Milse

Like a kid in a candy store, Tuesday night at Milse I was... well an adult in a very grown up dessert restaurant. From the inner workings of the imagination of master patissier Brian Campbell this is quite simply crazy dessert dreams brought to life. From the exquisite dessert wines to decadent hot chocolates and plates of elaborate desserts in between this place is like Disneyland for adults. It's my dream come true and it's right here in Auckland. 

There were eight choices on the dessert menu so naturally we chose four.  The 267% Valrhona is strangely the only chocolate based dessert and so of course grabbed my attention: with dark chocolate, white chocolate, and honeycomb the crazy twist on this plate were tiny cubes of freeze-dried beetroot, pocketfuls of bright purple flavour. This plate was rich, the mousse and icecream velvety smooth and delicious, but it was crack and crunch throughout that stole the show. 

Plate number two was the mandarin. This came as a teeny ball of delicious citrus cheesecake encased in a light shell. Alongside some mandarin sorbet, candied pecans and chunks of dried fruit, a mint sorbet burst through the fruity flavours and the crunch of popcorn wafers. An interesting mix to be sure, but the mint sorbet was so fresh and light and the ball of cheesecake a stroke of genius. Yum. 

A vanilla creme brûlée was the simplest of all desserts, and since brûlée was a common theme among our pudding posse crew it had to be tried. It has the trademark crackle and a comforting, lightly vanilla custard underneath. The texture was a little clumpy, but the flavour was mellow and warming and the shortbread on the side was just right. Plain and simple, but no less impressive for it. 

Lastly we chose the first dessert on the menu, Apple.  A caramel apple cake with a slightly crunchy pastry top, this was served with a tart granny smith sorbet and reductions of both apple and feijoa. Tart, tangy and full of autumnal flavour. 

My favourite was the chocolate plate but more for its surprising texture than the obvious chocolatey richness. But it can't be a true favourite until I've tried the remaining four plates on the menu, so I know I'll be back.  However there's an entire to-go cabinet I'll need to make my way through first! You should get down to Milse at your first opportunity; my waistline is just glad I don't work around the corner anymore!

Milse is at 27 Tyler Street in the Britomart Pavilions