CAFE XOCOLAT

DEAR DREAMERS

The Ultimate Hot Chocolate

I tried Xocolat with my sister and her friends last year. It was nice and quaint. The food was okay. It was not cheap but not too pricey either, the prices still fell under student-friendly prices. The ambiance was chill and homey, I saw a couple of diners browsing through their laptops. Some of them were alone and some were in groups, they were probably having a meeting for school related matters. As you can see in their entrance sign, their specialty is hot chocolate. Even their logo carries a sprig of cacao to show dedication to hot chocolate.

Their entrance gave me an impression similar to that entering the gates of one’s home.

Upon entering the cafe, a water fountain will greet you and stimulate you into relaxing. In terms of feng shui, flowing water symbolizes wealth.

The cafe is so spacious, you can choose to dine inside the cafe, at the terrace and at the area near the entrance which is located at the lowest level.

Their chairs carry their logo which is an “X” and a sprig of cacao.

This dining area is located at the lowest level and is the nearest to the entrance.

You can take the stairs to reach the terrace or enter through the door to dine inside the cafe.

Also, there is another flight of stairs right inside the cafe. I am not so sure if you can dine there since I did not see anyone eating there but as you can observe, there are chairs and tables inside so if you want to dine there, you could try and ask the staff.

Here, we have some more quaint ornaments.

There was a bookcase on the wall containing multiple books and some other things.

For the seats inside the café, they have cushioned chairs, cushioned stools and couches which makes the place cozier.

Also, they offer a variety of cakes which you check out at the counter. You can buy per slice or the entire cake. Their cake flavors include Chicago Style Xocochip Cheesecake, That Xocolat (95 per slice, 795 for whole), Oreo Cheesecake, Banana Toffee, Salted Caramel Tablea, Flourless Xocolat, Xocolat Carrot Cake, This Red Cake, Mocha Mixu, and more. They also sell cacao in cans of which the flavors are Dark (395 pesos), Old Fashioned or milk chocolate (345 pesos), Wicked or spiced dark cacao (345 pesos), Rush or mocha blend (345 pesos) and Organic cacao (345 pesos).

At Xocolat, you order your food at the counter.

At first sight, I thought that this was a tea infuser but now that I think about it, it seems like a samovar to me. A samovar is a metal container that heats water. A samovar is usually used to heat water for making tea. I am not so sure if this is a samovar but it looks that way to me.

They serve coffee, hot chocolates, “skinny xocolat”, “cold caprichos”, fruit shakes, teas, pasta, panini, spam aioli, salads and rice meals.

They also serve breakfast meals such as French toast, chocolate pancakes, fluffy pancakes, ham and cheese omelette, mushroom omelette, Barcelona omelette, spicy tuyo and spicy beef flakes. Breakfast meals are served Monday to Sunday between 8am to 11am.

Now that everyone is seated, it is time to eat! I am not so sure if I remember correctly but I think the food took around 10-20 minutes before they were served.

Their Pork Belly dish (245 pesos) or liempo is served with four small slabs of grilled pork belly alongside rice, cacao-bagoong sauce, potato gratin and some greens.

I ordered Pesto Pasta which is pasta in basil cream sauce sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and served with four strips of pan-seared chicken and two slices of toasted bread. The two slices of toasted bread were arranged to look like an “X” which might be a symbol of their logo.

According to their menu, their Lemon Vanilla Cake is “classic white chiffon with a hint of lemon, wrapped in fresh butter cream.”

If you love cookie butter then you’ll love their Cookie Butter Milkshake (165 pesos).

Their Blackened Cream Dory dish (195 pesos) is served with two grilled fish fillets seasoned with five spices alongside rice and basil cream sauce.

Their Xocolat Chicken Pasta is creamy pasta sprinkled with chocolate shavings served with four strips of cacao rubbed chicken and two slices of toasted bread. This dish seems interesting, I was not able to try it though.

Location

Café Xocolat is located at 172 B. Gonzales Street, Loyola Heights. Aside from their Katipunan branch, they also have branches in Libis and Greenhills.