Hot chocolate for children is a tricky one to get right, considering little fingers don’t like curling around hot drinks. So temperature becomes one of the vital variables to get right.
What's refreshing at Butlers Chocolate Cafe, tucked in a corner of the extension of Al Wahda Mall, is the choice of milk, white or dark chocolate not just for the adults' cocoa drinks but also for its Childrens' Hot Chocolate. The Dublin-based outfit makes the drinks with its own "fresh cream chocolate truffle sauce" and with every drink you get to sample one chocolate from a list of about 25.
Raring to drink healthy after a school lesson on nutrition, my 6-year-old chose the Childrens’ Hot Chocolate – dark. The 12-ounce drink came with giant marshmallows floating at the top and at that perfect temperature – ready to grab and gulp.
I managed to get a few sips and while the dark hot chocolate tasted a smidgen milky, it was good without being too sweet. More importantly, my son loved it – and that makes it a great chocolate treat minus the dreaded sugar rush.
• The Childrens' Hot Chocolate costs Dh14. Butlers Chocolate Cafe is on level 2 of Al Wahda Mall extension, Abu Dhabi, 02 446 5141, www.facebook.com/Butlerschocolatecafeuae. Ramadan hours are 7.30pm to 1am.
kramgopal@thenational.ae
