WillTravel

I see that Angelina's and Ladurée are both recommended highly for hot chocolate.

I have a quirk about any chocolate products. If they are too sweet, I don't really like them. There are few types of chocolate that fits my criteria.

How do these places fit in on the chocolate sweetness continuum? Any other recommendations for not-too-sweet chocolate?

Michel_Paris

I had an Africain at Angelinas and found it more rich than sweet. They also have some 'wow' desserts that would be more sweet.

ira

Hi Will,

They are extremely rich, but not exceedingly sweet.

I suggest getting something lemon (a macaron or a tartlet) to go with them.

Underhill

Angelina's hot chocolate is made with melted chocolate, not cocoa powder. I agree that it's rich, and I don't remember that it was especially sweet. However, my husband has a major sweet tooth and he absolutely loved the hot chocolate.

My pastry, however, was unremarkable.

francophile03

I went to Angelina's a long time ago but really don't recall what I had! I know it was not the hot chocolate it's famous for though. However, as noted by Underhill, the hot chocolate is made with melted chocolate. And it seems as though that's how hot chocolate is prepared over there. This is different but it relates in a way: when my aunt visited Paris for the first time in February we decided to eat one breakfast at Paul on rue de Buci. She ordered the hot chocolate as she doesn't drink coffee. Certainly the hot chocolate was not made with cocoa powder because she told me and showed me how thick it was-it appeared that several chocolate bars were melted in there.

Scarlett

It would be impossible for me to say that one was either too rich or too sweet..I just love chocolate.
We had lunch at Angelinas and the Yankee had something non chocolatey for dessert, it was lovely too.
Seldom have I been to a restaurant that had too many chocolate dishes for me
I think the best thing you can do, and you must report back, is go and do taste tests and let us know what your findings are ~
Bon Voyage~Bon Appetit~

Seamus

Last week we savored hot chocolate at Angelina's and it was incredibly thick and rich but not cloyingly sweet. In the US there seems to be a common practice of adding sweeteners to chocolate products (especially the more inferior types) but I have not found this to be the case in Europe.

WillTravel

I take it you are all promising Angelina's chocolate will taste better than some sort of Starbucks chocolate drink concoction . That, and many others, have made me frightened of the concept.

dovima

WillTravel,
No comparison! Starburp's is not chocolate, it's "chocolate-type flavor product". The last time I had hot chocolate at Angelina, it was almost thick enough to stand a spoon in and if it overwhelmed, it was in flavor rather than sweetness. Now Spanish-style "suizo", the breakfast hot chocolate beverage really IS thick enough to stand a spoon (or a hot greasy cruller) in.

Nikki

As I used to tell my children, there's only one way to find out.

ira

>I take it you are all promising Angelina's chocolate will taste better than some sort of Starbucks chocolate drink concoction.<

Is the Pope Catholic?

palette

Angelina's hot chocolate is very, very thick, comes in a medium size pitcher, and you cut it with whipped cream. I am a chocoholic, and I needed to try it, but honestly I wouldn't "eat" it again. I wish it had come with hot milk to thin it. Even with chocolate, there can be overkill (I know, heresy). I also made the mistake of ordering dessert not realizing how filling the drink would be - never again.

3gigs

After you've had the hot chocolate at Angelina, make a return trip for a "Mont Blanc" dessert. You'll never forget it and you'll want to try and take one home with you.

ita

I had a taste of my daughter's hot chocolate at Angelina's. It is very rich. She couldn't eat (drink?) half of it. They frown upon sharing so let one person order tea and then share the chocolate.
What I consider more important than the chocolate are the macarrons at Laduree. Don't miss them.

AlanM1

I am obsessive about my daily cup of hot chocolate at Laduree. It is very thick and not very sweet and it goes amazingly well with their fantastic scrambled eggs and a croissant.

NYCFoodSnob

My grandmother made the best hot chocolate and, in an American, old-fashioned sense (even though she wasn't born here), it has the consistency of slightly thickened whole milk, which is the way I prefer mine.

As much as I adore great chocolate, I'll pass on Ladurée's version of hot chocolate because there's virtually no sense that milk appears as an ingredient and I like the taste of whole milk, especially in France.

I think Ladurée's version is too over-the-top rich (bitter) and too thick for me to savor and enjoy. After two sips, my tongue feels as though I've licked chocolate plaster. But, everyone should try it and see for yourself.

I don't think a great, soothing cup of hot chocolate, one that reminds us of our favorite childhood winter afternoon, is that easy to find anywhere but, I've got my grandmother's recipe and, who knows, maybe one day I'll publish it.

grandmere

Angelina's Mont Blanc is worth a trip for!

stormygirl

<<As much as I adore great chocolate, I'll pass on Ladurée's version of hot chocolate because there's virtually no sense that milk appears as an ingredient and I like the taste of whole milk, especially in France. >>

Just a note that it is called Hot Chocolate... not Hot Chocolate Milk for a reason! ~o)

WillTravel

I also read a recommendation for the hot chocolate at La Coupole in Montparnasse. I'm a little worried at spending several euros and only being able to eat a few teaspoons, but if that's the worst thing that happens in Paris, I'll survive.

NYCFoodSnob

Even though I give stormygirl a D- for teaching style, she makes an important point. Any newbie to France looking for hot chocolate to resemble anything from your American grandmother's stove (hot chocolate milk), forget about it.

Most Parisian tea salons that specialize in French "hot chocolate" do use milk or cream/milk in their recipe but only enough to create a desired fluidity, which typically isn't much at all. There are a few salons in Paris that don't add the milk/cream but they'll bring a small container to your table for you to customize on your own.

Also, high cocoa content seems to rule as a "purist" requirement. Personally, I find the higher cocoa percentages to produce a chocolate too bitter and clawing-on-the-palate for my enjoyment. Warm, bitter chocolate posing as a drink does nothing for me. I'll have an espresso, please, with a cool piece of dark semi-sweet chocolate on the side.