“Chocolate is no ordinary food. It is not something you can leave, something you like only moderately. You don’t LIKE chocolate. You don’t even LOVE chocolate. Chocolate is something you have an AFFAIR with.”
– Geneen Roth
Rabot by Hotel Chocolat
If you haven’t already had a chance to watch the recent Hotel Chocolat documentary (Chocolate Dreams: Inside Hotel Chocolat) which goes behind the scenes of how their chocolate is made, I would highly recommend it. Alongside demonstrating how their chocolate products are made and developed, the documentary also showcases how Hotel Chocolat’s obsession for cocoa has ventured beyond just the production of the indulgent sweet treats we know and love.
The largest independent chocolate maker in Britain has also turned its hand towards translating their brand into a luxury boutique hotel situated on their very own cocoa farm: Rabot by Hotel Chocolat. I imagine staying at the hotel as a chocolate lover would be a dream as I know they offer chocolate-themed spa treatments, cocoa plantation tours and the opportunity for you to make your own chocolate.
What piqued my interest in particular, however, is the fact that the hotel is also home to a world-famous restaurant that pioneers chocolate-infused cuisine. The Rabot Restaurant menu is very much chocolate-centered!
It was in this documentary that I also first discovered that their cocoa farm is located on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, on lush 140 acre grounds. It was just by sheer chance that less than a year after the documentary aired my boyfriend and I happened to book a trip to St Lucia! And we couldn’t go all the way there and then not pay the famous Rabot restaurant a visit, now could we?!
Here’s what I thought about our experience…
A Spectacular Backdrop
Let’s just talk about the setting…
Sitting high up in the rainforest with a direct view of the iconic Petit Piton before you, surrounded by tropical birds and stunning foliage, there really is no location that can compare! The restaurant is perched on the first floor of an elegant dark wood building with a picture-perfect view of the gorgeous greenery that surrounds the landscape.
While you weren’t technically allowed to do this, I wandered down to the ground floor to take a sneaky photo of the insanely beautiful infinity pool that sits below the restaurant. There are no words to describe how beautiful the scene was, which is why I will have to insert a photograph instead…
The restaurant stands separately to the hotel so there was no way to take a sneaky look around the rest of the grounds and sadly you can’t just go for a wander to the cocoa farm (you need to book and there is a fee).
Did you know…? Hotel Chocolate is the only chocolate company to grow cocoa on its own farm.
Our Dining Experience
Before I bombard you with photographs of the food (that’s why we’re all here isn’t it!?), I just want to note that the dining area was quiet and well-lit in the sunshine. The overall layout and table setting was clean and unpretentious. The service was polite and to my taste with the fact that you were left to eat and not harassed every few minutes for more drinks etc.
Entrees:
Bread with three ‘dips’ – dark chocolate balsamic, chocolate infused butter and herb oil.
Thoughts: Delicious! A great introduction to the way chocolate undertones are utilised in savoury dishes.
Starters:
Sharing Platter (cacao gazpacho shots / cacao gin cured mahi-mahi / pulled pork piton / sweet plantain strips)
Thoughts: Again, good little tasters of what is to come and very light which was ideal as we planned on eating a lot more!
Mains:
For him: The Boucanier Salad (locally caught tuna served rare with soft boiled egg and Gruyère cheese. Organic salad with cacao pesto, island grown tomatoes, green figs and crunchy cacao croutons)
For me: Boucan “Roti” (a twist on the traditional St Lucian lunch)
Thoughts: My boyfriend’s tuna was insanely delicious and buttery – I would highly recommend! This was the second roti I had on my trip (the first one I ate was from a local cafe and for a fraction of the price). I enjoyed it and was hearty and satisfying but also very mild in flavour by comparison.
Dessert:
For me: The Story Of Chocolate, In Ice (Connects our cacao-growing and chocolate-making in the most delicious way. A trio of homemade ices charting the progression from pod to chocolate in three stages: cacao pulp sorbet, cacao nib-infused ice cream and estate chocolate ice cream).
For him: Mousse au Chocolat (a smooth mousse, with cacao nib infused ice cream).
Thoughts: Obviously you can’t go wrong with chocolate desserts!
Was all the chocolate ‘a bit much’?
I’m sure you’re interested to discover (this was something I was curious about at least!) whether or not the food was ‘too sweet’ or ‘sickly’ from the addition of chocolate and cacao. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t. At all. Everything on the menu that was infused with chocolate was done so mindfully and in a way that added to or complimented the rest of the ingredients.
I will say that I probably enjoyed the savoury chocolate dishes more than the desserts, as the flavour combinations were so out of the box and new to me. In the savoury dishes the cocoa added an earthy richness which was far more pleasant than I could have ever anticipated! I would highly recommend going in to eat here with a completely open mind as I was surprised by the tastes of the various dishes we tried.
How To Book
You can book a table at the Hotel Chocolat’s Rabot restaurant by emailing reservations@hotelchocolat.com.
They responded pretty quickly and we didn’t have to book very far in advance either.
Final Thoughts
Needless to say I had a really positive experience at Rabot. The food we ate was very clearly made from high quality produce, it was presented beautifully and there has clearly been a great deal of thought and idea development put into the dishes that we sampled. The novelty of trying out dishes that are infused with cocoa in weird and wonderful ways is always going to be an enticing draw for anyone.
The food is arguably on the pricey side – this is the sort of restaurant you save up for and enjoy as a full ‘experience’ as part of a celebration, for example, and not somewhere you would eat at on a daily basis. I have eaten at expensive restaurants in the past where the cost does not translate well to the quality of the food you are served. In the case of Rabot I believe the pricing is justified and that their overall approach to sustainability (both social and environmental) is refreshing to say the least.
The vegetables used at the restaurant are sourced from local growers and the fruit is grown on the farm itself. The restaurant also has a long-standing relationship with the fisherman in St Lucia which ensures locals have dependable sources of income in exchange for the fresh fish they catch. I have a lot of respect for the hotel’s initiative to improve the livelihoods of the island’s locals and also help to promote trade internally and not to rely on importing everything.
Would I return?
I had always thought of dining at the Rabot restaurant as a ‘once in a lifetime’ kind of experience. Too much of a good thing would take away the awe and uniqueness of the first experience in my humble opinion. I would, however, take up the chance to return if I could couple that restaurant visit with stay at the hotel! There is something about the location and splendour of being surrounded by nature that I will never be able to forget.
Until next time,
Lica xoxo
P.S. I have updated my original post to accommodate the hotel’s recent rebranding (2021). The hotel was previously called ‘Boucan’ but has now re-opened under ‘Rabot’.
