I tried Caffè Nero's new Christmas menu but there was one problem

In my opinion, Caffè Nero is very underrated compared to some of its competitors. I think it's cakes are better than Costa, sandwiches are better than Starbucks and it has a solid coffee.

So I was excited to try out some of their new Christmas range, especially the pistachio hot chocolate. Popping along on a wintery Sunday morning, Caffè Nero was the perfect spot to escape the chill.

Taking a cosy seat in the corner, we ordered the pistachio hot chocolate, caramelised pistachio latte, the festive feast panini, brie, bacon & cranberry panini and the profiterole cheesecake. I love pistachio and I am already a huge fan of Caffè Nero's chocolate and pistachio mousse cake which is my go-to order.

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When the hot chocolate arrived I loved the look with the sprinkles of nuts on top. They were lovely to spoon out with the cream to get to the chocolate underneath, but this is where I encountered a problem.

While I love the sweet, almond taste of pistachio, but the syrup in my hot chocolate was too sweet for me. The chocolate itself has a good flavour, although not the thickest hot chocolate I have had. At first it was lovely, but soon became a little too sickly and I regretted having the profiterole cheesecake on the side.

My husband said his latte was the same, a real unique taste at first, but then difficult to finish due to the sweetness. But perhaps this is just our tastebuds as the pistachio hot chocolate is back after proving popular last year.

However we thought the paninis were delicious and a real lunchtime festive treat. The brie, bacon and cranberry is always a classic and this is excellent to have in a break from Christmas shopping.

The bread has a wonderful crunch to it, but not hard like some crunchy breads, and the lovely salty bacon was complimented by the soft, creamy brie and the sweet cranberry and my four year old love this - which is very high praise as he is sometimes prone to what we call the ‘beige diet’.

The festive feast panini was filled with Christmas flavour, with yummy stuffing, moist turkey and cranberry offering another classic. Although, my husband said he would have loved even more filling - but who wouldn’t want more Christmas turkey?

The profiterole cheesecake was also delightful, the choux pasty was light and the cheesecake itself was creamy but not heavy. It won’t replace the chocolate and pistachio mousse cake for me, but it was a good alternative. Great for a little coffee shop date over the festive season.

Caffè Nero Christmas menu includes:

• Winter Blend coffee

• Tiramisu Latte

• Caramelised Pistachio Latte (priced around £5.35)

• Pistachio Hot Chocolate (£5.35)

• Millionaires Hot Chocolate (£5.35)

• Italian Porchetta Focaccia (£6.80)

• Festive Feast Panini (£5.65)

• Brie, Bacon & Cranberry Panini (£5.70)

• Pigs Under Blankets Panini

• Vegan Festive Feast Panini

• Profiterole Cheesecake (£4.75)

• Black Forest Chouxnut (£4.75)

• White Chocolate & Gingerbread Cake (£4.75)

• White Chocolate & Gingerbread Cookie (£2.95)

• Festive Gingerbread Santa

• Classic Mince Pie (£3.15)

• Luxury Amaretto Mince Pie