When you hear someone talking about chocolate you can't help but wonder what is the best chocolate you have ever had. For me it is a toss up between Iceland chocolate and Belgium chocolate. Though I think Belgium by far creates the best tasting milk chocolate with awesome presentation but Iceland has created in my own opinion the most out of this world best tasting dark chocolate. How I discovered this was a few years ago while traveling through Iceland I picked up a few bars for my personal enjoyment. After that trip while at home I had my first taste of Iceland dark chocolate and this day I still say they make the best dark chocolate anywhere. Years later when passing through Iceland once again I just could not help but buy every dark chocolate bar the corner gas station had to tied me over till the next time I was lucky enough to pass through for more. To be exact I bought 32 dark chocolate bars that day and I remember the lady looking at me like I was crazy to buy so many at one time, in fact all they had in stock that day.

Just recently I was traveling through Belgium for a few days and while I was there I was determined to find the best chocolate Belgium could offer. I must have walked 20+ miles that day in search of what I think is the best all around chocolate in Belgium. Before I left the hotel I made sure to ask the hotel staff where they thought I could get the best tasting chocolate in Belgium. I was then told about Mary's Chocolate shop, one of the most famous chocolate shops in all of Belgium. It is famous because the Queen of England gets all of her chocolate shipped in from their factory. President Busch was framed on their wall buying chocolates on one of his visits to the country a few years ago. I remember the lady in the shop telling me that many people from all around the world buy their chocolate from them. So I thought why not buy a 2 Euro chocolate bar and see for myself if it was as good as everyone must think to go to so much trouble to get it. Well I remember closing the door to the shop behind me and getting to the sidewalk away from bypassers and opening my very first chocolate bar from Mary's and let me tell you it really was wonderful. So wonderful that I marched back in there and bought 5 more bars. No wonder the Queen of England loves it so much that she serves it to all of her special guests. The texture was so creamy and I remember tasting dark and milk chocolate mixed, well at least that is what it tasted like to me. Anyway, Mary's so far had the best tasting chocolate in Belgium, but there were a few more places to go before I would make my final decision.

The next place I was told to be sure and find because they were known for delicate complex chocolates was Marcolini's. It did take me a long time to find the shop, but once I spotted it I knew that this had to be it. I remember walking up to the window and staring in awe to all the fancy shapes and colors of the chocolates displayed in their windows. Sure they certainly had the presentation down, but was this going to be the winner in my search for the best tasting chocolate in Belgium. The proof would be in the taste, I picked out a piece of grenache chocolate and tasted it right away. Though they were fancy and expensive, I clearly did not think they had the best tasting chocolate in all of Belgium. My journey will continue to the next location which was in the square in Brussels. But while I was searching and asking people where Marcolini's was I was told by a local to stop by this bakery near Marcolini's to have a glass of awesome Belgium hot chocolate. Now that certainly was a good suggestion and boy did it give me the much needed energy to walk to the next chocolate shop called Leonidas.

Leonidas is located in a tourist area in Brussels Square were it seemed like thousands of people travel through daily. I walked in the shop to taste the chocolate so that I could put to an end my quest to find the best chocolate in all of Belgium. It was no surprise to me, Mary's Chocolate stood out to me as the best tasting chocolate in all of Belgium. Iceland still remains to be beat for the best tasting dark chocolate in all the world, at least in my opinion.