Hawai‘i Chocolate: 10 Delicious Chocolate Desserts You Must Try On O‘ahu
Yummy chocolate desserts that you can get at these O‘ahu eateries.
Onopop Fudgesicles, Left to right: Mexican Chocolate, Dark-chocolate Chinese Five Spice, and Cacao Nibs and Caramel.
Photos: Steve Czerniak
onopops fudgesicles
This is the fudgesicle all grown up. Onopops crafts a variety of choco-pops, seen here. Our favorite: the dark chocolate five-spice, which features Waialua Estate dark chocolate. A touch of cream rounds out the flavor, and the addition of licorice-scented star anise and slightly savory Chinese five spice warms the tongue.
Mocha Chantilly Cake
at ‘Ama ‘Ama
A seemingly simple, spongy cake with a layer of macadamia-nut brittle on top cracks away to reveal chocolate mousse with a goopy coffee-anglaise center, served with little blobs of jellylike coffee kanten, fresh fruit and a scoop of chocolate gelato.
92-1185 Ali‘inui Drive, at Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa, Kapolei, 674-6330
Very Decadent Cake
at Stage Restaurant
This dish is more ganache than cake, perfect for those who love to eat frosting straight out of the bowl. Popcorn ice cream and slices of fruit mellow out the Nutella powder, swirl of fleur de sel caramel sauce and “chocolate salt,” and the dark-chocolate cake has hints of coffee in it.
1250 Kapi‘olani Blvd., second floor, Honolulu Design Center, 237-5429
Waialua Chocolate “Crunch Bars”
at Alan Wong’s
More like Kit Kat than Crunch bars, these airy wafers combine silky smooth milk chocolate and bittersweet-chocolate mousse in a dish our teeth sank right through, until we got to the pleasantly crispy macadamia-nut layer. The salted-caramel truffle, ice cream and chocolate cookies are just added bonuses.
1857 S. King St., third floor, 949-2526
Mama Miya’s Chocolate Cake
at ‘Aiea Bowl
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This stately cake captivates with a thick, utterly smooth chocolate ganache, blanketing three layers of soft, fluffy cake and chocolate cream. Whenever we’re celebrating a birthday, or, really, anytime we just want chocolate cake, we head here.
99-115 ‘Aiea Heights Drive, at ‘Aiea Shopping Center, 488-6854
Liliko‘i & Chocolate Bar
at Orchids
Coconut ice cream and three forms of liliko‘i (as a buttery layer in the middle of the bar, strips of gelée and syrupy dots on the plate) elevate this smooth bar of chocolate mousse to a tropical dessert with more depth than most. With a thin mac-nut-powder crust and whole nuts on the side, this dessert is the perfect combination of sweet, salty and fruity, without being too heavy.
2199 Kālia Road, at Halekūlani, 923-2311
MW Candy Bar
at MW Restaurant
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Layers of mac-nut praline and Hawaiian salt caramel are topped with a slab of Waialua chocolate in the adult candy bar of our dreams. The classic flavor combo is thick, chewy and rich without being overly sweet. When we went, the two bars came with a scoop of black-sesame ice cream and a caramel truffle filled with black truffle and rolled in cocoa powder.
1538 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Suite 107, 955-6505
Melting Hot Dark-Chocolate Soufflé
at Roy’s
Roy’s encourages you to order its most popular dessert at the same time as your entrée so you won’t have to wait an extra 20 minutes for it to bake after dinner. Is this a ploy to make you commit to the flourless cake with a dark-chocolate, oozing center before you get too full? Maybe. And yet, somehow, we always have room for molten chocolate.
Multiple locations
Chocolate Shiso
at Morimoto Waikīkī
A schmear of toasted honey marshmallow, smoky and warm, lies beneath rounds of dark chocolate cake, a perfect cylinder of mousse adorned with crunchy shiso rocks, and a few dollops of the creamiest chocolate we could ever ask for. On the side, a second, minty marshmallow and mint ice cream round out this satisfying dish.
1775 Ala Moana Blvd., at The Modern Honolulu, 943-5900
Chocolate CrÉmeux Semifreddo
at Top of Waikīkī
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This mouthful of fancypants words translates into a mouthful of awesome ice-cream cake. A cocoa semifreddo (similar to ice cream) is layered with a lush milk chocolate crémeux (somewhere between a pudding and mousse). Sheets of solid dark chocolate in between add a textural and pleasantly bitter contrast. Chocolate ice cream and pudding and dark chocolate? It’s all our favorite forms of chocolate in one perfect slice.
2270 Kalākaua Ave., 18th floor, 923-3877
This story is part of The Everything Guide to Local Chocolate in our December 2015 issue. Click here for more.
