Cupcake Royale

This is a kind of old review, so it's still from Washington even though I'm back in New York. This is for Cupcake Royale, a cute cupcake café in Seattle. To keep this slightly less confusing I've added tags to certain reviews of the state in which the café being reviewed is - for instance, this Seattle shop gets a "Washington" tag. Instant hot chocolates won't get tags since you can probably find them in any grocery store, and big chains like Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks won't get tags for obvious reasons.

Cupcake Royale


The cupcakes from Cupcake Royale are absolutely delicious, let me say that first. I'm not even much of a cupcake person, since buttercream frosting is too sweet for my tastes.

Obviously, they get full marks for presentation - getting your cupcake and drink to stay earns you a pretty adorable mug and plate, and some whipped cream to boot. The hot chocolate is $2.35 for a medium, which is the size pictured here - and they certainly help you get your money's worth, since the mug is so full it's almost difficult to drink at first.

That said, the taste itself doesn't quite live up to the cute presentation. I was careful to try the hot chocolate before taking a bite of the cupcake, because I know that eating something super-sweet can make a sweet drink seem tasteless... but that wasn't necessary. The chocolate was pretty tasteless anyway, and once I started eating the cupcake, it only seemed more so. I could give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they made the hot chocolate less sweet so that having a mug of cocoa along with a cupcake wouldn't send one into a hyperglycemic fit, but quite honestly if you're worried about having too much sugar you probably shouldn't buy a big cupcake and a medium hot chocolate.

Ratings:
Taste: 3
Value: 4
Presentation: 5