Planning a trip to the Philippines? You should also plan your desserts tour. It’s no surprise that the Philippines has some of the best street foods in the world but do they also have some of the best chocolate desserts? If you land in Manila, and you got a sweet tooth, you are in luck because the city houses a few great chocolate dessert places. Get ready to explore the top 7 awesome chocolate dessert places in Manila.
Delicious Chocolate Dessert Places in Manila:
1. Workshop by Le Petit Soufflé
The first stop is Workshop, a bespoke patisserie and bakery by Le Petit Souffle, a restaurant that specializes in French Japanese cuisine. While the restaurant does have its own line of desserts, Workshop offers a whole new selection of mouth-watering desserts. The menu of the bakery includes some of the most delectable chocolate desserts with the highlight being their signature 17-Layer Chocolate Cake.
As the name suggests, the cake is made of 17 layers of rich chocolate cake and smooth chocolate cream that alternate between each other to create an indulgent taste sensation. The bakery uses Valrhona Araguani 72% chocolate for the ganache and 70% Guanaja chocolate for the glaze, both of which would surely satisfy any chocolate lover.
2. Conti’s Cakes
This is one of my top favourite chocolate dessert places in Manila. Not only is Conti’s Cakes a familiar name to any Filipino in Manila but they are also a crowd favourite. The popular bakeshop and restaurant franchise started in the ’90s and has seen expanded to multiple branches all over the Philippines. Not only can you get great cakes from Conti’s, but you can also get delicious meals, including their Baked Slamon and Chicken Pie.
Conti’s signature cake may be their Mango Bravo, but they definitely have not forgotten about the chocolate lovers out there. Some of the chocolate cakes available from Conti’s include the Choco Overload, Chocolate Obsession, and the Almond Choco Sans Rival.
The latter is especially popular and is made with layers of thin wafers coated with chocolate butter icing. The dessert is also topped with roasted almond sticks to give an extra nutty flavour that goes well with the richness of the chocolate.
3. Theo & Brom
Filipinos are always proud of their traditional foods and the people between Theo & Brom have found one great way to honour a childhood favourite – the tsokolate tablea, a dark-chocolate tablet made with dried local cocoa beans and muscovado sugar. The owners of Theo & Brom claim that they have made the world’s first Belgian Tablea by combining the richness of Philippine cacao beans with Belgian chocolate-making expertise to bridging the best of both worlds.
While the company does sell their tablea for the public to make decadent chocolate drinks, they also offer a selection of desserts made with their Belgian tablea. The most popular is something they call the Gooey Ganache Magic Tableya Cake. The dessert is a luscious ganache cake made with their bestselling Tableya Filipina.
You can get a full-size serving of the Gooey Ganache Magic Tableya Cake and share them with your loved ones, or you can get the single, Made-For-Me Size servings. This way, you can have individual portions of the delicious treat at any time. The portion size may be smaller, but they still boast the insanely luxurious and decadent flavours of the original Tableya Cake.
4. Sebastian’s Ice Cream
Cakes are not the only way to satisfy those chocolate cravings. Another great way to get some rich chocolate flavour into your mouth is with ice cream and the menu at Sebastian’s Ice Cream has got you covered. Sebastian’s Ice Cream is known by locals for its creative ice cream flavours and crafty dessert creations but one of their most unique desserts has got to be their Dark Chocolate Decadence ice cream cake.
If you think you’re only getting sweetness from this cake, then you are mistaken because this dessert combines moist chocolate cake and rich dark chocolate ice cream with crunchy pretzels and crisp potato chips. Not sure how the people at Sebastian’s managed to do it but they successfully made a cake that is the perfect balance of salty and sweet.
There is also almond praline and caramel popcorn included in the cake to add more sweetness and crunch. As if the inside of the cake was not packed with enough flavour, the entire cake is then topped with chocolate drizzle, almond praline, chocolate-dipped potato chips, pretzels, and caramel popcorn. There is no wonder why the word decadence in the name of this cake.
5. Sugarbee
Sometimes, it takes true passion to make truly delicious desserts. Sugarbee began a hobby but became a successful business venture that offers freshly baked cakes, cupcakes, and cookies.
The wide range of offerings from the bakery will surely satisfy everyone’s sweet cravings. While the bakery has an entire line of desserts for everyone, the cake that chocolate lovers should get is the salted caramel chocolate cake.
One thing to know about Sugarbee and their cakes is that simple is best. The bakery transforms old-fashioned flavours into modern and original creations. Each bite of their salted caramel chocolate cake is packed with addictive flavour. The moist chocolate cake marries well with the smooth caramel topping.
The flakes of amber-coloured salt that are sprinkle over the caramel provide just enough saltiness to the dessert, creating a mouth-watering and delectable taste. Not only is the cake a treat for the mouth but the simple yet beautiful swirled top is also a feast for the eyes.
6. Half Saints
This is one of the most popular chocolate dessert places in the capital. You know the desserts are going to be heavenly when it comes from a restaurant with a name like Half-Saints. Not only does the restaurant serve great food but the owners are also keen on making a social impact with their culinary creations.
Half Saints has also been featured on ABS-CBN news, in an article that highlights the restaurant and what change they are making with their food. The restaurant owners believe in serving wholesome food and desserts and one of their best-selling desserts is the 64% Dark Chocolate Flower Tartlets with Himalayan Pink Salt.
The tartlets may be small, but they pack a ton of flavour. The luscious 64% dark chocolate filling is made with locally sourced chocolate and pairs wonderfully with the almond sugar crust. The tiny sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt onto every single tartlet helps to bring out the sweetness and add depth to every bite. If you are looking for a bittersweet treat with a hint of saltiness, look no further than at Half Saints.
7. Papa Diddi’s Handcrafted Ice Cream
There is no such thing as too much ice cream, which is why we are recommending yet another ice cream place for all the chocolate lovers out there. Papa Diddi’s is all-natural, and each batch of ice cream is hand-crafted and made with ingredients sourced locally by farmers.
That partnership is what ensures that every single bite of Papa Diddi’s ice cream is wholesome and heartfelt. Not only does the ice cream parlour come with a beautiful story but they also offer some beautiful flavours.
All the ice cream flavours from Papa Diddi’s are inspired by Filipino heritage. As a commitment to only using locally grown and locally harvested produce as their ingredients, the store has developed some incredible flavours that will surely catch the attention of any Filipino.
One of Papa Diddi’s chocolate creations is the Davao Meets Bicol which is an ice cream that is made with Malagos dark chocolate sourced from Davao and Sili, a chilli pepper, from Bicol. While the two seem like an unlikely match, the combination of the two flavours creates an unforgettable taste explosion in your mouth.
