What associations do you make with Christmas?  Snow? Santa?  Ferrero Rocher?  Well that’s what the brand envisaged when they introduced their Pop up in Covent Garden.  “We want Ferrero Rocher to be the chocolate for Christmas, the one people buy during this holiday season or gift one another,” explained one of the hosts when I asked if they were launching a new product.  The hype around this pop up was none like any other, mainly because they did not hold back on the advertising!  The mission was to remind Londoners how glamorous and delicious the chocolate is by giving away tons of Ferrero Rocher’s whilst enticing them to come in and sample a menu created to represent the five layers of Ferrero Rocher in a unique dining experience.

Nestled away in the corner of St Martins Courtyard under the beautiful Christmas lights was a long queue of people and an even longer wait.   (The experience is a sitting down meal hence the turn around time built up as the evening went on.)  The queues were made bearable with the festive setting, the prospect of what was to come and friendly hosts handing out free Ferrero Rochers.

Once inside, the room itself was decked out in the iconic gold.  Like everyone we took a customary photo in front of the huge edible wall of Ferrero Rocher.  We then had a look around; the first half of the room had shelves of all the Ferrero Rocher collections, gift boxes, Christmas packages to lure you into buying gifts.  The back part of the room was low lit with dark furniture, which set the mood for a romantic dinner.

As we sat down we dishes started to slowly arrive and it did not disappoint with the wow factor.  There on a golden platter was a sight to behold.  A hazelnut praline mousse, chocolate ganache, crispy wafer, hazelnut chocolate dome with hot chocolate sauce and candy floss with edible glitter.  The waitress described the thought behind the different creations and also happily obliged in pouring the hot chocolate in slow motion so the instgrammers could get the right boomerang.

The dish itself was amazing and left me wondering why this was a pop up and not the start of a new café, with many more Ferrero Rocher desserts and drinks to come. The only disappointment was at how tiny each portion was and how quickly the ‘experience’ was over.  Perhaps a different story for those who ordered champagne with the meal and made a night of it, well for the next 45 mins anyway.