Stirling Hotel

The Stirling Hotel is easy to spot on a drive through Stirling on a warm evening. It is one of the more obvious signs of life in the quiet town with the bright lights and the hubbub emanating from the patrons sitting outside. The bistro provides a good menu and plenty of seating inside and outside.

The hot chocolate comes in tall glass with a handle and a saucer. The drink is topped with a creamy froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The chocolate is rich and not too sweet and costs $3.50.

Noshery

The Noshery used to be Amico Café at 333 King William Street Adelaide. Noshery is not a lot different with some minor changes to the décor and a slightly less formal setting. The Café still provides friendly table service. The restaurant provides a short menu of tasty Italian meals and snacks. There is seating inside and outside.

The hot chocolate comes in glass on a saucer. It is topped with a brown froth and sprinkle of chocolate powder. The drink was rich enough but a little too sweet. The cost was $3.60 which was less than Amico but came without the fancy glassware.

Suzette's Gourmet Caffe

Suzette's has been in Adelaide's daily paper "The Advertiser" for the wrong reasons so it was interesting to see Samela Harris's enthusiastic review from some time ago displayed on the cafe wall. Suzette's is in a great location at 540 Glynburn Road, Burnside, just before the Waterfall Gully turn-off. There is plenty of outdoor and indoor seating that provides for a nice outlook from the high side of the road. The café provides all sorts of meals and gourmet foods.

The hot chocolate came in Liberty Caffe coffee cup and saucer, with the logo facing the drinker on the outside of the cup. The chocolate was rich but a little sweet. The drink was topped with a white froth and a line of chocolate powder.

The drink cost $3.50 and came with a small wrapped Italian biscuit. It was noted that the date stamp on the biscuit wrapping was "1/2008" which suggests it was over three years old.  The biscuit tasted good but it reinforced the concern that Suzette's has problems with not disposing of old stock.

Koko Dream

I had a tip from a reader that I should make the trek out to Hallet Cove Shopping Centre to try the hot chocolate at Koko Dream. It does not seem to have website but it does have a youtube video. It is a litte shop with clean and bright décor. It sells chocolates and desserts and has a mini chocolate factory. As I visited the shop just before closing one evening the waitress needed a bit of convincing not to give me a takeaway cup.

Koko Dream does a range of hot chocolates. There is the standard hot chocolate with a number of different flavours for around $3.60 a cup. I was drawn to the deluxe Belgian hot chocolate for $5.50. This came in a tall glass with a white froth and an elegant chocolate syrup pattern on top. The glass sat on a saucer which included two marshmallows and a wrapped chocolate. The best part though was that it was good rich creamy Belgian chocolate and it tasted great. This was a hot chocolate with all the trimmings but the trimmings were little more than a distraction from a quality drink.

Fiefy's Jaffa

Having had great Belgian hot chocolates at Fiefy's before, your reviewer return to this little coffee shop for the Jaffa hot chocolate. This was presented in the ceramic cup and saucer with the signature "F" in the froth and a marshmallow in the saucer. The orange flavour was good and tasty with orange zest giving it tang. The texture was creamy and the chocolate still had a rich Belgian flavour. The Jaffa hot chocolate cost $4.50.

Crown & Sceptre Hotel

This hotel is at 308 King William Street, just next to Baretto Corte, and provides good meals and lunch specials. It is a venue for the 2011 Adelaide Fringe with a number of bands playing at the venue during the festival. This is an old hotel with a maze of rooms and there is seating inside and on the footpath. There is plenty of artwork adorning the walls.

The hot chocolate came in a tall glass with a handle and a saucer. The drink was topped with a swirl of froth and chocolate powder and chocolate patterns adorned the walls of the glass. The drink was chocolaty and not too sweet and cost about $3.50.

Chinatown Espresso

Moonta Street is Adelaide's Chinatown. An observer can conclude this because in the middle of this laneway is a place called Chinatown Espresso. This is a little booth on the corner opposite the International Food Plaza where your reviewer dined for lunch. Refreshment Corner in the Food Plaza does not seem to do hot beverages any more so Chinatown Espresso is the nearest venue for a hot chocolate or coffee.

Your reviewer got his hot chocolate in a good quality Lavazza disposable cup. Ceramic cups were available but this hot chocolate needed to be transported back to the Food Plaza on the other side of Moonta Street. The hot chocolate was topped with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate but was too weak and watery to be worth the trouble. It cost $3.20.