I've always been intrigued with Chocolate Fire after reading a number of good reviews about it and seeing it in some of my friends' Foursquare check-ins, so I decided to check it out and kill time before heading over to RCBC to visit my friends.
Chocolate Fire is currently located at PDCP Building Leviste Street cor. Rufino Street in Salcedo Village in Makati. It's right across KFC and Lyceum and walking distance from Makati Sports Club. The unit where Chocolate Fire is used to be a bank that's forever busy during payday. Now, it's a quiet cafe with a second floor painted a rich shade of chocolate brown dotted with red details, like it's Valentine's Day everyday.
Aside from the chairs, you've also got couches. I'm currently sitting on a chocolate brown couch sipping on mixed berry tea.
The second floor's got a homey atmosphere too where you could have meetings or lunch/dinner/afterdinner dates.
The couch is so comfy you could plop there with a magazine and just relax with a pot of tea or cup of coffee.
Here are the lavatories. Girls on the left, boys on the right. The paintings are done by makeup artist/model/painter Solenn Heussaff.
With ordering, there were a whole lot of choices to choose from - solid chocolates, pastries, ganache, fruits dipped in chocolate, and chocolate barks (they're like chocolate bars with stuff in it, sold per 100 grams) along with drinks. Since I was a newbie here, I thought I'd ask what the bestsellers were. The staff told me the bestsellers were the honeycomb chocolate barks and the solid chocolate. Depending on the size and shape, the prices differ so I settled for two chocolate half-eggs (solid chocolate), one in milk chocolate and one in dark chocolate.
They were served to me on a cute ceramic dish. A half-egg like this costs around Php15.00 a piece. There are also chocolate frogs (just like Harry Potter, except they don't move) for Php 75.00 a piece.
Normally, eating chocolate means biting and chewing but I thought of slow-eating this one, sort of melting it in the warmth of your mouth till it's almost liquid then letting it float right down the throat to savor the flavor and texture. So I took one bite off the milk chocolate, savored the flavor, let the chocolate melt. When the chocolate melted it was like... OMIGOOOD!!!!!! The flavor was mellow but sweet and the texture was milky. It's got this feel-good rush right after you swallow it, and now I know why chocolate makes you feel good after. I like that I chose a solid chocolate because I got to enjoy chocolate as it is.
My tea was mixed berry tea, which provided an excellent contrast to cleanse the palate as I went for the dark chocolate. The dark chocolate obviously is less sweet than the milk chocolate, but it had the same milky texture as it melted when I took it in and the same feel-good feeling after. If you want to know how the feel-good feeling is, you have to try it because it's quite hard to describe. After a few minutes, I thought I'd go for two rounds more so I got up from my seat and ordered two more.
The staff's fantastic too! Just in case you're alone and you decide to go on bathroom break and your tea or drink isn't finished yet, you could tell them and they'll watch your place for you so your place doesn't get taken.
Good chocolate doesn't come cheap so the cost of the chocolate is pricier than say, a supermarket-bought chocolate bar. The standards are very high and you're assured though that every cent you pay is worth the taste. I'd go back here if I want a quiet place to relax with a pot of peppermint tea and probably a chocolate square. I'll probably meet with a client here to discuss pegs and all if I want a relaxed atmosphere away from cafes with students reviewing for exams or business meetings.
