Sluttery Travels: Chocolaterie Pierre in Tallinn, Estonia

Out of all the things Sian and I tried on our recent trip to Tallinn - passion fruit mules, Vana Tallinn, dried elk meat - the hot chocolate from Chocolaterie Pierre will be the hardest to forget. Sipping hot chocolate in a cosy cafe shouldn't be the highlight of a July holiday, but (and here I adopt an M&S voice) this was no ordinary hot chocolate. And Chocolaterie Pierre is a very special place.

Situated on one of the many side streets in this compact city, Chocolaterie Pierre certainly wouldn't look out of place in 1920s Paris. There are tables and sofas strewn with velvet throws if you fancy sitting outside in the sunshine, but this candlelit cafe and its wares are made for chilly drizzly days. Thankfully it's one of the few places we visited in Tallinn that wasn't ruined with bad music (they have a curious thing for cover versions of 80s ballads). Instead, the low conversation of the mostly female tourists can be heard.

The place is so beautiful I'd have been happy to sip tea, but it's the unforgettable rum, raisin and chilli hot chocolate we came for. Seriously, it was the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted - creamy and frothy all the way down, with rummy raisins at the bottom and enough chocolate around the edges to leave you with a messy mouth. This, combined with a slice of Sacher Torte that caught our eye, was a ridiculously pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

It's not cheap, especially by Estonian standards - two hot chocolates and a slice of cake came to around £11. The gorgeous chocolates that they sell are also far from cheap. But if you ever find yourself in the charming city of Tallinn, Chocolaterie Pierre, just off Vene, has to be visited.

Images from sian_meades' flickr photostream