Boon, Darlinghurst

Home » Dessert

squishies

7 December 2008

Dessert

9 Comments

Print This Post

Email This Post

A Chocolate Boon Granted

I got to Boon ahead of schedule and so took the opportunity to check out the store. It looked closed, with its dark-coloured blinds down on both the main display window and glass entrance door, so I found myself reading the business hours, stopping at:

Monday – Closed for Chocolate Making

Hmmm.

Sam arrived and we both stared at the front door. After a short silence, he turned to me and apologetically said, “Sorry, I didn’t know.” I sighed and said that we should grab some dinner since I was there with my camera (we ended up in Fu Manchu, next door).

Back in September, Sam had pointed out a small would-be chocolate store to me and half-complainingly and half-wistfully wondered when it would be opened. I figured that since I had waited this long to try it, another week wouldn’t really hurt (though because Sam works just around the corner from Boon, I keep hearing about his little trips, which was a bit of a torture).

On the appointed day, I happened to arrive ahead of the scheduled time… again. As I waited for Sam, I felt like a child with her nose pressed against the clean display window, peering in and drooling over the store’s contents (well to be honest, I was pretty much doing that anyway, despite my age). I was admiring their hollow, swirl-y balls when Sam came up beside me and scolded, “You can go inside, you know.”

Hot Dark Chocolate - served with a Boon praline and chocolate mousse; Boon praline was Jasmin - dark chocolate ganache infused with jasmine tea

Sam ordered the Hot Dark Chocolate and blissfully sipped at it after our trays were set down. I had a bit of a taste of the hot beverage and it wasn’t as bitter as I thought it would be for a dark chocolate drink and it wasn’t very milky tasting either (which wasn’t a bad thing). It was quite lusciously rich and full-bodied – something I heartily enjoyed and love of my hot chocolates. Each beverage would get a different chocolate square and Sam’s Jasmin really had the unmistakable taste of jasmine tea that would deliciously linger on the tongue after the gorgeous dark chocolate ganache was long gone.

Madagascar (West Africa) Chocolate Shot - served with a Boon praline and chocolate mousse; Boon praline was Kurobiko - hazelnut praline, black sesame, rice crispies

On Sam’s recommendation, I got the chocolate shot. It was lustrously thick and gooey, with a hint of bitterness swimming in its almost cloying sweetness. It was also very awesome and was complimented rather well with the smooth, near-wispy chocolate mousse (so simply made, yet so scrumptious) and the Kurobiko. I absolutely adore hazelnut pralines, so it wasn’t a surprise that I completely fell head over heels in love with the chocolate square; coupled with the black sesame and rice crispies, I found it hard to not just simply pop the entire morsel into my mouth, forcing myself to nibble and savour its rich flavours and smooth-rough texture.

In all this chocolate-laden excitement, I wasn’t very smart with the chocolate shot: I kept taking an actual “shot” (or in my case, pretty much a mouthful) of the beverage each time. I think, in hindsight, I should have taken little sips so that by the time I reached the half-way point, I wouldn’t feel all chocolate-ed out.

Petit Tarte au Chocolat (Jasmine Tea)

I was charmed by the presentation of the tart and was equally as charmed by the flavours that graced our taste buds: a buttery, crumbly tart with almost thick, creamy smooth chocolate that had much the same airy jasmine tea linger as the Jasmin praline square. The juicy sweet-sour raspberries was the perfect touch in accompanying the tart.

When we finally came down from our chocolate heaven (we had the top floor to ourselves), I went a bit nutty in taking photos of the chocolates… Though I forgot to turn around and take photos the chocolates behind us, like the hollow chocolate Christmas tree (Alex, one of the store owners, told us it took half a day to make), where you can stack up chocolate squares on the 3-tier stand inside but luckily The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry did!

It was really good to chat to Alex and being able to understand and appreciate all the hard work he and his sister, Fanny, have put into creating Boon. I loved the decor upstairs and the pretty wallpaper, where the design symbolises East meets West (so Alex tells me). They’ve also made an effort to reduce their carbon footprint by using ecologically friendly manufactured bags (I’m quite sure this is correct, but it’s been a while since this conversation and my memory is terrible).

Boon is a great place to sit back, relax, and chat over a hot cup of chocolate; their service is exceptional and ever so cheerfully friendly. Though if you’re in a rush, they also take phone orders and will have your hot beverage ready to be picked up.

Alex told us that he’ll have a batch of Christmas-themed chocolates coming out and for us to check back soon (I think by the time this is published, it is most probably available now).

And I will. Most definitely. With bells on.