Showing posts with label Type:Chocolates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Type:Chocolates. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Schokolart

Walking into Schokolart Mont Kiara is like walking into chocolate heaven with so many tempting desserts and food, it was hard to choose from amongst them. There is no other way to describe the food here other than, ‘chocolate inspired cuisine’. The décor at Schokolart is modern chic and rather swanky with retro designer furniture, and colored themes of bold dark lines set against the contrast of soft pink, giving this place a rather whimsical European feel.

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People seem to come here mainly for the chocolate, but we wanted to try the food menu today.

First the Schokolart Sate. Around a half dozen or so tasty, tender, chocolate-seasoned satay sticks, stacked up in a 3 dimensional pyramid. This simple dish has the nostalgia of good old-fashioned Malaysian eating, tempered with a trendy contemporary feel of the chocolate marinade. Priced at RM20.90 for this dish, we thought it rather reasonable as the satay portions were huge, the fried buns delicious (called Man-Tau in Chinese).

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The next dish to be served was the Lucerne Pie. This dish is a wonderful hearty meal in itself and reminisces sitting in my friend’s mum’s kitchen after university, as she turns out the pie for lunch. Breaking into the outer crispy layer of pie and being greeted by the warm aroma of baked potatoes, carrots, chicken etc in a lovely creamy base , I was transported back to that seat in her mama’s kitchen. The pie pastry was crisp, buttery and flaky. My only complaint was that whilst the pie was huge the pie stuffing only made up one quarter of the pie. We would have preferred more pie ingredients for sure. The pie, due to the lack of ingredients fell short of the mark, priced at RM20.90.

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Following the Pie, the Roesti. Roesti is a potato dish from Switzerland. It was originally a common breakfast eaten by farmers in Switzerland. Many Swiss people consider roesti a national dish and of course we had to check this dish out. Apparently today it is more commonly served to accompany other dishes and this was true of the roast lamb, which would be our next dish. The Roesti was on promotion and came with a bartwurst (german sausage). We ordered the Cheese roesti and that, was apparently, the correct choice because the cheese lent a rich, slightly salty, creamy texture to the roesti and enhanced the meaty flavour of the bratwurst. If the roesti had more potato and therefore had more bite, it would have been better. RM20.40 for the Roesti.

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The last main dish for the day was the Roast Lamb. The dish consisted of bite size portions of dainty, fork-tender lamb teamed with a dark chocolate sauce. Whilst the lamb was succulent and its own gamy juices complimented the dark chocolate sauce to perfection, we found it was over-done. Priced at RM28.90, not a bad choice.

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We were really surprised that the place was deserted at lunch hour because the food and service was good. However, looking at the location of Schokolart we realized that it was situated at one corner of Solaris, away from the main street, making it harder to find. This is rather unfortunate for the restaurant.


Anyway, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So where’s my pudding? The desserts we ordered where the Pot of Love (Chocolate Fondue with fresh fruits and marshmallows and other lovely sweets!) – RM32.90, the Love Boat (Essentially banana split) – RM19.90, the Zen – RM9.50 and the Toblerone RM9.50. What can I say. The Zen and the Toblerone were way too sweet and lacked flavour. It just had an overall sickly sweetness rather than a distinctive taste. Disappointing.

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The Pot of Love with its moist, chewy cakes, marshmallows and succulent fresh fruit dunked in hot, molten chocolate was my favorite. The banana split was acceptable. Incidentally, people who follow my blog know that I am a huge fan of the banana split. My eating companions joke and tease me that banana splits are so passé.. a thing of the 80’s , but I beg to differ. Anyway, this banana split was not bad.. but then again, how can you go wrong with banana split? It's just banana and ice-cream mainly, right?

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Drinks we had included the cappuccino – RM12.00, the Temptation (hot chocolate) – RM12.00 and the Sakura Tea RM19.00. The signature drink, the Temptation, is an oblong cup filled with hot chocolate, with a piece of cinnamon marshmallow. Not bad, but could have been thicker i.e. more chocolatey..

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On a separate occasion, we sampled the Voga Quattro- Italian – RM120.00 ,the sweet kiss- RM9.50 , the dine-in, i.e. Chocolates 100grams (9 pieces) - RM36.00 and the Prosecco – RM118.00. If you sign up for the Schokolart Addict Card, it will entitle you to discounts on future visits to the restaurant. The most outstanding thing was of course the cute little chocolates themselves, in pretty names like Raspberry Wasabi and Sweet Spice. Even though the taste of the chocolates are not as smooth or as full of flavour as Teuscher, the designs are intricate and subtle and the dainty pieces are generally decorated with artistic patterns, shapes and motifs that encourages one to go, “Ooh.. and Ahh!” when one looks upon them. If you are in the area, check it out:)

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Add:
Schokolart (located opposite Tenji)
Block K-01-05, Soho KL @ Solaris Mont Kiara
2 Jalan Solaris
50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-62030968


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Teuscher

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Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland has its origins in a small town in the Swiss Alps. This chocolate is approximately 70 years old.


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Rumor has it that one fine day, on an impulse, one single, solitary, chocolate-maker decided to embark on a path that would make him one of the world's greatest chocolatiers...

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Dolf Teuscher was his name, and he toiled and slaved over his stove, blending the world's finest most natural ingredients to produce his now famous chocolate recipes.

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If you guessed Teuscher ranks No.1 on Top 10 chocolates in the world (An Ultimate Guide for Travellers published by National Geographic), you would have guessed right. What's even more interesting is that Valrhona ranks 4th and Godiva ranks 6th or 7th on that list. In light of this, saying that the chocolate here is exquisite in taste and texture, might be an understatement.

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Apparently, these chocolates are prepared fresh in the kitchens of Zurich and flown directly to all stores in Europe, Canada, America and Asia.

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The house specialty (and my favourite) is the Champagne Truffles. These Champagne Truffles have a Dom Perignon champagne cream center, surrounded by dark chocolate ganache, covered with milk chocolate and dusted with confectioner's sugar. Why I feel the truffles here are superior, is because of the quality and the increased amount of cocoa butter used, giving them a richness not found in other chocolates. I was told that these truffle centers are 'conched' longer, creating an incomparable smoothness.

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Nothing satisfies the cravings of a "mum to be" as the hot chocolate from Teuscher. It reminds me of the silky smooth taste of European full cream milk, blended straight into thick cocoa powder, with no extra water added. Liquid, molten, pleasure-in-a-cup to soothe the anxious mind and calm the soul.. what more can one ask for.


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Hi. My name is Ciki, and I am a teuscher-holic...

1. THE 12-STEP CHOCOHOLICS PROGRAM: NEVER BE MORE THAN 12 STEPS AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE.


2. I WANT IT ALL, AND I WANT IT SMOTHERED IN CHOCOLATE.


3. CHOCOLATE IS CHEAPER THAN THERAPY, AND YOU DON'T NEED AN APPOINTMENT.


4. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN A GOOD FRIEND, EXCEPT A GOOD FRIEND WITH CHOCOLATE.


5. IN HEAVEN, CHOCOLATE HAS NO CALORIES AND IS SERVED AS THE MAIN COURSE.

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6. DO NOT DISTURB: CHOCOLATE FANTASY IN PROGRESS.


Add:
Teuscher,
FK1, 1st Floor,
East Wing,
Bangsar Shopping Centre,
Bangsar.
Tel: 03-2093 7633









Tuesday, April 21, 2009

For the love of chocolates.. Schokolart

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Eventhough I prefer Godiva for their dark, creamy chocolates and truffles, I absolutely DIE for the chocolate artwork at Schokolart. They take creativity i.e. colors, shapes and flavours to new heights!

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The handmade swiss chocolates are so mind-bogglingly delicate and beautiful in design that you don't want to eat them.. you just want to stare at them and keep taking pictures.

That's me, doing just that.

The ganache fillings I particularly like, as they are wonderful concoctions of flavours such as Wasabi-Raspberry, Earl-grey tea and even Sechuan Pepper! Unless you eat chocolates here everyday, it will take you an awful long time to get bored!




Add:
Schokolart,
Block K-01-05,
Solaris Mt Kiara,
2 Jalan Solaris,
50480 KL
Tel: 03-6203 0968