There’s something inimitably soothing about drinking a cup of creamy hot chocolate, especially when the climate starts cooling and there’s a fireplace nearby. These are the spots in Pretoria where you can experience that picture-perfect moment with a cup of decadent hot chocolate.

Aroma Gelato (Brooklyn)

One of Pretoria’s well-loved gelato parlours is a great place to grab your hot chocolate fix. It’s deliciously rich and comes made with white chocolate, milk chocolate or dark Belgian chocolate. Yours for R32.

Carlton Café Delicious (Menlo Park)

Carlton takes its hot chocolate seriously. Listed on the menu as the house specialty, the chilli hot chocolate is a stallwart that has been on the menu since 2002 when the restaurant opened. It’s made with dark chocolate before being topped with a sprinkling of chilli. Have in a short (R35) or tall (R50) cup.

A post shared by Carlton Café + Delicious (@carltoncafedelicious) on May 17, 2018 at 12:15am PDT

Chocolat et Café (Waterkloof)

It should come as no surprise that these chocolate specialists have more than one delicious way to enjoy hot chocolate. A normal version costs R38, but you could also get a thicker version (R42), a chocolate shot (R24) and a cone filled with hot chocolate (R45). From there it’s up to you to customise to your delight. The thick hot chocolate comes in dark, milk or white versions and all their hot chocolate can be flavoured with chilli, cinnamon, caramel and more.

Chocolat et Cafe’s hot chocolate. Photo courtesy of the restaurant.

Life Grand Café (Hazelwood)

Named simply Nougat, the hot chocolate here is the ultimate indulgence. This is not your average hot chocolate – it’s an experience. Made with lashings of honey, nougat liqueur, a shot of espresso, hot milk and some creamy Callebaut chocolate mousse, this taste sensation is a grown-up rendition of a childhood treat. All for R42.

Lucky Bread Company (Nieuw-Muckleneuk)

Spoil yourself with one of the three hot chocolate options at Lucky Bread Company. There’s a salted caramel version, a white chocolate version and a dark chocolate version, which you can top with salted caramel syrup or marshmallows. Yum. Get a short (R30) or tall (R35) cup and have with one of their pastries.