What is hot chocolate?From Maya cacao drinks to Turin's cioccolata calda, and a warm cup at Fiena, King's Cross

Hot chocolate, also called hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a warm drink of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder with heated milk or water, usually sweetened. Some people draw a line between the two names:

• Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder, ground cacao beans with much of the cocoa butter removed, so it's lower in fat.
• Hot chocolate is made from bar chocolate, which already contains cocoa, sugar and cocoa butter, so it's richer, thicker and a little less sweet.

• At least 5,300 years ago: cacao was first domesticated by the Mayo-Chinchipe culture, in what is now Ecuador.
• 2,500 to 3,000 years ago: the Maya were drinking cacao beverages. Their version was served cold, made with ground cacao, water, vanilla, cornmeal and chilli, poured from cup to pot until it foamed.
• By 1400 AD: a chocolate drink was an essential part of Aztec culture, where it was a sign of high status. Cacao beans were even used as currency.

Spanish arrivals found the spicy, bitter drink an acquired taste at first. Once it reached Europe, the court of Emperor Charles V adopted it, and by the 17th century hot chocolate was a luxury of the European nobility. The first chocolate house opened in 1657. Sir Hans Sloane, who found cocoa "nauseous" in Jamaica, made it more palatable by mixing it with milk, and brought that recipe back to England.

According to tradition, Italy's thick, creamy cioccolata calda was born in Turin around 1560, created to celebrate the Duke of Savoy moving his capital there from Chambéry. Hot chocolate in Italy and Spain is still often served very thick. In 1828, Coenraad van Houten's cocoa press in the Netherlands made a powder that stirred easily into milk, and it also made the first chocolate bars possible. Background from Wikipedia's hot chocolate page.

On our coffee and drinks menu, served all day, you'll find:

• Hot chocolate, a warm cup for anyone who doesn't want coffee, including younger guests.
• Mocha, the halfway house between a hot chocolate and a coffee.
• Extras: vanilla, hazelnut or caramel syrup, oat, almond or coconut milk, and whipped cream.

Prefer it cold? The Mocha frappuccino and Double chocolate chip frappuccino are on the iced menu. And if chocolate is what you're after, finish with the Souffle al cioccolato, with its liquid chocolate centre, or a Chocolate brownie. See our posts on cappuccino, latte and flat white, matcha and chai lattes, our chocolate soufflé and our brownies.

We open at 08:00 every day, and breakfast runs until 14:00, so a hot chocolate goes nicely with the Tiramisu French toast or the Fiena Tower, a stack of pancake, crispy bacon, scrambled egg, hash brown, maple syrup and seasonal fruit. See breakfast until 2pm, our tiramisu French toast and, with children in tow, family-friendly dining.

Guests often mention how welcome a warm stop feels after the stations. Anastasia came Straight from Kings Cross to this cozy warm food in December, exactly what was needed (Anastasia, Google review). Maria praised the fresh, quality food and excellent coffee. (Maria, Google review) And Loredana wrote: The café has a warm, authentic Italian atmosphere. (Loredana, Google review)

“The atmosphere is cozy and well-designed, making it a great spot for a relaxed meal.”

Nasipa, Google review, 2025