My first encounter with Costa Coffee was the Portsmouth branch, upstairs in Ottakars (now Waterstones) bookshop. A cafe inside a bookshop seemed a great idea, especially as there were armchairs bordering the cafe area where you could sit and look at books while you enjoyed your drink. Needless ... Read review
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Advantages: Frescato and low-fat muffins Disadvantages: Coffee doesn't always taste good
My first encounter with Costa Coffee was the Portsmouth branch, upstairs in Ottakars (now Waterstones) bookshop. A cafe inside a bookshop seemed a great idea, especially as there were armchairs bordering the cafe area where you could sit and look at books while you enjoyed your drink. Needless to say, however, it was so popular that it was often impossible to find a table if you wanted one, especially around lunchtime.
After moving ... ...It was perhaps inevitable that Costa would open a branch in Southsea's Palmerston Road shopping precinct, and they did. This one has quite a few sofas inside, and in good weather you can sit at a table outside and watch the shoppers go by. When it first opened I was living in Havant and working in Southsea in the mornings, whereas my younger son was a student at Portsmouth University and lived in Southsea. Costa became the ideal place for us to meet ... more
My first encounter with Costa Coffee was the Portsmouth branch, upstairs in Ottakars (now Waterstones) bookshop. A cafe inside a bookshop seemed a great idea, especially as there were armchairs bordering the cafe area where you could sit and look at books while you enjoyed your drink. Needless to say, however, it was so popular that it was often impossible to find a table if you wanted one, especially around lunchtime.
After moving to Havant a few years ago, I would quite often go shopping in Chichester and meet a friend for coffee at Costa. We would usually spend about an hour there, and I must say we were never made to feel that we should vacate our table before we were ready to. The problem, however, with the Chichester branch is that there is very little seating on the ground floor. You have to carry your tray up a narrow staircase - not easy for me with my dodgy knee, but even if you don't think you will find it a problem, you might if someone happens to be coming down the stairs at the same time. Once up on the first floor, however, the seating is comfortable and I love the view out onto Chichester Cathedral.
It was perhaps inevitable that Costa would open a branch in Southsea's Palmerston Road shopping precinct, and they did. This one has quite a few sofas inside, and in good weather you can sit at a table outside and watch the shoppers go by. When it first opened I was living in Havant and working in Southsea in the mornings, whereas my younger son was a student at Portsmouth University and lived in Southsea. Costa became the ideal place for us to meet before I had to get back home. When I moved back to Southsea last year, I discovered Coco's on Marmion Road which I prefered, but that has sadly now closed. (Vegetarian restaurant opening there soon.) The problem is that Costa is almost always crowded. My last visit to the Southsea branch was at about 8.45 one morning: I had had a fasting blood test and was waiting for the bank to open, so Costa seemed the ideal place. I was surprised that even before nine o'clock about half the tables were occupied.
Cappuccino, latte, mocha, ristrato and so on have became all the rage, of course. Some of us probably spend far too much on them. Fortunately, Costa offer three different sizes of coffee; I don't think I have ever splashed out on the largest one. Tea of course is also on offer, and if you want to be really decadent, try hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream. I usually go for cappuccino, but I am an ardent and not easily pleased lover of coffee; Costa sometimes just doesn't come up to scratch for me. I can drink good coffee without sugar, but sometimes I have added a sachet of sugar to my coffee at Costa and vigorously stirred in the chocolate powder on the surface because the coffee just didn't have enough flavour. You can have various flavoured syrups added to your coffee, but these are at an extra cost and I prefer my coffee to taste of coffee. Costa do of course also serve cold drinks. Fruit juice and Innocent Smoothies come bottled, but you can indulge in a Frescato, an ice-blended fruit drink in a variety of flavours. I do enjoy these in the summer.
Food on offer consists mainly of sandwiches - some of which can be toasted and brought to your table - cakes, croissants and biscuits. The sandwiches are quite pricey and not particularly good value. The mini biscuits are good for sharing if you just want a small snack, but I usually go for a low-fat muffin. These were originally only available in a lemon and orange flavour, but a berry variety had been introduced when I last visited the Southsea branch. Fruit salad has been added to the menu too, and there are a few varieties of crisps and small wrapped biscuits as well.
It is self-service in the three branches I am familiar with, and on the whole I have found the staff to be polite and friendly even at the busiest times. There was one exception to this, however, at the Southsea branch. There were four of us, and we had ordered two cappuccinos, one tea and a latte along with some muffins. We had everything except the latte on the tray, and myself and my son were waiting at the counter for the latte. One of the girls serving hot drinks seemed to think that we had our complete order and asked if there was a problem. I showed her our till receipt and my son, who has a naturally loud voice, explained politely that there was still a latte to come. The manageress came over and asked my son to stop raising his voice. There had been no hint of anger in his voice, and there was no attempt on her behalf to apologise for the fact that we hadn't been served with a drink that we had clearly paid for. That did make me feel at the time that I might not return there, but in actual fact I have. It wasn't encouraging, however.
One thing that does encourage me to keep going back to Costa is the existence of the Costa Foundation. This was established in 2006 and has thus far centred on education, building and maintaining schools in coffee-growing communities in Uganda, Ethopia and Colombia. Other projects in these countries include developing land for crop growing, setting up a library and improving sanitation.
It is possible to take away any of the drinks or food at Costa, in which case the price will be slightly lower. You can also buy packets of the coffee they serve.
Whilst Costa's prices are high, it is worth remembering that an extra share of the money goes back to the people who supply the coffee beans. I shall bear this in mind when I visit Gunwharf Quays, as the new branch of Costa there is very close to Cafe Rouge, where I have never had a poor cup of coffee. Perhaps I'll go when the weather is warmer and enjoy an ice-cold, fruity Frescato instead.
Advantages: Nice coffee, Nice atmosphere, Nice barristas, Overall a nice place Disadvantages: Disappointing mocha, Dry treats like cake, Overpriced merchandise
Costa Coffee is one of the 'great chains' of england and beyond (As far as i know). Almost anywhere you go, town, villages, and even supermarkets, you'll never be too far away from a costa.
Costa Coffee started in America (I know. People say they are an italian brand but they are NOT), doing espresso bars around the country. They evolved since, and now you can find them in a LOT of places. They do a range of coffees, use pure ground coffee, top ... ...they use'''
In every costa i have been too, they empty the coffee into a lovely '''burr grinder''' and use it as it's needed. It doesn't reach them already ground, which is great! Although... I peered into a costa one night and the beans were still in the grinder. Whether this was a mistake or not, this can ruin the coffee's aroma. And it can make it bitter. Bad. If they recommend on the packets of costa coffee to put it in an airtight container ...
Necormancer 26.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Costa Coffee Bar
Advantages: Great tasting coffee Disadvantages: Poor service and shop floor hygiene
...all tastes and all pockets. Costa Coffee is situated on our high street and I have been there twice in the past two weeks with friends during lunch breaks. The store: The seating area is a bit grubby in our local store and it looks like everything needs a good bleach and a steam clean to be honest. Trays are left on tables for an overly long time and rubbish was piling up on the floor, they clearly needed more staff to ensure that the dining/drinking ... ...were friendly enough, but they were painfully slow. Today we asked for one iced coffee and one soya latte to drink in and it took 12 minutes to be ready....that is a heck of a long time when you are on a lunch break of one hour and do not have the luxury of a longer break! There were not enough staff in our branch and this is why I think it just took so long...they had to take the money, serve the long queue of customers and clear up...all the time ...
excelsior81 31.07.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Costa Coffee Bar
Advantages: Yummy muffins and cake Disadvantages: None!
In my opinion Costa Coffee is better than Starbucks! Although I love them both I have to say that It's Costa coffee all the way for me (:
~Information: ~
Bruno and Sergio Costa are the founders of the legendary Costa Coffee and they set up their first espresso bar in 1978 in London. The same methods for their unique way of slow roasting their coffee beans are used today, and this famous coffee is being served in 500 coffee shops all over the world!
... ...though. ~Food: ~
Costa offers a wide, delicious range of food to choose from such as pastries, muffins, cakes, tray bakes, Biscuits, Shortcake, Flapjack, fresh cold and hot sandwiches, salads and Panini's.
They do delicious low fat Lemon and orange muffins, which are said to be around 328 calories per muffin on the website. I think they were one pound forty something but they were definitely worth the money! It had a gorgeous tasting icing, and ...
Liziii 11.08.2008 (15.08.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Costa Coffee Bar
...it!!!
I would say Costa excells itself.
It is constantly developing and increasing in number, becoming a well recognised coffee bar.
The menu is quite vast, offering something for most tastes.
They offer various teas (herbal included), Hot Choclates, with cream, flakes marsh mellows ... the works!!! Numerous soft drinks are availiable.
Foremostly, the coffee! Italian coffee is used, offering alsorts of drinks ... various expressos, lattes, cappuchinos, ... ...every penny!!! You can enjoy costa coffee from your own home.
The food menu is of equal standard, although very simple, the foods are elaborate and unique. Generally, a wide range of sandwiches are offered on various breads; The sandwiches can be toasted also. They have delicious desserts; pastries (chocolate twist being my favorite) and cakes. Also very unusual biscuits and crisps aswell as other bizzare snacks.
Costa also sell items associated ...
L0BSTER_QUADRILLE 18.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Costa Coffee Bar
Advantages: Delicious coffee and treats Disadvantages: none
...you walk in to a Costa Coffee is the beautiful decor. A lot of though has gone into the rich 'coffee' and chocolate tones which make you feel warm and welcome from the moment you step in. There are also little facts up on the wall telling you more about the history and origins different coffee's.
There are many different varieties of coffee's on offer for the consumer from the basic Americano to a more complex flavour of a Ristretto. You can alter ... ...outrageous compared to other market leaders. everyone would benfit from a quite hour or so in a costa coffee chair, whether it be taking the weight off after a hard day's shopping with your friends or simply a quite hour or two with just you or a book. ...
purplefood 12.02.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Costa Coffee Bar
Value for Money
Standard of Menu
Atmosphere
Standard of Service
Cleanliness
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As a regular inhabitant of many a fast food joint due to long commuting and, let's face it, being a bit lazy, I've used Starbucks for ages for great coffee (find Costa too rich) and a once in a blue moon croissant. A few weeks back I delved into the sandwich bar and, sad to say, was less than impressed. The chicken they use (along with an increasing number of outlets and sandwich bars) is the much talked about water-enhanced variety. It just don't look or taste like chicken. I ended up buying a cheese and pickle (low maintenance, dead easy one would hope) but this was dry at one end and soggy at the other. Starbucks sent me a voucher and said they would pass on my comments (about the chicken). ...
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