Chocolate Dreams at Marco Polo Plaza Cebu

Have you ever dreamed of indulging in a meal where every single course served is infused with chocolate? For chocoholics, it’s definitely a yes!

Satisfy your chocolate cravings with Marco Polo Plaza Cebu’s Tout Chocolat, a six-course dinner served every Friday beginning July 17 to December 31, 2015 at the hotel’s penthouse restaurant, Blu Bar & Grill. Coined from the French phrase tout chocolat, which means “all chocolates,” the menu features creative dishes that feature chocolates as an ingredient, from amuse bouche down to dessert.

Chef Stefano Verrillo

Marco Polo Plaza Cebu’s culinary team, led by the executive chef Stefano Verrillo, perfected Tout Chocolat’s menu. “Chocolates have been around for a long time. Whilst chocolate is an ingredient commonly used in desserts, it is also a viable element that can be infused in savoury dishes. With Tout Chocolat, we use a significant amount of chocolate in every single course. Who would imagine adding each course from starter to the last dish with chocolate, in such delicate fashion so as not to overpower the dish,” says the executive chef Stefano Verrillo.

The six-course menu starts with a beautifully plated amuse bouche enough to tease your taste buds and prepare your senses for the feast ahead.

Beef and chocolate consommé

Delectable appetisers are on offer such as the duck leg confit with chocolate vanilla butter and orange compote; table-smoked seafood with balsamic chocolate dressing; beef and tuna tataki with pickled greens and chocolate soil; and foie gras, banana chutney, cassis brioche and chocolate sauce. Add to that, three rich soups such as the truffle-infused porcini crema with cocoa nibs and praline; beef and chocolate consommé with fruit pearls; and tomato essence with white chocolate grissini, all crafted to warm up your appetite.

To cleanse the palate before moving on to the main course, a luscious intermezzo of chocolate sorbet and raspberry espuma is served on a carved cube of ice. The presentation itself is an eye candy!

For the main course, the succulent smothered beef short ribs with mole, squash mousseline, ginger and potato straw is stellar, whilst the pan-fried grouper fillet served with antipasti vegetables, sweet potato, and drizzled with cocoa hollandaise is a lighter choice. 

Chocolate calzones

Capping the chocolate-themed dinner are sinful desserts, an option between chocolate calzone with goat cheese ice cream, mango proof and tablea soil; or the intriguing
ice parfait with cracked chocolate crisp called “Rocks at the Blu.” “Normally when you eat, you don’t eat with your eyes but you’re looking for the element of surprise. Rocks at the Blu is a dessert full of mystery. It took us two months to perfect it—the shape, the consistency, the element of surprise inside,” he shares.

Rocks at the Blu

Each dish is also served with a chocolate cocktail or wine particularly selected to complement the flavours of the dishes. The cocktail selection includes Marco Polo Plaza Cebu’s signature tsokolate martini, vanilla espuma de cacao cocktail, flambé chocolat chaud. Complementing the scrumptious smothered beef short ribs is a glass of Greg Norman Shiraz, Paso Robles California, whilst the pan-fried grouper fillet is best paired with Alexander’s Field Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc, Margaret River.

The dishes in Tout Chocolat were created with the high-quality tablea of The Chocolate Chamber—a local company known for its rich heirloom chocolate-making tradition, started by no less than Cebu’s iconic chocolatier, Raquel Choa.

Tout Chocolat will be available at the Blu Bar and Grill every Friday at Php 2,500+ per person. At 1,000 feet high and a breathtaking view of the cityscape, indulge in this unique gastronomic experience and let your chocolate dreams become real.

For inquiries and reservations, call 253-111. You may also email at mpplaza@marcopolohotels.com. For more details, visit the website at www.marcopoloplazacebu.com. For real time updates, like the Facebook page at facebook.com/marcopolocebu or follow on Twitter at @5StarInCebu.