Day trip to Brussels

[Beanie]

I'll be in Brussels tomorrow, unexpectedly, joining my cousin & wife visiting from Oz. So, it's La Perle Noir eor nothing, right? Any new places crop up lately? Or rather, where can I go to be the least disappointed? I have a couple of hours to kill while they do a "tour" thing in the afternoon. Any suggestions?

Pre-tour, we're gonna do some chocolate tastings at Marcolini, Manon, Mary, and Wittersomething.

[fiend]

Probably not the place to be saying it, but why would you spend the whole afternoon finding the one place that serves good coffee when you are surrounded by places that serve good beer? I can highly recommend Bush Amber with that chocolate. If it gets warmer in the afternoon (like that's going to happen this time of year!) you might like to straighten up with some Lambics, and then a few Trappists to give you a warm contentment for the ride home (you're not driving are you?) Mind you, I guess you can get them all in the Netherlands anyway...

[JulieJayne]

Let us know how you get on, I will be in Brussels on Sunday, and would like to know what to expect.

[Raf]

Wittersomething

Wittamer. He's not really a chocolatier, but a patissier, and he's based on the Sablon as well (just like Marcolini).

[Beanie]

Just got home, a whirlwind of a day, I'd tell you about all where I went... but well, had a couple Trappist too many to remember. Had to drown out the sorrow and awful aftertaste of some downright atrocious "coffees".

Didn't make it to La Perle Noir - a bit too far in too little time.

Sablon area was very nice. On the walk there from Grand Place, there's a really nice cosy looking tea house, but I didn't go in I walked into Marcolini, it was busy as heck, and the staff were not in the friendliest of moods... so I left with the intention of coming back when my cousin was back from the tour but they were pooped out and we didn't go

I did go across the street to Wittamer (thanks Raf ) as that is where Marcolini learned his craft. I wanted to see how much he had surpassed his teacher. Bought a little 250g box which cost 12.50eur. The "liquid caramel" was impressive, but way too sweet for me. I've saved the "origin" chocolates for the balance of the week. Also got the "chocolate mousse" and that was delish All in all, very nice but not super special so far.

I guess now I'll just have to go back to Brussels for some Marcolini chocolates I'm expecting that it's better than Michel Cluizel which is the smoothest chocolate I've had to date. Definitely not for chewing... strictly for melting only.

JJ

As far as "tours" go, the Manneken Piss was closed for renovations today... think he's going to be pouring forth beer instead of water soon Also, the Atomium is closed for a while... think til Jan'06.

I tried to stay away from Grand Place as much as possible today... because I didn't feel like I was in Belgium anymore... was a mini-conversion to soccer fans from across the waters

When I visit a city for the first time, apart from checking out the guide books/internet, I like taking one of those cheap bus only tours that drives around the city highlights... and that's how we decide where we want to spend more time. Then we either get a city 24 or 72 hour pass and use public transport or take the tour company's "hop-on/hop-off" bus to visit the places from the night before.

In any case, here's a quickie overview site http://www.trabel.com/brussels.htm

To make life easy and plonk your behind in one place for the evening for beer-tasting purposes, this place has over 2,500 beers: http://www.deliriumcafe.be/ and also http://www.bierebel.com/en/index.php for info.

[Raf]

I think at Marcolini's, you should never expect the staff to be in a friendly mood. Just shop away and to hell with them. About the tea house, do you mean 'Palais des Thés'? A very light, clean shop? A very good tea shop, indeed.

Oh, and re: Michel Cluizel, I really don't like it. It's what Marcolini calls "Parisian 90% cocoa fetishism". The Parisians seem to have this idea that chocolate must be 90, or at least 99% cocoa to be really good, but then it becomes very granular and dry. You won't find any Marcolini chocolate with more than 85 % cocoa, I believe, and it's all delicious to melt (esp. his new variety: milk chocolate with puffed rice and zeste d'orange).

[Beanie]

It wasn't the non-friendly mood that got me out the door... it was the little time I had and thinking I was going back that way anyway in a matter of hours (and not wanting to lug stuff around).

I saw the modern-looking Palais des Thés, looked very nice indeed & seemed huge (appropriate for a "palais", I suppose). It looked like a shop rather than a tea house. The one I mean is a small, very cozy looking tea house on Rollebeek just past Rue Haute in the direction of Grand-Sablon.

The Michel Cluizel I tried was only 45% - explains why it was so smooth. I can hardly wait for Marcolini...