If you’re a chocolate fan in any way, then Knoops just has to be on your foodie bucket list. You’ll find it on Kensington High Street, just a moment away from Kensington Palace and Hyde Park, so it’s the ideal place for a drinks break on a day of tourist exploring.
The highlight at Knoops is its expansive and delicious drinks menus. The drinks on offer are based around more than twenty different types of chocolate of varying strengths, origins, and flavours. All of these chocolates are available to drink as hot chocolates, and ten of them as milkshakes and iced chocolates, depending on the kind of beverage you prefer. The in-store menu will tell you the countries the beans originate from – you’ll see locations like Ecuador, Venezuela, Tanzania – as well as descriptions of the kinds of flavour each one provides. For instance, you can opt for a chocolate with ‘notes of nougat, vanilla, and almonds’, or one that is particularly ‘smooth, with notes of hazelnut and butterscotch’.
With such detailed descriptions on offer, you’re well set to make the perfect drink to match your tastes – and that’s exactly what the Knoops experience allows you to do. Firstly, choose whether you’d prefer a hot chocolate, chocolate milk, milkshake, or mocha. Then, decide on the chocolate % (the menu is helpfully split up using a key which tells you which chocolate is white, milk, or dark), and your preferred milk choice. There’s a range of milks on offer, including dairy-free options. Worth knowing is that all chocolates over 54% are vegan, so your drink can be fully vegan if that’s what you need. Once you’ve got the base of your drink sorted, you can choose from a range of extras, including sea salt, cinnamon, and orange zest – or just opt for a classic marshmallow.
If you’re also after a bite to eat, Knoops Kensington has a great range of bakery items, including cupcakes, doughnuts, and cannoli, as well as some lunch options like sandwiches and bagels.