London has no single chocolate quarter. Its finest chocolatiers are scattered through Soho, Piccadilly and Mayfair, which makes finding them an excellent excuse for a walk. In this Roberts London film from April 2018, Barry Roberts follows a tasting route from a Roman-style chocolate café in Soho to two of Britain’s historic luxury chocolate houses.

Hot chocolate at SAID dal 1923 in Soho

The first proper chocolate stop is SAID dal 1923 at 41 Broadwick Street. Its frontage carried the words Antica Fabbrica del Cioccolato Roma, announcing the Roman chocolate-making tradition behind the café.

Inside, the counter was filled with truffles and small chocolates, but the essential order was hot chocolate. This was dense, dark and served in a small cup: closer to drinking melted chocolate than an ordinary cocoa. It set the tone for a route built around distinctive shops rather than mass-market sweets.

The Broadwick Street address now trades as Italian Bear Chocolate, whose Soho and Fitzrovia cafés continue to specialise in hot chocolate and chocolate desserts. The film therefore preserves an earlier chapter of a location that remains part of London’s chocolate circuit.

Paul A Young on Wardour Street

From Broadwick Street, the walk continues through Soho to Paul A Young Fine Chocolates at 143 Wardour Street. The purple shopfront was instantly recognisable, while the displays celebrated combinations that helped establish Young as one of London’s best-known contemporary chocolatiers.

Young opened his first London chocolaterie in 2006 and became known for fresh chocolates, sea-salted caramels, brownies and unexpected flavour pairings. The London shops closed in 2023, making this section of the film a useful record of a much-missed independent name during its Soho years.

Prestat in Princes Arcade

The route then leaves Soho for Piccadilly and enters Princes Arcade. The arcade provides a change of atmosphere: a covered passage of specialist shops linking Piccadilly with Jermyn Street, with Prestat’s vivid windows bringing colour to the quieter interior.

Founded in London in 1902, Prestat built its reputation on truffles, ganaches and exuberant packaging. Its history is closely connected with the chocolate truffle in Britain, and the house remains in Princes Arcade today. In the film, Barry chooses milk chocolate rather than another intense dark tasting, showing how a good chocolate walk benefits from contrast as much as quantity.

Charbonnel et Walker in the Royal Arcade

The final stop is Charbonnel et Walker at the Old Bond Street entrance to the Royal Arcade. The arcade’s red, gold and cream interior makes an appropriately theatrical approach to one of Britain’s earliest established chocolatiers.

Charbonnel et Walker was established in 1875 by Madame Charbonnel and Mrs Walker. Today the house remains associated with truffles, chocolate gifts and its long Mayfair history. Finishing here turns the walk into more than a tasting exercise: it becomes a short journey through several distinct ideas of London chocolate, from Italian café culture and modern independent invention to colourful British presentation and traditional Mayfair luxury.

A London chocolate walk worth repeating

The precise shops have changed since 2018, but the route still works. Broadwick Street, Wardour Street, Princes Arcade and the Royal Arcade can comfortably be connected on foot, with Soho’s independent energy giving way to the formal shopping streets of Piccadilly and Mayfair.

For anyone exploring the best chocolate shops in London, the lesson is simple: choose fewer things, taste contrasting styles and leave room for the walk between them. London’s chocolate culture is at its most interesting when the shop, the street and the history are enjoyed together.