Being in Australia, visiting family and friends, necessitates eating. Especially since there is so much we can't get in California - and when we can it doesn't taste the same! So. Today was the traditional day out with my step-mum. This means clothing shopping, gifts for friends shopping, coffee breaks, lunch, and lots of talking and laughing. Punctuated heartily by "ohhhh we have to go in!" One of the "oh" shops was Choklat. Standing outside its clean, fairly spartan lines catch the eye - standalone earth tones in a street filled with vibrant tropical colours. As you wander in this continues. Wooden floor. A central 'kitchen island'. And walls lined with wooden crate style shelving. Very minimalist. The shelves are filled with assorted chocolates - dark chocolate coconut rough, almonds and coffee beans in both sorts of chocolate, various berries and fruits covered with yet more chocolate. There are Turkish delights and small pieces of cherry ripe as well as chocolate covered licorice and honeycomb. This is not a store for those seeking gooey centres, though. Or regular bars and blocks. No sauces. No condiments. The contents are, in a way, as minimalist as the layout. The Inca berries and the cherries (both in dark chocolate) were my favourites. A nice balance of chocolate to fruit and the fruit has a bit of spice (Inca) or tartness (cherry) to balance out the chocolate. My daughters are caught between the aniseed in chocolate and the chocolate covered spearmint leaves. Ask to try a few samples before you buy - the taste is not the standard commercial one, nor is it a high end chocolatier shop. What may usually be your preferred taste might not be your preference here. The one negative of my visit - while quite tasty with fruit and nuts centres that married well with the chocolate, I feel the chocolate wasn't as good as it could have been. The feel of the shop was more high end than the quality of the chocolate - a little grainy and not as smooth as expected. All chocolate should have a degree of creaminess to it that coats the mouth. This does not. Also, the dark chocolate was lighter with fewer notes - no vanilla or sugar hints - and very little aroma. That said, the price was reasonable for the chocolate. One wall is $4.50/100gm and the other $3.50/100gm. Customer service rocked, BTW. Liz was helpful and friendly. Overall, I would definitely return. read more

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Had the pleasure of experiencing premium chocolates. Everything from Brazil nuts to milk chocolate covered hazelnuts. The selection was great and the prices were fair. I particularly liked the honeycomb with milk chocolate. It's unique texture gave me a mouthwatering experiance. read more

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was looking for a gift and found this brilliant little shop in the main street in Ballina - chocolate covered everything in all types of chocolate....found the gift and also purchased a little taster pack for myself. absolutely delicious but including a wonderful dried fruit i have been unable to identify - salty then sweet then tart then a little like apricot but not quite....whatever it is the whole package is delicious! (next door to this little gem of a shop is a waxing/quick tanning business - looks like chocolate covered people... read more