4 Devilishly Rich Chocolate Desserts To Order At The Dark Gallery
This café at Millenia Walk serves ice creams, cakes and drinks made with good quality dark chocolate.
The Dark Gallery is grown-up space in the atrium of Millenia Walk. It’s the brainchild of Lihui Li, 35, a former corporate finance lawyer who is also the master franchisee for Marble Slab Creamery. As the café's name suggests, it is an edible showcase of dark chocolate, particularly the single origin stuff, essentially chocolate made from a single variety of cacao bean harvested from one region (as opposed to a blend). "We wanted to highlight the origins of dark chocolate, how it's made and what can be made with it," she explains. "And because we have experience with ice cream, this concept made good sense."
This café at Millenia Walk serves ice creams, cakes and drinks made with good quality dark chocolate.
The Look
Seating is just limited to 32 at the moment at this mostly black open-concept counter space made sleek with gilded and wood accents. While most of the chocolate used here comes from big luxury brands like Valrhona and Cacao Barry, there are also a few collaborations with Southeast Asian small-batch chocolate makers such as Singaporean chocolatier, Fossa, which supplies the chocolate bars here. There are tasting flights in the form of ice cream (12 flavours daily; most of which are chocolate) or specialty drink platters. Baked goods like macarons and cookies, and ice cream cakes are also available.
Single Origin Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Platter, $12 (8 DAYS PICK!)
Three kinds of ice cream that showcase the flavour profiles of the single origin dark chocolates they are made with. The rich, thick ice cream here boasts pure flavours and are a great way to sample the nuanced differences between them. Compared to the darker varieties on the platter, the 64 percent Madagascar version from Valrhona has a light, fruity note. The 72 percent Venezuela chocolate from Cacao Barry has a lush and lovely mild bitterness, while the darkest of the lot, the 75 percent Tanzania chocolate, also from Cacao Barry, has a distinct fruitiness and a rounded bitterness. We liked the latter best. It was barely sweet and had just the right balance of richness.
Frozen Chocolate Hazelnut Latte, $9
Two shots of espresso made from Common Man Coffee Roasters' Lucky Bastard beans are mixed with 66 percent dark chocolate and some hazelnut syrup, and frozen into cubes. They are served with a carafe of fresh milk, which you mix together to make your own iced latte. The resulting drink is deeply chocolatey, with a haunting of bitter fruitiness. Any hint of hazelnut gets completely lost in this dark brew, though.
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Waffle, $15 (8 DAYS PICK!)
The waffles here come with two scoops of ice cream and one topping. We choose the Single Estate 65 percent Peru Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Butterscotch ice creams. The former is delightful — milky and deep with hints of toffee — while the latter has a slightly artificial flavour of butter. The dark chocolate hazelnut waffles are totally worth the calories — they have the crumb of a sturdy toasted chocolate cake. Much better than the plain waffles ($14), which are too dense and springy for our liking.
Frozen S'mores, $7.50
We love the creaminess of the house-made marshmallow that hugs the square of 80 percent dark chocolate ice cream within. But the ice cream is frozen so rock solid it takes the strength of a large man to cut through it with a knife. It doesn't get easier even after 20 minutes. This stark contrast in textures — lush flame-torched marshmallow, icy slab of dark chocolate — makes the eating not enjoyable.
Bottom Line
A wonderfully grown-up place for dark chocolate lovers to indulge in their passion. The prices are very reasonable considering the quality of the desserts here.
#01-K5 Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Blvd. S039596. T: 6255-0368. Open daily 11am-9.30pm. Last orders 9.30pm. www.thedarkgallery.com
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