Royce Chocolates

I am a certified, confessed chocoholic.  If there were rehab centers for chocoholics I should probably check in ASAP.  I can wipe out an entire sampler box of chocolates effortlessly and it takes every iota of self control in my body to stop at several pieces.

My favorite are the Belgian ones; I find that their proportion of cocoa to butter to sugar to milk best suites my palate.  They are velvety smooth, not too sweet, and they don't scratch the throat on the swallow.  The American ones are too sugary; the Italian, too chocolaty; the French too buttery; the Swiss, too milky.  But noteworthy are the standout products of pastry chef Thomas Haas of Vancouver whose gold leafed truffles are to-die-for.  Also, the Amedei brand in Tuscany is a cut above the Italian lot.  

However, I do get just as much pleasure from eating the local chocnut or those chocolate gold goins from Goya.  At the end of the day, I'll eat anything as long  as it has a tad of cocoa in it.  Mouse has inherited my chocolate lunacy.  You think there's a gene that carries chocolate obsession?     

Anyway, Royce chocolates, a Japanese brand, is a throwback to my younger days because I used to get them at the Mitsukoshi department store basement in Ginza, Tokyo and they were only available there; nowhere else.  I haven't been back to Japan in 12 years so when my friend told me that Royce is now available in Konbini Japanese Store in Connecticut St., Greenhills, I rushed over and almost threw myself at the pile of boxes of the prized Royce chocolates.  

A caveat though: they don't come cheap--P620 for a puny box but I guarantee you, you will forget all your troubles, heartaches, and even your name.  I'm sure if I say you'll forget your husbands there will be panic buying from women all over the metropolis.

Try the cacao flavor if you're a purist like me.  But if you're more adventurous, the Henessy flavored ones are a killer.  It comes in a silver, quilted, insulated carry case stuffed with dry ice for the ride home.  Since when has chocolate become this grandiose?  Well, it's a Japanese thing.  They package even the simplest, most humble of goods as though they were jewelry.  Please try it.  I promise you won't regret it.  They are well worth the calories.

I made Mouse try it and she completely flipped.  After the first bite her eyes, which already occupy half of her face because they are so huge, got even bigger, they seem like they were going to pop out.  She shook her head; stomped her feet, wiggled her bum; and chanted something indecipherable.  I seriously thought she was having a seizure.  She's a good actress, that one.  

Since we all have to share one box, each of us only gets a few slices.  I'm such a cheapskate; I'm not willing to shell out any more for another box.  Mouse has now resorted to bribing me to give her more.  She says she'll never be a bad girl ever again if I give her just one more slice.  Sometimes, she's too smart for her own good.  She's six going on sixty. But right now, I'm not buying any of her bargains.  Heaven help her future husband.