Cacao Lab
Cacao Lab is one of the cafés owned by Cacao Fine Chocolates and Patisserie. They have many cute éclairs, cakes, macarons and chocolates but we were most interested in trying their de-constructed iced chocolates. They’re served divided into three separate beakers, and then you mix them together… kind of like the lab experiments we do for our chem eng subjects, except more edible 😛
Iced Chocolate – salted caramel (~$9)
We are back! The blog has been quiet for the last month while we were preparing for exams… and then doing the exams… and then recovering from said exams. Such is student life. But now we are free and back to blogging. 🙂
A while ago, somewhere in the midst of exam study, we dropped by ‘Dip In Café’ for lunch. The main focus of Dip In’s menu is its dips, which are served in small hollowed-out bread bowls (along with other fillings). Logically, we know that putting the dip/egg/other fillings inside a bread bowl isn’t going to make it taste any different than if it had sliced bread… but it’s cuter, more fun to eat and a nice change from your average café lunch.
On the menu we counted 17 different dips, including the basics (hummus, roasted eggplant, tzatziki) as well as some you don’t see as often (Moroccan carrot, chimichurri and biltong pate). Continue reading
Sometimes, all you want for lunch is a really good sandwich. Enter: Bowery to Williamsburg, an American sandwich café tucked away in one of the laneways near Flinders Street. The sandwiches at this café are a bit pricey at $13, but they look and taste a lot better than the ordinary ham & cheese sandwich that you made for lunch this morning. Unless you’re a morning person who wakes up early every day to prepare a fancy gourmet sandwich for lunch. If this is the case, please make some for us too.
Lechon Adado sandwich – Cuban braised pork, yellow mustard slaw & pickled zucchini in a brioche bun
As you can see, this sandwich is practically a burger. All of the flavours were delicious, from the spices in the pork to the tangy freshness of the mustard slaw. The brioche bun was nice and soft. The only let-down was that the pulled pork was a bit on the dry side, probably due to re-heating.
Long time fans of Chokolait would have frequented the original store when it was known as “The Chokolait Hub” and was managed by both Ross and his wife. The business has now expanded to a second store in Emporium, but both stores are still run by the original owners, which means that Chokolait hasn’t lost it’s friendly vibe.
Chokolait has amazing hot chocolates – arguably some of the best hot chocolates in Melbourne – so it’s easy to forget that there are many other options on their menu. During our last visit to Chokolait we used a voucher for a tasting plate, so we had the opportunity to try a few of their desserts and iced drinks.
Chokolait Tasting Plate for Two
Our Groupon voucher included the tasting plate and drinks for two, plus a gift box of nine chocolate truffles, for $29. We ordered two extra drinks and shared the tasting plate between four, which worked well because we were all still full from lunch.
Chokolait mousse with double cream and a cherry
The mousse Continue reading
