Ladurée (Los Angeles, CA) – I enjoy French macarons. They’re cute, they’re pretty, they have a burst of flavor in a small bite. So, I had to go to the universally heralded Ladurée to see if the macarons were really worth the hype.
Ladurée is located in the Grove, and I arrived on a Monday morning just as the shops were opening. We were planning to leave in a few hours to head back up to the Bay, so this was the perfect chance to grab some morning pastries and a coffee. It was actually really nice coming on a weekday morning – it wasn’t crowded at all!
Though they’re known for their macarons, Ladurée is essentially a patisserie. They have a bunch of assorted pastries to purchase as well. I was tempted to buy one of these, but It felt so heavy to eat in the morning, considering I came in to get my cookies.
They even make their own ice cream that share the same flavors as their macarons and giant macaron ice cream sandwiches! The ice creams are also available to order from the menu. When you go inside, this is primarily to purchase items from the shop, while a hostess outside with the garden seating will seat you to get served. Ladurée has breakfast and meals, but because it’s ridiculously pricey for things I could buy cheaper (that taste just as good), we settled on the bare minimum.
Since we were planning to get Shake Shack afterwards (lol), we kept it light. I ordered a cafe au lait since I generally drink lattes when I go to any coffee shop. The coffee was actually really good, and the milk was so thick and frothy, I loved it. A lot of people order tea or do the tea menu option, but I needed something to perk me up. Ladurée has a bunch of tea options and it comes in an elegant silver kettle.
We also ordered a few small morning pastries, such as a chocolate croissant and a slice of princess pound cake. They were both light and fluffy. I’m glad we didn’t order much beyond that because we needed to make room for burgers!
Back to the macarons. Single cookies are available for $2.80 each or you can buy a boxed set of assorted flavors. They have so many box options (even ones that say Jimmy Choo) that are regular boxes to fun ones with compartments. I opted for a set of 6 since macarons are always pricey.
From diagonal top to bottom: Rose, Lime, Black currant, Iced Mint, Pistachio, and Fleur de Sel. I will say that the person assisting me wasn’t very polite and wasn’t listening carefully since I never asked for a Rose macaron. I hate rose flavored things, actually. I didn’t realize until I had left so it was too late to go back. I would hope that they are more detail oriented, especially since so many tourists come in for these and are spending a lot of money on it.
The macarons were good – but not the best I’ve ever had. I enjoyed the flavors that they had, but personally, I would stick to Cocola Bakery in the South Bay and SF or Chantal Guillion in SF and Palo Alto. They offer the same quality and flavors. I would even argue that perhaps Chantal is a little better because they take great care in their decorating and are always experimenting with different flavors each season.
Overall, my visit to Ladurée was cool and I’m glad I did it. I don’t know if it’s really worth all the trouble of going there, however, unless you want to do it for the ‘gram.
bay-food.com 