Macaron Paradise:
A Comparison of Macarons from Pierre Hermé, Sadaharu Aoki, Pierre Marcolini, and La Maison du Chocolat
Top left to bottom left (clockwise, desktop), top to bottom (mobile): Pierre Hermé, La Maison du Chocolat, Pierre Marcolini, Sadaharu Aoki
Shop #1: Pierre Hermé
Pierre Hermé is known the world over for his macarons, not least for his famous creation, Ispahan. Ispahan was delicately balanced, with more of a predominant rose and litchi flavor than raspberry. Mogador was slightly on the sweet side, but the passion fruit thankfully balanced out the palate. Infinement Chocolate Païneras was indulgently chocolatey, do recommend. Infinement Praliné Pistache was one of the more pistachio-ey tasting pistachio macarons I have tried, with some others tending to veer on the sweet (instead of the nutty) side. Pistachio and Raspberry was, like Mogador, slightly sweet and predominantly raspberry. Plaisir Sucré was deliciously noisette and chocolate ganache at the same time. The last macaron, apparently some passionfruit special recommended by the saleswoman, I didn’t particularly like (being too sweet).
Altogether, the macarons were well-structured, beautiful feet, with no air pockets and scrumptiously like little clouds when bitten into, flavors well-balanced if the sweeter (mostly fruity flavors) are avoided.
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Shop #2: La Maison du Chocolat
The Maison du Chocolat macarons were less well-formed, with a the crust of my second macaron unfortunately being slightly separated from the ganache (see the dark space in between the crust and ganache in the macaron on the right). The Venezuelan chocolate was slightly sweet, but the Quito was one of the better chocolate macarons I have tried — balanced, more umami-bitter instead of sugary and buttery in the ganache.
Shop #3: Pierre Marcolini
The Pierre Marcolini macarons were flavor-wise delicious, but less textured in the shell than those from Pierre Hermé. Having bought only pistachio and chocolate (with the higher price point in Tokyo in comparison to the other franchises, at around 500¥ per macaron), they were worth it: The salesperson also gave me an ice pack to preserve the macarons on the way back to the hotel, despite only having bought two of them. Great service.
Shop #4: Sadaharu Aoki
In contrast to Pierre Hermé, Sadaharu Aoki does fruity flavors extremely well, with just the right balance between tart and fruity sweetness. The two of my favorite flavors from those I bought, rose strawberry and passionfruit, left me wanting more than two bites each. Chocolate was also thankfully more dark chocolate than milk chocolate, and matcha was a full-bodied tea taste (not the type of sugary powdered taste in cheaper macarons).
Altogether these four shops are all definitely worth a visit to try the flavors that you personally would prefer: I didn’t go to Ladurée, given my not so great experience in Paris with the sweetness of the flavors and neon vibrancy of the colors (looking at you, Marie-Antoinette Tea).
As always, explore the shops that catch your fancy and see you soon.
