Decadent, a Coffee and Dessert Bar — Restaurant in Maryland

Update 7/29/2020: I'm still loving Decadent and I frequent it every couple of weeks for a sweets fix. However, there are things that the Dessert Bar can work on. Most of the time the service is great but there is a particular staff member who can seem rude and uninviting. I asked a few questions about the offerings for the day the last time I went and she blew them off saying she didn't know. When I went to order she wouldn't make eye contact, didn't tell me when my food was going to be out, and walked away before I could tell her I was sitting outside.

The service is usually slow as well. An order for a breakfast croissant, a breakfast toast, and 2 mimosas took almost 20 minutes and I find that when I go in just to pick up a quick coffee or pastry, it usually takes at least 5-10 minutes from the time I walk in to the time I leave.

The prices are still a bit higher than they should be, in my opinion but the quality is definitely there. Overall, the slow and sometimes lackluster service mean that I have to downgrade my rating from 4 to 3 stars.

Original Review: Finally! Fulton has been in need of a dessert shop for the longest time, there's just no solid options nearby. Good news-- Decadent delivers! Sadly the debut timing with COVID-19 means it's been a strictly carry-out business but you can tell that the dessert bar has a ton of potential.

You walk into a contemporary, airy, yet comfortable space with leather sofas and tables great for getting some work done or making conversation over a couple of cappuccinos. Lori and the rest of the team are great and it's nice to have another family-run business in the area.

Now to the good part-- the desserts! You've got a smattering of pastries from scones to donuts and cereal bars. I've genuinely enjoyed everything I've ordered. The cakes are excellent as well though a bit pricey at around $8/slice.

What I Liked: Lemon Mascarpone Cake - Melt in your mouth goodness. The berries and lemon flavor come through extremely well and it's easily my favorite cake I've tried here so far. 4/5

Red Velvet Cheesecake - Hard to mess this up and Decadent delivers. All of their cheesecakes are excellent. 4/5

Carrot Cake - An amazing carrot cake that's not too sweet. 4/5

Jeff's Key Lime Pie - A great pie that deftly balances tartness and sweetness. 4/5

Pastries - Just try them all, you won't be letdown. 4/5

What I Disliked: Black Forest Cake - I was most excited for this cake but unfortunately I was letdown. The cake was dry and I found it odd to have cherries within the cake that still had the stems on, making for terrible mouthfeel. 2/5

Decadent offers pastries, cakes, gelato, wines, drinks, and more. It's an amazing entrant to the local scene and I'm excited to see how they do. Definitely give them a visit and support a promising...

If you read the other one star reviews here or on yelp (sort by lowest and they come up first) you'll see this place has one of those owners who aggressively and almost compulsively posts responses, often nasty/snide ones, to reviewers who've had negative experiences.

I've just read over the reviews to see if my experience was out of line. Multiple times, he's responded to someone reporting their experience with something like "our cake/cookies aren't dry because we've won the county's best coffee or whatever award ?" Well, ok.

Another common theme is "you couldn't have waited that long for service because that never happens" or he implies reviewers are lying, with some version of "what time did you come in?" (Reviewers can't respond to responses as I'm sure he's aware). Instead of admitting not everyone has a good experience, he has to have a go at the reviewer.

Mr. Owner, if your gelato was consistently good and appreciated by everyone, you wouldn't have had to respond multiple times that your equipment comes from Italy and it's made fresh and it's not overpriced etc! If your chai was that good you wouldn't have to respond multiple times that it's 4th generation (not sure what that means) and made step-by-step.

When people tell others, via review sites, that they've had bad encounters with your staff ignoring them or being rude, it's not the reviewers who are all making it up (for the hell of it?). No, reviewers are talking to others who they want to help by talking about their own experiences. Not everyone will care about others' experience of service, they want the cake. Some people want the ambiance. Review sites are there for people to read each other's thoughts and overly defensive and snide owner responses just give us all a bad impression of the business. Especially the ones where, as another reviewer put it, he stalks the writer's reviews of other places, and comments on them (yuck). Good for that reviewer, after he did that to her, she went over to Yelp and posted another bad one saying what he'd done!

Not all staff have a good day every day. So if you're still with me, readers, I read over the reviews, saw they were positive overall, headed into this place, here's my review:

Review: I had indifferent to the point of being rude, slow service and dry, rock hard, old tasting cake.

The owner's responses strike me as performative not genuine. So that was my experience - sort by the lowest reviews and you'll see I'm not alone in having this experience, no matter how...

Decadent has been on my visit list for a while and finally had the opportunity to try it. It's probably a good thing I don't live closer, I would be there everyday! Visited on a Saturday morning, it was busy but line was moving with lots of food and beverages coming from the kitchen. The short wait gave us a chance to look over the many choices on the menu. It was difficult to pick , everything looked great. We chose a bacon egg cheese croissant and a ham egg cheese croissant. I also ordered a hot chai. What a treat to have a freshly made sandwich. Scrambled eggs were fluffy, the cheddar was gooey and blended well with the ham. The croissant-- oh my, the flaky warm croissant, I will go back just for croissants! The chai was in a mug, not a to go cup, great touch. It was warm, not too hot to drink, and flavorful. Definitely wasn't a mass produced powdered chai mix. We sat at a corner table and watched lots of foot traffic in and out, tables filled during the hour or so we were there. We didn't feel rushed but also didn't want to take a table for too long. Most of the staff was young and all seemed eager to make sure everyone was happy with their selections. The owners engaged frequently with the staff and customers. Their commitment to service and quality is evident. I'm from a lifetime career in hospitality, you notice when it goes above and beyond. Long rant, I know but there is more! We wanted to try some of the desserts and pastries and struggled to narrow down our selection. We chose to take home a blueberry scone, a huge portion of coffee cake and a sfogliatelle, a new item on their menu. I can't pronounce it, but boy was it delicious. We split it Saturday evening, half was more than enough for a treat. Flaky with creamy orange scented filling. Sunday morning we warmed the scone and coffee cake for 20 seconds in the microwave and it was just like fresh. I didn't try the scone but the coffee cake is soooo good. The pricing was much less than mass produced grocery store or chain items, a pleasant surprise. Moist cinnamony and fluffy. I look forward to going back soon to try some of their cakes and house made gelato, perhaps an evening date to try some of their cocktails and wine as well. Go, you...