Written by: Haroon Shuaib
Posted on: December 17, 2019 | 
| 中文
Butler's Specialty Chocolates (photo credits to Butler's Chocolate)
Winter is here, and this is absolutely the best time for the Butlers Chocolate Café to open the doors for its first outlet in Islamabad! Last weekend, the Irish luxury chocolate and chocolate products brand, already in operation in Karachi and Lahore for a few years, launched an outlet in F-6 Markaz.
Butlers Chocolates was founded back in 1932, by Marion Butler in Ireland. In 1998, the company opened its first café in Dublin, and has since then, expanded to over 40 countries worldwide, including the USA, United Kingdom, UAE, Australia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Russia, and Pakistan. Brought to Pakistan by the enterprising Mr. Habib Gheewala from Karachi, the brand has amassed over thirty Great Taste Awards, the world’s most trusted food and drink award, for its taste and quality.
Butler's Chocolate Outlet in Islamabad (photo credits to the writer)
Butlers’ main claim to fame remains its luxurious milk, dark and white specialty chocolates. They come in flavours such as creamy toffee, soft fudge, solid chocolate bars, milk-flavoured chocolate truffles, dark and powder puff, hot chocolate, sundaes, and also enchanting seasonal collections. The café also offers a neatly laid out menu, with breakfast options, soups, salads, tapas, snacks, sandwiches, paninis, pasta, mains, and thin-crust pizzas. The all-day brunch makes for a perfect lazy weekend morning while sitting in the outdoor side yard, and enjoying some of Islamabad’s oldest and most precious trees.
Witnessing first-hand how Islamabad showed up in droves at the opening night, I was sure that getting a table reservation on the first weekend was going to be a challenge. Deciding to take our chances, my family and I visited Butlers amidst exceptionally cold winds and showers. The painful hour and a half long wait before we were seated, was eased a little bit thanks to the cheerful floor manager of Butlers, who juggled customers and the queue with a smile.
Cream of Mushroom Soup (photo credits to the writer)
By the time we got a table, we were starving, and immediately ordered soups. The soup section has the cream of mushroom, chicken and sweet corn, and tomato and basil all served with garlic bread. We tried two out of the three options, and the trusted cream of mushroom came out to be a winner, with its perfect taste and consistency. In the salads, my wife picked Chicken and Avocado as her favourite, with its breezy chilli & lime dressing. The mozzarella sticks from the tapas section of the menu were crispy but not too heavy, and they were enough to share between two to three people.
Pasta Au Gratin (photo credits to the writer)
For the entrée, my son ordered the lip-smacking honey mustard sandwich. His sister ordered Pasta Au Gratin (baked skillet pasta) but was not too impressed about it. I ordered the evergreen fish and chips and was not disappointed. The fish was not the usual tilapia found in most restaurants, but a good-quality Irish cod. The other main was Crumbed Chicken, a crispy fried chicken stuffed with jalapeno, sundried tomatoes, and cheese. Both the dishes are recommended for excellent taste, but the serving quantity could’ve been a bit more generous, considering the price. The fries served with both mains were ordinary at best.
Fish and Chips (photo credits to the writer)
The Royal Pizza was ordered as a take-home, which is a mouth-watering take on the classic thin-crust pizza. We capped the meal with Butler’s signature gooey Caramel Sundae, which was the perfect treat to devour at the end of the meal.
Caramel Sundae (photo credits to the writer)
The prices in general are above the average for such cafes, and the total dent to the pocket was substantial, but it was worth the occasional indulgence. To forget my money woes, I picked a pack of assorted chocolate treats on our way out. After all, Butlers Chocolate Café aims "to bring a little happiness to the world, one chocolate at a time."
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