My first visit to The Chocolate Room, Muscat

For most of us, chocolate rates very high on our list on our list of things that we love to eat, inhale and experience.   And so for the growing chocolate lovers community in Muscat, there is a new place where you can head to and savour a wide variety of all things 'chocolicious.' 

Located in Al Marafah Street, Mirbat Tower in Ghubra the Chocolate Room is  open, airy, well lit and has a well designed and planned menu for people of all age groups. When I walked in at 11 am yesterday  I saw a group of young Omani women tucking into their sweet as well as savoury delights . 

When I asked them if they were regulars, the answer was in the affirmative with two of them telling me that this was their third visit. 

Would they come here again? 

Yes, they definitely would. 

And finally, what was it that drew them there? 

"We love the food as well as the fact that we can sit here and study peacefully during the mornings."

 As good a reason as any, I thought to myself and placed my order for a Cafe Latte and a Chocolate tart.

When my order was served by the smiling Vic, this is what it looked like.

 A Chocolate tart and a Cafe Latte

The presentation looked great and must add, the tart tasted good too. However, call me fussy, but the coffee was another story. It wasn't anything like the Latte I'd been expecting. Of course, this wasn't my regular brand but to me the coffee tasted overly  sweet( in my book, sugar is never mixed in the cup before bringing to the customer). 

It also tasted nothing like coffee!

So when Vic came around to ask me if everything was OK, I promptly pointed that out. That was when I learnt that it was actually a Belgian chocolate concoction and that all their coffees have an element of that flavour. Must admit, I wish I'd known that earlier... 

What I absolutely loved were the interiors. Brown, white, maroon and gleaming, there is a definite element of style about the place  and I can see it becoming a popular destination for chocolate lovers in Muscat. 

The  interiors look good

Vic and the group of students 

Later Vic showed me the Menu in some detail  and this time I saw that there were plenty of other choices  in the sweet as well as the savoury sections.. 

So as I started by saying, this was my first visit to the Chocolate Room but definitely not my last.....

An exciting Chocolate Fondue Demonstration and High Tea at the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton, Muscat

Just yesterday I came across this great little post on a site called 'Thought Catalogue'.  It was aptly titled '15 things we should stop making a big deal about'.  Something about it struck a deep chord and made me re-read it to understand the real essence of what was  being said. I'm quoting two of the most meaningful lines here "Ordering dessert when you really want dessert. Or that you want to finish all of your dessert, or that you cleared your plate because you were hungry..Life should be a balance between things that are good for you, and things that you genuinely enjoy, and you shouldn’t feel the need to excuse yourself or make a light joke about being “bad.”

Then this morning I went into the Al Bustan Ritz Carlton Hotel in Muscat for a Chocolate Fondue demonstration followed by High tea and these lines seemed perfect!  Life really has to be a balance and I know I will always keep it that way.There will have to be a time to write, a time to click photographs, go out, spend quality time with family and do that little bit for people who need it.

The Al Bustan Ritz Carlton, Muscat

For all the ladies present, the highlight of the morning was the Chocolate Fondue demonstration set up by Executive Chef Jergen Sodemann and his two young assistants Kevin and Julia who took us through the short and sweet steps involved in making three kinds of chocolate fondue.

Executive Chef Jergen Sodemann shows us the superb Ritz Carlton Chocolate cake which we then got to eat- It was in a word, superb!

Kevin then started the demonstration by showing us these  bags of fabulous chocolate ( of course, we all got to eat the chocolate). The three types of chocolate fondue that we were privileged to watch were the Manjari, Tanariva and the Dulcey chocolate fondues.

Bags of the best quality chocolate used to make the chocolate fondue

Adding the  cream and glucose 

For those of you who are interested in trying it out, here is the highly acclaimed original Ritz Carlton recipe for the Manjari ( Dark) Chocolate Fondue

Boil cream and glucose together.

Pour over the dark chocolate . 

Start using a spatula to create an emulsion.

Keep aside

Vacuum into a bag and preserve in chiller for a week

Ready to serve with these mouthwatering options

The taste of the pudding is really in the eating!

The fabulous High tea that followed

Did that make us feel really happy? I'd say Yes. So would the fifty other ladies who joined us for the event.And before closing, I will share my favourite quote on chocolate by Dave Barry."My therapist told me the way to achieve inner happiness was to finish what I start. So today I have finished two bags of M and Ms and chocolate cake. I feel better already!"