Hazel Mountain Chocolate

Top choice in The Burren


Book ahead to watch chocolate being made in small batches using rare Trinitario cacao beans and raw sugar on a 45-minute tour of this heavenly smelling cottage-housed chocolate factory in a picturesque hillside location. If you don't catch a tour, peer through the factory's glass viewing windows from the chocolate-filled shop. Its on-site organic cafe (dishes €8 to €14; Wednesday to Sunday) uses chocolate in creations like parsnip, cacao butter and white-pepper soup, and grilled halloumi and chocolate-and-plum-chutney toasties.

Its Galway city shop has a cacao brew bar.