Starbucks

What can I say, Starbucks is Starbucks. A pretty good place for a coffee when attending the Web Summit or other events at RSD just around the corner. There are other coffee places around, but I opted for Starbucks when the lines in the others places were a bit too long. Because I’ll give these people this much, they’re fast!

As a coffee fan I’m not generally a huge Starbucks drinker, it’s not amazing. What is amazing however is their flavoured coffees. From October to December I begin insulating with their sugary syrups, from pumpkin spice in the run up to Halloween to the gingerbread latte in the run up to Christmas I do love them so much.
The other thing I love in Starbucks is their Ham & Emmental Croissants, toasted to a crisp with a melty centre. Delicious. I do find that the level of toasting (and the quality of the coffee) varies from store to store but this place does a mean toasty… Delish!

I actually like the coffee in Starbucks, and I LOVE that they have wifi (although it can be hit or miss).
The missing stars are because of their food — atrocious.
It has a cheap, «fake» quality to it. Really no excuse for it, when coffee shops half their size, who charge less, can provide good quality, freshly made sandwiches and pastries. I don’t need gourmet — I happy with prepackaged — I just want something close to fresh. I have gotten so many stale things here, that I have given up buying food in any Starbucks.

This Starbucks is located just after Ballsbridge Motors on the Shelbourne Road and officially part ot «The Oval» rather than having a Shelbourne road address. There is lots of paid parking around, but it is checked frequently, so beware of running in quickly without paying unless you have someone else driving.
As a result of the ample parking, lots of local businesses and the RDS, it can get quite busy but is generally not too crowded for long, especially on the weekends.
In terms of what you get — it’s standard Starbucks fare here, with the usual panini, sandwich and pastry options, usually well stocked.
Normally a chain that lives up to expectations would get a 3 star review from me, but the service is better here than most other Starbucks in Ireland that I have experienced. The store is large, pleasant and has plenty of seating.
The quality of my favoured morning drink, the cappuccino, varies with the barista, but there are a couple that actually make it without a glut of milk (i.e. a latte) — sadly this is an all too common practice in coffee houses in Ireland.
As a regular customer on my morning commute, the staff remember my order, are quick to start my drinks (even if I am a bit back in the queue) and throw in the occasional freebie. Generally service is quick even when busy. It’s that service that inspired me to add this chain, a first review and give it 4 stars.
They do tend to run out of popular pastry options early (croissant etc.) but other than that it’s hard to find fault.
Not a 5 star review because of the aforementioned issue with milk, but that’s endemic to most Irish coffee shops, they’d probably get more complaints if they made the drink properly. For a chain coffee shop, this one is not bad, but if there was a Café Di Napoli equivalent on my way to work it would get my business instead :)