Aroa Fine Chocolate

Almost as good as Burdick’s, and yet the place is always empty.
Update (2 mins later): Aroa is closed. I guess it’s because it was always empty! On the bright side, I’m leaving the South End in a week and moving to Cambridge, so I probably would have never gone here again. Burdick’s here I come…

Hello??? Aroa is closed and no information available anywhere???
I was told the wholesale business was doing well – directly from El Ray I presume — but why no info to it’s retail customers.
Very upset

I came into town today to pay a visit to Flour since I have yet to check it out (unbelievable, I know, since I love pastries!) but as it turns out they are closed for the weekend due to the July 4 holiday. So whilst Flour will have to wait for another day I was lucky enough to come across Aroa to fulfill my baked-​goods craving.
Whenever I pass by a sign that says «pâtisserie» I cannot control myself and thus I wandered inside. Adorable setup with marble topped tables and a pastry case filled with beautifully designed chocolates and sweets. It turns out that the chocolates are all made from single-​origin (from Venezuela) cocoa and were quite delicious (I tried a sample) but I was really looking for pastries and a nice latte. I got a white chocolate covered croissant which was perfectly made and still flaky on the outside with a semi-​chewy center even at 5pm. A mark of high quality in my book is when baked goods are still perfect even after sitting out all day (seriously, anything can taste great right out of the oven but it takes skill to make something that lasts the course of a day). My café latte was wonderful with the right balance of espresso and milk, served at the perfect temp to enjoy without burning my mouth. I also got 4 chocolate-​filled brioche to go for me and the family to have for dessert. Brioche texture was good and the chocolate was clearly excellent quality; solid choice albeit not mind-​blowing.
Service was friendly and the presentation was beautifully representative of European style pâtisseries. I would definitely go back.

I stumbled into Aroa by accident, but it was such a nice surprise find! My friends bought a few little chocolates: a bourbon, a honey, and a lavender. Each of the flavors was a bit fainter than we had expected, but the chocolate itself was magnificent.
After we left, we all agreed that the service was well above what we were expecting. Specialty shops have a tendency to be snooty, and certainly ones that specialize in chocolates. But not Aroa! The man behind the counter was delightful, courteous, friendly and helpful. Quite a shock considering we just stumbled in after walking a couple miles on a sweaty day, and only ordered a few treats.
Thanks Aroa! You were such a treat!

Is it possible to become addicted to a pastry in only 5 minutes?
Aroa offers satisfying and bite-​sized morsels of sweet confections and fresh, hot coffee, tee, and chocolate. After sitting in Flour Bakery for what seemed like hours (but only really ten minutes), I took my parents and a family friend to Aroa to escape the craziness at Flour. Aroa had the perfect fixings to end a hearty lunch hour: freshly brewed Americano, white chocolate macadamia cookies ($ 1.75), pistachio financiers ($ 0.75), and free tastings of flat square-​shaped chocolate truffle coated in a perfect layer of … more chocolate!
The woman in the bakery told me «you’re going to love these [the pistachio financiers]» and I don’t like being told what i’m going to do… But sure enough, I was HOOKED like being in a bad for-​the-​sex-​only kind of relationship (not the kind of relationship i’m in now — what up – engaged!) and bought 2 more to go.

Was here recently for one of their chocolate tastings. It’s about 2 hours, and we tried 6 types I think. The head chef there is really amicable and knowledgeable. They truly pride themselves on using high-​quality chocolate from Venezuela [El Rey]. The tastings are also very educational.
This place really stands apart from the Cadburys of the world, but it also shows in the price. Always have a terrific selection of flavors with unique combinations (try the chile!) of fruit and herbs. Also, they cakes are THE BEST. I could eat one by myself, truly a slice of heaven. At the minimum, I suggest stopping by for a cup of their premium hot chocolate.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at a Hershey’s chocolate the same way…
(Try Orinoco [just around the corner] for lunch, with dessert at Aroa for a great Venezuelan experience)

I went to one of Aroa’s chocolate tastings. I assumed that for the $ 10 ticket we were going to watch other people eat, but no —
The chocolatier presented with a tea expert from a shop in Somerville, MEM Tea Imports. They went through the history and different stages of creation. There was much talk of South African rooibos and Chinese tea masters on goats. They also explained why which chocolates complimented which teas — and seemed very pleased while doing so.
There were cream fillings and ground tea toppings that I’m sure have brought about more fits of ecstasy than Barry White. Chocolate is serious, y’all.
Aroa is located in this cute little neighborhood that I haven’t done much exploring in [and have admittedly confused with Southie, a crime apparently so near blasphemy that I’ll not soon forget it].
But cut me some slack — South End and Southie sound similiar.
Anywho, aside from all things chocolatey and tea-​ish, Aroa has fantastic coconut macaroons. There are only a few places in Boston/​Cambridge where I’ll pick ‘em up and this place is one of them.
And though they don’t have a facebook page, they do ship if you supply an address — which I think is even more nifty. And judging from the Pastry Chef’s card, they do custom orders.
Can you say waist-​high truffles?

We came in here on a Saturday afternoon for one of the «chocolate tasting» things and it was pretty awesome. The Executive Pastry Chef is a really nice guy originally from South Africa who told us the whole process of growing chocolate in Venezuela, with pictures on the left wall showing the step by step process. We had 4 chocolate samples — dark, milk, English Breakfast Tea (yes, really) and Cinnamon. We were told how to taste the chocolate using a Tasting Wheel as well as smell and taste and then were asked to say what flavors we tasted and smelled before he revealed what the last 2 were.
The chocolate here is really nice, but it is a bit expensive if you only want to try a couple and unsure if you will like some of the unique flavors. I recommend doing the tasting for $ 10 and getting the inside info and 4 samples though!

I stopped by Aroa on a Saturday afternoon before heading over to the Ivette Stewart Gardner Museum to buy something chocolate to win points with my girlfriend. Aroa is small but quaint. There are not many tables so if you’re looking for ambience or a place to sit this may not be the place for you but the offerings were delicious.
I ordered a fiery hot chocolate, my friend a classic. The woman behind the counter was very friendly taking time to explain the differences between their offerings and show us what else was available. The hot chocolate was really unbelievable and the éclair I bought and brought home was from the one bite I got equally delicious.
The last things I noticed was the large window where you can see the chocolates being made — no action on saturday afternoon but probably pretty interesting to see when the chocolate making is in full force. Would highly recommend this place.

A wide variety of Venezuelan chocolates and some choice extras like eclairs and cupcakes make this a great treat after dinner — ideally from Orinoco, a Venezuelan restaurant on Concord in the South End.
I’ve tried some of their larger treats, like the Pumpkin Cheesecake and Eclairs, and some smaller treats, like the PB&J chocolate. Everything is great and the staff are friendly and knowledgeable. Also, I’m told the hot chocolate is the best thing on the menu.
For a gift or for yourself, Aroa is a perfect choice. The single thing holding them back from a 5 rating is a small variety of choices, but I haven’t been back recently so maybe they change the menu regularly, but I thought a place with such mastery would offer more to choose from. That aside, this is a spectacular place for treats.

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.

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 Unilocaler 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!

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.

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’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!

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!

Like many Unilocalers, 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 Unilocal.:(

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.

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.