Interesting change to the Bel Café that the counter is for takeout only, or maybe at least during the busy lunch hour. I suppose it's only fair since the server does go around cleaning up after and offering you water -- and therefore is sort of owed a tip.
Went by a late-ish Friday (1.30pm) for their hot chocolate festival offering. If you didn't know, the annual Hot Chocolate Festival for 2015 ran approximately mid-Janaury till Valentine's Day, so it's over, sadly. But like previous years, I found a lot of the offerings to be hit and miss, though they were certainly creative.
Even at 1.30pm they were packed till closer to past-2pm. Lunch crowd plus waitlist, I suppose. And maybe that's another reason for the counter being takeout only since you might order something "for here" only to discover you haven't anywhere to sit. The sensible thing then is to get seated first, then order.
Prices here are inclusive of tax, which is really handy.
Hot Chocolate Festival - #05 - "RAINFOREST" ($8) 64% Valrhona Tainori chocolate. (Tainori is a dark chocolate of single origin from the Dominican Republic. On the palate, this chocolate gives notes of exotic yellow dried fruits.) Served with aerated mango, brazil and almond florentine. Available: February 1 - 14
- Interesting for the aerated mango, but otherwise this tasted like a weak / slightly too watered hot chocolate.
- The florentine is a florentine, meaning it will likely stick to your molars.
- There's a richness / oiliness (?) to this muffin that makes it "filling" in a fatiguing sort of way. Probably compounded by having it with hot chocolate.
- Crumbly. Felt weak on the raspberry-ness.
- Key Lime
- Clear lime flavour but not strong enough to be sharp, if you are hoping for that.
- Manjari & Raspberry
- Both chocolate and raspberry flavours came through strong and clear right away.
- PB & J (peanut butter and jam)
- There are even crushed peanut bits on the macaron shells.
- My friend who tried this with me insists there was jam in this, but I barely got any peanut butteryness to begin with. She insists there wan't much and I missed it.
- The "salted" part is flakes of salt loose on top.
- Looks beautiful, but tough to eat because of the liquid caramel inside. Get a spoon for sure to scoop it up. And unless you are pro, do not pick this up with your hands and bite it as the caramel is liable to be crushed out.
- Part of the problem is the very firm and somewhat thick crust. It is almost biscuit-hard. The top chocolate plate is also quite firm and won't break cleanly when cut. Underneath is a creamy chocolate layer, then the tasty caramel goop.
- This would be a tastier dessert if you weren't so focussed on not making a mess, especially not on your clothes.
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