The peaceful environs of Isetan The Japan Store is the perfect setting for Nayuta Chocolatasia, a chocolate boutique shop specialising in bean-to-bar chocolate using beans from all over Southeast Asia. But chocolate isn’t the only thing that’ll draw your eye to this pretty space; fashioned by Nala Designs founder Lisette Scheers, the colourful motifs – which extend from the store’s decor to the packaging –successfully capture the Japanese and Southeast Asian influences that make a cross-cultural venture like Nayuta possible.
What makes Nayuta’s chocolates different from others is the use of single-origin cacao beans from different regions within Southeast Asia: Raub in Malaysia, Davao and other areas in the Philippines, Ben Tre in south Vietnam, and Bali in Indonesia. Overseeing the production is Chef Shunsuke Saegusa, the chocolatier behind one of Japan’s best chocolate shops, Palet D’Or. Under his direction, the chocolates here are made to suit the Asian palate, which he says tends to favour the milky, caramel-infused and soft textured chocolate as opposed to European palate, which gravitates towards bitter chocolates with higher cacao content. A great example is Nayuta’s hot chocolate (RM17), a rich milky drink made with bars containing 51 percent cacao – which is still fine for sweet tooths, but maybe not so for those who like their chocolates dark and bitter.
At the counter, take your pick of chocolate bars (from RM17) originating from Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia that have 72 percent, 51 percent and 40 percent cacao content. To better appreciate the nuances between the beans, go for the chocolates with higher cacao content – those from Vietnam, for example, have a slightly more acidic note compared to the well-rounded and balanced Malaysian chocolates. There’s also a selection of chocolate bonbons (RM6 per piece) which range from classic flavours – like strawberry, passion fruit and mango – to the more exotic Asian flavours like sakura, yuzu and Sarawak pepper.