Macaron Smackdown: Lette vs. Laduree vs. La Maison du Macaron

My search for the perfect macarons ends here.

L-R: Lette, Ladurée, and La Maison du Macaron (via Instagram @shanghaigirleats)

Lette [Beverly Hills] | www.lettemacarons.com/
Address: 9466 Charleville Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212

For my birthday, my best friend overnighted a box of Lette macarons from Beverly Hills (this is why we are friends). The edge this place has over Ladurée and La Maison du Macaron is that you can order macarons online and have them shipped to you; La Maison used to but stopped as of 2011.10. The shipping itself essentially doubles the cost of a box of macarons X_X. A rather expensive way to get macarons if they are not available in your area. The end justifies the means right?

I think due to the fact that these had to be shipped (rather than bought from the store and eaten the same day), some freshness was lost. The cookie is chewy and the filling is gel-like. These were good, but not quite what I was looking for.

Earl Grey was by far my favorite in this batch. Although Lettes macarons are not my favorite, I would definitely purchase from Lette again just for the Earl Grey.

Ladurée [New York] | www.laduree.fr/en
Address: 864 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021

I went to the Ladurée store on a Friday afternoon and (surprisingly) only waited for a few minutes in line. These macarons were slightly better than Lette but I still didn’t find what I was looking for. Definitely did not live up to the hype. Perhaps these are better in France.

Pistachio: you can never go wrong with this flavor; good but pretty standard.
Vanilla: same as above.
Chocolate: I thought I was going to get diabetes on the spot. A little too rich for me.
Hazelnut: I expected this to taste like nutella or Ferrero Rocher but it didn’t taste like either. So sad.

La Maison du Macaron [New York] | www.nymacaron.com/
Address: 132 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011

These are really really good. The skies seriously parted when I bit into these macarons.

These are exactly what macarons should taste like. Perfectly chewy cookie and soft cream-like filling (as opposed to more rigid gel-like fillings Lette and Ladurée have). I highly recommend these.