Tuesday, August 25, 2009

SCHOKOLART: FOR LOVE, LIFE AND CHOCOLATES ...

Article contributed by our guest columnist, Claire Chin, with thanks.

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
FOOD IS LOVE
Isn’t it true?
When we are so totally indulged in our food,
It is as if we are falling deeply in love.

- Schokolart


Today, I fell in love. The object of my passion – a steamy mug of spicy hot chocolate. As I cradled the mug and felt the warmth radiating through my body, my soul lifted higher towards the clouds. Ahh...such are the wonders of the most delectable aphrodisiac – chocolate! Chocolate, be it solid in little bite-sized portions, melted to drink or to dunk strawberries, in cakes or pastries... it is truly the food of the Gods, the elixir of life!

Being a chocoholic, I was excited to try out this place called Schokolart at SohoKL, Solaris Mont Kiara. What could have been a 20 minutes journey ended up being a 1 hour ride as I overshot the turning and found myself heading towards Ipoh on the North-South Highway. On any other day, I would have been tempted to drive straight to Ipoh for some Ipoh Hor Fun and Funny Mountain Tau Foo Fah, but not today! After several turns here and there, I let out a huge sigh of relief as familiar buildings were spotted.

Interesting view outside Schokolart

The first thing I noticed about Schokolart was its pink theme. Pink sign, pink menu, pink decorations, but thankfully, no pink chairs.

The interior of Schokolart. Personally, I didn’t like the design of the chairs. But still, it’s better than all pink!


The pretty pink menu called “An Anthology of Love, Life and Chocolates. On it is a piece of Schokolart’s specially created praline chocolate called Sesame. Yes, it’s half gold and half pink.

The first item that arrived is a mug of Mexican Hot Chocolate, called La Esmeralda. This delightful mug of hot chocolate is spiced with chilli powder and a dash of cinnamon syrup. The spiciness from the chilli powder, sweetness of cinnamon, and warm chocolate liquid made a potent potion indeed! Needless to say, it was love at first sip. Following the Schokolart way, I cradled the mug in my hands, breathed in the aroma, and took a sip... allowing the warm liquid to flow down my throat. The chilli powder does its magic by warming up the throat as the smooth liquid flows down. This heart-warming mug costs RM13.00. Each mug of hot chocolate comes with a piece homemade cinnamon marshmallow. You’ll be happy to know that the unique mugs retain heat pretty well, keeping the hot chocolate warm. A note of caution, for those not used to spicy food, you may find this concoction a tad spicy.


La Esmeralda – The Mexican Hot Chocolate. On the spoon is the homemade cinnamon marshmallow. The marshmallow itself is something worth trying too.

Next came the main meal, Schokolart’s signature dish – Schokolart Satay. For RM20.90, we get 6 giant sticks of tender chicken skewers, marinated in dark bitter-sweet chocolate, accompanied by special spicy peanut sauce, mini fried buns, slices of cucumbers and onions. Yes, you read it right! The chicken skewers were marinated in dark chocolate before being grilled. The chocolate added flavour to the skewers, and was not overpowering. The peanut sauce was different from the usual satay sauce we get. It tasted like spicy peanut butter! My verdict? LOVE this dish!! The plate was squeaky clean by the time I was done with it.

Schokolart Satay with spicy peanut sauce and fried mini buns

Browsing through the menu for more chocolate-y items, the Roasted Chicken Wings with Chocolate Caramel Sauce caught my eye. Since it was under “Munchies” I assumed it was snack sized. My happy finger pointed to the item on the menu and after a short wait, out came the chicken wings. This was no snack size indeed! For RM16.90, we get 3 full chicken wings, cut into 6 pieces accompanied by salad. A generous amount of chocolate caramel sauce covered the chicken wings. I enjoyed this dish too, though my heart goes out to the chicken satay. The chocolate caramel sauce fills up the tummy pretty fast as it was thick and gooey.

Roasted Chicken Wings with Chocolate Caramel Sauce, sprinkled with alfalfa sprouts

Feeling greedy for yet another mug of hot chocolate, I went for a mug of Earl Grey Tea infused with Hot Chocolate – Tealicious Choc. Also RM13.00, this mug of hot chocolate had a delightful taste of Earl Grey Tea which is naturally lemony. Contrasting to La Esmeralda which fuels the fire, this mug will calm you down. A perfect finish to a wonderful meal.


Tealicious Choc – Earl Grey Tea infused with Hot Chocolate

On my next visit, I hope to try the Roasted Lamb Loin with Chocolate & Spices. For those of you who may not enjoy the idea of mixing chocolate with your food, Schokolart offers an array of other foods without chocolate as an ingredient. Besides hot chocolate, a variety of coffees, teas, cakes, pastries and designer-inspired chocolates are offered. These chocolates have very unique ganache fillings like raspberry-wasabi, sweet-spice and other contemporary flavours.

A variety of chocolates

Schokolart cakes

My advice would be; let your hair down and go for a gastronomic adventure!

PS: In case you were wondering, no, I did not get a free meal to write this article. I’m just in love!



Schokolart

Address: Block K-01-05, SohoKL @ Solaris Mont Kiara, 2 Jalan Solaris, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Contact number: 03-6203 0968
Reservation: Not required
Opening hours: 11.00-23.00 (Sunday-Thursday), 11.00-0100 (Friday, Saturday & Eve of Public Holidays)
Cuisine: Swiss Fusion (Pork Free)
Must order: Schokolart Satay

Must not order: N/A
Budget for 4 pax: N/A

My verdict: N/A

1 comment:

2 Romans 1 Impostor said...

Claire, I visited the place this week. A good place for chilling out with friends.

They have quite some selection of chocolate drinks well supported by an ample variety of finger food.

Not a place I would visit for lunch or dinner though. Nothing in their menu that adequately fills the tummy.

Loved their chocolate drinks thoroughly. Went hot and cold today. Started with Soulmates - a blended drink of dark chocolate ice cream and peanut butter, and finished with Choc Samba - a Brazilian favourite hot cuppa of chocolate and cinnammon powder.

Will be back, for drinks!