Kat's 9 Lives

After an interesting lunch at Eleven Madison Park in NYC, I decided to venture out into the area and pick up some delicious treats to take home. At first, my only goal was to get the best donuts around town. Since I am only in NYC for such a short time, I had to make sure the time was well spent and filled with yummy treats. There were a few places that looked really tasty but I ended up coming to La Maison Du Macaron. For some odd reason I was on a macaron high. Maybe I missed Paris too much?
From the outside it looked like a tiny store but there’s actually an area for patrons to sip on coffee and enjoy their fresh pastries or macarons. I felt that the staff there wasn’t very friendly and not very inviting. They had the attitude and vibe that says, “Just hurry up and order.” I was a little hesitant in taking photos openly, but at least I wasn’t met with any resistance there. Still, the overall vibe was not pleasant.
They had a nice selection of macarons. The colors were very vibrant and enticing. For their Fall Collection they offered some interesting flavors. I decided to try their Caramelized Pear Walnut, Nougat Lavendar, and Black Fig. To be honest, none of these were really any standouts for me.
Since I went after lunch, they ran out of the Caramel Fleur De Sel for the day so we didn’t get any of Ms. Lin’s favorite flavor. It must have been popular, so I will have to try them out next time. I asked if they had anything else that was like salted caramel, but they only had a lollipop with that flavor.
My favorite flavor was the Rose Lychee Liquor because of its subtle rose flavor intermixed with the aromatic fragrance of lychee. They have quite a few flavors mixed with alcohol and champagne in particular. Personally, I didn’t really enjoy the ones with champagne because they had a bitter after taste.
Beware of the Pistachio Fleur D’Oranger. It might look pretty with the dual color shell, but the flavor was just a bit off.
All in all the macarons here were a decent size and the shells had a nice chewy texture. My biggest qualm was that the filling was very buttery and almost a little too much. I know it is weird to hear me complain about something being too buttery but I felt like the butter flavor overtook every bite. Not all macarons were overpowering. I think the more fruity flavored macarons were the safer ones. The prices felt a little steep, but I think it is just NYC for you. A dozen macarons were $30. I went to 3 places for macarons on this short trip and they were ranked number 2, but not that much better than number 3. So who was number 1? Well, you will just have to stay tuned for updates about my NYC trip. O=)
La Maison Du Macaron
132 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10011
(212) 243-2757