Note to start: This story was written up based on my experiences from a trip I made here in a pre COVID world. 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!
I had several hot chocolates in Bruges and, to be honest, most of them were not very interesting, not interesting enough to write up about here. I was running out of will power, wondering if I had reached the limit of hot chocolates any one person can put in their body before they go crazy and fall apart but still, I decided to try one more. I ended up at De Proeverie tea room.
De Proverie is the tea room of Chocolaterie Sukerbuyc which is located just across the street. All of the chocolate that they serve in the tea room, including the hot chocolate, is from Sukerbuyc. The hot chocolate comes served on a small bamboo platter and included the mug of hot milk and a spoon with chocolate attached that you simply stir into your hot chocolate. To accompany this there was a dollup of whip cream and some extra chocolates to snack on. I personally found it to be too sweet, but if you have a sweet tooth then you will enjoy this. What made this a memorable half an hour to be honest was the fireplace and the pictures on the walls of dogs dressed in suits. I would have never thought that would be a thing but I’m glad they weren’t selling reproductions of these at the door because I would have bought one and then regretted it when I returned home.
One thing I found while in Belgium, and in particular Brugges, is that there is this mystery around what kind of chocolate is being use and where that chocolate is coming from. They seem to know that they have a good thing going branding wise with Belgium chocolate seen as superior so no one offers even a hint into what kind of chocolate they are using, or where it is coming from (it is usually Callebaut). There are efforts to change this throughout the EU (as posted earlier). This includes specific efforts in Belgium through Beyond Chocolate, a multi stakeholder effort to create a more sustainable Belgian chocolate industry. One of the goals is that by 2025 all chocolate produced and/or sold in Belgium will comply with a relevant certification standard or be covered by a corporate sustainability scheme (although it is worth noting that these are the company’s own sustainability schemes and that this, in itself, doesn’t necessarily mean much). Only time will tell…
This café is a short walk to the starting point of Bootstour Bruges (dock at Our Lady church). They offer 30 minute boat tours through the canals of Bruges. Highly recommended.
Verdict: A good option for someone with a sweet tooth and even better if you follow it up with a shopping spree at the chocolate shop across the street. 4E80. Katelijnestraat 5, Bruges, Belgium.
