HoCho Fest Day 16: Chocolate Glace a la Cardamome

What a Monday! Chilly, sunny, full of sleeplessness, and of course: Chocolate.

Today was cold, and so was my drink! With company at my side, I ventured eastward to find what turned out to be a very tiny shop called Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France.

It is tucked away around the corner of East 21st Avenue, and to me embodied a "hole-in-the-wall" sort of establishment. Far from being just a hole in the wall, this place was almost entirely wooden interior, full of chocolate (to add to the brown decor), quaint, and yet easily carried a sense of "class" with it.

On to the treat: From the four options available, we chose the Chocolate Glace a la Cardamome. It sounded like the most unique, and was a flavour yet to be encountered in the festival flavours.

Cardamom flavoured iced drinking chocolate.
Served with a Gaufre de Liège waffle, along with a side of fleur de sel caramel or chocolate hazelnut spread.
Available Every day of the festival that the shop is open.
($5.25)

 Served in a small milk bottle, our beverage arrived over ice with a stripy straw - it looked great! The waffle served alongside came warm with our selected chocolate hazelnut spread. Noted by the enthusiastic shopkeep (I think she must have been the owner), this waffle is not your average American or Canadian square waffle that is heated in a few minutes in a waffle pan or popped into a toaster; this waffle has been readying to be eaten 48 hours ahead of time, all the while becoming the delicious entity that it was on our plate.

Upon sipping the drink through its stripy straw, I was greeted by very thick chocolate flavour and body, strongly intertwined with the taste cardamom (no subtlety).
The cardamom flavour is difficult to describe, but it seems to resemble a sort of sweet mint flavour with citrusy tones - online searches yield descriptions that say it resembles the eucalyptus plant (though I cannot speak to that myself).

 The shoppe is very small and quaint, and the woman who helped us with our choices and questions was enthusiastic and French and eager to describe the options to us! If you look at the photo of me (looking slightly crazy with chocolate love) and what is behind me: picture twice that space, and you have the entire visitor space in the shop! There is a back room for waffle-making and chocolate-creating, but I love how it is so small and homey feeling. I didn't try any of the chocolate confections that were displayed, but I certainly would like to return to the little neighbourhood and give it a go! It's a colourful area of town full of old buildings and places like this!