Max Brenner

I’m naturally not a huge fan of Max Brenner because I’m not w chocoholic but this is always a great place for a evening catchup. Located in the outdoor piazza, there’s great vibes which means the place can become really packed. Worth trying their seasonal specials every now and then.

The chocolate drinks at Max Brenner are great. They have become a huge chain now so it is a bit less «cool» but I can’t avoid some chocolatey goodness.
There is heaps of seating inside and also outside they have some nice seating outside near the piazza fountains.
I haven’t tried the food, just doesn’t appeal to me and feels a bit pricey. Although a kid next to me had a pizza with melted chocolate as the base and marshmallows on top, it looked pretty awesome.

I had the chocolate brownie which was delicious but asked for a large warm sot latte. The had no large cups left at 6:30pm and had to have a take away cup.
The coffee was hot and not warm so they have no idea what a warm coffee is. At least it wasn’t burnt. The brownie though came out on a dirty plate. It looked like someone had chocolate fingers and held the corner of the plate and made it filthy.
You would think they would have washed their cups for the dinner rush. At least the place is kept clean unlike Krispy Kreme’s which prides itself of having a filthy dining room.

This is the second chain I have come across so far on my first week in Sydney and decided to give it a try.
Ordered the Bubble gum milkshake and Love nest. Was given an order number that you placed on the table after paying for the items that I ordered.
Love nest caught my eye at the register counter as I spotted marshmallows on top of it. It is also limited edition kind of item and that made me want to try it more. It is actually pretzel as a base with drizzles of white and milk chocolate and topped off with both marshmallows and gummy bears. The pretzel was crunchy and was perfect when both the salted taste combined with the sweet taste of different toppings. It was a little sweet and would be better if there are at least one more person trying this out.
The bubblegum milkshake was quite sweet for my taste. I would probably go for a chocolate milkshake the next time I drop by to compare the taste. For this beverage, it came in an Alice cold cup and it was quite good for its price.
The store’s interior design is more modern — using dark colored woods to blend in the furnitures and the walls. Some of the sitting areas has brighter lightings which could irritate your eyes.
On the back end of the store, there is a shop where you could get chocolate related items or even drink wares. While chowing down my «dessert», I also noticed that there are a few ladies who brought babies here during feedings. It is definitely a nice environment to chill and drink cold beverages during the summer.

This place has been my haven for an extremely long time! Whether is was after school or just because I can, my friends and I often frequent max brenners! I have to say that every dessert I’ve tried has definitely delivered!
A few of my favourites (because if I told you about each one, I would ruin the surprise and write an essay!)
— Chocolate Dip — strawberries and chocolate? Simple, yes, boring, NO! Generous pot of milk chocolate which overflows onto the surrounding strawberries when you dip your first one in!
— Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae — Heaping scoops of rich, velvety ice cream teamed with nuts, extra fudgy melted chocolate and warm brownie chunks scattered throughout — rain or shine, I will eat me one any day!
— Tutti Frutti Waffles — Sweet, slightly chewy soft waffles drizzled in milk chocolate and topped generously with fruit — how can you go wrong?
One thing I will say: expect your order to be a little messed up during peak time — some times I have been there say 8pm Friday night, my hot chocolate has been cold, or my order has even wrong — definitely could improve in efficiency!

When I first arrived in Australia, this was my favourite dessert place. Over time, our palettes evolve and nowadays all I see is flaws.
With their success, they have become complacent menu-​wise and this branch specifically is severely understaffed; on Urbanspoon most of the complaints are about serving time so its not just me.
Menu
No one can argue that their pure chocolate is very good indeed. The negatives are that their menu is getting dated and losing their appeal not just because waffles and chocolate souffles are getting old but the preparation of the dishes is not up to standard. Even Maccas have switched to a made to order system, at Max Brenner most of the bases for the chocolate dishes are pre-​made and stored for long periods of time. The final step being to pour the molten chocolate on top. Sure, of course the chocolate is good, but you just wished that that waffles were hot and freshly-​made and the chocolate soufflé would be an actual soufflé instead of a sponge cake with a chocolate botox injection.
Specials
In a bid to revitalise their offerings, they came up with some specials.
I ordered the Dark Chocolate Peppermint Forest Sundae.
Basically there’s nothing special in it: chocolate ice cream, melted chocolate and chocolate biscuit balls feature on their original menu already. What’s new? the crumbled Nestle Peppermint Crisp on top. Again the best part of the dessert was the melted chocolate but did not finish it as the rest of it was getting too sickening.
Waiting time
So the menu is barely made to order? what takes them so long? My thoughts are that they are either understaffed or they need new employees.
Conclusion
Everybody’s expectations are growing day-​by-​day. Time will tell how long their pre-​made menu will keep their customers happy. The bald man lost all his hair and the same is happening to his creativity with that shocking sundae above.
@thesydneynoob

Great choc waffles with extra lick don’t both with ice cream. Service is pretty meh but the chocolate is worth it!

It’s always been a win every time we come here. It’s my go to place whenever I’m craving good quality chocolate.
[ Atmosphere ]
It’s quite spacious inside. Although on a busy night it can seem really cramped. The décor is really hip, trendy, eye-​catching, and paints a great place to just hang out. There’s seating both inside and outside, and there are a lot of gift items on display in the back of the store for you to purchase.
[ Menu ]
— The hot chocolate is a must try. Thick, creamy, although really sweet, it’s still SO good and worth the sugar high. You can always ask for water (which is free) to give your taste buds a break.
— The belgian waffle is incredible. Seriously, you must get the waffle with ice-​cream and side of fruit, it’s too good to miss out on!
— The chocolate pizza wasn’t great. I thought the toppings were a bit childish (pecans, corn flakes, marshmallows, and white chocolate bits) and felt like they could do much better on the variety of toppings they chose. Why the corn flakes? I just didn’t think any of the toppings went well together, and honestly wouldn’t get that it again unless they decided to do something new with it.
— The chocolate fondue for 2. This is a must! It’s delicious. Fresh strawberries, banana bread, and marshmallows. Also, it’s great that they give you both dark and milk chocolate.
— Yellow Granita. I really enjoyed this. The lemon and mint were real refreshing, and it was a nice to have something different on my palette other than chocolate.
[ Service ]
All the staff are friendly, on days when it’s packed, they try their best to serve you as best they can and you can tell. It’s not easy running around with so many people squeezed in the place. The staff bring out your orders for you and will check up on you from time to time to clear the table (depending on how busy it is).
Overall this is my favorite dessert place! My sweet tooth would like to give a massive thanks to the bald man who created it all =)

I didn’t realise how famous Max Brenner was until I received an email introducing a new colleague from the India office who answered the question «what are you excited about doing in Sydney?» with «going to see the bald man».
FOOD
On this particular visit to the Castle Towers branch we ordered a Tutti-​Frutti Waffle ($ 18.50), Chocolate Soufflé ($ 10) and Dark Thick Italian Hot Chocolate ($ 6).
Nothing beats the Belgian waffles which taste as good as the ones I’ve had in Belgian. The waffles are a MUST!
I’d always been intrigued by the Chocolate Soufflé as the tag line is that it’s Max’s «signature delight with a warm melted centre». The thought of chocolate oozing from the middle of the soufflé just sounded too good for a chocoholic like myself. Unfortunately it was a little too good to be true and didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. I guess it’s probably because I love heavy rich chocolate, like mudcake, so the fluffiness of the soufflé just didn’t satisfy me the way I wanted it to.
Speaking of my love for heavy rich chocolate I cannot go past the dark thick Italian hot chocolate to wash down my dessert with. The thickness of the drink is AMAZING! Once you’ve had it you can’t go back to normal hot chocolate without wishing you were drinking a thick hot chocolate instead. So I normally prefer to eat milk chocolate but when it comes to chocolate drinks I feel dark is always the way to go. The milk dark Italian hot chocolate can become too sweet when you get half way. Don’t even bother going for the white chocolate unless you want to become diabetic. I’ve made the mistake of ordering the white chocolate chai thinking ooo I love chai. ooo I love white chocolate, only to end up being so high on sugar I couldn’t function for the rest of the afternoon. I love how all the hot chocolates come in the cute hug mugs! They give you such a warm cosy feeling when your sipping away at them. Drinking through the narrow end also means your automatically paced to slowly enjoy the drink.
SERVICE
Service has never been too shabby but the place is always so busy that I’m sure the waitstaff must have some bad experiences with customers. Fingers crossed it continues to stay positive for me
VERDICT
I’m a tutti-​frutti lover and proud!!!
SIDE NOTE
Whilst writing this a feeling of curiosity came over me. Was Max Brenner real and is he actually bald? Turns out Max Fichtman and Oded Brenner (who is the bald man!!!), the founders, just combined their names. Good thing they didn’t call it Oded Fichtman or I might have a tougher time remembering it.

You would think that a shop selling nothing but chocolate would be heaven. All that rich dark chocolate made into drinks and cakes — it used to be said that death by chocolate was the way to go. However, at the Castle Hill location even heavenly chocolate can’t help the staff.
The first time I went in with a friend we ordered hot chocolates — dark for me and milk for her. When the order finally arrived 15 minutes later (they weren’t busy, it was during the day and during the week). She went to every table in our vicinity except ours asking if the people had ordered the drinks. I finally called out that they were ours — I didn’t know if they were but it seemed obvious as we were the only people waiting.
The second time I was with another friend on a Saturday night. I must admit they were a little bit busier but we managed to get there just before the movies let out another couple of hundred people.
We ordered two dark chocolates, a chocolate brownie and chocolate pancakes.
I had asked for a tiramisu but was told I couldn’t have it as they were frozen solid. Why were they then in the display case?
We sat outside because there were no tables inside except for dirty ones that people had piled high with mess. It was a lovely night so we were very comfortable, it was winter but it didn’t matter that we were outdoors.
After some considerable delay the drinks arrived, they were cold. We caught the attention of a waitress and she took them back. We were then served with our cakes. Mine had been completely ruined by being covered in liquid chocolate that I hadn’t asked for and wasn’t listed on the menu board.
My friend got stuck into the pancakes. Our drinks hadn’t returned.
My friend finished the pancakes and we sat waiting and waiting and waiting.
We had to catch a waitress’s attention and ask for them. They finally arrived five minutes later… they were the same ones we sent back and they were still cold. We gave up. As you pay before you get anything we didn’t feel like going in and battling through the hordes trying to get a refund, we just left. I wasn’t fussy, I didn’t whinge, I had a genuine grievance. They’ve lost a customer.