Macaron Cafe

Growing up, when I heard the word "macaroon" I thought of the delicious chocolate dipped coconut cookies that were served at a passover seder.  It wasn't until my sister started her first internship in the city across the street from Macaron Cafe that I was introduced to the other macaroon, or more appropriately, the French Macaron.  When I first saw pictures of what it was, it honestly didnt look that good to me.  It looked like a chewy/sugary meringue, not something cakey and fudgy which is what I usually like in a dessert.  After a few times of rejecting them and refusing to try one, I finally caved in and tried a dark chocolate Macaron.  My doubts about Macarons were set aside and I instantly became a fan.  My sister would then occassionally bring me one, and I got to try a wide array of flavors ranging from dark chocolate and peanut butter to nutella and chocolate coconut.  While I thought they were delicious, I still never really ate them too often unless my sister brought me one.

So, as I have mentioned in previous posts, my sister and I both started weight watchers in January and her visits to Macaron Cafe became nonexistent.  As one of her milestone weight goals, she decided that we would go to Macaron Cafe and share her favorite sandwich and then each get some macarons.  After months of waiting, today was finally the day we got to celebrate ate Macaron Cafe.

I have never had lunch there, but she was always a fan of their sandwiches.  Her favorite one that we ended up sharing was the Normandy.  The sandwich comes with brie, apple, raisins, lettuce, and french mustard on a baguette, but we changed it a little and got grilled chicken and no brie.

Overall, the sandwich is just as good as it sounds.  There is equal ratios of each ingredient so that none of them are overpowering.  The apples add a nice tang and crunch to the sandwich, and the raisins add a touch of sweetness.  My favorite part was the french mustard, which reminds me a bit of honey mustard  but more sharp.  The bread was also good, but I must warn you that it is very crunchy/chewy so you have to dig your teeth in and put a lot of effort into taking a bite.  I always like when the bread is a little tough, though, because then it takes longer to eat and it feels more filling.  

After the sandwich, I of course had to have a macaron.  I was a little disappointed that today they weren't carrying either of my favorite flavors, dark chocolate or nutella.  I quickly got over it, and settled on mocha which is another great flavor.  Since it was my sister's reward, she ended up getting an assortment of 6 that consisted of passion fruit (2), lemon, caramel, pistachio, and espresso (clearly we have very different tastes in macarons!).  

The mocha flavor was delicious!  The outer shell of the macaron was nice and hard, and right when you bite into it you immediately taste the soft cakey layers and the fudgy filling.  The coffee flavor came through nicely, but the chocolate flavor was definitely dominant, which is how I prefer it.  My favorite part is the filling because it is nice and rich.

I don't eat macarons very often because, while they are delicious, there are many deserts that I prefer, like cupcakes or ice cream.  That being said, the macarons from Macaron Cafe are really delicious, and I highly recommend them.  Even if you are a skeptic at first like I was, just give it a try and I'm sure you will change your mind.