With Valentine’s day fast approaching, this week on The Sweet Spot I decided to continue my quest in finding Exeter’s best café by visiting a place that serves everyone’s favourite Valentine’s treat: chocolate. I personally have a massive sweet tooth, and a trip to Chococo is my idea of heaven. While I have visited this shop before, I had never tried out their menu and the arrival of Valentine’s was my perfect excuse to change that. So, I grabbed by best Galentine (hi Jess!) and we made our way to land of all things sweet.
The Visit
Walking into Chococo was a little bit like walking in to an arts and crafts store, except you could eat everything. The inside is decorated with bright block colours, and all the tables, cushions and walls are beautifully vibrant. There’s a lovely upstairs seating area with a seriously impressive graffiti wall and lots of relaxed looking benches and low seating, perfect for sitting and having a natter for a while (which we did). We grabbed a table looking out on to the street before going downstairs to order. The downstairs of Chococo is also home to their chocolate shop, serving all kinds of wonderfully crafted homemade chocolate. Right by the till I spotted a Valentine’s collection, so for those of you needing a last-minute Valentine’s gift, I’d highly recommend checking this out!
When it came to the menu, I have to say I was overwhelmed. Chococo offers literally everything chocolatey ever, which – for a chocolate lover like me – makes it very difficult to choose. I eventually settled a chocolate afternoon tea, which consisted of a house ‘Madagascan’ hot chocolate (70%) and a chocolate chip scone, while Jess chose two different ice-creams from the small range for a milkshake.
I’d never had a chocolate chip scone before and I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was still warm when it arrived too, which was an added bonus. The house hot chocolate that it came with was GORGEOUS, dark and rich rather than sweet. Jess’s vanilla and chocolate milkshake was amazing too, very creamy with sprinkled chocolate on top.
The Verdict
Price: We paid less than £10 for a hot chocolate, milkshake and a chocolate afternoon tea, which in my opinion, was absolute bargain. The price of the hot chocolates on their own are perhaps a bit more than you might find in other coffee shops, but chocolate is Chococo’s specialty and it’s so much better than your average hot chocolate.
Range: Chococo probably has everything chocolatey you could possibly imagine. You can even choose the strength of your hot chocolate! They also offer different flavors every month, giving you the perfect reason to keep going back. There’s a good range of sweet treats to go with the drinks, including brownies, cakes and actual chocolate fondues, which you can share with that special someone. And if for whatever reason chocolate isn’t really your thing, they do offer other hot drinks that you can choose from.
Location: Nestled at the top of Gandy Street, Chococo is easy enough to get to from the High Street, and there’s plenty of other shops around it to browse.
Overall?
Chococo absolutely ticked all the boxes for me. Their range of chocolates and drinks is amazing, everything we tried was great quality, and the prices were very reasonable. The inside is lovely too and could even be a good place to sit and study if you catch it at a quiet time. Obviously, if you’re not really a chocolate lover this place may be a bit of a waste on you, but anyone with a sweet tooth out there should definitely give it a try – you won’t be disappointed! It may also be the perfect place to treat your Valentine or Galentine this week – or any other day for that matter!
Check out Chococo:
Website – https://www.chococo.co.uk/our-shops/exeter
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ChococoExeter/
Instagram – @chococochocolates
Twitter – @Chococotweet