ShoppingValvona and Crolla

I was very disappointed by my visit to Valvona & Crolla after what I had heard and read about the place. Being Italian I was looking forward to it so the opportunity arose when I visited the Edinburgh festival. I have to admit that it is very difficult to find a proper Italian deli in the UK. I am used to buy my wines and a few more products online but no more than that so this time I made sure I had plenty of space in the car, I was hoping to come back with plenty of Italian food and wine, the one I drink and eat when visiting my family, and set off to my Italian discovery shopping experience. All my hopes disappeared when I entered the Valvona & Crolla shop, when I started reading the label and found that the product on sale were all average Italian supermarkets products with a very dear price, and not the one I would buy. The Valvona & Crolla branded products were made by big Italian companies and the only few good wines they had, but nothing more than the ones available from supermarkets, had an excessive high price. As this was not enough, we decided to stay for a coffee, it was 4pm and when reading the menu we found the affogato and ordered it. Again, another big disappointment.. The affogato we received and we paid £3.95 was not more than a ball of vanilla lost in a poor espresso I left the place empty handed and promised myself I would never be back, at least to buy Italian food and wine or for an affogato, and will keep ordering my wine online. I have recently come across Italyabroad.com, a website specialised in Italian food and wine made by small producers and so far I havent been disappointed yet, they offer fantastic Italian wines and food made by small and real producers at a good price.