Chill out @ Chocs-2-Die-For Soiree, Schokolart, Solaris Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur

chocolate anyone?

I confess I am a total chocoholic - a day does not seem to be right unless I have even a small piece of chocolate (my fav being dark bittersweet chocolate). Hence, when I got an invite to savour chocolate cocktails recently, I was instantly hooked. Kicking off their first soiree, Schokolart is a place I have been eyeing for quite sometime. I first noticed it long ago, when I did a quick check of Tenji last year but since it wasn't serving a full menu, I placed it on the backburner for some time.

lighting up the brandy....

While I didn't get to sample their menu items, I was given the lowdown on what was good. They serve choc-inspired cuisine (think choc sauce with lamb and it seems a juicy chicken satay marinated in dark chocolate!!), chocolate desserts, chocolate cocktails and handmade chocolates. Everything sounds delectable so hopefully when I have the time, I can revisit the place to try their other goodies. I'm especially curious about the satay chicken skewers marinated with dark chocolate. The closest I ever had chocolate with savoury items was my Mexican experience in Sandias (which is now closed down) where they serve mole.

get ready for this...

The chocolates looked absolutely gorgeous at the counter (I liked the delicate pink flower ones). Seems they're the work of the pastry chef Matthias, who used to run a cafe at Bangsar. Swiss imported chocolates are used to make the confections and they are packed in pretty pink coloured boxes.


drink up that trail of fire....goes to your head very "fast & furious"

Back to the soiree, it is a monthly affair where you get unlimited flow of chocolate cocktails from 10pm to 1am. The food is not much, as it is just nibbles of fruits and cake for you to dip in their giant 5 feet chocolate fountain (decorously protected with a plastic casing) so focus on the drinks instead. You also get entertained by a standup comic, Frieda. We didn't get to see much of her performance since we left early but it sounded pretty amusing.


my "Jackson Pollock" inspired fruits drizzled with melted chocolate

There are various types of cocktails to choose from including a list of shooters. Almost all of the cocktails use a liquer known as Creme de Cacao - Brown or White. This sweet chocolate tasting liquer is made from cacao beans (usually used to make cocoa and chocolate). The white version is produced from distilling the cacao beans while the brown version is made from the extract of cacao beans.

The 12 shooters have cute names like Halle Berry Dreams (a mix of Cacao White and Strawberry Cream) and Red Devil (Irish Cream and Melon Liquer). We tried the Shai Scream (Cacao White and Butterscotch Cream) and Bull's eye (Cacao White and Brown) - not too bad and not very strong even though you have to down them quickly. The 23 cocktails also had adorable names like Chocolate Monkey, Death by Chocolate and etc. Some of them were just made from alcohol while others resembled smoothies with ice cream. A super popular drink was the Fast & Furious - a mix of white rum, Creme de Cacao, mint chocolate in a martini glass whereby they pour a brandy lit up from above. You have to sip the drink simultaneously and let me tell you, it definitely gets to your head, "fast and furious". However, it is a visual treat especially with the trail of fire pouring down.

For those who prefer a milder cocktail, try the Choc Banana Fudgeslide as it resembles a mild tasting banana chocolate milkshake even though it contains Creme of Banana and Half & Half Banana. Overall, I did have fun and wouldn't mind coming back with a group of friends. However, be prepared to drink loads of cocktails and get tipsy (unless you stick to those milder milkshake type drinks) to get your money's worth. For more pictures, see my flickr set.

Schokolart
Block K-01-05
Solaris Mont Kiara

2, Jln Solaris
50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03-6203 0968

(Pork free but definitely not alcohol free. Place is right opposite Tenji at a corner. The soiree is a monthly affair where you pay RM185++ per couple for unlimited chocolate cocktails from 10pm to 1am. For more details on what they offer, see the link to Solaris and their website)

Tenji Updates...

Went to Tenji, last night to scout around since we dined at Providore (fingerlicking hickory smoked pork ribs) round the corner. The place was quite enormous and surprisingly even packed at night. They have started a new promotion per the pictures below, so do book ahead. Saw a few walk-ins doing their booking and from what I gather, spaces are already filling up fast. Weekends seem to be very popular (this weekend it is fully booked for lunch and dinner).



Loads of controversy about Tenji started yesterday as an article emerged in the NST Streets Section that used Precious Pea's pictures i.e. the sushi and crab without her permission. Tsk! Tsk!



Rumour has it, the people behind it used to run Jogoya. Sounds very possible especially since the person interviewed in the article is quoted as saying he, "received training in running buffet restaurants in Taiwan" (Jogoya is based in Taiwan).

During the tour, I did ask the person taking us around, are there any special days they bring in their fresh seafood. Seems they cart in all the seafood by specially ordered container as they import the items themselves. I guess that is how they keep the prices down by ordering by bulk. However, for salmon they still get them on Tuesday and Fridays like the other Japanese restaurants in town. Plans are also on the way to add Japanese hawker stalls at the terrace area in the near future.

Updated 19 January, 2009: Seems they now employ SMS to do bookings as they can't handle the volume of the calls. I got this from the solaris montkiara website, you can SMS these numbers: 016-9209007 & 016-9209008. Don't call them as it seems they won't reply. Hope that helps you all as I did see one reader desperately trying to call them. Suggest you ask them in the SMS to confirm receipt of the message before you proceed to go, if those dates are unavailable.