Chocolate Opulence

When I saw the s’mores bark on Unilocal,I knew I had to come in. I got one of each of the barks and the s’mores one was surprisingly not my favorite. It needed that toasted/​burnt marshmallow taste. I really liked the peanut butter and pretzel one they had. I also got two macarons, one black sesame and I can’t remember the other flavor. The black sesame one was not good. The filling tasted like sour milk. I don’t think there’s ever been a time I didn’t finish a macaron, but this was one of those times. I’m not sure if it was old or if it was supposed to taste like that. Either way, yuck. The girl helping us was really nice and gave me the lowest price for each of the barks since they charge by weight and I only ordered one of each. I had such high hopes but was overall disappointed.

Here’s the thing about me and candy shops. When put together we make a pretty bad team. See the shop has candy and I have money and well I like to spend and next thing you know I’m buying more than what I should buy. But I digress… Local chocolate shop on Sawtelle, this place has a super duper friendly owner. The lady had a bit of an accent and she kinda didn’t understand me and my friend. In a way, it was kinda good because otherwise I might have spent even more.
The chocolate here are relatively decent in prices, but they do taste pretty good. I’m not a big fan of alcohol laced chocolate but they actually did a pretty good job here. I’m not a big fan of macaroons either but after biting into the Rose one, I was left pretty satisfied. The chocolate pieces that I consumed were all very delicious too. They had great texture and they were very rich in flavor.
The store is relatively small but pretty clean. There’s some water available to customers and napkins too on the side. The owner did a really nice job of wrapping up the chocolate box for my friend and I. I was very pleased with the presentation. Overall its a nice chocolate shop. Can’t tell if I will return again. Maybe if I’m in the area I might make my way in.
PS they sell ice cream pops too… I really wanted one but had to control myself since I had more stuff to try. Ok guess I will be back… just for the ice cream pops.

Oh la la… J’aime les chocolats et les macarons, mais ils sont très chers.
The quaint little chocolate shop is located on Sawtelle next to B Sweet Dessert Bar so we stumbled upon it while in this area. The owner was a sweet French lady who was very welcoming and informative about her chocolates. I must admit there was a bit of a language barrier, but we could tell she was trying her best to give us what we were asking for.
The chocolate and the macaroons caught our eyes, but these prices were so steep. They were about $ 2.75/piece unless you bought them in larger quantities. We ended up getting 2 macaroons ($ 2.75/each), a chocolate gift box of 12 pieces ($ 33) and White Chocolate Fruit and Nuts Bark ($ 30/​lb, approx $ 2.40/square).
I really enjoyed the macaroon I tried. I tried the Rose macaroon and my friend had their Birthday Cake macaroon. The flavor of the rose was very strong and it was very soft. There was even bits of rose in it. I really liked the macaroon, but I still feel like $ 2.75 is on the pricey side. The size was also a bit small.
The chocolate was amazing. It melted in my mouth! I especially love the alcohol infused flavors like the Cognac Truffle.
This place is definitely on the pricey side, but I think it is worth coming back here if I’m already in the area for my favorites like Blockheads and B Sweet. Next time I will probably try their Cream Puffs and the Tiramisu.

This review is based only on 1 macaroon I ate. I think it was Mexican chocolate something flavor. It has a kick of hot chile pepper. I must say it was the BEST macaroon I’ve ever had. It’s pricey but it’s all worth it. Wow I was impressed. I gotta go back and try different flavors. Highly recommended.
I think they used to be in the Santa Monica place? They moved to Sawtelle right?

Happened to walk by this place after eating at ROC and decided to pop in and check it out. It’s a cute little place that probably fits only a handful of customers at a time. There are 2 – 3 tables by the sidewalk if you choose to enjoy your goodies right then and there. Since they are most known for their macarons, we decided to try the Rose flavor and the Salted Caramel ones. Both were DELICIOUS. But the rose one was pretty out of this world. Yes it’s a bit pricey at $ 2.75 a piece but I’d definitely be back again (as a special treat) to try out the other flavors.

This is a nice small boutique which I’d recommend, as the service is very friendly.
As many things, it can be considered a bit expensive, but that’s why they call it «a treat» and it is most certainly a delicious indulgence.
It’s a nice way to end a meal if you’re eating in the area and wanted to take a walk, stop by and get a tasty macaroon.

the raspberry macaroon here is so delicious!
the vanilla crème puff was yummy and had the perfect amount of sweetness.
Customer service was great too. the girl was helpful describing the flavors and very friendly!
I will definitely be coming back!
xoxo

The cookies and cream bark was dry and fairly tasteless outside of the Oreo cream filling. The peanut butter bark contained no peanut butter, but a bunch of other delicious ingredients. Too bad it left a dry, unpleasant after texture in our mouths. The young server was very friendly and helpful with our questions being as it was our first visit.

Only tried a sample of hot chocolate, which was way too chocolatey for my taste, but got the pretzel caramel bark. That was quite good. The caramel was a bit too hard, but all in all yummy. I’d come again to try their macaron.

my favorite macarons! I was so happy to rediscover chocolate opulence on sawtelle after their santa monica mall location closed. not crazy about the $ 2.75 price but feel it is deserved for an exquisite, authentic, & homemade treat. TIP: try the birthday cake & raspberry flavored macarons!

I walked by to check out this ambitious store in Sawtelle. For one, the prices of every item is about $ 2.75. As far as the truffles, the whiskey and dark chocolate bourbon were decent. The alcohol flavor wasn’t too strong and the bitterness of the chocolate helped balance it out.
The dark chocolate shot was pretty rich and chocolate-​like. The sample they gave me was quite enough to coat my mouth in chocolate.
The French macarons are interesting because they are not perfect circles which shows that they have a more handmade feeling than a machine made look. Does it look perfect and round? No, but I can tell that a human put effort into it, not a machine portions out macarons perfectly. I really liked the crème brûlée in addition to the salted caramel macarons. They were perfectly chewy and had a great filling.
The peanut butter pretzel bark was a bit harder to eat and I had to eat it piece by piece. I would say it is more friendly for adults than children due to sheer size and hardness of the pretzels in it.
I was told that they do not make the products in the store, however, they sell the products of many local chocolatiers. It makes sense since one chocolatier cannot specialize in all the different products in the store, you get many chocolatiers specializing in specific products in the store.
So compared to Lette’s $ 1.85 macarons, why should you pay an extra $.90? You’re probably more likely to be supporting a small business chocolatier than a company or a chain.

Came here to try their famous cream puff. I wasn’t really impressed. The texture is definitely different but I felt like it was kind of pricey for a small cream puff. If I do decide to come back, I hope to be able to try other flavors that are available!

White chocolate almond bark square = 4 stars
Service = 5 stars
Value = 3 stars
Location = 5 stars

Amazing chocolate! Exceptional quality, beautiful and priced extremely well for its class! The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. My wife loved the box I got her for Valentines day and she said she’s going back for a refill this week!

Walking past Chocolate Opulence, I thought it looked delicious, and decided to stop in following a family dinner. Things started getting disappointing once I set foot in the store.
Bad Customer Service: There were 2 people working behind the counter and my parents and I were the only people inside, yet neither of them acknowledged us (we had to start asking them questions to get them to speak to us), and neither employee was friendly. One of them had a total attitude, while the other was indifferent to our presence.
Ridiculously High Prices: This place doesn’t make a single thing in-​house. All of the chocolate, macarons and cream puffs come from a variety of outside vendors. They obviously have higher costs since they’re buying instead of making their own product, and they’re passing it along to the customer, big time. $ 1.50 to $ 3.50 for 1 tiny piece of chocolate! $ 4.95 for a cream puff (which was subpar, as explained below)! I might have accepted that pricing if the place was handing out samples so I could taste the quality first before plunking down that type of cash, and if the items were made fresh in house, but for out-​sourced stuff that’s small and may or may not taste any good, no way. I’d rather spend double at a place like Teuscher’s in Beverly Hills, where I know I’m getting fresh, high quality chocolate from a luxury chocolate shop with good customer service.
Subpar Food: We purchased a chocolate cream puff, which had chocolate cream inside and what claimed to be chocolate ganache on top. The cream was OK, nothing exceptional, just OK. The ganache, however, tasted odd, like chocolate mixed with salted caramel (not in a good way). The dough was flat out wrong: very heavy and tasted of burnt sugar.
There are so many other options for desserts on Sawtelle, like B Sweet a few doors down, which make good, well portioned desserts that are fresh made in-​house for a reasonable price. Avoid Chocolate Opulence and you’ll be thankful you’ll did.

Wandering back to the car after dinner, we happened across this little chocolate shop. It just beckoned us in. The guy who was working this evening welcomes us and asked If we had ever been there. We hadn’t. He said before he explained everything to us, would we like a drink. Huh? He offered a free sample of their fudge shot or hot chocolate. I tried the hot chocolate. It was so good. He explained that they make that in house and they use real chocolate, no powder. Yum. He then proceeded to tell us about the selection of chocolates and macaroons. All locally made in the LA area. We ended up getting some of the Oreo cream chocolate. It was delicious. The prices are pretty high. I look at it like a treat, not something that I will buy multiple pounds of chocolate from.

Fancy chocolate shop off Sawtelle! Yay!!!
Before I begin, I want to say that the peanut butter caramel white chocolate pretzel is to DIE for. Yummmmmmy!!! It’s $ 25 per pound, so a block of the pretzel will cost you about $ 3.75.
Everything we purchased was delectable, but I have to admit it’s a bit pricey. Each piece of artisanal chocolate is priced around $ 2.50. They also have a few that are priced by weight.
I bought a piece of milk chocolate with almonds, dark chocolate caramel with sea salt and peanuts, white chocolate with fruits and nuts, and peanut butter caramel white chocolate pretzel. These were all priced by weight.
Oh, the owner is also super sweet! =)

We walked in Chocolate Opulence right after leaving B Sweets next door. This small dessert shop is well lit inside so we were intrigued to see what this new place on Sawtelle had to offer.
The owner is a sweet lady who offered us some warm dark chocolate for sipping. I’ve had this before at other chocolate shops. It was pretty good. It’s tiny inside. Chocolate Opulence sells artisanal chocolates similar to Godiva as well as macarons and French cream puffs.
You can’t miss the French cram puffs. It’s a two part dessert. One larger and a miniature puff on top. We opted for the dark chocolate version of this. The cream puff pastry remind me of Beard Papa’s versin and the cream itself is like a thick mousse. Exterior is glazed with dark chocolate. This dessert is neat to look at but nothing to rave over for $ 5.
We also had some macarons and chose the crème brulee, pistachio, and mango. These were were located in the same refrigerated glass display as the French cream puffs which is a big mistake because they came out tasting pretty stale. Crème brulee macaron was a disaster. It’s caramelized on top so it was stiff as a board. Not good at all. The pistachio tasted old as well. It was probably because it was refrigerated. Mango was the best version we had. The consistency wasn’t as stiff. For $ 2.75/each, I wouldn’t get them again.

Suckers for sweeeets!
The owners are sooo nice!
Beautiful place and gorgeous presentations. It’s like eating a present lol
Had the sesame seed macaroons and chocolate.

I’m not sure this place will stay in business for too long. The chocolate are way, way priced at a premium (almost $ 3 per piece) and don’t taste any different from mass luxury chocolates. Interesting flavors (lavender, rose, various liquors), but no marketing materials at all with regards to whether they’re handmade on premises or WHY they’re premium chocolates.
Retail setting /​display is lacking… No menus /​cards to identify what the chocolates are. Just people saying «ask us any questions! We’re new!»
I’m happy to support local businesses, but IMO, you’re supposed to put some effort into marketing to inform, incent and acquire new customers, especially if you’re going to charge 50−100% more than established luxury brands.

My boyfriend and I walked past this shop on the way to lunch, and couldn’t help but stop in on the way back! I’m a sucker for new businesses, after all.
First impressions: Beautiful, clean shop with great lighting and food presentation! It felt super luxurious with the piles of hand-​broken chocolate bars and the rows of French macarons. As they just opened, the owners (?) were there drawing people in and showing off the goods. I was told that the macarons were made by a few different chefs, who specialized in each flavor.
We got a pack of 6 macarons for $ 14.00– a little spendy, but normal for a specialty shop like this. We got lemon, raspberry, rose, crème brûlée, sea salt caramel, and pistachio. The texture was rich and chewy, very substantial. I’ve had some macarons that were too soft and airy. The colors were also very natural– I was told that they are all organic, not that it’s the thing I tend to worry about. These aren’t those technicolor macarons you’ll find in the freezer section. Really a delight. Totally worth the price, and a great little treat for those special occasions. Also, hands down the best macarons I’ve had in the USA!
We haven’t tried the chocolates yet, but I’m sure we’ll be back! What a fun addition to Sawtelle.