2nd March 2008
frustrating
Manhattan has been in the vanilla-flavoured grip of cupcakemania for a good five years now, led by the Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich village, where the Sex in the City girls pretended to eat cake, and its spin-offs Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Buttercup bakeshop, etc. The Hummingbird Bakery is the nearest London has to the New York cupcake experience, and it certainly delivers an authentically American selection of flavours. Red Velvet cake - bright red sponge with a light chocolate taste and cream cheese frosting - is delicious, as are the pies - pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, Mississippi Mud, and more. Everything looks fresh, and the coffee isn't bad either.
BUT (always a but, huh?) the super sweet cakes are let down by a couple of less than sweet details. For nearly £2 a throw, the cupcakes are veeeerrry small, and didn't we abandon silver ball cake decorations back in the 70s, in the wake of a thousand birthday party teeth accidents? Service at the Portobello branch is fairly fast moving, but twice now I've gone into the South Ken branch on Old Brompton Road, only to leave fifteen minutes later, unserved and frustrated by the shambolically crowded shop, total lack of queue organisation and unbelievably casual service behind the counter. Don't bother popping in if you can see more than three customers in there already; do think about ordering ahead and getting a box for a special treat.
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