Hot chocolate at Angelina
 

We want to start one of our days in Paris with our granddaughters having hot chocolate at Angelina. Assume we'd want to be there about 9 or 9:30. Will we need to get a reservation?

I don't think reservations are possible. Also be advised that the hot chocolate is really, really thick and, to me, completely unappealing, like mud, and the waitresses are brusque. I do not consider Angelina to be a "cool" place to visit in Paris. There are loads of other places to get good hot chocolate in Paris where you can actually drink it and not be harassed by harridan waitresses, like Un Dimanche à Paris, Ladurée,or Charles Chocolatier.

You actually can book on TheFork.com

I’ve only been there once and our service was quite lovely. We had champagne and caviar. I plan to bring my granddaughters both back in June.

Never had a bad service in Angelina. The hot chocolate is delicious! I have tried a lot of hot chocolate in Paris, Angelina will aways be my favorite. We always bring home 6-12 bottles. We have been lucky and never really have to wait a long time even if there was a line. I think your granddaughter will enjoy it very much. Maitaitom Love’s Angelina too.

Hi Belinda, how is life in Paris? You lucky woman! I love how positive you are.

Cafegoddess, Thank you! It’s hard not to be positive here. I have been working on this change for a few years so I was well prepared. I’ve met some interesting and fun people; a nice mix of international expats and locals. I’m still wading my way through understanding how everybody thinks. I probably always will be! Lots to write about!

So far it has exceeded my expectations.

It is a beautiful experience. I was travelling solo and they seated a young exchange student at rhe table next to me. She was a little bit of a thing so I was quite surprised when multiple plates arrived at her table. I had to ask....it turned out it was her last days in Paris and she wanted to give her experience a meaningful send off.

It is a pretty room, lovely presentation and even if you don’t have a sweet tooth, it is an experience.

Belinda, Wonderful to hear! Do you have a blog? If you don’t mind me asking, are you fluent in French?
I am asking because my husband and I are really considering buying an apartment in a Paris.

julie, I apologize for hijacking your tread. Please enjoy the experience at Angelina.

My niece loved it. So nice to see positive reviews.

Cafegoddess, no blog I'm afraid. I sent you a PM here on Fodors.

Thanks for all the replies. I've decided to give the granddaughters a lesson in traveling planning. Will have them read the website and the responses from this post and make their own decision about whether or not to include Angelina and her Hot Chocolate in our itinerary.

Julie, I love how you think. I think you get what you give in life.Have a wonderful trip with your family.

To me, there is no such thing as too thick. This is mud I could happily bathe in.

On the other hand, the one time I was there, the waiter left my friend’s omelette so quickly that the plate slid down towards her lap. She mad a quick save and salvaged the omelette. By then the waiter was long gone and never saw what happened. To be fair, this was about ten years ago.

I don't know about the waitresses being any more brusque than most every place in Paris, but I find that drink disgusting, also. It's supposed to be a beverage, and it is nothing like cocoa. It is really like just a melted chocolate bar. I don't know how people can even like that, but I've never had a big taste for drinking fat that much. it's the drinking melted chocolate that makes me want to gag, as I do like regular good chocolate candy. I only had it once as it was supposed to be so good and I didn't know what it was like.

Let the granddaughters make up their own mind! I'm with the nay-sayers; sickly sweet heavy thick chocolate. And I love chocolate.

The girls have voted to take their chances and try Angelina's hot chocolate. . After reading their menus we've also upgraded to lunch from just a hot chocolate stop. The girls want to try Angelina's quiche and since we'll be scheduling lunch, we can reserve on-line. All settled. Will report back which should be by mid-June. Thanks for all the opinions. We'll see how many of us agree with which.

Coincidentally, a neighbor lent me a copy of David Lebowitz's book The Sweet Life in Paris, and he has a chapter on hot chocolate in Paris. Here's what he has to say about Angelina:

" If you're one of those people who come to Paris craving a cup of the rich and thick chocolate served up around the city, you're not alone. Many visitors get a lost, misty-eyed look when describing the ultrathick, steamy chocolat chaud that glops and blurts as it's poured into dainty white cups in places like Angelina and Café de Flore, which serve it forth with great pomp and ceremony.

Me? I can barely down a cup of the vicious brew.

You need to clamp my mouth closed and massage my neck to get that hyperthick stuff down the hatch - like forcing a dog to swallow a pill. That throat-clogging liquid hits my tummy with a thud and refuses to budge for the rest of the day. I just don't get its appeal...."

Exactly how I feel about it. In fact, I get a little queasy just reading his description of it. But of course you must make up your own minds.

What a lovely grandmother you are! I will always remember your drinks in all 20 arrondissements tour. I've never been able to replicate it! Paris with Grandma is unforgettable. Enjoy!

Oh, I remember that drinking around the arrondissements event too! I was very impressed with both the motivation and the execution.

If you do go to Angelina's you might want to try their signature pastry, the Mont Blanc. I really love them, but I must confess I could not have one along with the hot chocolate and hope to finish both.

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As a big fan of David Leibowitz, I will definitely follow his advice, but then I personally do not enjoy hot chocolate in any form. In fact not a chocolate lover at all. The girls, OTOH, now that's another story. It will be interesting to see how all this plays out. I'm looking forward to the quiche.

Belinda and Nikki, thanks for remembering our trek through Paris in an effort to drink a toast in each of the 20 arrondissements for my husband's 60th birthday. It was a great time (even if we missed the 13th) and we reminisce about it fondly every now and again.

Nukesafe, thanks for the info on Angelina's Mont Blanc. Sounds like a great idea for dessert, provided we share just one and not OD.

mfish, hope folks give you as much good feedback when you post as I got with this one. It's what makes this forum such a good one.

We have returned from our trip to Paris with daughter and family and I thought I should report back to you on our Angelina experience.

I made reservations and was very glad that I did, because it meant we skipped the line totally and they seated us immediately--and in the "nice" main rooms rather than the back rooms that are quite a letdown IMO. The girls both ordered hot chocolate and liked it enough to ask for more but weren't bowled over by it as I had expected. We all ordered lunch there and I, on the other hand, am still raving about the wonderful dish I had--avioli with truffles in parmesan cream sauce topped by a parmesan tuille filled with arugula salad. Quite outstanding.


Overall our trip was very enjoyable--girls, now 9, were fairly well-behaved, even throughout a 2 and 1/2 hour dinner at the chateau we stayed in in the Loire valley. We managed to evade the train strikes (by shifting our days a bit) and among all the standard tourist sites we managed to slip in a stop at the wonderful new Atelier Lumieres with its projections of Klimt and Hundertwasser on the floor, ceilings and walls of a totally dark old, repurposed building in the 11th arrondissement. Really nice time. Intend to file a somewhat longer trip report here asap.

​​​​​​​Again our thanks for all your help in guiding us to a good Angelina experience. We were happy we did it even if we were not as bowled over by the chocolate as so many others seem to be. Thanks.

Christina commented " It's supposed to be a beverage, and it is nothing like cocoa. It is really like just a melted chocolate bar."

Be aware that to the French (and to chocolate connoisseurs), Chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) must be made with melted chocolate and milk or cream. A drink made with milk and cocoa is NOT chocolate chaos, but rather, hot cocoa.

Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for reporting back!

Glad you reported back! We went to Angelina’s last week without preplanning and after the 30 minute line got stuck in a back back room (not at Coco Chanel’s table #30). My girls loved the caviar and blintzes, one had truffle scrambled eggs (thumbs up) and the other a croque monsieur (hard to ruin that). I had avocado eggs benedict. The girls had chocolate chaud and all liked it a lot, especially 2 year old Izzy who was treated like a little princess by the staff.

My only feedback - make reservations (the fork) and it was a pricey meal for the experience.