Thomas Haas (Kitsilano)- Three Amazing Flavours To Try For The Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival

Did you guys know that there is a 2nd Annual Vancouver HotChocolate Festival happening from January 14^th to February 14th? I had no clue until KrispyBites and GoodEat told me about it. Many different chocolate makers are participating in this festival and proceeds from their featured hot chocolate drinks will be donated to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.

One of the participating venues is Thomas Haas, so the three of us decided to head over there and get our chocolate on.

Just looking at everything they have to offer from homemade chocolates...

...to sinfully delicious baked goods

...to scrumptious looking desserts

...to beautiful pastel macarons (although looks were deceiving on this one) made my mouth water instantly.

Thomas Haas is featuring three different varieties of hot chocolate for the festival and coincidentally, all three of us wanted a different one so it was perfect! I chose the Extra Dark Chocolate with Fresh Vanilla, Served with Vanilla Marshmallows ($5.95). I expected the colour to be a little darker for “extra dark chocolate” so I was bit a skeptical at first. However, at first sip, I was relieved to taste the intense bittersweet flavour of intense dark chocolate. 

Steph (KrispyBites) ordered the Hazelnut Hot Chocolate Served with Crispy Hazelnut Wafers ($5.95) and I thought it was really good! The hazelnut flavour was prominent and held its own against the rich chocolate flavour. It kind of tasted like a Nutella hot chocolate. :D

I was very close to picking the Classic Hot Chocolate with Soft Caramel and Fleur de Sel, Served with Warm Sparkle Cookies ($5.95) but decided not to at the last minute. Janice ordered this instead and after having a taste, I regretted not choosing this! I am a BIG lover of sweet and savoury food (and my maple bacon donut post clearly demonstrates this) so this hot chocolate was right up my alley. I could taste a hint of fleur del sel with each sip of the hot chocolate and it reminded me of gooey delicious salted caramel.

As if we didn’t have enough chocolate, we also ordered a Crispy Chocolate Raspberry ($5.50) which has dark manjari chocolate-raspberry mousse, light vanilla Bavarian, chocolate sacher cake, and a crispy hazelnut wafer. This was absolutely deeeelicious! I particularly enjoyed the chocolate raspberry mousse and the crispy wafer on the bottom.

I have heard rave reviews about their Double Baked Almond Croissant ($4.45) and I am so glad we ordered it. This did not taste like a traditional croissant because it had a type of custard inside and was more dense than light. The generous coating of almond slivers was great as it provided a nice crunch to every bite. By the way, as I looked around the store, I noticed every single table had this croissant as well so it is definitely a must try item!  

Up till then, we were incredibly impressed by the pastries and hot chocolate so it was a big disappointment finishing off with the macarons because it absolutely did not live up to our expectations. We ordered Chestnut, Mocha, and Pistachio ($1.75 each) to share and none of us like any of them. They were under-baked and so soggy to a point where I did not want to even finish it. 

Overall, Thomas Haas is a wonderful Patisserie and I won't let the failed macarons stop me from returning. :)

Based on these reasons:

• double baked almond croissant is a definite must try item!
• try one of their gourmet hot chocolate before the festival ends
• great atmosphere to chat, eat, or read a book

Service Rating: 4/5

Food Rating: 4/5

Price: $$ ($10-20)

Overall Rating: 4/5

Happy Eating!

<-- world's most expensive hot chocolate

courtesy of http://www.yummly.com/blog/2011/08/12-most-expensive-foods-in-the-world/