Store review: Awfully Chocolate @ Holland Village, Singapore

"Chocolate is health food for the soul"

~Miranda Gray

Making an entrance in 1998, Awfully Chocolate chose to give the boot to fancy french pastries that had invaded Singapore and bring the humble cake back to its glory days. Their story began with a cake - a moist dark chocolate cake between layers of dark chocolate fudge. But since the store's inception, things have changed quite a bit. From selling only three variations of dark chocolate cake, the menu at Awfully Chocolate has expanded to include different types of cakes, desserts, and ice-cream.

I have passed by Awfully Chocolate stores innumerable times but had never actually been to one. I have however tried their signature all-chocolate cake and it is pretty good. I am definitely a chocoholic but probably not to the extent that I would make it a mission to visit each and every chocolate haven located in my city.

It happened that I was meeting my friends for dinner and one of them suggested we move the party elsewhere for dessert to liven things up a bit more. Awfully Chocolate was a shouting distance away so it seemed like the obvious choice. It happened to be a Friday evening in the ever effervescent Holland Village so expecting crowds everywhere is a given. Surprisingly, the store was blissfully quiet so we readily headed in.

With a dominating color palette of white, the stores evoke a sense of space and simplicity. The friendly staff showed us to our table. The Holland Village outlet offers a range of cakes, desserts, ice-cream and chocolate-centric drinks. In addition, it also offers hot food on the brunch, lunch and dinner menu.

We ordered a mix of things - hot drinks, cold drinks, ice-cream and desserts. Sharing is caring and so most of the items went around to be sampled and critiqued.

Classic Dark Chocolate ($8.00)

Rich, dark and classy served with a cacao frais (smooth and silky dark chocolate and fresh cream) on the side.

This probably was one of the best-looking and tasting drinks of the evening.

Recommended.

Cold Poached Chocolate ($7.90)

An Awfully Chocolate invention, slow set soft chocolate, served with coffee cream inside.

This would be one of their better offerings on the menu. Apparently it has morphed and shrunk in size drastically over the years (it used to be much better I've heard).

Nonetheless, this dessert is soft, dark, rich and indulgent. I'd say go for it.

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Salted Butterscotch Brownie ($7.00) 

Baked in layers of brownie and butterscotch batter giving it a chewy finish.

The brownie looked good and tasted pretty decent. The salty-sweet combination tickles your taste buds. It was moist, fudgy, chewy and predominantly sweet.

Nothing special to write home about though.

Chocolate Rum & Cherry ($8.00)

One of my friends has a great affinity to alcohol 😜 and ordered this drink in the anticipation that she would get a (somewhat) boozy dessert fix. She was a little disappointed in the drink and said that although the chocolate and cherry combination worked she couldn't really tell that there was alcohol in it.

This one didn't deliver.

Chocolate Tart ($6.80)

Rich baked chocolate filled chocolate tart shell topped with shiny glaze.

I ordered this dessert since I have a thing for tarts. The tart shell is crunchy and it encases a gooey chocolatey interior that is luscious and sweet. It is enjoyable but doesn't come close to some of the better chocolate tarts I have had in Singapore.

Good but not great.

Hei Ice-Cream (Single Scoop $4.90)

This is their premium dark chocolate ice-cream available in one scoop or two.

Creamy, dense, sweet and indulgent - the ice-cream at Awfully Chocolate gets the thumbs up.

70% Cacao ($8.00)

This was ordered by my friend who likes dark chocolate and doesn't like her drinks or desserts overly sweet.

We placed all our orders at the same time but all of them arrived in time except this one. We waited and then waited some more. After 15 mins, we reminded the staff about the missing order and they said it was being prepared. 15 more minutes ticked by with no sign of the drink. We again enquired and were given the same response. Finally after about 45 mins (I'm not exaggerating), the drink arrived amidst huge sighs of relief. But it was anything but worth the wait. It tasted like milk with bits of precipitated dark chocolate floating around in it. My friend couldn't even finish it.

An epic fail. Sorry to say but this one was nothing but AWFUL

Chocolate Makes (Almost) Everything Better

Awfully Chocolate is a nice place to go to if you have a big sweet tooth and are a chocoholic. Some of their drinks and desserts are better than the rest so choose wisely. The ambience is pleasant but unfortunately for us, we were sitting next to a table with a large group who were deafeningly noisy and rowdy that it put a serious dampener on our evening. I had a good mind to tell them to put a lid on it but I doubt they were the kind that would have shown us any consideration. Rotten luck I suppose. The staff were cheerful and courteous but in general, the service was a let down. The prices are affordable but I suggest you spend your dough on the cakes and desserts rather than the drinks. On the whole it was an fair experience and you can consider stopping by to indulge your sweet cravings after a meal.


I would recommend this place for couples, families and groups of friends.


My rating for this place is

Awfully Chocolate

Multiple locations island-wide. Check their website here

Head Office:
368 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427613
Phone: (+65) 6345 8212

For orders and general enquiries: cakes@awfullychocolate.com


Cheers,

Megha

Note: This is not a sponsored post or invited review