Oliver Brown, chocolate cafe

Since the end of Lent, chocolate and I have had a fabulous reunion. After 40 days apart, I came to really miss and appreciate chocolate - the smoothness of it, the sweetness, and of course, the bounce that it gives me, that lift to my flagging spirits. From 12.01am of Easter Sunday, I had chocolate and haven't been far from the stuff ever since, so it only made sense for me to visit a chocolate cafe during the Easter long weekend!

During the Easter long weekend, although it was fabulous to have time off work, I still spent some serious hours logged into my work emails and trying to cross things off my to do list... with some limited success. I spent what seemed like most of the Monday on my work computer working, and it was only at 7pm that I logged off, lured by an invitation from my husband to go to Oliver Brown. He had known of my desire to try Oliver Brown after seeing it all the time in the Top Ryde shopping centre, and he was attempting to get me off work to enjoy what was left of the long weekend! When tempted by chocolate, there really is no contest... so off we went, but to the Oliver Brown at Rhodes as it was closer.

Oliver Brown is a new chain of chocolate cafes in Sydney. With stores at Rhodes, Top Ryde and in Chatswood, it boasts a menu very similar to that of Max Brenner - actually, almost identical, right down to the names! Price wise is roughly the same, maybe a little cheaper, but when it came to quality, I can definitely say that Max Brenner is better. Oliver Brown was tasty, but I thought that the chocolate was not of the same quality - it was like comparing Cadbury to Lindt... you still like the Cadbury and you'd still eat the Cadbury, but Lindt will always be better!

On a quiet Monday night, there were a few locals at the Rhodes branch and we ordered a dark hot chocolate and a waffle with ice-cream. The dark chocolate hot chocolate was absolutely fabulous and highly recommended - it wasn't too sweet at all, and was rich and creamy. I'd definitely enjoy that on a cold night as an after dinner treat! The waffle itself came out smothered in chocolate sauce, even the two token strawberries that were placed on top - I couldn't help but think that it'd look so much better if they put on the strawberries after the chocolate drizzle, just for colour and contrast, but maybe that's me being picky.

The waffle itself was quite good - crispy on the outside, it had that requisite crunch that I like for my waffles. The chocolate was incredibly sweet and made me wonder if they have a dark chocolate version, but I don't think that is an option on the menu. The ice-cream was pretty average - not very creamy and it was probably some generic supermarket brand. I ate all of the waffle though, and then subsequently felt sick due to the chocolate overload after so much time away from it!

See that lump in the middle of my waffle? It's a strawberry!

Oliver Brown is probably what I would consider to fall into the ok territory. When it comes to chocolate cafe's, I think Max Brenner and San Churro are leagues ahead in terms of quality, but if I'm looking for something local for a sweet hit, then I'd go back!

thesuzchef x