Years ago, Laduree got famous because of their excellent macaroons which were sought after by tourists lining up at their small patisserie in Paris to snap up their tasty macaroons. What strikes me as odd is that the French despite being world renowned for their blatant rudeness (and has been holding that award for the past 3 years in a row now) to tourists and their own kind alone, this tiny pastry shop still managed to garner good reviews from people on TripAdvisor PS-because of the economic downturn the vastly poor and demoralized French poor (yes, I have replaced the word people with poor) has resorted to hanging about the high end area of Paris where tourists frequent and then rob,mug whatever you call it in the day. They work in pairs these days, to maximize the profit! Watch out Eastern Europe! The French are on to something big!
Enough about politics and French scams. Let us go back to the good days of Laduree. They had expanded worldwide and they have opened a branch here at the posh end of Villagio mall, at the end of Christian Louboutin, next to GAP for kids. So I decided to buy a few; dreading for the ridiculous Qatar pricing. And surprisingly they weren't half bad-especially the bubblegum and strawberry ones, although overly priced; 10 riyals for a piece. I bought seven pieces; the flavors in no orderly fashion:
- strawberry
- bubblegum
- praline
- chocolate-not very sweet and has a rich chocolaty taste
- lemon
- vanilla
- blueberry/blackcurrant
They were alright, and I don't know if I am wrong or right but aren't macaroons just sugar balls? I wish they'd make it more with taste in mind, not just dump sugar rolls in the oven and bake them. If you want them wrapped in fancy gift box, it will cost you outlandishly. Prices start at 290 riyals. Mine was cheaply and promptly dumped into a paper bag. Hey, what do you expect for 70 riyals? It's not like we're in KLCC!
I thought I'd also put in some pictures of Villagio Mall, designed to look like a small Italian town, complete with its own suns, clouds and merriment (gondola ride I mean, which goes for 10 riyals). The restrooms at the posh end of Villagio selling brand name products were labelled "VIP Restrooms" I thought it was meant for VIPs only but actually it was just another posh public toilet, but not a well maintained one. At noon they were already tissues strewn on the floor and water puddles around the basins
No comments:
Post a Comment