Theobrama Chocolate Lounge - Individual Chocolates

Bananarama / Raspberry Truffle

Price: $1.90 each

Comparative Price: unknown

Rating: 1.0 / 2.0

Buy again: No / No

I have often walked past Theobrama on my way into Simon Johnson at Chadstone, and have seen it at (what use to be) DFO in Spencer Street.  And whilst the idea of a chocolate lounge certainly appeals to me and makes me feel I should partake, for some reason I can’t say I have felt any great need to actually go in.  But a friend told me she had a nice cake there, and I figure why not give it a go and see what the chocolates are about.

Atmosphere

Now to be fair, I’m a little fussy and have very particular ideas on what I like (which isn’t anything too extravagant, just a little quality, passion and relaxed elegance) so I concede I am at times biased, but I do try and keep an open mind.  But I feel a little unconvinced when I look at the 'about' section of Theobrama's website and what they are aiming to achieve as I find this contrary to what I experienced.  (Although I will at some point visit again to make sure my initial assessment was correct.)

For me it didn’t feel warm or of a special chocolate experience.  Instead it felt like it was a little of too many things; I don’t know if it wants to be a chocolate lounge, a café serving focaccias, or somewhere specialising in cakes.  Does it want to be warm and intimate, standard café fare or modern and urban?

I think part of its success may lay in the fact that current outlets are located in shopping centres where, in my humble opinion, there are few quality establishments of this ilk and therefore something like this stands out more than it should.  But this rant all leads me to my ascertation that I’m not a fan of the atmosphere…

The chocolates generally look okay, although many are gimmicky and even garish.  It would be nice to do less and make them a little more tasteful.  And what stood out is the unusually high number of white chocolates lurking about; some people of course love the white stuff but you never see this much of it in good chocolatiers (with my alienating chocolate snob hat on - for good reason).

Better signage would be preferable, for instance one sign was simply ‘strawberry’ with no indication of what chocolate is used, what type of centre etc.  Likewise, there were some solid chocolate and unless I missed something this wasn’t evident until a staff member said so.

Service was okay but nothing more, nothing less. 

Packaging very poor, particularly when compared to retailers – chocolates are just put into what feels like a thin, cheap plastic bag with not even a pretty sticker or ribbon.  To add insult to injury the plastic bag creases terribly when compared to similar products from other retailers.  I would hate to be giving something as a gift.

Bananrama

I kind of know buying this that there is a good chance that it could be wrong, very very wrong.  The combination of chocolate and banana for some reason has 70’s culinary associations for me, but if it were to be a successful marriage of flavours, it would potentially be great. 

Sight

The chocolate is attractive looking but not as glossy as I would like to see as I feel a glossy finish would show the yellow/gold colourings better – a much more luscious look.  (Sadly my photos are too poor to upload.)

Aroma

This chocolate delivers a weak smell, it does smell dark but nothing to particularly entice my taste buds.

Taste & Texture

I’ve always read about the horrors of grainy chocolate, but never come across it before, so imagine my surprise when I bite into my wee treat and wait for the smooth texture to coat my mouth but come across grainy texture instead.  After a bit of investigation I work out that this texture thankfully doesn’t come from the chocolate itself, but from the filling – although they should be as one so this is still no excuse. 

As for the taste, it isn’t bad, its very full bodied and lingers on the palette but it also tastes of what I can only describe as compound, or perhaps again this is more the dry texture, but it doesn’t really work.

It has a very thick casing of chocolate so it offers a satisfying resistance when biting into it, the only problem is it is difficult to bite into in a balanced manner so the first two bites mean I just get chocolate and no centre - there is no balance of delivery here.

The centre is surprisingly weak as far as banana flavour goes and aside from the aforementioned graininess I don't like that the texture - it is powdery rather than a luscious cream I would have expected

I’m having quite a rant about the texture...

Summary

The filling is grainy, and I would love to see a stronger banana taste however on the positives the chocolate is reasonable and full bodied however the thickness whilst satisfying from a chocolate perspective is unbalanced.  I wasn’t a fan at all.

This is not good, not just because of the 70's retro flavour combination, that I can forgive.  But texture, sight, flavour - its not working.  I rate this as only 1 out of 5.

Raspberry Truffle 

Sight

This is nothing exciting and doesn't particularly suggest anything raspberry - it does have a little drop of red on the top but that's about it.  It isn't anything bad but certainly nothing more than conventional.  

Aroma

A reasonable aroma that simply smells of dark chocolate - nothing more, nothing less.

Taste & Texture

The first thing I notice is where's the raspberry?  I associate raspberry with sharp and strong fruitiness, but this is a rather weak raspberry taste.  It does finally emerge in the middle of the tasting, breaking through the dark chocolate ganache however with it lingers a slightly liquor taste.  I don't know whether there is liquor used or whether there has been pre-made fillings added that have marred the flavours.  What fruity flavour there is doesn't visit for long, it is very short on the palette.

But to be fair, it does finish reasonably strong on chocolate taste and the chocolate does linger briefly but in a slightly dry bitter manner. 

Summary

Overall too mild in flavour and lacks conviction and richness - the visual and the texture are okay however the flavour is best described as pedestrian.  I won't be buying this again and rate is as 2 out of 5 - average at best.

Price $1.90 so slightly more than many other chocolate retailers but within ballpark.

http://www.chocolatelounge.com.au/

Store: Chadstone

13 July 2009
Reviewer: Shari