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Shanghai hot chocolate round up
The eight best cups of cocoa in the city
Shanghai’s winters are not known to be friendly, but they are a great excuse to indulge in one, or eight, delicious cups of hot chocolate.
So forget about your dental hygiene and waistline, make the most of the cold with these remarkable cups of chocolate that will tide you over until spring.
1. The chocolate meal: Charmant Cafe
What you're drinking: Belgium chocolate, sugar and milk (so they claim)
Confucianism’s “ideal man” combines the qualities of saint, scholar and gentleman. Charmant’s “ideal hot chocolate” combines the qualities of melted, hot and chocolate -- and more chocolate.
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All other aspects of drinking hot chocolate -- speed or, say, other ingredients -- seem to have fallen by the wayside; as far as we can tell, making this hot chocolate seems to be a painstaking 20 to 30 minute process of melting a bar of Belgium chocolate and placing it in a cup.
And, it takes just as long to drink it: with the consistency of molasses, consuming this is an epic battle between man and chocolate.
Pair it with: Charmant’s dan dan noodles (RMB 22)
Charmant, 1414 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Fuxing Xi Lu 淮海中路1414号, 近复兴西路, +86 21 431 8107
2. The palate pleaser: hoF (Shanghai Center)
What you're drinking: Imported chocolate, infused with sugar and foamed milk
Given owner’s Brian Tan’s obsession with the wine-like complexities of globally sourced chocolate, it wouldn’t be fair to recommend any one concoction from hoF.
While hoF does have a signature hot chocolate, there are six or seven other delectable choices on the list that suit a wide range of palates.
We tried the 72 percent Caraibes hot chocolate, a nutty, berry-like chocolate that rolls over your palate like liquid gold.
Fair warning: while you might be initially disappointed with the relatively small size of the cups, the amount is about right given its taste density.
Pair it with: One of hoF’s hazelnut truffles (RMB 15)
hoF (Shanghai Center), 1376 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xikang Lu 南京西路1376号上海商城, 近西康路, +86 21 6289 8171
3. The chocolate fiend: Whisk
What you're drinking: Chocolate, cream, milk and sugar
Whisk’s Choco Drink invites guests to drink out of egg-shaped cup -- an ideal shape during the winter to warm the hands and the stomach.
The thick consistency of the chocolate draws more of a comparison to Charmant’s than to House of Flour’s nutty complexity, but it’s a killer chocolate companion to Whisk’s amazing chocolate cakes.
Prepare for a chocolate coma afterwards.
Pair it with: Whisk’s upside down cake (RMB 45)
Whisk, 1250 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huating Lu 淮海中路1250号, 近华亭路, +86 21 5404 7770
4. And now for something different: Cantina Agave
What you're drinking: Cocoa, milk, whipped cream and chili powder
There’s hot and there’s hot, and Cantiva Agave’s Mayan Hot Chocolate is both thanks to a healthy dose of chili powder.
It is a tiny ball of flavor -- milk and cocoa, with an additional spicy punch that tickles your tongue. Paired with the generous pile of whipped cream on top, this drink is an ephemeral little powerhouse.
Make sure you ask for it extra hot and with extra chili for maximum effect.
Pair it with: Cantina Agave’s nachos, half-portion (RMB 40)
Cantina Agave (Fumin Lu location), Rm. 01A-2, 1/F, 291 Fumin Lu, near Changle Lu 富民路291号01A-2室, 近长乐路, +86 21 6170 1310
(Click "NEXT" to see four more of Shanghai's best hot chocolates.)
