The Chocolate Boutique Café is a small gourmet chocolate shop located in the Parnell suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It offers a wide range of hand-made chocolates – to be more exact there are about 100 varieties in all. These range from plain chocolates to pralines and truffles. For those who enjoy their alcohol, chocolates with liquer added are also available.

The Chocolate Boutique Cafe in Parnell is chocolate lovers heaven.

There are also Chocolate-based beverages and desserts, such as hot chocolate and iced chocolate drinks and an assortment of yummy cakes and French-style macarons.

Being a chocolate lover, I recently visited this store to check out the items there.

Wide Variety of Goodies

When I stepped into this café, the first thing that greeted me was the wide variety of chocolates on the shelves. These ranged from huge chocolate bars, bite-sized chocolates and even chocolate-coated Anzac and butter cookies.

There were also more than 10 types of hot chocolate drinks, as well as coffees and desserts such as tiramisu, chocolate brownie and an assortment of ice cream waffles.

My eating companions and I decided on a few pieces of macarons, a couple of cakes and a waffle to taste. We also ordered drinks to wash down the sweet snacks.

The Macarons

Tasty French macarons galore.

These were quite colourful and have a small flower in the centre – and about one and a half times the size of a standard macaron.

There were five flavours in all – the salted caramel, chocolate peppermint, rose, passionfruit and raspberry ones. We selected one of each flavour.

These were easily the best macarons that I have eaten and I would definitely buy them again. The shells were chewy, just like a good macaron is supposed to be – there was a good texture to them. The flavours were also very different from each other.

Salted Caramel

The salted caramel filling was perfect and not too sweet and there was adequate filling in each of the shells. In fact, I thought that this was probably the best macaron flavour of the lot.

Chocolate Peppermint

There was a strong peppermint flavour but at the same time, it did not overpower the dark chocolate that was present in the macaron. Together, they balanced each other out to form a lovely chocolate mint taste that I found quite addictive.

Raspberry

The moment that I bit into this macaron, the raspberry flavour immediately hit me. It was quite strong – and a little overpowering. But the macaron was still of excellent quality and I nevertheless enjoyed eating it.

Rose

The rose flavour in this macaron was light and not overpowering, so that was good. At the same time though, it was distinctive and I could immediately tell that this one was the rose macaron. Even the pastry shell had a slight floral taste of the rose flower, which I enjoyed.

Passionfruit

I thought that the flavour of this macaron was the weakest of the lot. In fact, when I tried it, I could not tell immediately that it was passionfruit – even my eating companions could not. One thought it was banana and the other remarked that it could be caramel. But nevertheless, the macaron was still delicious.

Tiramisu Cake

Tiramisu Cake.

This cake was served with a really generous amount of whipped cream and a pretty chocolate drizzle on the top. There was a layer of real melted chocolate spread out on the top too, unlike most other tiramisu cakes, which usually consist of mainly chocolate powder as a form of decoration.

I thought it was quite yummy. The chocolate and coffee flavours blended together really well and the coffee kick was just right. It wasn’t too weak or too strong. The sponge layer was also soft and moist and I found myself craving for more cake, because it was so good.

Mixed Berry Waffle

Mixed berry waffle.

This waffle was served with a generous amount of whipped cream and a large scoop of ice cream.

It was one of the better waffles that I have eaten and was soft and buttery. The berry-flavoured ice cream was refreshing and it fused together really well with the hot waffle, creating a really lovely sensation of warm and cold flavours.

Chocolate Mud Cake

Chocolate Mud Cake.

This is a very rich chocolate cake and it was served with a generous helping of whipped cream.

The chocolate taste was a bit strong and overpowering though and I would have preferred it to be lighter.

The plus point though, was that it wasn’t too sweet and it was also very moist and not too dry.

70% Dark Hot Chocolate

70 per cent Dark Hot Chocolate.

This drink was served with a cute piece of chocolate fish, rather than with the normal pink/white marshmallow.

I must admit that I was quite disappointed with the taste of the drink though, because it was not as strong as I would have liked it. But at least it wasn’t too sweet.

Dark Chocolate Submarino

Dark Chocolate Submarino

This is easily my favourite drink at this chocolate café. A rather generous helping of real chocolate is melted and mixed together with a cup of milk. The result is a super scrumptious beverage with a strong chocolate flavour, but thankfully isn’t too sweet, thanks to the dark chocolate being used.

White and milk chocolate versions are also available, for those who aren’t fans of the bittersweet dark chocolate flavour.

Like the 70% Dark hot chocolate, this drink also came with a small chocolate fish.

Standard Hot Chocolate

Standard Hot Chocolate.

This chocolate drink came with a pretty pink marshmallow.

The chocolate was definitely weaker than the 70% Dark version, but it was slightly sweeter. As a result, the drink tasted more chocolatey.

Overall Comments

As a whole, I should say that most of the desserts here are spectacular and a must-try, especially the macarons, which were so good that I really could not stop eating them. I would definitely come back for these, next time I happen to be in Auckland. They are a treat that is certainly worth making a special trip back to Parnell for.

Chocolate Boutique Limited
Shop 1, 323 Parnell Road,
Parnell Village,
Auckland 1052
New Zealand

Cafe Opening Hours: 11am to 9.50pm – 7 days a week

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