Caffe Fiorentina

Some people might say that you can do most things better at home, and I would agree to a certain point, but I still want a foodie place to at least try to do it better. This is why our experience at Caffe Fiorentina was so disappointing. You can do a lot better at home!
We were hypnotised by the illy signs in the window (it’s our favourite coffee), so we made a special trip for a Saturday morning breakfast. It was nice to be greeted with a smile, though it was difficult to place our order; there’s a language barrier to overcome, so try not to deviate from pointing at the menu. We ordered at the counter (not sure if there’s any table service) and I stuck to something simple, simply because there wasn’t a lot to choose from that was actually Italian on the menu. Most of it is English through and through, when it would have been nice to see fennel sausages instead of Cumberland, for instance. How about toasted Ciabatta instead of a cheap, sliced loaf?
A bacon butty was ordered, two cappuccinos and some toast and butter. The bacon butty wasn’t too bad, but it was ordinary sliced white, while the toast was spectacularly awful. How do you get toast wrong? It had been left to sit in the toaster, so had become French within a few minutes, then was sparsely lubricated with Flora (that’s not Italian butter, by the way).
Oh well, I left it after one bite, didn’t finish the coffee, headed home and made myself a fresh cappuccino and a buttered, toasted cinnamon bagel. Awesome! Of course, I was also a tenner lighter than I was earlier (their credit card machine broke down, too).
I want to say nice things for a new business, but teething problems aside, it seems like the core business model is ‘British café’ rather than ‘Italian deli delight’, and unless that changes, it may not succeed on a road that boasts much better breakfast options.

I drive down Whiteladies Road most days on my way home from work. There are always new places opening and Caffe Fiorentina caught my eye. It looks funky and fresh from the outside and they have some big signs advertising that they sell illy coffee.
So we decided to give it a go for breakfast and it was was disappointing. We ordered two cappuccinos, toast and a bacon sandwich. Non of them were great, the bacon buttie being the pick of a bad bunch.
If you’re looking for an Italian café — then you’ll be disappointed. Hopefully they will improve, but not sure we’ll go back.