Macaron has always been some sort of fancy, classy, upscale sweets in my mind. Since its popularity exploded several years ago, it has become more familiar, with much easier access. It also brought great amount of colors and flavors, some creative, some unusual. Everyone has their own opinion on which place has the best macaron store in NYC, but from the list I found, which talked about top 10 or so specific macarons in NYC, instead of rating a store as a whole. In this list, a Fig Macaron from Macaron Parlour was among the top 10, so it got me curious. But then again, why get just one? So, we got a box of 6 ($15) with our choices of yummy looking choices.
First up was Earl Grey. We love Earl Grey tea and Early Grey flavored anything. This was had milk Chocolate Ganache Infused with Earl Grey Tea. It had such wonderful Earl Grey flavor, and soft, creamy chocolate flavor. It was as good as I wanted it to be. It had a very strong neon blue color in the inside, which was striking.
Next was Hazelnut. It had this washed-out purple color, which was unusual for hazelnut flavor (to me). It came with Hazelnut Shell with Hazelnut & Semisweet Chocolate Ganache. This one had a nice amount of filling, and a very good hazelnut flavor throughout.
Then, there was Red Velvet. It had bright red color shell, and very white filling, creating pretty contrast of colors. It came with Chocolatey Red Velvet Shell and Cream Cheese Filling. It was flavorful, as others, I liked the taste of the cream cheese filling. It was sweet but subtle, went great with the shell.
Finally, we went for the much anticipated Fig. We heard that this is not some “fig-flavored” filling, but has actual figs in it. So, I was pretty excited how this popular Fig Macaron would taste like. It came with Figs cooked in White Wine and Honey. That alone sounded great. As I cut it into half, I could see the juicy, shiny fig filling. It was very moist, flavorful, sweet, and decadent. I can see why this particular macaron was chosen as one of the top 10 in NYC.
We moved on to Pistachio. It had Pistachio Shell with Pistachio and White Chocolate Ganache. The filling was creamy and tasty, but I would’ve like it had some small chunks of pistachio nuts. Otherwise, it had nice pistachio flavor, although not too strong.
Then there came the S’mores Macaron. When I cut them in half, I was excited to see chocolate and marshmallow, it really looked like S’mores! It had Brown Sugar & Honey Shell with Dark Chocolate and Marshmallow Creme. This was really good, especially to someone who loves S’mores – me! It not only looked like S’mores but also tasted like one, it was a delight.
They also had a special Summer item, Ice Cream Macaron Sandwiches ($5)! We chose a colorful one called Care Bear Stare, made with Salted Caramel Ice Cream. The ice cream filling was quite massive, which was awesome. The macaron shell was a bit hard, making it a little difficult to eat it without squeezing out the ice cream to the side. The ice cream was really tasty, nice caramel flavor, very sweet.
It is always nice find new, tasty macarons. I would say I still like macarons from MacarOn Café (you can read about it here http://www.foodlovergirl.com/macaron-cafe/ and http://www.foodlovergirl.com/macaron-cafe-2/), for they are a bit larger for the same price, and also the fact that they are naturally gluten free, Kosher certified, and hand-made in NYC. But, Macaron Parlour has surprised me in a good way. I will keep my options open…
Macaron Parlour – 111 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009