PAUL Hampstead — Restaurant in London

Terrible experience with a cake - I would give 0 stars if possible.

On Sept. 15 around 17:00 I bought a cake (Foret Noire) from you Hampstead shop, for my wife’s birthday. I wanted to surprise her, with a super special cake. When I went to the shop, since it was the last minute I had to choose between 3 cakes only, but this one seemed very nice.

Now I don’t usually do that, but I had to tell you how much, me and my wife were disappointed from it. I really didn’t expect that a brand like yours can make a cake like this.

So first of all, The cake isn’t very sweet. Now generally this will not be a problem, but the first reason the cake is so bad is the cocoa powder on the top. Now I understand the idea of the bitter powder, however I believe the idea is to create a balance between sweet and bitter, but here we have no enough sweetness and too much bitter. I don’t know if you usually make it this way, but when you grab a bite from it, the cocoa sticks to the lips, make the bite super dry and creates mega terrible bitterness that overpowers the whole taste. If you know what the CINNEMON CHALLENGE in internet is, then this was close to it. There is so much powder you can choke on it.

Problem number 2: The cherries and the alcohol. Now, this is a great idea, but if you do it correctly. The cherries were juicy and they are nice when you bite on them, and the alcohol is also a great punch for the taste however, I felt like you have dropped a whole jar of them inside. Every bite was containing one or two cherries and the taste of alcohol was super intense. I couldn’t feel the taste from the sponge, I couldn’t feel the taste of the cream. Nothing.

My mouth was experiencing the battle between strong and punchy alcohol with the bitterness and dryness of the cocoa powder.

I am also surprised you haven't replied to my complaint email. Very...

I arrived at Paul around 10:30am this morning. Upon entering the empty store there were two female members of staff stocking the counter with sandwiches and pastries. I didn’t receive any warm welcoming, and wasn't even greeted upon my arrival. I’ve found this to be a common occurrence when attending Paul, my last experience was at the South Kensington branch where the staff were plainly rude. I waited for a few moments and checked out the available sandwiches. The staff seemed uninterested and their faces displayed a distain or a sense of unhappiness; I felt like my presence had upset them. The lady who served me (named Dulmani on the receipt) eventually asked me what I wanted. I ordered, a Coppa Ham and Cheese baguette and a cappuccino. I even sarcastically made the joke that the sandwich business must be a really serious business; a reference to the serious mood in the shop. The lady serving smiled it off.

The cappuccino was pretty mediocre in comparison to other high street chains such as Starbucks or Pret. I would say Paul’s cappuccino was on the same level as Greggs or McDonald’s.

The baguette was extremely tough, the bread was hard on the outside. It was tough enough to scrape and tear the roof of my mouth when trying to eat it. This is something I’ve also found to be a common occurrence at Paul - why is your bread so tough?

All-in-all the experience was pretty underwhelming. I feel deceived because Paul has such a sleek image, yet the food doesn’t match up in terms of quality and...

I have been buying from Paul all my life, and if I could give this Hampstead branch a minus 1 star I would. The staff are incredibly rude and disrespectful. I spoke to a woman regarding spoiled strawberries on 2 tarts I ordered on Deliveroo, and she cut the call while I was speaking. I did not spend long on the call with her after receiving the order.

The fact that I was sent spoiled stagers is incredibly disappointing since I called the branch before they started to prepare my order, ask politely for decent strawberry tarts.

Deliveroo will not issue a refund, and I should not have to contact Deliveroo, as this branch should not be sending me spoiled items in the first place.

I would not have written this review, however this is the third time this branch has sent me spoiled food through Deliveroo. Be aware that if you order from this branch online, they will send you items they wouldn’t sell in-store because no one would buy them due to their poor condition. Save your money and avoid this branch.

Rather than apologising for the inconvenience of having to commute to the store for compensation, Isabella was argumentative and extremely rude asking me to leave for no reason. I was very polite and civil when speaking and I can not say the same for her. Avoid,...