CHOCO MONARCH - FOOD REVIEW

Choco Monarch is located at Al Ghurair Centre, 2nd Floor near the food court area.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I was invited to do a review on Choco Monarch but all thought and opinions are my own.

When my friends and I arrived at the cafe on a Friday at 2pm, I was in shock as the place was jam packed. Apparently, Choco Monarch has a happy hour offer from 10am - 2pm where a drink or a crepe is just for AED 10. We waited for about 30-45 minutes before we got a table and at that moment I thought, this place better be worth the wait.

Let me cut to the chase immediately and tell you right now, that it was sooooo soooo worth it! Imma go through the food I ordered and tell you what I think about it.

CREAM CHESE POUCH CREPE (AED 30) - 5/5

Crepe filled with cream cheese, banana and apple chunks, cinnamon and layered with melted chocolates.

This was my ultimate favourite. It looks as if it's extremely sweet but it's actually not. The cream cheese and cinnamon had balanced the taste giving it that sweet and savoury flavour at the same time. The crepe, was cooked to perfection, it was not too thin and not to thick. If you're looking for something that has extra flavour rather than just the chocolate, I would highly, highly recommend this.

CREPE FETTUCCINI (AED 30) - 4/5

Fettuccini style crepe with ice cream layered with melted chocolate.

Once again, the crepe was cooked to perfection. I think that by now, ya'll already know why this was called crepe "fettuccini"...it's because of how the crepes were sliced. The taste was surprisingly not too sweet again (and I think it's because of the chocolate). But the reason why I'm giving this a 4/5 is because, 1.) it's a messy dish, and 2.) once the ice cream melts on the crepes, it becomes soggy and not pleasing to eat anymore. Otherwise, when it comes to the taste, not going to complain.

MONARCH FEVER (AED 12) and DIPPING CRAZE (AED 20 per bowl) - 4/5

Monarch Fever is the melted chocolate, and the Dipping Craze is your selection of fruit bowls and/or brownies, marshmallows and cream puffs. P.S, they are sold separately. 

Giving this a 4/5 because in my opinion, the Dipping Craze should be sold together with the Monarch Fever rather than separately. If you are going to get three bowls like we did (banana, strawberry and kiwi), that's already AED 60, and on top of that, you have to get the Monarch Fever for an additional AED 12 because if you don't, then there's no point even getting these fruit bowls in the first place. I just have to put this out here, but I've been to a restaurant that serves about 4-5 bowls of assorted fruits and sweets, which includes the chocolate fondue. I think that Choco Monarch should do the same. Or, maybe they can give their customer an option to choose at least 3 bowls to get the free fondue or something. This is just my thought. Again, taste it great, especially when the heat started to burn the chocolate a little, and we got chunks of it and it was just so good to indulge in!

CHOCOLATE MOLTEN (AED 30) - 5/5

Molten cake with flowing dark chocolate lava served with ice cream.

If I had to order one thing at Choco Monarch that will give me that extreme chocolatey goodness, I would order this. And if chocolate was served in heaven, this is how it must have tasted like. Only advice, have tea with it, because this chocolate monarch is going to give you major chocolate nirvana.

CHOCO WAFFLE (AED 25) - 5/5

Classic waffle with melted chocolate

WAFFLE STICK (AED 20) - 5/5

A classic waffle on a stick with melted chocolate.

Both are classic waffles and the only difference as you can already tell is how it's served. They both taste the same. The waffle was cooked perfectly as well, soft on the inside and a little crunchy on the outside. The chocolate was the star. P.S if you don't eat the waffles immediately it will become soggy. I'd suggest you ask them to put the chocolate on the side if you're not the type to eat soft waffles.

CARAMEL FRAPPE (AED 25) - 2/5

I know...how can you go wrong with a caramel frappuccino.. But I just have to say, this drink was EXTREMELY SWEET. It was too much! I thought that maybe I had to mix it first cause I drank it straight away the first time, so I gave it another shot. But it was still the same. I honestly took 2 sips and that was it. Didn't touch the drink anymore and decided to have water instead and some tea afterwards. I actually wanted to give this a 1/5, but I gave a 2 instead because the flavour was there, the only thing was, it was unbelievably, extremely sweet that you can't drink it anymore. Hope they improve on this drink.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5

The food was great, no doubt about that, and I'll be back for sure very very soon! However, there were a couple of things I wish would improve. For one, I think they need crowd control. During the happy hour, so many people were at the counter (no idea why because they take your orders at the table. Maybe they are there for take-away orders? But even so, I think there should be a specific place to do take away) and whenever new customers would come, they didn't know who to approach or where to go because the whole staff was busy, and I saw a lot of customers leave. In addition to crowd control, I think they also need to expand their place because they do have a lot of customers. 

Last but not the least (this is just my opinion), I wish they could do something to make the place a little more cozier - send a message that they are a cozy cafe - rather than seeing the cafe look like a flea market. I know it's a little harsh but when I was there, it was extremely crowded and it made the place look less inviting. I mean, you are there to eat delicious crepes and indulge in premium quality belgian chocolate while you relax, so for me, I think it's only fitting that the place is as relaxing as how you'd feel when you take a bite of their crepes.

That's it, TRY OUT THEIR CREPES!