A local’s review of Dark Sugars Brick Lane, East London, the perfect spot to get unique hot chocolate in London in fall and around Christmas time!
If you’re on a permanent search for the best hot chocolate in London, Dark Sugars Brick Lane has got the perfect menu for you.
I remember back in 2019 when there were two Dark Sugars on Brick Lane, one near the famous Beigel Shop, and one lower down the street walking toward Whitechapel.
Before the pandemic, I would visit the biggest shop all the time to get my fix of ice cream, because I felt that Dark Sugars Brick Lane was offering the best ice cream in London.
Fast forward to today, there is now only one Dark Sugars on Brick Lane, and while they still offer ice cream, there is way less choice when it comes to their amazing gelato.
Sad, but we’re still very lucky to have the most famous flavors, to be honest – and the incredible hot chocolate!
London’s Dark Sugars Brick Lane Review – Best Hot Chocolate
Dark Sugars Brick Lane is a small shop located on the corner of Brick Lane and Bacon Street, not too far from Bethnal Green Road and Costa Coffee, one of my favorite study cafes in East London.
When I got there, on a weekday in the afternoon, there were already lots of people waiting – and more arrived as my friend and I were being served!
The word that the best hot chocolate in London can be found at Dark Sugars Brick Lane has spread over the past few years, and you know what?
It’s true.
It’s not a rumor.
Even I, who am not a big fan of anything chocolate-y except for actual chocolate, brownies, and cookies, loved the one D got. But I’ll tell you about that after.
Keep reading to know more!
Dark Sugars Brick Lane Menu
For starters, let me say that if you’ve been looking for vegan chocolate in London, Dark Sugars Brick Lane has it.
They have a full selection of entirely vegan chocolates, and when I say ‘full’, I mean full.
When you enter the shop, you’ll see that it’s not too big, and there are usually one or two team members working there, serving the best hot chocolate in London, ice cream, and chocolates.
Even if the ice cream selection has been considerably reduced, you can still find fan favorites at Dark Sugars, including pistachio, mint, or of course, chocolate.
What makes the Dark Sugars brand so famous and exciting is the use of West African chocolate; pure, true, and delicious.
As soon as you enter the shop, everything chocolate is surrounding you, and you’ve got a little bit of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory mixed with ethics and artisan-made chocolate swirling around.
In addition to bringing us the best hot chocolate in London, Dark Sugars Brick Lane has got a decently-sized range of chocolates.
A lot of them contain alcohol, so I did not try these, although they’re very interesting-looking.
I rather focused on non-alcoholic chocolates with extra sweet notes of toffee, and they were a perfect choice as a snack while walking around and checking out the vintage shops in Brick Lane, and the surrounding street art.
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Dark Sugars Brick Lane: What I Ordered
While my friend absolutely wanted to try the best hot chocolate in London, having heard from a friend that Dark Sugars Brick Lane was a must-visit, I stuck to my little chocolate bites.
I wasn’t going to get anything, really, having eaten one of the best bagels in London at Beigel Shop, higher up on the street.
But I got caught up in the experience, and I ordered just a few chocolates to satisfy my sweet tooth.
My friend got a hazelnut hot chocolate with coconut milk that turned out to be one of the most spectacular hot chocolates in London we’ve ever tried together – judge for yourself!
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Dark Sugars Brick Lane: Hot Chocolate With Hazelnut and Coconut Milk
My opinion about the hot chocolate at Dark Sugars Brick Lane?
Even if I’m not a big fan of hot chocolate, I found that this was one of the most amazing cups of hot chocolate I’ve ever tried.
Easily.
The woman working this day asked us if we wanted chocolate bits in our hot chocolate, and we were very pleasantly surprised when we saw the amount of chocolate Dark Sugars uses as a decoration in their hot chocolate!
A mix of white, milk, and dark chocolate, the rolled chocolate bits melted quite fast, birthing one of the creamiest hot chocolate cups we had ever tasted.
Even the coconut milk, now also more present in coffee shop chains like Pret or Starbucks, was utterly tasty and we could feel it through the chocolate taste. Wow.
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Dark Sugars Brick Lane: Chocolates
Since I was not that hungry, we only ordered a few chocolates.
These four chocolates and the hot chocolate brought the total bill to a little over £10, so it’s safe to say it was not really a cheap eat – or cheap drink, however you want to put it.
However, given the quality of the chocolate brought to the London food scene, I’d say it’s not actually that expensive if you focus on chocolate of that quality.
These are the chocolates we ordered at Dark Sugars Brick Lane:
- Strawberry Rosewater
- White Chocolate Nutmeg
- Toffee Cup
- and what I remember to be Toffee Caramel
I’m not a fan of dark chocolate at all, and I believe that what attracts me to chocolate is the amount of sugar in it, since I like white and milk chocolate much more.
Still, I tried all four chocolates, and I have my clear preferences: Toffee Cup and Toffee Caramel were some of the finest chocolates I’ve ever tasted in my whole, entire life.
Strawberry Rosewater was delicious, with notes of rose in the sugar bit on top of it.
White Chocolate Nutmeg was very interesting, and I have to say I ordered it because I’m feeling in my autumn mood, what with checking out all the fall Yankee Candle candles and other DW Home scents from TK Maxx to burn at home these days.
Very interesting, spicy, and sweet at the same time. A great discovery and I thought that all four chocolates we got at Dark Sugars Brick Lane were especially finely-crafted.
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London’s Dark Sugars Brick Lane Review – Best Hot Chocolate
There you have it, the complete review of Dark Sugars Brick Lane. Definitely the place for the best hot chocolate in London, and particularly interesting if you’re ever looking for vegan chocolates in London as well.
This is a place I’d visit again and again, simply because the ethics and background of the brand are attractive to me.
I prefer small, family-run, and independent businesses over large chains any day, and Dark Sugars Brick Lane has proven for years that they know chocolate, and do it well.
If you’re ever roaming the city in search of non touristy things to do in London, a visit to Dark Sugars will break the tourist vibe that Brick Lane often has!