Cupcakes with a chaser of chocolate - Max Brenner on the Gold Coast

So, my darling sister turns 20... one thing that has not changed over the years is her love for chocolate. After a huge dinner the night before, with some delicious cupcakes what better way to follow up the next morning than with chocolate by the bald man. Max Brenner is all about chocolate - the shops walls are lined with all sorts of chocolate mixes, drinks, cups, glassware & sweets with cabinets of hand-made chocolates and then the front counter home to a whole range of chocolate goodies, a warm pot of chocolate for drizzling and a coffee machine used mainly for foaming milk for the various chocolate drinks. The drink menu is a tad daunting, you look above the back wall and the boards are filled with each & every hot or iced chocolate concoction you could imagine - dark chocolate, spiced Mexican chocolate, Danish toffee, marshmallow, coconut chocolate, mint chocolate, hot chocolate with waffle bites & peanut butter iced chockie .... just to name a few! The little sis' goes for a suckao, milk chocolate.



As you can see, one very happy camper! A jug of warm milk and fine milk chocolate buttons sit on a little wooden tray and are added to a little suckao pot, with a tea light candle flickering below. The metal straw has a little spoon on the end, for stirring and collecting all of the melting chocolate. I have the hot chocolate with waffle bites and Mum the Danish toffee chocolate, both divine!

We share a chocolate souffle cake, with chocolate drizzle and vanilla ice cream.



That's definitely our chocolate quota for the day .... now time for a stroll along the coast.

Max Brenner
Gold Coast - Main Beach
Shop 24 Ground Floor, Marina Mirage
74 Seaworld Drive Main Beach QLD 4217
T: +61 7 5591 1588


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Checking in and Max Brenner hot chocolates, Sydney

We did the overnight flight from Tokyo to Sydney.  But it was a big day of travel .. we left Hirafu at 9am for a 2.5 hour drive to Chitose airport (I wanted to be there with plenty of time for looking at all the amazing Hokkaido products on offer).  We then flew into Tokyo Haneda, the domestic airport.  We had to get our bags and then lug them on a 2 hour bus trip across town to Narita, the international airport.  Luckily we found some Takoyaki whilst there to get us through .. as it wasn't until 9pm that evening we boarded our flight bound for Sydney. We managed to get a bit of shut-eye, and woke to see the most amazing sunrise over Northern Queensland from our little bitty window.



 We arrived at 8am and jump a Taxi straight to the new Hilton on George St.  We both just needed a shower and a freshen up.  Unfortunately, our room wasn't yet ready.  Grrr.  We didn't really want to head to the gym for a shower so just wandered for a while.  Kim suggested a hot chocolate from Max Brenner's.  Sweet idea!  We tried to cut through the David Jones food hall but there's so much construction going on with the new Westfield we couldn't get through ...  We go the long way.  And, ta da.



Kim has a comforting hug mug filled with delicious Mexican hot chocolate.  A nice little bit of spice, and lots of cinnamon.



I try the white chocolate chai.  A tall, empty glass arrives, and a rather odd plastic contraption sits to the side.  The guy asks if I know what to do or if I've ever had it before.  Eh, no and no.  



He demonstrated by resting the contraption over the glass.  This then pushes down and allows a flow of liquid to cascade out, while keeping all the bits up top to infuse.  Pretty clever.  There were good chai flavors, but once I was half way through I found the white chocolate a little to sickly sweet.  



It was nice just to sit down and people watch for a while ...  but now back to checking in and that freshen up.

Max Brenner, Sydney CBD
Lower Ground Floor, David Jones
Elizabeth Street NSW 2000
T +61 2 9283 1802

Mon, Tues, Wed & Fri: 9:30am - 5:30pm
Thurs: 9:30am - 8:30pm
Sat: 9:00am - 5:30pm
Sun: 10:00am - 5:30pm