Decent option on the upper level of Borough Market offering a pleasant vantage point of the market from the terrace serving purely chocolate dishes
Mixed emotions on this restaurant based on this opening visit. Rabot 1745 stems from the Hotel Chololat empire and is a unique restaurant in that every menu whether tea, starters or mains has some form of chocolate in every dish. So this is definitely fun but the headline I did leave feeling shortchanged for the overall package on this visit which was for aftternoon tea only.
It was very pleasant to have high tea overlooking Borough Market which was explored afterwards and this is undeniably a nice change of scene. The sandwiches including banana and chocolate, cocoa gin-cured salmon and avacado and beef with white chocolate horseraddish were all pleasant to have but the reality is I did not get any wow moments or really feel the punch of the ingredients. There was obviously real care that had gone in to the design of this menu and the mini carrot cupcakes were about as good as they ever can be with a wonderful sugared cream on top with mini marzipan carrots, but ultimately the flavour show simmered at nice. The chocolate mousse that was homemade to go with the orange and chocolate mini scones was very light and had lovely texture but, was a little like the iced hot chocolate drink in that it was mainly creamy with a hint of ‘chocolateyness’ rather than the other way round.
The other main aspect that hit me on this package was that although the cake stand was very lovely, I did have to pinch myself that such a small amount was to share between two – without the glass of prosecco (which was a reasonable £5 each), the single sandwich and cake stand you see was £20 each (including a hot drink). As nice as it was I think this was a bit too much for what was offered and a simple top up of the same (which could have easily been done) would have made the bill easily £100 minimum. I would argue that the rate of return for high tea at the Lanesborough or the Savoy would make you feel more comfortable going to this ball park price for afternoon tea.
Still, it was a pleasant option no doubt and I feel it almost my duty to go back and try some of the savoury options to see how these pan out with the added elements of cocoa in every dish. The terrace is still a lovely place to grab a coffee so, in the unlikley event they have a spare seat, it’s nice to know a very pleasant option to grab a hot chocolate with someone if needed – and this would most certainly include the salted caramel hot chocolate again which was very good and consumed rapidly.
Food Grade: 53%
My hobby-turned-passion began to evolve during my assignments to London where I was fortunate enough to be able to explore all the Michelin starred restaurants in my spare time and as a result, I gradually built up a catalogue of all these venues.
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