How to Find the Best Chocolate in Brussels?

Brussels is the chocolate capital of the world for most travelers. Since the invention of the praline, it has become associated with chocolate. It has a wide assortment of specialty chocolate shops, offering a kaleidoscope of pralines and macaroons, bars, cookies, hot chocolate, and delicacies from homemade to artisanal ethical and sustainable products. So, where in town will you find the best chocolate in Brussels? Here's what you need to know.

How to Find the Best Chocolate in Brussels?
[image: pexels by polina tankilevitch]

Choco-Story Museum

This recently reopened excellent chocolate museum, located directly across from the Manneken Pis monument, must be the first destination for every chocoholic. Great for both children and adults, the shows extend over three levels of a 17th era red-brick building.

From the Aztecs and Incas to the Swiss concocting the modern chocolate bar to a Belgian inventing the praline, audio guides take you on a journey through the history of chocolate, from its beginnings with the Aztecs and Incas through its introduction in Europe. Eventually, a skilled chocolatier shows in a demonstration kitchen how to produce a praline.

Pierre Marcolini

While Pierre Marcolini is a newcomer to the Belgian Chocolatier scene, don't let that stop you from trying these incredible chocolates. The first boutique shop, located at Place du Grand Sablon in Brussels' Sablon neighborhood, opened in 1997 and is now the cornerstone store. Pierre Marcolini has been privileged as a standard catering service to the Belgian Royal Court.

At Pierre Marcolini, the focus is on creating innovative flavors and mixes that will please each customer. His commitment is that the products used come from an economically friendly and ethical process. 

Mike & Becky

Mike & Becky is a 100% bean-to-bar operation that buys from five organic farms in Peru, Dominican Republic, Belize, Congo, and India. It is the brainchild of a classic cosmopolitan Brussels pair from Russia and Germany.

These two passionate amateurs, who started their business in 2016 and have no technical background, make healthy bars, so don't ask for waffles or macaroons. Mint, almond, masala spices, mango, and pepper are only a few of the exotic flavors to sample. You can also build your bar in a 90-minute class for €25 (Dh100) every Saturday.

Wittamer

Around the Sablon square from Marcolini is a somewhat different chocolate world: the prestigious Wittamer family's Maison, built-in 1910 as a "Boulangerie Moderne," and is now a supplier to the Belgian royal court. About the fact that Henri Wittamer's heirs have been some of Belgium's most well-known chocolatiers, their Grand Sablon office only offers cakes, cookies, candied fruits, and delicious ice cream.

Much of this takes place in a labyrinth of labs and factories concealed behind the trendy exterior, including the whole chocolate production process, which begins with the roasting of cocoa beans – but the public is never allowed to see any of it.

Before you start looking for the finest chocolates in Brussels, there are some things you should remember. For example, there are many steps in the chocolate-making process, but chocolate must be processed and molded in Belgium to be considered Belgian.

All other stages and products, such as cocoa beans, may be sourced from anywhere in the world. Chocolatiers use cocoa beans mainly from South America and Africa rather than Belgium. Belgian chocolatiers prefer 100 percent cocoa butter, which gives their chocolate its high consistency, creaminess, and smoothness, called the best chocolate in Brussels.