Caffe Nero

I love this place. It gets busy, pretty often but never looks crowded. The coffee is always, yes, always, good! The staff are efficient, upbeat and always ready to help. The location is fantastic with loads of comfortable plush chairs. The large coffee is literally large, with huge cups!

In what is usually a very busy branch of Caffe Nero, it was pleasant to find only a small queue. Unfortunately it would seem that the management are not spending enough time on honing the service skills of their staff. It is not my fault if any one particular barista lacks job satisfaction and if this is the case then perhaps they should re-​evaluate their direction in life. As a customer ordering a mug of tea I should not be made to feel as though I am at some kind of fault.
Despite the occasionally noisy lawyer-​type clientèle, this particular branch was previously favourable for a quiet hour or so of getting stuck into book. While not especially noisy during this visit, the general hostility behind the glare of the barista whose job it was to clear tables was inescapable and did not make for a pleasant atmosphere. Needless to say, the entire patronage was under identical scrutiny.
During my cup of tea I had to leave my table for a brief moment, taking my belongings with me but leaving half a cup of tea behind. Upon returning to table I found a member of staff enjoying their lunch. This I did not particularly mind, although being offered a glare of hostile amusement when I picked up my cup and moved to another table further added to the overall disappointment.
Avoid unless necessary or if feeling particularly masochistic.

Café Nero on Corn Street, it has a good atmosphere in there with chilled out music. The Panini’s are quite fresh and the coffee is very nice.
It’s a bit pricy and my mobile reception (Orange) does not work in here for some reason. Must be some sort of black spot.

Corn Street this place does the most intense coffee you can find from the big café chains. The free broadsheets on the rack are always a bonus and if you read Italian, you occasionally find a copy of Il Corriere too. In summer, their iced coffees are the next best thing to genuine coffee flavoured Italian ice cream. Smooth. Oh and don’t forget, Café Nero is the only chain to run a buy 9 get one free campaign on their coffees.