Laduree

'If I am not going to Paris, Paris is coming to me' 

I stubbornly said at one stage this year and yes, there is a little piece of Paris down in Sydney, at Westfield Pitt St as evidenced by these photos!!

Laduree at 11:30 on a Saturday morning

I We chose to sit in behind the long cues outside mulberry - where I can stare at the yummy looking leather - and order us some refreshingly expensive good tea =D

Pastel green menu, pastel pink tea cups served by sleek looking waiters with heavy french accents (not pictured).

Tea #1 Josephine:-
A Chinese black tea wrapped in various citrus fruits of mandarin orange, grapefruit, orange and lemon, delicately enhanced by a ring of jasmine flowers. A fine blending very elegant. A tea to enjoy throughout the day

I am not a big fruity tea person because I think of it being super deceptive! This is what normally happens: as soon as you start pouring this tea, the fruity citrus-y aroma hits your senses and it send your salivary glands into over drive as you prepare yourself for a tangy sweet drink. You pick up the cup and take a deep breath to inhale this mouth watering scent and you think - YUM. You take a sip and you taste...........

nothing 

I know, it is a tea that is 'wrapped in various citrus flavours' and the aroma is indeed elegant, however I'll just feel let down and disappointed....

Not the case with:

Tea #2 Marie Antoinette:-
An dulcet marriage of Chinese black tea combined with rose petals, citrus fruit and honey. An pastoral walk at the « Petit Trianon ». An delicious afternoon tea for a sweet and romantic pause. All the spirit of Ladurée.

Tell me I am boring, but this is is very similar to one of my favourit teas the lady grey. Don't ask me how it is different, but it is and I like it!

Macaroon flavours available

Macarons flown all the way from France selling at $3.20 sounds like a bargain but because we sat in, they are a whooping $4 each!! and yes we tried all the available flavours - apart from licorice of course like so....

Clockwise from top left: vanilla, raspberry, blackcurrant violet, almond marshmellow

Nice smooth vanilla, sweet raspberry, liked the tangy blackcurrant filling which balanced out the sweetness of the shell and almond marshmellow.... which left an almond essence taste in my mouth.

Clockwise from top left: Lemon lime marshmellow, coffee, Violet marshmellow and pistachio

On to my second marshmellow macaron which I am still undecided about... and at that stage I was still undecided about it!! Liked the coffee flavours: strong, indulgent, YUM! Liked flavours of the violet macaron, however I realised why I did not like the marshmellow macarons 

1. they are too chewy 

2. do not really like marshmellows in the first place and 

3. as soon as you attempt to bite into them the shell completely breaks apart!

 Clockwise from top left: mystery macaron, chocolate, salted caramel, lemon

We were really puzzled at the mystery macaron that did not appear on our menu until we went around to the front of the counter and went ohhh, there is a bigger menu! It was Orange blossom not that it mattered, my favorites were still the classic salted caramel, coffee and chocolate. 

The macarons themselves were not as sweet which was great and flavours were really smooth and not over powering (like some other more adventurous/avant-garde macaron makers)

With the introduction of carbon tax, rising fuel costs and more public awareness of 'food mileage' - these are beyond being a luxury! Yes these are the coveted macarons from one of the best of the best macaron makers in Paris, but I can't help to think about all the effort it took to bring them down here! 

Oh well regardless, very soon I will be packing some of these babies up and flying them - express courier style on top of the 17,000km journey from Paris - across the country to my extremely pregnant friend in Perth, or should I say another 3300km for these precious macarons!!