Bracegirdle’s House of Fine Chocolate

Finding somewhere for lunch in McLaren Vale at 2.30pm on a Thursday brought us to this wonderful restaurant.
The food was fabulous and if you are feeling really decadent then I highly recommend the Mudslide for dessert. But be warned that it is definitely a two person dessert.
A great place to spend the last hours of our time in the area.

Out for a fairly long ride to McLaren Vale from Marion. So getting close to lunchtime and my usual place for getting a milkshake is closed on Wednesdays!
I bike up and down the main street looking for somewhere to replenish my carbohydrate stores. A bakery or two and few coffee houses etc, but nothing that appeals. Then I came across Bracegirdles. I have been to their fine establishment in Glenelg once or twice but only ever had drinks. Being famished I wanted a bit more (even if it was only a little bit more)!
They have a nice eat in area but seeing as it was a particularly fine day, I decided to eat outside under the shade of a tree.
I ordered a hot chocolate and a «Bracegirdles Brownie». The brownie was a fair size for a brownie and knowing the calorie count for brownies in general, I knew I was getting bang for my buck. I only expected it to come out as a brownie but it was lovingly decorated with a sliced strawberry, some cream and drizzled chocolate (check out the pic! My first!)
I was in brownie heaven. I have tried making brownies before but nothing compared to these! The crunchy outside and the soft /​gooey like inside.
You could hear the traffic going past but it was not a big distraction. Cost as always with Bracegirdles (and acknowledging the fact that I still think I am living in the 80s) was a little high, but well worth it to replenish my depleted stores of energy.
A little while later I was on my bike for the ride back, with thankfully for my heavy belly, a southerly to help me get there!

Can’t go wrong with chocolate!!! Beautiful little café on the main st of McLaren Vale. Great extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Something for everyone.

We came in for breakfast on a Sunday around 10:30am… The place was busy but we were able to get a table for two (I loved the way they had signs on each table with a reservation name and time, so you knew when you needed to give up the table!!). Breakfasts were fantastic!!! Big serve, well cooked… Delicious!!! Our coffees were a large cappuccino and a large soy mocha with dark choc. They were ok, but not what we’re used to drinking, thus why not 5÷5… Will definitely be back.

If you are looking for a caffeine and/​or sugar fix, then this is the place to visit in between some wine tasting in McLaren Vale. There are indoor and outdoor seats which can accommodate larger groups of about 8. As one would expect, there are chocolate bars and also more delicate chocolate truffles sold here, as well as desserts and meals. It was a cold and rainy day when we visited, so we were there for hot drinks and some sweet treats and were not disappointed. The mocha had a good chocolatey flavour but was a touch too sweet for my taste and had more choc than coffee (I’m am being a bit picky!).
If you visit on a warm day, the outdoor seats would be lovely and a wooden cubby house out the front would keep the kids occupied. Babyccinnos came with marshmallows and mini gingerbread man.

Ordered a hot chocolate and a mocha. Was waiting for over 30 minutes until we went up and politely asked about the status of our order. Fairly certain the order was lost, as it only took a few minutes after that. The drinks were disappointingly lukewarm. Mistakes happen, but it didn’t help that staff were relatively distant and the prices are very expensive.
That all said, its hard to stay mad at a place that has such excellent chocolate drinks. Just don’t go if you’re in a rush for any reason.

It would be hard to be disappointed with award winning chocolate and we weren’t — with the chocolate anyway.
The service was a little clunky, the atmosphere noisy and the décor could do with a little tweaking, but the desserts were delicious!
Chocolate mousse — light fluffy, smooth, chocolatey. Yum!
Coffee was ok and there was a long delay between ordering and receiving it and of course your expectations increase with every additional over waited minute resulting in enhanced disappointment.
We left with a few take-​away truffles just to sweeten the chocolate side of the experience.
Maybe next time we will just get take-​away.

This would be a 4 star venue for me, except that the waiting times are L O N G … so don’t be in a hurry to get your caffeine/​coffee fix if you come here! Granted, it was fairly busy (about ¾ full), but they definitely didn’t have enough staff to cater for a Saturday morning — just 3 that I could see (one poor guy doing coffee by himself!).
We ordered coffee and cake … coffee took about 30 minutes to come out, the piece of cake another 15. Hmmmm … I was kinda over it by then! Both were lovely (eventually) though, the cake was an orange almond cake — there were a lot of sweets to choose from!
As with all the Bracegirdles, the coffee, hot choc and sweets are delicious, but they just need more staff — no matter how delicious it is, no one wants to wait 45 minutes for coffee and cake at 10.00 on a Saturday morning!

The amazing hot chocolate is saving this from a 2 star review.
I went for a friends birthday breakfast on a summer morning so it was quite hot outside. I was the first to arrive and was directed to an outdoor table by a friendly waitress and was given menus and upon request table water. The birthday girl and the rest of the group arrived and she wanted to sit inside with the aircon. This time an older, very grumpy looking waitress came out and didn’t bother trying to hide her annoyance at us wanting to move tables. We went inside and she angrily dragged tables around as loudly as physically possible and threw the chairs in the general direction of the table and stormed off. We were shocked but just ignored it and sat down. We waited about 10 minutes but she didn’t go and get our water and menus from outside so I had to do that.
There isn’t table service so you have to go to the counter and order. I ordered the big breakfast and a hot chocolate. I felt like a coffee but I’ve been her once before and the coffee was not good. Once again I had to deal with the terrible service from the waitress whilst ordering. She just seemed so angry to be there and made everyone feel very uncomfortable.
We were in a large group so with all of us chatting we were being fairly loud. When the waitress came with my hot chocolate I mustn’t have heard her the first time because I turned around to her yelling ‘HELLOOOO ARE YOU LISTENING?! Here’s your drink!’ by this point I couldn’t help laugh at how unbelievably bad this service was. I wasn’t even offended anymore it was just comical.
The hot chocolate was divine though. It’s just pure melted chocolate, no syrups or powders and you can really taste the difference. I ordered just a basic milk hot chocolate which was quite pricey at $ 6 but worth it. They had chilli hot chocolate on the menu too and another exotic sounding one. I would have chosen one of those but had heartburn at the time but I’d like to come back and try them.
When my breakfast came it was a very generous serving size. It was very average tasting though and far too salty. I was expecting something great for the price so I was disappointed. The homemade baked beans basically just tasted like canned tomatoes which was very disappointing because the Green Room in Willunga has the most amazing homemade ones ever at a cheaper price and I was expecting that sort of standard.
Overall I would return for hot chocolate and maybe to try a desert but won’t bother for a meal again. Just be prepared for terrible service and avoid the middle aged blonde woman if possible.

This is THE place to go to if you are a lover of chocolate and the finer taste sensations in life. I am so glad to live so dangerously close to a good chocolate café :-)

While coffee is not their strength, the main attraction, the hot chocolate, is absolutely amazing. The atmosphere is very nice and the staff are very friendly. They have a very nice selection of chocolates which look quite nice (although I can’t say I’ve tried them).

Bracegirdles is an excellent place to grab something nice and chocolatey. They make sweet and absolutely amazing (sugary and unhealthy) chocolate that just melts in your mouth. This store is probably the closest to my house, even though it is around 20 mins South, however when I am down here for a break at the nearby caravan park, I am sure to pop in.
No matter what you choose off the menu, you can be sure of two things:
1) It will most likely contain sugar
2) It will be awesome
I have had their hot chocolate once, and it was very nice — I wish I could make one as good at home. I have also tried their iced chocolate, which was just as good. Service is ok and staff are generally attentive, with not too long a wait for what you ordered.
It is nice to sit out in the sun at McLaren Vale on a nice day. Bracegirdles is also a very nice location on the main street which provides a good view too. I really probably shouldn’t come here too often for my health but the heart wants what the heart wants (even if what the heart wants is bad for the heart).

We arrived to a ¾ full restaurant and queued to order our meals. Once done and seated outside under the perspex roof, we waited. In no time at all our drinks arrived but one was wrong. This was duly replaced fairly quickly. My iced mocha was tasty and wifey enjoyed her iced chocolate.
Then our wait for the meals started. It was quite a wait. While waiting, we observed the other patrons and the premises. There is a reasonable amount of space, inside and out, for patrons. The furniture was basic but adequate. It was a nice day so plenty of people sitting outside. This place could be described as «family friendly» as there were plenty of children present, some running around and making plenty of noise thanks to their lazy parents. So. definitely somewhere people can bring kids if that’s your thing.
Once the meals arrived, we tucked in. They were still hot enough. I ordered the cajun chicken burger but it was fairly flat-​tasting and lacking in spices/​flavours. It was OK though, just dull. Definitely not cajun. The shoestring fries definitely came out of a bag somewhere — would’ve preferred home made chips.
Wifey order the calimari but it was soggy and a bit boring too. I tried it as well and concurred.
Value for money was OK. We used an Entertainment Book voucher which saved us $ 14 on this occasion.
Won’t be returning.

This place does chocolate, and does it well. Relatively famous, for the McLaren Vale, and worth a stop if you are in the area. The service is nice, and friendly and the place has a nice, cosy feel for it if the weather is poor outside.
The chocolate is awesome, and there is a great range — my sister tried and loved the Hot Chocolate with Chilli, for example (I always love the small chocolates, anything with orange, chilli or lime is a win for me — and here they have all 3!).
The coffee was… not great. But why the hell are you having coffee here, this place is famous for its chocolate!

Good old Brace’s, I’m so happy you exist and that you have recently moved to a bigger place in the McLaren Vale. Previously they were in a small building, attached to a winery but they now have their very own place (the biggest of all 3 as well), and in my opinion the prettiest in terms of location with a lovely terrace out at the front, surrounded by trees and flowers.
Coffee and service were as great as always and they seem to have adapted a slightly different concept here, with more focus on food and a larger selection than at Glenelg and Toorak Gardens. It’s a shame this one is the furthest away from the city but next time I’ll be back in the McLaren Vale I’ll definitely stop here!