Well I didn’t actually say that to my mom because she cares very little about Willy Wonka, hell she doesn’t even know he is; but I however did see this signage at a very Chocolaty place in New York. One of my friends told me about Max Brenner’s and I believe her exact words were, “In New York don’t forget Max Brenner’s, it’s a place for Chocolate everything”. Well that’s pretty much the gist of it really, Max Brenner’s is indeed a must visit if you’re a chocolate fanatic like myself. There are so many different forms of chocolate there that you would actually need a whole week to try out every possible combination and item on the menu. And trust me it’s the best chocolate experience you will have in your life. The place is very easy to get to – its on one of the most famous roads of this world – Broadway. Well directions are never really a problem in New York and since I was on a chocolate mission myself – there was no way I was going to miss out on Max Brenners. To my horror I found out later that they also have branches in Vegas and Philadelphia – both places where I had spent a considerable time of my vacation at. Still all things aside, lets get on with the review of this wonderful place.
The restaurant is huge. Beautiful layout and chocolate is basically the theme. You will find mountains of chocolate powder used purely as decorations. There’s a chocolate bar, a Max Brenner’s merchandise shop and of course my favourite – The Willy Wonka sign. We were lucky enough to get to Max Brenner’s on a weekday during the afternoon when business was slow, but I’ve been told on the weekends this place is so full that people actually have to make reservations online weeks in advance. Now if so many people are going gaga over a place serving just chocolate – it must be really really good isn’t it? Actually they do serve normal food too and they have a pretty wide range of burgers, wraps, pizzas and other forms of fast food but really a quick word of advice, if you go to Max Brenner’s, you’re only eating chocolate. They have separate chocolate menu, which is apparently the desserts menu. You can start of with those evergreen chocolate frappes and shakes. Mind you there are atleast 10 different varieties of chocolate and all these shakes come with ample helpings of whipped cream. Lets skip along to the cookies and cakes – again they’ve got blueberry cheese cakes, chocolate mousses, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel flavoured cookies, rock cakes, EVERYTHING!! Everything that you can possibly crave is pretty much on their menu. They have whacky stuff on their menu too, like the chocolate waffles and chocolate pizzas. Relax this isn’t a pizza made out of chocolate, its basically a pizza topped with with chocolate sauce, marshmallows, chunks of chocolate, whipped cream etc. This is something you can get if you go there with like a large group of people, but I’m not a big fan of chocolate on my pizza, but knowing me I’d probably eat it if its in front of me. All of this is expensive because Max Brenner’s is a pretty upscale place located in the heart of the city, still its only fair that you pay good money for good chocolate. The rough per head cost would range from about 20-30 dollars if you choose more than 2-3 items on the menu. We did and we chose the Fondue, and boy did we make the RIGHT CHOICE. 
Now fondue is really very simple to make, its basically just dipping random things in chocolate and eating it. So for the fondue to be really mind blowing, presentation is the key. If I had to give marks for Max Brenner’s out of ten for presentation and quality, I’d give them about a 20. Absolutely amazing! Three big pots of Chocolate – dark, white and caramel flavoured placed right on your table. The chocolate is so rich and smooth that you can just gulp it down plain, but there’s about 6 different cups placed along with these bowls of chocolate - Marshmallows, Bananas, Strawberries, Cookies and Cakes. Words cannot adequately describe the pure ecstasy of the fondue. There’s this tiny stove like thingy where you can roast your strawberries and stuff if you like it that way. Now I know what a fondue is and I know that its always served with those stove like thingy’s but trust me the one at Max Brenner’s was just better. It looked classy. I already told you about the chocolate and how rich it was, but OMG the marshmallows and strawberries dipped in the chocolate was the closest I’ve come to nirvana. The strawberries were so tasty, it was almost that they were handpicked to satisfy the commands of the Indian kid who was about to visit them. The marshmallows were mind blowing and I liked them so much that I actually got a huge bag of them back home to India. The fondue was basically my lunch for the day, that’s how much I loved it.
Max Brenner’s is one of the best places for dessert. Its such a brilliant concept and it is ONLY for those people who still have that tiny Charlie stuck inside them, trapped in their everyday battles, waiting eagerly for his chance to go to the infamous Chocolate Factory. That’s basically it. Don’t worry nobody said anything about eating too much chocolate, and don’t worry – Chocolate is good for health. It makes you happy too.
No comments:
Post a Comment