Paul in Oxford

Lovely cafe in the centre of Oxford, cosy and cheerful. Nice and helpful staff, the coffee and the bakery good to die for, very impressed

Lovely staff, great atmosphere and the most beautiful cakes and coffee. Highly recommend. A reason to visit Oxford.

Staff is pleasant and helpful, but there wasn't a big choice for sandwiches (falafel, tuna or ham) at 15h on a Saturday.I got the tuna and realised once at my table the tuna was dark on the edges, which means the fridges aren't at the right temperature or there's something wrong with the HACCP process.I also got a chocolate tart, the biscuit was humide when it's supposed to be crispy, and the ganache wasn't nicely thick and creamy, and had more sugar than chocolate.I felt sick on my way back home and vomited.Definitely not going back.

I ordered a tuna mayo baguette for I think about £4.25. When I opened it, it consisted of tomato slices, lettuce leaves and some cucumber. They had literally dabbed some tuna mayo along the edge of the baguette to make it look like it was full of tuna. When you open the baguette however, it was completely empty apart from the salad. Essentially payed £4.25 for a salad baguette. They gave me a replacement which was exactly the same. Got a refund. There are much better value places in Oxford. Value at Paul is very very poor.

It was OK, staff member didn't know the range of products including what a quiche was that they sell. All made a bit of a painful ordering process. What we received was good.

This rating is not for the food purchased (Chocolate Duo cake and Tomato Mozzarella baguette), which was good in my opinion, but for the service.I had a few questions about the cake I wanted to purchase, which was met with a very cold attitude which made me feel unwelcome to the store.I wanted to know if the cakes were gelatin based or baked. The guy and the girl at the till didn't know it and directed the query to an older woman, who seemed to be busy taking stock of the inventory. She clarified that the cheesecake cake was gelatin based. My next question was if the chocolate cake was gelatin based too, as I prefer to buy baked cakes. This time she seemed not very keen to answer the queries. She proceeded to ask the guy to refer some manual. He pulled out a bunch of papers and began poring through. This lasted for a good 2-4 minutes before the older lady decided to answer the query and confirmed that the cake was baked. I felt sorry for the guy and at the same time made to feel stupid for making sure what I wanted to buy was according to my tastes and preferences.It was my first time to the store and the experience has left me doubtful of going there again. So much for all the grandstanding that goes on of being inclusive, welcoming people, and treating people equally!My takeaway from the incident is, if you know what you want and what you are buying, then head to this store as the food I got today was good. If you don't know, be prepared for this cold attitude that may or may not get served along with your food.

I have to be honest. The service is great. BUT! The food and coffee, in my opinion, is not.The annoying thing about the sandwiches is that they look really tasty. However, I found the bread to be so crunchy that it scratches the top of my mouth, soggy tomatoes and there was no flavour.I did not enjoy the coffee as I found it to be quite weak.

Okay if you want to give your jaw a good workout!Rubbery cheese and tasteless ham in a stale dry baguette. x2.Perhaps we picked a bad day or time, but it's embarrassing that the staff think it's acceptable to serve such produce. With so many other food outlets nearby, I would avoid Paul's.

Have bought a birthday cake for several occasions and would say that PAUL is usually a good choice - their cakes are in no way extraordinary per se but they are a safe bet in that you can expect a fresh, light, simple cake that was probably made on the day.The one pictured has definitely been the most extravagant one I’ve had from PAUL: it’s the chocolate macaron cake. It was definitely a wonderful sight at the birthday but taste-wise far from the showstopper it is described to be on the website. I would say that the small version of the cake probably pays off but with the large version you are not really getting your money’s worth. It’s mostly layers of alcohol soaked sponge interspersed with chocolate and then some more chocolate frosting on top, but to be fair, the exterior of it looks beautiful.The other cakes I’ve had from there are the Forêt Noire, Charlotte Fraise, and the Fleur de Lys cake. They’ve actually all been quite good, probably my favourite one was the simplest, Charlotte Fraise but the Forêt Noire was also a great choice and the Fleur de Lys would be ideal for the chocolate lover.Overall it is a bit disappointing that the store advertises itself as a French patisserie but most of their cakes are quite uneventful and frankly a bit dull after you’ve had them more than once.Only other product I can comment on are the macarons which I would say are definitely a disappointment, especially with some odd flavours that make no sense.If planning for a birthday party, beware that they only take orders the day before the cake is needed which is quite annoying as it might turn out that the actual cake you want is not available. I had this experience when trying to order a small chocolate macaron cake a week in advance and found it extremely annoying that they do not accept advance orders so you have to settle for whatever’s available on the day (for me this meant paying more than planned for a cake that was a lot larger than it needed to be).On the other hand this can be a positive thing if you are doing a last-minute cake run as you don’t need advance notice and can pick up whatever they have fresh on the day (the earlier you come in the bigger your choice so don’t leave it till last minute).Unrelated, but do not go for their “party decor” box of £15 for a bunch of balloons and bunting as it’s a ripoff and you can get a much better deal at a dedicated party store like Card Factory, just across the street.Overall a decent choice if you’re looking to tick a “cake” box at a party but don’t expect too much.

The Paul here taste exactly like the Paul in Paris. Not many seats available in the shop. The price will different from the price tag shown if you eat at the shop .