Chocoholick, at Ispahani Centre, is a wave of brown and white, indicating that it deals with chocolate. The owner, Sai Babu prefers calling it a “chocolate restaurant.” What drove him to start a place like this? “I always had this inclination towards food. I had worked as a sous-chef, so my goal became to open a restaurant with a difference,” he says, adding that the reason for him to start a chocolate restaurant was to change the food’s perception among the public. “People normally think that chocolate can be eaten only as a snack or dessert. I want them to experience chocolate as main course too,” he says.
After experimenting with various chocolate recipes around the world, Sai opened Chocoholick recently with speciality dishes like churros, crunchy chocolate pizza, and the weirdly intriguing chocolate spaghetti with meatballs — all made of chocolate.
Chocoholick’s striking feature is that you get to choose the type of chocolate accompaniment with your dish: dark, milk or white. As we’re talking, Sai places a cup of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows in front of me. Before the creamy liquid has descended down my throat, a plate of ‘under-baked cake with I Scream’ appears.“I Scream?” I ask him. Sai replies with a grin, “My name for ice cream.” The cake is sweet and slightly raw, and is topped with a delicious chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I cannot stop with one bite. Sai’s names for the dishes that don’t have chocolate — The Alien Savouries — is rather apt. “I consider this place as my chocolate planet, thus the inclusion of aliens.” Pointing towards a menu shaped like a bottle, he explains his concept of an ‘under 18 bar’ that serves ‘chocktails’. Expect new treats for Christmas and the New Year.
Chocoholick is on the ground floor of Ispahani Centre, Nungambakkam. Waffles and crepes are priced from Rs. 120 onwards.
