The Search for Italian Hot Chocolate

Oh my sweetest of deadly sins... this evening I experienced bliss.

Whoever invented the chocolate buffet has my undying gratitude. And possibly love. This is what it looks like:

http://mirvac-hotels.assets1.blockshome.com/assets/zs8kkL735DoOwCu/31-days-of-chocolate-2009.pdf

My favourites:

Mango White Chocolate Mousse - melt in your mouth goodness, more mango than anything, but so beautiful.

Double Caramel Chocolate Tarts - richer than a Saudi oil baron.

Italian Coffee & Kahlua Cups - oooohhh...

Strawberries under the chocolate fountain.

Best $20 meal ever.

There have been some amazing new discoveries in the world of Brisbane chocolate. I have a new Brisbane-based co-conspirator, who has accompanied me on various excursions of deliciousness lately.

One of the places I need to explore further is 16th on Park (Road that is) Dessert Cafe (www.16onpark.com.au). It has a delicious range of flavoured hot chocolates which are melt in your mouth smooth. While I can't say I was blown away by the Death by Chocolate, it was very tasty. The other was peanut and cinnamon, very distinct and unusual taste. There are a number of other hot chocolate flavours and desserts that I haven't tried, so I'll be checking it out again.

And then yesterday - oh sweet yesterday... it was bursting with chocolate goodness. Gelatissimo in the CBD (www.gelatissimo.com.au/stores/storeDetail.php?store=3) is one of the many amazing gelato places feeding my addiction. Between us we tried four flavours (www.gelatissimo.com.au/menu/flavourDetail.html) - not including the ones we just had a sample of, like the rich and slightly bitter Belgium Chocolate - and they were all amazing. The passionfruit was rich and tart and blended beautifully with the Berry Pavlova which was smooth and creamy and sweet. The Honey Toffee Malt was the perfect partner for the Chocolate Truffle, which is totally amazing! I'm not going to describe it, I'm going to suggest you go there and try it. We spent at least 15 minutes oohing and aahhing and trying different flavour combinations. Bliss.

Finally, but certainly not without both forward planning and anticipation, we gorged on Chocolate, Sour Cherry and Date loaf. This is the best bread ever created. Best. Ever. Totally worth the trip to the Flour Power bakery on the corner of Gladstone St and Dornoch Tce at Highgate Hill. The trick is to toast it, smother it in butter and eat it while the chocolate oozes through your fingers. I seriously could not stop eating it, so the other trick is to make sure there are two other people to help you eat it. Between two it was just a touch too much... I had to finish the loaf but the last slice was a struggle. Delicious enough that I didn't care...

I'm looking forward to some more chocolate based excursions soon!

I have been silent, yes, but not for want of chocolate. It has been a very busy couple of months, but I have still found time to discover the chocolate delights of Brisbane with some new co-conspirators.

So instead of a detailed blow by blow account, I shall outline my highlights.

Cupcakes - A place called MySweetopia at South Bank (Grey St) has decadent cupcakes - it took me at least 15 minutes to work out what to order. I had the Espresso cupcake, which was amazing. These cupcakes have been proven to soothe the nerves of even the most frazzled traveller.
They also have chocolate mousse and fondue which I have not yet tried, but I will be back there.
www.mysweetopia.com.au



Chocolates - Chocolate to Die For on Adelaide St. I pass it all the time, and only went there in honour of the coach's birthday. Tasty tasty goodness. Another place that took me a great deal of decision making time. Was particularly enamoured with something caramel/cinnamony, the name of which escapes me.



Then there was another italian hot chocolate discovery - good taste, good value and passed the spoon test. Here is proof.



It can be found at Pandemonium Cafe, Given Tce, Paddington. Nice place. They also claim to do fondue for dessert on Thursday and Friday nights, but are not open on these nights until further notice. I shall have to find my fondue elsewhere.
http://pandemoniumcafe.com.au/

The old favourite haunts have not been without delights. I was very very pleased with the Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake at the Three Monkeys (West End). So much so I went back for more. It was melt in your mouth and just the right rich.

And I cannot forget the most amazing chocolate brownies EVER! They were made by Grub St Cafe, Gaythorne, and were so amazingly rich that a small square was enough to make any chocolate lover do a happy dance. I shall certainly be visiting this place in person.
http://www.grubst.com/

Here's to more chocolate adventures to come.

Hot chocolate. My solace.

This week I needed it, so it was with great pleasure the coach and I checked out a newly discovered place on Brunswick St.

The place was Zafron (www.zafrononbrunswick.com), and they have insanely good head explody food. But the hot chocolate wasn't quite up to my exacting standards.

It looks great. Somewhat small, but rich enough to make up for it. Nice colour, fantastic smell.

However it failed the spoon test and was drinkable. This is a great sadness.

The texture was what got me. OMG, I don't think I've ever had hot chocolate so silky smooth. You could make lingerie out of it.

It was great. It was tasty. It was not, to my mind, Italian Hot Chocolate but it was a good after dinner drop. Tasty tasty tasty.

In other news:
I am ashamed to report I yet again went to Melbourne and failed to sample the delicacies of one of the many boutique chocolate shops. Slap my hand and send me back, I dare you.


In (other) other news:

Monsoon's fantastic chocolate spring rolls are far less fantastic since the messy divorce of the orange from the chill sauce. Or the chilli from the orange sauce, I don't recall which.



They have replaced the sauce, which was the icing on the mouth-watering cake, with some stupid spearmint garbage. As a sworn anti-mint protestor I am considering taking drastic action (in the form of writing a letter and getting everyone I know to sign it).

Who's with me?

Any Brisbane-based chocoholic worth their chocolate salty balls should be aware of - if not in love with - the Darrell Lea shop in Brisbane Arcade (http://www.dlea.com.au/). I am.

So I went there recently with a view to buy some tasty treats, and I ended up buying raspberries coated in dark chocolate which rocked my world. But I also saw something else intriguing, which I went back to buy a few weeks later.

It's Mango, Lime and Chilli Dark Chocolate (http://www.farmbynature.com.au/nas.htm). Oh. My. God.

It's not cheap. But let's face it, an Australian gourmet chocolate containing mango, lime and chilli was never going to be cheap. It is good. It is tasty. It is really rich and it is weird. Good weird, but a taste that I can't really describe other than by saying it is a mixture of chocolate, mango, lime and chilli. Very insightful, right?

So far this 100g pack has lasted me about three weeks. I can't eat a lot at once. This is a good thing, because it means the price is worthwhile.

The aroma alone is intoxicating. Buy this and rub it all over yourself. I reckon you'll have members of the opposite sex (or the same sex, whatever works for you) licking you in no time.


Also, apologies for my slackness, I will try to get back to this journal - especially since it is the best excuse I have to eat large quantities of chocolate.

I've been a little slack with this LJ since my coach moved to Germany (note the understatement...). But he was back briefly last weekend prompting us to go on a fact finding mission to Paddington.

On a tip from one of mr oCean's associates, we ventured to a place which is excitingly named: Hot Chocolate. I was only mindly put off by the painful pinkness of the interior, mainly because the outside is black. You have to take the good with the bad.

But more bad was to come.

There was a very tasty selection of chocolates that, having gorged ourselves on tasty food at Mount Tamborine, we were too full to even examine. But there's always room for a good hot chocolate. Examining the menu we found the standard cafe fare and asked if they had Italian Hot Chocolate. (Tip: some places do it but don't have it on the menu, or call it a weird name.)

I was shocked and dismayed - that's right, both of those things together - to find that although the lovely girl behind the counter had heard of IHC, they did not serve it. The place is called Hot Chocolate and they don't do IHC! This is a travesty of justice. Or something.

So we settled for the Vienna Hot Chocolate, which was described as very creamy. I think that was more understatement. The Vienna is basically cocoa with half a can of squirty cream on the top. While rich and tasty, it was not worth the $5 price tag. Although there may have been $2 of cream on top...

So my recommendation? Unless you're already in Paddington, and have no where else to be, and have an excess of money burning a hole in your pocket and really want cocoa... don't bother.

On a plus, I then went to a birthday party for the lovely Jigsaw of Brismob fame, and had my faith in chocolate completely restored. Ever the geek, Jigsaw and her flatmate had created the tastiest pirate ship birthday cake EVER! It was very realistic, down to the edible figure head, Curly-wurly railing and dark chocolate Malteser cannon balls (I hear those were the best kind of cannon balls for sea battles because they floated and could then be reused...). There was chocolate cake and bronwie goodness in three layers under tasty chocolate icing. In short - best birthday cake ever!

And if that wasn't enough, the Jigsaw house has discovered the secret of thick Italian Hot Chocolate. The recipe basically involves cocoa, sugar, cornflour and milk if I remember correctly - with a dash of chilli for extra bite. Then they steam it with their coffee machine to within an inch of its life - I hear that as soon as it boils to almost exploding, it sets and becomes the perfect IHC! My mouth was tingling with excitement when I sampled it (or maybe it was the chilli).

Sadly, they won't let me add their address to the blog, so you can't go and sample it for yourself. But it is awesome and you should totally make friends with the Jigsaw so she can make it for you.

Tonight I experienced the healing power of iced mocha a Fat Boys - totally worth the $6.50 price tag with chocolate sauce streaming down the inside of the glass. It was rejuvinating after a day of chaos and head explody pain. Go chocolate!

If you have tips for chocolate goodness, please let me know as I need more motivation to go check things out. Plus it's good for my stress levels.

Some years ago I discovered on the menu of the Beaudesert RSL the dessert listing that made my taste buds tingle with excitement... Fried Mars Bars. I had heard of these and was keen to try one.

However, I tend to order large meals and then not get dessert. Silly, I know. But tonight was different. Tonight I ordered an entree sized meal, ate someone elses chips and then tried the Mars Bar.

And it was good.

If you haven't tried one you're missing out. Imagine a warm squishy Mars Bar with a tasty sweet batter that's kinda like a thin doughnut surrounding it, making it crunchy and gooey all at once. This one was served with cream and icecream, and finished off with chocolate sauce and half a strawberry.

It certainly is a tasty treat, and I'll be having it again sometime. It is tasty awesome.

I know it's been a while, but don't think my life has been devoid of chocolate goodness. Certainly not. Just nothing worth raving about. I have very high standards.

Here is an example of those standards, sent to me by Katinka Jett, who says "Look what i found in melbourne today!"

So...
Dark chocolate malteses. Good good good.
Triangle cake from the bakery with Brisbane's best Italian Hot Chocolate. Good good.
The Italian Hot Chocolate made while powder is running out and the fantasmagorical Renee is not there. Good, but not fabulously good.
Raspberry and dark chocolate timtams. Awesome!!
Crunchy caramel lindt chocolate. Tasty as. :)
Erm... apart from the caramel and chocolate laced icecream that is called something cruch... Hokkien Crunch is not what it is, but will do for now... I think that's about all the chocolate I had this weekend. I probably could have tried harder...

So many good foods this long weekend, but since this is a chocolate blog I'll only talk about the chocolate part.

No Italian Hot Chocolate - sadly - but I did OD on chocolate at a place called Freestyle tout at Rosalie late on Sunday night. http://www.freestyletout.com.au/RosalieSoon.asp

As you can see from the website, they are pretty slack with their online marketing. But apparently there's one in the Valley too, see http://www.freestyletout.com.au/, and the dessert menu seems exactly the same to me. *shrugs*

Two of my companions had the Flourless Chocolate Cake served with berries & fudge sauce and the Saucy Chocolate Pudding served with fudge sauce, which were both very tasty but a little drier than I like in a dessert.

I went all out and tried the Hot Fudge Brownie with fudge sauce. When they say with fudge sauce, they mean with fudge sauce, half a tub of vanilla icecream and a shard of solid chocolate so big we were concerned someone might lose an eye.

Now I'm damn good at eating, but I didn't finish all my dessert (admittedly I did pinch bits of other people's tasty treats too) so I'm going to go right out there and say even for $13.50 for a dessert, it's worth the money.

This brownie was insane rich, and I enjoyed every bit of it that I managed to get through. I washed it down with a normal everyday hot chocolate, which tasted bland against the rich tones of the dessert. And OMG that chocolate garnish!

Ok... I've managed to find a picture - some people did a review which is on the QUT website - you should check out the review which is at http://www.international.qut.edu.au/newsbites/LifestyleOctober05.htm - the photo of the fudge brownie is the top one. And they also review Blue Lotus! Good stuff. :)

So yeah - worthwhile. I give it some stars!!

Went back to Ill Villagio at Kelvin Grove today for more of the hot chocolate heaven. And it was there, and it was good.

Renee, who is the master of hot chocolate, was presented with a lovely trophy (made of a polystyrene cup covered in alfoil) by Mr Ocean. She proclaimed we were insane. And it was so.

I was driven more insane by the tastiness that was yet another hot chocolate you could stand a spoon up in.

The goodness never ends.

Mr Ocean was kind enough to take some shiny photos of the best italian hot chocolate ever.

How pretty...



Thick and gluggy...



It has magic spoon-balancy goodness!



And look, even a metal spoon stands straight up!



Doesn't it look tasty awesome! We shall be awarding the maker with an exciting prize.

I'm not sure about that. But it is kinda cool.

Check it out. http://espressoparts2.zoovy.com/category/045.01/

The Chocolate Shot (La Chocolatera') chocolate dispenser... they reckon it makes great italian hot chocolate.

I'd like to reserve judgement until I see one in action, but the concept is sound.

Flex days are quite good things. I'm learning this, though it's taking some time. Today I had a flex and went back to Kelvin Grove for more Blue Lotus goodness.

Mr Ocean has knowledge of a secret menu that includes the fabulous dessert pizza. This consists of a sweet base topped with a warm fruit salad and berry sauce. It is bliss. Healthy and tasty at the same time! This one had grapes, strawberries, kiwi fruit, banana and blueberries. It was so tasty, and so filling - all I had for lunch and I had to walk it off after (once I could move again). Awesome. Two thumbs up. All that kinda shiny talk.

Then it was eclipsed.

The fabulous bakery, Ill Villaggio, in the same complex, has a dazzling array of chocolate goodness. But what you don't see on display is the Italian Hot Chocolate of Perfection.

Under the tutelage of Mr Ocean, the lovely staff there have developed a technique of thickening the mixture with love instead of Italian scorn. Believe me, the difference is noticeable.

This was truly the best Hot Chocolate I had ever had. The spoon stood straight up, and it was tasty and sweet and melted my brain until I was grinning like a maniac.

I'm still grinning. I will be going back, and I will be hoping they don't let me down. But it was such a high standard, I'm not sure they could reach it a second time. Maybe you should all go and try it so they have plenty of practice.

Value for money, taste and thickness - *almost* full marks, because you never know what lies around the corner.

Mr O, ever vigilant to the Italian Hot Chocolate search, has been coaching some peoples in a bakery place across from where he works in the art of making a proper IHC.

I visited on my day off today to check out out. But I got a little bit side tracked by the Blue Lotus - look, and see if you can work out why... http://www.thebluelotus.com.au/

This place rocks. Not only is the decor insane cool, with giant birdcages hanging from the ceiling and a dragon on the wall, but the desserts are fantabulous.

I had a selection of three icecreams - Vanilla Bean, Expresso and of course... Death by Chocolate. DbC was awesome - so rich, and so right. On their site they say "Chocoholics, you have been warned; words cannot describe this superlative flavour that has as its base - the inimitable Choc Fudge." And yeah, I can't describe it, and I do that stuff for a living.

I had a taste of some of Mr O's Chocolate Brownie and Marshmellow dessert as well... OMG, it was insane crazy on the tastebuds.

"Slices of delectable chocolate brownie heated and served with melted marshmallow and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Seasonal fruit to garnish."

The brownie is incredibly rich, and with the sauce it is a total chocolate explosion. It was great. I could not have given an Italian Hot Chocolate a fair review after eating this stuff, as I just couldn't get over how perfectly chocolately these desserts were. So... next time, more hot chocolate. But for now, I highly recommend a visit.

(While you're there, check out the cheese room - this Village Centre at Kelvin Grove is truly a fantastic place)

I've been lax about getting on with my mission over the last few months, with a lot of real life (TM) interjecting. Looking at rectifying that tomorrow. But I just thought I'd mention the healing power of chocolate jewels.

The Pancake Manor here in Brisbane is one of the Pancakes chain, but the best of the lot as it's in an old church and open 24 hours (though don't expect good service after about 10pm).

Chocolate Jewels are two pancakes which seem to be made of chocolate cake mix, topped with cream, chocolate iceceam and chocolate sauce. Try feeling down after half a plate of them (I say half a plate cause they are rather filling).

My mission tomorrow should include Italian Hot Chocolate. More updates as they come to hand.

Sadly I didn't get to the other potential hot chocolate places in Sydney, and haven't furthered the search in Brisbane this weekend either, but there are a couple of chocolate discoveries to share.

Yesterday saw me going back to Batavia and trying the fondue. There wasn't enough dippy stuff, so I was forced to eat it with a spoon. Definitely not a bad thing. It's a rather tasty blend, which I recommend - probably get some extra biscuits or something, though eating it with a spoon is not bad really.

But now I have to rave about gelato...

I may or may not have mentioned (and can't be bothered checking) that when in the valley on the first Sunday of the month, the visit is rounded off with some super gelato flavours from a shop just up from The Alibi Room, whose name escapes me. It has a giant inflatable cone out the front, and my favourite flavour there is blueberry - I'm crazy for it.

But today was my second visit to a different place, also on Brunswick St, but between the mall and the Judith Wright Centre. The place is called Shlix, and it has the most INSANE flavours, it's gelato heaven. Today I had blood orange (sweet and orangey goodness), jaffa (chocolate and intense orange flavour) and the amazing tasting Mars Bar flavour. It's really like a Mars Bar, chunks of chocolate and all!!

It all made me greatly bouncy. There seems to be a lot of gelato shops around now, but this one definitely has cool flavours - they even have Red Bull flavour! Weird!

This afternoon I ventured into the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in Martin Place, Sydney. It was a potentially dangerous experience. Sooo much chocolate.

But they don't do Italian Hot Chocolate. Makes me sad.

What they do is a very rich milky chocolate which was worth the walk. (Not the flight, good thing I had other stuff to do when I was here!)

I ordered the dark hot chocolate, and it was rather tasty. Very rich, very creamy, very drinkable. (Drinkable! Argh!) I also have a block of tasty looking chocolate with a creme caramel filling, which I will tell you all about once I eat it.

They have a pretty spesh looking range of chocolates, too many to chose from. So I recommend the detour when wandering through Sydney.

In other news, I don't think my little legs can take much more walking, and I am very unhappy that my webmail won't let me log in. The password's correct dammit! I use it almost every day! I think the issue is an upgrade which happened the day before I left Brisbane, which of course means that I probably won't be able to check my e-mail until I get home. ARGH!!! Good thing that's Sunday night, so I might be able to last a few more days.

More chocolate news as it comes to hand.

Today's excursions took me to Batavia in Southbank (two doors down from the formerly Imax cinema) and the chocolately joys contained therein.

There's an amazing range of stuff - from fondue to biscuits with a chocolate dipping sauce. And the decor is cool - you can also buy Indonesian furniture and gift wares there, and it's all very shiny. Definitely check it out.

But... if you want to move within half an hour of having your refreshment, I'd suggest only ordering one Mud Chocagatto between two people.

The Mud Chocagatto is not completely unlike Italian Hot Chocolate, though I think it would be unfair to compare. It's a bowl of ice-cream (and possibly a bit of cream) which is served with a large jug of hot chocolate sauce. When combined, they make something impossibly tasty. Beware, I was concerned I wouldn't survive the experience (hence the need to share). I did... but I really don't know how.

As the ice-cream melts you end up with a kind of rich chocolate soup... it's so rich that I thought I would explode, and yet so tasty I needed to keep eating it. A dangerous "drink", but well worth the risk...

Value for money wise - it was $10.90, but considering what it was and how big it was, I'm so not going to complain about that. It was dessert and meal all in one.

Did I mention you should really share it? So go, buy it - and invite me along to share.

(For transparency, I'd like to note that I met the owner at a social event recently, but this in no way influenced my thoughts on the place because it's SOOO AWESOME that no influence was needed)

Today's hot chocolate was sourced from a place at New Farm. I don't remember the name of the shop, because I didn't think it was worthwhile remembering.

The thing is, I have a few criteria that I think makes a good hot chocolate of the style I am looking for, and the one I got from this place didn't fit them all.

1. It's chocolately.
Points for this. It was really chocolately. The cream they put on the top diluted it a little, but that doesn't have to come with it.

2. It's hot.
Points also for this. It was hot and chocolately, so not really false advertising.

3. It's Italian.
It had an Italian name, so it must be.

4. It's thick.
Look, it wasn't watery. But the fact is, you could drink it. You didn't NEED to eat it with a spoon. Mr oCean and I have decided that if you can stand the spoon up in it, it's sufficiently thick. This is where this brew fell over big time.

5. It's value for money.
At $4.40 for a teensy tiny tea cup type vessel, I didn't think the V.F.M quotient was looking healthy.

This one just didn't make it. It's about a 2.5 out of 5. It doesn't completely suck... but doesn't live up to my expectations.

In other news, I was given another tip today for somewhere to go when in Sydney. Apparently Cafe Fantini in Norton St, Leichart has them, so I'll add that to my list. It's unlikely I'll get to all three places in my five days there, but it's important to have a mission.