Hot Chocolate in London

When it gets cold out, or suddenly chilly, or Autumn's leaves begin to whisper in, or scarves begin living around my neck, I think of Hot Cocoa & Hot Chocolate {no, they are not the same.}. I want to drink hot chocolate liquid for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I do, in secret or in public, as often as I can.

In London, part of the EU and in very close proximity to countries boasting the best chocolate making in the world, finding hot cocoa or hot chocolate worth a swallow, is harder than one might think.

But I have recently found 3 locations doing their best to convince me otherwise.

Pictured here on the right is Story Deli's little glass mug of deeply hot chocolate joy. Neither Novel, nor deli, Story Deli is a modern organic pizza restaurant deep within the folds of crazy manic super duper trendy Brick Lane madness.

When my ex pastry chef companion ordered it off the menu, we practically cried with happiness, after trial sips, at the fact that it was indeed real dairy & chocolate they had decided to put in that glass! Hot cocoa in London mostly consists of water, or skim milk if you're lucky, artificially flavored cocoa-ish substance and way too much sugar. {Can someone please tell me why a country producing some of the best dairy in the world has embraced skim milk for all of their cafes & restaurants?}

The second restaurant to completely take me off guard with it's organic milk and slow moving, practically ganache, river of chocolate wallop was Leon. With plenty of locations around London, I might have expected chain-like beverages & insipid concoctions, but no. I went to a knitting 'event' put on by Stitch & Bitch London last week, and when someone ordered the hot chocolate and the perfume attacked me from across the table, I knew. I knew I had inadvertently discovered another.

Pictured on the left is a hot cocoa worth runner up mention, for grace, poise and effort. Flat White's hot cocoa plate could be the best looking hot cocoa in London, but it was short on taste I am sad to admit.

So for third place I have to say The Modern Pantry is doing its very best to create a London hot chocolate worthy of mention. If you make it there, be sure to have a small one, at least, and tell me what you think. Being such a fan of theirs, I've secretly shared some of my opinionated thoughts with them.

Always on the lookout for fantastic hot cocoas & hot chocolates in London, please do share your favourite spots-- any list of liquid chocolate locations is a friend of mine!

Comments

[Louise Thomas]

Hi there,

Following you on twitter after a friend recommended your blog (Terri, an Aussie chocolatier). It's a shame you missed my hot chocolate demonstration and workshop at La Fromagerie today, we tasted Aztec inspired hot chocolate, cioccolato caldo and hot chocolate blocks from Notting Hill chocolate shop, Melt. If you go into store to Melt they do amazing hot chocolate shots to take away, another great place for hot chocolate is nearby on Portobello Road, Garcia's Deli.

Though it seems we track the same ground, I also go to S&B though I missed the one at Leon. It would be good to meet up and do something together maybe re: chocolate? You have a great blog btw, just trying to get mine up and running though chocolate week has taken over this week.

Best wishes, Louise

[Kary Gonyer]

Sadly, I am so very far away (Central Coast of California) and to top it all off...I am sitting in a heat wave with the doors wide open and a fan on full speed.

But that hot chocolate looks like heaven...

[Amy]

Theobroma Cacao by Turnham green makes yummy ones, with various flavours. My fav is the chilli one :)

[Amy]

oh and Carluccio's cioccolata Fiorentina!

[Gudrun]

Have you considered becoming a travel writer? This post has me itching to hop on a plane just to check out the chocolate. Wish I had this list last time I visited!

I do recall my kids had a good hot chocolate at a tea spot near Bayswater, but I cannot come up with the name at the moment. Fortunately, you have given us 3 more to seek out...

[b. lynch black]

i didn't have any hot chocolate in london, but recently, i was staying in Stratford-on-Avon and there was a cafe Leoni-- the hot chocolate was to die for!

and what an excellent question! where is all the lovely cream and milk and dairy products that england is so rightly famous for!? not in any of the restaurants or cafes we were in while driving the cotswolds, that's for certain. we had to resort to buying "single cream" at sainsbury's for our tea at night!

[Luce]

I urge you to try the spanish hot chocolate at Brindisa by Borough Market. Lovely for breakfast with a croissant before some market shopping! Be sure to drink it quick though, it is so thick that it starts going a bit solid quite quickly :)