I've been having Laduree envy ever since my monthly (lately weekly) fine dining partner A spent 3 days in Paris and all 3 days were spent in Ladurée. Macarons, fruits and champagne for breakfast, macarons and sandwiches for lunch, panfried salmon and macarons for dinner, needless to say she made her experience sound so magical that ever since I've been frantically following the opening of Ladurée.
It was only until two days ago where they finally opened one up here in the land down under. We now have our own piece of Paris here, literally.
They fly the macarons in daily from France and I hear the flavours just sell out by 12pm. 2 hours? Please, more like a 15 minute wait. Word of warning, if you want to avoid queues, try to be there around 9-11 am. 
At first glance, the shop appears to be like any other macaron shop jazzed up to fit into pitt street mall. The macarons at the front often looked inconsistent and appear battered and bruised from their 15 thousand kilometre journey.
There's an area at the back for a sit down slow high tea along with the shop front that offers jams, teas, handbags, honey, candles and of course macarons. Parisian luxury and excessiveness at our door front.
The menu reveals a more innovative yet at the same time more conservative (as opposed to zumbo's) selection of flavours.
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| Liquorice |
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| Lime Marshmellow |
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| Vanilla |
Holy *insert expletive*... Intially, they appear the same to the other macarons in other stores but it's not until you eat then that it becomes apparent that they are so incredibly different. It's a coarser grind of almond meal than normally used to that really gives it a nicer texture. They were perfectly risen with feet and the usual crispy delicate shell. Overpowering sweetness is often a concern with macarons but not this one; there's just enough sweetness to just lift the true flavours. The flavours themselves are exciting and yet conservative at the same time, there's just an unmatched lightness about them that makes you appreciate it so much more. The fillings are smooth, thick and wet which is just as they should be. The lightness really just begs you to eat more. Intentional? I think so. At $3.20, it is probably the most pricey Sydney has experienced so it's best you enjoy the fleeting moments of mind numbing perfection slowly. Very very slowly. Which wasn't what I did for the first macaron.
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| Jams |
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| Tea |
There have been many debates on macarons over time. Aged eggwhites? How do you pronounce it? Where are the best macarons? 1 O or 2 Os? Well I can safetly say, without a doubt, the best macarons are from Ladurée if I haven't made that obvious enough already.
The servers, thick with french accents, are real masters in gift making. They have a real ball just helping you pick out flavours. "Is it a girl? Maybe a purple just to make it pretty. How about a yellow one too?", she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye and a smile starting to form. Sure...? The realisation that I've just burnt through 18 dollars in 5 minutes of gluttony doesn't even hit me until I got back home. That good. One bite will set your heart a flutter and you'll never look back. J'adore le Macaron. C'est magnifique.
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2 comments:
It's true that their flavours aren't as adventurous as Zumbo's, but they're definitely more refined! Glad to see they're holding up to the high standards of their Parisian macarons :)
@ excusemewaiter More refined Ladurées are. Ahhh but it just makes me want to go visit the one in Paris all the more!
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