On the search for the best chocolates in Connecticut brings us to Le Rouge Handmade Chocolates & Cakes by Aarti in Westport.
So I love chocolates. Especially fancy chocolates. It’s not about being pretentious, plenty of chocolatey grocery store candy is excellent as well (Rolos, Reeses’ cups ftw).
But in my heart, fancy chocolates have a special place.
Luckily, CT has its fair share of pretentious, fancy, high-end chocolate shops.
This is one of them.
I tried a ‘best of’ selection of what they had here at this nearly-underground (literally, not in some unknown-of-place, sort of way) chocolate shop.
Overall, these chocolates were good, not great. They all sort of had the exact same consistency inside. This slightly ganache-y semi-firm filling.
When trying a few different kinds of chocolates, this gets old.
Obviously I cannot review every chocolate they ever have or will have, but as I asked for a ‘best of’, this may be a good smattering of what this place has to offer.
Intense Raspberry Spiral
This one is neither Intense nor very Raspberry (discuss). At least it is a spiral!
But overall, the flavor is good.
It is sweet and gritty, like those little seeds from the raspberries are still in there.
The Rating:
6.5/10
Guava Chlii Mango
This truffle is very heavy on the guava flavor.
I’m totally okay with that.
The cayenne chili pepper leaves a very subtle and faint lingering tingle on the tongue at the end.
You have to really like guava to get this one.
Luckily, I do.
The Rating:
7/10
Preserved Rose
I guess this is what preserved rose tastes like.
It’s off in it’s flavoring; in the way a glass of water tastes differently if its from melted ice from when its from the same never-frozen water.
That flavor you-just-know something is different.
Actually, a mild milk chocolate with that formerly-frozen water and a little bit of floral taste is exactly what this tastes like.
The Rating:
6.5/10
Saffron Pistachio
Here things start to go wrong. First, and oddly enough, the pistachio flavor is completely overwhelming. Which saffron should never do. Second, instead of just having a typical ganache-y filling, this chocolate has a show (shelled) pistachio nut inside.
The problem? The pistachio is steaked inside, effectively
Meaning, it’s a soggy bit of formerly-crunchy tree nut inside your chocolate.
The Rating:
4.5/10
Salted Caramel
The best of the bunch.
This chocolate has a muted caramel flavor that is neither too strong or too subtle.
The chocolate is similar, walking the line (hard) between milk chocolate and dark chocolate.
The Rating:
7/10
The Recommendation:
Their ‘crazier’ flavors are entirely hit or miss. Expect each chocolate to have the same sort of ganache filling, just flavored differently. Keep that in mind, and take the name of their flavors either way too seriously (saffron) or not seriously enough (intense raspberry). But make sure to get some caramels as well.
https://www.instagram.com/eatthisct/
Address: 190 Main St, Westport, CT 06880
Closed Mondays
Phone: (203) 293-6106