Something just clicked within me last summer and suddenly I'm all about the chocolate. Chocolate truffles, chocolate fudge, chocolate everything. It's even become a part of my travel routine--actually, it's ESPECIALLY become a part of my travel routine. I seek out chocolates in a foreign city and hunt down dark chocolate, make a plan to find milk chocolate, grab a car to get caramels, and tally up toffee stops.
On one afternoon during my trip to Vancouver, I was in North Vancouver and had already found one chocolate shop. The Yelp app told me about this place, just a few blocks from my hotel, and I decided it was worth investigating.
Located in the Lonsdale Quay market, it's a booth with all the chocolate that you could ask for. I was there on a weekday afternoon, so they weren't busy, and I got to witness a lot of chocolate making right there behind the counter.
After what seems like ages of my own hemming and hawwing, I was able to narrow it down and get a dark chocolate toffee and a peanut butter cup. I know, these seem rather generic, but it seems like the right thing to do when selecting only a couple of treats from a place--get the basics. If they do those right, you can give yourself the green light to go back for more.
I put them in my bag, and having a load of chocolates already in my bloodstream I opted to pace myself and try them later.
For my American friends, you should remember that peanut butter treats here are less, I dunno... potent, maybe? They're less potent, less sweet, and less overpowering. If you adjust your expectations you can realize that in taming the PB, you actually get a light, more true peanut flavor and can also taste the chocolate. Delightful. The chocolate on the toffee was dark and rich, and the sweet toffee underneath was the right complement.
True, these were basic things and while they're not totally re-inventing chocolatier-ism, it's an absolute must that the market has chocolate and Olde World is a notable stop. read more