Perfect Cup Dutch, Central Market

Merkel and Mytrle returned to the Perfect Cup in the Adelaide Central Market. This time they sat in the Market Arcade at the Eastern end of the shop and purchased the Dutch hot chocolate. The presentation and unsweetened taste was similar to the Perfect Cup in Grenfell Street. It came in a glass and saucer with two marshmallows. A richer chocolate flavour would have been preferred.

The Little Leaf and Bean

I noticed a couple of signs for The Little Leaf and Bean sign on Coromandel Parade at Blackwood. One sign referred to the Coffee Barun which does good coffees and a good hot chocolate so I thought the Little Leaf and Bean would be a good place to try a hot chocolate. The Café is tucked away behind a number of other shops at 19 Coromandel Parade, further from the Blackwood roundabout than Montagna. It is a cosy shop furnished with a range of tables and lounge seating.

The hot chocolate came in a glass mug with a triangular saucer. It was finished with a nice patterned froth and a line of chocolate powder down one one side. A marshmallow was provided in the saucer. Alas, the hot chocolate was far too weak and watery and cost $4.00.

Joans Pantry

At Watahuna Avenue, Hawthorndene is Apex Park, which is a recreational reserve that follows a creek in the Adelaide Hills. The reserve includes a football oval a large children's playground and a number of walking tracks. It is a picuresque spot with plenty of big gum trees. In the middle of this natural beauty is Joans Pantry. This is a basic cottage which serves as kiosk and Café. There is seating inside and or outside. Merkel and Myrtle sat at one of the small wooden tables inside one morning for breakfast.

The hot chocolate came in a fancy stemmed glass with a handle. It was topped with a creamy, white froth and a liberal sprinkling of chocolate powder. A marshmallow was provided in the saucer. The drink was a rich, creamy, milk chocolate and was warming on a cold morning.

Chocolate @ No. 5

Chocolate @ No. 5 is Hahndorf's hot chocolate and dessert Café. It has been established for some time in an old rustic cottage at the far end of the Hahndorf main road and has recently been taken over by new management. I was invited to review the new menu in January but have not taken up the opportunity until now.

Hahndorf is a thriving tourist destination and there are plenty of Cafes and restaurants to choose from. Chocolate @ No. 5 is an excellent place to finish up for a dessert and hot chocolate.

Many patrons will still enjoy the Classic No.5 Belgian hot chocolate that is still offered in Milk, Dark and White chocolate from about $5.00. A number of different flavourings are now also available. There was however a new section of the menu that demanded my attention. It was the the high cocoa content hot chocolates from single origins "for the conoissieur". The Café may as well have had a menu entry that said "Merkel, drink me". There was a choice between Mexican (Mexique 66% cocoa), Venezualian or Tanzanian hot chocolates.

The Mexique hot chocolate came in a glass with a metal handle. It had a simple brown froth. This was a plain presentation as it was all about the flavour of the chocolate and the rich, bitter hot chocolate flavour.  The flavour was similar to that of high cocoa content chocolate blocks.  The consumer can taste the subtleties associated with the origin of the chocolate. At $8.00 this chocolate experience may not be for everyone but the new Chocolate @ No. 5 provides a unique opportunity to try something different from the world of hot chocolate.

Cibo, Hutt Street

A new Cibo outlet has taken over the old premises of Citrus on Hutt Street. The accommodation is an old building with some exposed brickwork. This Cibo has plenty of seating under the verandah outside and in more cosy surroundings inside. The normal Cibo menu is available.

The Cibo Cioccolata Italiana is a favourite with your reviewer. This thick liquid chocolate came with a generous dollap of whipped cream on top. It was very tasty, not too hot and came in a ceramic cup and saucer. It cost $4.50.

Funk, King William Street

The last Funk review highlighted the fact that there was still one Funk Coffee venue in the Adelaide CBD that Merkel had not yet visited. For the sake completeness Merke and Myrtle visited recently.  This is the coffee shop on the corner of King William Street and South Terrace. This is a big café with plenty of seating inside. The food and beverages menu is the same as the other Funk outlets.

The hot chocolate was served in a ceramic cup with a large circle of froth on top. The presentation of the Funk hot chocolates has not quite lived up to the standard of the one in the photo of the Flinders Street Funk in this blog. The hot chocolate was creamy but not particularly chocolaty and cost $3.40.

The Aviary Dessert Kitchen

The Aviary is a recent addition to the restaurants on The Parade, Norwood. It is a late night dessert place. Most of the seating is upstairs, but you need to go downstairs to order. There is a variety of macarons, cheescakes and other sweet treats. Merkel and Myrtle settled for the churros with dipping chocolate and caramel.

The most striking thing about the Aviary Kitchen hot chocolate is that it comes in an oddly shaped bowl. The only other places in this blog featuring hot chocolate in bowls are Pranzo and Blond Coffee. This was a small bowl with a water-drop shaped opening. This was a useful shape for cupping in the hands and the chocolate was not too hot to allow this. The hot chocolate was topped with a white froth and a line of chocolate powder. It was a creamy drink but not particularly chocolaty. The churros dipping chocolate was rich by comparison and the leftovers made a good supplement to the weak hot chocolate. The cost of the hot chocolate was $3.90.

Funk, Iced

Merkel has visited six of the seven Funk Coffee venues in the Adelaide CBD but not yet tried their iced chocolate. This all changed today when Merkel visited his favourite funk venue in the SA Water building on Victoria Square. The iced chocolate cost $5.20 and came in a tall glass. It was topped with ice and ice-cream. The good part was that it was made with dark rich chocolate and was a welcome change to sweet milky iced chocolates. This blessing was tempered by the fact that Merkel is not a fan of ice in iced chocolate and the drink lacked any whipped cream.  Nevertheless it was a refreshing drink with good flavour.

Montagna

Montagna would seem to be Italian for mountain as there are several pictures of mountains on the inside of this Café. Montagna is at 10 Coromandel Parade at the shopping centre on the South side of the Blackwood roundabout, the opposite side to the Artisan Café. Montagna is a big Café with plenty of seating inside and in an enclosed verandah area. They do an Italian menu including Pizzas and breakfasts.

The hot chocolate came in Vittoria glass and saucer. It had a white froth and liberal dumping of chocolate on top. The drink was creamy and had milk chocolate flavour. It cost $3.90.

Toast

Time2Eat on Bank Street has made it on the disappearing hot chocolate venues list and been replaced the Toast. The new café has had a good makeover and is a little more upmarket than Time2Eat. It is right next a fairly run-down Bean Bar.

The hot chocolate came in a white ceramic cup and saucer and cost $3.20. It was topped with plenty of froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. It was sweet but chocolaty.

Chocolatree

This is a new venue on at 25 O'Connell Street in North Adelaide specialising in hot chocolates and chocolate desserts. The Marmaduke family visited there one evening. They shared a tropical fruit chocolate fondue and enjoyed some wonderful beverages.  This is a small venue in an old cottage. There are a few tables inside and a few in the back garden.

Merkel went for the dark Chocolate Nut which was a hot chocolate with praline for $6.50. It came in a big ceramic mug on a saucer with a marhsmallow. It was finished with a brown forth and sprinkle of chocolate and spices. The chocolate was a delicious rich Belgian chocolate the flavour from the praline was fairly incidental. The junior Marmadukes had iced chocolates that were topped with a scoop of iced cream and had chocolate patterns on the inside of the glass. Again these drinks were made with rich Belgian chocolate.

Chocolate Bean, Chocolate Tea

The Chocolate Bean is one venue that has had many visits from me because of the large variety of different chocolate drinks. It has many flavours of hot chocolate and iced chocolate but also chocolate soup and chocolate tea. It was time to try the chocolate tea. I chose a Macadamia flavoured chocolate tea. It came in a big mug which would rival the one from Village Bakehouse and was $4.50. The chocolate tea was a blend of chocolate and tea and therefore was thinner and less creamy than the hot chocolate but was still very chocolaty. There is no fancy topping for this drink as one would expect from a tea. The flavour was pleasant and the tea offers some complexity to the flavour.

Village Bakehouse

The Melbourne Street Village Bakehouse has some old-world charm about it. Many Cafes in old buildings are renovated by stripping the décor back to the basics but the Village Bakehouse has carpets artworks, curtains and other touches that give it a warm feeling of yesteryear. This Café does baguettes, lepinjas as well as a range of meals.

The hot chocolate came in a large mug. This was apparently the equivalent of three cups and cost $5.50. It was topped with a bubbly froth and a dusting of chocolate powder. It was served on a saucer with a yellow and an orange marshmallow. It was not high on the scales of richness or creaminess but it was a big warming drink.

Returns to hot chocolate venues

I returned to Dome Espresso in the Westpac Building. He was not surprised to find it seems to have gone out of business so walked on to the Daily Planet where he grabbed a three dollar hot chocolate and had his lunch in the fairly cold courtyard there. The hot chocolate was better than last time but still lacked a bit of flavour.

I returned to the Royalty Snack Bar. This was weaker than last time but still cost $3.50.

Readers can depend on Chocolate World for a good rich hot chocolate if you can cope with the paper cup. I tried the jaffa chocolate. The chocolate flavour was good but the orange flavour was not much in evidence.

Café Astros still do a very decorative hot chocolate for $3.50. It is not as chocolaty as I would like but it is a nice creamy drink.

#12 on Halifax

Merkel and Myrtle returned to #12 on Halifax. This time Merkel tried the iced chocolate. It came in a tall glass, topped with ice, vanilla ice cream and sprinkle of chocolate powder. It was clear from the glass that most of the chocolate flavour was towards the bottom. This was not a particularly elegent iced chocolate it was chocolaty and creamy despite the ice. The cost was $4.50.

The Mac Factory

Macarons are "made of egg whites and almond meal, hard to the touch with a chewy interior" according to Sydney chef Adrian Zumbo. They are not to be confused with macaroons which are meringue and coconut. Adelaide is privileged to have a new venue that specialises in macarons, The Mac Factory. The new venue is up the stairs above the post office at 190 Hutt Street. There is plenty of space for sitting down and having a hot beverage and sweat treat.

The hot chocolate is a thick Italian hot chocolate served in a dainty cup. It was thick and chocolaty and not quite as dark as some of the other Italian hot chocolates reviewed here. The cost was only $2.50 and it was served with a dollop of cream.

Hampshire Hotel

The Hampshire Hotel or "The Hampy" is a little old hotel at 110 Grote Street. It has been renovated throughout and there is a Café area at the back which is nicely furnished with an indoor eating area and an outdoor area with umbrellas. As it was raining when Merkel and Myrtle visited the indoor area was the best choice. The Café area has a good hotel menu and they do a huge steak standwich.

The hot chocolate comes in coffex brand cup for $4.00 or a mug for $4.50. As it was a cold and wintery day Merkel went for the mug. The hot chocolate was topped with a white froth and a liberal sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink was creamy and reasonably chocolaty.

Un Caffe Bar, Grenfell St

On the corner of Pirie Street and Gawler Place there use to be a Wigg & Sons stationer. This has recently been replaced by an Un Caffe Bar coffee shop. This is a little shop with mostly bar stool seating but still provides the same fare as the other seven locations in South Australia. Patrons can sit and look down on the pedestrians as they walk along Gawler Place.

The hot chocolate cost $4.20 for a small cup. It was topped with a white froth and a semicircle of dark chocolate powder. The good thing about Un Caffe Bar hot chocolates is that they are rich and not too sweet. The bad thing is that the cup is small for a drink that is more expensive than average.

Taste on Pirie

Merkel and Myrtle returned to Taste on Pirie at 50 Pirie Street, Adelaide. It had been some time since they had visited here and it was interesting to see whether there had been a change of ownership of their sister shop Taste on Victoria had changed to V-Square. The staff and presentation of the beverages has changed, although the décor and menu is much the same.

The hot chocolate came in a glass with a dollop of white froth on top. The chocolate was not strong enough for Merkel's taste. The hot chocolate still cost $3.20.

Au Matin Calme

Au Matin Calme is a French patisserie at 210 Hutt Street. It is available for breakfast, lunch and tea and is open for late night desserts on Friday nights. The seating is on the first floor of the renovated old building.

The hot chocolate cost four dollars and came in a mug with "Un tasse de café" on the outside and "Bonjour, un café sil vous plais" on the inside. It was topped with a creamy froth. Later I found that I could have chosen from a dark hot chocolate, orange hot chocolate or a vanilla hot chocolate and that the hot chocolate came from a secret French recipe. I am not sure which choice of the hot chocolate I was served as the taste fitted none of the three categories. It was not a particular dark or rich hot chocolate but it did have the Belgian chocolate taste and was very creamy.

Spoon

The full name of this eating place is "Spoon by Amaris Vinyards". Amaris has developed this as a restaurant and wine tasting venue. The restaurant business is no longer fully operational but Spoon still operates as a Café and provides lepinjas or focaccias for lunch. There are a few tables inside and outside of the modern venue at 19 Gouger Street, Adelaide.

The hot chocolate comes in RomCaffe coffee cup. This is a fairly flat cup with the logo in the drinker-facing position. The hot chocolate was topped with mixture of brown and white froth. The drink was creamy with plenty of froth but was not particularly chocolaty. The cost was $4.00.

Helen Mayo Café

In my days at Adelaide University the coffees and hot chocolates were not all that desirable. The standards have improved a bit since then. The university Cafes still have to produce a lot of food quickly so there are shortcuts with preparation and packaging. The Helen Mayo Café at the Adelaide University is a big eating place with plenty of seating inside and outside under unbrellas in the cloisters. The clinical term "Refectory" that was used in my day seems more apt than "Café".

The hot chocolate came in paper "Brasilia" cup. It was topped with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. It was a good chocolaty flavour and not too sweet. Best of all, it cost only $2.50.

Europa Ristorante, Classic

Merkel returned to the Europa Ristorante at Glenelg one evening to sample another of its range of hot chocolates. This time he settled for the one on the menu list as the "Classic" hot chocolate. This was rich and dark with a brown froth and sprinkle of chocolate and left Merkel wanting more from the small cup. It was tasty but not as thick as the Cioccolata Italiano from Cibo across the other side of Moseley Square. The cost was $3.80.

Bakers of Unley

Bakers of Unley is in Malvern Village at 259 Unley Road. It is open weekdays and Saturday morning and provides pies, quiches, sandwhiches and variety of cakes. There are a couple tables inside and outside.

The hot chocolate came in a red ceramic cup and saucer. It was topped with a circle of white froth ontop of the brown chocolate with a pink marshmallow dunked in the middle of it. The chocolate was creamy, rich and not too sweet. The cost was $3.50.