Why yes I'll have dessert.

It's funny that some restaurants have a dessert menu but just don't push it.  Sometimes a dessert will grab me as I look over the menu and I'll save some room.  Then the waiter will bring the check without asking about "anything else" and I'll be a little sad.  Sometimes I'll go ahead and order the dessert and sometimes I'll mark that down on the checklist in my head.  I get that from my mother, she keeps those Santa lists too.  Dad taught me how to erase things on the list so I'm still pretty balanced.  Just don't ask my mom about that basketball game back in 1964. : )

Back to dessert.  Steph and I agree that there are three places where we like the venerable chocolate cake.  I'm more of a cake person than Steph so it took a while to even sample this many cakes due to sheer need to campaign for the dessert.  They're all a little different in presentation but the one thing they do have in common is decadence.  The sheer amount of chocolate in these things would turn a pound cake into a two pound cake.  Well, maybe not to that extreme but you get the idea.  The other thing about these cakes is they aren't cloying.  Rich?  Oh yeah, but not that sickeningly sweet stuff they throw at you for the office birthday party.  And well, I like that too but I'm not going to write about that anytime soon.  So in no particular order my top three chocolate cake desserts in Austin.

Cafe Java has the Chocolate Eruption.  This is just a big slice of rich chocolate cake and a scoop, or two, of ice cream.  It's been a while since we had it but now that I think about it I'll have to drop by and order a slice with a nice tall coffee.

Buca di Beppo has the Chocolate Vesuvius, now more generically called Double Dark Chocolate cake.  The cake itself is about the same as the Chocolate Eruption but you get Italian gelato instead of regular ice cream so it's a little more decadent but costs much more.

Old School Grill has the Chocolate Malt Cake.  This cake is so dense it's almost a brownie.  They cover it with chocolate and caramel sauce and serve it with some whipped cream and a sliced strawberry.  Again, it's rich but not overly sweet so you get that warm, happy feeling inside instead of a headache after eating it.

They're all just a little slice of heaven and they make my wife smile so how can it be bad.

Until next time you try a dessert and tell me what's good...