Awfully Chocolate is a chain of dessert and cake shops founded in Singapore back in 1998 by Lyn Lee, a young lawyer, and her boyfriend (both with no business experience in the food and beverage industry). They have over a dozen shops and cafes in Singapore (including a restaurant) and have franchised their business in other countries. After false starts in Taiwan and Hong Kong, they seem to have found a very strong partner in Mainland China. At the time of posting, Awfully Chocolate stores are all over China, mainly in shopping malls.
What is interesting about their concept is that it, uncompromisingly, is all about chocolate. They started by selling a single type of chocolate cake at the origins and now they have a wide range of chocolate products: from cakes, to beverages, ice cream, pralines, etc.
The visit(s)
The picture shows the storefront of the shop in Wanda Plaza in Ningbo (now closed). Some shops have tables, some others do not (like the one at IFC Mall in Shanghai, just for take-away orders). They had a particularly large cafe in Ningbo near the central Tianyi square (now closed).
A very good introduction to their cakes is the super-stacked chocolate cake that is inspired by the traditional Southeast Asian Lapis Cake. According to their website, “each cake layer is baked one at a time, so a completed Super Stacked cake with six layers of cake and six layers of fudge takes almost four hours to complete”. I have the impression that they have reduced the sweetness of their cakes for the Chinese market over time (I remember them sweeter just a couple of years ago, but I could be mistaken).
For something even more massive, their cupcake is an interesting creation. Most of the mass is actually “solid” chocolate topping the soft layer.
I also recommend their hot chocolate. In the picture above a cold chocolate beverage (60%) with chocolate bits. Unfortunately this one was not very good, the hot beverages are way better.
The check(s)
The super-stacked chcolate cake was 29 RMB (4.3 USD).
The cupcake was 4 RMB more expensive and along with the cold chocolate was 68 RMB (10 USD). These prices are comparable to Starbucks in China.
Where in China:
Check their website for store locations. (Ningbo locations as to mid 2020 were all closed. The list on the website may not be up to date.)