Tradition dictates that Silk is the appropriate gift for a 12th wedding anniversary. We opted for a steampunk chocolate themed restaurant instead. The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen opened at the Universal Studios Orlando resort in September of 2016, and has been on my wish list ever since. I finally got to check that item off of the list.
The restaurant is located just outside of the park entrances, as part of Universal Orlando City Walk attraction venue. It sits directly next to The Hard Rock Cafe, but clearly steals the stage. The towering smoke stacks and the larger-than-life wording of "Chocolate" across the main sign are sure to grab your attention.
Inside of the factory-style building you are enveloped in a steampunk styled experience designed for the taste buds and the eyes.
The Gift Shop is filled with tasty trinkets, steampunk wears, and unique candy delicacies. Steampunk pocket watches made from chocolate, absinthe flavored marshmallows and candies, sour watermelon liquid candy, and key lime candy floss are just a few of the pre-packaged treats available.
The bakery and fresh-batch chocolates will bring your jaw to an unhinged position. The colors, shapes, and flavors are both unique and delicious.
The dessert bar (yes, thankfully there is such a thing) is loaded with sundaes, shakes, and treats that seem impossible. Milkshakes topped with a cupcake, banana pudding in a banana split, and sundaes topped with peanut butter pie or cheesecake all seem to defy logic. The desserts are certainly to be considered sharing sized (full dessert menu).
The second floor houses the traditional bar where you can quench your thirst with specialties including their Chocolate Stout, a host of chocolate infused mixed drinks, or any of the typical beverages you would find at your favorite watering hole (bar menu).
We opted for the full experience of dinning at the restaurant. Reservations are not an option at this time and the wait can be a bit long (50 minutes for us on a summer Tuesday evening) but well worth it. The staff is exceptional! The host/hostess station, the wait staff, the shop keepers, the servers - each member of the staff that we encountered was phenomenal.
The dining menu is robust. The restaurant offers Brunch all day. The lunch/dinner menu has several clearly marked Vegetarian options, and carries a varieties of sandwich and entrees. The kid's menu offers much of what you would expect, plus one or two items you may not.
We were pleasantly surprised by the menu pricing prior to receiving our food, and then even more pleased with the value when we saw the portion sizes.
What did we order?
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| The warm bread was dotted with a dark chocolate chip that was still melting when we received it. It was not sweet, and had an almost bitter note. |
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| The sweetness of the salted caramel butter was a beautiful pairing with the slight bitterness of the bread. |
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| The Blue Plate Burger with french fries with the sauce served on the side per my request. Bordelaise sauce is a red wine sauce that is slightly acidic with a bitter finish - an excellent accompaniment to the rich beef. |
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| The Blue Plate burger is a burger topped with cheddar cheese, a scoop of mashed potatoes, a half slice of meatloaf, and finished with roasted corn. |
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| The Vegetable Press sandwich easily ranked in the top 3 of vegetarian options that we have tried. |
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| The Red Velvet Milkshake is a sight to behold. The volume of the cup is not published but it honestly felt like it would easily be one-and-a-half of the size of a traditional large shake. The Costco-sized cupcake is easily a dessert for 2 on it's own. The mason jar style vessel that it is served in is yours to keep. I wish that I could give the dessert rave reviews, but it fell into the "just ok" category for us. The cake was moist and delicious and the shake was good. It just was not a "wow!" taste. Next time I will try the pudding or one of the pies. |
