On Saturday I did a Hot Chocolate Crawl for Hot Chocolate Festival 2015 with a fellow Yelper and we hit three places. Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France was the first stop. We got in shortly after they opened as there was concern they might sell out, as they did last year.It's a tiny store that's basically slightly more than half kitchen and the rest is maybe a 20-seat area of mostly benches as well as some space outside. Has sort of a rustic feel and a decor that includes lots of chocolate molds. Strangely it felt quaint.
All drinks are prepared with milk or almond milk. A selection of flavours is also offered in bags to prepare at home. No drink service on Feb 14th, to accommodate their Valentine's Day lineup.
#17 - "Marocchino"
Classic Italian drink: half drinking chocolate, half espresso.
Served with a meringue of your choice. Our recommendation: cardamom, anise or vanilla.
Available: every day of the festival that the shop is open.
#18 - "Praliné Chocolat"
Liquid house made Nutella: drinking chocolate + hazelnut praline.
Served with a meringue of your choice. Our recommendation: maple, espresso or vanilla.
Available: every day of the festival that the shop is open.
#19 - "Lavande Classique"
Available only once a year, during the hot chocolate festival, the simple but classic lavender hot chocolate is back by popular demand. Served with a meringue of your choice. Our recommendation: rose, orange blossom or chocolate.
Available: every day of the festival that the shop is open.
#20 - "Aztec Glacé"
Anne's favorite iced hot chocolate. Spicy, hot, cold, salty and sweet. Purely addictive.
Served with a meringue of your choice. Our recommendation: espresso, chocolate or vanilla.
Available: every day of the festival that the shop is open.
I asked for "weird" and was recommended the lavender because it's apparently not a common chocolate flavour (?). Anyway, $5 and comes with your choice of a meringue. I went with jasmine, my friend went with rose. Smaller-sized cups available for slightly less cost.
The Lavande Classique has a not-too-strong lavendar flavour. Otherwise nothing too special -- but nothing wrong. Which bring up the side point of "what are you expecting from the Hot Chocolate Festival"?
I typically go for whatever is strange and interesting and for that reason I tried the cricket hot chocolate, one of Mink's two entries into the Hot Chocolate Festival for 2015. It turned out to be just crickets sprinkled on hot chocolate. For over $8. Waste of time.
At Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France you get a nicely prepared hot chocolate with extra flavouring that will hopefully combine well with chocolate. It is up to you whether this is worth $5 and I am also assuming that the supposed time-limited-offer is factored into the cost.
As I proceeded on the hot chocolate crawl I thought more about the question of expectation, as well as what my expectations really were for Dine Out Vancouver. More later...
My friend's order, the Aztec Glacé was a medium-spicy hot chocolate poured over ice, making it a cold hot chocolate. Sort of like a frappucino, I guess. Supposed to be "spicy, hot, cold, salty, and sweet" but the latter two flavours didn't really come out for me when I sampled it. Might be a bit too adventurous for some.
The meringues both had good strong flavour. If you like marshmellow in your hot chocolate, drop the meringue in and it'll soften up right quick into a chewy marshmellow consistency.
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