A guide to the best hot chocolate in Edinburgh
Hot, luscious, moreishly sweet and an absolute necessity for surviving the winter months..? We’re talking hot chocolate and here’s our guide to the places with the best hot chocolate in Edinburgh. It’s our definitive list of go-tos for that ultimate ho cho fix.
1 There’s something uber comforting about a toasted marshmallow, with its caramelised shell and molten sticky centre. At The Marshmallow Lady on Rodney Street, you can even choose your marshmallow from a list of flavours like caramel apple, pumpkin spice, cinnamony churros, salted caramel swirl, and After Eight. In fact, The Marshmallow Lady balances three of them on the frothy hot chocolate and there’s a generous layer of whipped cream in there too.
2Come autumn or on a snowy day, a hot chocolate in The Meadows is propelled into first place. Especially the one from Uplands Roast, the wooden hut beside Edinburgh University Library – just follow the queue and you shall find. They’re made with real chocolate, toasted (and mini) marshmallows, a dusting of cinnamon, shavings of chocolate, and a dark chocolate cigarette. They come in a kids’ size too but they’re so good, the little ones will probably want to supersize with the grown ups.
3 It might surprise you to read that the understated Italian pasta shop Aemilia in Portobello makes one of the meanest hot chocolates in town. It’s a silky smooth, rich, thick hot chocolate that tastes just like drinking melted chocolate. And it’s even more indulgent with the aerated cream and toasted marshmallow topping. The shop may be renowned citywide for its homeade fresh pasta but the hot chocolate is still one of Edinburgh’s best kept secrets. Watch it being made (above) and try it for yourself soon.
4 For a sit-in hot chocolate experience, Mary’s Milk Bar on Grassmarket is home to a criminally good hot chocolate ice cream float. Here, the cone has been ditched and replaced with a giant mug of hot chocolate. Both the gelato and the artisan chocolate are homemade every morning and with changing gelato flavours of peanut butter and cinnamon, almond and miso caramel, spiced biscuit or perhaps black sesame, the display never looks the same twice.
5Coro the Chocolate Café on Frederick Street is the place to go for a range of quirky hot chocolate creations including cookie-dunked delights. The newest one to try is a rich, velvety mix of half milk and half dark chocolate and their “Freakshake” style hot chocolate is an Instagram-worthy treat.
Other noted places
Knoops on Victoria Street with more than 20 different chocolate varieties to choose from and SoftCore, topped with Italian meringue and toasted, and the option to make it boozy.
