Food and Dining in Aalst, Belgium

[Tri2Cook]

Moderator's note: In the topic that Kerry Beal started in the Pastry & Baking forum on a chocolate course in Aalst, Belgium, she wrote,

I'm heading out tomorrow evening for Belgium to take a course on making chocolate showpieces at the Belcolade factory in Aalst, Belgium.  Puratos - the supplier of Belcolade in Canada has arranged the course and was kind enough to invite me along. 

...

I'd love any suggestions about foods I should try - if anyone knows of restaurants in Aalst that are worth checking out I'd love to hear about them.  I found lots of threads on Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp, but nothing about Aalst. 

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I've split off this topic in the Elsewhere in Europe forum for discussion of Aalst. -- CA

Never mind the food! You're going to Belgium... beer, beer, beer!

Seriously though, sounds really awesome. I love Belgian beers so, even without the course which sounds really cool, I'd be jealous.

Edited February 2, 2008 by chrisamirault (log)

[Lior]

Hi! I also stayed in Aalst- it is a very small and quaint town. Too bad we will miss each other as I am there in June!! OOOf! Try to get to the chocolate museums in Brussels and Bruges. Have you been to Bruges?

Have an amazing time.

[Kerry Beal]

Hi! I also stayed in Aalst- it is a very small and quaint town.  Too bad we will miss each other as I am there in June!! OOOf!  Try to get to the chocolate museums in Brussels and Bruges. Have you been to Bruges?

Have an amazing time.

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I've never been to Belgium before - I sure wish I was going there in June rather than February however.

[schneich]

hi,

iam looking forward to see you. i dont know any good places in aalst, in this part of belgium good restaurants are rare but they do exist ;-) as for bruxelles my favourite places for chocolate are:

mahieu (relais dessert) (i could call and try to get you a tour through their pastry kitchen)

nihoul

laurant gerbaud

on the place "grand sablon" youll find the usual suspects:

marcolini

galler

wittamer

nauhaus

godiva

not to forget dandoy (great cookies)

if you are into seeing a large scale production we could

try to get you a tour through Debailleul which is a patissier and chocolatier

cheers

torsten s.

[Kerry Beal]

hi,

iam looking forward to see you. i dont know any good places in aalst, in this part of belgium good restaurants are rare but they do exist ;-) as for bruxelles my favourite places for chocolate are:

mahieu (relais dessert) (i could call and try to get you a tour through their pastry kitchen)

nihoul

laurant gerbaud

on the place "grand sablon" youll find the usual suspects:

marcolini

galler

wittamer

nauhaus

godiva

not to forget dandoy (great cookies)

if you are into seeing a large scale production we could

try to get you a tour through Debailleul which is a patissier and chocolatier

cheers

torsten s.

←

The tours sound fabulous, but I suspect with the very limited time I'm actually in Brussels there won't be time this trip.

Any favorite pralines in those recommended shops? And what is your favorite cookie in Dandoy?

[schneich]

hi,

iam looking forward to see you. i dont know any good places in aalst, in this part of belgium good restaurants are rare but they do exist ;-) as for bruxelles my favourite places for chocolate are:

mahieu (relais dessert) (i could call and try to get you a tour through their pastry kitchen)

nihoul

laurant gerbaud

on the place "grand sablon" youll find the usual suspects:

marcolini

galler

wittamer

nauhaus

godiva

not to forget dandoy (great cookies)

if you are into seeing a large scale production we could

try to get you a tour through Debailleul which is a patissier and chocolatier

cheers

torsten s.

←

The tours sound fabulous, but I suspect with the very limited time I'm actually in Brussels there won't be time this trip.

Any favorite pralines in those recommended shops? And what is your favorite cookie in Dandoy?

←

the shiny red framboise hearts from marcolini are great, as well as the earl grey cookies at dandoy...

cheers

t.

[Lior]

Aalst is not the best for restaurants. They have lots of cute little places. Be sure to get "chips" or fries as you may call them - in Brussels they are the thing!! You must to to Le Grande Place and from there to Sablon to Marcolini! I got his box of origin squares. I liked the Chocolate Line in Brugge. Brugge or Bruges is like a little Venice and I recommend taking the train there. I did it in a day and came back to Aalst in the late evening. There are plenty of chocolate shops there and the museum and a nice boat tour. I contacted Mol D'Art (not in Aalst) before my trip and the owner actually came to pick me up from Aalst and then returned me to the airport! He is very helpful. What hotel are you at? If you do go to Brugge, I will let you know how the train gets there and where to switch.

This is the list I used and actually went to a lotof them:

List of famous chocolatiers and patissiers

Mary Chocolatier

Konningsstraat 73

1000 Brussels

Tel. : 02 217 45 00

Wittamer

Grote Zavel 12-13

1000 Brussels

Tel. : 02 512 37 42

Marcolini Pierre

Grote Zavel 39

1000 Brussels

Tel. : 02 514 12 06

Galler

Bodenbroekstraat 14

1000 Brussels

Tel. : 02 512 02 94

Planète Chocolat

Lombardstraat 24

1000 Brussels

Tel. : 02 511 07 55

Fax. : 02 512 13 05

Burie Hans

Korte Gasthuisstraat 3

2000 Antwerpen

Tel. : 03 232 36 88

Calinor NV

Capronstraat 28

8900 Ieper

Tel. : 057 20 72 07

Chocolaterie Goossens

Isabellalei 6

2000 Antwerpen

Tel. :

Confiserie Hanf

K.F. Schinkelstraat 45

4782 Schönberg

Tel. : 080 549 333

Corne Dynastie

Avenue de l’aeroplane 24

1150 Brussel

Tel. : 02 77 09 930

Couleurs Chocolat

Kerkhove 40

1547 Bievene

Tel. : 0476 996 951

Creades

St. Jorisstraat 86

8730 Beernem

Tel. : 050 79 07 77

Del Rey

Appelmansstraat 5

2000 Antwerpen

Tel. : 03 47 02 861

Den Ouden Advokaat

Ster 51B

9100 St. Niklaas

Tel. : 03 776 59 49

Druart

Bourghos 13

7387 Angreau

Tel. : 065 75 95 21

Les Chocolats D’Edouard

Place Albert 1er

6820 Florenville

Monjezi

Grand Rue 8

6460 Chimay

Tel. : 060 21 17 67

The Chocolate Line

Simon Stevinplein 19

8000 Brugge

Tel. : 050 34 10 90

Edited February 2, 2008 by Lior (log)

[Kerry Beal]

My god Lior, looks like you went everywhere!! I'd love to go to Mold'art if time permits. Don't think I'll have time to get to Brugges unfortunately this trip.

What was the favorite chocolate you ate?

[Lior]

I really liked the origins at Marcolini-comes ready in a box-elegant too. And The Chocolate Line- there were some very interesting flavors. I was in Belgium for under a week. If you get ambitious you can do it. The Mol D'Art guy will come and get you if you want. If you do please pass on my best regards! His name is Jef. Try to do Bruges!!

[prasantrin]

Have you seen the chocolate page from the Belgian Tourist Office? They even have information on chocolate tours!

I wonder if Wittamer in Belgium is similar to Wittamer in Japan. I think Wittamer in Japan over-rated, but if you get the chance to get to Debailleul, please do! I'd love to live vicariously through your experience!

[Kerry Beal]

I really liked the origins at Marcolini-comes ready in a box-elegant too. And The Chocolate Line- there were some very interesting flavors. I was in Belgium for under a week. If you get ambitious you can do it. The Mol D'Art guy will come and get you if you want. If you do please pass on my best regards! His name is Jef.  Try to do Bruges!!

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Well apparently the plan is to take us to Bruges on Thursday - not sure what we will be seeing other than the chocolate museum - but I'll put in my requests tomorrow.

Have you seen the chocolate page from the Belgian Tourist Office?  They even have information on chocolate tours!

I wonder if Wittamer in Belgium is similar to Wittamer in Japan.  I think Wittamer in Japan over-rated, but if you get the chance to get to Debailleul, please do!  I'd love to live vicariously through your experience!

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I'll watch out for it.

[Lior]

I am so glad you won't miss Bruges! The lady at the museum gives out a cute poster of the museum character if you request one! I also bought a molinillo (sp?) there! I am sure you will walk through the nice squares to get to the museum. There are two main ones. Lucky you!!

[Kerry Beal]

Tomorrow after class they are taking us to Chocolate World. They are going to keep the store open for us. Not quite sure where dinner will be tomorrow. Tonights dinner was in a rather nice restaurant on the far side of Aalst - name uncertain. The entire menu was in flemish, and while we have several french speakers with us, the menu was a guessing game. In spite of that we ate well.

The foie starter was huge and wonderful. Firm, smooth, delicious. I had lamb loin that was perfectly cooked. And of course everything comes with the amazing frites - how do they make those?

[paulbrussel]

Tonights dinner was in a rather nice restaurant on the far side of Aalst - name uncertain.  The entire menu was in flemish, and while we have several french speakers with us, the menu was a guessing game.  In spite of that we ate well.

Difficult to eat high end in Aalst.

[Just to be precise: your post suggests that Flemish and French are alike - of course some one who understands French will never be able to read Flemish unless he also learned Dutch / Flemish.]

[Kerry Beal]

Tonights dinner was in a rather nice restaurant on the far side of Aalst - name uncertain.  The entire menu was in flemish, and while we have several french speakers with us, the menu was a guessing game.  In spite of that we ate well.

Difficult to eat high end in Aalst.

[Just to be precise: your post suggests that Flemish and French are alike - of course some one who understands French will never be able to read Flemish unless he also learned Dutch / Flemish.]

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Wasn't meaning to suggesti that Flemish and french are alike. We had so far been able to get by communicating between our english and french speakers, but we were all lost when the menu was in Flemish.

[paulbrussel]

Wasn't meaning to suggesti that Flemish and french are alike.  We had so far been able to get by communicating between our english and french speakers, but we were all lost when the menu was in Flemish.

OK: then I fully understand the difficulties :-).