Member Review by R.P. Goldsmith

Just try walking past this place.

Maybe it?s to do with our obsession with secret indulgences, but chocolate in Melbourne seems to love being out of the public eye. Whether it?s the great Haigh?s in The Block arcade, that wonderful little boutique chocolatier in the Royal Arcade, or the newest addition to the (chocolate) block Max Brenner at QV, none of Melbourne?s great little chocolate shops can be seen from your car.

Just about everything about Max Brenner?s is indulgent, even the smells, which border on amazing. Luckily, you don?t have the hard choice of picking which smell you want. Take them all, they?re free. The smells, I am sure, are all part of the design. Everything here is designed to please, from the cups and crockery to the quirky cubist furniture, not to mention the food.

Just inside the store, framed inside a classy glass cabinet sit the latest hand-made creations, like tiny, well-formed pieces of food art. They look so good, it?s hard to tell whether you should eat them or just view them. Interesting are the combinations of flavours and ingredients, constantly changing, you will likely find such ingredients as cinnamon, cornflakes, blueberry, chilli, various nuts, bolts, fruit flavours?some even include chocolate. They also carry a price tag that would indicate you were buying art-work, but lets be honest; these flavours are not something that can be done by numbers. Exciting, enticing, curious, decadent and just delightful, there is always something there that you hadn?t even considered as a flavour that would work with chocolate but everything works. You will leave the place certain that they could add navel lint to their chocolate and somehow make it the next sensation.

When you make it further into the store, a couple of sights will further delight the chocolate lover, and my heart was won when I first saw a ladle being used to pour creamy liquid chocolate over a freshly made Belgian waffle. You?ll have a difficult time in choosing from their menu of fun stuff to eat. Take your time, read the whole menu, or look around and pick from what the pleased looking punters nearby are relishing. My particular favourite are the waffles smothered in chocolate (also available with fresh strawberries and/or banana), while others swear by the Chocolate Babka, luscious hot chocolate (dark, milk or white) served in Brenner?s own perfectly formed ?Hug? cups, or strawberries dipped in your own private serving of chocolate fondue. Another fun element of a visit here is their DIY hot chocolate, known as a ?Suckao?. Consisting of a small cylinder of milk above a tea-light and accompanied by Brenner?s chocolate buds for you to add at your own pace, this is another small delight that adds to their repertoire of quirky and inspired treats. Stirred in with a long steel straw/spoon, (Stroon? Spraw?) this is a drink that gets better the longer you have it, as the milk diminishes and the rich creamy chocolate shines through until you have a thick warm chocolate ooze to sip while you watch the world rush past outside.

Member Review by pip

You can't walk past Max Brenner without feeling the need to go in ... as the aroma of the chocolate just gets under your skin (!)

Have only been there for a snack and a hot chocolate - so have not tried the whole menu ... but from the looks of the peoples faces on the other tables -> must have been divine :)

The hot chocolate is rich, creamy and wonderful - a real chocoholics dream - you get to put in the milk yourself - so you can choose to have it as you like ... a similar experience to the Lindt cafe in Sydney.

Belgium waffles were crisp and a nice contrast - though still chocolate ... but not as much or rich.

The fresh fruit and marshmallows in chocolate dipping sauce looked pretty good - so I think I will be back to try that combo soon. There is also an area where you can select homemade chocolates to box or a few to sample yourself ... great idea for a nice gift.

Prices are a bit more than you would pay normally for the equivalent elsewhere - but it's all about the 'experience'!

Only negative I have is that if you go on a weekend, they charge you a 'service charge' (maybe to cover weekend wages? I don't really know why ...) - which is pretty uncommon here in Melbourne.

But as I mentioned initially - if you can walk past without going in - you are a stronger person than I!