Tummy Prosperity: Chocolate Gallery at Arts Cafe @ Raffles Hotel

Time does fly very fast, bringing me to 10 months away from the last time I had Sunday brunch at Arts Cafe at Raffles Hotel. Yes, it was last year's Christmas, when the ambiance was all about red and green, and the foods represented the Thanksgiving celebration. Nonetheless, it was totally different this time as the special one brought out by Arts was its Chocolate Gallery.

Collaborating with Pipiltin Cocoa, the Chocolate specialist who processes by its own self the chocolate sold right from the beans, Arts serves various mouthwatering chocolate-based desserts. What's so special about Pipiltin Cocoa, is that it sources the chocolate locally from arrays of cities in Indonesia. Having your curiosity being tickled, you might also want to try the unprocessed chocolate bars besides the chocolate desserts. If you just say yes, you can shoo your worry away since they're indeed available for sale here with selections of flavors.

If you have ever dined in Arts Cafe (just click to read my previous post on Arts Cafe's Sunday Brunch), this Chocolate Gallery is located at the right corner, straightly after the entrance door. Yes, it's the place where all the desserts are located, so you can guess that this is also my most favorite spot in the buffet. Nevertheless, please do note that this is not part of the buffet and you do have to pay additional price if you order the dishes from the Chocolate Gallery. However, you can freely enjoy it right at your table while at the same time spoiling yourself with the dishes from the buffet stations. Surely a previous chance, which is not to be missed!

Chocolate Soup (IDR 90k)

As it's weekend, I was so in the mood for desserts and hence, I was highly excited waiting for the special menu from the Chocolate Gallery to be served! Ok, telling you honestly, it's not just because of weekend, as I thought I almost every second could get hypnotized by desserts easily. So here it was, the first want to leave the maiden impression, Chocolate Soup. Yes, the name did sound so unique that hearing it only would make your wild imagination work enthusiastically.

Once it's served on the table, seemed like the name literally represented how it actually looked like. So we had to pour the so called 'fruit paradise milk soup', which was basically milk chocolate mixed with berries and dark cherries I guessed, into the hole located on top of the dark chocolate shell served on the plate. As the soup was served hot, the heat would break the shell and you could have the smooth chocolate ganache, milk chocolate mousse, white chocolate soil, and almond chocolate cake resided inside the shell, being revealed and blended into the chocolate soup. When you tried to mix all the ingredients, I admitted that it indeed looked like real soup, just that it had strong chocolate taste (in a good way I meant). This dish would perfectly suit those who loved to enjoy chocolate with a hint of fruit flavors. Just like we usually had soup as the appetizer, I imagined this as the appetizer to the full-course chocolate lunch set. LOL.

Chocolate Flower Pot (IDR 80k)

Listening to its name being called out without even having to look at its picture, I was really confident that you could already guess the appearance of the dish as well as what it actually contained. Yeaaahhh, you're beyond right that this dish has ever been one of the hottest trends in desserts, when almost every restaurant served it. Gorgeously mixing 58% dark chocolate layers of blueberry sponge with dark soil in a pot, this dish doubtlessly looked so engaging. It's such a smart idea to top it with raspberries and little leaves, making it look just more real. However, coming in mousse texture and being served in this quite gigantic size, for me this one was a little bit too much and I preferred it to come in smaller version, ensuring the person eating it would still enjoy it till the last bit.

Signature "Crushing Hat Box"

No wonder why this dish was called out as the signature one. I had no single doubt on this 'title' as my heart was indeed stolen away by its appearance and taste. Also being served with a jug of hot thick chocolate to be poured on top of the hat-shaped chocolate box, this dessert was another unique one, with faaarr more indulging taste for me!! I could even clearly say that it was my most favorite among everything listed on the Chocolate Gallery menu.

Once you poured the hot chocolate from the jug to the top of the hat, its top layer would then start to break, creating the hole which grew bigger and bigger. You could then be drooled by the wonderfully presented caramel ice cream and berries inside the hat. The salted caramel sauce would then simultaneously became the base part of this dessert. The combination of sweet and salty taste brought out by this dessert made me couldn't help myself from keep feeding my mouth with its sinful indulgence.

Moving on to the next part, foods would definitely be incomplete without the beverages, so the Chocolate Gallery smartly came with their innovative drink menu, giving the guests complete chocolate experience.

Raffles Green Choco (IDR 75k)

Looking weird with those chili flakes covering the glass? Yes, I did think similarly, and you absolutely got it right when you thought this drink would taste a little bit spicy since it actually did. From the color, I thought you could already call out what would be the ingredients. Yuppp! It's the mixture of fresh milk, green tea, and white chocolate as the key ingredients; complemented by chili powder, salt, and honey, to enrich the flavor. Being mainstream this time, my taste bud apparently did not blend in well with this drink. Well, perhaps it might suit those who loved rich taste coming from complicated joint of herbs.

Raffles Choco Nut (IDR 75k)

Again, the name of the dish clearly explained what it contained; so basically chocolate and nuts. To be exact, it's the blend of fresh milk, cocoa powder, peanut butter cream, cashew nut, and even cheddar! Yes, you got it right, CHEDDAR! Unfortunately, I thought the cashew nut was put quite too much in this drink, causing its flavor kind of overpowered all the others. Perhaps slight reduction on the cashew nut could transform this glass to be the one to fall for.

Thai Young Coconut Ice Cream (Part of Sunday Brunch)

When the previous 3 were not part of the 'freebies' from the buffet, this distinctively presented dessert was luckily a part of the set (I could see the wide smile now!). Using chocolate shell as the 'bowl', it served the combination of coconut ice cream, passion fruit, and chocolate crumbles; not only in wonderful presentation but also marvelous taste!

Not to forget, it's not only this Thai Young Coconut Ice Cream, you still had much much more bread, cakes, mousse, pudding, and any other desserts to be enjoyed from the dessert stations! The amazing dark & milk chocolate fountains were also there to satisfy your sweet tooth craving. And if you wanted to neutralize your palate with anything savory, you did have the foods from the arrays of stations as well as signature dishes coming in petite size from the live kitchen. Beware of getting bloated after the buffet ;)