~ Curious Charlie ~

Guylian Chocolate Cafe - Melbourne Edition @ Monday, October 19, 2015

Charlie dined as a guest of Guylian Cafe, co. paid and we had a return visit.
Friday 18th September

Guylian is known for its boxes of seashell-shaped chocolates sold through supermarkets are, but now there’s a café in Melbourne! Where you can enjoy desserts and hot chocolate as well as the classic seahorses.

The story of Chocolaterie Guylian began in the late 1950’s with the marriage of Guy Foubert and Liliane in 1958. Guy and Liliane joined their names into our company name: Chocolaterie Guy-Lian.

The young couple created for the first time chocolates in the shape of seashells. Guy (Belgian chocolatier making handmade chocolate truffles) developed the recipe Guylian's signature hazelnut praliné filling; Lilliane added the artistic touch by designing the shining marbled look and the delicately sculptured shapes. Delicious and a work of art!

The first cafe in Australia in 2008 and has since opened two more locations in NSW, and four months ago opened its first Melbourne store on Swanston St near Bourke St.

On Friday Night we had the pleasure of visiting Guylian and met Fhred, a chef with a clearer idea of his career and future than us, and a passion for creating beautiful things that people (like Charlie!) would share on instagram and write about. :)

Drinks Menu

When one goes to a chocolate cafe it is always for the hot chocolate, or dessert. Lets get both!

Milk Hot Chocolate $6.20* - Banana & Caramel Hot Chocolate $6.20

At the bottom of the cup lies the signature seahorse onto which you pour the pre-made hot chocolate over, the tip is not to pour too slowly or you risk it traveling down the jug. Made in the kitchen Guylian's hot chocolate is more milky than chocolaty. The silver jug you get is 1.5 cup's worth of hot chocolate.

I had the milk chocolate which was light and not as chocolaty as Lindt as they let you play with your own ratios - unless you get takeaway, lets me honest we make it 50/50 milk/choc. It reminded me of a homemade style but using chocolate. It's the classic hot chocolate. I like it though don't love it, as I prefer something more chocolaty, but note that I'm American and so used to super sweet chocolate and intense levels of sugar. :P

Meanwhile jas had the banana and caramel hot chocolate that had a milk chocolate base, making it very sweet but a great carrier for the banana. Ordering banana is always risky, as it can go two ways: yucky artificial, or great when it tastes like real banana. Like in this case. :)

Everyone says Guylian is expensive, though I don't know of any cheap dessert cafes, so it's not that Guylian is expensive, it's dessert cafes are expensive. These desserts are $13, but they do have tarts, cupcakes, mousse and pastries which are cheaper. I suppose if you're in South Yarra there's LuxBite's slices/one serve cakes and Burch & Purchase's tube desserts/slices, which are around $10 - but unlike Guylian they aren't served up on a fancy platter with accompaniments.

A comment someone else made was that there wasn't enough dairy and gluten free desserts. O.o Guess it didn't occur to her chocolate is made from milk which is dairy. As for gluten free there's macarons, but most desserts have gluten/cake/cookie elements to them.

Enjoy In - For Lovers of Raspberry $13

Opera My Way - For Coffee Lovers $13

100% Pure Pleasure (& Beauty) $13

Tarts $8.50

Cupcakes $4.50

Mousse $8.50

Petite Fours $4

Guylian Bombe Au Chocolate $13*

Belgian dark and white chocolate mousse with Guylian praline

How beautiful is this creation?! It was inspired by the planets and rings that surround them. Those little lighter brown dots is popping candy! Representing the moons (each planet except Mercury and Venus have at least one moon).

I love mousse!

If you look closely you can see three layers inside (we're not counting the base) the bottom level is praline (hazelnut paste) enclosed in a dome of dark and white chocolate mousse. Finished off with with gelatin glaze, that was perfect - it was light and soft, and melted on your tongue. Overall a beautiful, light and decadent dessert that isn't dense. Best served with a mug of hot chocolate.

Signature chocolates! I do remember very clearly the last time I had these. An event I worked at bought a truckload and they were served by the kg on silver platters. After that I haven't had them since, but I do have good memories of Guylian, as an ex favoured them and would buy me chocolates.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake $13

65% dark chocolate baked cheesecake with cream cheese and raspberry coulis

A contrast to my light and fluffy mousse jas had the baked cheesecake, another best seller with dark chocolate, his favourite. Served in a garden with chocolate soil, sponge grass with a strawberry and raspberry coulis (sauce), topped with gold.

Rich but not as heavy as you'd think, the contrast between the raspberry sauce and dark chocolate baked cheescake was beautiful, though for the size of the slice we need more sauce. :P

Fast forward a few weeks later for a revisit. A Saturday afternoon, snack attack time.

Guylian Iced Chocolate $8

It was a summer's day at 28 degrees, and the perfect chance for a revisit for a milkshake rather iced chocolate! I'm not sure if you can tell but under the beautiful cream is a scoop of vanilla ice cream, that was nothing like I've ever had, it was creamy and rich in flavour. I'm coming back for ice cream! As for the drink itself it was a bit on the average side, and yes expensive too.

Signature Shells $1 each, or there's plenty of gift boxes to choose from.

We had a great time taking all the pictures! And sampling some delicious and decadent desserts. Yes it's pricier than other dessert cafes (except Max Brenner) but as a treat once in a while it's worth it. Especially if like jas you grew up eating chocolate seahorses, but have never been to the once Sydney only cafe! I was quite excited to try Guylian as I was very familiar with their chocolates.

Rated by tripadvisor users as no #19 out of 80 Dessert in Sydney, Guylian's sure to be popular when people discover it, especially as they're open till 11pm Thu-Sat.

Have you been to Guylian Chocolate Cafe? What's your favourite box of chocolates?