The Chocolate Room - truffles, pralines and dark chocolate

I went to The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar the week before last, and I'm pretty sure I haven't yet burned off the calories I ingested there. At that mad excessive chocolaty session, I had had so many chocolate things that I had no space for these boxed lovelies. I needed a little break to come back to another The Chocolate Room experience, albeit at home this time. Franchise owner, Kapil Agarwal, had insisted that I try their truffles & pralines and plain dark chocolate and I finally got around to having them over the last couple of days.

I absolutely fell in love with the design of the box of the truffles & pralines. With its delightful colours, it would make for such a mood-lifting gift. A box contains nine pieces of assorted truffles and pralines with a variety of ingredients like hazelnut paste, orange powder, strawberry powder, orange oil, roasted coffee powder and lemon powder apart from the usual components.   

I was impressed by what I read on the box, but not so much by what was inside it. Firstly, all nine chocolates tasted the same to me. Yes, I eventually tasted all of them to see if any one was different from the other, but they all seemed to have a mixed kind of flavour in dark chocolate - most acutely coffee and orange. Either these were not assorted, or I had lost all sense of gustatory distinction. Then, the filling part of these so-called pralines and truffles was indiscernible from the body of the chocolate. I tried them straight out of the fridge and then at room temperature, but it all seemed like a mass all the same. 

All the pralines/truffles had some almonds in it, but that made little difference to the overall quality of the chocolate. Moreover, these have no cocoa butter in them, but vegetable fat. This not only renders the chocolate not-so-smooth but also leaves a weird aftertaste and coating on the roof of one's mouth. All in all, a rather disappointing experience for a box of chocolates that represents an international brand and costs INR 224. The Chocosopher does not recommend these.

RATING: 2/5

This plain dark chocolate bar, however, was the winner. Unpretentious in its name and packaging, it offered me a smooth taste experience - courtesy the cocoa butter in it, unlike the truffles and pralines. I was also enamoured enough by the unusual blue foil inside to take a picture of it and put it here. :)

The chocolate bar itself is plain-looking with no branding or etching on it. With 56% cocoa mass, it just makes the dark chocolate cut, is smooth and very pleasing to taste with vanilla undertones. While it tastes great, it is not exceptional and forking out INR 55 may feel like a little too much for people who can get pretty much the same quality from dark chocolates from home-grown brands at lower prices. Oddly enough, both chocolate boxes have no net weight information and The Chocolate Room India might want to consider doing something about it. 

RATING: 3.5/5

All said and done, The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar is not somewhere you go to buy chocolates, but  to enjoy their vast and wonderful range of desserts, shakes, coffees and beverages.

You can check out their Facebook page for more information or follow them on Twitter.

The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar, Mumbai

While I believe that Indians don't care much about chocolate, the mushrooming chocolate cafes in the country seem to suggest otherwise. One example is the wildly popular chocolate cafe chain, The Chocolate Room, which is originally Australian, and just seven years old! Thanks to its franchise model, the cafes are now found all over the world, notably India. India has over 50 such cafes in India, with around eight in Mumbai itself. The master franchisee for India is Ahmedabad-based Vikas Punjabi, and the Mumbai, Ghatkopar cafe is owned by Kapil Aggarwal. Interestingly though, it was The Chocolate Room, Ghatkopar's social media handler, Sundeep Dawale, who invited me for a review. Needless to say, I was thrilled!

I reached this cozy little cafe, located wonderfully on a busy circle in Ghatkopar, making it impossible to miss. It's a snug little arrangement with just three tables, and gets pretty crowded in the evenings when people walk in for their desserts post dinner, but I don't think anyone's complaining because their stuff is so fantastic. 

Upon entering, the product counter seduces you in upfront with sinful-looking chocolate cakes and pastries lined up, while a product-display shelf called 'The Chocolate Shop' entices you with other offerings to your left. Odds and ends like chocolate gift boxes, warming mugs, fondue pots, cuddle cups and chocolate bouquets are there for customers to buy.

I also noticed this quaint little chocolate Taj Mahal on the counter, which is apparently a popular gift of choice for young people (in love). The half kg 'monument' costs something like INR 600 and I thought it was very cute!

I was greeted by Sundeep, who told me how he became part of The Chocolate Room story. He was a regular customer at the cafe, and eventually his passion for chocolate and acquaintance with Kapil got him involved with the cafe's social media activities. It was with his guidance that I began the difficult task of choosing from their vast and reasonably-priced menu. As you can see here, they have a huge selection of hot chocolates, teas, pastries, shakes, frappes, waffles, sundaes and coffees.

I, of course, went into my 'Charlie in the Chocolate Factory' mode and wanted to order everything. I think I covered a big base because I sampled a Choco-rum shot, a Chilli-infused Hot Chocolate, a Lindt Dark Chocolate Shake, an M&M's Milk Chocolate Shake, a Chocolate Avalanche, a Hazelnut Praline and Chocolate Tarts. And for those wondering, this shameless list had less to do with my gluttony and more with Kapil Aggarwal's generous hospitality. Here is what I thought of all I sampled:

The Choco-Rum Shot:Very sweet and very intense, the Choco-Rum shot is a drink of molten dark chocolate spiked with a rum flavour. Served in shot glasses, this is a drink for those who can handle strong flavours. I wish the rum were real, though. :)

Chilli-infused Hot Chocolate: Because hot chocolate has disappointed me in most places, I was keen to see how The Chocolate Room fares with it. I picked the chilli-infused hot chocolate to see if they could balance this tricky spice while keeping the taste of chocolate intact. The drink arrived in a cuddle cup and pretty much won me over after I took the first sip. While the chocolate was not very rich, the amount of chilli was just right. I can imagine how wonderful this warming beverage be on a winter evening.

Lindt Dark Chocolate Shake: Shakes at The Chocolate Room are pretty popular, and I therefore tried not one but two of them. I ordered a Lindt Dark Chocolate Shake first, which arrived in a tall glass, garnished with a piece of a Lindt bar. The shake was thick with whipped cream, milk, chocolate sauce and crushed Lindt chocolate. While the taste was great, I did not enjoy the graininess that came from the crushed chocolate and overall, the texture was a little too overwhelming for me.

M&M Chocolate Shake: Because one must also do justice to milk chocolate, we ordered the M&M's Chocolate Shake. Similarly blended as the Lindt Shake, this has milk, cream, chocolate sauce, crushed M&Ms, topped with whipped cream and M&Ms. This one was much sweeter, and seemed somewhat smoother than the Lindt shake. A fan of dark chocolate as I am, I found this the better of the two.    

Chocolate Avalanche:As the name explains, the Chocolate Avalance is a decadent dessert and one of the  most popular things on their menu. With chocolate mousse pudding, chocolate-walnut brownie, Dutch Truffle pastry, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, chocolate shavings and chocolate sticks going in it, it is a chocolate lover's dream come true. Extremely rich, this dessert is best had on special occasions and with special people. I give it a 4.5/5 rating.

Hazelnut Praline: I was nearly dead from chocolate overdose by the time I sampled the aforementioned things, but Kapil insisted I try the Hazelnut Praline. I gave in to their only chocolate-cream based dessert and lost myself in the rich hazelnut textures and flavours. While I found it a wee bit hard, the taste more then made up for it.

Chocolate tarts: I must have died and gone to chocolate heaven by then, when Kapil suggested I try the tarts too. I said I would collapse if I ate anymore chocolate, so he said he'd pack some for me to take home.  I did and tried them this morning with a palate that had had ten hours of rest. And I was blown away all over again by The Chocolate Room experience.

Kapil Aggarwal and Sundeep Dawale

The only way to sum it all up is GO TO THE CHOCOLATE ROOM, GHATKOPAR NOW!

PS: I was given a bar of chocolate and a box of truffles and pralines too, but those will be reviewed in another post very soon.