Our Trip to Chocolate by the Bald Man

This past weekend, Wife persuaded me to come out of my cave in the library for dinner with some friends at a notable NYC establishment: Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man. This place has been on our "must try" list since we moved here, but we never found an excuse to go until some friends invited us to join them.

"Chocolate by the Bald Man" is just what it sounds like - absolute utopia for chocolate lovers. When I entered, I felt like I was standing in the middle of a grown-up's version of Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory. If you can imagine a chocolate dish, whether it be milk, dark, or white chocolate, "Max Brenner" probably serves it up (actually, Max Brenner, the face of Chocolate by the Bald Man" is a purely fictional character, albeit based upon the real owners).

Wife and I attempted to stop in here back in December to try a dessert, but we popped in and it was so terribly crowded, that we shook our heads and walked away (homeboy don't do 90-minute waits). On this visit, the wait was a much more manageable 15 minutes. To make the time fly, we were able to enjoy good conversation with our friends, although the ambiance is so loud and hectic, talking was rather difficult.

When we finally got seated, our hostess handed us each two menus: a thin menu with the food selection and a thick one with the dessert listings. Wife told me I couldn't jump straight to dessert, so I chose a crepe as my pre-dessert obligation while Wife chose pasta.

After the preliminaries were out of the way, we got down to business. After much discussion, Wife and I decided to get the "Chocolate Pizza for Two." It was very good, though I doubt I would order it again.

Since I am clearly a fine dining authority, I will offer my evaluation of the restaurant:

* Service: 5/10. UPDATE: Wife would like to "correct" this score to 2/10.

If you look up reviews online, you will see frequent criticisms of the service: those criticism's are justified. Here are a few of the oddities that we experienced: first, the waitress spilled water all over Wife while trying to refill her glass. The server's response: an annoyed, "Sorry 'bout that," before rushing off as if it were nothing. 2) Server began to set a dessert plate in front of us, when she noticed it was dirty and quickly snatched it up. The server than stood next to us, dipped a napkin into a pitcher of water, cleaned off the dirt, and handed the plate back to us. 3) I really don't think a manager should need to get involved in order to pay with two different credit cards, particularly, when we tell the waitress before ordering that is how we pay (and we are told, "Oh, no problem"). Since the service has such an atrocious reputation, I can't help but wonder if they keep it up intentionally.


* Food (non-dessert): 8/10.

Mex Brenner's is not known for their food; they are known for their desserts. With that said, I thought our food was very good (not spectacular, but very good).


* Dessert: 9/10.

What? I'm not giving them a 10??? Yeah, I know - I'll hear about this. I think that most of the desserts on the menu do deserve a 10. But, honestly, I was rather disappointed with our chocolate pizza. The crust was a bit thick, drowning out the taste of the chocolate; and I also thought they skimped a bit on the toppings.

This is definitely a restaurant that I want to try again someday. Next time, I think our plan will be to go just for dessert and then to order something other than chocolate pizza. Someday, I would like to go there and try to "Chocolate fondue for two," which has milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and caramel. Maybe next time.