The Battle of the Chocolates!

I love hot chocolate! So does Dad. So we decided to try out what are supposed to be two of the best places in Melbourne for hot chocolates. Here’s what I thought.

Koko Black
Shop 4, Royal Arcade
331 Bourke St. Melbourne
9639 8911
http://www.kokoblack.com

Very good! Though there’s only one version to choose from--the Belgian Hot Chocolate--I loved the rich texture, the chocolate pattern drawn into the creamy part at the top, and most especially the fact that you could drink all of it without feeling sick!

I loved the atmosphere of the place too. We sat upstairs where we could overlook the beautiful arcade below through these large arched windows. And there are these great big chocolate brown chesterfield chairs to sit in too. It wasn’t too busy and the service was great--fast and friendly. The only thing I didn’t like was that the choices on the menu were quite limited. Overall, though, I think it is a great place to stop, enjoy a delicious hot chocolate and maybe choose a few Belgian chocolates on the way up (please Dad!?).

There are two Koko Blacks in Melbourne now. They call them salons! We went to the one in the Royal Arcade. The other one is on Lygon Street in Carlton. And there’s another one coming out at Chadstone.

My rating: 8 / 10

Max Brenner
Menzies Alley,
Melbourne Central Shopping Centre
Latrobe St., Melbourne
9662 4442
http://www.maxbrenner.com.au

Max Brenner is much more of a chain. They seem to be all over the place now. Dad says they started in Israel. Apparently there’s about ten of them in Sydney and now there’s four here in Melbourne. I love the atmosphere. Just walking in makes you feel like you are in a chocolate heaven! It’s always very busy though, which takes a lot of the atmosphere away. It always feels too crowded to me, and most of the time it takes a long time to get served. For example, my friend Bridget and I had to wait 45 minutes for our order!

That said, I love the choice of what you can have at MB’s. Although I’ve discovered some of it isn’t very good quality, the hot chocolate that I had was presented beautifully. I had the Italian Hot Chocolate. It was in what they call a ‘hug mug’ which is very cute. It started off wonderfully but, I have to confess, after a few sips it got very sickly!

Overall, I think that Max Brenner is a great place to for some really delicious desserts and maybe a hot chocolate to go with it. But you may not be feeling great on the way out!

My rating: 6 / 10

As you can see, Koko Black gets my vote. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give Max a try as well. And tell us what you think! Have you had a great hot chocolate somewhere that we should know about? I'm ready for some more taste testing!!

Comments

[Andrew Telford]

Sounds great Simon, although at this time of year I am thinking more of home made lemonade and BBQs. When the weather dips down to below minus 20 here I like Charmaine Solomon's decadent New York Hot Chocolate:

Melt 150g dark chocolate over hot water, stir in half of a scalded mixture of 1 cup cream and 2 cups milk

Stir the chocolate mixture back into a saucepan with the remaining milk/cream and keep over low heat

Add in a blend of 2 tsp Dutch cocao, 2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp cornflour dissolved with a little hot water.

Beat with a wisk or rotary beater until foamy.

Pour into small cups and serve, perhaps with a topping of lightly whipped cream.

[Aaron G]

We ate at Max Brenner when we were down South in January. I enjoyed it...but ate way too much!

Oh...it's pretty cool that you let your dad blog with you, Ali!

[Ben Holt]

Koko Black is way better!!!!

[Adski]

Hey guys,
Those hot chocolates sound great!
I recently reviewed the hot chocolate at Pearl, in Richmond, it is amazing! Definately one to try out if you're in the area.

[sobey]

koko black has more of an intimate feel. max brenner seems to be turning into an upmarket starbucks.

[Anh]

I can't agree more! Koko Black is way better. The stuff from Max tastes like milo and milk for me. I couldn't even finish it the last time I ordered there!

[alison]

you gotta try the italian hot chocolate at sugardough in brunswick. It's liquid chocolate - it'll make you sick but you can always share it with someone. And while you're there, you can get a bomboloni, or a bruleed custard tart, or a little gingerbread man - too many choices!

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