Taste 4 pralines in Bruges

Bruges: the chocolate capital of Belgium. You’ll find a chocolatier on practically every corner. But are all the pralines you pop into your mouth equally delicious? No. Only a small number of Bruges chocolatiers make the real Belgian pralines. Filled with nuts or more exciting ingredients. Where can you taste them?

Chocolaterie Depla

Pol Depla’s classic praline with hazelnut filling has been made in exactly the same way since 1958. Many Bruges locals love it. These days, the chocolatier also experiments with new flavour combinations. He makes pralines with basil, lemongrass, bacon and chilli. But whatever he comes up with, he makes all his fillings himself. 

Mariastraat 20

You’ll want to make this candied lemon chicken this weekend

The Chocolate Line

Dominique Persoone is by far Belgium’s most famous chocolatier. In 1992, he opened The Chocolate Line: a small chocolate shop with a workshop at the back. That’s where he makes his pralines by hand. And the chocolate? He makes that himself too. On the outskirts of Bruges, you’ll find his chocolate factory. The chocolatier combines his chocolate with wasabi, red pepper, cola and beetroot, creating exciting pralines that you won’t taste anywhere else in Bruges. The best part is that the chocolate remains the most important ingredient in every praline, perfectly balanced with the filling inside.

Simon Stevinplein 19

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfY7aiDBODP/?taken-by=thechocolatelinehttp://

BbyB Chocolate

A few years ago, Belgian star chef Bart Desmit developed a babelutte praline (a type of butter toffee) to serve as a dessert in his restaurant. It quickly became quite popular among his guests. Together with master chocolatier Jan Verleye, the chef then created more pralines. Flavours include apple babelutte, speculaas-orange and passion fruit-basil, for example. At first, he sold them only in his restaurant, but later he opened a shop in Bruges. It is filled with chocolates that look exactly the same on the outside—sleek and simple—but each has its own distinctive flavour inside. 

Sint-Amandsstraat 39

Chocolate by Daphne

This chocolatier doesn’t make her own chocolate, but that doesn’t make the pralines she creates with it any less delicious. In her shop, you’ll find classics as well as her own Napoleon praline, based on the sweet. And a raspberry-pine-nut praline. Each one is smaller than average because the chocolatier thinks it’s important that you can taste several flavours without getting full right away. 

Mallebergplaats 3