I remember 4 years ago, there was only one Cacao70. The original one. On Ste-Catherine, between Atwater and Guy. It was packed and there was long waiting line. Fast forward, now there is one in every popular corner of Montreal: Quartier Latin, Parc and Mont-Royal (I just checked their site and it seems like there are some in Quebec city and even Ontario).

It has become a phenomenal franchise.

Yay for convenience and no more crazy waiting line! It can’t be all positive, can it?

I thought cacao70 was somewhere special to be. A sweetness heaven to be. It differentiates itself very well from the well known Juliette et Chocolate. But having in so many locations really hurt its charm. My latest visit supports my doubts.

The menu is no longer like 4 years ago. This time, I really wanted to try something different in the hopes that Cacao70 could amaze me and clear all doubts.

I wanted their waffles remembering how tasty they were, but the pizza with ricotta cheese and nutella piqued my curiosity (mostly the ricotta cheese). I had asked if they could serve it on a waffle instead. The answer was no. I still don’t understand how difficult it is to put the ricotta cheese and nutella on the waffle instead on a pizza. Hey, I didn’t want to be a difficult customer.

Mr.Butter’s order arrived first and it looked glamorous! Strawberry cheesecake crepe on a giant plate. The plating was bold. The crepe looked delicious and was delicious. It was literally strawberry cheese smashed into a spread then put on the crepe.

And then my order came. I was dead silent. “This is it?”, I thought. Yes, it sadly was. It was one sad pitiful plate. Plating skills play a big important in the gastronomy world, especially when it comes to desserts. A little bit of powdered sugar could be the solution. Oh well. I took a bite and it was exactly what it was. No surprise. It was nutella, ricotta cheese and a pizza crust. It wasn’t bad, but I expected more from Cacao70. It really tasted something right out from my home. A toasted bread would actually be better than the pizza crust.

I even tried my best to take a nice picture, but no angle could save it.

I do not want to say Cacao70 lost its touch, but it definitely lost its uniqueness. The strawberry cheesecake crepe was remarkable and any cheesecake lover would enjoy it.

Zuuchini