Last night a couple of my sisters-in-law and I hit the Peninsula’s chocolate bar to celebrate a birthday. We’d never been before and I have to say I was a little hesitant ingesting so much sugar at a time of the evening when I don’t even eat. But that’s what special occasions are about, no?
All of these desserts were made in-house by the Pen’s pastry chefs. They weren’t exclusively chocolate. I barely ate yesterday and only had things with protein. I also decided to order a pot of herbal tea so the sugar wouldn’t seem so overwhelming.
This side table held chocolates imported from Italy. There was also a crepe station next to a hot chocolate bar with more toppings than you could imagine. Thinking back to a rough night in Paris last year after drinking a luscious cup of pudding-esque hot chocolate at 9:30pm and not being able to sleep until 4am and this winter in Stockholm when I ate a rich chocolate bombe that had my head spinning until 3am, I just couldn’t go there. So I skipped the hot chocolate.
So this was my first plate. The eclair in the back had golden crunchy candies on top. The fruit parfait was light and fresh. The lemon meringue was also light and the strawberry tart was perfect with more fruit than cookie/crust. The pound cake was delightful and didn’t feel heavy at all. It certainly helped to drink five pots of berry blossom tea.
The second plate was from that table with the imported chocolates. I’d had the jellies at Chinese New Year at Shanghai Terrace downstairs, so was excited to see them at the chocolate bar. The blue chocolate was made with lavender and the lollipop was a marshmallow dipped in dark chocolate. The macaron was the only thing I didn’t love. The passionfruit bombe was amazing and had chunks of fruit within the mousse. I went back for another lollipop and two more jellies.
I really loved the chocolate bar and can’t wait to take my husband there. The price was 2/3 of what afternoon tea costs at the Pen and there was a ton more food, all of it sugary, of course. But the ingredients were all fresh and it wasn’t like eating packaged cookies with a shelf life of two school years. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep and/or would feel awful the next day, but neither happened!
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