Melbourne high-end chocolatier has extended its flagship to Adelaide, opening its first salon in South Australia at the legendary Adelaide Arcade. The craze has begun ever since it is opened, coupled with the approaching Easter event, Koko Black has seen a steady flow of customers visiting the store.
Koko Black is proud of its hand crafted chocolate, desserts as well as the chocolate beverages. On one catch up session, my friends and I ordered the dessert degustation to share. The degustation includes chocolate alchemy cake, opera gateau, raspberry chocolate mousse, Belgian mousse and chocolate ice cream.
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| Dessert degustation |
The Belgian mousse is light, velvety and rich in chocolate. The mousse recipe is direct from Belgium, so you can expect that the quality of the mousse is up to the par of authentic Belgian dessert.
The chocolate alchemy cake is the salon's signature dessert. It is a chocolate cake, layered with Madagascan chocolate creme and topped with chocolate bar. According to experts' opinion, Madagascar cocoa is the finest of all due to its genetic variety and the island's rich soil. The chocolate cake has a light texture, coupled with the soft creme, it makes a delightful dessert.
Cutting across the raspbery chocolate mousse, the Madagascan vanilla custard flows out from the centre of the cake. In contrast with other chocolate desserts on the plate, this gives an appetizing touch to the plate due to the sourness of raspberry. The sourness of raspberry and sweetness of chocolate are balanced well.
My favourite dessert on this plate is the opera gateau. Different from its other counterparts around the world, it has a twist with the addition of chewy salted caramel as part of its layer. Aside from that, the layers are composed of roasted coffee infused dark chocolate mousse and hazelnut dacquiose. It is unstoppable once you dug into this dessert, especially if you are one of those salted caramel fans.
The last dessert on the tasting plate is the chocolate ice cream with praline. Again, the chocolate is evident in the ice cream. The crunchiness of praline contrasts with the smoothness of ice cream, making it a good combination.  |
| From the left: Belgian mousse, Chocolate alchemy cake, Raspbery chocolate mousse, Opera gateau, Chocolate ice cream |
In addition to the dessert degustation, we ordered the baked chocolate tart with creme anglaise to share as well. I expected a dense and hard chocolate tart, but I got a soft and moist cake made up of 64% Madagascan chocolate in the tartlet casing instead. The texture of the chocolate cake is near molten and its warm temperature is just nice to be savoured. The vanilla anglaise is just a beautiful complement to the tart.  |
| Chocolate tart with creme anglaise |
There is a balcony seating for Koko Black's patrons. I really love the design of the store. The lighting is comfortable and you are able to see the truffle display from top too. The service is amazing and professional as well. I had pleasant dining experience for the two visits I was there. The waitress was quick to service, polite and helpful.  |
| Chocolate display viewed from the balcony |
On another occasion, we ordered some truffles to go with our hot chocolate drinks. My friend ordered the Yuzu truffle. It is made up of Japanese citrus fruit infused in dark chocolate ganache. I ordered the orange and cointreau truffle which is the milk ganache with cointreau-marinated candied orange. Both truffles were rich and yet not sickly sweet due to the citrus fruit content inside.  |
| From the back: Yuzu truffle, Orange and cointreau truffle |
The hot chocolate drinks available are the Classic Belgian, Chilli, Mocha, Cinnamon and Hazelnut. I ordered the Classic Belgian whereas my friend ordered the Hazelnut ones. Both hot chocolate come with a nice pattern froth. Both the Classic Belgian and Hazelnut hot chocolate are my favourites. The Hazelnut hot chocolate has a fragrant hazelnut scent in it while the Classic Belgian has the rich chocolate feel. By far the best hot chocolate in Adelaide (along side with Steven ter Horst hot chocolate).  |
| Classic Belgian hot chocolate |
Do visit Koko Black on Adelaide Arcade if you happen to be on Rundle Mall or have break in between classes. The truffles would also be a great idea if you are looking for gifts.
Address: 50-52, Adelaide Arcade, Rundle Mall
Trading hours: 9am-5.30pm (Mon-Thurs), 9am-9pm (Fri), 9am-5pm (Sat), 10.30am-5pm (Sun)
Love, Victoria
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