Ladurée

In a word– my love for macarons is just too strong! These macarons are just so yummy.
French standards are very noticeable.
The longer version –while I was browsing for a cupcake shop that was nowhere to be found, I stumbled upon the fact that there’s a Ladurée shop in HK, the surprise was very pleasant as I barely ate here– so there was a lot of cash to spend on these babies!
So I picked up a friend and took him with me– the shop is inside The Landmark fancy fancy shopping center, on the third floor– very close to central station.
Got in and was welcomed by the lovely staff, we shared a box of 8 (5 for me! Nom nom) and then I had to go back for one more, because I just can’t get enough.
They were all amazing and exactly like They should be– little crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, slight trace of almond taste… but in two words? Cherry blossom.
So the ones I’ve tried were–
Marshmallow strawberry candy — a bit too sugary for me.
Black currant and raspberry — sweet and sour, very fruity.
Salted caramel — my friend gave me a bite, very bald taste of caramel
Lime and strawberry– tasty! Very fresh taste, a little sour
Cherry blossom — it was so good I had to go back to get another one.
Delicate flavor of cherry with a twist of rose water (or similar), spectacular.

I’ve always wanted to try macarons from Ladurée for the longest time and so I was ecstatic when I saw the popular French luxury bakery while shopping in Times Square HK. Although the shop was quite small, it was very beautiful! The walls were painted in a pretty pastel blue and had elegant gold accents throughout the place. They had a nice display of all their macarons, as well as a small section of cute accessories for sale. We purchased the Arabesque Box in Black which came with 8 macarons of our choice. Each flavour we chose was unique and tasted pretty good, but I wouldn’t say they were the best macarons I’ve ever tried.

Let me get this out of the way first. Macarons =|= macaroons. Ladurée makes and sells macarons. Macaroons are desiccated coconut cookie that doesn’t taste as good as the heaven that is a macaron.
Ladurée is my absolute favorite macaron shop in the world. I’ve had many around the world including Gérard Mulot, Pierre Herme, Bouchon, and even Vendome but Ladurée has much better consistency on all their macarons. Whether you’re in NYC, Miami, or even Hong Kong, the consistency is top notch.
The Landmark store is fairly easy to find. It’s next to the escalators going up to the 2^nd floor and you can spot its pastel colored cutesy shop as you are going up. Their macarons aren’t cheap, but its considerably a much better deal than Pierre Hermes where you must buy a box and they’re much more expensive.
Store associates are very helpful about the flavors and different available boxed sets. My favorite flavors are raspberry, vanilla, pineapple, and lemon. If you ever come by Hawaii and you’re from Hong Kong, get me a box. Me love you long time.

Please don’t hate me for saying this but macaroons are macaroons to me. Sure, these were really good and the flavor was true to the name (I think I got some type of berry flavor). The texture was not too chewy and a bit on the delicate side. Laduree is just cute all around so I can’t see anyone disliking this as a gift.

The best macaroons with the price to go with it. Same company as a famously trendy place in France. Tried many different flavors and two flavors stood out. The pepper flavor was different, but fun. Had that spice snap aftertaste that lingered for a bit. Second was a rose flavor. A settle yet fragrant taste. Service was very friendly with a smile.