Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe: Sweet indulgence
Once upon a time in Antwerp, a pâtissier named Guy Foubert began making chocolates in the shape of seashells from a little chocolate factory in his quaint Belgian home. These dark, milk and white marbled, praline-filled treats; plump, glossy, and ever-so-pretty, became one of the world’s iconic chocolate brands, Guylian Sea Shells.
A long way from Antwerp in sunny Sydney, the Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café at Circular Quay is one of only four Guylian branded cafés in the world (one of the others happens to be just around the corner, at The Rocks). With its luxurious modern fit-out and resplendent views of the harbour, the Guylian Café is a cocoa-scented sanctum of pure, ecstatic chocolate decadence. Devout sweet-tooths can lounge on leather banquettes sipping sinfully rich hot chocolate, or sun themselves by the water’s edge with champagne and truffles or strawberries with chocolate dip.
While many come just to marvel at the glass cabinets full of handmade chocolates and extravagant house-made cakes, the menu is not entirely given over to the chocolate-infused, with a range of savoury treats on offer to prime you for the main course – dessert!
For breakfast there are pastries, fruit platters and toasted muesli, and later in the day, a menu of baguettes, salads, quiches and pies. The stars of the show, the utterly indulgent desserts, are made from the finest Belgian chocolate crafted from West African cocoa beans. There’s the Caramelt - toffee caramelised hazelnut mousse with caramel ganache and cocoa sponge coating, and the Ménage à Trois - white chocolate croissant pudding, panna cotta and Belgian chocolate buche with raspberry fruit gel.
The Guylian Café is a great place to pick up gifts for the chocoholics in your life – choose from pretty handmade truffles, Belgian chocolate tablets, cocoa powder, fondue dip and praline liqueur in a seahorse shaped bottle.
Posted by Fiona Davies
