Review: The Journey to Tomo Sushi & Sashmi

I've been going to Tomo for years, and I've never had bad sushi from this place. They always plate the food exquisitely, the quality is very consistent and they have like a bajillion kinds of specialty sushi rolls.

The Sweetheart roll is one of my favorites. It has spicy tuna, cream cheese, scallions and shrimp tempura. The whole roll is dipped in tempura batter, deep fried, has pink soy paper on the outside and, when it comes out, the roll is warm. I usually get two Philadelphia rolls without cucumber or avocado. You've got to check this place out! There's not a single bad review on Yelp. The least they have is four stars! This is really an excellent restaurant and it has become my favorite place to eat!

Review: The Journey to Insomnia Cookies

I don't know if you've heard of Insomnia Cookies, but they deliver fresh-out-of-the oven cookies straight to your door until 3 AM! As I walked in to this place, it smelled so good like when you walk downstairs to find your mother baking your favorite homemade cookies in the kitchen. They had 12 flavors!  

I had a really hard time making up my mind which flavor I wanted. I planned on getting two: chocolate chip and sugar, but not only did they have cookies, but they also had ice cream! So, I decided to get one cookie and cookie dough ice cream because I love cookie dough ice cream! But, then I saw the glorious S'Mores deluxe cookie, a chocolate cookie infused with marshmallows and graham cracker bits.

In this storefront, they didn't have any tables or chairs, so I sat on something that looked like a ledge. I just assumed that was something you were supposed sit on. I probably looked like a fool, but I didn't care. I wanted to eat my cookie right then and there. I couldn't wait any longer and it was so warm and so fresh-out-of-the-oven soft. I took a bite of that 4 inch cookie and I said, "Hmm, this is good!" and when I looked down again, that cookie was gone. So, yes, I will be returning to Insomnia Cookies. Too bad they don't deliver all the way to my house. *crying*

Review: The Journey to Sugar Philly Truck

I went to Sugar Philly Truck two weeks ago and I went late, so they didn't have many macarons left. So, I got one of each one I could. With that being said, I got spiced apricot, milk and honey, tiramisu and chocolate ganache.

My favorite was the spiced apricot. It tasted kind of like mango and had some type of green powder on top, I'm guessing, like, powdered green tea (not sure if that exists LOL).  It was really good! Next, I tasted the milk and honey. It tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios (but I'm not a big fan of honey). After that, I tried the tiramisu macaron. That one tasted like coffee and chocolate. Lastly, I tasted the chocolate ganache. It was a red macaron shell with chocolate ganache filling and it was very chocolately and good. Overall, I'd rate this place 4 1/2 stars. I hope to go back one day early.

Review: The Journey to Brown Betty Dessert Boutique

How the heck did this place get any good reviews? So, I was told that this place was so good and that the lady who owns this place wrote a book. I guess that's why this place is so popular. So, I had to go see was that hubbub was all about. This place was in a mall in Philly. I went and I got the strawberry letter cupcake, which is a strawberry pound cake with strawberry buttercream.

The guy behind the counter reached into the refrigerated display case and grabbed the cupcake and put it into a clear, plastic clamshell and handed it to me. I walked out of the shop, peeled the liner back and was afraid to take a bite. I thought that it would be hard to eat because it was hard in my hand and didn't look appetizing. I took a bite and the cake tasted like faint strawberry box cake. It wasn't moist at all and had the consistency of a donut! In the beginning, the description online said that it had strawberry buttercream frosting. It had cream cheese buttercream frosting. Frosting was good. Cake was a no-go. This cupcake had been refrigerated. You're not supposed to refrigerate cupcakes, as it takes all the moisture out of the cake. So, I will not be returning to that place. 

Review: The Journey to Miel Patisserie

I was walking around Philly looking for cupcake spots with my brother and came across this place called "Miel Patisserie," a French pastry shop that has just about everything. I was so excited when I saw the French macarons in the refrigerated display case. I was literally jumping up and down with excitement, considering I had been searching for these for the longest time. I got every flavor that they had.

My favorite was the rosewater one. It was like a burst of flavor. It was so freakin' good! If you haven't ever had a French macaron, it's a meringue based confectionary made from almonds. It has a crunchy crust, is chewy on the inside and is either filled with ganache, buttercream or jam. They have so many gourmet flavors, it's definitely worth trying.

Review: The Journey to Georgetown Cupcakes

You know that TV show on TLC about the two sisters who own a cupcake business in Washington, D.C.? Well, I went to Georgetown Cupcake in February and I was not impressed. I stood in line and, because I was very eager to try these cupcakes, it felt as if the wait was forever. I decided on what cupcake I wanted and when I got to the front of the line, the cupcake was much smaller than I expected. I ordered a Milk Chocolate Birthday cupcake.

The dang cupcake was $2.75, so I was hoping I'd get my money's worth! So, I got back to the car and peeled that liner back! I took a big bite of the cupcake and all I could taste were these disgusting sprinkles that tasted extremely bitter, like a freakin' pill melting on your tongue! It was gross! Blech! Sure, the sprinkles are cute, but if you know they taste that bad, why the heck are they on there? I think I actually ended up wiping those nasty sprinkles off. The cake was a vanilla cake which wasn't even moist, very bland and not even vanilla-y at all, similar to a dry pound cake. It tasted as if they used cake flour. There was nothing special about the chocolate frosting. It was very basic. So, in short, DC Cupcakes was not all it was cracked up to be.

Review: The Journey to Sprinkles Cupcakes

My mom went to Sprinkles in California a few years back and was raving about it, and since I own a cupcake business, I wanted to see what it was all about. So, I went to Sprinkles and there was nobody in there besides one lady. I thought that this was strange because I expected for there to be a very long line going around the corner. So, I went up to the counter and ordered a Strawberry cupcake and a Vanilla cupcake.

My brother ordered the Chocolate Marshmallow cupcake. You'd never believe how much it was for those cupcakes. Those cupcakes were $3.50 each! So, I got in the car and I was so excited to taste this! This came all the way from Beverly Hills and celebrities rave about this place. I was so eager to taste this frickin' cupcake, since this place already has, like, a bajillion locations! I opened the box, grabbed the strawberry cupcake, peeled the liner back, I take a bite...and the freakin' cake tastes like bananas! I mean, it literally tastes like bananas! It's a (supposedly) pink, strawberry cake and it tastes like bananas! The frosting was pretty good, though. The description says that it's a strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream frosting and it tastes. Like. BANANAS. It tasted good, but it tasted like bananas. Like freakin' banana bread.

Next, scared to open the box, I decided I should try the more basic flavor: vanilla. It was, like, rubbery and disgusting! It kind of tasted like bread! Yuck! Usually, if the cake is not good, the icing pulls everything together, but it didn't! The icing tasted like chalk and the sprinkles were even chalkier! And dang you, Sprinkles cupcakes, my brother tried to eat his cupcake the traditional sprinkles way, with a freakin' spork and dropped the dang cupcake on the floor of the car! His cake was so moist, that it fell apart. Dang you, Sprinkles! 

But, I would go back because that might have just been a bad location.

Welcome to my Blog!

Hello, everybody! This blog will have funny stories, reviews of pastry shops, bakeries and restaurants of all kinds! If you'd like to order some gourmet cupcakes from my business, you may do so at the following address: http://lil-ladys-cupcakes.com/. Thanks for visiting my blog!