Tuesday, August 26, 2008

58% Dark Chocolate Truffle Mousse (Dolci da paolo)

Da paolo is one Italian restaurant which I have only heard when I started working and thus it gives me an impression that it is an expensive place to dine in. In addition, I dread non-English menu alot so...

Oh well, back to some cakey biz, da paolo is one that has many outlets (i.e. restaurants (La Terrazza & Il Giardino), Pizza and Bistro Bar, Gastronomia and a bakery (Dolci refers to desserts in Italian)) so do check out their website for more details.

This place offers quite a wide selection of cakes ranging from cakes (i.e. carrot, chocolate, cheesecake) to tarts and mousse and are priced between $7 to 9 (approximately). Due to the layout of their glass display, it is hard to take a picture and I tried to ask for their permission but alas, they didn't allow. According to them, they are still in the midst of creating an entry in their website so you might have to drop by to see what they offers.


As for seating area, there are 3 tables with 2 chairs each and this place is dead quiet on a Tuesday night (approximately 8pm) so I do find it a little spooky if I were to dine alone.

They have several chocolate variations (chocolate mousse with varying percentage of chocolate content - 50% to 68%, flourless chocolate cake, traditional baked french chocolate cake, chocolate truffles and tartlets) with varying percentage of chocolate content. To be on the safe side, we settled down with a 58% truffle mousse to see their texture.

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Fen's comments

The problem with high chocolate content is the loss of the texture and therefore I always thought it taste better when it is equilibrated to room temperature. At least the fats has melted alittle and the smoothness will be obvious. Since we are dining in, the cake was fresh out from the chiller and from the picture, I don't deny the fact that it is a little rough.

In terms of sweetness, it is just right and this is basically a cake with alternating layers of chocolate mousse and cake (2 each). The cake is more to the harder side and I can't help it but to think that it might be due to the fact it was kept in the chiller for long judging from the amount of cakes left in the display at 8:30pm unless there is some hidden promotions which I didn't know about. Having eaten several hard cakes, I start to miss chocolate fudge cakes. The moist and rich after-taste.

Apart from chocolate mousse, there is also crunchy chocolate biscuits bits to enhance the texture but because the mousse is relatively rich and that the cake is more tuned to the hard side, the contrast is not big.

Generally, I would say it is not bad but to ask me to sacrifice some calories for this, I would think twice since I personally felt that the chocolate mousse is too rich for me to handle and that I generally prefer a more creamy chocolate mousse.
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Yuan's comments

Having eaten so many chocolate mousse, it appears to me that the higher the chocolate content the harder the mousse will become. This is the case for this chocolate mousse as well. The chocolate mousse taste similar to the mousse used in the le royale. But instead of hazelnut praline in most typical chocolate mousse, you will find "smarties" (chocolate candy) in between the layers of the chocolate mousse. I would say this mousse is worth a try but like fen I prefer a more creamy chocolate mousse.
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Dolci da paolo
43 Jalan Merah Saga
Chip Bee Gardens
#01-68
Tel: 6479 0336
http://www.dapaolo.com.sg/
Operating hours: 8 am to 7 pm daily

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