Visiting Bruges without tasting their chocolate is like going to the Vatican and not visiting the cathedral.
I've heard Dumon chocolates were of great quality so we stopped for a closer look. At the door, a sign welcomes you: "Callebaut is a proud partner", so I presume this is the chocolate they use.
Located on a street corner, Dumon is a large shop with a high ceiling and a white ambiance. A bit commercial compared to Marcolini or Godiva but let's not judge by the appearance. Inside this space, a counter welcomes you with a wide selection of choices. They have the chocolate letters for €3.5 each or the square bars called Choc-O-Pure each mixed with an ingredient, bananas, hazelnuts, pecan, almonds, dried oranges and many more.
On the right side is the chocolate display, the praliné. You name it, they have it.
Now for the hot chocolate, it's special and different. A glass filled with hot milk is served with a chunk of chocolate of your choosing. Smarties, milk, negro 55, black 72, kaneel, ginger, rum, chili, vanilla, blanco and others. Drop the piece inside the hot milk and stir. This chocolate is a milky, way too milky and needs a lot of stirring to be enjoyable. Leave your cup for few minutes and the mix will separate. I believe they didn't taste Marcolini or Angelina's hot chocolates to know what a real hot chocolate is.
With that we ordered two chunks of dark chocolate with hazelnuts and another with rice crispies. They're fine but again not great, the hardness of the crunch, the richness and the after note that's almost nonexistent. Not to judge too quickly I picked he darkest they have, the 75%, for a test. An average chocolate, melting Callebaut into bars. I've had better and the last to date was Marcolini or even The Chocolate Line.
I don't understand all the articles I've read about chocolates in Bruges which name Dumon number one... Dumon is deceiving. I'll continue my tour, hoping to find a better one or else, back to Marcolini in Brussels.
