Ayza... Little Place, Big Flavor

This past Friday I took a trip down the street to a chocolate and wine bar that some co-workers of mine had mentioned to me. The bar is called Ayza, and they are located on 31st Street between 5th and 6th Ave. I went with a few friends from work and discovered, upon arrival, that this was the smallest bar I have ever been in. They have a reasonably extensive wine list, chocolate list, cheese list and an assorted pairing menu, however there are only a few tables for dinner seating and the bar can only fit so many. 

I, out of obligation to my craft, ordered the hot chocolate after having a complimentary warm spiced wine shot (which was delicious might I add.) So the menu appears to only have one type of hot chocolate- the Ayza Dark & White Hot Chocolate, this is of course assuming that I am reading it correctly and it is in fact one combined type and not two separate drinks. In any case, I drank what they gave me and it was quite good. 

The hot chocolate is very dark in color and is reasonably thick. It came with about 30 mini marshmallows on top, which are a nice touch but as they melt they make the drink a bit too sweet to handle. I must say that it was quite a different flavor however, it reminded me a lot of homemade chocolate pudding which I was not expecting, but certainly enjoyed.

So at $6 for a one size fits all, I'd say it is worth a try.

Out of a possible 10 marshmallows I give it an 8. 

'Wichcraft... meh

So for lunch today I headed out to the 'Wichcraft in Herald Square (actually it was in Greeley Square but I refuse to recognize that as an actual location,) where my friends and I proceeded to order overpriced sandwiches. Sandy had suggested that I try their hot chocolate, not because she knew if it was in fact good, but because she knows how much I love hot chocolate... so I did just that. She had also suggested that I write a blog about hot chocolate so here it is.  

The hot chocolate, premade in a large plastic jug, was heated in a cappuccino machine (for extra fanciness, or perhaps to justify the fact that a medium cup of their premade hot chocolate costs $4.50.) Well in any case it was mediocre at best. Sipping it from my cup, it wasn't as thick as it had appeared when I first saw it being poured out of the jug, it also lacked sweetness, a characteristic that for some might be fine, but for me- well I need a little sugar in my life. It was rather cocoaie (ko-ko-ee) though, which I prefer to a chocolate syrup flavor. 

Out of a possible 10 marshmallows I would give it a 5.