‘Knot bad, but knot great either’ - Knoops, Cross Street, reviewed

If you’ve walked along Cross Street in the last couple of months and seen a ginormous queue on the corner opposite Subway, that’ll have been for Knoops. 

Since opening its doors on Friday 21 April, lunchtime revellers have been shuffling their way inside, card in hand, ready to spend unholy amounts of their wages on artisan hot chocolate. 

It’s probably not the best drink to take to a board meeting

I did the same recently and went for the iced white chocolate coming in at 28% cocoa (£4.95) with whipped cream (add £0.50p). I’d spotted pastries on their website but they hadn’t got any in stock so went for a chocolate cannoli instead (£2.35). The full order amounting to £7.80 - a steep cost for an iced drink and a small snack on the go in today’s climate.

Now, I’m aware that white chocolate is a much more gelatinous chocolate to create due to it taking only the fat from the cocoa, but I could almost feel it clogging my arteries. It tasted like those Milky Bar ‘Krushems’ from KFC that were big in the early 2010s. You’re almost left with a film of grease coating the roof of your mouth. 

Sweet? Yes. Creamy? Yes. Tasted of white chocolate? Yes. But, as for the nasty feeling in my mouth afterwards, it took a while to shake off.

The chocolate cannoli had the right amount of crunch thanks to the almonds and hazelnut crumb throughout making it a great pick-me-up treat for after dinner. They also had pistachio, hazelnut and white chocolate fillings available at the time of my visit.

After my first visit, I left feeling a little underwhelmed and wondered why I hadn’t caught the Knoops bug that everyone else in Manchester seemed to have. I slept on it and thought that maybe, just maybe, I was the problem. Maybe I’d picked the wrong drink to introduce myself to Knoops.

I decided to go back the following morning and pick something a little more...obvious. This time, I went with the recommended 54% hot chocolate (£4.75) with a classic marshmallow on top (£1.30).

The hot chocolate itself was thick, creamy and most definitely chocolatey. It reminded me of one of those you’d buy from the Christmas markets that cost you an arm and a leg. Definitely more enjoyable than the iced white chocolate I’d had the previous day. After recovering from paying £1.30 for a marshmallow I took the lid off my drink to take a look at it. It was attached to the roof of the cup and needed some coaxing back down into the lukewarm chocolatey waters from which it bathed. It added a slight hint of sweetness, but other than that, without seeing it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have known whether there was a marshmallow in my drink or not.

The last mouthful was a big gelatinous flump due to the marshmallow not melting into the drink - I think the hot chocolate might’ve been a few degrees too cold for it to transform into the marshmallow-y chocolate-y goodness I’d hoped for.

I tipped my head back and waited for around ten seconds before the half-disintegrated marshmallow detached itself from the bottom of the paper cup and smacked me square in the mouth, leaving me with a Bruce Bogtrotter-style choccy 'tache. A word of warning; it’s probably not the best drink to take to a board meeting. 

On the whole, visiting Knoops was a nice change from the typical highstreet coffee shops and, as hot chocolate goes, there’s definitely a lot more choice and customisable options. But even as a self confessed chocoholic, I’d probably reserve it for around Christmas time only as a luxury hot chocolate on a regular basis is even too rich for me.

68 Cross St, Manchester M2 4JQ

Follow Harley Young on Twitter @Harley__Young