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Reviews
After having macarons at LA Tour on Nimitz, my girlfriend and I were hooked immediately at the small and delicate but very tasty treats! One weekend we decided to have a macaron run to as many places we could find selling macarons. When everything was said and done, we had polished off at least a dozen macarons of all different varieties. Below is our ranking of the best macarons on the island!
1. Fendu Boulangerie – Seriously folks, this place is a no brainer. If you love macarons, Fendu Boulangerie at the Manoa Marketplace will satisfy your tastebuds! At $2.50 a piece, we were able to try the blood orange, lilikoi, guava, and butterscotch flavors. The two cookies for all the macarons were unbelievably delicate and crisp, while still remaining soft and chewy.
What really sets Fendu apart are their flavors. The cookie itself was infused with blood orange, lilikoi, or guava, and the buttercream/jam was spot on! The blood orange was my absolute favorite with a strong orange flavor that was just perfect. The filling of the butterscotch was more on the chewy side, but was still absolutely delicious. Although during this particular trip we were only able to try these four flavors, we had found that all the flavors were equally as tasty! Beware though, as Fendu makes their macarons on a funky schedule, and are not always available. I recalled dropping by in the morning as well as at noon on the same day, to find that they were still making the macarons. Trust me, you won’t regret this place!
2. LA Tour – One reason I love this place is their wide variety and consistency with their macarons. I tried nearly every flavor at LA Tour and each one has been great. I absolutely love their raspberry chocolate with a mix of buttercream chocolate and a dab of raspberry jam, sandwiched between two raspberry cookies. I’ve also had their strawberry, coconut, yuzu, coffee, green tea, and honeydew melon, all which were absolutely delicious. I’ve seen the flavors change quite often, but they have such a large variety, that it should be no problem to find something you like! And the fact that they were $1.85 each, makes LA Tour a great bargain when it comes to macarons.
3. Honolulu Coffee Company – Little did I know that this coffee joint sold macarons. I’m not sure if they sell macarons at all the Honolulu Coffee Company’s, but we were able to nab some up at the Ala Moana Shopping Center location. The macarons are located all the way at the back of the store, so don’t fret if you don’t see it in their normal dessert/pastry shelves. The one thing we really liked about their macarons is the aesthetics! They add a little flair by putting some cool colors sprayed onto the top of each cookie. It definitely gives the macarons a more upscale look. At $2.25 each, we tried their haupia, lilikoi, and pistachio macarons. Flavors were incredible, but the cookies were very delicate. So much so that the worker accidentely broke one and decided to give that one to us for free. The decent price and upscale look to the macarons help land Honolulu Coffee Company at number 3.
4. The Pacific Place Tea Garden - Also located at the Ala Moana Shopping Center, Pacific Tea isn’t just a kiosk that serves drinks, but also macarons! Ranging from $2.00 to $2.15, we picked up theri caramel, raspberry, and lilikoi macarons. The flavors were really good, but I felt that the lilikoi wasn’t as bursting with flavor compared to the other places we’ve tried, but the raspberry was outstanding!!! In addition, their cookies were definitely the most delicate. I wasn’t even sure how they were able to give it to us without cracking the cookie. Some may like this, but we didn’t as we found it harder to take a bite of the macaron to enjoy it bite by bite. I can see how this doesn’t matter to those who just pop the entire macaron in their mouth. Unfortunately for us, this lands The Pacific Place Tea Garden to number 4.
5. La Palme D’or – As upscale as this place is, La Palme D’or failed to bring us much happiness from their macaron. At $2.50 a piece, they only offerred one flavor which was chocolate coffee. I will admit it was made very well, but the flavors did not wow us. We will admit that the cookies and filling were prefectly made, and wished that they just offerred more flavors for us to try. Tied for most pricey with Fendu, the lack of variety unfortunately lands La Palme D’or in fifth place.
Overall, all five places served outstanding macarons. There were no losers in this taste off, and I’m sure this list will vary depending on your tastes. Feel free to comment on this post, and if you know of any other macarons that we may have missed!
