Coro Chocolate Cafe

Belgian chocolate, poured and stacked

The shake is the first order: Belgian chocolate blended cold, and the clearest signal of what this family-run dessert café in Edinburgh's New Town is for. Pancakes come next, made with the same chocolate rather than treated as a breakfast item, and fruit fondue is the shared route, a pot for dipping rather than a plate each. Around those three signatures sits a range of more than fifty toppings and sauces, so most of the menu is a base plus a set of decisions. The build-your-own structure is the point: choose the format first, then finish it.

A dessert café rather than a coffee bar

This is a sweet stop in the city centre, not a place to judge espresso. The drinks follow the chocolate, with shakes at the centre, and the food runs from pancakes to fondue rather than into a savoury menu. The New Town setting puts it within a short walk of the main shopping streets and the castle end of town, which is why it works both as a planned sit-down and as a stop at the end of an evening. The room is small and family-run, and the service is straightforward: order, sit, and spend the time deciding on toppings.

How to order for a table

For one person, a Belgian chocolate shake is the tightest order. For two, add pancakes and split them, since the same chocolate carries both and the difference is texture. For a group, the fruit fondue is the one to put in the middle, then let the toppings do the rest. The fifty-plus toppings and sauces reward a second visit more than a first, because the base choices are few and the combinations are not. Keep it simple the first time: a shake, one plate of pancakes, and a fondue if there are enough people to finish it.