A Sweet Memory Cake Shoppe and Tea Room — Restaurant in Ocean Township

Manager/Owner did not take our party members' allergies seriously. What should have been a relaxing birthday celebration could have turned into a disaster. If not for the negligence of the staff, my review would be average at best.

We came to have tea for my girlfriend's mother's birthday. When reservations were made, they assured us that they would be accommodating with respect to any allergies, as three members of our party have had severe food-related allergic reactions in the past. When we arrived, we went over the allergies with our server, who was very friendly, but seemed like she may be new. As if to ensure that the kitchen was aware of the allergy situation, a woman, who I assume is the manager or owner, came to our table with a notepad and scribbled down the foods that were off-limits, which included anything containing tree nuts, coconuts, or pineapple, among others. We were very clear and we were assured that these foods would be kept off of our table. The woman seemed almost annoyed at our specific needs.

Towards the end of our high tea, a plate of small treats was brought out, which included a small confection called an "Irish potato." My girlfriend decided to try that first. She took a very small bite, and immediately felt nauseous. That's when we found out it is ALMOST ENTIRELY MADE OF COCONUT. We brought this to the staff's attention, who brought her a glass of water to wash it down. A minute or two later, she started feeling the effects of an allergic reaction, such as her lips and throat itching, and her throat beginning to close up. I had to rush to the nearest CVS, which was luckily only a minute or two away, and pick up Benadryl.

Luckily the bite she took was small, and the Benadryl kicked in quickly enough that we did not have to rush her to a hospital. The manager was not very sympathetic and essentially blamed the kitchen staff. She comped my girlfriend's meal, but only after we asked her to. She did not do anything to make us feel like she cared.

Besides all of that, while I can not complain about my meal, everyone else was disappointed in theirs. The sandwiches were sub-par, one of the soups was very cold, and the desserts were bland.

Even if not for the DANGEROUS situation that the manager allowed to happen under her supervision, I would still not recommend this place to anyone, based on the food.

Based on the entire experience, however, I would recommend everyone to steer clear of this place, especially if you have any allergies. Your needs will not be...

I wasn’t going to post a review but seeing they had the audacity to post a reply to my wife’s review defending their egregious customer service, I feel compelled to review more awful things experienced that weren’t previously discussed. The plates we received were sticky and dirty, most everything we needed to enjoy our experience was broken, no utensils were provided and the food was school cafeteria level, at best. The cupcakes were mealy, the sandwiches weren’t fresh, the tiny cup of soup received was cold and the French toast was dry until it was doused in syrup. While the apparently new server was very kind (though unlikely trained), the owner/manager shrugged off our specific allergy requests (which we went over multiple times) and appeared annoyed that we were wasting her time letting her know about it. When we told her about a coconut allergy she waved us off and said “we don’t have anything with that anyways.” An hour into our meal my sister had an allergic reaction to coconut. WE EVEN ASKED WHEN THEY BROUGHT ANYTHING OUT IF THEY WERE SURE IT WAS SAFE FOR US TO EAT BECAUSE WE WERE NOT CONVINCED THAT THEY WERE TAKING OUR REQUEST SERIOUSLY! She claims all we told her about were raw vegetables on the phone, however that is false as we were very specific on the phone and we found it weird when we made the reservation how much of a rush she was in to get us off the phone. She says she apologized over and over again, but really it was a half hearted apology and she made us feel like WE inconvenienced THEM. She comped one meal after I had to ask, but honestly we shouldn’t have had to pay them a cent after this horrible experience. Having experience in the industry myself I am shocked at how poorly handled every situation was from start to finish. I expect them to try to save face and defend themselves with a reply to this review, but there is no excuse. A sweet memory is exactly what we did not have at this...

I’m sad to have to review this place so negatively. Service wasn’t great and the food was average, but our server was pleasant and kind. If that were the only issues my family and I faced, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal and I wouldn’t be writing this review. HOWEVER, when we got to the tea room, we informed our server of our allergies. Someone else came out afterward (maybe the manager or owner?) to write down the list of allergies. She brushed off the first two completely (pineapple and coconut) and made it seem like they don’t serve those things at her restaurant. The high tea was fine (average at best), and when the desserts came out, the server put down a small variety of pastries on our table. The first thing my sister bit into contained coconut. She immediately began to have an allergic reaction (tongue swelling, lips numb, throat closing, skin itchy). The server and the other woman came over and basically said something along the lines of, “sorry that happened but we don’t know what the chef in the kitchen puts in the food she makes. She puts it on the plate and we just bring it out.” ............. I’m baffled over this incredibly huge and dangerous oversight, especially since we told them our allergies more than once and we were the ONLY table in the entire restaurant so it’s not like this place was packed. The restaurant comped my sister’s meal only when my husband asked. If he didn’t ask, they wouldn’t have done anything at all to try to make amends for this dangerous situation they caused. At the very least, they should have comped the entire meal for this awful circumstance even though that still wouldn’t have been good enough. A mistake like this is completely unacceptable. Thankfully her allergic reaction didn’t land her in the hospital this time, as it has many times...