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Please note, Café Prestat has now closed. Time Out Food editors, December 2017.
What to buy the person who has everything? Fancy chocolate truffles. You can’t go wrong with chocolate truffles, and Prestat’s are especially good – you may recognise their beautiful packaging from the shelves of high-class delis and fancy food halls. Unfortunately, their Chelsea café is not as much of a treat.
The petite premises are enticing, with bench seating down one side and displays piled so high with colourful boxes they wouldn’t look out of place chez Willy Wonka. The pavement tables are a very pleasant place to while away an hour or so, too, as long as you aren’t looking for a meal. Because when I ordered a salmon and cream cheese sandwich, it arrived stale enough that the cream cheese had dried and cracked like a late summer heel. It was served on rye bread so stodgy it weighed more than the plate itself and was accompanied by the kind of bag-salad you wouldn’t put in your packed lunch.
Thankfully (and unsurprisingly), the sweet stuff is much better. The central counter is piled with fresh pastries and traditional tarts, and you can order individual truffles to your table. Indeed you may need one to get rid of the taste of bitter coffee. So even if you can’t go wrong with chocolate truffles, there’s no need to make a beeline for Café Prestat.