The Middle Spoon is a new desserterie and bar that opened on Barrington about 3 months ago (it was 3 months ago exactly on the day that a group of us went there).
Sadly they don’t have a website yet, just a Facebook page. I might be alone in this but a Facebook page does not mean you don’t need a website. Every business, especially restaurants, should have a proper website.
The decor in the Middle Spoon was nice. My boyfriend thought it had a retro 70s vibe, which I didn’t really get. It was dark, too dark to take a picture without startling all the locals. 7 of us were seated in the lower level, which is a combination of lounge chairs and couches around tiny, wobbly tables and normal dining chairs around normal square tables. The latter is more conducive to eating dessert (or anything really) but given there were 7 of us I suppose seating us on the couches was the best option.
Riley chose the blonde bombshell, a walnut blondie with ice cream. I think it should be called the blondie bombshell, which is an actual play on words and not just a phrase and more accurately represents the dessert. But now I’m being pedantic. Riley said it was really good and although it was $8.99, it was a large blondie. The ice cream, I imagine the same from my dessert, tasted like a cheap store-bought kind. Which, if ice cream is going to be half of a $9 or $10 dessert, should probably cost more than $3 for 2 litres.
Zipora and her boyfriend Adam, who we went to Cora’s with before, split the single serving banana split ($9.99). It seemed like a standard banana split, with whipped cream from a can sadly, but it did look good. ANd the bowl they served it in was great.
Riley ordered a regular coffee and he was pleased to see it was a proper mug of coffee. I ordered the rasp’d chocolate which is hot chocolate with raspberry and chocolate liqueur. It was really, really good and I’m not normally a fan of alcohol in coffees and things. However, for $9.50, I won’t be able to afford if I go back.
Danielle ordered Buck’d Cherry ($8), a mix of vanilla syrup, orange aperitif, cherry bourbon and cherry liqueur. It was sweet and she really liked the first few sips but said the taste got old quickly.
My boyfriend ordered the Elder ($9.75), a combination of elderflower liqueur, blackberries, vodka and some other stuff. I thought it was okay, but he really enjoyed it.
Gordon ordered the Chocolate Brownie Pie ($8.99), a pie with a brownie shell, filled with chocolate pudding and topped with whipped cream and brownie crumbles. He said it was alright and that the brownie shell was really good but the pudding tasted like it came from a packet and the whipped cream from a can.
I ordered a single serving of the cake bite sundae ($9.99), balls of chocolate cake mixed with buttercream frosting dipped in chocolate with ice cream and whipped cream on top. It was alright. The cake balls were a cute idea, but I would have preferred them to be about a third of the size – bite size, instead of having to gnaw at it while it’s on the fork. The ice cream and whipped cream, like I said, tasted cheap and store-bought and added nothing to the dessert. The chocolate also tasted cheap. It’s a great idea and it would be an amazing dessert if more effort was put into it. I didn’t finish it.
I enjoyed the Middle Spoon. They had a great range of desserts and drinks, as you can see below (click to enlarge). However, the decor was dark, eating desserts from a plate in your lap is awkward, everything was about $3-$4 too much and the ingredients tasted cheap. Unless they get a new menu or change things up quite a bit (or have a 2-for-1 day or something), I likely won’t be going back.
And I will leave you this image of my boyfriend eating the carrot cake ($7.99). It was a regular piece of overpriced carrot cake. That’s all I can say about it.