Pane e Circo — Attraction in Halifax

(Updating this briefly just to say that the owner's response below is a disingenuous face-saving effort ; I did write them but they never replied.)

Spent $30 for a sourdough baguette, a block of Comte cheese, and 4 macaroons the other day.

The bread was fine.

We got 4 different macaroons. "All excellent choices" the server said. They tasted like the cheapest most artificial flavors had been used, they didn't even have the consistency a macaroon is supposed to have. My partner agreed they were not just bad, but like, surprisingly bad.

Then there was the Comte. The server had sold us a chunk in plastic that was already cut and sitting atop the counter. No problem with that per se, but when we got home we realized the cheese seemed to have been exposed to the air or was just really old. It was hard as a rock, inedible.

High prices and fancy Euro decor belie incredibly low quality product at this place. Highly recommended for anyone into being ripped off, but as for us we will not...

My family and I stopped in after we ate at Bicycle Thief(which by the way was not as good as it has been in the past not very impressed as we were rushed the entire time) so we walked into the shop and the 2 staff members just looked at us and never asked us what we would like , this went on for 5 or 6 minutes, then my wife had to ask for her so finally react to us being there, finally the young girl slowly meandered over with no smile or how are you and asked if I needed something. When I asked for the smoked Gouda which we love she just rolled hers eyes, I mean really not professional at all... We did drop $70 dollars but that young girl in my opinion does not belong in that industry terrible customer service. This is the first time it has happened.I go there a lot when visiting the waterfront hopefully I will have better service. Sunday...

I get their pastries to go, however I feel a little disappointed in what they offer compared to other rival bakeries. I don’t order from here every week, but more like a treat every 2-3 weeks.

My favourites are the pistachio pain au chocolat and the almond croissant. This time however, the almond croissant was dry.

You’d expect 99% accuracy in meeting expectations when you charge such exorbitant prices. On top of that, how can you expect customers to pay tips for takeout? Lest i mention that their options are now 15%, 18%, or 20% tip. Way to tell your customers that you don’t pay your staff enough.

I don’t think I will be coming here for treats anymore unless some change is done. There are better bakeries in the north end in terms of...