dear chocolate

Thick, Hot, Creamy at 'Dear Chocolate'

Small, stylish chocolate
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

With a name like Dear Chocolate, you would expect the restaurant’s menu to be filled with lots and lots of chocolate, right?

Well, Dear Chocolate does have a good selection of thick hot chocolate and creamy chocolate squares, but that’s just about it. The restaurant, located in Apgujeong, serves mostly pasta, pizza, salads and steak, and offers a wide selection of wine.

For starters, we chose the wild mushroom salad (17,000 won) featuring grilled mushrooms and rucola leaves, drizzled with balsamic dressing. It was tasty, although the rucola leaves seemed dry.

The rucola tomato pizza (14,000 won) was thin, crispy and unexciting. The rucola leaves were messily strewn on top of the 12-inch pizza. Someone commented that the pizza had a slight sweet flavor, maybe due to the sprinkling of balsamic vinegar on the leaves.

As for the entree, we chose different kinds of pasta. The King Crab Ravioli in cream sauce (18,000 won) looked promising on paper, but it turned out to be a disappointment. The ravioli filling was so meaty one could barely taste any crab flavor at all. Overall, it tasted too much like a Korean dumpling, or mandu.

We did not expect the Clam Spaghetti with Rucola and Scallops (17,000 won) to be as spicy as it was. The clams, while plentiful, were too small, and there were only two pieces of scallop.

The crab and Prawn Spaghetti in olive oil (20,000 won) had a light flavor, but it was bothersome to try to get the meat out of the crab. A general observation of the pasta dishes showed the noodles were somewhat overcooked and rubbery.

The definite highlight of the generally unsatisfactory meal was the Pure Chocolate drink (8,000 won). Served in a small white pot, the hot chocolate contained 43 percent cacao from Italy and had just the right balance of sweetness and bitterness. It even came with a small piece of dark chocolate.

On the other hand, the hot raspberry chocolate (8,000 won) paled in comparison to the Pure Chocolate. It was served in just a plain cup and was topped with raspberry syrup, not exactly what we were expecting.

Dear Chocolate has quite a stylish interior, with wooden floors, sleek white tables and chairs, mirrored walls and low lighting. Our advice: Skip the entrees at Dear Chocolate, and just order the Pure Chocolate drink to satisfy your sweet cravings this winter.

To get there, go past the Galleria Department Store and turn right at the first corner after the intersection. Dear Chocolate is at the first alley to the right. Call (02) 3446-7251.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr