Beautiful traditional shop with the most exquisite Easter Eggs..read more

I bought the chocolate as a gift for a family member who lives abroad, and they liked it! It was…read morebeautifully packed, and the chocolates are delicious. Thank you very much.

When people tell me they don't like chocolate, I feel suspicious about them. When people tell me…read morethey don't like Minerva Chocolate, I trust them even less. This may seem a little unfair, but trust me - anyone who doesn't enjoy a hot chocolate in their cafe, or one of their Belgium treats is NOT my sort of person. This cafe-cum-chocolatiers on Cheap Street is a chocolaholic's paradise. The friendly staff are at hand to tell you everything you want about these sweet treats, and will lure you into buying more than you wanted with free samples of the wickedly tempting stuff. They also host confectionery making parties for an alternative hen party; but brides beware. You may not fit into your dress after an evening at Minerva!

Right in the heart of historic Monmouth town centre on Monnow Street, this independently owned…read morechocolatier founded in 2006 was a real find. Its small, well ordered premises were brimming with chocolate based goodies. Best of all much of it was made on the premises, using Belgian Callebaut couverture chocolate as the base. Under their own brand Mon Cacao range, more than 46 varieties are available, with a variety of dark, milk and white chocolate on offer. They also sold milkshakes, ice creams etc. Well worth a visit. You can also order online via their website.

This shop has closed now (pretty much like most of the other independent shops in Monmouth!) It's…read morebeen replaced by Topstak, they sell and install stoves & fires http://www.topstak.co.uk/monmouth-showroom.php

This is a lovely little choc shop just up from Cowes Parade…read more They sell the best chocs, stocking brands such as Valrhona, montezuma etc, and also make their own on the premises - their truffles are wonderful and the "turtles" (home baked pecans with a layer of salt caramel covered in milk or plain choc) are scrummy. If you are in cowes and like proper choc make sure you come and see, taste, buy and eat their wares. Mmmmm Edit: Qyper of the week (12 May 2010) Yay! This shop is almost worth the trip to the Isle of Wight by itself! Cowes is fab, especially in the summer... but then I am biased as I live here most of the week ;)

Seriously great chocolate and wonderful service. A brilliant range of absolutely the world's best…read moreand their house made product is equally gorgeous. Lose yourself in the aroma of rich, sumptious chocolate and indulge your taste buds...It makes any trip to Cowes worthwhile...We LOVE it !

The staff are always welcoming at this delightful upmarket chain. A key part of their mission is to…read morelimit and reduce sugar content. Sugar is to sweeten but not to cheapen. Contrast this maxim with the greedy international conglomerates like Cadbury (no longer British controlled) and Nestlè (a chairman once said that water should never be free). Their deliberate overuse of processed, cheap, white sugar and any other cheap ingredient they can get their grubby claws on including industrial chemicals, processed cheap oils to bastardise chocolate for only one purpose, which is to increase shareholder payouts, their own bonuses and the chairman's share hand outs and fuck customers and remember they sell this stuff to kids. With Hotel Chocolat it's always a bonus for me when they have a cafe in store as their coffee and chocolate libations are tasty. A cafe also includes ice cream and ice cream sundaes with great quality sauces. I have very clear favourites when I shop - anything with booze and anything with macadamia, hazel or cashews nuts (though strictly speaking a cashew isn't a nut it's a Drupe with the nut being a seed). I'm not a fan of very dark chocolate but will use it in cooking. My always go to sweets have champagne, gin or whiskey within. Also their chocolate florentines and their hazelnut pralines are just divine.

Some of the best chocolate around. The blueberry truffles are, in a word, OMG-mazing. It's by no…read moremeans cheap - a package of six truffles runs £2.95 apiece - but this is seriously high quality cocoa. Plus, if you hang around long enough inside you're bound to score a few free samples!

Small chocolate shop, we stopped in for hot chocolate. It was delicious, nice quick service. Also…read morevery pleasant. Melted chocolate and warm milk equals some the best hot chocolate. If your close by, I would say try this.

We found this little gem while walking the town of Cirencester. Delicious locally made ice cream,…read moregorgeous chocolates and coffee served by friendly helpful waitstaff. The ice cream comes with complementary choice of sauces. Tables outside are nice.

Chocolate wasted! Literally. These boozy chocolates are like having a shot... Wow! Go home drunk,…read moreyou're chocolate. I mean... Go home chocolate, you're drunk. I mean... I'm moving to Wales just for this alcoholic's dream: boozy chocolates! Hiccup. Oh. And, they have a ton of non-alcoholic, delicious chocolates too, for those who don't understand what kind of magical-bliss-heaven-paradise is found in a piece of delectable chocolate that serves as a shot too. Also, I suggest a chaser. This is one STRONG, POTENT bite. Trust me. I wouldn't (hiccup) steer you (hiccup) wrong (hiccup). Goodnight. Oops, I forgot to say we tried the whiskey one and the pink champagne truffles. Beautiful. Ok. Goodnight. Hiccup.

Great coffee served in stylish old fashioned mugs. Superb hand made chocolates. Small and cozy -…read moredon't look for music or quiet corners - but great or a quick stop.

I have lived in Oxford for about 6 months now, and have loved the great range of pubs, coffee…read morehouses, and restaurants. However, I have a longstanding preference for not repeating myself, either in terms of venues or or meals. Coco Noir has forced me to violate that personal rule. I've been there more times than I've been anywhere else in Oxford, many times over, and I don't feel guilty at all. Worse still, I almost always get the langostinos, which are near-divine Sicilian pastry, filled with a range of creamy goodness. The proprietor is so warm and friendly, and recognises us every time. The coffee is great, and priced affordably. The Belgian chocolates are just beautiful, and the atmosphere is warm and inviting--bringing in a range of people. Today, there was a pensioner couple, a single lady, a couple of boisterously polite tweens with their mums, and four young attractive Italian ladies. Bottom line: go whenever you can, tip well, and savour EACH flavour of the glorious langostinos!

Now, I certainly won't say that this shop alone is worth the trip to Cowbridge, but I will…read morecertainly imply it heavily. This is a charming little shop tucked away off the main road passing through the town, so you might not immediately see it. It's easy to find though, and is very near the main parking zone. The staff in Cocoa & Co are very lovely, and clearly take a pride in their products. They have a good range of handmade chocolates and gifts, but the thing that really makes this shop something special, are the sugar-covered almonds. In all different colours, jars of them fill a wall. These are my favourite of sweets, so I was very, very excited when I first found them. But they're great for wedding favours, and Cocoa & Co specialise in making these up, if you're so inclined.

You will find Cocoa & Co down a quaint little mews off the High Street at the top end of Cowbridge…read more You can get there by turning right after Arthur John Hardware. (I had lived in Cowbridge for six months before I discovered this beautiful little mews!) Being a chocoholic this is my kind of shop, and although expensive, the treats that they have on offer are our of this world... so, essentially well worth the extra dollar! Although i have never indulged in anything but the handmade chocs, they also sell a pretty broad assortment of other sweets, that are bought in from other cottage industries and small manufacturers. The interior of the shop is like something you would expect to find in a period film about the Victorian era... it has that other-worldly charm going on about it! A real delight!

There are multiple locations in London, but we were in Bath and wanted to check it out. Since it's…read moreone of the oldest cheesemongers and is well established, it is more expensive, but compared to American prices, it's still not that bad. They have a good selection of interesting cheeses. Even though it was empty on a weekday afternoon, the cheesemonger didn't seem particularly interested in helping us since we weren't buying a ton. I know it's annoying to let us sample and then cut a bunch of 100 g pieces, but we just didn't have anywhere to store the cheese on our trip. They also have lots of cheese tools and cheese related gifts, as well as their own crackers and lots of various spreads. It's a pretty cute and complete shop.

I was very, very pleased to see a Paxton and Whitfield here in Bath. I used to love walking down…read moreJermyn St in London and once a year, I'd walk in the P & W there and bought a special Christmas treat to take home. Paxton and Whitfield was always a London institution. And I love old traditional shops, especially businesses as old as this one. So, I went into this shop hopeful I could find a special treat for a picnic. It was lovely, a really special experience. The young man in the shop was really helpful and knowledgeable and friendly and not in the least bit snooty. There were lots of beautiful artisan cheeses from all over, including some special local cheeses. Suffice it to say that I tasted some beautiful cheeses in there and took some lovely stuff home with me. I can only recommend that you do the same. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.