Emily's Cupcake Eat Of The Week

Congratulations to New York Cupcakes! You have won the Eating With Emily's Cupcake Eat of The Week! You are the best cupcakes on the eastside! After tasting a lot of cupcakes, yours were by far the best and you also got the highest score in Eating With Emily history! If you are a kid (or a grown up), then New York Cupcakes is the place for you!

I am starting school tomorrow, so follow me on my restaurant adventures throughout the school year. Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions of new places to review. If not, I am on my own and I won't let you down. Happy back to school!

PinkaBoring Cupcakes

Today I went to PinkaBella (PinkaBoring) Cupcakes on the 3rd floor of Bellevue Square mall, and they were very boring.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. It was a pink and brown color scheme and I thought that was very cute. There were about six tiny crystal chandeliers handing from the ceiling. It was very classy and original and it was also cute but there was nothing over the top about it. I have to admit that it did really pop from a distance.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 3. The lady was smiling although she didn't say anything to me or interact with me.

On service speed, I give it a 4.  She handed us the cupcake on a napkin right away, but the weird thing was she wouldn't give it to us until my mom was finished paying. It's like she was scared that we were going to steal it or something.

On taste of food, I give it a 3. I got a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. The other flavors were not kid friendly, like salted caramel, pineapple upside down cake, lemon, and coconut. If I closed my eyes I would think that the cupcake was from Safeway. The frosting tastes very sweet and cheap. The cake tasted dry, generic and boring. Absolutely nothing special. They made me feel like I was at a little kid birthday party. I could make better cupcakes in my own kitchen. Overall it was a pretty bad experience.

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. The cake looks too dark, like almost black. The frosting was piped the way the grocery store does it. There were generic rainbow sprinkles on top of it. It was pretty boring and not special.

On price, I give it a 3. Same as always, $3.00 for a normal $1.50 for a mini.

For a total score of 20/30. My sister got a pineapple upside down cake and there was nothing upside down about it. They also have frosting shots just like New York Cupcakes. The cupcake store is also next to a kid's play area, a Gymboree gym, and a kid's salon were you can get feather extensions. Btw, any respectable kid is going back to school with feather extensions. I would recommend this place to little kids who don't know the difference between a good cupcake and an average cupcake. I wouldn't recommend it to kids like me who do. PinkaBoring, stop being so boring!

The Whole Story



Today we went to Whole Foods in Bellevue, but they also have locations in Redmond and Seattle. I decided to taste the cupcake there since I realized kids always have to go the store. Why not have a little treat while you're there? Instead of the free cookie why not a cupcake? Well I had the treat, and here is the Whole story...

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. This was the hardest one to evaluate because hello, we are in a grocery store! There was an open kitchen so you could watch them make the pastries and desserts. The counter was too tall for me so I had to stand on my very tiptoes to see anything. The bakery was a small corner of the store and it had a very small working space. Also, remember that is a grocery store. For a grocery store the space was pretty normal.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 4. The bakery lady smiled at me and seemed happy with her job. When she was done giving me my cupcake she asked me if I wanted a free cookie. Other than that when I left that area she said thank you and have a great day. Keep it up!

On service speed, I give it a 5! She carefully picked up my cupcake and graciously put it in a cute cupcake container and quickly put a sticker on it. She gave it to my mom who gave it to me because I couldn't reach.

On taste of food, I give it a 2. It was lemon cake with lemon curd and buttercream frosting and raspberry glaze with a fresh raspberry. The frosting was hard and you had to bite it. It was also sooooooo repulsive that I couldn't even eat it! It is called buttercream for a reason! It just tasted like butter and it made me gag! It was also not sweet at all! Otherwise, there was only about 1/4 of a teaspoon of lemon curd in the middle. The only bite that I had was very good and I wish there was more of it. On the cake hand it was good, not great just good. It tasted normal and it was nothing special. If I had an opportunity of going back there I wouldn't take it.

On appearance of food, I give it a 4. The frosting was beautifully piped and the glaze and raspberry was the perfect touch. The glaze had a beautiful red color and it looked very appetizing. The cake was sticky and had a shininess to it. It looked almost greasy. The decoration on top looked like they took the time to make it pretty. 

On price, I give it a 2. It was $3.00 for a normal and $1.50-$1.75 for a mini. I gave them a lower score than other places with a $3.00 cupcake, because for a grocery store you would expect them to be cheaper.

For a total score of 20/30. If you are having a party, they also have things like tarts, mousse cups, cookies and cakes. If you go to Whole Foods and you want something sweet, then I recommend a mousse cup instead of a cupcake because the cupcakes aren't the best. And that is the Whole story.

Not The Winning Trophy

Today I went to Trophy Cupcakes in The Braven (Bellevue), but they also have a location in Seattle. 

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 4. They have a very pretty color scheme of dark brown and light blue. They were playing very depressing music and then they changed it to a strange song in Spanish? There was a white bar with light blue stools and right next to it was a lower bar with shorter stools and a shorter countertop for little kids. That is where I sat just for fun. The store looked a little old fashioned. They have a white counter and white shelves. Behind the counter were white shelves where the extra cupcakes are when they run out of space in the display case. I think that is rather gross! They seemed left out and dusty.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 3. The person behind the counter seemed bored with her job and tired. She was not interested in any of the things that I had to say and when I asked a question she didn't even look me in the eyes. When we walked in she didn't greet us she just looked at us and walked away. She needs some friendliness help!

On service speed, I give it a 4. She grabbed the cupcake for me when I ordered, but it took her a minute to get a napkin and ring it up. Other than that it was good.

On taste of food, I give it a 4. I got a Triple Chocolate cupcake - that is dark chocolate frosting with dark chocolate cake and chocolate sprinkles. It was moist and a little gooey but I thought that it tasted good that way. It had very rich frosting, but it was a little too tart and it made my tummy hurt after awhile. Other than that it was just normal chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. There was nothing special about it. It was good, but average good. Not special good.

On appearance of food, I give it a 3. The cupcake top was hanging over the sides so far that it looked like a mushroom. The frosting was spread on top, not piped. After that it was rolled in chocolate sprinkles, but they were shaped like squares and not round like typical sprinkles. Every other cupcake had frosting piped on and garnished with a little somethin' somethin', but not mine. It was pretty average. Sometimes adults think simple is special, but I think simple is simple.

On price, I give it a 1. It was very expensive! They didn't have minis but for a normal one it was $3.50-$4.00. For a dozen it is $38.50! I would not recommend this place if you are having a party and need a lot!

For a total score of 19/30. They have great kid flavors like peanut butter and jelly, samoas (girl scout cookie) and s'mores with roasted marshmallow frosting. There was not a bathroom in there and it was very far away so don't drink a lot of water there. For some strange reason everybody who walked in was wearing black!? Good, but not the winning Trophy.

Royale With Cheese

Today I went to Cupcake Royale in downtown Bellevue. They also have locations in Seattle.

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 3. When I first walked in I noticed paper flowers hanging by clear strings that looked like they were floating in air, check it out...

It was very hot in there! I am sure that they didn't have any air conditioning and it was a hot summer day. There was no breeze and I was very uncomfortable. I noticed that all of the cupcakes are in a display case and it was so hot that the frosting on the cupcakes was melting! The store looked sort of run down. The floor looked like my floor in the garage, none of the furniture matched, and it was dirty. The door was wide open so there were bugs flying everywhere around our cupcakes!

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 2. They had very serious faces and they looked like they hated their jobs. They didn't smile and I felt like I was under pressure when I was choosing a cupcake. They looked very impatient and they were tapping their fingers waiting for me to make a decision.

On service speed, I give it a 5! When I asked for my cupcake they took it and put it on a plate immediately.

On taste of food, I give it a 4. I got a "Royale with Cheese." That is chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. That is also a famous line from an inappropriate movie called Pulp Fiction. Don't watch it if you don't believe me. Trust me I am not lying. The cupcake was a little dry on top but when you bit into it it was moist and rich. The frosting was not too sweet, it was perfect! It was also creamy and thick. The frosting was so good that I wish I could only eat the frosting and not the cake. But not as much as my friend, she was literally eating every last crumb...

On appearance of food, I give it a 4.  The frosting looked like it was piped on but then spread very neatly and pretty. Everything was garnished with a little something. Mine was garnished with milk chocolate shavings and so was my friend's. Not a lot of shavings, only about five. It was pretty but they didn't seem to go the extra mile.

On price, I give it a 3. It was the same price as New York Cupcakes! $1.50 for a mini, $3.00 for a normally sized one.

 When you are finished eating the cupcakes you can go out front and play a little ping pong, check it out...

The table looks all gross and old but it works just fine. Also, right next door is an old school barber shop and the guy who works there has a curly waxed mustache and I call him Mr.Mustachio:) If you have time, you have to check him out!

For a grand total of 21/30. Cupcake Royale, I am glad that I came and tried one of your cupcakes. If you go there, you will be glad too. As long as it is not hot out.

I Believe In Pink!

Today I went to New York Cupcakes in Bellevue and I am so happy that I did! They only have one location right now but they are working on opening another one in Madison Valley.

When you enter the store there is an Audrey Hepburn quote on the wall that starts, "I believe in pink." New York Cupcakes definitely believes in pink!

On decor of restaurant, I give it a 5! When I walked in it smelled like buttercream frosting and it was pink city! There were pink walls, pink chandeliers, pink cupcake embroidered tablecloths, pink outdoor furniture, a pink phone, and just about everything else in the store was pink! I immediately fell in love with it! There were old fashion candy jars filled with classic candies like gumdrops, jaw breakers, candy necklaces and rainbow sprinkles. The store was all tied together with a classic black and white checkered floor.

On friendliness of staff towards kids, I give it a 5! The nice lady working there smiled at me and called me sweetie. She was also not annoyed when I asked what just about every cupcake was! And trust me, they have a lot of different cupcakes. It was very hot outside, so my sister and I were very thirsty. The nice lady happily continued to bring us water even though we asked 5 times! Keep it up staff!

On service speed, I give it a 5! When I asked for my cupcake, they took it out of the display case right away and handed it to me on a napkin.

I tried a red velvet mini cupcake with buttercream frosting. On taste of food, I give it a 5! The cupcake was very light and decadent and it had a very rich flavor. It was very moist cake baked to perfection. Even though it is common to do a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, the buttercream complimented the red velvet very nicely. The frosting was sweet but not too sweet. It was delicious!

On appearance of food, I give it a 5! All of the frosting on each of the cupcakes are piped beautifully and neatly on top. The frosting doesn't cover up the whole cupcake, only the center on the top. All of the cupcakes at New York Cupcakes are garnished with something. If it is a cookies and cream cupcake it is garnished with an Oreo. If it is a normal vanilla cupcake it is garnished with rainbow sprinkles and so on and so forth.

On price, I give it a 3:( It is expensive. It costs $1.50 for a mini and $3.00 for a normal sized cupcake. I was so sad because I wanted to give them a perfect score. I just can't deny the fact that it is expensive! $3.00 might seem like a lot for a cupcake, but it is worth every penny.

 If you are like my sister and just like the frosting, then frosting shots are just right for you...

For an overall score of 28/30!!! That is the best score so far in Eating With Emily history! New York Cupcakes take special orders and they deliver. New York Cupcakes is a must try! They have lots of really creative flavors like Broadway Banana Split and Candy Store Salted Caramel. They also have seasonal flavors that change. I believe in pink, I believe in New York Cupcakes, and if you go there you will too!!!