Business & Tech
This Week's Chowdown Showdown is a Piece of Cake
This week, our taster tried chocolate cake from three Lincoln-Way restaurants.
See next week's food challenge at the bottom of this column, comment below and you could receive a $50 gift card to a local restaurant in a random drawing. For more rules and details, see the guidelines.
If you are anything like me, sometimes you just need chocolate. With a cappuccino, a cup of coffee or even a glass of red wine (no, really!), few desserts are as satisfying as a good piece of chocolate cake. For this challenge, I brought all three home to try with coffee and wine to determine the winner.
, Mokena
The chocolate cake at Stoney Point comes drizzled with chocolate syrup and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, but since I was taking the cake home, they (thankfully) put the ice cream on the side, which I ate at the bar right out of the styrofoam cup. The bartender didn't mind—she even offered me my choice of syrups she had behind the bar, which I declined. The ice cream was delicious on its own. The cake is dense, rich, and very good with both coffee and red wine.
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The good: Although this cake was designed by the restaurant to be eaten with vanilla ice cream. it was plenty rich and moist on its own.
The bad: The cake really didn't need the drizzle of chocolate syrup, especially considering how sweet the icing is.
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, Frankfort
Parmesans has a chocolate mousse torte. The cake layers are actually sponge cake with chocolate mousse in between and a dark chocolate glaze. Because the mousse offers a more delicate milk chocolate flavor, this cake doesn't stand up to a red wine but it is remarkably yummy with coffee.
The good: This is the perfect after-dinner treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee. It's delicate and light enough that you don't have to share.
The bad: The icing got hard in the fridge.
, New Lenox
The chocolate cake at Gatto's is a rich monocolored layer cake with gooey chocolate icing between the layers and even mini chocolate chips on the outside. It is eerily similar to the Chocolate Wave Cake served at Red Lobster (might they have the same vendor?) This is an "everyone grab a fork and get your chocolate fix on" kind of cake, not an "oh my stars, this cake is so yummy!" kind of cake.
The good: Stands up well to red wine and coffee. In fact, both beverages improve this cake.
The bad: This is an all-purpose, shareable chocolate cake with nothing really wrong with it but nothing really special about it, either.
THE WINNER: Stoney Point Grill. Their chocolate cake is rich, yummy with both coffee and red wine, and is the one of the three that I'm most likely to order again. Also, keep in mind all of Stoney Point's desserts come in mini sizes and they even offer a threesome—three minis for the prize of one standard sized dessert. I'm dying to try the pumpkin carrot cake.
Looking for local eats? Do you disagree with our taster? Head over to your local Patch Places food and dining directory. Find new spots, read reviews and even post a your own reviews on the profile pages.
Next week, we are tasting fried chicken. Who has the best fried chicken in Lincoln Way? To find out more about these restaurants, check out our Patch Places business directories in Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox.
