Pasticceria Sandri — Restaurant in Perugia

A place which tells you when it started needs to be examined. It sometimes means it's living on its history in a pseudo retrospective way designed to lure in the unsuspecting tourist, who knows no better, by peddling a belief they have stepped back in time, stepped up in social stature, or stepped into a fantasy.

Sandri's is no such place. It rightfully let's you calculate, as you sip possibly the best caffe you've had, how many millions have stood there before you enjoying the experience you're having, and have chosen to come back - often daily - for more.

The height of ceilings matter. Those who designed these old buildings knew it allows fresh air to circulate; why not subliminally accentuate the positive with a ceiling painted like the blue skies which are the eternal backdrop to Umbrian life?

If you haven't worked it out by now, Italy is living theatre. Every gesture conveys more than any of the limited Italian vocab could alone. Here, each sharp jacket, manicured haircut, and piercing gaze is carefully chosen to show you how much serving coffee is more than you being a customer. You are here to enjoy yourself all too briefly, so make the most of it. When that tiny cup of espresso - it goes without saying it's perfectly made - is placed in front of you, deference is an almost universal knee jerk response, even among the regulars. This is why you came in here.

Pastries glisten under the rounded glass display counter. If you're going to succumb to adding a little more weight than you'll walk off, at least do it in style i.e. here. You could stay at the counter. Or you could, more respectfully perhaps, sit at one of the tiny tables for a few minutes to savour the taste of timeless excellence. Millions have done so before you; and no doubt millions more will do so again. Possibly including you when you...

Like some other reviewers we found the pastries to be hit and miss. The one like a profiterole was delicious. It had a superb custard on the inside and a really light crunchy pastry exterior. The other, a berry tart with a chocolate base and custard filling was really really disappointing. The base was way too thick and the custard was over baked and dry. To me this was an indication poor quality rather than our personal preference. The waitress asked if it was alright when she saw we hadn't eaten it and I explained we hadn't felt it was really up to standard. Then instead of a. Following up on the complaint or b, asking if we wanted to order anything else (which we would have), she asked us if we wanted the bill then stood next to us until we put our card down - this felt really weird and was very different to any other "bill" experience we had...

Beware! You may order something inside, but as soon as you decide to sit outside, prices rise improportionally. Cappuccino S 1.5 - 3.9. Antica Perugia 3.5 - 4.5. You discover this when you get the bill (which, by the way, you need to go inside to pay if you're using credit card). Yet they purposely mention that Service is 0 eur. They just forgot to say they bumped all prices irrationaly (it is nowhere near 10-15%..).

What kind of sevice is it, if you order inside, not allowed to take stuff outside and then need to go inside to pay?

That is without mentioning that all items are really expensive if you eat outside.

I suggest to eat inside or to avoid at all. Nothing special in my...