Basquiat

Basquiat earns two stars for two reasons — 1) there is too much amazing competition in the area and 2) it has taken the place of a really excellent Italian café. if it wasn’t for these factors, Basquiat would be a three star establishment.
So, before Basquiat there was «the Italian place» which no one knew the name of so they all called it «the Italian place»
You knew you would have to go for an early lunch because any later it would be full of students, you knew the panini were tasty and interesting (my mouth is actually watering thinking of it), you knew you could also elect to get pizza, pasta, or any other random Italian delights. In fact, I’m pretty sure you could buy fresh pasta here and make your own meal at home. It was great, good variety, cheap and cheerful service. Why did it go out of business? I don’t know.
So, then Basquiat opened and as I happened to be walking by and starving, I gave it a go. The new owners have brightened the place up and have properly connected it with the dine-​in area next door. I think there may even be an upstairs seating bit because people occasionally emerged from nowhere, but there was no sign to advertise this so I’m not sure. A case full of tasty-​looking cakes sitting on colourful trays greets you when you walk in.
My biggest warning should have been that it was full on lunch time and there wasn’t a queue of students. Despite being annoying, students know where it’s at when it comes to cheap yet good eats. Their savoury food isn’t on a board or displayed anywhere so we had to hunt for a menu. Once found, it was lackluster. The sandwiches and panini on offer were safe and uninspiring. I opted for the «basil» which was a tomato, mozzarella basil panini, while The Man opted for Mexican chicken, I believe. My «basil» had two or three pieces of basil to go with the under-​ripe tomatoes that had been advertised as «vine-​ripened.» The Man’s panini was actually really tasty but there was SO MUCH SALT on it, it was borderline inedible.
Lackluster food was accompanied by nice yet painfully slow service and food production. The panini were fairly priced, though (something like £6.40 for two).
So, this leaves me feeling «meh» about Basquiat. As I said before, there is too much amazing competition in the area, I don’t see myself returning.