Ambrosia Euro American Pâtisserie — Restaurant in Barrington

I have a mixed review about this place.

My wife and I ordered a wedding cake from here for our first anniversary celebration (since we eloped and didn’t have one on our wedding day). As it turns out, that was definitely a mistake. Upon consultation with the owner, we found out that they don’t make traditional wedding cakes. You know, the kind that almost everyone loves. It was at that point that we should’ve walked out. If you’re at all considering ordering a wedding cake or any cake from here, don’t. We probably should’ve known that a bakery that refers to itself as a pâtisserie will most likely be unable to keep any cake simple, unpretentious and delicious. I’ve had frozen Pepperidge Farm cakes with more substance and flavor. The sad thing is I’m not kidding. Our cake severely lacked both. I’ve never tasted something so bland, and never hope to again. No one at our celebration liked it...and for good reason. Furthermore, upon our expected arrival to pick it up at the bakery, it wasn’t at all ready to go. It was a severely long wait, one which involved a pretty big oops made in the finishing touches (which we had to point out to the employee finishing it and boxing it up). It was eventually fixed and we were finally on our way. Yes, we ended up being a bit late to our own celebration as a result.

Now, on to the good. After we placed our eventually regrettable order (after our consultation), we were offered a box of free pastries. Excellent customer service on the owner’s part. Everything in that box was delicious. Maybe not all baked to perfection, but delicious nonetheless.

Our advice? Just stopping in for a coffee and a pastry? Knock yourself out. Considering placing an order for a cake? Save yourself an underwhelming celebration and...

We have ordered cakes from Ambrosia for MANY years now and LOVE them. We buy them twice per year and they are delicious.

I recommend to a friend that we try them out for pastries and coffee/tea for her birthday as I had never bought anything other than cakes prior.

I arrived there first and had a difficult time being acknowledged and greeted. I finally received attention after about 15 mins and asked for the table to be wiped down for us. The young lady came over with a towel, looked at the table, disappeared without wiping it and never returned. It was bizarre! I walked over again to ask for the table to be wiped down and someone else came over and finally wiped it down for us.

There was a woman in the back working on a basket of some sort while another employee with a top knot bun was just sitting down and chatting and completely ignored me when I tried to get her attention. She finally came out to help the only person there who provided good customer yesterday and begrudgingly took our croissants to heat. When she brought them back and I said "Thank You", she said nothing and walked away. She was then instructed to bring us silverware to eat the croissants in which she also appeared annoyed that she was being asked to do such.

In other small cafes and bakeries that we've frequented, they will come by your table and remove plates and silverware when you're done but they didn't do that either. We never felt welcomed in the space.

The service was really sub par and we only received sufficient service from one person we encountered and the other 2 or 3 just left us bewildered. I felt bad that I recommended Ambrosia for a...

I was on a mission to find a European cafe and a European cafe I found indeed. Although, there are quite a few honourary mentions, I would like to voice the most memorable one of all and that is the kindness, happiness, and amazing customer service exhibited by Z'cani upon my every visit. Her warm welcome makes every coffee and pastry that much more enjoyable and I hope management appreciates it just as much as I did and do.

Onto the bread and butter of my visits. As someone who has grown up and spent most of her life in Europe, Ambrosia doesn't fall short from the cafes back home. As soon as I walked in, my attention was drawn to the beautiful pastries gleaming behind the glass window and to the lovely flowers on my right-hand side. A small detail, but nevertheless, it wasn't taken for granted. Of course, I didn't shy away from the famous croissants and went straight for the salmon and cream cheese filled one, and let's just say it didn't disappoint. Afterwards, my sweet tooth got the best of me and once again was taken by surprise by another detail - the packaging, as a flower was being stickered onto the top of the white pastry-filled box. Whether you're looking to impress coworker's, brighten a friend's day, or not quite sure how to say thank you to a wonderful hostess or invitation - look no further because you can't go wrong with anything you choose at Ambrosia.

With that being said, there's only so much photographs and essay long reviews can communicate over, so stop scrolling and start planning your visit to this beautiful European cafe which is undoubtedly, bound to win...