A modern and forward-thinking Starbucks store located inside Westfield Forum des Halles in Paris,…read morethis is one of the best Starbucks stores I've visited in mainland Europe and is certainly up there with other locations including one in the Marienplatz area of Germany, and some locations in Stockholm, Sweden.
Mall locations of Starbucks for me normally mean
- Fast, impersonal service
- The staff always spell your name wrong.
- Rushed drinks which don't taste so good.
None of that was the case here.
My drink was good, it was served in the new style cups which seem to have only recently launched in Europe, the difference between the ones used in the US/UK are that it has a little slot, you can lift up to drink your beverage so it isn't hard to carry and it doesn't slosh around until you reach your table.
Inside, the store has nice aspects of decor, lots of seating, being towards the end of the "underground mall" it still had a good signal, and was a nice place for working too.
The store has a side entrance for disabled access, most of the staff speak good English.
The biggest flaw? The price. My drink came to €5.95 euros, which is nearly 30% more than what I've had paid for the same drink in the UK (it would be even more again if you take into account the lower rate of tax back home which in the interest of fairness I didn't - otherwise it would have been 45% more!
My Venti Iced Vanilla Macchiato tasted good, I like how you can see the fresh vanilla bean in the cup which gave it a good, strong flavour. It could have been stirred sightly better though as the last few mouthfuls were far too sweet.
Starbucks can be pretty hit and miss overseas especially in Europe where the brand can often be licensed to other companies who run them, but this store is one of the few examples of that being a good decision.
4*
