Attention chocolate lovers, there’s a new sweet spot in town and it goes by the name of Cacao 70! It’s been open for about 3 weeks now and I was there just yesterday with Andrea and Janice, who are both just as crazy about sweet things as I am. I had heard about this place for the first time a few weeks ago from Janice and then from Katerine and had been looking forward to visiting it.

The ambiance and decor were not what I had pictured and a lot brighter and more casual than I thought it would be. Not to worry though because the menu is worth the trip. I am, of course, talking about the hot chocolate menu, which was the ideal thing to have on a day where I just couldn’t warm up. The list of 27 single origin Cacao Barry chocolate choices is very impressive! The way the hot chocolates are offered is quite interesting as well. You choose a chocolate from the list ranging from 29% white chocolate to 100% dark, with all the ranges in between. It comes to your table melted in a big cup with a side of hot chocolate “base” in dark, medium or light chocolate. You add as much of the base to your melted chocolate to make it the consistency you prefer. The base is paired with your chocolate according to the cocoa percentage: dark base with 66% to 100% cocoa, medium with 65% to 55% cocoa and the milk base with any percentage below that…

Cacao 70 also serves other drinks like spiced hot chocolates, frozen hot cocoa, chocolate shakes, sodas and smoothies. They also serve food, some of it savoury and a lot of it sweet and chocolatey of course. Since it is owned by the same people who own Paris Crêpe on Crescent, it is only befitting that they would serve crêpes at Cacao 70. We tried a ham and cheese one and even though the crêpe dough was good, I would’ve enjoyed it more had the cheese been of a better quality. They also have an extensive chocolate pizza menu, of which we tasted the one with bananas. You can choose the chocolate you’d like on your pizza. The manager offered us one with milk chocolate, which was a bit too sweet for my taste but the pizza and its “toppings” of strawberries and marshmallows are a cute idea and something I’ve never seen before in Montreal.

Cacao 70 has a the whole array of Cacao-Barry chocolate pellets right at their counter and soon enough, you’ll be able to purchase pouches of your favourite origin by weight. A great way for you to discover new flavours of chocolates and to share the experience of making “real” hot chocolate at home.

I quite enjoyed the Cacao 70 hot chocolate experience and would definitely go back for that, before or after a movie – since the AMC movie theater is just around the corner – or to warm up at any time. It made me reminisce about my childhood days when my mom used to make us real hot chocolate (because that was the only way she knew how, there was none of that powdered stuff where I grew up). And really, isn’t that what hot chocolate is all about: comfort and sweet memories?

Cacao 70
2087 Ste. Catherine West, Montreal
+1 514 933 1688

Mon – Thu and Sun: 11 am – 10:30 pm
Fri – Sat: 11am – midnight