Review: Cielo, York Place, Leeds

There's a line in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) in which Joe Pesci's character quips, '˜This guy could muck up a cup of coffee'. Ok, so there's a word in there he doesn't use but this being a family-friendly newspaper, you get my drift.

The point being, it’s relatively difficult to mess up a cup of coffee and I think the same rule applies to sandwiches. Like cups of coffee, sandwiches are simple to master and a delight to eat. But despite this, I cannot count the number of occasions when I have bought a sandwich from a shop and been disappointed.

Therefore, I think the Government ought to legislate on the making of sandwiches, as this is the only way in which customers such as myself will ever avoid being let down in the future.

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The problem, as I see it, is to do with the spreading of the fillings. When you make sandwich at home (at least I hope this is the case), you pay attention that the whole of the bread is covered with whatever you have decided to put in there and moreover, you ensure that the contents are evenly spread, thus ensuring that each mouthful is just as satisfying as the last. This, in my view, is common sense.

So, it was with disappointment that I tucked into my egg mayonnaise sandwich with cress at Cielo, York Place, because while the bread was nice, the filling wasn’t all the way up to the edge and saying there was cress in it was like billing Lady Gaga at a concert, only to see her wandering from a great distance on the fringe of the crowd - never actually putting in an appearance on stage. Likewise for the mayo.

Anyway, enough about the downsides of my sandwich - the place has barely been open a week. It’s nice in there though.

There’s a bag of coffee beans in the entrance; inside, slate grey walls frame a chocolate brown floor with a brightly lit counter full of all sorts of delicious-looking cakes and pastries and so forth. Food comes in the form of pre-prepp’ed sarnies, plastic tubs of salad and other such snacks. The main draw here, I suppose, is cake and coffee for that midday energy boost us office types relish so much now that they have almost become a necessity (and sod the threat of diabetes).

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I ordered the aforementioned sandwich, which for some reason appeared on my bills as ‘2 @ £3’, hence £6, but I’m guessing maybe my flat latte was £3 also? Additionally: carrot salad with apple, onion, quinoa (was it?) £1.50, habas fitas (£.50), all very good and a chocolate twist (£2.20), fresh cooked bread with a great big slab of chocolate on it: fabulous. Total: £11.20 and overall a nice experience, certainly for top notch cake and coffee.

DETAILS

Cielo, York Place

Leeds

Open: Mon-Fri 7.30am-4pm

Score: 3/5