Review: 41119 Heartlake Cupcake Cafe

For the largest selection of cupcakes in Heartlake City, head straight to Stephanie’s favourite place, the Heartlake Cupcake Cafe. Let’s see what makes this a favourite place to hang out.

This set was provided by the AFOL Relations & Programs team (AR&P) of The LEGO Group for the purpose of sharing set details with fans.
Opinions provided here solely reflect those of our reviewer.
Photographs are property of Friends Bricks and are not directed by TLG in any fashion.

The front of the box shows the front of the cafe and the two mini-dolls featured - Stephanie and Naomi. Naomi is tempting Stephanie with a selection of the scrumptious cupcakes on offer.



The box design with the standard purple flanges and ribbon wave across the top indicates that this set belongs to the base theme. Love the cherry blossoms.

The back of the box highlights the many playing features and the accessories included. 

The side of the box gives us the usual warnings and indicates the size of the pieces by giving us a 1:1 image of Stephanie.



Inside the box are:

• two instruction booklets
• a sticker sheet
• three numbered parts bags
• loose 8x16 and 16x16 plates in Bright Light Blue.

Let’s take a closer look at the instruction booklets:



The front cover of the instruction booklets have the same main image as the set box, minus the inset showing the names of the two mini-dolls and the inset showing the interior. Other than the booklet number, the front covers are identical.

The steps are laid out in detail, with parts list for each step:



There are no inside back cover pages in the first booklet, which is unusual. The back cover has the gorgeous Emma letting us know how we can win a cool LEGO prize. 



The back pages of the second booklet feature:

• full parts list
• a map of heartlake City, highlighting the other new Friends sets
• the new sets that Stephanie and Mia are in
• screenshots of some of the new Friends apps
• sets in the Adventure Camp sub-theme.

   



Here are the parts that are found in Bag 1:



The parts that caught my eye were the:

• Red scooter (Note to LEGO: please bring out a scooter in Medium Lavender!)
• brick bricks in Medium Dark Flesh
• 1x2 panels with sides in Magenta, which are new this year, but not rare as they can be found in 6 sets already.

The first thing we build is the advertising board for the cafe. It is a little unfortunate that this is a sticker, but it looks great and I love the simplicity of the solution for getting it to stand on an angle.



The next thing that we build is the scooter. It uses the new style panels to create a basket on the back of the scooter. There are meant to be stickers on the panels, but I couldn’t bear to put them on those pieces.

At the end of the first bag we have completed the outline of the Cupcake Cafe:


(Spot the error! Oops!)

They very trustworthy in Heartlake City, so much so that it’s OK to just leave your $100 bills laying around.



We also get a Stephanie and a cute cat in the first bag, but we’ll take a closer look at them later.

Let’s see what Bag 2 holds.



There are a few pieces that are unique to this set in their respective colours. These are the:

• White 1x1 bricks with scroll
• Bright Light Blue 2x2 dome
• Bright Light Blue 3x3 corner domes
• Bright Pink 3x6 round half plate with cutout
• White 4x8 semi-circle plate.

The other pieces that caught my eye were the White ornamental arches and the White 1x3x2 inverted arch. It’s a shame there is only one of those inverted arches in this set, as I can see a lot of uses for this piece.  Although you can’t tell from the above image, the White 1x12x3 arch is the new style with five cross supports.

Bag 2 completes the structure of the building and the main window display:



I love the stained glass window feature above the front door:



The window display also looks fantastic and can be spun around for easy access to the cupcakes and other sweet treats.



Let’s see what Bag 3 holds:



There were lots of goodies in this bag, including:

• 1x3 curved slopes in Bright Pink, which are unique to this set in this colour
• Dark Pink tea pot, which only available in this set and The Starlight Inn (41174) from the Elves theme
• ornamental sign in White
• a couple more 1x2 panels with sides in Magenta.

Bag three completes the interior and the outdoor seating area.  





There are plenty of details on the inside, including a mixer, blender, coffee machine, couch and fridge.





The outdoor seating area looks quite cosy.  



It is not clear from the image, but the table is quite high relative to the mini-dolls. There is also a section that looks unfinished between the two lattice fences.

I love the look of the front entrance with its stained glass window and ornamental sign:



This brings us to the two mini-dolls, Naomi and Stephanie, and the cat.



Let’s take a closer look at Naomi first :



Naomi, who is new to Heartlake City, works at the Cupcake Cafe. She is wearing a Magenta skirt and White / Magenta shoes, which are quite popular. She is also wearing a Magenta apron over a White, sleeveless blouse, which is unique to this set. Naomi’s hair is a Dark Brown ponytail, which is the first time we have seen this ponytail in that colour. The line that you can see running down the middle of her ponytail is excess plastic. It is not as noticeable in real life as in the photos (but that may just be my failing eyesight).  

Naomi’s face, with the blue eyes and freckles, is unique to the Friends theme, but is the same as Anna’s face from Disney’s Frozen.

Next up is Stephanie, one of the five main Friends:



Stephanie is wearing a White tank top with stars over a Medium Lavender skirt, with Bright Pink shoes. The skirt and shoes are quite popular and the top is the same one that Stephanie wore in her Pizzeria (41092) and the Party Train (41111).

The set also includes a Black cat with Lime eyes:



It is not clear what the purpose of the cat is in this set, but this particular one is one of my favourite LEGO animals and it hasn’t been in a lot of sets, so I’m not complaining. I find it cute, but not too “cutesie” (if that makes sense).

These are the parts that are left over at the end:



Let’s have another look at the set as a whole:



My nine year old daughter and best friend spent the best part of an hour playing with this set, so that pretty much gives it the tick of approval for playability. I found a number of additional cupcakes that they had made with the spare parts sitting in the fridge. The playing also led to real cupcakes being baked, which you might argue is good or bad for various reasons!

The set looks great and has a nice selection of parts, including quite a few parts that are unique to this set. So, a great set overall!

Thanks for reading! C&C welcome.

Note: All exclusive parts mentioned in the colours noted were applicable at the time this review was posted. Parts may be available in other colours and sets after the post of this review. Brickset and BrickLink were use to verify this information.