Chocolate Fantasy Land by Magnum House of Chocolate

Earlier this year, many have wondered why Magnum Cafe would close its doors, while they were obviously doing so well. Since it opened for business last year at the first location on the 5th Level of Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, long queues were a regular sight outside the place, then still named Magnum Cafe.

On 14 July 2012, Magnum Cafe re-opened in the same building, but on the 6th storey and under a different name: Magnum House of Chocolate. This time, instead of the aristocratic, elaborate victorian decor that old Magnum Cafe was all about, now they tone things down to a more casual feel, but still seriously about chocolate. 

de Velvet IDR 45,000

Choco Moka IDR 25,000

So what are the other differences? Like the old one, there's still the long queue of eager diners, like a neat line of ants queuing to get their share of sugary staple. They're mostly young crowds: teenagers, students to young professionals. I suppose the queuing is the biggest turn-off, especially for the time-deprived customers. So if you're not into queuing, avoid the peak hours, ie: after office hours to dinner onward and also on the weekends. Alternatively, you can still grab the ice cream from the express ice cream bar, where you can choose from the various toppings to go with your Magnum ice cream.

Pick your toppings!

At the new location you can find a small open-air ice cream bar at the far end of the cafe, where there are a couple of benches that you can sit at. I don't think those are exactly comfortable for daytime chill out, because the heat would simply be unbearable. After 8PM, they'll open the windows, so the place becomes a semi-outdoor bistro. I quite like it actually, as the view from the 6th storey looked quite lovely. It is not as polluted as the air on the 2nd storey (Social House) or windy as on the 56th storey (SKYE). Do you notice that all these  belong to Ismaya Group?!

Basically all the desserts here are created using the main item: Magnum ice cream, quite boring if you're not into sweet stuffs. And the revised menu still carries some of the items from the old Magnum Cafe, but the new one is even more extensive and offers the current food fad: rainbow cake and red velvet cake. (Seriously? Aren't people sick of it yet?). Voila, bon apetit! I apologize for the very poor quality of photos as they were taken using my mobile phone.

Crepe de Leuven IDR 35,000

Chocolate Gateau IDR 39,000

Recommended: Crepes de Leuven is warm and soft black-forest crepe with Dark Chocolate Truffle Magnum ice cream and sour dark cherry compote. The sour cherries was refreshing kick to the multi-chocolate combo. Also recommended: the Chocolate Gateau, the smooth and moist chocolate cake sprinkled with caramel sauce, served with a stick of chocolate Magnum ice cream.

The main course selection is not as extensive as the dessert, but they're pretty decent, price and taste wise. This is part of Ismaya group, after all. Our favourite was the Spaghetti Diable, it's aglio olio spaghetti with prawns. The seasoning was really delightful and the pasta was al dente.

Spaghetti Diable IDR 40,000

Steak la Grand IDR 80,000

The appetizers didn't taste that impressive, the Calamari was unpleasantly rubbery! The Champignon Fritters (fried mushrooms) was just average and the Fish Bites didn't leave any impression in my memory unfortunately. Don't be mistaken, they're all decent, but you may not want to waste the limited space in your tummies and save it for the dessert instead.

Calamari IDR 35,000

Fish Basket IDR 45,000

Fried Mushrooms IDR 25,000

*) Service Charge 5% + PB1 tax 10%. NO reservations accepted. Last admission is 8.30PM.
 
House of Chocolate Magnum
Grand Indonesia Shopping Town
West Mall, 6th Floor
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