Even the fish is chocolatey at Borough Market's new cocoa restaurant Rabot 1745

Hotel Chocolat hopes its new venue in Borough Market will cash in on the capital’s love affair with chocolate.

Co-founder and chief executive Angus Thirlwell said: “The cuisine isn’t about chocolate, it’s about cacao — the tangy pulp, the roasted nibs.

“Cacao has been used in savoury dishes for thousands of years. Only in the last 500 has it been sweet and used in chocolate. We are returning it to its original place in the kitchen, with a very contemporary interpretation.”

If successful, the company could open chocolate-themed cocktail bars and expand its chain of coffee shops, as it looks to expand the brand beyond chocolate bars and gift boxes.

The restaurant, Rabot 1745, is named after the cocoa plantation Mr Thirlwell and his business partner Peter Harris bought in St Lucia in 2006. Several dishes contain cocoa from the plantation. Hotel Chocolat has grown from one shop in Kensington High Street to 67 oulets across Britain. It is planning an expansion into the US and Far East, and last year profits hit £5.4 million.

It currently has one restaurant in Britain, Roast and Conch in Leeds. At Rabot 1745 diners can start with mullet and olive gnocchi with chocolate and mustard condiment for £10, or butternut squash dumplings with chocolate skin and cacao nib crumble for £8.

Cacao-marinated beef with white chocolate horseradish mash and cacao jus costs £26. Dover sole, also £26, comes with carrots in cacao butter and balsamic chocolate condiment.

“Cocoa is incredibly versatile with deep, rich notes,” Mr Thirlwell said. “It creates striking flavour harmonies with all sorts of other ingredients you just wouldn’t expect. We want to encourage people to be adventurous.”

Rabot 1745, 2-4 Bedale Street, Borough Market, SE1 9AL,

Sian Boyle tries the guinea fowl with a side of chocolate...

As someone who is keen on chocolate, but perhaps not an aficionado of the stuff, I was slightly sceptical that cacao could be spread throughout a three-course meal. I was mistaken. The incredible flavours that emerged from Rabot 1745’s food were unlike anything I’d tried. Perhaps that’s because I rarely turn to chocolate when eating guinea fowl. This one was stuffed with crunchy bits of cocoa beans, mixed in with cumin and aubergines, with the smallest hint of bitterness from the beans, and not an inch of sweetness.