Chocolate Bean, Iced

The Chocolate Bean provides a big variet of hot chocolates. Your reviewer has now tried the hot chocolates, the chocolate soup and the chocolate tea at this venue. It was time to try the iced chocolate even though it was freezing day with light rain.

I ordered a "Chocolate Icy". I chose the dark chocolate version with aniseed flavour. This came in a tall glass with melted chocolate patterns on the inside of the glass. The chocolate hardens in a decorative pattern. It must be a challenge to clean such a glass but the effect is very decorative. The drink was topped with whipped cream and chocolate powder. Finely crushed ice is through the drink. Although I object to ice cubes in iced chocolate but the finely crushed ice was quite easy to take. The flavour of the chocolate was rich dark Belgian chocolate and the aniseed flavour was a good complement to this. The cost was $5.20.

Fiefy's Iced

Fiefy's does a great dark Belgian hot chocolate, whether it is plain, chilli or jaffa. Fiefy is one of the few proprieters who recognise Merkel & Myrtle when they visit. On the most recent visit Merkel tried Fiefy's Iced Chocolate. This was a fairly plain presentation. It was served in a tall glass and had a consistent light brown colour. It was topped with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of chocolate powder. The Belgian chocolate flavour was good and rich. The iced chocolate cost $6.50.

Old Gold Kitchen Adventure

It has been a while since I reported any experiences in the kitchen making hot chocolate. There are just too many places to find hot chocolates that I drink at home infrequently. However recently Myrtle made a good hot chocolate using 8 squares of Cadbury Old Gold 70% cocoa chocolate. The chocolate was melted in the microwave and then blended with a cup of warm milk. It was not quite as smooth as the Mexique chocolate at Chocolate @ No 5 but it had a similar dark chocolate flavour and bitterness.

The Organic Market and Café, Stirling

Merkel and Myrtle made the trip up to Stirling in the Adelaide Hills one fine Sunday morning. They visited the Organic Market and Café at 5 Druid Avenue. This is a pleasant Café amongst the trees off the main road. It was busy with families and cyclists but the couple found a seat and enjoyed muesli and a friand.

The hot chocolate came in white ceramic cup and saucer. It was nicely decorated with a white froth, a flower pattern and a semicircle of chocolate powder. The drink was creamy and no doubt organic but could have been more chocolaty. The cost was $3.50.

Au Matin Calme, Dark

Myrtle and I returned to the Au Matin Calme for an omelette for breakfast. Of course the main motive for me was to try another hot chocolate on the menu. This time I tried the dark hot chocolate. As last time it came in a small mug with the label "Un Tasse de Caffe" which translates to "A coffee cup". This was interesting because it was more mug than cup and it held hot chocolate not coffee. This is reminiscent of the French pushing the boundaries of philosophy and art such as in Rene Magritte's painting "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe").

I digress. The hot chocolate was good. It had a dark, reasonably rich, Belgian chocolate flavour and it was topped with a creamy froth and sprinkle of dark cocoa. The cost was $4.00.

Espana

As the name suggests, this restaurant served Spanish food. It is located at 98 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide a few doors north of the Village Bakehouse. Espana does a good range of Tapas and Pizza and has attentive table service. Merkel and Myrtle visited recently. Unfortunately the fish had to be sent back as it was uncooked. The lamb shanks were a good hearty meal though.

The hot chocolate came in black Grinders Giancarlo coffee cup. It had plenty of froth and line of chocolate powder on top. It was creamy and the chocolate flavour was good but could have been richer. The hot chocolate was not on the menu but probably cost four dollars.

Bake Break

It has been a while since Merkel has visited the Myer Centre food court. It seems that Doc Espresso and Charlies Club Sandwich have disappeared in favour of more seating in the food court. Roco Pasta is still looks good value for a hot chocolate although the hot chocolate has risen to $2.80. Merkel had lunch at a new booth, Bake Break which was on the same site as Bakery T76. Possibly it is just a better name with the same owners, but it did seem to be run more efficiently with a good range of pies, pasties and cakes.

The hot chocolate came in a Coffex coffee cup for $3.20. There was plenty of white froth on top with a sprinkle of dark chocolate powder. The hot chocolate was rich and creamy and was an improvement from that served at Bakery T76 in 2009.