CHOC AROUND THE BLOCK
Melt Chocolate Shop

“Chocs Away“ as they say! I love le chocolat. So I was delighted a few years ago to stumble upon Melt, one of the best purveyors of délicieux temptation that London has ever seen. When mother of four Louise Nason set up Melt in 2006, she never dreamed how successful her venture would become.

With a charming store in Notting Hill and concessions in Selfridges and Whole Foods, Melt is a brilliant British brand worth knowing and loving.

At Melt's Ledbury Road outpost, everything is handmade on site or in a local kitchen around the corner. You can watch the chefs working behind the counter. Fresh truffles and pralines sit alongside ganaches filled with things like coconut, pistachio, chilli and Earl Grey tea.

Caramels, slabs, lollipops and dipping cubes, which you put into a mug of hot milk to make a ludicrously scrumptious hot chocolate, are also worth tasting. The Salted Caramel Bonbons are a veritable masterpiece and cheeky hot Chilli Squares are divine. Meanwhile, homemade Melt Bars come in flavours of your choice. The dark chocolate with sea salted caramel is sublime.

Melt has recently teamed up with four master chefs, Mark Hix, Sophie Conran, Skye Gingell and The River Cafe, to create special collaborative gourmet boxes of one-off creations. All products come in chic, eco-friendly packaging and make for perfect presents. Melt also runs Mini-Melt chocolate tasting workshops for little ones on Wednesdays and Saturday, ideal for keeping the grandchildren happy.

Order chocolates online or buy directly from the shop. Although the treats are somewhat pricey, they're of excellent quality and well worth it. Anyone who receives a box will love you forever.