Fair Espresso

Your reviewer visit Fair Espresso recently.  The name was familiar as your review had a hot chocolate from a Fair Espresso cart at the Semaphore Music Festival in 2010.  The new shop at 20 James Place is cozy with limited seating inside and out the front.  It specialises in fair-trade and organic food and beverages.  It does light meals and a range of coffees and hot chocolates.

The choice was between a fair-trade or a dark hot chocolate at $4.00 or milk hot chocolate at $3.80.  Your reviewer tried the fair-trade hot chocolate.  A large cup was 70 cents extra.  The drink came in a brown ceramic cup and saucer.  There was a well-executed example of latte art on the froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder.  The taste was creamy and rich and proved to be an excellent drink.  The shop has fulfilled the early promise shown by event cart.

Stephen ter Horst, Fruit de Bois

Merkel and Myrtle returned to Stephen ter Horst Chocolatier after a long break.  There have been a few changes since this shop on Unley Road first opened, but the splendid array of magnificent chocolates are still there to marvel at and indulge in.  The Café is now open more often at night and provides more desserts (other than individual chocolates) which attract the dessert Café crowd.  There are more seats and most importantly more hot chocolates on the menu.

Merkel could have chosen a hot chocolate with hazelnut praline, Spanish spices or chilli but the one he chose on this visit was “Fruit de Bois”.  This is literally fruit of the forest and had a strong flavouring of raspberry and blackberry.  The flavouring was strong to blend with the rich chocolate flavour of the drink.  The drink was served in a modest black ceramic cup and saucer with a brown froth on top.  The cost for the normal hot chocolate is $5.50 and the Fruit de Bois was $6.00.  The indulgence was well worth the price.

Dulwich Bakery

Dulwich Bakeries have recently started serving coffees and hot chocolates in their bakeries.  Merkel and Myrtle have gone along the Dulwich Bakery in Unley Shopping Centre and the Dulwich Bakery at the Malvern 7 day Centre to sample their offerings.  Both are on Unley Road.  A small number of tables are available at both locations.  The cakes and pies are good and the service is friendly.

The hot chocolate is served in a white ceramic cup and saucer and finished with a white froth and a sprinkle of chocolate powder.  The drink however is too week and sweet for the taste of your reviewer.  The cost was inexpensive probably about three dollars.

Whisk Patisserie

Merkel and Myrtle recently returned to Whisk Patisserie  at 113 Goodwood Road for a pleasant lunch. It provides a tasty range of roles, quiches and pastries and now has its own web-site.

The hot chocolate was served in to stylish tall white ceramic cup and saucer with three marshmallows.  The drink is topped with a light brown froth and a sprinkle of cocoa with a hint of cinnamon. The drink is light and frothy and made with real chocolate with Belgian flavour.  The cost was four dollars.

Waverley House Cafe

The old Café Symphony has been taken over by a licensed Café called Waverley House Café.  The new owners have focused on the history of the old building at 97 Belair Road, Torrens park, opposite the Torrens Arms Hotel.  The new Café is open for breakfast and lunch Monday through Saturday.  There is seating inside and outside.  The inside is comfortable furnished with classic décor and local paintings on the wall.  The staff are young and friendly.

There hot chocolates on the menu are Belgium Milk and Belgium Dark chocolates.  The Dark chocolate was light and frothy with a sprinkle of chocolate on top.  It was not quite rich enough for your reviewer.  It came in green cup and saucer with a white and a pink marshmallow.  The cost was four dollars.

European Cafe

Merkel and Myrtle stopped by the European Café at 219 The Parade, Norwood one evening.  This is a well-established Italian restaurant on of Adelaide's best restaurant strips.  We shared an apple and strawberry crumble which was delicious except that it was made with raspberries and seemed to have no strawberries.

The hot chocolate was served in ceramic cup and saucer advertising “64” which is a blend of Rio coffee.  The chocolate was a bit week and I discovered that most of the chocolate had coagulated in the teaspoon that had been served already in the cup.  The hot chocolate was served with a light froth with slight latte art pattern.  The hot chocolate was four dollars.

Delish Iced

Delish seems to have changed hands since they used to put their flavours of hot chocolate on the sandwich board outside this Café on Victoria Square. The hot chocolates are still available although not in the exotic flavours.  This time Merkel tried and iced chocolate and the reasonable price of $4.60. It was sweet and creamy but not that chocolaty. Still it was cooling drink on a hot day.