Monarch Bakery - Rockford

10 10! Monarch pulled off a last minute order for me the cupcakes were DELICIOUS! Best i’ve had. Also had great recommendations for cake frosting pairing.

The banana pie I ordered was ok. It basically tasted like banana pudding in a store boughten pie crust, with brown sliced bananas as decor. It would have passed the test if not for the $30 cost. For $30 I expected more.

Got 2 apple cider macarons and they had no flavor. Just sickly sweet. Also got a cookies and cream one, which was better, but only because of the white chocolate it was dipped in. All 3 of them were underbaked and raw on the inside.

When Monarch opened, I had been saying for a while that Rockford needed a good bakery, sadly I think we'll still be waiting. Like other reviews have noted, the baked goods were dry and bland. And too expensive for being that way. We went in when they first opened and had the aforementioned experience, but thought we would give them time for them to work out the kinks and try again. But a year later, the second scone we had was just as dry and bland as the first. Hope they can improve.

I stopped there a few days ago and got a somoa-type cookie, an orange white chocolate thing and a coconut macaroon. The coconut macaroon was mildly okay, but the other two pretty much tasted like sugar, no real flavor at all. Considering the price, I expect much more.