Delice et Chocolat - Ardmore — Restaurant in Lower Merion Township

NOTE: This review contains an update.

The pastries are beyond delicious and complete works of art. The Croque Monsieur was decadently creamy with the right balance of salty ham, nutty cheese and rich mornay. It was served with a green salad that cut the richness. The shrimp salad was good, although the shrimp were slightly overcooked. Considering the excellence of everything else, I'm willing to overlook that point. Will definitely be back.

UPDATE: Well, yesterday, 5/3/18, I returned for lunch and was delighted to see they'd expanded, as I knew that was the plan when I last visited. I'm happy to report the pastries and coffee drinks are as good as ever, however the savory end of their business is horrible. Yes, regretfully, horrible. That wonderful Croque Monsieur I described from my last visit? It's now 2 barely browned pieces of white bread with a single slice of ham in the center and something browned on top. I couldn't tell whether it was supposed to be cheese or the mornay. Because the bread wasn't properly browned, the sandwich had an unpleasant stickiness to it-like what you get when you eat untoasted Wonder Bread. My salad barely had any dressing on it. The only reason why I finished it was because I was very hungry and the kitchen was so slow, I didn't want to have to go through another long wait to get something I couldn't be sure would be any better.

As bad as my dish sounds, that couldn't compare to the awfulness of my lunch companions' meals. They both ordered the spinach and crab crepe. The crepe was huge, which seemed encouraging, but when cut into, it was nothing but a bunch of wilted spinach and a scattering of tiny flecks of crab. Before realizing it was crab, I thought it looked like unmelted shreds of cheese. The crepe was too thick and the filling was incredibly dry with no sauce or any kind of gooey cheese to hold it together. One companion said she had no dressing on her side salad and her crepe was cold. Again, she didn't send it back because the restaurant was busy and packed with people, the kitchen was slow, and there was no guarantee she'd get anything better. My other companion had an almost identical experience with her crepe. At least hers was warm.

Everything was bland. Thankfully they had salt and pepper shakers customers could take to their tables. I looked around. Many tables were shaking salt onto their food.

To call this unacceptable is an understatement. Expansion is a huge challenge, but to allow one's quality to decline so precipitously for the sake of expedience is just shameful. Especially when Le Bec Fin is part of your pedigree. Maybe they will survive on the strength of their wonderful pastries, but if huge improvements aren't made, I don't give them very good odds. I don't take any delight in writing this excoriating review. We need more local businesses in our city. Serving food of that caliber at those prices is unsustainable. I truly hope they make the necessary improvements and...

My favorite local trip to Paris. When we discovered this cafe in 2019, its vibrant cakes and macaroons mesmerized us. But we stay for the character, Parisian atmosphere and absolutely delicious coffees and pastries. I was able to practice my French to order my morning coffee with the owner and it felt so wonderful to have that experience here in the U.S. I always take my friends here when they visit or are in town because it’s a treasure I want to share.

When I had my son in December 2022, I had to return here as it feels like a little haven to me. You know how some cafes you visit feel too sophisticated for young children? Even returning with a little one, I never felt discriminated. I love seeing the span of guests from families with toddlers, to young business people meeting, to friends catching up, to our seasoned seniors… it’s a beautiful medley and true community.

Since the pandemic their sweet and savory crêpes have gone away, which is sad as they were fantastic, but there are still many great options. In the morning you can take home a baguette and jam, or for brunch try their tuna sandwich on baguette, or grab a cappuccino and pain au chocolate at any time of day.

We recently discovered that my newborn son has a cow milk sensitivity through breast milk and so I cannot have dairy in any form. (So a lot of my favorites are out of my diet now, such as pastries, but I still love a cup of coffee.) I have had a few dairy-free decaf mochas and cappuccinos now at different places around and about – and Delice et Chocolat makes such great tasting almond milk options! I am so grateful that I can still visit and have such inclusivity (without some bitter, stale or sour flavors of coffee like at other cafes). If you want a good tasting dairy-free coffee this is a great place. Still a strong favorite through these past years and through both of our changes.

I hope that you will fall in love with the charm of Delice et Chocolat as I have.

Note for traveling families: authentic French flavors for young palates to try, extra space in adjoining room, clean bathroom but no changing table, high-end toy store...

Update: I spoke with the owner, and he apologized and offered to test their service again. Although I haven't had the opportunity to do so, I plan to revisit the store.

Original: Nothing better than a slice of cake at Delice et Chocolat on a rainy day, right? Absolutely not. My daughter had a headache this morning and wanted the cake and pastry, so we drove 45 minutes and arrived there at 12:40. It was not too busy, with no waiting line. There was just one table with as many as four persons seated, while the other tables were empty or barely partially filled. Only my kid and I were at the register. Three employees were there, and No one even bothered to welcome us, despite the fact that they saw my kid and myself waiting to be assisted as they went about their business. They were, of course, much too occupied. After a good ten-minute wait, as soon as a customer got up from his table and stood beside me, and another customer walked through the door and joined the line, all three employees suddenly found themselves free from their prior obligation and rushed to the register.

The two other customers were greeted, but we weren't. The staff who serviced us didn't even crack a smile. She asked me to repeat my order five times, yet I still had to remind her many more times that several of my purchases were missing. Moreover, she charged my card 3 times for her errors and missing items. Now I have three separate receipts for my single order. I don't understand why we were treated so differently, and I can't help but wonder whether our race was the main distinguishing factor, as the other two customers are white, and we are in the minority.

This bakery was one of my favorites for a long time, and I considered the cakes and pastries here among the best in the city. I recommended this bakery to all of my Philadelphia-area friends. Joseph is very nice, from what I remember of our brief encounter. I hope my awful experience will prevent others from going through what I just went through at...