Welcome to Sydney, my dear Ladurée!

The first Ladurée shop in Australia is finally opened!

The macarons at Ladurée is definitely one of the highlights during my trip to Paris last year. Those beautiful, round macarons, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, are so heavenly. Taking a bite into each will bring out such intense flavours and exhilaration. The macarons at Ladurée I had in Paris – the salted caramel, pistachio, rose, and green apple – are out of this world and had me hooked to macarons ever since.

Ladurée is founded in Paris 150 years ago. It rose to fame in 1930 when they invented the double-decker macaron. In 1993 the Groupe Holder (who also own PAUL bakery chain) took over Ladurée and started setting up pastry shops around France. In 2005 they went international, starting with England, then Monaco, Switzerland, Japan, Italy…………….and the list goes on till just a week ago, Sydney – Ladurée’s first shop in Australia!!! Oh yes we are blessed!!!

On the first weekend after their opening I decided to go and play the line game – waiting in a queue for an hour is not something I would normally do, but an exception is made for these delicate little things that travelled half way around the globe to get here. They have a queue for takeaways and a queue for dine-ins. The dine-in area is quite small and the only food they serve at the moment is their macaron. I am undecided about having afternoon tea in the middle of a mall (even if it’s a classy one like Westfield Sydney) where people are standing by so closely and watching you eat, so I opted for the takeaway queue which went all the way around the shop.

Staff busy serving an excited crowd

What an elegant macaron tower :)

How adorable are  Ladurée's packaging!

Love the attention to details at Ladurée

Ladurée Sydney's current menu board

When it finally came to my turn to order, I already had plenty of time to think about what I would get. Unfortunately they ran out of pistachio ones (note to self: must come earlier next time). A few flavours have not yet made their way into Sydney – words have it they are held by customs – which is exactly what I would do if I am them :P

I ended up getting orange blossom, lemon lime marshmallow, salted caramel, blackcurrant violet, vanilla, strawberry poppy, coffee, almond marshmallow. These macarons are $3.20 each for takeaway and $4 each to dine in.

  

L Loves... Orange blossom, lemon lime marshmallow, salted caramel, blackcurrant violet, vanilla, strawberry poppy, coffee, almond marshmallow (from left to right)

Welcome to Sydney, French beauties from Switzerland :)

After testing out all the different flavour, my favourite is still the salted caramel – the perfect blend of slight saltiness and sweet chewiness. Nothing else stood out as much as the ones I had in Paris and I’m not a big fan of the marshmallow fillings. I’m not sure if it is because they had lost some of the delicate flavours while they are frozen and shipped as I remembered them to be so “WOW” in Paris. Don’t get me wrong, they are still exquisite and are amongst the best in Sydney, but I would probably wait till the craze (and the crowd) dies down a bit before I go back again. Till then, there are other fantastic macarons around that are made locally in Sydney, for example Cafe Cre Asion and Adriano Zumbo!

Ladurée, Sydney

Level 3, Westfield Sydney

Corner Pitt and Market Streets

Ph: (02) 9231 0491

Westfield Open Hours

Mon to Wed 9.30 am-6.30 pm

Thu 9.30am-9pm

Fri & Sat 9.30am-6.30pm

Sun 10am-6pm

Visited September 2012

Friendly advice: These macarons are best kept in the lower level of your fridge and lasts for three days. They also sell tea, jam and candles in lovely gift packs - perfect gift for sweet lovers and for indulgence at home.