Irresistible, Super Rich Chocolate Affogato and Chocolate Latte (Part 1)

Frozen Chocolate Cube Latte (Chocolate Flavoured Chocolate)

The Dark Gallery

Many of their signatures ice creams, drinks and desserts are only available at The Dark Gallery. The Dark Gallery is a dark chocolate centric cafe selling wide variety of ice creams, cakes, chocolates, macarons, chocolate drinks and coffee. Their products come in different composition of chocolates. According to the cafe, they use the finest grade chocolate from Madagascar, Ecuador, Tanzania, Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela. Intensity of cacao and fruitiness vary around the world where they are grown well in different climate and land. 

The Chocolate Affogato $9.50

Dark chocolate affogato was the best treat for me of the year. We chose dark chocolate ice cream for our chocolate affogato. The ice cream was placed on a bed of dark chocolate soil, topped with caramelized almonds and served with a double shot of house espresso. I poured some hot espresso over dark chocolate ice cream. I sipped, thenate quickly with a spoon. I poured espresso again to get the right ratio of ice cream and espresso, and to strike the right balance between hot and cold, bitter and sweet.Taste was perfect when hot espresso combined with chocolate ice cream. The ice cream glass made the treat feel extra special.The ice cream’s sweet and rich chocolate was well balanced by the strength of the coffee. I preferred not to pour all espresso into the ice cream cup. If you’ve never had affogato before, it’s a life’s simple pleasurethat’s basically hot expresso poured over ice cream. Nothing beats the taste of chocolate combined with coffee. 

Artisanal Chocolate Bonbon

Discover your love for bittersweet, dark chocolate bonbons in colorful shells. It costs $3.50 per piece. These chocolate bonbons are artisanally made and may each look slightly different. Once you have bought it, keep them chilled immediately and consume within a week. Single origin chocolate mocha is chocolate affogato in bonbons version. It’s made of 66% dark chocolate shell with 70% Dominican Republic dark chocolate and espresso ganache in a brown and gold shell. Toffee sea salt is common and all-time favourite bonbon. It has 66% dark chocolate shell with dark chocolate ganache, salted caramel and toffee bits in a beautiful violet shell. 

Frozen Chocolate Cube Latte

I tried many chocolates, coffee flavoured chocolate, chocolate-based drinks and desserts in Singapore, Asia and Europes. None of them satisfied my taste bud except The Dark Gallery. Frozen Chocolate Cube Latte is The Dark Gallery's most popular signature chocolate drinks. Expected damage is $10 excluding GST and service charges. The interesting part is you DIY chocolate latte with trio of frozen chocolate cubes, hot fresh milk and a double shot of house espresso. There are two selections of frozen cubes. You may choose from hazelnut dark chocolate or matcha white chocolate in green.  

Frozen Chocolate Cubes

A polite waitress took approximately 8 pieces of frozen chocolate cube latte from the refrigerator. I was collecting my order at pick-up counter and saw mist outside of a cold glass of chocolate cubes. The premium drink didn't appear as beautiful as what I saw at The Dark Gallery Menu on the website. After carefully wiping away the mist, I took some good pictures of my drink. In reality, not every piece of cold chocolate cube was smooth and came in nice color like what you saw in the menu or from other food blog. At least, it was savoury and same shapes. 

Frozen Chocolate Cube Latte

Please feel free to check my page, @roundmama.blogspot at instagram for a video that showed how I prepared Chocolate Latte given a glass of frozen chocolate cubes, a small jar of warm milk and 40mls of concentrated espresso. It was quite fun! Firstly, I poured the fresh milk until it covered the frozen chocolate cubes. Next, I added warm espresso while testing the drink as I did not tolerate coffee well. I preferred more chocolate taste than coffee in my drink, thus, I left the remaining espresso on the wooden tray. I suggest you to taste the drink as you add milk or espresso periodically. The flavour of chocolate latte varies according to the amount of milk and espresso you combine. You can also make a cold chocolate milk before mixing with espresso. 

Frozen Chocolate Cube Latte

This was the best coffee flavoured chocolate drink that I ever had in my life. Their chocolates tasted distinctively from other cafes such as Godiva, TCC and Royce. It was super rich and thick but very mild or no bitterness. It also had mild fruity flavour. If you are observant, the straw looks like made of gold metal material. You are right. The straw is recyclable, meaning it can be washed and and reuse.

Signature Chocolate Drinks

They have other popular chocolate drink such as 66% dark chocolate (hot or cold). I am not a fan of pure dark chocolate as I tried dark chocolate in Awfully Chocolate and it was slightly bitter. In fact, Awfully Chocolate's cakes are delicious and authentic. The Dark Gallery claimed that their single origin dark chocolate was produced by 5 types of cacao. 

Ice Creams and Toppings Menu

Dark chocolate and pure coconut sorbet are for vegetarians. Without the dairy, it delivers the same intensity of cocoa and aroma. The Japanese matcha has 32% white chocolate. Some of their popular ice creams are simple origin dark chocolate (3 types; 64% Madagascar, 75% Tanzania and 68% Ghana), sea salt butterscotch, caramel latte and white chocolate. You may serve on waffle, in a cone or cup and choose your toppings.

Ice Cream Cakes

Their cakes are not only luscious but delicate and beautifully handcrafted by their chefs. The chocolate cakes are layered with cookies and cream, strawberries and cream, butterscotch crunch and red velvet. Milk chocolate and 80% dark chocolate cakes are also topped with macarons, almond crumble and chocolate soil respectively. 

The Dark Gallery at Funan Mall

I decided to eat Dark Gallery's signature chocolate desserts at Funan Mall because parking was cheaper than other outlets at Millenia Walk and Takashimaya. In addition, Dark Gallery shop at Funan was relatively less crowded than CBD (Central Business District) and Orchard. We left home very early and reached Funan Mall around 11am to avoid social contact outside. I was relieved that the cafe was empty. Actually, the whole mall was unusually quiet because our PM Lee Hsien Loong had made announcement that there would be no dine-in service, all should take away the food and stay at home to prevent COVID-19 transmission. Otherwise, we would never be able to try their desserts and signature drinks as we have two tiny humans with big baby strollers. There was another branch at Great World City. I checked their menu, which was different from other outlets and most importantly, it didn't serve my favourite food. 

The Dark Gallery at Funan Mall

I also tried other mouth-watering desserts at The Dark Gallery. Please check for their full review at Irresistible, Super Rich Chocolate Desserts (Part 2) 


Location 

Funan Mall
#01-14
107 North Bridge Road
Singapore 179105
+65 6908 4086
Open 11:30am to 9:30pm daily

Millenia Walk 
#01-K5
9 Raffles Boulevard
Singapore 039596
+65 6255 0368
Open 11am to 10pm daily

Takashimaya
#B2-29
391A Orchard Rd
Singapore 238873
+65 6935 2603
Open 11am to 10pm daily



Parking

At Funan Mall

Monday to Friday before 5/6pm	$2.35/hr for first hour, $0.64 for next subsequent 15min from 3am to 6pm
Monday to Friday after 5/6pm	$3.25 per entry from 6pm to 2.59am the following day
Saturday	$2.35 for first 2hr, $0.64 for net subsequent 15min from 3am to 6pm, $3.21/entry from 6pm to 2.59am the following day
Sunday or  Public holidays	$2.35 for first 2hr, $0.64 for net subsequent 15min from 3am to 6pm, $3.21/entry from 6pm to 2.59am the following day