Caffe Concerto Shaftesbury Avenue

We came in the evening for pre theatre cake, coffee and wine. Great service by a friendly and professional male waiter, the slices of Black Forest and strawberry gateaux were fresh, light and tasty. Would definitely recommend.

If I had to sum up our experience in one word, it would be cold. Cold staff and cold coffee, with cakes that were bland, tasteless and overpriced. One waiter was nice but the rest of the staff were unfriendly and didn’t seem to care. More style than substance in this place.

Sadly, a terrible pre-theatre spaghetti carbonara. The pancetta had tough inedible rind and it was unerseasoned. No waiter checked in with us during the meal so no chance to comment until the end. To be fair, the manager has been great, taking it off the bill and bringing free coffees and unsolicited macarons, which are excellent. Maybe just worth avoiding the carbonara? View menu

Came here for lunch after a late morning theatre visit with my young son. The décor is very elegant and does remind you of cafés in Italy. Lots of variety on the menu portions were generous. The staff seemed pleasant, but do not count on them for menu advice etc: I asked our waiter about penne and he did not know what it was! Yes, the bill was pricey, but given it was right in the middle of the London tourist trap we were not surprised comes with the territory.

Came here for a pre theatre/ birthday treat. Both ordered afternoon tea. The cafe was cramped, squeezed next to people on tiny 2 seat tables we had more space on the train trip in! Our first thoughts were to leave and sadly we wish we had. The afternoon tea very shabby, it wasn’t fresh with warm, half filled sandwiches and bland cakes. My sister ended up feeling really poorly through the theatre and sick on the way home from food poisoning. These places shouldn’t be forcing service charges on people either. We will not be revisiting and would not recommend.

Would like to be able to write a review about the food/service but unfortunately after standing in the please wait to be seated section for 15 minutes without so much as an acknowledgment from a member of staff we gave up and went elsewhere. Unbelievably rude. If you are too busy to seat anyone else pop a sign on the counter to explain there is a 30 minute wait for a table for example. Or do the courtesy of apologising and saying we are full at the moment. Maybe we were unlucky as there are some great reviews on here but I don’t think I’ll bother trying again. View menu

Only popped in for a coffee to get out of the drizzle and kill some time before our lunch elsewhere. (sorry! The façade makes it look like it is just coffee and cake, hence us popping in, but it is much more than that, a meal can be had here as well as afternoon tea and obviously cake. We ended up have two unusual coffees, one turmeric with coconut and one I had to try; butterfly pea flower as it is blue. Very pretty but not very substantial and about £15 for the two. Plastic flowers on the table a little disappointing but would return, here or one of other branches.

Popped in quickly just to grab dessert and a cup of tea whilst staying out of the rain. Very busy, but was seated straight away. The tables are far too close together I understand they want to accommodate as many people as possible but you are sitting so close to the table next to you that its almost impossible to eat without the odd elbow bump. The staff are quick and efficient, my order was taken very swiftly and my pot of tea and chocolate fondant was delivered promptly. The sponge of the fondant was dry as a bone but the sauce was generously portioned and the tea was good so it sort of balanced out. Nothing exceptional, but nothing bad either. Not a cheap eat but you are a stones throw f...

Very disappointing considering that it was a special birthday celebration for my husband's 85th birthday. The establishment encourages you to send feedback, so here we go. The menu is overpriced and has sky rocketed since we last used this restaurant, albeit in the centre of London. The prices have even gone up in comparison to those shown on line. Not a good experience for so little at £51.55. My husband ordered Rigatoni Siciliana and could not eat it because of the excess of chilli which should not be in this recipe and was a very messy combination. I tried to eat it but had to return it and was given another one supposedly without too much chilli. They are charging a whopping £5.95 for ap... View menu