Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

The food, chocolate and coffee is always fantastic! Located in a great spot right near the marina. I love that they are open until midnight on weekends. It’s a great spot for brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner or a night out — if it’s chocolate you want then it’s perfect for all!

Well I have to say, since it’s arrival things seem to have gone down hill at Max Brenners. Service was NEVER it’s best feature, young disinterested staff seemed common place, long waits, no apologies ever for mistakes or waits. But now it’s getting very average. Maybe the competition of newly arrived chocolate speciality dessert places and spanish churros cafes but Max Brenner won’t be on my return list. Marina Mirage is a very up market but has a good mix of choices for all budgets in the eating department. In fact it looks like another chocolate speciality store will be opening soon. Our visit saw a lackluster hot chocolate, terrible coffees, bored staff who took ages to turn around and serve us… considering there was a whole 2 people in the café! My neice who used to be a BIG fan, now just shrugs her shoulders and goes ‘it’s not very nice is it’ So there it goes, Max Brenner, kick your staff in the bum, get smiles on their faces (omg they work in a chocolate shop, who wouldn’t be happy) and put some zing back in your product.

Though there is a Max Brenner chocolate restaurant near me in NYC, I have never gone since I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. My family in Australia loves this place, so we went with them one evening to give it a try. The cappuccino is very tasty. I love the drizzled milk chocolate over the top with the chunk of chocolate as a garnish. I initially thought the chocolate would make the coffee too sweet, but it was perfect. For dessert, I chose the chocolate soufflé and ordered a scoop of vanilla ice cream to offset the richness of the chocolate. The plate was drizzled with the same delicious milk chocolate found on my cappuccino. The soufflé is similar to a molten lava cake in the US… a rich pudding-​like center comes out as you slice into it. My husband ordered the praline crepes, which had a nice balance of nutty, sweet, and banana flavors.
Like a lot of Australian restaurants that I’ve been to so far, you order your food at the register and take a number to put on your table while you wait for the food to be delivered by waitstaff. The issue with this is that more often than not, the tables often stay dirty longer. So sometimes, you will be sitting with other people’s leftovers for a good 10 minutes or so. Also, the prices are a bit inflated, which seems to reflect the more expensive standard of living in Australia (since everything gets taxed to death) coupled with the Max Brenner name. But it’s worth it to treat yourself here every once in a while!