On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Desserts, Chocolatiers and Shops [Edit]
Neighborhood: South EndWorcester Square (Silver)
Tue-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Fri. 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Why I'll go back: The various selections of hot chocolate means I can always find just the right flavor for my mood
You HAVE to order: Classic, Irapa
Tony's tip: On a crisp Fall or late Winter evening, stop in after dinner at Stella, banq, etc. (or even skip dinner) and take your hot choc down the street to Blackstone Square park to relax and do some dog watching
I had to try Aroa after Boston Magazine recently cited it as one of the top places for hot chocolate in Boston. Went there with my two kids (who take their hot choc seriously, LOL). The place is small, and the ambience is cute, but it's not relaxing enough that you'd feel like chillin' with a good book or your laptop. We tried 3 of the 7 flavors on the menu: Classic, Midnight, and Irapa. Consensus was that the Classic was very smooth and rich, and the Irapa (made with brown sugar) actually had a hint of white chocolate flavor to it (note that White Chocolate is one of the other flavors on the menu). The Midnight was indeed a little bitter (as advertised), and you might as well go for the Classic if you are in the mood for a standard hot chocolate taste. The shop does have plenty of inventive little pastries, chocolates, and seasonal fruit tart squares, which we'll probably sample the next time we're there.
My dear friend and I decided to hit up Aroa after our lunch at Seiyo. First observation: Aroa was dead. I mean, really dead. Not only was the place empty, but it was completely silent-- not even music. Something about this dead silence made us think that we might want to finish our afternoon together in a more lively place.
When we walked in, my friend said "wow, what a great place. Have you guys been here long?" And the man behind the counter said -- in a sort of snippy tone -- "if you consider 18 months long, then yes." This encounter, along with the dead silence of Aroa set the tone for the rest of our time there.
Admittedly, the chocolates looked beautiful, and the tea selection looked impressive, but we were in the mood for something more in the cookie family. We got two enrobed chocolate butter cookies which were just bad- the butter cookie was thick and tasteless, and the cookie was clumsy and mediocre. (We ate them at the same time that we shared desserts from Flour and those were just much better). Perhaps another trip is warranted to sample the chocolates, but nothing about this Aroa experience has made me want to return.
Sure the chocolates were good and my friend's hot chocolate was very tasty, but this place has no atmosphere. It was empty and silent and I stood at the counter waiting for the person to ask me what I wanted from the case for a while. Then another couple walked in (older than me) and he asked them what they wanted before me! how rude! Apparently because I'm younger and not dressed nicely (I came from the lab) that means I don't want to purchase a fine chocolate. Not nice service and it took way longer than it ever needed to. I don't plan on making any efforts to go back.
A wonderful surprise to walk along Washington Street and discover this spot. The server was pleasant and friendly, and the spiced hot chocolate was absolutely divine.
I used to love this place before the expansion. However, few month ago I stopped visiting there because the quality and the size of their dessert and macaroons has decrease dramatically. The quality of the macaroons also changes from day to day which made me really sad because I used to love this place and would go there once or twice a week, but now....I am in the process of looking for another store.
Fantastic place! Beautiful interior. Really delicious pastries and chocolates (and caramels and macaroons!) Great coffee and tea and a truly wonderful new head pastry chef, Tim, who oversees it all!
We were out in the South End with a craving for hot chocolate, and since Burdick was too far away I figured we'd give Aroa a try. And I'm certainly glad that we did.
The hot chocolates at Aroa are very good, not spectacular, but very good. It's not the shaved, melted chocolate like you get at Burdick, but it's certainly a good quality drink. What WAS pretty spectacular was the variety of hot chocolates; milk, dark, white, and at least three variations of the "Mexican" spiced hot chocolate. Mmmmm...
I was even more impressed with their chocolates. We did a tasting of about a half dozen of their chocolates. The first three, the cinnamon caramel, Mexican vanilla, and champagne truffles were good, but what I would have expected. But then we tried some more unusual chocolates: olive oil, lavender, basil. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!
As one Yelper cleverly pointed out, these are European, not Detroit chocolates - they're rather small. However, they're so flavorful I've found that if you cut them into quarters and eat them one piece at a time, you'll get 4x the experience per piece of chocolate (it's also a great way to share).
This is exactly what I'll be doing at my next wine tasting - these chocolates would be perfect.
Also, a big thumbs up to the customer service at Aroa. We arrived late and weren't finished by the time the shop closed. But the staff insisted we relax and stay until we were done (which was almost another hour), and even offered us some of the leftover pastries as they cleaned up. Classy folks!
Wow THE best chocolate. Great service, slow but really nice staff. Coffee is great, hot chocolate was thick and hot and nice and the chocolate is fantastic. Very quiet shop but really nice, no music or real vibe so a nice place if you want to chat to friends and catch up without the hype. Really enjoyed it and felt very relaxed just hanging out with friends on a rainy day.
Yeah! I'm so glad to see Aroa doing well on Yelp. Alex Luna, the chocolate genius behind Aroa, is a bit of an acquaintance of mine and, having once had the pleasure of him making a rather disparate group of friends an amazing Christmas diner, I was looking forward to seeing the great things that he could do with chocolate. I mean if he's able to conjure up something that an American, a Venezuelan, the Dutch, and a Japanese girl could all enjoy, he must be doing something right. Unfortunately, Aroa did not open until I left Boston, so on my last trip back, after grabbing lunch with Nadya at Flour, we swung by and picked up some dessert...because, you know, you're supposed to have dessert after lunch...
Anyways, I love the layout. The glass walls between the kitchen and the service counter mean that you can see them at work making delicious treats for you. Nadya and I chose an assortment of chocolates and I grabbed some fruit juice gelatin square things. The chocolates were delicious (except for the white chocolate, I just can't stand it, and it was like, a coriander-lime one or something, blech) and it was fun to try to remember which ones were the ones that we were eating. I think the dark chocolate port ones were my favorite. The fruit juice squares had an excellent flavor to them, but they were waaaaay to sugary for my taste. I made the mistake of ordering a whole bunch, and one would have been enough. I nibbled on a few, and because I hate to waste things, I threw the rest at pigeons. The pigeons loved the red one but wouldn't touch the golden one for some reason.
If you have the chance to take one of his classes, go for it! Alex talks about chocolate the way that some people talk about wine. He can sit down and discuss how the higher humidity produces a higher acidity in the coco beans leading to a nuttier flavor in the chocolate. He talks about coco beans the way the oenophile talks about wine. (Plus, Ladies, he's cute, funny, single, straight AND does magical things with chocolate...hello!).
There have been a few complaints about the price, but, seriously, this is the South End and Aroa chocolate, not your Hometown Hershey store. The only other chocolate on this level in Boston is Richart, and Aroa's prices seem downright tawdry compared to theirs. Go ahead. Treat yourself. You deserve it.
Just a quick review of their macarons:
I stopped by Aroa after having lunch at Flour and picked up a dozen very pretty macarons. Much to my dismay the macarons tasted a bit stale and were not the macarons I was hoping for... perhaps because I tend to prefer the chewier kind?
and my search for macarons in Boston continues...
I have to note, everything here is miniature. And the prices match up with things that should be jumbo sized.
Despite this, Aroa is okay, albeit pricey. The chocolate chaud is delicious, and is probably the only thing I will continue to buy here because it is decadent and rich, which justifies spending my money. Some of the chocolates are decent, but I'd have to try a lot more to confirm this.
As for their desserts--bad. You're so much better off heading over to Flour, and you'll get a lot more for your money (in terms of quantity AND flavor). Their macaroons? Well, yes, people have been swooning over them on here, but in the words of my boyfriend, the kind recipient to my baking foibles, "yours are better." I agreed. They were flavorless.
I'll probably still go back here once in a while, and am pretty tempted by their classes. But seriously, this place should stick to chocolate and chocolatey drinks, and avoid baking at all costs.
I too have been waiting like a Dickens character with my face pressed to the glass, eager to sample some delicious chocolate. At long last, open sesameeee. The hot chocolate was rich, creamy and no, not like Ovaltine at all. I would say it was not as amazing as Burdick's, but better than anything I've had on this side of the river. Connoisseur (moi)'s tip - drop an xtra .50 for a raspberry marshmallow and pop that baby in your mug-- instant flavored cocoa.
Service was well-educated about the treats. Glass case was spotless. Rest of the place was pristine. The open window on the kitchen tells me they value clean here. Look for tastings and talks here in the future, so says the counter staff.
decent chocoate when you can find the place open, but more often than not, i walk all the way there and they are closed! closed!! closed!!!
And the website even says that they are open, open, open!
wtf!!!
update: 4.18 - walked by again, found it closed, closed closed!
Oh my. I just found a new guilty pleasure when it comes to jelly type candies. A friend and I had just finished an excellent lunch at Equator and were walking by when we decided to pop in. Boy, what a little treat this was.
I'm not a huge chocolate fan but I am a fruit fan. ...ok there's no easy way getting around the smirks I imagine you must have right now...
Anywho. I like fruit when it comes to my desserts or sweets and I found some jellies that were perecto'! Now at a $1.09 a piece I do agree with the other post that things are not cheap here. However, why would you expect them to be?
My advice if you like jellies. Grab 3-4 of theRaspberry ones and indulge. They're sweet but perfectly tart as raspberries should be and the flavor will rock yer sox off! I could only eat 2 due to the sweetness but that's all your need in a tidbit of a treat. Bottom line...these ain't yer grandma's rainbow colored jellies from her crystal candy dish. Oh, and they're fresh, not ancient like your grandma's used to be.
I've been swooning for weeks over the box of assorted Aroa chocolates I got from my wife for my birthday but this weekend we took a chocolate cooking class with chef and owner Alejandro Luna and we're into five star territory. The tall, soft-spoken Luna, who grew up in Venezuela and trained in Paris, is the real McCoy -- a talent, a character, a gentleman.
In the three hours we and four other couples spent in his kitchen, he shared recipes and techniques, stories of the business and his life and an incredible assortment of candies and treats. I kept feeling like I had somehow fallen into the set of Willie Wonka's chocolate factory as Luna explained why he had four machines that seem to do nothing but circulate zillions of gallons of chocolate through a miniature waterfall. Best in class were the chocolate chip cookies, some kind of orange liquor infused ganache-filled candies and incredible crispy-chewy macaroons.
p.s. I don't think carrot cake is the real test of a chocolate-focused pastry shop!
Aroa deserves high marks for taste and the amazing range of subtle and delicate flavors they have very successfully fused with chocolate. Wonderful chocolate, especially the darker bitter-sweet ones. I've tried several citrus flavors, Earl Grey (more satisfying than Richart's take on it). But my favorites are plain chocolates on the darker range.
The baked goods here are also first rate, and at a portion size that is reasonable and won't make you hate yourself on the way home. Here a croissant or pain au chocolat looks like one in Paris, not the scary dinner plate sized ones that get served up at a lot of bakeries. I've read a couple yelpers here comment negatively on portion size and price. First up I think a lot of us need a reality check after the super-sized decade we are now in, and the prices here for what constitutes super-premium chocolates that are made on premises seems reasonable to me.
Other plusses at Aroa: coffee, perfect dark roast without any of the bitterness or that over roasted burnt taste. I am also loving the little sugared jellied fruit desserts. These are perfect to bring to a dinner, or to serve guests after dessert with another glass of wine of coffee.
Aroa has nice helpful staff. And when there are 3-4 customers in line ordering notice how the staff here is efficient and actually listens to what you want without asking you to repeat yourself several times over and further slowing the line down. Well done.
Like many Yelpers, I too anticipated the opening of Aroa as I walked by it on my way to work, just a few blocks north on Washington St. Alas, seeing it was open on my way to work this past week. I volunteered to go pick up some goodies for my coworkers and myself.
The first thing I noticed was, the price, definitely not cheap especially for the portion size. They had some individual chocolate pieces, about $1.50 a piece or more. They also had some pastries averaging about $4.00. The thing is, I don't mind paying the price, if it's worth it, if it truly is amazing, who cares if I have to pay $10 for 2 small pieces of cake. :) I love chocolate, I love dessert, and I believe I can appreciate great quality when I see it. So I thought, this place must be absolutely amazing, right? Wrong.
I was really disappointed. At first bite into the carrot cake, the cream on top was sweet and light, overall unique and pretty good, but as I tried the rest of the cake, it was quite bland, somewhat dry, and overall not tasteful at all. The chocolate pieces that I tried was good, but I just didn't think it was worth the $1.50 and it was just too small. In conclusion, the pastries are bland and the chocolate are okay, both are too small and way overpriced. note: I wasn't able to try a latte as I wanted, because they didn't have soy yet, but they did say they were getting it really soon.
I venture here again, in a few months to see if anything has changed, but alas I am sad to say this is my first bad review on Yelp. :(
Stumbled upon this place on a sunny Saturday, bought a few things- then came back a few days later to try the cocoa and buy some more stuff!
The hot cocoa was good, comes in a little silver pot which is super cute- and you can grab some flavored marshmallows (raspberry, yum) to float in them. I'm used to Burdick's so the cocoa was thinner than I like, but still good.
It was hot inside the shop, and that really affected my experience.. they should consider shutting the doors and turning on the air when it gets warm..
Anyhow- the bon-bons are good, the macaroons are better. Some of them are strangely salty, but the hazelnut ones are out of this world. Seriously, get one.
Pricey? I don't think so- not compared to all the other chocolatiers. If you want affordable chocolate, go to a convenience store...
Next time, I'll try the pastry- the buttermilk scones and cookies looked amazing!
I went into Aroa a couple days ago, surprised they were finally open with people working inside. There weren't that much selection to be had, but I picked the two that I thought looked the most delicious: a mango cake ($3.99) and a caramel mousse thing ($3.99). Each cake is about standard sized of 2.5" L x 1.5 W x 2.5" H.
Now, I had the caramel mousse thing first, and it's a really great cake! I actually can't think of anything better other than Azuki Cream Puff (Japonaise) within US. It's not too sweet, and tastes delicious! The cake itself is pretty weighty too, with a good strong ... interior(?). There's some kind of nut on top that gave it a good crunch, and I liked it too.
After the caramel mousee thing, I immediately started on the mango thing (yes, I'm a pig). That might have been a mistake, because I didn't much enjoy the mango cake! Actually, it wasn't the mango cake that sucked, it was the bitter chocolate flakes on top. Perhaps my sweet taste buds were over saturated or something, but the only thing I could taste was the bitterness! I understand that there are some bitter chocolates out there - but it really didn't go with the rest of the mango thing.
If the fine patisserie over at Aroa read this, change that weird chocolate on top of the mango thing (+1 star) and reduce the price for the cakes by a buck (+1 star) and I'd have a perfect place to go for dessert and coffee! I know the word "fine" in the name requires you to be expensive... but still, 3.99 for a cake that I can fit entirely into my mouth with one bite? At least start a bit lower to attract the customer base before jackin up the price.
Oh yeah, one of the girl working the counter is pretty hot. Even though she didn't know anything about the cakes she was trying to sell me, her hotness prevailed.
I feel like I haven't had a sufficient amount of tasty goodies or time at Aroa so I'll give them 4 stars for now because I want to come back. I came by on Valentine's day to pick up some homemade marshmallows for our chocolate fondue later that night. I got the regular vanilla and the passion fruit. The vanilla was a little too sweet for me and the passion fruit was just right. It was sweet and had the flavor of passion fruit without being too overwhelming. While there, I couldn't resist purchasing the first macaroons I would ever consume. I got the salty caramel and a hazelnut. I loved both and so did my boyfriend. They were crunchy, chewy, addictive... and uhm....I think I'm going to have to go back and purchase more to finish this review...
O Yumzzz!
Let's start with the selection of AT LEAST 7 flavors of the french macaroons (and still experimenting with more~). For those of you who are not familiar with the french type, these are actually mini sandwich cookies that tastes more like mini meringue with a creme sandwiched btwn them. Not at all like the ones most of you are used to....the sweet coconut meringue bombs. Nah-huh! I couldn't resist but bought a box. They make great gifts if you're going to a dinner party. Some of them were better than others, but nonetheless, a delight with coffee or tea.
They also make their own marshmellows...extending to flavors such as chocolate, strawberry and pasionfruit! yes, it's true!!!.
The chocolate cookie, I thought was a bit undercooked and cake-like. The hazelnut torte was relaly good. Had to swipe a forkful from my sister even tho I am allergic to nuts.
I tried the Earl Grey truffle because I really couldn't resist. It wasn't as good as the one at L.A. Burdick's because honestly, I couldn't detect even a hint of tea. They do have a great selection of flavors...which means...I'll be back!
On the way home from World's End we stopped at a new patisserie/chocolate shop in the South End run by Alejandro Luna, former pastry chef at the Langham Hotel. Aroa Fine Chocolate is a small little shop located a half block down the street from the famous Flour Bakery. How could this new spot possibly compete?
As it turns out, Aroa may do just fine. They specialize in afternoon tea sorts of delicacies: homemade eclairs, French macaroons, cakes, scones, cookies and little handmade chocolates. We opted for the large, steaming pots of loose leaf tea and some pastries. The macaroons were good; sweet and chewy with a bit of crunch from the crisp exterior, but lacking in flavor (I could not tell the difference between salted caramel, hazelnut and pistachio.) The peanut butter cookie was PHENOMENAL in a melt-in-your-mouth, just-the-right-bit of soft-and-crumbly kind of way. The tiny little scones were also buttery delicious. While we did not have a chance to try the hot chocolate, I will certainly have to make a trip back specifically for this item. The chocolate comes in a variety of flavors including, "chai" and "infused," and is served in elegant silver pots. I think it would taste particularly good with the homemade marshmallows (vanilla, passionfruit, or chocolate.)
Not a bad place to spend a weekend afternoon.
I had been looking forward to stopping in here for ages and finally got a chance to last week. I came in searching for a scone and was extremely disappointed to find only one variety of scone and it was TINY! I was extremely surprised by the size of the thing and even mentioned it to the two friendly employees behind the counter. They were like, yeah, everything is really small. Seriously, this was at least a fourth of what I would consider a normal sized scone if not a sixth of one. TINY TINY TINY. At least the scone was tasty, but, seriously people, the baked goods here need to be more substantial! I will be heading back to try the hot chocolate but I am so irked how everything is so tiny. Let's hope the $4 hot chocolate does not disappoint.
I went into Aroa with a friend on the second day it was open and while there wasn't too much merchandise out yet, everything they had looked amazing. We ordered the classic hot chocolate, the chai hot chocolate (in the silver cup, so we could mix it ourselves), and an oatmeal cookie. The cookie was mediocre and tasted like baking soda. The chai hot chocolate wasn't as chocolatey as I would have liked, but still tasty. The silver mixing mug was fun to use, but I don't really get the point of it. The regular hot chocolate? THAT was amazing. Rich, creamy, chocolatey... definitely something to make a chocolate lover happy.
Someone in my office brought in a box of chocolates and each one I've tasted has been really good.
I have a couple of issues with this place:
1. As someone already mentioned, the prices are pretty high for the portion size. It's a niche market and the owner has a masters degree in chocolate, but except for that one hot chocolate, I don't think it was quite worth it, especially with Flour just a few steps away
2. It's kind of pretentious. I know they're trying to establish themselves as a fine chocolates store, but the pretentiousness almost seems a joke in this part of the South End.
3. This is totally a personal issue, but after waiting for this place to open for ages, I was really hoping they would give out free samples when they finally did. It would have been a really great way to get loyal customers. But no, even on the first day, the little caramels on top of the counter cost $.49.
The staff was really friendly and excited about being open and I really hope this place makes it, I just wish it weren't quite so into itself.
This is exactly what the South End needs, a place to eat dessert! I'm so excited, no longer do I have to roam into other areas of the city searching for a solution to my sweet tooth! Now I feel the South End is complete. Aroa has a variety of hot chocolates to choose from, many different types of macaroons, and an assortment of other European-style desserts---and everything has been thought out to the last detail. I had a few macaroons (yes a few) and a couple of the other beautifully detailed desserts (I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know what I ate), but what I can tell you is that everything exceeded my very high expectations! The staff was very welcoming and ready to help. My only instruction is: run there as fast as you can before there is a line out the door!
beautiful macaron. no need to say more.
okay, an array of beatiful macaron flavors. incredible.
I don't think I have even tried anything else here. even when I got for hot cocoa, I get side-tracked by macaron. they are amazing. and a petit price as compared with the lovely ones sold at formaggio. hence, these are my favorite little treat to bring to meetings and dinner parties.
Aroa is a little known treat in Boston's South End. At once a neighborhood gem and an outpost of international quality, Aroa offers petite pastries, fine chocolates, cappuccino drinks and fabulous hot chocolate at casual (if marble :) tables and takeout in a clean, bright space with a visible pastry kitchen through wall-high glass. Flour, just down Washington Street, is consistently packed (and fairly so), but Aroa remains less discovered (meaning you can get a table virtually any time). Maybe it's the fact that - wonderfully -- the pastries are European- (not Detroit-) sized: have two if you must, but go to Aroa.
fully undrinkable iced coffee. who messes up iced coffee?? the macaroons are still to die for, though.
I waited for Aroa to open. Every day I walked my doggie past and waited for the 'coming soon' sign… Read more »
i am giving aroa 2 stars in hopes that anything else besides the dreadful macaroon i tried to eat is worth consuming. i tried the salted caramel version. i hoped that since it was the last on the platter this meant it was a popular flavor and not sitting there for days. well that's indeed what it tasted like. except it tasted freezer burnt and lacked any sort of flavor. especially did not taste anything like caramel or salt. i should have tried the chocolate since that should be what they do best but i am skeptical after reading other reviews. having worked at burdicks chocolate in harvard square i expect the best especially when the prices suggest as much. $1.30 for a miniature bad taste in my mouth...gag.
$2 Off Dessert Cakes of the…
Quincy, MA
Hot Caramel Apple Cider
Neighborhood: Winthrop
Neighborhood: Porter Square
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Harvard Square
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Jamaica Plain
Category: Desserts
Neighborhood: South End
Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: South End
Category: Chocolatiers and Shops
As a long time resident these are my must have…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Loading...
