Chocolate "Buffet" @ Peninsula

My best friend loves her chocolate and for her upcoming birthday, I'm thinking of taking her to the Peninsula for their "Chocolate At The Pen." It's a dessert buffet that's full of chocolate....and with a chocolate martini, the cost is $35 per person.

Has anyone experienced this? Thoughts?

I did it for a date a couple of years ago. It's nice for the average person to do and the selection of chocolate dishes is quite large. However, if you are your date are looking for a Jacques Torres kind of experience, it's not that.

I agree. It's a beautiful, opulent spread, and if you're treating someone, very impressive. But if you're really into chocolate, you may be disappointed. I went last year with five friends (male and female) to celebrate a birthday. We all agreed the buffet was a fun, decadent thing thing to do, but were disappointed in the actual taste of the offerings, which range from petit fours, tiny cakes and pastries to different kinds of hot chocolate and beautiful bonbons. They all looked fabulous but, for the most part, were strangely lacking in flavor. I made it a point to taste a bit of everything offered 'coz I initially thought it was a fluke, that everything couldn't taste so uninspired. But no, everything was pretty bland and undifferentiated. Everyone at our table commented on it, so it wasn't just me. We did agree that we'd go back though, 'coz it was a fun thing to do.

We went there a year or so ago with a group of friends. I thought that idea was great. The room and music were fun, but the actual quality of the chocolate was lacking (except for the hot chocolate which I liked). One thing to remember is that the price includes a chocolate martini, but not other drinks and drinks at the Pen are expensive (10 bucks and up usually).

Hi friends!

I found out from my colleague today that she and her husband are going to the Peninsula this weekend for a chocolate buffet. I never knew that there's such a thing in Chicago. I've been to one in Boston and found the offering to be quite mixed. Have any of you been to the one at the Peninsula?

maria~

It's been discussed here:

[MODERATOR EDIT: This thread now contains the contents of an earlier thread that was linked here.]

You might want to do a search as there might be other comments already posted.

Its worth trying if you feel you can eat a lot of dessert or just want a semi-inexpensive way of checking out the Peninsula Hotel ambiance. There is live music and the entire experience is great for a date or just a romantic evening.

There is at least a summer and winter version - some desserts are seasonal. I've taken a bunch of pictures and have them on my flickr account, if you want an idea of what you'll be getting, just drop me a note. I wish I knew how to post a picture on here!

You can walk a few feet past the buffet to Avenues and have a far better dessert for less money. I've gone to Avenues just for dessert, sat at the kitchen bar, and had a great time. The staff is very welcoming and you can chat with the chefs a bit. That said, my impression is that some people make a meal out of the chocolate buffet, which you couldn't do with a single dessert from Avenues. Quantity vs. quality, I suppose.

Ok let me try posting a picture!



http://flickr.com/photos/17554153@N00/37927422/ <-- if you click through to the picture, I've actually notated the items and through the tags you can see a lot of other of the desserts.

"Chocolate at the Pen", or the "Chocolate Bar" (the hotel uses both names), is served in the Lobby restaurant on both Friday and Saturday evenings after 8:30 p.m., with mini portions of 30-40 chocolate-based desserts on an all-you-can-eat buffet. The price has gone up, and it's now $32, or $41 including a chocolate martini, according to an e-mail I received from the hotel a few weeks ago.

The desserts on the buffet represent a variety of flavors, tastes, textures; some are more subtle, while others are strong. While not all (or even most) of the 30+ desserts are spectacular, there are enough good ones to satisfy almost any chocolate-lover or dessert-lover, IMHO. I liked it and I'd go back again. But if you are expecting all of them to be world-class, you'll probably be disappointed.

Also, the hot chocolate as part of the chocolate bar is seasonal, and is not served at warmer times of the year.

nxtasy- which ones did you think were spectacular? which ones not so much?

bnowell724 wrote:nsxtasy- which ones did you think were spectacular? which ones not so much?

I honestly don't remember a lot of them. They had mini chocolate pots de creme which were my favorite. I seem to recall liking a white chocolate tapioca pudding. I remember some of them were simple things like cookies and little tea cakes, which didn't bowl me over. They had chocolate covered strawberries, which didn't do much for me, but others might like.

I'll be eating at one of the other restaurants in the Pen on Saturday, so I'll take another look at the Chocolate Bar to refresh my memory.

The e-mail I received from the hotel last month, showing what was coming up for March, said:

“CHOCOLATE AT THE PEN”

Executive Pastry Chef Jimmy MacMillan invites you to Chicago’s premier Chocolate Bar in The Lobby. A new addition to “Chocolate at The Pen,” is monthly themes – this month is “Asian Chocolate.” Items on the Chocolate Bar will feature Asian ingredients such as lemongrass, lychee, panden and dragonfruit. Also included is a selection of petite chocolate delicacies from opera cake to brownie key lime pie and unlimited coffee, cappuccino, espresso, tea or hot chocolate.

EVENT DATES: EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY
TIME: 8:00 PM TO 11:30 PM
PRICE: $32 PER PERSON; $41 WITH CHOCOLATE MARTINI
ENTERTAINMENT: “JAZZ AT THE PEN”

nsxtasy wrote:I'll be eating at one of the other restaurants in the Pen on Saturday, so I'll take another look at the Chocolate Bar to refresh my memory.

I did just that. But many of the desserts had quite a twist for this month, as they did indeed incorporate Asian ingredients into them, as noted in the e-mail from the Pen.

In addition to a few kinds of cookies and tea cakes, and the usual gigantic chocolate-covered strawberries and hot chocolate, here are some of the items I noticed last night:

- jasmine panna cotta on a bed of blood orange

- coconut curry pots de creme

- creme brulee (three kinds - green tea, vanilla, and dark chocolate ginger)

- banana flavored lollipops

They also had 4-5 kinds of molded, filled chocolates (like you would get at a fine chocolate shop). One of them appeared to be the star anise truffles that were served at the end of our dinner and were awesome, comparable to the best artisanal chocolatiers in town.

nsxtasy wrote:The e-mail I received from the hotel last month, showing what was coming up for March, said:

April's theme for the Chocolate Bar has been announced:

“CHOCOLATE AT THE PEN” TAKES YOU TO PARIS

Executive Pastry Chef Jimmy MacMillan invites you to “Chocolate at The Pen,” Chicago’s premier Chocolate Bar in The Lobby. A new addition to the Chocolate Bar is the introduction of a monthly theme. “April in Paris” is the theme for the month of April and items on the Chocolate Bar will reflect this theme with French chocolate ingredients such as Valhrona, Callebeaut and Michel Quizel.

EVENT DATES: EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY
TIME: 8:30 PM TO 11:30 PM
PRICE: $32 PER PERSON; $41 WITH CHOCOLATE MARTINI
ENTERTAINMENT: “JAZZ AT THE PEN”

nsxtasy wrote:such as Valhrona, Callebeaut and Michel Quizel.

Heh, do you suppose they meant Michel Cluizel? If so, oops. I wonder who "corrected" his name..

gleam wrote:Heh, do you suppose they meant Michel Cluizel? If so, oops. I wonder who "corrected" his name..

Heck, they managed to misspell both Valrhona and Callebaut; why should he be immune?

nsxtasy wrote:"Chocolate at the Pen", or the "Chocolate Bar" (the hotel uses both names), is served in the Lobby restaurant on both Friday and Saturday evenings after 8:30 p.m.

Based on the hotel/restaurant's website, it appears that both the days and the hours for the Chocolate Bar have expanded to:

Peninsula website wrote:Thursday - 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Friday and Saturday - 7:00 pm to 12:00 am

I was definitely not impressed with the selections at the chocolate bar.

Having said that, their pricing can be a little ...vague. Whatever they are charging now, $41 pp, is a lot for dessert. "All I can eat" is not nearly enough to justify that price. So I once asked the waitress if we were allowed to share, or just order a few small pieces, rather than an all you can eat.

She said, "Sure, it's $10 for a single plate. Would you like me to make you a plate to share?" (I may be off by a dollar or two on the price.) We did this, and actually picked our own choices, rather than having her do this.

We used to go to the Peninsula for drinks, appetizers and/or desserts more often. But we decided that the drinks weren't made well and the chocolate bar wasn't to our liking either.