Sur La Table — Local services in Upper Merion Township

Went to the 7pm class on 4/5/25 and was extremely disappointed. I was unaware that working in teams of four meant sharing food between four people, including two complete strangers. Had this been advertised correctly and not $100 per person (this was a $200 date night) I might not have been as upset. To the couple we were partnered with, you guys were great and this is no shade to you.

We started off the evening strong when our partner accidentally dropped the singular shallot the four of us were sharing on the ground. My fiancé requested a fresh one and the “chef” picked it up off the ground and told us to continue using it.

I went to speak with the store manager who was a middle aged bald guy with glasses about my concerns regarding contamination and cleanliness in the class. The store manager informed me there was nothing he could do and that if I voiced my concerns to the Seattle office I “will be laughed at”. He acknowledged that the class “wasn’t up to par with expectations” (his words not mine). Sir, do not tell me I will be laughed at. That was rude and uncalled for. I also asked you if there was any compensation to be had since the class wasn’t what we were expecting and you told me I would be unable to be refunded because we were outside of the cancellation window. You also insulted me by saying “most other couples have fun and enjoy it”. I clearly was not enjoying it. This manager’s comments and lack of concern were insulting. I feel deeply offended and gaslit.

After returning to the class so as not to be out $200, we were instructed on how to cut a pear and grate a shallot. So between the four of us there was maybe 2 minutes out of a two hour class that we were doing anything close to cooking. All of the ingredients were already prepared for us so we were mostly just dumping ingredients into a bowl to mix. How is this a cooking class?

When it came time for us to sear our steaks (maybe one pound to split between four people), the “chef” picked up our skillet and ran her fingers along the bottom of the pan to demonstrate that it wasn’t yet hot. So if this is a class and I’m supposed to be learning, I put my fingers in a potentially hot skillet full of oil to check at home, right? It’s also okay to contaminate the cooking pan, right? This was the only portion of the class I would consider us “cooking”. With 8 people crammed around two hot plates on our side of the room, and 6 people on the other side, the amount of smoke was alarming. There did not appear to be any ventilation in the room and it was extremely hard to breathe.

I was also under the impression that we would be learning how to make a chocolate mousse dessert. However this did not happen and instead we were given a demonstration of mixing the already prepared ingredients.

When it came time for us to eat our “meal” we each had 1/4 of a baked potato, 4 precut slices of steak and a pile of lettuce. Meanwhile, one couple got lucky and had the same amount of food to share between the two of them while everyone else in the room had to share between four people. Again, I might not have been as disappointed if this had been properly advertised on the website. I also would have been less upset if I didn’t spend $200 to go home hungry. For that price my finance and I could have easily gone to a steakhouse for a nice dinner out. We also felt like the entire purpose of the class was to sell us on the products in store. Far more time was spent explaining the products instead of teaching us how to cook in a cooking class.

TLDR: Be prepared to spend a lot of money to listen to a sales pitch and share one portion size of a meal between four people. You may also be insulted and gaslit by the store managers for voicing...

Regarding our “Date” Night “Cooking” Class 12/2025, Chef was great, some of the food was good, HOWEVER:

— Prep stations were clearly designed for 2 people BUT 4 people were crammed in

— Most of the time was spent with 3 people watching 1 person doing each thing, while at least 2 people had to stand behind their partner or away from the station

— Insects, likely fungal gnats, were flying around and getting into the ingredients. This is one of the only things that more than one person could do at the same time: swatting at the insects to limit how much they got into our food. Update 1: I just read other reviews, including many from the last few months, and this is not an isolated issue for this location

— Basic ingredients on the menu like shallots were missing. Shallots and the herbs are readily available at nearly every grocery store in the area. Not having all of the ingredients mentioned on the menu (yet plenty of staff to run out and buy them), meant the food was less than fully flavored, they misrepresented what they charged us for and —because nobody bothered to get these ingredients — they only cared for our money, not our time, especially with our partners

— Way too many of the important prep work and cooking steps were completed for us by employees prior to or during the class. We were left to do common/simple prep and cooking like onion dicing and sautéing. So many of us likely would’ve benefited more from watching a detailed cooking show than this, something closer to an adult version of playing with an Easy Bake. At least kids receive an Easy Bake as a gift. We PAID Sur la Table to mostly watch others do things and to ponder what a quality cooking class date might be like. Not sure who’s running this program, but if you are experienced in cooking, you should know that kitchen novices are more likely to cook at home if they go through ALL of the steps for a recipe, not

Updated to say that after seeing the review below,, Chef Christina called to apologize. For that, I give her full credit, therefore I am increasing my review by one star. In good conscience, I cannot do anything more than that.

I don’t usually review anything whether the experience was good or bad. Today, however, I am saddened, angry and extremely disappointed. On April 26, after much mutual date seeking I booked and paid for 3 reservations for “A Taste of Morocco” cooking class at the King of Prussia location for June 27 to celebrate two very special events. Having secured the date, I built other activities and events for the day around it. After carefully constructing timelines accurately to allow for travel time (we live 75 miles away) everything fell into place and I was so excited to surprise my companions. Last night, I happened to hop onto the website to refresh my memory about the menu. It was then that I saw with my own eyes, that nothing was available for June 27 due to a “private event”. I wondered what that meant for my reservation, so I called the store first thing. The person told me she could not confirm anything “for that far out” and referred me to another customer service number. I then called that number, spoke to a very perfunctory representative who informed me that indeed my reservation had been cancelled. Disappointed and a bit angry, I asked her why I hadn’t been informed of that and her reply was simply, “I will process your refund”. Sadly this business reflects the lack of loyalty or compassion that is prevalent today. I have always believed and taught my children that “yes means yes” and “no means no”. Yes isn’t yes until something better comes along. That is how we are known, by our character and integrity, sadly this place has neither. Still haven’t seen notice that my refund is being processed. Wonder if they were ever going to notify me or if we were going to show up and be...