This is one of the most unique chocolate shops I’ve ever visited. It specializes in chocolate experimentation, i.e. in creating odd chocolate combinations and utilizing chocolate in innovative ways. For example, if you want chocolate paint for any reason (not that you would), you can get it here! So it’s quite the treat just to visit this place and see what uses chocolate has been put to. With that said, the flavors are really hit or miss. Sometimes, you will just be shocked out of your mind. Other times, you’ll want to vomit. The “good” flavors are amazing and perhaps unforgettable, since they are unlike what you can find anywhere else, whereas the bad are just atrocious and even inedible. As should be apparent, this place is only for the adventurous, and I would wholly recommend it, just for the experience, independent of what it’s actual score may be.

Hits: Fried onions, Black olive and marzipan

Mediocre/Decent/just odd: saffron and curry white chocolate

Awful: vodka, lime and bitter ganache (worst chocolate I’ve ever tasted!)

Verdict: 2.5/5.0. Just one caveat though: This score really doesn’t reflect the quality of this store, since the chocolates are very much hit or miss. The store has the most unique flavors, so if you love chocolate, this is the perfect place to experiment.

Must Try: Sushi shell with a dark chocolate crunch, Seashell flavored like a speculoo cookie, Milk chocolate with hazelnut crunch

Hits: Dark chocolate with mocha, Blanc manon with nut (almost a must try), Dark chocolate with nut crunch mix, Dark chocolate with raspberry cream, Seashell flavored like a speculoo cookie (Must try!)

Just Good: Dark chocolate leaf with white chocolate ganache, Dark chocolate with cherry liquor, Milk chocolate with hazelnut cream, Dark chocolate with cherry cream, Dark chocolate hat with fruit

Mediocre/Decent: Dark chocolate leaf (pure version), Dark chocolate with caramel, Van Hoorbeke (the house specialty), filled dark chocolate shell, Milk chocolate crown with marzipan

Nothing was outright bad.

Overall score: 3.5/5.0. Adjusted for value, more of a 4.0. This is one of the best producers of chocolate in Belgium for the price, costing about 10 euros for 250g (over 1/2 of a lb.). That’s about half the cost of Marcolini, and the taste is substantially better.

Burie is yet another famous Belgian chocolate maker in Antwerp. There’s really nothing special about the chocolate so I’ll get straight to the quality of the pieces.

Pieces I had:

Must Try: Milk and salted caramel (for once, a store that gets it right!), Milk chocolate marzipan roll (Must try, especially for marzipan lovers!)

Just good: Gianduja, White chocolate with nuts, White chocolate crunch, Milk chocolate with cream

Mediocre/Decent: Dark milk chocolate, Milk chocolate ganache in a dark shell

Awful: All the dark chocolates with alcohol in them

Verdict: 1.5/5.0

Del Rey is quite the famous chocolatier. It actually produces some pretty well-respected chocolate bars, and is perhaps better known for those outside of Belgium. It’s still a great producer of bonbons though. Although none of the chocolates I tried really stood out as unforgettable, I do have to say everything was pretty solid, so that I can’t really criticize the chocolate all too much, except to say that it’s acceptable if you’re really craving chocolate bonbons.

Pieces I had:

Must Try: Earl Grey dark chocolate

Hits: Champagne truffle (amazingly good for a liquor-based truffle), Dark chocolate crunch (though the milk chocolate version would be better)

Just Good: Milk chocolate crunch truffle, hard caramel

Mediocre/Decent: Milk chocolate with marzipan, ganache sandwich, Grand cru, gianduja (too sweet)

Nothing was downright bad.

Overall score: 2.5/5.0

While not quite as famous as Marcolini or Whittamer, Mary’s comes in at a close 3^rd in terms of fame, and it is one of the 3 producers with a royal mandate holder, meaning it provides chocolate to the royal family.

I’ve got to say, the royal family has some taste. Mary’s is fantastic in almost every way, from presentation to the taste. In fact, of all the chocolates I’ve tried, this probably has the nicest presentation of all. The chocolate comes in simple white boxes, wrapped in old school ribbon, reminiscent of an old grandma’s gift. Moreover, the store itself screams of a nice warmth, intimacy, and cosiness, with a pristine, very clean display for all the chocolates.

Needless to say, I was quite excited to try the chocolates, though I was put off at first by some of my experiences with other producers in Belgium. The chocolate blew me away, like no other brand I’ve tasted before. No flavor was disappointing. Whether a truffle or a bonbon, I found myself enjoying everything. The creams and ganache were perfectly rich, creamy, and flavorful. The chocolate itself was perfectly tempered, with the right level of sweetness—not overly bitter like Marcolini, even in the pieces with higher cocoa percentages. No complaints at all—This is a must try for any chocolate lover!

Pieces I had:

Must Try: Tiramisu truffle (esp. for Tiramisu lovers), Orange powdered ball (like Reeses!),milk chocolate with marzipan and walnut

Hits: Gianduja in Milk Chocolate, Blanc Manon and walnut (though a bit sweet), Tiramisu truffle, White chocolate crunch, hazelnut, anything with gianduja

Just good: The Mary (specialty of the house), 70% cocoa bitter chocolate, 85% cocoa bitter chocolate

Mediocre/Decent: Powdered dark chocolate truffle

Nothing was downright bad.

Overall score: 4.5+/5.0. Best chocolates I have tried to this day!

This is the legendary store, found throughout Belgium but with its HQ in Brussels. It is rather pricy in comparison to the others, but it’s supposedly the best and is normally called a “must” for tourists to Brussels.

Nevertheless, the chocolate is depressingly bad. The bonbons have very little flavor and are just bland. The chocolate is also overly bitter, to the point of being inedible. I’d go into more detail, but out of a whole box of about 8 flavors, none struck out as anything special. Instead, the taste was monotonous, with extremely bitter chocolate combined with some odd flavors. The presentation, however, is nice, and I can see why it might look excellent—red hearts, gold leaf, etc.

Pieces I had:

Hits: the red heart (filled with white chocolate ganache)

Misses: everything else in my 10 bonbon set.