Ladurée Manila!

Yes, for real. Last week, Ladurée opened at 8 Rockwell, that new building between One Rockwell and the Ateneo Law School.

I went with my friends Kath, Maymay and Didi right after the Maarte Fair. (Special thanks to Kath and Tito Jappy, Kath's uncle, who allowed us to join in on the fun during Friends and Family day. Heehee.) It was perfect timing too, because Berry brought home a merit award from school, and I managed to reward her with a box of her favorite macarons. Yay!

Whenever we travel, Donya Beriray makes it a point to pick up a box of French macarons, so it really is the sort of treat she only gets to enjoy rarely. Lagot ako when she finds out that Ladurée is finally here. She'd want me to take her to the store.

It's so pretty. So much bigger than Ladurée in Singapore and Hong Kong. Filled with everything one would expect at Ladurée.

There are the macaron towers which you may pre-order as well as other sweet treats and teas:

macarons, sweets and teas

Teas or thé are sold individually

or as an assortment of three

Gift items:

a pop-up book

key chains

shopping totes (these retail for about Php1700 for the large one, less for the smaller one)

more totes and candles as well as room scents

Plus a whole host of other items like jellies, jams and caramel spreads, as well as chocolates and all sorts of no-fail hostess gifts.

All my friends have been asking me what price points are like, so here goes:

A macaron retails for Php150 a piece. If you order it in a soft box, then it comes out to Php150 a piece. So, a box of 12 is Php1,800.

It comes out more expensive when you order it with a gift box, but it gets cheaper as you order more. I bought a box of 6 for Berry and I paid Php1,200 (Php200/pc) for it. A box of 18 is Php2,860 (about Php159/pc). A box of 24 is Php3,790 (about Php158/pc).

Price wise, pricing isn't too far off from HK and SG. I can't remember how much it is exactly, but if my memory serves me well, it's about SGD4 (Php132) a piece in Singapore and HKD26 (Php158) in Hong Kong. 

Yes, it's mahal. But at least we don't have to travel or rely on pasalubong, or the kindness of family and friends to pick up a box of Ladurée macarons for us when they travel back home!

About Ladurée:

It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from the southwest of France, founded a bakery in Paris at 16 rue Royale. In 1871, a fire in the bakery opened the opportunity to transform it into a pastry shop. The decoration of the pastry shop was entrusted to Jules Cheret, a famous turn-of-the-century painter and poster artist. 

The Ladurée macaron was introduced middle of the 20th century with Pierre Desfontaines, who first thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling. The recipe has not changed since, and it is said that 15,000 of these macarons are sold everyday.

Today, Ladurée has gone beyond its signature macarons to offer chocolates, teas, gift items, and a beauty line as well.

Singapore Food Fest: Day 2

Day 2 in Singapore was scheduled for business. Dada & I had a 12 noon appointment in Chinatown, and then we had to head out to the Philippine Embassy on Nassim Road after our meeting to have documents authenticated. 

To make sure that we got to our meeting on time, we had a quick lunch at Riverside Indonesian BBQ at the basement of 313 Somerset.

I had an Ikan Panggang (grilled fish with black sauce, rice with curry sauce, siding of fried egg and sambal). Dada had his Ayam Panggang (grilled chicken with black sauce, rice with curry sauce, siding of fried egg and sambal) paired with Koi bubble tea.

Riverside Indonesian BBQ always guarantees a fast, affordable meal that hits the spot!

With the way things are so efficient in Singapore, we were able to have coffee and meet with our principal, get documents notarized, and take care of Philippine Embassy errands by 2:30 pm. Which left us with plenty of time to take a leisurely walk on Nassim Road to Orchard Road.

Of course, I took Dada on my usual route from Berry's Julia Gabriel days at The Forum. We passed by Hilton Shopping Gallery...

3.1 Phillip Lim

Dries Van Noten

Out again on Orchard, and then in through the basements of Wheelock Place, ION Orchard, Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City...

Mooncakes galore at the basement of Ngee Ann

Aesop

Took the escalator up to the ground floor to say hello to Laduree...

the Laduree stall in Ngee Ann City, across Chanel

And did a bit of window shopping at On Pedder and Celine. Yes, look only. No touch.

hey you, Classic Box Bag, I still want you

Tired and a bit famished, we freshened up a bit at our hotel before heading out to Ippudo in Mandarin Gallery for a heavy snack. This is how heavy:

crispy corn

My usual order: Akamaru Kaseneaji. Dada had his usual miso ramen.

As usual, Ippudo did not disappoint.  But after having had ramen at Ukkokei in Makati, I think my standards have changed. Ukkokei ramen definitely wins over Ippudo in my opinion.

For dinner, I told Dada that we just had to go for flavored XLB at Paradise Dynasty in ION Orchard. When I was pregnant with Xavi, all I wanted to do was eat at Paradise Dynasty. Yes, Xavi = XLB.

While waiting for a table, we killed time at Crate & Barrel, which made me so excited for Crate & Barrel Manila! Finally, I don't have to order and ship from the US anymore! Thank you SM! (And thank you SSI for bringing in Pottery Barn too!)

I also happened to see this Limited Edition 250th Anniversary Artist Case at the Faber-Castell store. It's a creative's wet dream, and at almost S$2,600 for this case, the kind a starving artist can only dream of.

Speaking of starving, by the time we got to our table...

I was so starving that I only managed to take a photo of the famed flavored XLB...

and the spicy wonton...

Dada had a big steaming bowl of beef la mian, while I also ordered fried rice, radish puff and deep fried scallion pastry which I never got to take photos of. Teehee. All I can say is, they were all so yummy, you've just got to take my word for it! 

To be continued...

Singapore Food Fest: Day 1

I did a 3 day juice cleanse by Nadine Tengco (more on that, soon!) when I got back from a trip to Singapore last month. 

I had to. Because all that Dada and I did, save for business, was eat! Because isn't that what Singapore is all about? 

Chatterbox in Mandarin Orchard was the first restaurant we went to as soon as we arrived. Dada had been dreaming of their lobster laksa for the longest time. I was craving for chicken rice. Funnily, even if we lived in Singapore for a time, I have never had chicken rice here, knowing I could get an equally delicious one at a hawker stall for S$2.50. Of course, the serving size is not as generous and I'd usually get it wrapped in paper.  

chicken rice at Chatterbox

lobster laksa at Chatterbox

For dinner, we met up with our friends Naomi & Tony C. and Marc S. to eat and catch up on chika.

Before heading out to PasarBella at Turf City, we had appetizers lovingly prepared by the talented Mrs. C in their lovely home, which also happened to be at the same condo complex where we used to live, so it was like a homecoming of sorts, heehee...

bruschetta & brie cups

cheese, grapes and bread/crackers

Laduree macarons

At PasarBella, I was looking forward to eating crackling roast pork, cholesterol be damned, but apparently, the stalls close at 7 pm. Restaurants were open till 10 pm, so we still had a couple of choices left and decided to stay.

Dead zone notwithstanding, it was fun just observing how they set up the place. Naomi says it is so much better of course with the stalls still open so we get to see everything that PasarBella has to offer, but I liked how it was in a way a showroom of sorts. I mean, see how their seating looks. This ain't no ordinary food court, bebe:

imitation Tolix chairs, but overall, a chic look for common area seating

We ended up gorging on seafood at Oceans of Seafood. I think the guys were drawn to these beautiful lobsters.

The five of us shared  a delicious feast of sushi (wiped out before I could take a photo), lobster, crabs, shrimps and mussels paired with the most divine dipping sauces. I've never had seafood this sweet and fresh in years! 

And this was only Day 1. You can just imagine where the days ahead would take us!

To be continued...