Ladurée vs. Pierre Hermé Paris Macaron Face-Off

PARIS FOOD TRIP

Ever since French macarons became as common as pan de sal (every corner bake shop has it!), it has been so easy to get your hands on this French pastry. I've tried some passable ones, some hard as sugar rocks, and some really good ones like TWG's tea infused ones.

A few years back, around the time when I lived in Paris, Ladurée was the gold standard of macarons, probably because there weren't many places offering it, so every time I had guests, tea time at Ladurée was a must. I remember trying Pierre Hermé then too, but since Ladurée was just 20 minutes away on foot from my flat, and they really had great ambiance, it was the store I kept coming back to. Even if they have snotty waiters! I distinctly remember a time when we barely got any attention because we just ordered macarons and coffee or tea and no one wanted to give us our bill, I got impatient and started waving around a 500euro bill and immediately a waiter came with our l'addition or bill (probably to stop me from making a scandal! hahaha).

It actually came as a surprise to me when Sofia and I were in Paris last year and we ordered a box of Ladurée macarons, and I found it to be dry. In fact, at first I thought it was just the flavor we tried, but over-all, I wasn't really impressed. I've already had better. You can read about that weekend here.

This time around, I wanted to try Pierre Hermé because he's also famous for his macarons. I thought I wouldn't have the chance to go because I had no more energy to walk to Saint Germain but as I was walking around Galleries Lafayette I stumbled on the Pierre Hermé counter so I immediately bought one to snack on.

The  Pierre Hermé counter is in front of Prada.

They have gift boxes.

And the most interesting flavors like Green Tea and Black Sesame,
Chocolate and Honey, etc.

Sucker for fruity flavors that I am, I went for the Passion Fruit and
Red Berries macaron.

In Paris, it is totally ok to buy just one.
It comes nicely packaged, and they'll even give you a card too.

As soon as I stepped out, I ate my macaron.
Look at the thick filling oozing out.

It was super duper yummy! Best I've had in quite a while.
Crisp shell, yet soft and melt in your mouth inside
with red berries in the middle of the generous filling.

Not wanting to be biased, I was totally willing to give Ladurée a chance in this face-off.

They have branches on Champs Elysees and Rue Royale.

They also have nice store windows.

A lot of merchandise.

Cute macaron pastries.

and long Take Out Lines.

But their flavors are still the same, more ordinary than interesting.

Really wanting to give them a fair chance,
I ordered the most interesting, the Marie Antoinette tea-infused macaron,
which includes Rose Petals, Citrus Fruits and honey.

Just one bite will show you that this macaron is more
dry, and the filling is less generous.
Taste-wise, it doesn't overwhelm enough to make up
for it's negative points.

So clearly, there is only one winner in my Paris Macaron Face-off:

Flavors Available: PH

Consistency of the Meringue and the Filling: PH

Over-all Taste: PH

PH: 3

LD: 0

You don't have to take my word for it. The fun is in trying both and seeing or tasting for yourself. just saying.

Ladurée

16 Rue Royale 

Paris

Pierre Hermé

Galeries Lafayette

40 Boulevard Haussmann

Paris