There is a group of around 14-15 girls that are the “tai tai” women – that is, women that aren’t working and so are free during the day to hang out, do brunches, cooking classes, coffees, shopping, and generally bum around 😛 And I am merrily part of that group now that I’m on maternity leave, heh! We meet up every week to chill out and enjoy various spots around Shanghai.

One of our ‘dates’ was a chocoholics tour around Shanghai! There were 3 places – HoF, Napoleon, Whisk. I arrived a bit late (lesson for everyone: a mother with a baby is always either early or late, never on time!) so I missed out on the first place, HoF. Sad, as they are my #1 favourite place for chocolate in the city, but at least I’ve eaten my way around their menu, so I knew I wouldn’t miss out on anything.

The 2nd place was Napoleon, which is newly opened and all spacious and chocolate-coloured inside. The service was really attentive as the owner took the time to explain each of the items on the menu. Of course, I couldn’t resist a good ‘ol Australian meat pie, so I got one, and it was deeeelish. Nice filling, and an outstanding buttery flaky pastry. Their desserts were also pretty impressive and had a homemade touch to them. Their cheesecake in particular was very well received by all – creamy and rich, but not too strong of a cheesy flavour. One of the ladies actually thought it tasted like a white chocolate cheesecake. I’m pleased that Napoleon is so close to us, we’ll be back!

At Napoleon chocolate cafe

Luscious hot chocolate with marshmallows

Beef pie, YUM!

Chocolate cake with a berry layer

Creamy cheesecake

The 3rd spot was Whisk, which I’d heard a lot about but hadn’t gotten round to visiting yet. The interior was tidy and pretty, and the service attentive but not overly friendly. We were all rather affronted when they told us “we don’t serve water, you have to order bottled water”. I HATE places that do this. All it screams to me is “we’re too cheap and too greedy for money, so by refusing you water, we hope you will order drinks and make us more money”. For that reason alone, I wouldn’t go back to Whisk, they certainly aren’t customer centric.

I really enjoyed the Banana chocolate cake, which was spongy and moist. However, the Churros were inedible! Dried out hard little sticks of churros, looking very sad and dry on the plate. The dipping chocolate was so watery it didn’t quite stick to the churros, and we weren’t provided spoons to try and scoop it up. We didn’t want to anyway, the chocolate was NOT good quality and did not taste like heaven. Their saving grace was their 25RMB red wine, which was served in a more-than-decent portion. I was disappointed with Whisk though, as I found their desserts were in general just average, and the whole “no water, please give us more money by ordering drinks instead” policy had us disgusted.

Our red wine.. mm..

Churros – not good

Banana chocolate cake – this was just fantastic

Chocolate mud cake – this was good, but not as good as the banana choc cake

Chocoholics

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