Maison Laduree – Upper East Side

The first time I tried Laduree was in Paris almost 3 years ago. It did not hit me as mind-blowing, or worth standing in line for 2-3 hours in the cold…

So I was skeptical when I decided to come to the recently open New York City location of Laduree. The line has gotten much better, it was only an hour wait for me 😯

After trying 9 out of their 13 flavors available, I decided this is head and shoulders above all the other macarons I’ve tried so far, and it was worth the hour long wait! 😀

Cassis – a classic flavor and my absolute favorite, sweet and tangy perfectly balanced

Coffee – sounds simple, but the flavor has so much more depth… so yummy 😛

Orange Blossom – floral and orangy, my next favorite I would say

Salty Caramel – I do not like caramel, and most salty caramel stuff just fail so miserably that people should really stop trying to fuss with this flavor. But this… this was delicious!! 😆

Rose – I always want to try and love this flavor whenever I see it, and for the 50th time, it’s too floral for me.

Cinnamon and Raison – Too sweet, too cinnamony, the cinnamon was so strong that I couldn’t taste anything else.

Raspberry – This was the ONLY flavor I remembered from my first experience with Laduree in Paris. And as it rarely happens, it was as good as I remembered.

Pistachio – this was actually my first time trying anything Pistachio flavored, never tried the ice cream and what not, I guess macaron would be a safe place to start. Nutty… mild… pretty yummy. 🙂

Lemon – another pleasant surprise. It was actually sour and lemony, but somehow balanced out by the sweetness

Alouette – Upper West Side

We came here for our anniversary dinner. The restaurant is not very fancy, small and cozy, but the service was not bad.

First we started with appetizers:

Escargot In Garlic shallot and white wine sauce – I’ve never has escargot in a creamy sauce. It tasted better than it looked. The disappointing part was that the dish was not burning hot, which I was expecting from all escargot.

Onion Soup Gratinee – This was really yummy, smelly cheese and all…. 😉

For entree, I ordered the scallops and hubbie ordered the duck. They were both very tasty.

Diver Sea Scallops Pan Seared with spinach, purple potato and saffron sauce – The portion didn’t look that big, but it was very filling. Most important of all, it was very delicious. The purple potatio was kind of different, I can’t really describe what the difference is, but it did not taste like regular potato.

 

Free Range Duck Breast and sausage vichy carrots, potato cake and orange sauce – I don’t usually like duck breast, but this was cooked very nicely. The sauce made it not too heavy.

I can never end a nice dinner without dessert. We were both pretty full, so we decided to split one.

Mixed Fresh Berries Napoleon – I heard puff pastry :lol:… and then I was disapointed to see that it was not real puff pastry. However, the more I ate, the more I liked it. It was light and refreshing, the fruits were the only thing that was sweet, so it almost felt healthy.

Cuzin’s Duzin – Brooklyn

I stumbled upon these delicious donuts in Mad. Sq. Eats. The modest tent looks nothing glamorous, but 6 freshly fried donuts for 2 bucks, why not?!

After the first bite, I said holy sxxx this is good! And we went back for another 6 immediately. Yes, it is just fried dough with powdered sugar, but they are just perfectly fried and sinfully good!! I might have to make a trip to Brooklyn to get them. 😛

La Maison Du Macarons – Chelsea

It’s just a lovely sight to see those colorful little things in the window. I mean, how can you resist them?! 😛

I really had to try a wide variety of flavors before I can decide whether the macarons were good or not. Afterall, it would not be fair to them to just try a one and write them off. So here are the 10 flavors I tried (from left to right in each picture):

Caramelized Pear / Walnut – This is actually a non-fruity one even though it has a fruit in the name. I realized that I like all the fruity ones, and hubby likes all the non-fruity ones. So not one that I would pick again.

Nougat Lavender – Floral with some crunch in it, this is my second favorite.

Praline – Another non-fruity, very nutty one. Tastes good, but again, not my choice.

Cassis – A very classic macaron flavor, sweet and tart at the same time, I like it. 🙂

Rose and Lychee Liquor – This sounded like something I would love, but I was a bit disappointed. Too flowery and fruity, even for me.

Cappuccino – Nothing special coffee taste.

Apricot Champagne – I was really excited to try this. It’s another name that sounded like something I’d love, but this was very disappointing. The champagne taste was a bit too strong, and completely masked the apricot taste. I like alcohol, but when it overpowers my dessert.

Apple Cider – This is my absolute favorite, I just hope that they will continue to have this flavor after the fall. The filling has this tart apple cider taste, it’s like really good apply sauce, with the crunch and chewy around it.

Pumpkin – I could barely taste the pumpkin, the flavor was somewhat generic.

Caramel Fleur De Sel – Salty caramel has proven to be an interesting dessert. It was exactly what I expected, and tasted better than I thought. Unfortunately I’m just not a caramel nor a salty dessert fan.

Overall, the maracons are great! They are fresh, with a great balance between chewy and crunchy. There are tons of variety that it would be hard to not find a flavor to like. The only cons, there is waaaaaay too much filling. I find myself squeezing the maracon and wiping off the excess filling. 🙄