper Italian desserts, pizzas and sandwiches, Italian ice cream - fully loaded menu for a lovely chat with a friend or a lunch or a brunch - whatever you are after, you got it here."
• "Beautiful delicious Italian food, all natural ingredients."

Cons:

• "It was supposed to be a yellow cake with custard on the inside, instead we got a dry white cake with some chocolate custard I think."
• "The cheesecake was quite bland, so I didn't enjoy it."
• "NO macaroons on the cake and it was spelt mom. Staff should pay more attention."
• "The white chocolate cake must have been a few days old as the base was soggy and quite grim."
• "Some of the warm food (arancini) is a tad bland but most are good."
• "Was very disappointed with the food, wasn't cooked properly, tasteless, cold wasn't nice at all."
• "The deserts are far from anything that is real Italian taste."

Service

Pros:

• "Staff are charismatic and give generous scoops of gelato."
• "Staff polite and friendly."
• "The staff who looked after us were amazing...so helpful and friendly."
• "Staff were amazing."
• "The staff are so welcoming and friendly."
• "Staff is smiling and giving great service."
• "The staff look like they take pride in what they do and their customer service is spot on."

Cons:

• "Tables are small and you have to bring your own order at your own table so really…where’s the service?"
• "Went here today for the first time, female waitress spent more time talking to her friends than seating customers."
• "Nice place as in the location and food. But the service is the poorest I have experienced perhaps ever."
• "At times, I have found the staff slightly intimidating but this is perhaps due to the café often being overcrowded."
• "Sadly, the coffee is sometimes a bit hit and miss and overall average, which is quite a shame for an Italian place."
• "Staff at the cafe bench was rude and unprofessional."
• "I only knock a star off because most of the staff don't seem like they want to be there, which detracts slightly."

Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Paolo and Donato deli is the choice of everyone to have an Italian break in the city centre, wonderful atmosphere, great Italian coffee."
• "Authentic atmosphere with a vibrant hubbub."
• "A very nice atmosphere, really enjoyable for a day out with friends."
• "Lovely atmosphere both inside & out."
• "Authentic Italian deli - serves nice bakery and savory items along with an astonishing variety of desserts."
• "Very authentic Italian cafe / deli."
• "A cosy cafe with great coffee and a wide selection of fresh panini's, pastries, cakes and ice-cream."

Cons:

• "A lot of people smoking outside which was off putting when walking inside with young children."
• "The music is always so loud its uncomfortable to be inside."
• "I found the atmosphere in the cafe side less appealing to the restaurant side."
• "It has been too busy and noisy nowadays."
• "Just very weird that I had to climb a steep set of stairs to order it, and then come back down to my table for it to be delivered!"

Value

Pros:

• "Really reasonable prices too."
• "The food is excellent and reasonably priced."
• "Prices were affordable."
• "Very well priced at only £1.30 for an espresso."
• "Good potions. Value for money."

Cons:

• "Prices are high."
• "Lovely atmosphere. Food was good but portions could have been more generous for the prices."
• "Food was good but portions could have been more generous for the prices."
• "Prices are high but taste is worth it."

Cleanliness and Safety

Pros:

• "Food always freshly made. Beautiful coffee. Always made to feel welcome by the staff."

Cons:

• "The gelato was amazing, great choice of flavours, but the place looked a bit untidy."
• "Food and coffee was lovely, but was somewhat concerned with cleanliness of trays and outside tables especially during covid."
• "Toilets a little undesirable unfortunately."
• "Coffee good, as ever, today. But only one staff member behind the counter wore a mask."