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2009-04-09
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當我還未第一次嚟品嚐VERO的時候，其實我心裡面係會稔，又黎多一間 Chocolate Shop in HK (或burger shop, 不也一樣嗎)？仲要係香港品牌？係唔係有人啪完丸，大想頭ｊｏｒ少少呢？但嚟完之後，發覺大錯特錯的．VERO，係真真正的正World Class 的. 重要係好高級那種. Very utterly surprised, to the point of being speechless. Kudos to the ambition of owners and skills of Chocolate makers. Thanks for choosing to open in Hong Kong. I support you fully, as a chocolate lover.當我見到咁多人, 竟然試 jor 咁少嘢, 尤其係只試jor一杯 Xocolati dark 70%咁大把, 就咁肯定哋俾咁少分VERO, 我真係有啲覺得 UNFAIR & 對唔住 SHOP OWNER. (其實, 本人以前都係食物店的Owner/Partner.) I've
當我見到咁多人, 竟然試 jor 咁少嘢, 尤其係只試jor一杯 Xocolati dark 70%咁大把, 就咁肯定哋俾咁少分VERO, 我真係有啲覺得 UNFAIR & 對唔住 SHOP OWNER. (其實, 本人以前都係食物店的Owner/Partner.)
I've tried nearly all specialty chocolate shops available in Hong Kong -
Jean Paul Hevin (French), La Maison du Chocolat (French), Valrhona (French), Debaive & Gallais (French), Debailleu (Belgian/French), Mary's (Japan), Leonidas (Belgian), Godiva (Belgian), Teusner (Belgian), ROYCE (Japan), Antique (?), Agnes b (French), VERO (Hong Kong), etc, etc．
外國的，有Oriol Balaguer (Spanish, No.1 Chocolatier in the world?), Callebaut (Belgian/Swiss), Chocolat et Cacao (French chain shop, but under-rated), Neuhaus (Belgian, Godiva nemesis), Michel Cluizel (French Artisinal), Cacao (Australia), Pierre Herme (French), Amedei (Italian), Max Brenner (Israeli chain store), Koko Black (Belgian in Australia), etc, etc - also Nestle, Cadbury, Meiji, etc, of course. Cannot remember some Japanese ones I've tried in Japan, which were also good.
Some of the other most famous shops in France, however, I haven't tried, especially the Jean Paul Hevin 2 range and their Cheese/Chocolate products, Laduree, Michel Chaudun, Jacques Genin, etc
Impress 我的, 就只有 Jean Paul Hevin, Valrhona, Debaive & Gallais, Debailleu, Godiva, Neuhaus, ROYCE, Oriol Balaguer, Callebaut, Chocolat et Cacao (controversial!), Michel Cluizel (of course!), Cacao, Amedei (amazing), VERO.
The best of best? Jean Paul Hevin, Valrhona, Debaive and Gallais, Michel Cluizel, Amedei, VERO - that's also in that list. Seriously. 雖然, 平時我對食物的要求好好高的，踩多個囋，俾分又比較底, 但是我係公平的. 原全靠味覺評．就算全'無HK Patriotic心同同情心地講, 我都可以肯定, VERO 呢間係world class的chocolate shop. 比淮一穫得Le Comité Colbert 認定的La Maison du Chocolat (over-rated in Chocolate Connoseur's world, more for sugary Chocolate lovers), 還要好.
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I'm quite surprised no one in the last 30 odd so-called Chocolate reviews, did not even review the pure chocolate tablettes available in this shop in greater details. If you are going to only try the Chocolate pralines/Ganached/filled Chocolates then SCORE a shop based purely on that - its rather unfair, not to mention, VERO's filled Chocolates were actually better than most other shops out there. Ordered the following as tasting, some Eat-In, some Take-away :
>>
Chocolate Premium Squares Platter with 5 choices:
1. Dark Chocolate 70% - Great taste and very smooth texture for 70%. Red berry/Raspberry fruity taste, with a long finish that lasted 10 sec+ as it melted. The basis of most chocolates in this shop. 9.3/10. Better than my other favourites Jean Paul Hevin Caraibe and Araguani 72% (spelling ?).
White - This must be the best white chocolate I've tasted in my life. This was 'fresh', also had characters other than milk and cocoa butter taste. White chocolate isn't even a chocolate in a way. However Vero's white chocolate, actually had chocolate taste, with a multi-layered taste finish. WOW. 10/10.
Milk Chocolate 32% - This was soooo amazingly good. Buttery in taste and melting texture, slightly caramelly yet ever slightly salty, probably soy bean in background taste - finish was 3 dimensional and ever slightly changing when melting in the mouth, rather unusual for milk chocolates of only 32%. This went the best with my Espresso. Better than the Jean Paul Hevin milk chocolate tablette/neapolitans. To me, this tasted EXACTLY like the Amedei Toscano Brown neapolitans, due to the very special flavouring and overall profile. Except, VERO's version was slightly better with a better texture. 10/10.
50/50 Marbled Milk and White Chocolate - I like this too, but it was in the middle of nothing. I won't rate this, as I'm not familiar with 50/50 chocolates like this. If anything, I preferred the pure White Chocolate.
Chuao 70% - Jesus. This had to be the best ever dark chocolate I've ever tasted in my entire life. Not one of the best, but the best. Chuao is supposedly the best Chocolate variety in the world, recommended by the Top 1 and Top 2 chefs in the world, namely El Bulli's Ferran Adria and Fat Duck's Heston Blumenthal, also high recommended by World Chocolatier champion and genius Oriol Balaguer (he came to HK recently, did anyone noticed?). Probably recommended by many others too but cannot remember. Chuao is grown in a hidden valley accessible only by boat in Venezuala in South America. Amedei stole the 'exclusive rights' to access Chuao grown chocolate beans, pulling the rug under Valrhona when they least expected it - they had previously had this right until a couple of years ago. If Valrhona still possessed this, I think it would be the best chocolate maker in the world and Amedei would play 2nd tier. The taste of this VERO Chuao chocolate was just so amazing. Initially, as it started to melt, it released fresh berry and flower flavours, then, it starts dying down a little after 5 seconds - THEN, and this is the amazing bit, the 2nd level of flavour kicked in and this was even more intense than the 1st wave, with a slightly different strawberry plus prune plus acai berry like flavour, which lasts again another 7-8 seconds in the mouth, then never leaves again. If there is a word to describe this experience, its called multiple-orgasm (sorry about being vulgar, but for the sake of comparion...). Amazing. The colour of VERO's Chuao seems slightly darker than Amedei's Chuao redder version. However, even though Amedei's Chuao is already the top of the world, the Vintage I had did not have this multi-complex, bursting layering of VERO's version, which had a slightly darker background yet the fresh fruit like taste and aroma released from this dark base gave it even more godly contrast. Previously, I was quite happy with Jean Paul Hevin's dark chocolates, especially the Ecuador and Venezuela varieties - but VERO's Chuao still manages to blitz that and put it into oblivion by a factor of roughly 400-500%. I think it impressed me more than the Amedei made Chuao.
I'm not sure where VERO source their Chuao beans from, since AMEDEI is suppose to have the exclusive rights. The only other company in the world to have access to Chuao is Bonnat (French), with unconfirmed stories of where they source the beans from this highly prized 'Terroir'. However, going by my tastebud's tasting of the VERO Milk Chocolate 32% which tasted exactly like Amedei's Toscano Brown only better, also hearing VERO's Italian connections, I would hazard the guess that its directly from Amedei somehow, as the resemblance between VERO and Amedei is uncannily close.
>>Marshmallow:
Calamasi Mallow - This had a sweetish yet aromatically acidic taste to it. The marshmallow's slightly fresh and moist texture, balancing of taste, everything was perfect. Right amount of sweetness too. The chocolate coating was also great. Cannot bring myself to score it less than 9.8/10. I thought this could improve if it was slightly more representational of the calamasi, by being more exploratory and bold? But perhaps, its perfect as it is now. Can't decide, even as a customer.
>>Fresh Chocolates, Seasonal Colletions:
Bought 3 types only from the 5 available. Apricot and Prune Scotch, Red Hazelnut and Chinese Tangerine. I think all of them were made exceptionally well. Certainly better than Jean Paul Hevin's fruit or fillings based chocolates (that's JPH's weakness), also better than La Maison du Chocolat, Debailleu, Valrhona, etc. I can't remember Debaive & Gallais's exact tastes enough to comment, but I think they might be close in performance. The Chocolate Courveture coating on VERO is quite thin, based on its 70% Dark Chocolate - I think Jean Paul Hevin's coating is slightly more tastier, crunchier yet thinner, which gave it a burst of flavour as its intended to do, although the fillings inside are better at VERO. 8-9/10.
I think any serious Chocolate lover, would not rate a chocolate shop based on their Chocolates with fillings only to be honest. I for one don't 'prefer' this type of chocolate, even if I still love them for fun. Hence my 1st order was to go straight for the plain, chocolate squares. However, these're there for a reason - to satisfy people who don't really just enjoy plain chocolate bars or slices, or are sick of the hazelnutty, marzipan or almond like Chocolate pralines. The filled chocolates is the 3rd, safest option - just look at Godiva. The only Chocolates in this category I've had better, which were better than VERO, were the Oriol Balaguer amazing 'senses' range, as well as the Cacao et Chocolate ones (I know, I know, they're a stupid chain store. But they really impressed me as the internal fillings were not so artifical in taste or sweetness. I don't care what others say haha!) Neuhaus and Valrhona come close but not as good as VERO in general.
>>COFFEE:
Double Espresso - Honestly, chocolate goes just perfect with espresso, better than alcohols in my opinion. Especially milk chocolates. I ordered Espresso, based on Lavazza blend beans. Although this Espresso wasn't extracted to its maximum potential as it was slightly too watery and the CREMA was thin - I was really surprised by the quality of the Lavazza espresso.
I've had a fair bit of experience with Lavazza coffee blends, both outside as well as playing with it myself - I was never really impressed with Lavazza in anyway. But that day's Lavazza espresso despite the extractiong flaws, was really very good - with a fresh taste of earthiness yet fruitiness of red spectrum, tad of pollen sweetness and mushroomy, complex, multi-layered in lingering taste and aroma. This was better than any ILLY espresso I've ever experienced. Had a good body too that was from the cheaper but under-rated Robusta beans covering the background of Arabica beans?
I couldn't believe this was Lavazza to be honest, it was really just too great, even fresh coffee in this batch. Not normal for Lavazza's. Was this a freak experience? This was equal 1st Espresso experience for me in Hong Kong, may be even outright no.1. Lost for explanation.
>>HOT CHOCOLATE
Xocolati 70% drink - This had a melting piece of 70% dark chocolate on top, took about 1minute to melt. This hot chocolate was flawed for Hong Kong's market in my personal opinion. As a hot drink, this type of too fruity dark chocolate made it possess a slightly unpleasant aftertaste which diminished on the wrong 'gradient' in the back palate, with a slightly bitter finish after the fruitiness. I'm surprised people write that this was 'thick' & 杰 杰地 and very dark, and that's their only comment and valuation of it being special or not. To me, I've had even thicker hot chocolates and this is not the only shop in Hong Kong to offer it. The highlight of this Hot Chocolate, was suppose to be the raisin plus berry like fresh Dark Chocolate they use to make this drink, not the viscosity of it... hmm. However, to cater for Hong Kong's still developing and some people's beginner's 'Starbucks level' tastebuds, compared to France and Italy and Spain, I think its better if VERO stuck to slightly lower chocolate contents (may be around 50-63% for 2009 customer levels) and less fruity but more roasty, aromatic, caramel or honeyed chocolate beans based, hot chocolate drinks. Just my personal opinion.
Conclusion
Overall, I was so impress by my trip to VERO, I'm speechless. I want to congratulate the owners/chefs again to decide on opening this shop in Hong Kong, its certainly a privilege and our gain and our pride. They're exactly the same type of ambitious yet insightful people, that I'd love to meet or be partners with in business. I trust that these guys must have the utmost respect and knowledge for chocolates, as well as top, trustworthy 'palates' which produced chocolates and espresso coffees of this nearly flawless quality.
I heard that they're going to introduce sweet wines and alcoholic drinks soon, to pair with their chocolates. As a side opinion, I think due to the taste spectrum of their chocolates, may be apart from the usual oxidised, vintaged Spanish sherries (Pedro Ximinez's, Oloroso's, etc) and white sweet wines like Barzac/Sauternes/Rivesaults, they can also look into French Banyuls, Spanish red sweet wines as well as thick, fruity beers like Amber ale beers to pair with the chocolates? I'm not sure sweet Rieslings will fit here, although I'd like to try those as well as Eisweins just for the fun of it!
A SOLID '5'.
The only chocolate shop in Hong Kong that I would give a '5' to without hesitation. I only give Jean Paul Hevin '4' as a comparison, despite it being my favourite French chocolate shop for now.
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