Chocolat

No, not the Juliette Binoche/Johnny Depp movie, but an equally heavenly place I found in Maidstone... Hotel Chocolat.

Hotel Chocolat is located in Fremlin Walk, just off Week Street. If there was a support group for chocolate addicts called Chocoholics Anonymous, and a member decided they were going to fall off the wagon, go for broke and do it big time, this would be the place to do it.

While my beloved was in Jane Norman across the way, shopping for girly stuff, I was drawn like a moth to a flame to this paradise of chockiness. As I walked in I felt lighter than air and angels sang a chorus of "Chocolate, baby". I approached the friendly lady who was walking around with a large silver tray with tongs on it and a selection of chocs. She smiled and sweetly sang, "Gingerbread truffle?".
"Why, thank you, kind lady," I replied, "I don't mind if I do."
I popped a wee truffle into my mouth and was engulfed in paroxysms of cacao-induced ecstasy the likes of which I had never experienced. As I floated around the store I took pictures... good idea, huh? Wanna see?

First, there were these lovely slabs of chocolate, including some festive ones...

You can't really tell from the pictures, but these are not your average choccie-bar size. They are about the size of an 8x10 photo, and weigh 500g each.

On the left is Rocky Road Slab.

Yowzah.

 Then there were some other holiday-themed items...

Chilli Penguins, The Christmas Dinner, Winter Treasures and Tiddly Reindeers.

Then, just as I was (reluctantly) leaving (I say reluctantly because I had had three chocolate samples by this time), I noticed a shelf at the back of some more unusual items...

Chocolate & Black Truffle Tapenade.

And the one that just about blew my ever-lovin' mind...

Yes. You read that right.

You can't really see it from the picture, but these are practically black in colour.

As I left, I turned to the friendly lady and said, "Oh, I'll be back."