There’s a subtle, seaside-saucy, ooh-la-la frill around the signature black and white-striped decor in this cake shop and café: monochrome drawings of almost life-sized ponytailed girls in suspenders and lacy aprons pout and perch on the walls of the ladies toilets, a minimal, burlesquey spin on the other big theme in Mimi’s - the cakes. As a big swirly-lettered sign above the jam-packed cake counter says, stating the by then very obvious, ‘It’s all about the cakes!’
Vanilla cupcakes, mini cupcakes, traybakes, cheesecakes, rainbow cakes, red velvet cakes, birthday cakes, cake stands, wedding cakes, gluten-, dairy- and egg-free - you name it, and they have already iced it, sprinkled it, boxed it and slid it into a gift bag for you to take home.
Although there are online cake-ordering and takeaway options too, the sit-in café on the Shore lends itself well to long breakfasts, birthday parties, champagne afternoon teas or informal parent-toddler clubs (worth bearing in mind if you’re feeling tender and heading there to get rid of a hangover). Besides the variety of sweet things on offer, their savoury options are equally impressive, with a giant vegetarian breakfast of leek and cheese sausages with eggs, tomatoes and all the trimmings, thick slabs of french toast with bacon and maple syrup, or soft baguettes with black pudding, sausages or bacon. The portions are as ‘belly busting’ as they promise they will be, but if your eyes turn out to be bigger than your stomach, they’ll box anything you can’t eat and send you on your way with it.