Paul A. Young is an award-winning chocolatier who set up a brand of shops of the same name (paul.a.young) across London. He uses pure ingredients to create chocolate in small batches so that each piece is perfect. Today, there are three shops in London of the Paul A. Young brand. I've previously been to the one at the Royal Exchange in the City of London, which is a tiny shop. There's also a shop in Islington and one in Soho. I recently visited the shop in Soho on Wardour Street, which is larger. I actually arrived just before a large tourist group, so the shop went from empty to packed in a matter of a few minutes. I take it that this is one of the stops that some of the London chocolate walks or general sweets/foods walks take you to see.
This branch of Paul A. Young make hot chocolate. There's no seating, so the hot chocolate should be taken away. The hot chocolate is made in the traditional method (known as Aztec) with water only so that the pure cocoa taste is highlighted. The Aztecs used this method to create hot chocolate as adding milk would detract from the flavour. The hot chocolate is also constructed depending on the weather; purer chocolate is used on cold days. In additon to the hot cocoa-water mix, a flavouring can also be added - chilli, cinnamon, mint, and cardamon were a few of the flavours on offer. I had cinnamon in mine.
The hot chocolate is semi-thick, but it's not the consistency of liquid chocolate. It's not too sweet, and the cocoa can really be tasted and enjoyed without the excess sugar and creaminess of milk.
Now that my favourite brownie has disappeared from London (I actually don't know why, but the shop was closed up and seems empty on social media too), Paul A. Young's is back to being my favourite. (If you know of any really good ones, comment below please.)
The shop also have a large display of chocolates in different flavours in the middle of the room, and they really are good quality. I had a fruit-flavoured one and a dark chocolate truffle. Chocolates are £2.00 a piece, so they are expensive, but you really can taste the good quality and smooth texture and flavours. Above, I explained that they are hand-made in small batches so that they can be guaranteed to taste perfect.
It is a little expensive, but if you love quality over quantity, then this is the place to go to buy chocolates. I don't know about you, but I prefer to have a little of something with good quality than a lot of something with poor quality. Let me know if you have been to Paul A. Young and tell me what you thought.
Paul A. Young in Soho is located at the corner of Wardour and Broadwick Street. It is open daily from 10:00-8:00 on Mondays-Wednesdays and Fridays-Saturdays. Thursday, it is open and hour longer. The hours on Sundays and Bank holidays are from 12:00-7:00. The nearest tube stations are Tottenham Couty Road, Oxford Circus, or Piccadilly Circus.
Leave a comment