Hit up this tiny jewel box of a chocolate shop and grab yourself a chocolate bear. It looks and tastes like Caramello Koala’s more sophisticated (and more portly) older brother: a thick, bear-shaped shell of smooth, milk chocolate encasing some seriously slow-oozing, dark and just-bitter-enough caramel. The bear is just one of a menagerie of animals on offer – an orange nougat-filled chocolate koala is another highlight, and there’s a mango penguin and strawberry echidna too.
If you like your novelty chocolates a little more adult, go for an alcohol-themed bombe (Piña Colada, tequila, champagne truffle and more) or a praline golf ball (the pocked white-chocolate layer around the milk chocolate ball is a bit sickly sweet for us, but we’re cocoa fiends through and through).
Like most of the boutiques on William Street, Just William is tiny inside, so start your shopping on the sidewalk – press your beak to the window like a Dickensian urchin and make your picks from the display cases before heading in. Chocolates are sold by weight, most at around $15 for 100g, and there’s a range of those famous Just William white boxes with a selection of ribbons for fancy gifting.
It’s easy to get a little carried away here and it can add up. But for chocolate this rich, inventive and theme-tastic, you’ll be happy to pay those William Street prices.