Ladurée, Tokyo

Hellooooo Tokyoooo!!

Leaving behind the Land of Lee Minho, we arrive in the Land of the Rising Sun!

Off we go to Ginza, the shopping street with every brand under the sun.

The first Japanese store we hit was Mitsukoshi, and we stumbled upon the Ladurée Cafe! I was going to save our macaron-quota for Pierre Herme, but Thad commented that since we always rave about PH, it’s only fair to try the Parisien competitor to make our comments valid!

Luckily for us, we were 10 minutes ahead of the tea-time “tai-tai” crowd and avoided having to wait too long for a table.

Snuck a photo of the opulent room before the manager on the right came towards me to signal “no photography”!

Hoity Toity Tea Time! Love the pastel dishware!

Pistachio Eclair (¥720)

Macarons! We can never resist ordering when we see it on the menu. (4 for ¥1,200)

I think the flavours were Rose, some berry-thingy, Pistachio and Thyme? Unfortunately, nothing too memorable. Too sweet, filling-to-shell ratio was disappointing, flavors were ho-hum. PH competitor? Not even close!

Pierre Hermé remains the King of Macarons. Yay!

Ah, but this! THIS, is their crowning glory. The Ispahan. (¥980)

First created by PH, many patisseries followed suit and Ladurée’s version is quite divine. Thad looooved it. The giant macaron shells, the sweetness of the rose and lychee with the tangyness of the raspberry. LOVE.

Devouring his half of the Ispahan.

In terms of food, Ladurée is O-K. Perhaps we didn’t get to try the better pastries. Ladurée always stood out based on its Parisien-prettiness packaging. Everything is SO pretty – furniture, dining ware, displays, napkins and even your bill (comes in a pretty Ladurée-embossed sleeve)!

But I’d take a PH macaron in a brown paper bag over it any day. Unless you’re talking about the Ispahan of course. Heh.