Motown Desserts

If you want to learn the art of how to slice a normal sized cake into 15 pieces without it disintegrating, this is the place.
If you want a tasty bite which fills a hole, mozey on past to one of hundreds of other choices in the area. Barbour and Parlour is a stone’s throw away and does a mean muffin for £2.50. My sorry arsed excuse of a slice of Pecan Pie was £3.50.
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Came here after not being able to get in the cat café, good idea, and menu full of cheesy names, the décor is tired and damaged, but could be excellent.
The food tasted nice, but my sundae glass was tetrised to not fill all of the gaps. If the cake hadn’t been dry, it would have been lovely !!
Great potential, but a little tired! Ice cream is nice!

The drinks were alright — not the best thing ever tried but decend

Nothing extraordinary but to be fair I didn’t try the cakes. They do monmouth coffee though which is boss but it took ages to come and the dowstairs area had just closed as we came in!

I threw away the ice cream.
I never thought I’d ever write these words. But I did.
I was lured in by «handmade ice cream» and received a weirdly gummy blob of lukewarm ick. The guys at the counter seemed reluctant to help me. How is ice cream not cold? What is this? I got a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of strawberry in a waffle cone and it cost me nearly 5 quid.
Threw it away after 2 bites, travesty!
Won’t be back. Just because its homemade — doesn’t mean its good. Nor does it mean you’ll be treated like family. Booo to this place.

With several ice cream-​obsessed family members, I’ve had tons and tons of samples of the stuff. From cloying but irresistibly yummy sundaes at the likes of The Royal Scoop in Naples (FL) to astoundingly rich and flavourful gelato at Goose the Market in Indianapolis and Sorbetteria Castiglione in Bologna, my experience of this confection is at least respectably broad
And with whatever weight you allow my claim to impose, I declare that Motown Desserts offers, by at least some measures, the best ice cream I have ever had, ever ever.
It is richer and creamier than anything I’ve had. I think what’s going on is a high-​fat-​content ice cream produced in the gelato style with very little aeration.
Thus, it’s pretty maximal stuff. Each little bite is immensely rich and disgustingly delicious. Honeycomb is the flavour all should try: it’s just a gooey mess of sweet cream and honey, it’s so lovely. I’m not quite understanding the 2 star review here: «chewy/​stringy texture… extremely chocolatey»? Other than perhaps ‘chewy/​stringy’ referring to rivulets of chilled honey running through a thick paste of sweet, beautiful dairy fat, I don’t think that’s a trustable description.
Here’s my admission: I think if you are looking for some of the subtlety of gelato — the cleanness of low fat content and dense ‘artisanal’ flavours — you can be less than abducted by the pure indulgence of Motown’s offer. Me, I’m willingly abducted, and I suggest y’all give it a shot. A scoop of Honeycomb and a scoop of Brown Bread or Toffee Waffle Hazelnut or Strawberry along with a shot of Monmouth espresso (oh yeah! They have that too!), and then come to me with your complaints.
Also, don’t be put off by the kinda funky faux-​corporate feel of the ‘Motown’ branding. I don’t quite get it either. I just allow myself 30 seconds of raised eyebrows each visit and then roll with it.
Also, it’s £1.99 for a scoop of the richest yummiest ice cream ever. If you can eat two scoops for £3.49 and not be totally satisfied, you’ve clearly skipped a meal somewhere. In £2.50-latte Shoreditch, it’s a PREETY GOOD deal.
ALSO, try the «It Takes Two» dessert (two scoops of ice cream and freshly made waffles). It’s ridiculous.

I like the idea of Motown Desserts In Theory. I’ve enjoyed walking past their window every day and looking at the delicious red velvet cake (in my experience, the deliciousness of red velvet cake is very much something to be enjoyed In Theory only). However In Practice Motown Desserts was disappointing. The ice cream is expensive and has a weird somewhat chewy/​stringy texture. I quite liked the honeycomb flavour, although it was extremely sweet, but the mint choc chip was all chocolate and not so much mint. I probably wouldn’t go back… unless maybe to try their milkshakes. Never discount milkshakes.

I fell in love with this café after a friend of mine brought me here after a business meeting in the area. The décor is amazing, as is the food and drinks on display. It’s very different from anything else in the area.
After leaving, I decided to take a number of my friends there after we had a meal at a local nearby restaurant. We had a large cake with us (as large as a small birthday cake) and essentially needed a place to sit down, have some tea/​snacks and cut the cake. So I recommended Motown.
We go in and settle down about to order when one of the staff informs us that they don’t allow food from outside in here. We let him know that we’re (about seven of us altogether) going to also buy teas, coffees and other food too, but he flatly says no a couple of times, despite our polite insistence. We ask if we can possibly speak to the Manager and perhaps persuade him to stay.
The Manager arrives and he flat out says no to us and doesn’t leave any room for negotiation. He refuses to let us cut our cake. We politely excuse ourselves and leave, thanking them. We don’t get an apology or any sign of remorse whatsoever. Bear in mind that the whole coffee shop was empty, bar three customers so we hadn’t arrived at a very busy period that could possibly affect their trade.
I feel very embarrassed as I’ve recommended this place to a lot of my friends after my first visit there. I do hope that they take this review as feedback and perhaps review their current customer service guidelines, otherwise it’s a wasted opportunity.