Pau Brasil — Restaurant in Reading

Pau is a little treat, a piece of Brazil approaching the summit of Whitley Street. by the time i arrived on Saturday morning the local Brazilian jiu jitsu club were holding court up and beyond the stairway and space/time was limited .so enjoyed an espresso outside. here you can watch the No6 Bus run by with it's passengers craning their necks. should we go? yes you should.. so the coffee was fine, but the custard tart i enjoyed was sweet.similar to those at Nandos but fresher. firm&flaky pastry housed in those old school aluminium cases, with maybe a hint of almond, I cannot remember if it had a name, but it sounded exotic and touching wrapped in a little cling film and tossed into the reduced to go basket. so yes Pau is the one for me, and shall try to return one day for more...

Nice shop! The staff is very friendly and it has a good variety of sweets to have with coffee. I have not tasted savoury foods, so I cannot comment on that.

The prices are similar to other coffee shops, a little bit expensive. The coffee was tasty and it came with a cinnamon stick, which I really liked. The almond tart was very tasty, but the sweet cream roll was a little too stiff (probably from the fridge).

The shop is very small so it might not be possible to get a table. We were lucky to get one and sit outside and it was very nice. I wish they had the prices for the pastries visible. I also wish they had more units of each pastry.

Overall I had a good time and...

We went there Sunday 25 July 2021 after reading numerous comments about the place. We had a different meal each, plus a starter plate; each one very nice, a very generous portion too. The hostess was a charming Brazilian woman, made us feel welcome; the eating area lovely décor, atmosphere. Other people here have used the word ‘gem’, in this case very appropriate. Excellent time there.

Update I forgot to mention the music, nice, relaxing Update - went there for another meal June 2022, again excellent, another occasion just for coffee; photographs of Brazil, a map, the music really takes you away. Thoroughly enjoyable.

update - October 2023...