Dulcinea Chocolate Cafe
1118 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC
Dulcinea, ah… With a name like that, I can’t help myself say En un lugar de la Mancha de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme…. While I enjoyed reading THAT book, this blog is not about books but about food. Dulcinea Chocolate Cafe is another addition to the the West End coffee shops but, as the name suggests, in addition to coffee, the other selling point – or probably the main selling point – is chocolate.
While the picture was taken during the day, I visited it in an evening.
The width of the storefront would hint it is a small place; however, that’s not the case. In fact, on another night (a night I dropped by Qoola, right next to it), they were having a gathering of sorts and I could easily see over 15 people comfortably seated there.
During my visit, they were playing Latin (as in Latin American) music. In my case, despite living there for ages, I don’t particularly like to listen to it. Fortunately, they were not playing it too loudly and it was manageable. But, just in case, caveat emptor!
Now, the food – or drink in this case. I had a chocolate serving called 1528. For $2, I got this:
Yes, indeed it was a really small serving (think the size of a good expresso shot). However, it had a really thick rich consistency. OK, let me try again: this is not your milk chocolate-y drink; in fact, the consistency was so thick I won’t necessarily call it a drink! So, if it is not really a drink, what can I use it for? How about to dunk some pastries? And for this purpose, I had a torreja.
Torreja is a form of bread pudding. In this case, it had pieces of apple and some cinnamon on top. It was sweet but the slight bitterness of the chocolate managed to balance it.
Overall, I must say I like this place. Ambiance was interesting, what I had was great, which entices me to come back. Next time, probably will go for another type of drink. Hey, I might even go for one of their t-shirts (they have for sale), like the one that says “Drop the chocolate and nobody gets hurt!”.
Oh, about the name… Dulcinea is the “true love” of Alonso Quixano, the main character of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra best known (and probably the best known Spanish) work, El Ingenio Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. XD
On a final note, I mentioned I visited this place on an evening. Just before I was there, I stopped by English Bay and took this picture (click on it for a larger version – will open in a new window). Enjoy!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve always liked the name Dulcinea… even considering it as a baby name, although I don’t foresee babies in the near future. ;D
mm
Bread and butter pud with hot chocolate, that sounds so nice now…
Yumm yumm!
You are correct about the dunking into the chocolates. Latin Americans usually dunk churros or sweet pastries into their chocolate drinks (I don’t know if you call that a drink LOL). Oh man, I want to go there and try their chocolate yummies!
Thick hot chocolate. Cold winter. Perfect choice.
there is Dulcinea Desde 1963 in the Philippines. has 12 Stores all over manila and iloilo. hmmm…
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