Well, what a disappointment it was visiting this cake shop. I had heard that their cakes were supposed to be good, rich and very chocolatey. In my mind that is always a recipe for success. When I looked them up online, they stated that their Diablo cake (or devils food) was their speciality and I'm a big fan of all things devilish!
From the outside the shop looked classy and sleek. As we passed through the doors, the first thing I saw was the cupcake display. The cupcakes looked inviting but there wasn't a huge amount of them. I went for the Diablo cupcake as when it is a shops speciality one must indulge. But oh dear! If that's the speciality then I'm not much interested in the other flavours on offer. The cake was served straight from the refrigerated display case and it was hard and so was the chocolate ganache topping. There was a decent enough chocolate flavour but it was overshadowed by the hardness of the cake. Cake is not meant to be hard...EVER! So disappointing.
I was also disappointed with the vibe in the shop. After visiting Colette and Lola, and being impressed by the ambiance and decor. In comparison, I found this shop rather lacking any kind of ambiance. The larger cakes were just displayed in a case at the back of the shop, amidst white decor with some cake boxes placed here and there. This shop also tries to sell itself on its 'decorating bar' as they say you can buy your cake and self-decorate. This seems like a fun and creative element that doesn't quite fit with the sleek, white interior. However, even the decorating area lacked fun and sparkle. The decorations were pretty basic - small bags of coloured icing, cherries, chopped up marshmallows, m & m's, and some chocolate balls. Where was the fun stuff? I would have liked to have seen some edible glitter, pearls, different shaped sprinkles, chocolate shavings, etc. they could have even had some pictures on the wall for inspiration or had a display board where after you decorated you could photograph your creation and have it pinned up. The shop felt cold and stuffy. No welcoming smiles when we came in, no greeting. It was all very get your cake and go. Not my kind of shop. If I am spending money in your shop, I want to feel like the service and ambiance is encouraging me to stay and buy more. I want to feel like I don't want to leave. It also looked like one of the owners was sitting on the sofa in the shop. He had his laptop in front of him and a stack of bills beside him on the sofa. My first thought...get an office! No one wants to see you calculating your finances in a cake shop. Cake shops are where you go to indulge, sometimes to forget, sometimes to celebrate, but always to tantalise the taste buds and satisfy the stomach. Take your bills elsewhere...if you are in the shop, be there, sell your product, satisfy your customer. Some people just don't get it. Well, I do. I know what I want out of a cake shop and I certainly didn't get it here. Suffice to say, I won't be becoming a member of this 'Parish'!
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