Hi,
Accepting all recommendations for the places with the best desserts (have to try); I love chocolate so anything involving that is a plus, but I do not discriminate when it comes to sweets. I was going to do one of those dessert tours, but figured instead of spending money on the tour, I will spend it on the dessert and ask for assistance from you guys.
PS I will be staying in the Montmarte area.
Thank you!!
Angelinas on Rue Rivoli is a great option.
Angelina's hot chocolate: made from melted chocolate bars, served at your marble-topped cafe table on a silver platter alongside a bowl of whipped cream and a glass and pitcher of cold water. Next-door table denizens were a, umm, vintage Brigitte-Bardot-esque blonde in sunglasses and a leopardskin jacket with her purse doggie also in a leopardskin jacket. One of my favorite Parisian memories.
They’re not chocolate, well some are on the inside, but I love those macaroons and the lovely tins they come in at the shop.
Un Dimanche a Paris, a cafe/chocolate shop in the 6th. It’s pricey but the selection of chocolate desserts is divine.
Chocolate Chapon on rue du Bac - a mousse bar.
I’m a fan of Jean Paul Hevin chocolatier.
Mini dark chocolate tarts. Moelleaux au chocolate.
Just keep your eyes open for anything that catches your eye — I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad chocolate dessert in Paris.
I love chocolate and have had some yummy chocolate in Paris including a wonderful chocolate dessert at a little place in the 17th. Lucien la Chance -- a wine bar with small plates including a chocolate ganash with hawaiian salt. Fabulous.
I think the best dessert I have ever had is the Grand Marnier Souffle at Chez Dumonet, Josephine. Their boeuf bourguignon is also excellent and their Milliefeuille dessert is amazing. The souffle and the milliefeuille are both big enough to share. It is assembled just before serving and thus not the tough gummy pastry available in most bakeries. The souffle is just wonderful and about 10 times as good as the Grand Marnier at Le Souffle restaurant.
Try Christophe Roussel on Rue Tardieu (5-minute walk from Anvers metro station). Not exactly on point but since you are staying in Montmartre, there is place there called Kosak Glacier on Rue Caulaincourt that specializes in chocolates (chocolate not chocolate desserts) from around the world. If you want a lot of chocolate mousse, you could try dinner at Chez Janou in Le Marais. They serve the mousse in a tureen and you take as much as you want. I do not like chocolate but my husband does and he has enjoyed that mousse. My husband and children enjoyed tremendously their chocolate cake at Le Petit Littré on Rue Littre -- we had one of the best long lunches ever at that place. Now, I say that I do not like chocolate but somehow I do like chocolate eclairs and Le Eclair de Genie in the 4th has the best I have ever had. I found that place when I was chatting with a neighbor in Paris about eclairs and he said "You are lucky. We are near L'Eclair de Genie. You must go. It is the best in Paris and therefore the best in the world." I loved that confidence so much that I headed straight there and twenty minutes later, I agreed.
Odette near Pont Neuf if you like choux buns. (There are a couple of other branches, but I think the original is the only one with seating.)
Try Laduree and Herme and see whose macarons you think are better - I prefer Herme.
The last time I went to Jacques Genin, I got the impression that they were no longer doing patisserie, only chocolates, but I might have been wrong. Still worth visiting for the chocolates.
Chocolate Mousse at Ambassade du Auverne on Rue du Grenier-St. Lazare in the 3rd. Rich and chocolatey, and served at the table from a big bowl. While you are there, be sure to try the aligot, a gooey pureed potato, cheese and garlic dish. Both are yummy.
I second Angelina on the rue de Rivoli, I went there twice over a four day stay last year. Must try the Mont Blanc. Also loved the macaroons from La Masion Du Chocolat (several locations).
Will have to check and see if I kept my list of top chocolate shops. On our 2015 Paris trip when we were in the different parts of the city, we stopped at a chocolate shop in that area. Worked great, saw the city and had a treat everywhere we went.
Edited: Top chocolate shops from 2015.
1. Patrick Roger
Address: 108, blvd. St. Germain
Metro: St.-Germain-des-Près
2. La Maison du Chocolat
Address: 225, rue du Faubourg St. Honoré
Metro: Place des Termes
3. Michel Chaudun
Address: 149 Rue de l'Université
Metro: Invalides
4. Christian Constant
Address: 37 rue Assas
Metro: St. Placide or Rennes
5. Josephine Vannier
Address: 4, rue du Pas de la Mule
Metro: Bastille
6. Jean-Paul Hevin
Address: 231 Rue Saint Honoré
Metro: Tuileries or Pyramides
7. Michel Cluizel
Address: 201, Rue St. Honoré
Metro: Tuileries
8. Pierre Hermé
Address: 72 Rue Bonaparte
Metro: St.-Germain-des-Près
9. Jean Charles Rochoux Chocolatier
16 Rue D Assas, 75006 Paris, France
Large chocolate macaroons. We got them from Paul's and while I'm not a connoisseur, my family demolished the box of them in one night. Sadly, the ones here in the states don't taste as good.
What does "best" mean?
I like white chocolate ice-cream, my wife thinks chocolate mousse is best for chocolate deserts. I haven't tried deserts in all 10.000 Paris restaurants so can't recommend...
If you want to be like a Prisian, the best dessert is the closest one.
Mont Blanc at Angelina’s!!! Nothing even close to it in anywhere else so enjoy it in Paris!!!!
And I who have a sweet tooth think the Mont Blanc at Angelinas is sickeningly sweet so as to be nearly inedible. The only solution to these matters of taste is comparative eating. So you must go to several different recommended sites here and try them all out.
FWIW. Paris bakeries have about a dozen different chocolate breakfast pastries -- every one doesn't have all of them but they usually have at least half a dozen: pain chocolate, chocolate croissants (not the same thing), something called a Suisse which is full of gooey chocolate, and usually a few other options -- bread things with chocolate chips, things with chocolate and a half a pear --- worth hitting a few different bakeries for morning bread if you are on a chocolate hunt and try them all.
Two favorites come to mind. First, any of the ice creams at Berthillon at 31 rue Saint-Louis en l’Ile. Second, the Profiteroles au Chocolat at Relais de l’Entrecote (following their delicious steak frites dinner). They have multiple locations, but the one I have eaten at is at 15 rue Marbeuf near the Champs Elysees. Bon Voyage!
anchorgirl2b - thank you for starting this thread! And thanks to all of you for your great recommendations. I am a chocoholic and tend to stay away from other sweets (not worth the calories for me). I am very fond of eclairs so the eclair suggestion is a plus. Looks like I'll be searching out some really great spots in September. Angelinas was already on my list - I love hot chocolate.
This is a yummy list, but you should still take the Paris Walks Chocolate tour if it’s offered while you are there. It’s not just for the samples, but also for the all the interesting content. BTW, the other chocolate tours were created based on this one.
