Food Emporium 64% and Scharfen Berger 62% "Nibby"

Sometimes you just need an emergency fix.  I stopped by Food Emporium and could not decide between the store brand, plain 64% bar or the Scharfen Berger "Nibby" 62% bar.  So obviously I bought both.

Typically, I'm not the biggest fan of Scharfen Berger, because they intentionally make a fruity blend.  People who like that love Scharfen Berger, but it's not my thing.  That said, as has been the case previously, I find the presence of nibs really cuts the problems of a fruity bar, and so I love Scharfen Berger's "nibby" bar.  But the Food Emporium bar is just... super chocolatey.  I mean, it's nothing special.  It's the most generic "real" chocolate you can get.  In many ways, it is very similar to the CIBO Express bar I got at Laguardia.  But I never was snobby about this stuff.  This is chocolate.  It tastes like chocolate.  And that's a great thing.  Nothing fancy.  Next to that, the "nibby" just seemed to be trying to hard.

Bottom Line: I am a big fan of the "Nibby" bar, but sometimes you just want some plain ol' chocolate.

Food Emporium Chocolate Shop: featuring Niederegger Marzipan"Classic" bar, Amedei 70% Venezuela, and Christpher Michael 61% Cacao Nib Bar

Food emporium has a chocolate shop.  It's sort of built into the store on 69th and 3rd.  It used to be more standalone, and the selection was deeper then.  But it's still there, and there are still interesting options.  Observe:

None of these three bars totally blew me away.  The Christopher Michael and Amedei were totally adequate.  Remember that the Venezuela origin was my favorite of the Amedei Cru chocolates, but nonetheless, there are better options.  It's got the flavor notes you'd expect, but they're not as powerful as in some other bars, nor is it as chocolatey.  The same can be said for the Christopher Michael, which -- despite being lower percentage (61% to 70%), I slightly preferred.  The nibs helped.  The nibs always help.

I also got a Niederegger marzipan bar.  Leila loves Niederegger, and I like it too, but I honestly prefer the Rittersport version of this bar.  I think maybe the marzipan is fresher in the Rittersport bars?  They are both German companies, so I'm not sure why that would be.  But it's how it tastes to me.  I also prefer the chocolate in the Rittersport bar.  The only advantage to the Niederegger is the chocolate-to-marzipan ratio is slightly higher.

Bottom Line: While this may not have been the best haul, the Food Emporium chocolate shop has a big enough selection to give you a diverse, new experience each time.  Definitely recommended, and possibly the best bet for a broad pick of bars on the Upper East Side.