I guess Australians don't make as much use of Yelp as Americans do, so I get to be the first to review this walking tour on Yelp. I've not had the best experiences with these sorts of tours in the past, but this one knocked it out of the park.
Lets start by saying that this tour is aimed towards a specific type of person, the type of person who loves chocolate. Of which I happen to be one, and so does the girlfriend. So whilst visiting Australia we decided to undertake the Melbourne's Chocolate Wonderland tour (weekend edition).
We went to numerous establishments in Melbourne's CBD area: Cacao Lab (personal fave - try the Salted Caramel Drinking Chocolate), Alison Nelsons New York Chocolate Bar, Koko Black, Haigh's and Ganache. All excellent establishments in their own right. Come hungry and pack your sweet tooth because you will eat at least 10-13 pieces of chocolate and small baked goods (cake, brownies and similar). We also stopped at Kirks wine bar and had a nice glass of Shiraz and a dark truffle from Ganache in addition to the above.
The tour was very good overall and started with some info on the chocolate making process and an introduction to Daintree Estates (an Aussie Cocao producer & Chocolatier - one of the better dark chocolate bars I've ever had) , went over the history on the various establishments and had a few of the managers/clerks stop by and chat for a bit providing similar tidbits of info. I would say that if you are looking to make the most of this sort of tour I'd say bring a significant other or friends, and if you are really trying to maximize you may want to consider doing the weekday tour since the businesses will be less busy/crowded.
You could also tell the tour guide's were familiar with the process and establishments and generally enjoyed working with people, so kudos to them. read more