Hotel Tivoli and Cocolat

Hi everyone!

My sister's sweet 16th was a few weeks ago and today, we spent the night out celebrating with her friends. Our first stop of the night was Hotel Tivoli, located on Pirie Street, where we dined in the restaurant.

Our table

VERY dimmed lighting! But this created quite a nice atmosphere, probably well suited for dates.

The bar. I'm in love with the elegant caged lantern!

I loved the decor of the restaurant. There was a gorgeous gold and charcoal wallpaper, draped curtains, very dimmed lights and dark wooden tables and chairs. 

I had a tough time deciding what I wanted to eat because to be honest, nothing sounded too appetising. I ended up choosing the Turkish Spiced Lamb, as I have been a little obsessed with lamb salads lately! 

Turkish Spiced Lamb $21

We also ended up ordering chilli fries and rocket salads as sides. I didn't get a photo of the salads because everyone had already dug in before I had the chance to pull out my phone!

Chilli Fries $9

Other dishes ordered down my end of the table were Crunchy Fried Lemon Pepper Squid, Tivoli Burger, Chinatown Duck, Golden Spiced Free Range Chicken Breast and Wild Mushroom & Goats Cheese Gozleme.

Firstly, with my dish, I was a little disappointed in the presentation. Honestly, it looked very unappetising. As the saying goes, we eat with our eyes, so I was unimpressed with the lack of colour from all the different elements. I was expecting more greens, but there was also a lack of salad. The menu description listed a herb and grain salad, but on the plate, this was the quinoa and minimal herbs served on top of the meat. The lamb was only reasonable. Some portions were perfectly cooked, whereas others were so raw I didn't even want to touch it. However, I was extremely impressed with the smokey eggplant puree which went very well with the flavour of the meat.

Everyone else enjoyed their meals, but there was nothing too spectacular about any of them. I heard comments that the burger was tasty and that the Chinatown Duck was way too smokey, but the duck meat was very well cooked. The chilli fries were shocking (in a bad way!). The fries weren't crunchy enough and the dipping sauce was terrible- it tasted like badly seasoned mayonnaise!

The staff who waited on us were very nice, friendly and attentive making our dinner rather enjoyable.

Hotel Tivoli only provided a place for us to get some food in our bellies! From what I saw and heard, there weren't any memorable dishes, so I don't think any of us will be visiting again any time soon.
Overall, 7/10.

We decided to pass on dessert at Hotel Tivoli and decided to go for a wander down to Rundle Street. Our original plan was to visit San Churro, but I talked everyone out of it due to my experiences there. Also, the line of people waiting was too long and we didn't want to be waiting outside in the cold! Instead, we decided on the next closest place: Cocolat!

The gelati looked amazing but it was way too cold!

Lemon and pistachio macarons $2.95 each

The WORST macarons I have ever had. Now, I'm fussy with my macarons, but these were pretty darn terrible. They were rock hard, the shells were lacking in flavour and crumbling all over the place! The filling was also disappointing. 

White hot chocolate in a mug $6.30

This was SO delicious! Perfect amount of chocolate-y goodness, not too overwhelmingly sweet and not too thick. I savoured every single drop of it!

Cocolat hot chocolate (small) $4.50

Just what a hot chocolate should be; warm, chocolatey and not too thick.

Chilli hot chocolate in a mug $6.30

I've saved the best for last! This was incredible. I was talking to a friend about how neither of us had ever had the courage to try chilli hot chocolate, so she decided to give it a go! I had a sip and it was delicious. I wasn't too sure what I was expecting, but this is way better than what I thought it would be. Sipping it gives you the warm, delicious hot chocolate taste before the spice kicks in as you swallow it, tickling your throat! Sounds odd, but that's how I can best describe it. I definitely recommend it!

Cocolat is one of those great places for a quick sweet fix and I love it for their delicious drinks!

Another place I would recommend. Just be sure to avoid the macarons! 

Overall, 8/10 (points deducted this time round due to the horrible macarons).