Cacao 70 recently opened its first location in Edmonton in the Ice District. This location is a sweet house, offering all-day brunch, desserts, and drinks. It’s a beautiful space with quaint floors, pastel colors, and beautiful marble detailing throughout.
Short recap food-wise… come prepared with a sweet tooth for the desserts because they were great! Brunch, on the other hand? Eh, I probably wouldn’t recommend them as a brunch spot.
I was really excited to try Cacao 70 after seeing so many posts of their desserts. After my visit, I can confirm that the plates are absolutely stunning, however, not all taste as great as they look. The options from the sweet menu definitely lived up to the hype and I would, without a doubt, consider coming back for some dessert. Their savoury brunch options, on the other hand, did not leave me overly impressed.
In terms of price, I personally didn’t think it was too bad. Prices aren’t crazy steep but it’s definitely not a “cheap eats” place either. Considering how there’s not a ton of places that offer the same novelty dishes that Cacao 70 offers, I’m willing to pay the price. The portions I got were fair and great for sharing!
Ham It Up ($15.75): Buckwheat crepe – cooked ham, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, Swiss cheese and basil pesto. Served with a house salad.
The crepe came out and my initial reaction was “how do we eat this?” … Being that it was folded so largely, it fell apart easily and some bites were plainer than others. I didn’t expect it to be so hard to eat! This crepe had a very dominant pesto flavour, which was expected. There was plenty of ham but it tasted pretty much like packaged deli meat, slightly disappointing. House salad was light and basic. Cheese could’ve been a bit more melted and the crepe, unfortunately, felt overly greasy near the end.
Hangover Omelette ($16.25): bacon, roasted red peppers, green onions, white cheddar cheese and basil pesto. Served with potato wedges and fruit/fondue plate.
I think there was some serious potential here but the dish fell short of my expectations. The potatoes were under-seasoned, soft and generally tasted like frozen potato wedges. Omelette wasn’t too bad, although, I wish there could’ve been more cheese or bacon pieces throughout. The peppers were a bit soggy as they were likely just heated up on a pan. The toast was surprisingly good? At least it wasn’t just plain white bread.
The fruit plate was a nice addition but I think I would’ve been fine without it. Chocolate fondue was too sweet for me and I didn’t even bother touching the bananas because they looked so unappealing … may be due to the fact that they were plated unpeeled.
The Cacao 70 cheesecake ($12.50) was artfully plated and tasted like a classic Newyork style cheesecake. It is pretty strong in flavour so you’ve gotta be a cheesecake lover for this. Matcha drizzle was a nice touch and overall, the dish was a big hit with my friends and me.
Now, onto my favourite dish. The Catcha Matcha ($15.50): vanilla ice cream+matcha dipped cone, as well as matcha chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries, classic cheesecake, and coconut chips on top of a big waffle.
This dish is one of Cacao 70’s signature waffle combos. The waffle was delicious – so soft and fluffy and I really loved it; their waffles might be one of my favourite things here. With a full-sized waffle, it’s a pretty large portion. As someone who isn’t a big fan of bitter matcha taste, I enjoyed the sweet matcha chocolate here. This dish may be overly sweet for some people but I didn’t mind it at all. I thought it was a perfect bite with everything combined.
Lastly, the Earl Grey Chocolate Fondue set ($13.95/small): served with fruit, brownie bites, and waffle bites.
This is a great mini set for fondue cravings. I’ll admit it’s pretty simple but I didn’t mind because I’m never one to make fondue at home anyway. The fondue was quite thick and decadent. I wish the earl grey flavour could’ve been more distinct than the chocolate taste but I still enjoyed it. There are a variety of other flavours to choose from too.
All in all, Cacao 70’s sweet menu options gets a thumbs up from me. I will be back for more desserts, for sure. In terms of brunch, I likely wouldn’t consider Cacao 70 to be my first pick. Considering how much I enjoyed the waffles for the desserts, though, maybe I’ll try one of the (brunch) waffle options if I’m ever back for brunch offerings.
Cacao 70 is definitely a welcome addition to Edmonton’s growing dessert scene and I truly hope that there is going to be consistency in my visits! They’re set to open up two more locations in Edmonton – one in WEM and one on Whyte. Check them out and let me know what you think!
Cacao 70 – Sweet House
Unit 118 – 10111 104 Ave, Edmonton
Eat with Sharon 
One thought on “Cacao 70”