Princi is a Milanese boutique artisan bakery and pizzeria on Wardour Street, not far from the buzz and bustle of Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Open late every day, it is a beacon for those looking for a savoury snack or indeed a cup of coffee and a delicious cake.
With its carefully lit interior and long black marble counter, its airy minimalist styling is stylish and elegant.
Made in house, the cakes are modern European and Italian in style: there are brownies,
cannoli, raspberry chocolate ganache cake,
and there is tiramisu, and lime cheesecake layered with fig
and there is panettone (made in-house)…
The sumptuous display seems to stretch on forever. Thankfully, the glass counter protects the cakes from the customers’ drool.
Style of cakes: Modern Italian
Price: ££££
Location: Soho
Suitable for: casual dates, late night dining, afternoon tea, lunch, breakfast, friends, family
Not just a dim sum parlour, Yauatcha boasts an extensive array of East-West fusion immaculately crafted pâtisserie. Each entremet looks too perfect to be real, layer upon layer of contrasting flavours and textures, mysteriously put together as if by otherworldly beings.
Raspberry delice: raspberry, Manjari chocolate, lychee
Chocolate toasted rice: milk chocolate, toasted rice, soy, hazelnut
Matcha tart: matcha, yuzu, hazelnut, genoise
The presentation is wonderful, too: in the shop, there are just few enough for you to feel that they have been individually crafted especially for you.
Mandarin macadamia: dark chocolate, mandarin, roasted macadamia, Sable Breton
Fig blackcurrant: fig jelly, cassis curd, panettone, marscarpone cream
Lychee rose Charlotte: lychee mousse, crème brulle, cranberry compote, biscuit a la culliere
Apple blackberry entremet: confit apple, blackberry compote, jasmine
Chocolate luxe gateaux: caramelised milk chocolate, marinated golden raisins, liquorice
When you’ve chosen your designer edible jewel it is lifted into a beautifully constructed casket which keeps the cake in perfect condition, and is tied up with a crisp, woven ribbon.
There's also a variety of beautifully ornate macarons and hand-crafted confectionary:
Style of cakes: Asian influenced entremet
Price: ££££
Location: Soho
Suitable for: Smart dates, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, dessert, takeaway, Champagne & cocktails
From paneer to pad thai to hummus to tapas to cannoli to burgers to burritos to sushi to pizza to goujons to hot dogs to steak frites, to apple pie… If streets had BMIs, Wardour St would be severely in the red zone, but in a good way. What more could possibly be thrown into Wardour Street’s near boiling-over pot of restaurants? Something to cool it down, as it happens: and that is Snowflake Gelato, the ice cream boutique at number 102.
I had cast an admiring glance over the chic, clean-lined interior of Snowflake last Saturday night. I’m not one to follow the crowd mindlessly, but a queue was pouring out of the shop despite the fact that it was freezing outside, and I etched it on to my never-ending mental list of places to try. So when Asad, the owner of Snowflake, kindly invited me to sample the extensive selection (52 flavours) of gelati that he, and his Neapolitan chef, had dreamt up, I leapt at the chance.
Obviously, deploying the ‘moderation in moderation’ mantra, the sampling turned into a full-on degustation. My favourite restaurant in Italy makes its own delicious gelato daily using only local ingredients, so when it comes to ice cream, standards have been set. Luckily, Snowflake did not disappoint.
With its Italian chef, waiters , and ingredients, it has succeeded in importing some of the essential aspects of Italy to Wardour Street, apart from the sun.
Of the many flavours that I sampled, the raspberry sorbet, the coconut ice cream, the honeycomb ice cream, and the hazelnut were the stand outs – all so smooth that I plan to camp out there in a couple of weeks post- wisdom tooth removal…
Food: 9/10
Price: ££££
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 10/10
Loos: N/A
Suitable for: casual dates, friends, night out, late night dining
