X Marks Delicious

One can be easily forgiven for not noticing this quaint little chocolate shop at the entrance of the royal arcade on St Mary’s Street in the city centre. I had noticed this several times before when frequenting the café next door and finally decided to go inside.
Determined to do so I walked up only to be greeted by a ‘back in 5 minutes’ which I figured I could just about manage to wait. The reason it has taken so long for me to visit this place is because there is no immediate striking features. Indeed unlike its neighbours who make sure there is an array of signs outside beckoning passersby to come in X Marks Delicious does not. Furthermore until I saw a small poster in the window actually saying the name of the chocolate shop I had no idea what it was called. On the front door it merely state ‘fine chocolate’, and whilst I see no problem with that and actually find it quite humble, as all the chocolates are homemade.
Once the shop had reopened, I noticed that the shop had an array of different chocolates and offered hot drinks such as tea, coffee and of course hot chocolate. I had just eaten lunch and me being be I had to have something sweet so I decided to take the plunge and asked for 100g of a selection of chocolates which cost me £5.99. I had no idea what I was ordering and to be honest I just asked for the ones that looked the prettiest as there were quite a few to choose from, being made with rum, pralines’ and different types of chocolate.
The chocolates were all put into a nice little box which was then asked if I would like it to be finished off with a bow, which I thought was very sweet but declined anyway since the entire box was soon be devoured. The chocolates didn’t disappoint each one was fantastic and the one that stays in my mind most of all is a caramel shaped like a heart and if memory serves I believe it was called the ‘valentine caramel’ and was the only one wrapped up and it was fantastic.
Overall I would rate this establishment fairly high, I hope more people visit it and if you’re an old romantic I would seriously recommend buying a box of chocolates and giving it to your sweetheart as the sweets are very much of the highest quality.

I’ll never forget when my aunt jokingly told me: «Jennifer, in our family, our chocolate obsession is like alcoholism. You think it’s a normal way of life and then you speak to people outside the family and realise… it’s not.»
For me, chocolate is a major food group that sits alongside Innocent Smoothies and Diet Coke. So naturally, I had to try out X Marks Delicious on St Mary Street. First impression — X had all the charm of an airport chocolatier, but that didn’t sway me. I pressed on.
The shop is just a bit too contemporary for my taste — almost bordering on clinical — but their chocolates, sourced from high-​quality ingredients, are actually very good, although I think Hotel Chocolat (found at nearby John Lewis) is a finer variety of chocolate. But these babies would make a fine gift for any loved one with a sweet-​tooth.
X Marks Delicious is definitely worth a visit, even if you’re not a massive chocolate fan — it’s always refreshing to sample a brand of chocolate other than your usual Cadbury or Galaxy.

This is a new little chocolate shop at the end of Royal Arcade in Cardiff Centre. It’s well presented with a modern clean feeling. The chocolates on sale are good quality handmade, including all the old favourites, alongside more adventurous creations, such as chili and pepper.
Although this shop does everything right, there is unfortunately a sparse feeling to their setup. The staff are friendly, but the shop is often empty; a rethink in the design might make a more welcoming shop that’s tempting to go into. If a chocolate shop isn’t all about the experience then it can peel back the curtain to reveal just a small brown, unhealthy snack.
That being said, the chocolates are tasty, and great for gifts; but Wally’s Delicatessen is just a short walk away, and has a more satisfying feel to it.