On paper Princi shouldn't work. A huge patisserie in the heart of Soho (on Wardour Street). It has Wagamama style (thanks to the owner Mr Alan Yau) benches and the walls are covered in expensive Italian stone. It looks amazing from the outside and absolutely delivers inside too. The service was fantastic and the quality of the cakes and coffees was stunning. Highly recommended.

The food here is nice but the prices have gone up recently for a slice of cake. Ive been to the branches in Italy and whilst this store doesn't quite come up to the same standards its still excellent in comparision to most UK establishments.

It used to be a good alternative to a restaurant but now if you have a slice of pizza, a cake and an orange juice the bill can soon mount up. People don't queue up here - they just push in and try and catch the eye of a waiter.

The idea of the benches is to encourage a high turn over of people - however, many of the Italians who frequent the place use it as a meeting house and thus hog the seats long after they have finished eating. its super busy in the evening so I wouldn't recommend you go here then or you will be disappointed unless you love a rugby scrum.

I guess the place is a victim of its own success - its now so busy its unpleasant in the peak times. Most annoyingly is seeing half the ground floor empty - as the designer earmarked this space for increased food manufacturing once the satellite stores open, whilst all the dinners are crammed into a space that is too small

The coffee is good though so coffee and cake in the afternoon is probably your best choice.

Really good place, an excellent standby when you don't have plans but you're hungry, and it's good for all phases of the night, whether you want just a snack, or a meal, or dessert, or a long evening that stretches through all phases. I wouldn't go for just a drink though - there's not a great range of drinks and they're pretty pricey.
The staff are great, and there are so many of them that you don't have to wait too long, except at the wine/coffee bar. Occasionally the guys doing wine and coffee can take a while to get round to acknowledging and serving you though. Also, they can be pretty stingy with the wine. They pour it into measures and from there into your glass, and it never seems very generous; one time one of the barmen finished off the bottle and dripped all the dregs out into the measure but still didn't quite fill it. Instead of topping it up with a fresh one before he even got to the dregs, he just plonked the dregsy underfilled measure into the glass and handed it to me. That was pretty poor. At the prices they charge for wine they could let it flow a little freer I think, and with more class.
Coffee and food quality is awesome. Really generous servings of mozzarella on your caprese, great avocado salad, and delicious focaccia and thick pizza by the rectangular slice. There are so many good desserts to choose from. And the food doesn't set you back too much.
It always seems super full at 8-10pm, but you just hang out eating at the bar, then graduate to eat leaning on the pillar things, and nab a seat when one comes up. There's a pretty high turnover of customers so something comes up before too long. The bench seating encourages casual conversations with neighbours, so it makes it a very social place. It's always full of Italians, which is a good sign and adds to the buzz. I took some Italian friends there and they were really impressed.

Great Food!!!!Troppo buono!!!!!!Thanks to open up this place!!!!Ciao

Princi is just great, if you are italian you would be amazed to find bread with olives, pizza, arancini, panettone and all typical italian food. Coffee and capuccino are great too! The staff is almost all italian, all nice and welcoming. The venue is minimalistic, but very nice indeed, I am always going here when I am going into town, I love this place!
Marco

we just found it by accident. I was tired of my day at uni, and my boyfrind just joined me after work. We were looking for a nice place to eat something quickly. and here it is! a real "pizza al taglio" just baked. Delicious, fresh, authentic and quite cheap even if compared with italian prices. There is a fantastic selection of freshly baked cakes, croissants and panettoni. And as it is still a bakery after all.. you can buy fresh bread all day. Despite the minimal chic interiors this place is very warm a welcoming.The staff is friendly and smiley.They do take away of course. It is ideal for an aperitivo or a quick dinner before theatre. I really recomend it!