These Home Bakers Will Miss Chocolate Lover the Most: “It’s a Part of Our Childhood”

(SPOT.ph) It’s the middle of a weekday, but the famous “castle” on the corner of P. Tuazon and C. Benitez in Cubao is buzzing with unusual urgency. In just several days, a staple of Manila’s baking world, Chocolate Lover, will close its doors permanently on December 27.

Traffic builds outside, yet customers stream in and out of the ground-floor store. Experienced bakers, small business owners, and even first-timers are purchasing baking ingredients and equipment of all shapes and sizes, many of which are on sale as the clock ticks slowly to the end.

Manila’s baking community is stocking up but also taking the time to soak in Chocolate Lover’s sweet, cozy atmosphere for one last time. Some snap photos of the kitschy facade with pastry boxes perched atop the building and giant ants crawling on the side. A few of them fondly recall their favorite memories with SPOT.ph before the castle doors swing shut.

Also read:

After 36 Years, Cubao's Iconic Chocolate Lover Is Closing Shop

Last month, Chocolate Lover owner Annie Carmona-Lim announced the permanent closure of the 36-year-old shop in a heartfelt video posted on Facebook and YouTube. 

“Magsasarado na po kami. December 27 na po yung last day namin,” she shared. “Tuloy-tuloy parin po ang pagbebenta namin sa mga araw na ‘yun. Hindi namin pababayaan ‘yung mga customers namin na kung kailan nila kailangan ngayong Pasko, bibitawan namin. Hindi po. ‘Yung dedication ng Chocolate Lover sa mga nagbu-business, ganoon pa rin po ‘yung support namin.”

This announcement immediately spurred old and new patrons alike to hoard best-selling products and experience the iconic shop’s final moments.

For almost as long as Chocolate Lover has been open, Soc, a former catering businesswoman and now an occasional home baker, would pop by the Cubao shop for supplies. She muses that the iconic store opened just a few years after she got married.

From the busy years of her catering business to the more leisurely baking she pursued after closing it due to illness, Chocolate Lover remained a staple. She even remembers taking calls on an ancient cellular phone while shopping here in the '90s: “It was the very first cellphone, and my friends would call me. ‘Nasa castle ka na naman, namamakyaw ka na naman ng tsokolate diyan. Ano na naman ang i-bake mo?’”

Even all these years later, she considers Chocolate Lover the ultimate one-stop shop: “You get most of the ingredients you will need, especially the chocolates. And when you go [here], everything is in order.” Although newer stores offer extensive products, Soc told SPOT.ph that she still prefers Chocolate Lover’s familiar and more organized approach.

For others, like Arielle Chan, the connection to Chocolate Lover dates back to childhood. “I’ve been coming here since before I started baking, bata palang ako. I live nearby, so it’s very convenient. [Chocolate Lover] is a landmark in this area. Every time people ask where I’m from, I go, ‘Ayun, sa may chocolate castle.’”

When the pandemic hit and homebodies, including Arielle, discovered an affinity for baking, it was natural for her to turn to her longtime haunt, Chocolate Lover. “It’s just so convenient for people who bake or cook. I like it because the variety of packaging is very wide. Things that you need, like pans and trays, they have everything here. Food like cookies and marshmallows. Everything you need for events and party stuff. Everything.”

Chocolate Lover Inc. began in 1989 when Carmona-Lim opened a small baking supplies store with a humble P6,000 capital, shortly after recovering from cancer. Over the next three decades, the store blossomed from a word-of-mouth resource for home bakers into a Cubao landmark.

The shop’s broad reach and specialized inventory drew a wide range of patrons across the Metro and beyond. For decades, Chocolate Lover has served as the essential source for small business owners and home cooks in search of quality essentials.

Cher Alicante, a years-long patron, was specifically asked by her baker father-in-law to stock up on their favorites before the permanent closure. “Baker siya, and siya ‘yung nag-introduce sa amin nung Chocolate Lover. Binibili niya talaga mga chocolate para sa brownies. Marami kasing bumibili ng brownies niya pag ‘yan ang gamit.”

Her father-in-law made this request despite Cher and the family living in Cavite, a long drive from the Cubao location. Yet, the notorious Manila traffic is worth enduring for the distinct chocolate the shop is known for.

It’s a sentiment echoed by many. Another baker from Batangas concurs: “Iba talaga ang lasa ng bittersweet chocolate nila.” She told SPOT.ph that the bakery she used to work for remained loyal to Chocolate Lover’s bittersweet chocolate, even as their operations expanded and they began sourcing from other suppliers. Soc, the home baker introduced earlier, also praises it: “Their chocolate is really good quality.”

(And yes, this author couldn’t help picking up a few blocks before leaving.)

The shop’s diverse crowd isn’t limited to bakers, though. First-time customer Toni Galleto, shopping with her husband, was buying supplies for their side business: homemade sushi rolls. While she was navigating Chocolate Lover for the first time, her husband was the veteran. “Lagi siya bumibili dito. Sobrang ganda daw dito, mura pa. Maraming mapagpipilian, lalo na sa mga may business.”

For this visit, they were focused on acquiring a few mixing pans used to prepare Japanese rice for sushi. But the couple plans to return during Chocolate Lover's final stretch, hopeful about steep discounts expected during the shop's last week. Toni sighed over losing Chocolate Lover just as she discovered it. “Sayang talaga.”

For long-time patrons, the closure is a big loss, the end of an important era in the baking landscape. The Carmona-Lim family is currently selling the famous castle building, but as of writing, there are still no takers.

Soc wistfully voiced the sentiment of devoted customers: “Sayang. Sabi ko nga, kung kaya ko bilhin, bibilhin ko.” It’s a fantasy echoed by many for a place that has been a reliable part of their lives.

“I’m nostalgic because I would always come here with my mom. If we need something, we’ll go to Chocolate Lover,” Arielle recalled. “It’s really iconic. It’s just sad because it’s a part of our childhood.”

Even in these final, winding-down days, with other floors already off-limits, there remains something homey and comforting about the shop. The staff are as welcoming and indulgent as ever, assisting guests with a smile. There is no sense of overstaying your welcome. After an hour or two spent browsing, customers feel like a regular, perhaps even a little bit like family.

Today, Soc is picking out baking supplies with her "halfway-to-six-year-old" granddaughter. Meanwhile, another lola is trailed by her apo, Kristine Nocuna, on their once-a-year-or-so visit to Chocolate Lover, now for the very last time. Elsewhere in the store, Arielle compares different boxes with her mother, while Toni inspects the varying sizes of baking pans with her husband.

Doting grandmothers and granddaughters, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, and a daughter shopping for her father-in-law. One can’t help but notice that Chocolate Lover is woven closely into these families’ traditions. For nearly four decades, it helped foster a love for baking across generations.

As much as everyone is going to miss the castle, there is a poignant symmetry in the reason for its closure. Owner Carmona-Lim is winding down the decades-long business to focus on her own family.

“Ayaw na rin kasing manahin ng mga anak ko. Okay na po kami sa ibang bansa. Ako naman po, mag-aalaga na lang ng apo kasi matanda na rin po ako. Hirap na akong magbiyahe-biyahe.”

Even though Chocolate Lover is an undeniable loss, there’s something bittersweet in Carmona-Lim’s well-deserved retirement. It’s a return to what the shop ultimately celebrated with its patrons: the simple, sweet necessity of family.

Photos by Majoy Siason