Writing about Paris Laduree a little bit late behind schedule, but finally found time when I’m on holiday’s overseas. The pastry desserts here look amazing, and the range on offer was exceptional. Although occasionally, there are some people who rain down on your parade and claim that Laduree is not the best in Paris and there are lesser known but better shops out there (we’ve all heard that one before) - I personally thought the Parisian macarons here had the best texture apart from another shop, and even the famed Ispahan held its own against the Pierre Herme version! Not perfect - but when it comes to pastries, it is often easier to criticize the shop, than making and baking these yourself daily to such high standards!! I respect pastry chefs a lot, because the attention to the finest details requires skills, creativity and attention span and unfortunately the customers don’t often realise this from the end result, unless they look close enough. Eg. The fact that all macarons in Laduree are of the same size and height and the perfect ‘footing’ ratio. Try emulating that at home, or ask other shops to do the same. DON’T THINK SO!
The Queue is long..
Fairly decent attractive Chocolates and Biscuits..
Pastries Section -
If I was living in Paris I’ll get to try all of these, but I had a big dinner planned today, so only got to try a few things here …
Cakes -
Of all flavours and recipes. An amazing feat.
Macarons - 1,60€ per piece
18 Flavours available each day. Much more than the flavours available in the previous HK Laduree crossover. And All uniformly sized..
Sitting down at the Tea Room -
There are many savoury and cooked items here, only available for sitting down. I just wanted a good tea so opted to sit and pay more for my desserts.
The Earl Grey Fleurs - 6,30€
Non smoked China Tea is scattered with white tips, decorated with Helianthus flowers and Calabrian Bergamot oil. A fairly refined rather than outright aromatic tea.
Croissant a l’Ancienne – 2,20€
From the Viennoiseries section, this Croissant was slightly disappointing. The layers of pastry was good but it was too hollow inside, and there wasn’t that much buttery taste.
~ 7/10
The Big Ispahan -
Normal Ispahan - 8.90€
My Kouign Amann order never arrived (they didn’t make it and never told me, until I asked!). I’m lucky my Ispahan did. I’ve had this before a few times years ago but never studied it in details nor compared it directly to the other versions. With a macaron sandwich which is piped in ‘circular fashion’, this had a stronger and bitey lychee puree than most, and the rose buttercream was very fragrant. The macaron shell is not as good as the normal styled one since it became a little too sticky as it is. In this aspect the Pierre Herme or even its normally piped Macarons is better. ~ 9/10
Raspberry and Salted Caramel Macaron -
Became a bit squashed as Take-Aways, but still very good. A whole heap better than the HK Laduree x Joyce Crossover ones, which were a bit stale and soft compared to these fresher batches. ~ 9/10
Canele – 2,40€
I expected a lot from these, and they nearly delivered. The FLAVOUR was spot-on. With a correct mixture of slightly burnt caramelisation on the crust, a rum and vanilla infused batter internal taste, and just a trace of honey somewhere lying in there. It is exactly as I remember it to taste like (much like most desserts I ate in Europe), but somehow other countries emulating the almighty Canele can’t get it so spot on! The only downside is that this was slightly too moist inside, may be it was just batch inconsistency. At least the recipe tasted right! ~ 8.5/10
Very Impressive shop -
It is a bit touristy, but may be it became so Iconic in the first place,
because it really is that impressive!
Price: $20,00€ per person
Food: ♕♕♕♕♕
Address: 75 av. des Champs-Elysées, 8e, Paris, France
Metro Station - George V
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