Chocolate heaven

Tramping round London last week was great fun – we oohed and aahed at the Tate Modern, gawped at the Globe Theatre, spent hours rummaging in Foyles Bookshop (more of which another time), giggled irreverently in St. Paul’s and ran amok in Covent Gardens, wondering who the paparazzi were staking out in a nearby swanky hotel (Amy Winehouse going through her latest breakdown, we think). We even swung past Betty’s place and waved hello.

But she wasn’t there to wave back, unfortunately. Such is life.

Of course, we needed to sustain all of this wandering around with frequent stops for refreshments. And the best place for this was definitely The Chocolate Society.

Now, I'm not much of a one for sweets, being much more of a savoury snacker by nature. But I do love hot chocolate. And oh boy does the Chocolate Society do a right good 'un.

There are 40 grams of gorgeous, high-quality chocolate in every cup. That's right, 40 grams. The lady behind the counter said it would keep me going for the rest of the day and you know what, she was right. It was 11am-ish when we visited the cafe and I didn't need anything else until dinner time as I ran around London fuelled by liquid (and entirely legal) heaven. Maybe I could start a craze for a hot chocolate diet...

The cafe also offers coffee or tea for the chocolate-averse out there (crazy folk, more like) but let's not worry about that - we're here for the good stuff. I had the Mexican version, which came laced with vanilla and cinnamon (mmmm - cinnamon...) but you could also slurp a Spanish alternative which had a little chilli kick or just plump for a pure, unadulterated cup of chocolate joy topped off with marshmallows. Decisions, decisions...

Oh yes, they also sell fantastic chocolates in solid form too. Nearly forgot to mention that in all the hot choc excitement.