Cafe Chokolade, Egmore, Chennai

Last week, when a friend and i were in Egmore, finishing up some errands, we were tired hungry and thirsty, and the 1st place that came into our horizon was Cafe Chokolade, and since we hadnt been here before, we walked in. 

I guess they were having their daily powercut, as the AC was off, and a fan was keeping the place cool.  Aside from 2 other guys, the place was abandoned. We sat ourselves in the sofa, and that is when i spotted the black plastic bag with JENGA. I promptly began stacking up the wooden blocks while my friend was glancing through the menu card. There was just way too much chocolate there, and lost for choice, we asked the man behind the counter to recommend something cool and refreshing.

When we asked him if they had hot chocolate or something similar, he replied in negative saying they had thick shakes. 

Ok... my next question was do you have something simple and light, he again replied in negative saying "no, you cant drink any of our shakes, you need to eat them". I was tempted to try one of the dry fruit shakes, but my thoughts were interrupted when

He went to ask - "Is this your first time here?" 

We replied in affirmative

He then continued saying "you should have the Chokolade B", its the best, made with chocolate, and topped with chocolate pieces, it is thick and really good. We have our own factory, where the chocolate and other bases are made he went on.....

Unsure, we went with his recommendation and ordered a Chokolade B... 

Within seconds, our token number flashed on the little window at the end of the hall, and i picked up our drink, that looked quite sinful. Alas, that was it... The chocolate shavings and pieces were just creamy, and so was the shake.. It was missing any kind of flavour... My friend and I dint have the heart to waste it, but couldnt finish the drink and walked out quite unsatisfied and disappointed.... 

I must confess- I am not a chocolate person, and even if someone wants to lure me with chocolate, they better be talking about Dark chocolate.  But i do know taste, and have had quite a few chocolate based desserts and drinks before....

Well, i shall not strike off this place completely, shall visit once more and then decide! 

Ambiance: 6/10

Food: 3/10

Service: Self Service

Overall: 3/10

Address:
Mr Vivek(Proprietor)
Ph: 044-42126461
Website:www.cafechokolade.com 
No 10/1a3,
Montieth Road,
Egmore,
Chennai - 600008
Directions: It is 2 doors from Cake walk, adj to Alsa Mall..

Japan Fruit...

Me: Is it a different kind of tomato?

Gramma: No, it looks different... I havent seen this kind of tomato before

Me: Hmm.. it is in the fruit section.... Do you have any idea what it could be?

Gramma : [She looked at me perplexed...]

I then turned to the salesman behind the Apples counter and asked him what fruit it was..

Salesguy: Japan Fruit madam.. See that box next to it, it has the chopped fruit as well..

I instantly tweeted asking the kind souls out there if they had seen/tasted this fruit. Within few minutes, one of those souls replied saying "yes, have seen this before, it is also called Persimmon"

From Wikipedia- They are high in glucose, with a balanced protein profile, and possess various medicinal and chemical uses. Like the tomato, it is not considered a "common berry", but is in fact a "true berry" by definition.

We were tempted to buy one and try, but put it off for another day... I got home and did some snooping around on the net... What i found had me curious.. 

Health benefits of persimmon fruit

[Source:http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/persimmon-fruit.html]

• The fruit is low in calories (provides 70 cal/100g) and fats but is rich source of dietary fiber.
  
• Persimmons contain many health benefiting phyto-nutrients flavonoid poly-phenolic anti-oxidants like catechins and gallocatechins as well as important anti-tumor compound betulinic acid. Catechins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and anti-hemorrhagic (prevents bleeding from small blood vessels) properties.
  
• Fresh permissions contain anti-oxidant compounds like vitamin-A, beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthin. Together, these compounds functions as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that plays a role in aging and various disease processes.
  
• zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid, selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea in the eyes where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions; thus, helps prevent "Age related macular disease"(ARMD) in the elderly.
  
• The fruits are also very good source of vitamin-C, another powerful antioxidant (especially native Chinese and American persimmons; provide 80% of DRI). Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps body develop resistance against infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
  
• The fruit is good in many valuable B-complex vitamins such as folic acid, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), thiamin...etc. These vitamins act as co-factors for numerous metabolic enzymatic functions in the body.
  
• Fresh Persimmon fruits also contain healthy amounts of minerals like potassium, manganese (15% of DRI), copper (12% of DRI),  and phosphorus. Manganese is a co-factor for the enzyme, superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger. Copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes, including cytochrome c-oxidase and superoxide dismutase (other minerals function as cofactors for this enzyme are manganese and zinc). Copper is also required for the production of red blood cells.
  

You bet on my next sighting of this fruit, i am going to grab one!!

Cream & Fudge Factory, Chennai

So, finally the visit to Cream & Fudge Factory happened last evening. It is a fairly small place, rather narrow and long space located near Auroville and Cafe Coffee Day lounge on Khader Nawaz Khan Road.

I had read about the Cold stone concept and how they mix the ice cream with fruits and sauces before serving it to you, ergo, i was curious to taste the end result... As you walk in through the doors, the display of ice creams and waffle cones are the 1st thing you see, but not before the warmth in that area has you break out into a sweat.. it was really warm there.. but the seating area was cool/cold wherever the ac worked!. I was fascinated with the 4 kinds of waffle cones and cups on display.

Plain Waffle

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and colourful sprinkles and finally  the

Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and nuts

[Pic courtesy: Cream & Fudge Factory website]

After scanning through the extensive menu card, i decided on the Apple Crumble ice cream.. They also had a choose the flavours and create your own ice cream option

I love Apple Pie, and basically anything to do with Apples and Cinnamon... :-) 

I chose the Waffle coated with Chocolate sauce and colourful sprinkles in Medium size and waited for the treat to arrive.. My Friend chose the Rocky Road in the same waffle cup... 

  

It was sinful.. The flavour of apples, cinnamon and sweetness was just perfect.. I relished it to a point where i was nearly done and remembered i have not taken a picture of the dessert :D

The ice cream no doubt was good.. but i dont really know what the cold stone did to the dessert, it tasted like someone had mashed up an apple pie with ice cream, and dolloped it. The vanilla ice cream is nice and full of flavour and so is the fudge sauce.. And another thing was we were unable to enjoy the waffle cup, it is just there, towards the end of the ice cream, i kinda squished the waffle like a dosa and gobbled it up!!

Ok, to update, i was here again in the same week when another friend took me over for a treat.. And this time, i was wise, actually both of us were- we chose the simple plain cup for our ice creams. I had the berry ice cream with Cherry pie and it was good!! There was no place to sit, so we walked around the road devouring our ice creams and catching up on our lives... Was fun!!  

Ambiance- 7/10[Ac wasnt working in the area where you place the order, but it was cool in the seating area, dont know if it was a deliberate thing]

Service- Nothing to rate here as it is self service

Food- Good 8/10

Price- 5/10 [And it is quite expensive.... Albeit, it was friend's treat, but i did notice the prices!! ]