Brussels Shopping Tips by GillianMcLaughlin

Wittamer: Chocolate # 1 - all colours, all shapes all tastes Chocolates Review

To say I don't like chocolate is a bit of an understatement. However, even I can spot chocolate class when I see it. Wittamer is a real Brussels institutions: its shocking pink trademark packaging being as sought after as the contents.

As if the content of the shop weren't enough, you should just see the window displays! They are very tipical. In the photo you see a detail from their 2004 Valentines Day display. I've seen the World Cup tournament in chocolate, Louis Vuitton in chocolate, Jacques Brel in chocolate... kids just love it.

What to buy: And what contents, what a spectacle... I'm afraid that my powers of expression cannot do justice to the Wittamer wonderland, so I let them speak for themselves. Ths following is taken from their website:

The Wittamer constellation speaks all languages of celebration and good taste, interpreted in inspired boxes of delicacies - chocolates, almond paste, marrons glacés, natural fruit paste sweets, jams and jellies, caviar, champagne and the finest Clarets.

What to pay: Their prices start from a couple of euros for small decorative marzipans, up to around €35 for 1kg of chocolates.

For all you armchair travellers and virtual tourists out there, they even do mail order! here is a selection of prices - these include DHL delivery to Belgium: more information on the website below for other arrangements:
Mini-box G 5.50€
Box, 300 G 12.90€
Box, 500 G 21.50€
Box, 750 G 32.25€
Box, 1 KG 43€

Address: 6 Place du Grand Sablon

Directions: Walking either down or up the Place du Grand Sablon, Wittamer's shocking pink shopfront cannot be missed. Please note they also have a tearoom which I deal with under restaurants

Theme: Food and Drink

Pierre Marcolini: Chocolate # 2 - all chocolate colours Chocolates Review

When Pierre Marcolini decided to open his flagship chocolate shop right across the road from the ultimate chocolate artist, Wittamer, it was generally felt to have been a very bold decision. However time has shown that there is space and custom for 2 fine chocolatiers on the Sablon.

Pierre Marcolini specialises in elegant creations with high cocoa content. He is a world champion patissier.

When his shop first opened in the Sabon, there was a fountain of chocolate (I couldn't even get through the door because the smell made me feel unwell). It's no longer there, but while it was people could help themselves with the aid of spoons!

The website is a complete tribute to the cocolatier's trade.

What to buy: Vakes, pralines and other chocolate products. Taste, quality and elegance are the trademarks, as much with the packaging as with the products themselves.

Easter eggs to die for if you happen to be in town aat that time. Othewise, beautifully presented selections of chocolates.

What to pay: More expensive than other chocolatiers in brussels... up to €45 for 1kg.

Address: Place du Grand Sablon, 39

Directions: Other branches in Brussels
Avenue Louise, 75M - Avenue de Hinnisdael, 14 - Chaussée de Waterloo, 1302

Phone: + 32 2 514 12 06

Theme: Food and Drink

Rambagh: Veritable emporium of things asian and oriental Antiques & Flea Markets Review

In the mid 90s, Bussels observers could see that the Marolles was passing through a period of quiet contemplation of a new and vibrant future. As pupas sit there waiting for the moment to emerge as butterflies, many hoardings covered old warehouses unchanging except for the fly posters that covered the "no fly posting" signs.

One weekend with no fanfare whatsoever, a true butterfly emerged. Brussels had never seen anything like it. Rambagh, like its sanitary neighbour, Baden Baden, stood more like a museum than a shop.

The first surprise was the size - it its on two floors with the dimensions of a warehouse. Then the decor: imaginative lighting, industrial bare wall style, sturdy metal staricases combine to give you the sense that the owners of this shop KNEW from the outset that they would be successful. There was nothing that suggested a stealthy approach.

On closer investigation you see that the shop is organised thematically: upstairs, a Japanese area, downstairs, a fabrics corner, enormous Indian, Indonesian and Malaysian furniture, out the back and up the stairs and area devoted to spiritual objets d'art, and in the small courtyard, a wide range of fountains and garden furniture.

Rambagh makes much of the care that is taken in selecting and restoring items.

What to buy: You name it: everything from huge wooden swings, ancient doors and tables that can seat 20 people, all the way down to cushion covers, teas and books.

I do have reservations about stripping countries of their national treasures, and if I have a reservation about this shop it is that I am not entirely sure how they source their unrestored items. There is plenty of information about the restoration of ruined items which is done at source using local craftspeople.

What to pay: How long is a piece of string??? Rambag's prices are comparable to similar shops, but the choice here is much more extensive.

Address: rue Haute 64-70

Directions: Sablon end of the rue haute on the right hand side - you can't miss it!

Phone: 02 514 58 27

Theme: Home Furnishing

Website: http://www.rambagh.be/home.htm

Antiques & Flea Markets: Baden Baden: The spiritual home of ablutions Antiques & Flea Markets Review

I was a bit stumped when I had to select a "type" for this shop. Is it antique? Yes, undoubtedly. Is it bath and beauty? Bath certainly.. beauty being in the eye of the beholder. Is it home furninshing? Why of course, no home should be without one.

Yes Baden Baden is all this... and oh, so much more. This shop has been around as long as I've known the Marolles. In it you enter the most incredible voyage of discovery, all centering around the smallest room... but heavens, to plumb in some of what it offers for sale, I'd need to invest almost the entire floor space of my flat. The only aspect of the bathroom that a specialised museum coul ofer in addition to what you can find in Baden Baden, would probably be a Roman communal latrine!

Where on earth they have found their stock is a complete mystery. Over the years I've seen the perfect bathroom for the most demanding lounge lizard, enormous structures of chrome-covered pipes that at first look made me wonder just what kind of torture it might offer and ultimately tasteless but fantastic bathroom suites hewn entirely from marble.

Everything in this shop is restored to former glory and wonderfully presented. A museum could not do a better job!

What to buy: Noy only baths, showers and toilets, but also everything else: taps, plugs, soap-dishes, cabinets... you name it.

In recent years they've also been doing a new line in contemporary kitchens, but I find that much less interesting that its main line.

What to pay: Nothing, but nothing in this shop is cheap: I've found price tags in the past that reminded me of flat's I'd intended to buy in Edinburgh! But you don't come in here to buy. You come in here to be amazed.

Directions: In the Marolles rue Haute - next to Rambagh. It's at the Sablon end of the rue Haute

Theme: Home Furnishing