Schokolade Cafe - Vancouver

Nice pastries where's the chocolate?. Stopped in for some pastries to eat with coffee at home. I was surprised the only one they had with chocolate on it was a triangular Florentine with one half dipped in chocolate. Interesting take on the Florentine the nut brittle (mostly almond flakes was sitting on top of a thin bit of shortbread. Not that there's anything wrong with that it always fascinates me to see the permutations Florentines go through. And Shokolade doesn't put too much candied fruit in theirs. I don't like the fruitcakey bits, but it's mainly because I'm a nut for nuts.<br/ <br/ Schokolade has another pastry I've never seen elsewhere, something they call a hazelnut croissant, which looks like a twisty sausage roll, only the inside filling that looks like meat is actually nut paste. My wife reports it's good. She didn't save me a single bite.<br/ <br/ I later tried their chocolates, which look good, although not as eye catchy or extensive a selection as Xoxolat's on Burrard. Schokolade does some nice touches on their ganaches, intense flavours like the maple/blueberry, where both elements are noticeable. Not cheap $10.95 for a box of 10, so you won't be popping these into your mouth for a quick chew. Shokolade has an impressive red Conti espresso maker, fabrique en France, and the counter woman was skilled at running it. My cappucino was acceptable, but like almost all coffee I've had up here, it was both weak and slightly burnt tasting (but not over espressed compared to Australian standards.<br/ <br/ Next time I'm by there, I'll buy one of those hazelnut croissants and I'll eat all of it myself ;

High Tea at High Noon. My husband and I experienced the Classic Chocolate High Tea and were amazed at the excellent service, the eclectic and cozy decor, and the delectable sandwiches and petite pastries at the Schokolade Cafe. <br/ <br/ The delicacies were served artistically in a three-layered fancy tray. We can taste the fresh mint and dill of the finger sandwiches and enjoyed the flaky pastry of the mini chicken pot pie. The delicate house-made orange marmalade went well with the mini freshly-baked scones.<br/ <br/ I relaxed with the Aztec hot chocolate and my husband with the Cafe Latte. The selected hand-crafted chocolates were presented artistically and were just as delicious.<br/ <br/ The owner/hostess Jane was very gracious and we were delighted to meet Edward the Chocolatier and Pastry Chef.<br/ <br/ It was a afternoon of gastronomic delight and had brought back sweet memories of afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel at Victoria B.C.<br/ <br/ We highly recommend the Schokolade Cafe for its friendliness, neighborliness, quality of service and commitment to excellence.<br/ <br/ March 1 2011

The Canadian Classic is a combination of 100% pure hazelnut and 38% milk chocolate. It reminded me of a melted hedgehog in a cup.

They’re huge mugs of hot chocolate! Holy cow! Compared to the last place we went to, these cups of hot chocolate would eat the other ones for breakfast… anyways, this one is a white chocolate mixed with fresh ginger and matcha. If you love ginger, this is the drink for you because the ginger flavour is super strong – in the drink and also with ginger zest on top. Chimp liked it because he finished it with no problems and I thought it was good as well (being a ginger lover – of the flavour, not the hair colour LOL) but found it kind of sad that the matcha was overpowered by the ginger.

They have an assortment of hand-crafted chocolates and truffles, in addition to their baked goods. In the back of the cafe, you can actually see a Chocolatier making the chocolate goods