Where to buy bread cakes chocolates ice cream Belgium

One of our favorites. Homemade vanilla or orange crepes, traditional bouquettes, mini Liège wafers with butter and pearl sugar, madeleine... We want to try it all. The shop windows and street-side workshops are a real eye-opener. Opposite, bread takes pride of place. Eric, the owner, selects his own cereal crops from a farmer in Liège. Artisanal ice creams and sorbets (2019) and French fries and side dishes (2021) complete the offer.

Dominique Persoone is certainly the most subversive of Belgian chocolatiers. Ganache with peas, praline with olive oil or cabernet-sauvignon vinegar: this virtuoso has no qualms about his creations. He also revisits the tequila frappé in the Choc-tail, a bitter chocolate ganache from Costa Rica that is mixed with lime and served with a pipette of Tequila Silver and Maldon Crystal Salt. But the most astonishing of his creations is the Chocolate Shooter, which catapults cocoa powder (flavored with mint and ginger) into your nostrils. Rock'n'roll!

It used to be said that "where the brewer goes, the baker does not". But here, these two trades are reinforced because we brew and knead. The bread is made with natural leaven and organic flours low in gluten. There are several kinds, they are all superb! As for the Funky beer, it is brewed partly with unsold bread. As for the dregs, the residues of the brewing, they go to the kneading trough. The loop is closed, nothing is wasted and the quality of the products is great! The brewing place is the Brussels Cooperative Brewpub (CoHop).

Since 1998, the company has been offering more than 80 chocolates and about forty different sweets. For the former, the coatings and fillings are all made in the workshop, without any preservatives. The coatings are designed to be very fine, to best serve the taste of the filling. Mainly classic but with some original breakthroughs! Pralines, ganaches, truffles, marzipan, tablets, fine flavored tablets, mendiants, florentines, orangettes, fruit jellies... Less known than the international brands, Passion Chocolat is nevertheless at the top.

La Chocolaterie is housed in a modern 2,800 m² building. Renowned pastry chef Darcis, winner of numerous medals at the International Chocolate Awards, produces his own cocoa and organic bars from Panama, Peru and São Tomé... Seasonal creations and different macaroon flavours are also on offer.

Don't forget to visit the chocolate museum, already celebrating its 8th anniversary, a sensory experience during which visitors can learn about the profession of chocolatier while observing the company's employees at work.

Specialities: handmade chocolates (grand cru, Matcha tea, blackcurrant...), spreads, sticks, caraques... La Maison des Desserts is in fact the workshop of the De Hucorne - Fronville chocolate factory. Free visits are organized on request and reservation of the production area, with tasting. The place also includes a tea room with a terrace in a private garden. Probably one of the most popular shops in Namur, with an old-fashioned charm that fits perfectly with the atmosphere of this pedestrian street.

All of Belgium's specialties seem to be concentrated in this vast store, housed in the former residence of Perez de Malvenda, Spanish consul in the ^15th century. There's something for everyone: to drink (beers, gin, etc.), to eat (chocolate, waffles, etc.), to give as gifts (trinkets, T-shirts, etc.) and so on. Don't miss the "beer wall" outside, which boasts every bottle of Belgian beer. Finally, try them out at the bar, on the lovely terrace overlooking the canal. There are no fewer than 12 types of beer on tap!

Charli is green, organic, 100% natural... a true friend of nature! Charles Reboulet is off the beaten track! You must try his fig and almond demi-gris or his apple tarte tatin. Through the windows of the workshop, you can see the breads made from long-fermented dough (from 24 hours to 4 days!). A few seats are available for tasting. As an alternative to (small) breakfasts that are often not very nutritious, Charli Saléoffers, on the other side of the street, a (small) quality restaurant, highlighting artisanal productions.

The Demaret house is a family-run and demanding company that makes pralines unbeatable and exclusive fodder. Their products are high quality but without marketing fireworks, offering excellent value for money. This family focuses on the quality of raw materials and ensures good turnover of products. One of the Demaret sisters, formed in one of the best schools in the country, nevertheless believes that the best of learning is done by a professional, namely his father. The other sister is responsible for broadcasting and marketing. Perhaps you have already tasted, without knowledge, these products with family know-how as retailers do not necessarily cite them… The establishment has received several International Chocolate Awards for the quality of its products.

Among Édouard Bechoux's specialties, depending on your appetite and the season, you can choose between palets (available in pralines, mendiants, with a special mention for the exceptional rosemary praline), spice-flavored ice cream, cakes (don't miss Édouard's classic), and genuine hot (or cold!) chocolate spiced and revisited by the master. All made with pure cocoa butter. The portions served on the premises are more than generous, and we take this opportunity to take a look at the workshop, open to the curious as well as the gourmet.

Françoise Thomaes opened her gourmet boutique in 1997. Like a little Ali Baba's cave, you'll find a wealth of treasures here and there. More than sixty pralines, truffles, fruit or almond jellies, cookies and gingerbread, artisanal honey... are presented in an attractive display case. Upstairs, you'll find their little tasting room, with over twenty hot chocolates to choose from, accompanied by a homemade waffle (made with real eggs). Cute and delicious!

This former apothecary was responsible for theinvention of the praline, a small filled chocolate bite designed in 1912. And with his persistence in ideas, we also owe him the patent of the ballottin, a receptacle perfectly adapted to contain these sweets! It all started at this address, Galerie de la Reine, in this magnificent shop. His know-how in the field of luxury chocolates and biscuits seduced many, including the Belgian court (of which Neuhaus is a patented supplier). His success now extends to the whole world.

The shop welcomes real chocolate lovers. There are some amazing sweet and sour tastings (based on the ingredients and spices used in the chocolates): terrines, burgers (meatloaf, home-made dried fruits, candied onions, cocoa sauce), rillettes (cocoa touch), tarts (sweet). Laurent Gerbaud draws his inspiration from his distant travels! To be discovered in a magnificent tea-room with a vast terrace that makes you want to spice up your next chocolate mousse with delicate spices. Workshops on Saturdays (reservation required).

Forcado offers a wide range of pasteis de nata, including classics such as lemon, coffee, chocolate and speculoos, as well as raspberry, mojito, caramel and port cookie with vanilla cream. A range of cakes are made the old-fashioned way, just like in 1960s Portugal! A gluten-free range is also available. The store is spacious, uncluttered and bright... all signs of the Braz de Oliveira family's continuing success. The team has recently been reinforced to continue production, the patriarch having retired.