You must hate me, reading public. I've been backlogged since Tuesday: four days of posts I haven't shared with you. Well not TOO much has happened. Tuesday I spent the day with Kirk of The Daily Kirk and we had a true New York day. Started in the Village--ate brunch at Shopsin's. This time I tried the Charlie Chan sandwich which had pork and other Asian vegetables in a sesame-studded flat bread. I enjoyed it, though it was a little early in the day for big chunks of pork. After that we hopped on the subway and toured The Metropolitan Museum of Art (or "the Met" as its called in local circles. One trick you may already know is that admission prices are RECOMMENDED. So when it says adults $15 or whatever you can pay $1 and still get in. I know museum advocates will find it alarming I'm destroying their chances of making money, but I think it's a little sneaky how small the font is on the word "RECOMMENDED.")
After the Met, we tried to get tickets for show. Eventually we saw "Hurlyburly" but before that we grabbed dinner at the mediocre HK (where my friend Ricky used to work) and then shot across the street for cupcakes at The Cupcake Cafe. Here's Kirk outside:
It was really sunny, hot and uncomfortable out. Cupcakes weren't necessarily what the doctor ordered. Kirk didn't want one so I ordered one alone. The choices are pretty straight forward: chocolate or vanilla, big or small. All the cupcakes are gorgeously decoraetd. Here's the one I ultimately chose, vanilla on vanilla which is my favorite in case anyone's sending me cupcakes for my son's Bar Mitzvah: (that is when I have a son):
Some seriously talented pipers are piping icing at The Cupcake Cafe. Soak in that beauty, becasue that's the best part. Honestly you're not missing much else: the cupcake tasted like flavorless cake with whipped butter on top. It was hugely disappointing. This certainly ranks far far behind the delicious cupcake I enjoyed at Magnolia and the one I enjoyed last year at Buttercup. It's like a prom Queen: all pretty on the outside but soulless. Unless your prom queen was Aretha Franklin.
Go for the beauty, but leave without tasting. That is my analysis of "The Cupcake Cafe."
6 Comments
Dude, I totally agree about the Cupcake Cafe cupcakes. I'm not a fan, but my Dad loooooves them. The cookies and donuts there are awesome though. I've also eaten lunch there- quiche and salad, which was quite good. The cake decorations are incredible, though. Thanks for all the entertaining reading!
Posted by Carlton | June 11, 2005 4:49 PM
Thank you so much for this review!!! I've been bugging my sister to bring me cupcakes from there (she goes to NYU, i live in CA), but now I feel somewhat more at ease since I'm not missing out on much.
Posted by me | June 11, 2005 10:44 PM
What with the trendiness of cupcakes these days, it's terrible that taste is falling by the wayside! Those that is a picture of cupcake aesthetic perfection, a non-tasty cake would be a great disappoinment. I swore myself off of baking a while back (apartment kitchen too hot), but I've already broken that rule for cookies ... maybe I need to make some cupcakes next. Great. Now I'm obsessing over cupcakes at 10:00 a.m. on a Monday.
Posted by tara | June 13, 2005 9:56 AM
Exactly right. You can make the cupcake as pretty as you want but I expect it to taste as lovely as it looks. Don't forget it's food, afterall.
Posted by Leona | December 29, 2006 5:52 PM
The absolute worst cupcakes ever! I am a baker, so trust me on this one. Three of us went to Cupcake Cafe on 9th avenue and none of us could even eat our cupcakes! They were frozen and stale. Fortunately, they did refund our money without a problem, but it was the worst ever. There coffee was delicious and fresh, too bad the cupcakes weren't edible. Don't waste your money on these, go to the mini mart and get hostess cupcakes, trust me!
Posted by Deanna | February 24, 2007 12:02 AM
I have been going here for 12 yrs and each time I say never again..I once went, spent 24.00 in cupcakes and when we got home they were so dry they crumbled like saw dust..When I called and complained I got nothing...At least care about your customers...I am searching for the next cupcake place in the city...help!
Posted by susan | June 26, 2008 4:22 PM