Hi,
We will be in Belgium in a few weeks. Which chocolate brand can you recommend...mass produced and "designer" types?

Please vote your favorite brand.

thanks!

Not a particular brand, but my favorite thing to do in Belgium is just go into one of the many many shops and pick and choose from the wonderful assortment in the display cases!

I love Neuhaus. It's usually in a yellow box.

Neuhaus is wonderful, but a favorite among Bruxellois is Leonidas; really fresh chocolate and incredibly inexpensive. You will see a Leonidas shop every few blocks in Brussels.

Leonidas is absolutely the best chocolate. The fresh creams and the pralines are amazing.

There are so many kinds, you'll have to taste as many as you can and see what *you* like. In addition to the "usual suspects" like Leonidas, Godiva, Neuhaus, Tasse Cafe, Corne Royal, there are boutique chocolate shops like Pierre Marcolini, Wittamer, etc. And then there are the even smaller family run places...you will find them in Brugge, Brussels, Leuven, and so on. Happy hunting! There is even a beer from Diest that is especially good with chocolate.

I want to know! What is that beer from Diest? Thanks BTilke!

Others have specific favorite brands but I agree with Grasshopper. I picked up some chocolates from not famous chocolate shops. The chocolates, however, were some of the best ever. My opinion only but I say Belgium's chocolates (any kind) are the best anywhere.

But here at home there's Terra Nostra, an organic chocolate sold at Trader Joe's. The dark chocolate is absolutely incredible.

I like the small boutiques and family run places. I din't have one bad piece- although in Brugge there was a lot of hazelnut filling, which I don't care for. The dark chocolates are so complex and creamy.

The beer is called Gildenbier and originally from Diest (in Brabant) but is now brewed in Haacht, I believe. Supposedly, it dates back to the 14th century and was specially brewed for the annual feast of the archers' guild (which is why it's called Gildenbier and the label has a picture of an archer). Apparently, modern beer experts have found the original recipe a little too sweet, even cloying, and it was modified a few years back. We had it in Diest a couple of months ago and really liked it and could see how it would go well with chocolate. The owners of the restaurant where we had it gave us two of the special glasses for the beer (in Belgium, every brand of beer has its own glass and you are supposed to drink it only in that glass, although that rule gets pretty dented at home). We haven't seen the beer lately and it's not carried in the Brussels supermarkets, I need to start asking for it in some of the specialty beer shops around town.

Thanks, B. I've seen the beer but never tasted it. I actually have a decent set of Belgian beer glasses, (nearly 70) so I am prepared for most drinking occasions.

I like Pierre Marcolini chocolates; delicious, and beautifully designed boxes too (next to the Conrad Hotel, Avenue Louise). Wittamer in Brussels is very good too (Sablon). In Antwerp there is a shop on the Schuttershofstraat (the best shopping street) that's called Swertvaegher (or something like that); they have lovely miniature chocolates.

I liked Neuhaus. I worked for a company with a Belgian office and was always presented with a huge box when they were over on business. The ones with frech cream in them need to be eaten within a few days....heaven. I must do a sampling again of the competitors!

I hate belgium chocolate - not my thing at all!

If you want some much more modern and less sickly stuff try anything from Enric Rovira in Barcelona. His simple bars to modernist sculptures not only look superb, but have a wonderful taste and texture too!

And that should read Belgian not "Belgium"!

Thanks for all the tips and comments. It's a good start.....

much appreciated!

m_kingdom, just curious - where can the Barcelona chocolate be sampled in Belgium, since that was what the post was about?

How about Pierre Marcolini, in Paris?

My favorite chocolate in Brugge is Dumon, a small family chocolatier.