2nd Ladurée to visit! First NYC, now Philippines! I should go visit LA's location. Absolutely gorgeous inside. I was thrilled to even find this place! It's inside a tall building housing Balenciaga, two other couture retailers, a small art gallery, and event space with escalators ... anywho, when inside Rockwell's Uptown Mall, go left toward Zara on the first floor and exit the mall. Walk across the street into an expensive looking tall building and ask the guard for directions. It's a bit confusing but plan ahead while in AC.
I was skipping like a kid in front of a candy store. I suppose the pastel macaron shells will have to do. Of course we took photos in front of the glass entrance. The employees probably had a good laugh at us tourists. This is the most posh Ladurée location I've ever been to, high decorated ceiling with macarons all around, shades of pink, blue, lavender, and yellow permeating the space. They even sell perfume, or at least the bottles here! Filipinos definitely love to smell good, I noticed perfume at H&M as well. I was thinking to get a 3 macaron stack keychain but figured I'd get one in Paris one day. They go for about ~$35 but the rhinestone studded Eiffel Tower one I had my eye on was $100! Eh, that's ok. I'll stick to the baked goods.
My mom & sis were skeptical prior to visiting, wondering if they'd be as good as NYC's. I had my doubts, but one bite into that chocolate Earl Grey and I knew it was exactly the same. Delicate shell making way for a chewy ganache center. Ahhh perfection in a tiny bite. TBH who couldn't gobble these up in 2-3 bites? At PHP 150 ($3) a piece, or $4 if it's in a fancy box, we've got to savor the moment and take at least 4 bites.
12 flavors available each day. I planned to buy a 6 piece Arabesque box ($24, cute oblong box with gold leaf design, almost looks like an eyeglass case) but got the 8 piece ornament box instead. My sis & cousin got the Arabesque. I was able to try pistachio, brown cheese, chocolate Earl Grey, vanilla, coffee, raspberry rice pudding, chocolate, and salted caramel. Brown cheese was definitely a stand out. I couldn't really place the raspberry rice pudding, just happy it was ganache and not jelly. Coffee wasn't as strong as I remember.
Employees were nice, polite, and bagged up our purchases separately in those cute green paper bags. They'll also accommodate requests for wax paper bagged individual macarons. Boxes themselves cost ~$4-6. Would I come back? It's Ladurée! Can't wait to visit more locations. read more