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

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 !

Endorse Sarahs999 enthusiasm. And now they've expanded sideways and have a cafe with good tea and…read morecoffee (fairtrade, sicilian roasted), lots of choccy drinks (try the chilli), and a selection of home made cakes etc. Again, with the accent on choccywocky. And, and - ice cream sundaes...fondues...milkshakes. Plus, of course, you can eat chocs - they even came round with 'tasters'. On second thoughts, better for your wallet and figure to just watch them making the chocs through the windows of the factory opposite! It's hard to find - look for signs, or ask someone.

This place is a chocoholics paradise. Set away from the…read moremain Swanage high street, this cafe also has a viewing area where you can see the chocolate being made. This is not a standard cafe - nothing on the menu is savory, it's all about the puddings. Milkshakes, cakes and ice cream sundaes are the order of the day, all served with lashings of chocolate. Also, on those few summery days we have it's worth noting that the air conditioning is brilliant, so the chocolate is eaten at the optimimum temperature and you leave feeling cooler, more relaxed and more than a little full.

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! It's all about the chocolate…read more.. Chocolate Delight run chocolate making workshops in various locations around the country. I attended the workshop in Brighton, and my gosh, what a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning. There was 11 of us in the group this morning, a perfect number to get the best out of our class. We were in the company of a chap called Alan who was a chocolate expert (my perfect man, perhaps??) who not only taught us how to make the most amazing chocolate truffles, but all so taught us a lot about the history of chocolate. There was also a chocolate fondue on the table with marshmallows for dipping (OMG!!), plus licking of bowls, spoons, hands etc was in no way discouraged, in fact it was expected! First we were shown how to make the truffle centre for our chocolates, next how to temper the chocolate for the outer shells, and finally how to add a coating such as coconut, chopped nuts or cocoa powder. The finished product were 50 beautiful, if slightly mis-shapen chocolates to take away with us. We were also shown how to package them in bags and cellophane, tied with ribbon. What a great experience and lovely gifts for friends (yeah right!) And so what if I came out with chocolate in my hair, its all part of the process...

From the owner: An innovative & unique company offering chocolate experiences across the UK & Europe…read more We offer experiences in Chocolate Making Workshops, Chocolate Portrait Painting, Chocolate Fountains, Chocolate & Wine Tasting & Chocolate Teambuilding events. We have something for everyone. Call us today to see how we can help you.

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!

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!

The family at AtlasAdventured recommends coming here!…read moreAmazing place for drinks! The name caught my eye, the inside of the restaurant made me want to stay all day, but the hot chocolate is what stole the show. We ordered a few coffee drinks, which were so delicious, but the kids' hot chocolate was the best. It's more of a drinking chocolate, thick and rich but not too sweet. It's in a great location, right on the esplanade and directly across from the bus and train stations. Cute interior and very clean. Friendly staff. They have beautiful chocolates for sale and a great selection of baked goods. We only came for the drinks, but next time we'll get some delicious looking bakes!

This place was so darn good we visited twice inside five hours. It was reminiscent of the 1960's…read moreold world quality inside with a courtesy, charm and politeness that's really so hard to find now. We had come off the hovercraft from Southsea, crossed over the railway foot bridge onto the esplanade and we popped in here for cappuccinos. We bought some of their hand and home made chocolates to have with the cappuccinos and the coffee and chocolates were both exceptionally good. After several hours touring this fabulous island, that claims signs of habitation as far back as 350,000 years ago, a steam railway, with specialist garlic growing farms, a distillery that produces 57 proof gin and has an abbey of Benedictine monks we were ready for more great coffees. We also decided to buy a box of 24 chocolates (£25) and a half pound of organic Columbian ground coffee. We were already weighed down with far too many bottles of strong gin, various beers and a range of goodies from the wonderful garlic farm. As the lady boxed the delectable chocolates I noticed chocolate coated figs so in went some figs too. We had a great day. In fact we do this isle a disservice as we should go for a week.

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!