Aromi Caffe and Gelateria — Restaurant in Cambridge

Unfortunately we had a bit of a negative experience today. We (my husband and I, his mother, sister, her husband, my toddler and baby) popped in about 5pm for a cuppa and a light/early supper for my toddler. There were only a few slices of pizza left (no other savoury items had been restocked) and few odd pastries. My favourite (pastry with pistachio cream) had clearly been left out all day and had gone dry, crusty and had unpleasant texture. Sadly we had all pretty much finished our drinks by the time the pizza slice I had chosen for my daughter finally came to the table despite enquiring twice with the waitress. Pretty sure I could have built a fire and heated it up myself in that time! My toddler was surprisingly patient but even she was getting a bit fed up. This may sound strange but I can't help but feel this cafe doesn't really value a tea drinker. Plenty of care and faffing went into each coffee drink variation but oddly my cup of tea arrived with the tea bag in the cup and a little pot of hot water to the side. As someone who has drunk thousands of cups of tea I can't imagine anyone other than an exclusive coffee drinker would prepare tea in this way! Overall I left Aromi feeling a bit embarrassed after recommending it to my in laws and drawing the only conclusion I could which was that this cafe no longer holds the high standards it was famous for and which made Aromi in Cambridge town centre near Lions Yard so popular. The laziness to not replace tired day old pastries and sold out savoury goods meant that not only could I not buy more items but I probably won't risk buying my usual favourite pastry again. Plenty of customers kept arriving (I imagine because it's the only place still open until 7pm) but could only buy the scratty ends of produce rejected by hundreds of customers before them. Shame on Aromi for making these basic mistakes. Maybe they have become arrogant in their popularity and have taken their regular customers for granted? I am reluctant to return to this establishment and won't risk recommending it to any of my friends again. It appears now that a gap in the market for the post-shop caffeine hit has opened up - I am eager to see who...

We popped in for lunch because the place looked busy and the food that was laid out, which we saw as we walked past on our way to another store to do some shopping first, looked really good.

After a short wait in the queue, we ordered a Parmigiana Focaccia, a Caponata, and a hot chocolate. They charge one rate for eating in and a lower rate for eating out/take away.

We were worried we weren't going to get seated because the place was busy. However, we did find seating next to someone who was on their own. We did have to find our own seating.

The food came fairly quickly, and it was hot. By which time, we struck up a pleasant conversation with the other person on the table and learnt of the Thick Hot Chocolate they do. It's a seasonal promotion. Even though they do not offer table service, I was able to get one of the team members to get a Pistachio flavoured Thick Hot Chocolate, and she arranged that I could pay on my way out.

The Thick hot chocolate did not turn out to be Thick so I went to the counter, they agreed, and made a another one for me which was absolutely heavenly, devine, luxurious and any other superlative you can think of.

The food was also very good, actually very tasty. We took half of the Parmigiana Focaccia home, then later that evening, we heated up in the microwave for 2 mins and ate it. It was just as good as when we had it in the afternoon.

I found the staff to be very helpful & pleasant. There is 1 toilet, which is for men and women, and another for disabled and baby changing room.

I would like it if they had a bigger seating capacity however, I appreciate that not every day is a busy Saturday afternoon in the run up to Christmas, which is when we went, meaning for other days and times, their current seating capacity maybe adequate.

Total spent, £22.30 which includes the Thick Hot...

Aromi used to be my ‘place to go’ when I missed Italian food. I have to say I have not been there in a while and as this morning I was caught in the rain I stopped by for a coffee and my absolute favourite spianata Nero. I realised at the first bite, with great disappointment, that the focaccia was completely different from what I remembered. The quality of the bread it is, possibly, the only thing that remained unchanged. No olive paste any longer, cheese unmelted and some sort of unflavoured sun dried tomato. What a bummer. I am not sure why the ingredients have been changed, but it is certainly for the worst. £7.90 for that is not worth. I pointed that out to the cashier on my why out and I am writing this here: people do not change what is working!!!!!!! The olive flavour made the Nero!!! I then went to the bathroom oh lord, people it was disgusting!!! Wee everywhere!! As I used to work at the place many moons ago, I remember that although the place was extremely busy, the toilet were regularly checked and cleaned up. Visibly it is no longer the case!!! Also all the tables were Not wiped once the customers left. One could argue that the staff was busy serving customers, but no, there were no customers in the place!!! I gave the feedback to the cashier, but she was completely disinterested, and had no idea that the product changed. She confused olive oil with olive paste. This poses the question about the Cafe's policy when to dietary requirements and allergies!!!! I have to say, standard, cleaning and service in general have deteriorated. Massively! Shame, it used...