After a visit to George's Greek restaurant in Long Beach, we sauntered over to DoLy's Delectables for a peek at their macarons that I just happened to know were there. I, like many others, am on a quest to find the "best" macaron. My search has taken me coast to coast, and I fear the search will be neverending.... but that's okay. I continue to tell myself they're "healthy." Gluten free, monosaturated fats (from ground almonds), smaller size...so less sugar. Is that all true? Maybe yes, maybe no, but the search goes on.
DoLy's is a cute little shop, which sells a variety of croissants, muffins, and macarons. While they had a large display of macarons, they didn't necessarily have much to choose from based upon all the other items they list on their website. I saw a couple of croissant-like items and some muffins, but that was pretty much the extent of what was available today. I believe they may even sell breakfast and lunch foods, too, but we didn't see any, nor were we focused on that, either. They have beverages, as well, and a nice area with a decent amount of tables to sit at if you want to eat right there. We came for the macarons, and macarons we saw. There must've been about 20 flavors available. I would have preferred to have each flavor labeled. Instead, scribbled on a little 3x5 piece of paper were the flavors they offered....... and when I say scribbled, I mean it.... plus the writing was microscopic and was written in different felt pen colors. I didn't want to go digging for my glasses, so I squinted only to find I couldn't read the list and had the girl read them to me. I still wish each flavor was identified. In the end, I didn't see/hear any unique flavors like those found in NYC, but they still had a solid assortment of standard flavors to choose from, such as (let's see how good my memory is).....
Rose
Lavender
Violet
Coffee
Cinnamon (well, okay, this was is relatively unique and haven't seen elsewhere)
Tiramisu (okay, so my memory sucks..... this one is kinda unique too)
Passionfruit
Coconut
Salted Caramel (MAJOR BOO-HOO.... they were OUT OF THIS today !!)
Blueberry
Chocolate
Strawberry
Raspberry
Vanilla
Lemon
Hazelnut
Green Tea
Of those, my husband and I split one each of Cinnamon, Tiramisu, Blueberry, Raspberry, Strawberry Vanilla, Hazelnut and Lemon. They were good, but they weren't my favorite by a longshot. I was intrigued by the texture. When I first bit into them, I thought they were going to be too hard and chewy, but then, they evolved into a nice, very slightly chewy, and even rather soft texture. I think overall, I'd still prefer something softer, more melt-in-your-mouth (yes, like 'Lette), but these weren't bad. As for the flavors, well, I didn't think they were strong on flavor. In fact, I had trouble telling sometimes what they were by taste, yet, because I knew what I had purchased, it was more an afterthought...... "this is the lemon...... oh yeah, NOW I taste it." Yet, it wasn't necessarily evident by taste alone. If that makes sense. I could tell right away which one the cinnamon was, but I wasn't all that impressed. Were it not for the faint sprinkling of cinnamon on top, I probably wouldn't have guessed. As for the other flavors we tasted, again, they were good, just not great.
I didn't get to taste the salted caramel, which most rave about, so I don't know if that's the one that would make me swoon. I'm undecided if I'd go back again when in the area (as infrequent as that is). We'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, I'm glad I went and tried their macaron offerings. Definitely decent, just not swooning over them. read more