Los Angeles isn't exactly known for chocolate, but we've got a few hot spots around town if you keep your eyes open. Lady Chocolatt is on Wilshire Blvd, and I'd driven by this place quite a few times before finally getting the chance to stop in. It's a small place, easy to miss, despite the vivid yellow storefront. On a nice, relaxing Saturday afternoon, my wife and I happened to be in the area, so we stopped in.
It's a cute, small place, very bright and clean inside. Everything is painted that pleasant yellow color, and the shelves were perfectly stocked. They have a nice selection of artisanal chocolate bars, as well as all the crafted chocolates in the display case.
Walking in, I was immediately excited by the menu! Check it out - there's just as much drinking chocolate as there is coffee! That's rare to find! We spoke with the owner, who served us our chocolate candies and my drinking chocolate. He also explained to us that Lady Chocolatt only uses imported Belgian chocolate in all their products.
The place is just filled with truffles. It's always hard for me to pick in these situations where so many look so good. I picked out an orange peel hazelnut, and when I mentioned I had a chocolate blog, the owner gave me the creamy hazelnut, saying it was their best one.
Orange peel hazelnut was great! The orange was subtle, but really nice. All the flavors were present and discernible. The creamy hazelnut was also great, very smooth and creamy.
In comparison, eating the hazelnut truffle second made the orange stand out more in the first truffle. The hazelnut is a really great truffle, I can see why it's their signature one. It's hard to decide which was better when both were amazing.
As for the drinking chocolate, I ordered the extra dark. It was very thick and rich, very dark chocolatey. The owner told me it was a 72% chocolate, a ganache made with a mixture of heavy cream and water. This drink wasn't sweet at all, which was nice, it made it taste more like an 80%. Also, after eating the sweet truffles, this drink almost seemed more like a coffee than a typical sweet hot chocolate.
Really great drinking chocolate, definitely on my Top 10 list of LA hot chocolates. I'm excited to return and try more of the flavors and learn a bit more about the chocolate used in the drinks. If you swing by Lady Chocolatt, be sure and tell them you read about them on Melting Mug!