It’s no secret, I’m a chocoholic.  I developed this chocolate sweet tooth later in life and as I get older, I’m definitely more selective in what I choose to indulge in.  So when I planned my last-minute trip to Rotterdam and Belgium (Bruges and Ghent), I knew I needed to leave room in my suitcase to bring home chocolate – a lot of Belgian chocolate.  When I started researching Chocolate in Bruges, imagine my surprise to learn there are over ninety (yes 90!) chocolate shops (the Visit Flanders Chocolate Brochure press material lists over 300 chocolate shops in the region) which doesn’t include donuts, cookies and bakery shops selling chocolate flavored treats. In addition to my research, I asked for recommendations.  I would need to eat a lot of chocolate over my three days to find my best chocolate shops in Bruges.  While these are my three favorite chocolate shops, I would urge you to also explore the many local shops to find what you like best.  There is literally every flavor you can imagine, textures and options in milk, dark and white chocolate.

Life Before Posh Chocolates

Growing up in the U.S. on Hershey’s, M&M (Mars) and Nestle (to name a few) plus my love of Twix, I didn’t know any better – I didn’t know the world of chocolate that existed outside of the name brands at the supermarket, pharmacies and Wawa. My Halloween pillowcases were full of KitKat, Nestle Crunch, Hershey bars and kisses and a whole lot of Reese cups.  That’s the chocolate of my youth – the chocolate that my dad introduced us to as my mom hated chocolate (I don’t understand this either).

My parents were shocked when I started spending more than $7+ on a chocolate bar from Vosges (Chicago) or Éclat (Philadelphia) or came home with bags of posh chocolates from Europe (or the very different tasting Twix and Kit Kats).  I still remember how crushed I was when I brought my dad a fancy box of chocolates from Paris and with his first bite, his face said it all and then he his words matched his face with “yuck”.  He had only ever eaten US milk chocolate so wasn’t ready to jump into other types of chocolate.   The dark chocolate and creamier milk chocolates in Europe (and beyond) were definitely flavors and textures that I needed to learn to appreciate with a lot of tasty research. Pairing with local wine made the chocolates even better. Some people like to travel and shop for clothes, I like to travel and shop for chocolate and wine, my way to taste the destination.

Belgian Chocolates

What makes Belgian chocolate so coveted and tasty?  I learned a few things during my tour of the chocolate museum – a Choco Story Bruges – which traces chocolate from the Aztecs and Mayas to European chocolate. Belgian chocolates have a high cocoa content, use 100% cocoa butter and are credited with creating the classic praline.  Belgian chocolate is exported (over 60% of production) around the world via brands like Neuhaus, Leonidas, Callebaut, Belcolade and Godiva to name a few. There are so many more award-winning chefs and chocolatiers throughout the country creating new chocolate varieties, flavors and tastings for everyone to enjoy. There is also the Salon du Chocolat each year, celebrating all things chocolate (add that to your festivals list – who needs a music fest when you can have a chocolate fest?).

Bruges Chocolate Shops

For my visit to Bruges, I focused on the smaller chocolatiers in the city.  In my short visit, I visited ten chocolate shops over three days buying small samples and then going back for larger purchases to bring home with me to the U.S.  These were my favorite three chocolate shops in Bruges (alphabetical order).

Chocolatier Dumon Bruges

Chocolatier Dumon is a cute little shop located a few yards away from the central market square.  When I entered, I was immediately overwhelmed (in a good way) by the smell of chocolate and the vast choice of shiny chocolates in prepared packages or made to order.  The chocolates are not labeled and the store is geared for tourists who order boxes based on size (number of pieces) and price and need only say “nuts or no nuts”.  The associates will then choose a sample for you.

Me being picky me, wanted to know what each chocolate was filled with.  The store was empty so I didn’t think it was too much to ask for what I wanted.  One woman was a bit annoyed by me (if she only knew my much pickier chocolate friends) and did the “nuts or no nuts” while her colleague indulged my curiosity.  The chocolates are quite creamy and filled with classic crèmes, caramel and fruit flavors.  My box of 12 pieces was a nice mix and surprisingly very affordable (under 10 euro) as were the prices of prepackaged options on the shelves.  The store sells ice packs for the chocolates if you are there on a hot day or transporting the chocolates home.   I ate the chocolates during my visit to Bruges – they are easy to enjoy but very rich so you can’t eat too many at once (I tried).

Verdict – There are no surprises at Chocolatier Dumon Bruges – this is the classic chocolate shop with affordable chocolates to please everyone on your list.  Note that as they are handmade and fresh, the shelf life is not long (maybe a week or less) for optimal tasting enjoyment.

 

Pierre Marcolini Bruges

The small chocolate shop is on the market square (next to Godiva). The Pierre Marcolini window was so pretty that I was face pressed to peer into the closed shop window featuring the artwork in cake. I would research the shop back at the hotel and plan my morning visit for the next day.

The pretty cakes in the window were what originally called to me. Once inside the store, I was lured by the boxes of hearts, the handmade jellies and so much more.  Unlike Dumon, Pierre Marcolini has everything in boxes and collections as well as offers individuals cakes and ice cream options.

It was like walking into a luxury store that you could actually afford something – if not a boxed collection, a cake, if not a cake then ice cream or ice cream bar. The saleswoman hadn’t even taken the covers off of the glass cases when I arrived ready to buy as quickly as possible.

I took the chocolate mousse cake with me to Ghent 1898 The Post Hotel to enjoy with a glass of wine (perfect combination).  I brought boxes of chocolate hearts, chocolate sampler and fruit jellies home for my family to enjoy. Pierre Marcolini has been called a “taste designer” in search of creating a better and lighter chocolate experience.  I’d say he’s definitely succeeded with the taste and experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed the Pierre Marcolini creations as did my family.

Verdict – This is a luxury chocolate shop for fancy chocolate gifts hence “Haute Chocolatier”.  It is also a social media goldmine of colorful cakes (almost too pretty to eat), ice cream and chocolates heart in flavors that you already love – raspberry, caramel, passion fruit, praline, lime and pistachio. Stores are located around the world, weirdly the only U.S. store is in Hawaii?!

 

The Chocolate Line Bruges

The Chocolate Line is a five-minute walk from the Belfry and market square past the many shops.  You’ll see a tree-lined pedestrian area on the left hand side in the middle of the road as well as fast food and fast casual cafes on either side. The Chocolate Line shop is by the award-winning chef Dominique Persoone. His creation of chocolates in over 40 flavors, tree to bar chocolates and single source chocolate bars will overwhelm you with choice in Bruges and Antwerp. The shop had just opened at 9:30 am and the chocolates were stacked to the top ready for the swells of customers, tour groups and locals. I was customer number one that morning and the associate was more than willing to indulge my questions to ensure I chose the best chocolates for me that represented The Chocolate Line.

The chocolates are all labeled to make it easy to navigate (their website is quite nice with ingredients and allergens).  With so many choices, it’s hard to narrow down what you want to add to your purple box.  I chose a box of 18 (gluttony embraced) pieces as my research box.  I started off with my comfort zone of raspberry, nuts, caramel, chocolate fillings before indulging in flavors like the miss piggy (chocolate ganache, almond praline, bacon and quinoa), apple, liquor filled options (Zapata rum, vodka, Cabernet Sauvignon and Bombay sapphire gin in red lips) and other interesting flavors.

I added in single source chocolate bars to taste the flavors of Costa Rica, Peru and Ecuador, just a few of the nine countries represented by chocolate bars.

The Chocolate Line uses ingredients others may be surprised by – onion, sake, beetroot, Havana leaves, basil, rice vinegar, sansho pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, chili pepper, wasabi, hemp seeds and poppy seeds.  You may enjoy the espresso coffee, lavender, mint leaves, passion fruit, banana, raisin and marzipan.  There is a bit of rock star glamour to the chocolate involving showing the Rolling Stones how to sniff the chocolate powder in the shooter. Persoone also created a chocolate lipstick and other offshoots with chocolate.  The Chocolate Line is about flavors, adventure and pushing chocolate comfort zones in a variety of ways.

 

Verdict – If you are an adventurous chocolate lover, The Chocolate Line is your happy place.  If you are just a simple chocolate fan, you’ll find a lot to love here as well from chocolate bars, origin chocolate discs and souvenir boxes sorted by type (fruit, nuts, etc.). For individual chocolate pieces,  try to eat within a week to fully enjoy the experience.  

Non-Chocolate Options in Bruges

Ok, maybe you’re like my mother who had a negative chocolate experience growing up or you prefer other types of desserts/treats.  Don’t despair, Pierre Marcolini has fruit jellies that are gorgeous to look at and eat.  There are other sugar options in the city of Bruges. You can enjoy donuts at Hill’s Donuts, cookies at Juliette’s or pastries/croissants at the many bakeries in town. You might even want a Belgian waffle with ice cream (Mom’s favorite).

More Chocolate Shops in Bruges

There is a chocolate shop for everyone in Bruges.  If you want cute animals, naughty bits and sayings, packaged Bruges souvenirs.  There are chocolate dusted truffles in bins, chocolate by the kilo, chocolate by the piece, bricks of chocolate that are hammered into pieces.  If you have a sweet tooth, Bruges is the place to (over) indulge.  It’s ok if you just want to eat chocolate all day – there’s even a museum with all you can eat chocolate discs while you tour at the Choco-Story Bruges.

 

There are chocolate tours in Bruges as well as classes on making/working with chocolate. Since I’ve done chocolate classes at home and have done behind the scenes pastry tours of chocolate I wanted to run around the city on my own tasting chocolate croissants, chocolate donuts, chocolate truffles, chocolate cookies and chocolates.

Final Thoughts – Chocolate Shops in Bruges

The Belfry in Bruges has 366 steps to climb to the top and 366 steps back to the bottom.  In my mind, those stairs helped negate some of the chocolate calories consumed (let’s not get technical and point out that I probably burned enough calories for only one truffle). Thankfully, you gained no weight reading this post (I can’t say the same) as I had a lot of fun with the blog research into my three Best Chocolate Shops in Bruges. Note that because it was a hot summer day, I skipped the drinking chocolates and hot chocolate options – those will need to wait for my next visit along with the other 80 chocolate shops!

 

Do you have a favorite chocolate shop in Bruges? A favorite Belgian chocolate brand? Share in the comments please so I can add to my list of chocolates to research next time.