Pappagalli’s Lunch
Went to Pappagalli’s Italian cafe today for a leisurely lunch/brunch today.
It’s situated in the middle of Parliament Street and unlike most of Ramsey it is open on a Sunday between 10 and 3 – this is quite a nice bonus as it’s a nice change to have an option to nip out for a proper coffee on Sunday morning and a bit of light food.
With this in mind I ordered a Latte (£2.30) and decided the Brie, tomato and rocket bagel (£3.90) on the menu looked a nice option. When I went up to order I waited a little while to be served as the couple messed about in the back but the young lady who came to the counter was friendly and smiley. I ordered the “brie bagel” which wasn’t the full list of ingredients as per the menu but I assumed it would be clear what I wanted – I was wrong as there was a bit of confusion with the order but I thought it was clarified when I explained that I couldn’t remember the full menu details but that was what I wanted and that seemed to be ok.
The service was quite quick with the coffee arriving and a few short minutes later the bagel, again delivered with a friendly smile and very nicely presented on the plate.
However the order was wrong – as you can see from the photo there are sausages lurking in my bagel and no rocket. This is a mix up with the other food order I put in (which was also not correct). I suppose I could have said that it was the wrong order and I am sure they would have sorted it out but I was willing to carry on as I am quite fond of sausages 
The bagel was nicely toasted – not hard or too crispy as often happens and the ingredients were tasty, sausages were nicely cooked and the bagel was filled so that you had plenty to eat but not spilling everywhere, it had clearly been created with a bit of care and attention not slopped together. The coleslaw on the side was a nice accompanyment but not that tasty – I suspect supermarket bought – and the lettuce was fresh. However I am not convinced it was worth £4…. it was something I could easily make at home to a similiar level.
As a whole I can’t make my mind up about the place. I want to like it. It’s something different in Ramsey and I respect their work ethic – it looks like a young couple running the place and they are open 7 days a week and late nights on Thurs – Sat so I can’t fault them for trying but it feels like they’re doing too much. The style from the outside is nice and classy and they are obviously going for an Italian feel throughout. Inside I love the furniture in there with chairs that remind me of my grandmothers house and a friendly relaxed atmosphere but they then have a few pictures of bikes and a poster of Che Guevara which just look random and out of place. The name of the place is a parrot (according to google anyway!) but I see no other reference to that afterwards so you’re left just wondering why the odd name.
The menu has panini’s, bagels, sandwiches and baps… it just seems far too much variety of bread and while we were there they had run out of bagels and weren’t serving smoothies. It makes me think maybe they are trying too many different things rather than stick to a few things they can get right. It seems madness that they open without enough bagels to cope with demand, if they have such a basic ingredient missing from the menu it doesn’t bode well.
I’m going to give this 3 out of 5 stars because it has so much potential, the food was good, presented well and the service friendly but they let themselves down with simple things not being 100% right.
Replacing lettuce for sausages should be actively encouraged!
Hi there
Well written, very detailed and thoughtful review of Pappagallis. Thank you. It is also very much appreciated as a neutral piece of constructive criticism.
My name is Dougie and I am the owner operator, with my wife Della.
We have had pappagallis for around 6 months and it has evolved over that time into what it is today.
Your review is sooooo appreciated in that it confirms a couple of issues that we have already recognised as areas in need of improvement. The main one being service to the customer.
We have made a point of employing young, local staff and feel that they do bring an energy and ‘funk’ that is missing from many other local cafes. We encourage them to be themselves and interact with the customers, which they do to good effect. However, being youngsters they do sometimes mess around and flirt etc…. sometimes at the expense of good customer service. I have been working on this and will continue to work to improve the attention to the customer given by our young (bless them) staff.
Related issues are delivery of cutlery…. The initial idea was that customers order at the counter and pick up their cutlery from the basket at the counter, as is the case in most coffee shops / cafes. That doesn’t seem to be working as most people sit down without taking cutlery… meaning the staff, having delivered the food have to go back to fetch the cutlery… which during busy lunch periods slows down the overall service. We are now considering putting cutlery on the tables to address this issue.
Other comments elsewhere mention some staff smoking outside etc… this has now been banned completely.
The name Pappagalli is, yes, a parrot… but it is also an Italian surname… Cluadia Pappagalli for example. I also trained and worked in Pappagallis in Soho, London in my younger days (met my wife there) so the name has a sentimental value. Whilst we do have an strong Italian influence ( my mother being Italian ) we do have a lot of older customers that come for tea, coffee and scones etc…. that wouldn’t thank you for a pannini or a bagle, but love our hand cut traditional and deli sandwiches. So in that area our menu evolved over the last few months to cater to our regular customers desires… and is still evolving now in order to stay fresh and interesting. (I hope!!)
The multible bread issue is easy to cope with in that we simply have 5 large airtight containers holding Panninis, bagles, baps, white bread, brown bread. The fillings selection are in a refrigerated deli/pizza servery… its simply a case of choosing the type of bread and filling it. Normal deli practice.
Now… the strange case of the sausage in the brie bagel…. I cannot imagine how a sausage ended up in there… but look forward very much indeedy to asking my young kitchen dude in the morning!!!!
Oh…. Bagels.. one of my alltime favourite things… are a constant supply issue. Our bagels are fresh baked every morning by a local supplier and I order a fixed amount each day. They are not a big seller and I normally sell no more than 6 a day… however.. some days we sell none, and some days, and I have no idea why… everyone suddenly decides it,s bagel day! The only way to be able to always have a bagel available on demand would be to order frozen bagels from Jack Frost and keep a lerge stock in my freezer… and that is exactly what I initialy did.
Problem is the frozen bagles are nowhere near as good as the fresh baked daily bagels… and the regulars that do eat our fresh bagels comment on how good they are. So what to do… frozen not so good but always available bagels…or kick-ass fresh baked bagels that may, unfortunately, all have been eaten by the time you get here????
Okay, I’m beginning to ramble, ha ha, …
Seriously, thank you so much… we are always looking to be better and honest, fair constructive criticism is hard to come by but absolutely essential to help us improve.
I’d like to invite you to Pappagallis for a complimentary Bagel (if we have any..Ha ha )… and coffee… and a chat.
Our phone number is 810910… ask for Dougie.
Thanks and hope to see you soon
Hello – thank you very much for responding I am grateful you took the time to read my little review and answer the points raised, I didn’t expect anything like this!
I would like to make sure you know that whilst I had a few “negative” (for want of a better word) comments it has not stopped me returning most weekends for a bite to eat and a coffee and enjoying it.
I’ll be sure to let you know if this changes though – keep up the good work and top quality bagels
Dougie
Read your blognote when reviewing Pappagalli’s name.
If you worked at Pappagalli’s Pizza Inc in Swallow Street, London in the 80′s this a hi 5 from Richard & Barbara who created and owned it then.
We had a very nice busboy called Dougie, who might be you.
If it is, best of luck to you in the IoM and we’re glad to see the name carried on. A lot of love and very hard work went in to building the brand and many of the alumni went on to fabulous things.
Cheers from sunny Florida… and all the best for the future
yours
Richard & Barbara
PS…
Smoothies are currently off the menu as our new, super duper ice crushing smoothie blender…. broke!!!
The ice crushing blades just sheered right off. So we are awaiting a replacement for the broken one which was still under warrenty.
Will be sorted soon.
Dougie,
Hello there, I came across this site whilst looking for a picture of your cafe, to send to a fellow coffee buff in Islay. The espresso you served with a smile was just fandabidozi, the best I had on the island. The ambiance though was something else, with Billie Holliday playing in the back ground, I was reminded of my dad and visits to the Island long ago. My throat tightened and my eyes filled, you can’t put a price on that. thanks, John.