La Maison du Chocolat @ Prince Bldg

I needed some smiles, something to cheer myself up on this Friday evening. We always look forward to Friday because it is the start of the weekend but it is also only two days away from Monday, the start of the work week as well. Maybe I am just being a bit too pessimistic sometimes that's why I needed chocolate to be more optimistic !!! When I passed by this place, it somehow reminded me of Jin's entry on NoKA Chocolates and it made me want to have some really nice chocolate while waiting for my friends to get off work. Therefore, I slowly walked into the House of Chocolate. Among the newly opened stores of this franchise, only this location and IFC's have drinks to serve as well as sitting area. The sitting area is under the escalator, close to the store and this little corner is actually a nice location because usually very few people would pass by this area.



(1) Hot Chocolate Caracas
It was a blend of full bodied cocoa. The hot chocolate was very rich but not too sweet and it was thick and silky smooth. Why is it thick? Simple: it is because this is NOT HOT MILK CHOCOLATE drink, it is plain and pure HOT CHOCOLATE for PURE ENJOYMENT. In my opinion, one small cup us good enough because it was pretty filling and satisfying at the same time. The thick texture may remind you of chocolate sauce but of good quality and HEY, I am not complaining at all, I was simply enjoying every last drop of the sinful hot chocolate!



(2) Maracuja Island
I forgot how it was described on the menu but to me it was as dome shaped chocolate mousse layered cake topped with banana and coconut, lime and passion fruit cream. It was rich and wonderful. Chocolate needs to be rich in taste in my opinion. The citrus flavor of the lime and passion fruit cream went well with the chocolate layers and provided a refreshing taste to it as well. The coconut provided a contrasting texture to the cake, the crunchy coconut together with the soft chocolate mousse were mouth watering indeed !



This apparatus below resemble the logo of this place and i checked it out to see what it is used for and called. Apparently, it is made of granite stone and it is called a Metate. The traditional process is to heat the Metate up with a small fire underneath and crush the cocoa beans into a paste with the large stick.



NOTE: they serve with a very nice and sturdy plastic tray (see picture) but it turns out they don't need it back!!! ... meaning not recyclable or there is no intention in doing so. Eco UN-friendly for sure. I had the urge to bring it home for my own use because it is better than throwing it away. However, it would be weird to carry the little tray around to go for drinks right? Therefore, I had to close my eyes and blindly throw the plastic tray into the garbage bin.

Likes:

• Hot Chocolate Caracas - the rich and thick pure melted hot chocolate, what's not to like about it?
• Maracuja Island - a wonderful combination of flavors and texture, although slightly too sweet in the center.

Dislikes:

• Still trying to think of one ... other than the fact that they are not as Environmental friendly with the plastic tray as I imagined.

Avg Spending: Around HKD 100 per person

La Maison du Chocolat
Shop 109, 2/F, Prince's Building,
10 Chater Road, Central
Tel: 2801 4122