Tastes so good

Published on December 7, 2007

An array of beautiful and tempting truffles and praslin chocolate candies seems to have the mysterious power of calming anyone when they step into Duc de Praslin, a cosy cafe. One needs their full attention to browse and imagine the flavours each has to offer, and then make a hard decision which ones you want to eat right away and which ones you want to keep for later.

And believe me, that's not an easy call.

For more than 10 years now, Duc de Praslin has been the place for those looking for quality chocolate and ready-to-eat candies as well as raw materials such as chocolate bars and sachets. Before the new store on Sukhumvit Soi 31, one had to go deep into Sukhumvit Soi 49 to reach the place's factory, but now they have made things easier for all of us by opening a new space, conveniently near Sukhumvit Road, with sofas and seats for their customers to lounge in and enjoy the fabulous sweet things the place has to offer.

"We have grown a lot since our inception back in 1993," says Chaiyot Koosakul, Duc de Praslin's operations manager. "We have much more variety in all our product ranges. We now produce about 300 flavours a day with different lines for each special occasions too."

The new Duc de Praslin is painted light blue with stark oak and glass cabinets boasting a myriad of the place's famous praslins and truffles - some are chocolates of the day, others are staple flavours. One corner also displays more chocolate candies of cute shapes, mini chocolate fondue fountain and arrays chocolate bars and blocks for the case and a line of new snacks (such as thin honeyed waffle) and chocolate-coated peanuts, and chocolate pouches of powder to mix your own sumptuous chocolate drinks.

Visitors can enjoy an elaborate afternoon tea/coffee set that is served in piles of sweet things including six assorted pieces of homemade praslin candies, two fresh fruit tarts, two scones (with whipped cream and jam), four mini waffles, freshly made tuna and ham sandwiches and, best of all, two thick slices of their homemade brownies. You can choose your own drinks, ranging from hot coffee to hot tea and to the famous Duc de Praslin's hot chocolate, to accommodate your thirst along with the set as well.

The whole set can be shared by two or even three people. The cost is Bt285. Besides being a snack which may be paired with coffee instead of tea "afternoon tea" is also available all day long.

Duc de Praslin was founded back in 1993 by Belgian Jean-Louis Graindorge, a chocolatier who brought fine raw materials for Belgian chocolate to produce lines of his own products in Bangkok. A praslin or truffle here ranges from Bt12 to Bt14 a piece and will be arranged into beautiful golden boxes upon order. Each day, new flavours will be offered along with the famous staples, such as San Filipe (dark chocolate truffle), Mara Caibo (milk chocolate truffle), Romance (milk heart-shaped praslin) and Juliette.

"Apart from milk and white chocolate, we basically offer three types of dark chocolates based on the cocoa butter percentages of 56 per cent, 63 per cent and 73 per cent," says Chaiyot. "Customers can tell us their preferences so we can make right recommendations in case they are too overwhelmed by our choices."

For home parties, the place's mini fondue fountain equipped with chocolate bars is a nice option. For a big party, you may want a bigger fountain available for rent along with the shop's set of fresh fruits for your convenience. For simple and hearty chocolate drinks, you can grasp a chocolate pouch at Bt120 for a 180-gram package. You can also start your new day with praslin with their breakfast set of drink, pastry, an OJ and a piece of the praslin at Bt85. And a home-made Belgian waffle drizzled with dark chocolate fudge is also available daily for Bt125.

Chaiyot says praslins and truffles should be stored at 15 to 20 degrees - a range typical of most normal refrigerators. They last up to one and a half month (if you can resist that long) while pure chocolate bars have a longer fridge-life of about one year.

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- Sirin P Wongpanit

More reviews visit www.ohsirin.blogspot.com.