Note to start: This story was written up based on my experiences from a trip I made here in a pre COVID world. This means you will see photos with lots of people with no masks and no social distancing (remember that?). I have noted at the end whether they are currently open (for takeaway or delivery) but it is best to visit their website for up to date information. I think we all need a bit of arm chair travelling at the moment so I thought I’d still share these to inspire current hot chocolates at home and future trips. Enjoy!
Belgium is known for many things and most of them are edible. By this point of my trip, I was starting to wonder if I could survive on just waffles, chocolate, fries and now beer (I was recovering from a pretty intense beer tour of the city, another must do if you are in Brussels). I spent the morning eating all the fruit I could find in an attempt to somehow balance my body in preparation for another afternoon of chocolate tasting. While hot chocolate is obviously good for you (there is milk and chocolate comes from a bean) all the rest of what I was eating was starting to put me into a bit of a food coma.
The one good thing about this, and most of my trips, is that I walk off anything I end up eating. The other tip when it comes to Europe in particular, and really any place that is filled with tourists; just walk the other way. Tourists stay together and are not necessarily hanging out in the best spots. Walk a block in the opposite direction (or follow a local) to find the real gems.
So here is a short walk in the opposite direction, with a hot chocolate reward at the end. You are likely to notice all the beautiful people in these pictures, congregating on terraces without face masks or social distancing. Yes, these pictures were taken before COVID-19. Enjoy the beauty of life pre pandemic (and the assurance that, soon, we will be able to enjoy Brussels just like this again.)
Start at the Grand Place and take a deep, chocolatey breath (see this other post for more on that). Take Rue au Beurre (butter road – best name for a road ever). You will pass a few chocolate shops including Galler Chocolatier and Maison Dandoy. If you haven’t already, walk through them and taste a few samples if you like. At the end of this little pedestrian street, you will arrive at Le Comptoir de Mathilde on the left. This city likes its hot chocolate set solid at the end of wooden spoons, ready to stir into hot milk and this is the spot to buy them. If you haven’t already tasted speculoos, a traditional spiced shortcrust cookie popular in the Netherlands and Belgium, buy yourself a few here to talk along on your walk. Continue along butter road around the Bourse de Bruselles. The area across the street from Boulevard d’Anspach is full of interesting shops, cafes, restaurants, street art and people and few tourists step over this imaginary line. Cross over it (you can do it) and continue along Rue Paul Devaux which then, once you cross Rue des Poissonniers puts you on Rue Sainte -Catherine. There are lots of interesting shops to distract you along the way. For example, on the left-hand side you will see Champigros, a store that sells every kind of mushroom you can imagine, but also all sorts of other beautiful products that you can cook up alongside them.
Stop at Noordzee – Mer du Nord at the end of the street, just on the Place Sainte-Catherine (a command, not a suggestion). This fresh seafood joint often has a line out front but wait your turn. They have amazing seafood soup and oysters that you can enjoy right there at their stand up bar. Good to put something in your system other than chocolate too frankly. From here, everywhere you look are cafes with tables and people spilling out into the square. If I had had any friends in Brussels, this is where I would have wanted to meet them and I spent a good few moments while eating my soup hoping that some really cool person would set up next to me, we would strike up a conversation, realise we were long lost friends and move over to one of terraces for an apero. It didn’t happen unfortunately this time, but I’ll make sure it does next time.
Walk up to the Sainte-Catherine church, admire it and then walk along the left-hand side. Take Quai au Briques and walk along the water until you reach Atelier Sainte Catherine Pur Chocolat d’Origine on the left-hand side. It isn’t a big place so you might have to squeeze in or wait your turn. Here you can buy chocolates made from famous chocolate maker Frederic Blondeel who uses cocoa beans sourced from around the world. He also has a chocolate factory that you can visit a few blocks away. There is a lot of chocolate in Brussels, but not a lot of it is made from scratch.
Order your hot chocolate (only available in take out) and enjoy it sitting along the canal edge and watch the world go by. This area is also home to a range of markets at different times of the week/year including a Christmas market. I enjoyed the hot chocolate, Frederic Blondeel’s pralines were gorgeous, but I’ll be back for the neighbourhood (and I’ll bring a friend).
Verdict: The shop sells icecream and every kind of chocolate you can imagine, from chocolate mediants to single origin chocolate bars. Atelier Sainte Catherine, Quai aux Briques 36 (with another shop at number 24 which is a sit down cafe as well as one in the Sablon area, home to quite a few good chocolate shops).
