Bon Bon Fine Chocolate Cafe @ The Strand, George/Pitt St

Everytime I go shopping on Pitt St, I always walk past Bon Bon Fine Chocolate and want to try the cafe but never got around to it, until now. On a lovely Sunday afternoon with great friends, we were heading to the ballet. But, before going to the ballet we headed down to the Bon Bon Cafe. The cafe is located below the fine chocolate store. It is dark and intimate with a décor of suit cases, mirrors and chocolate facts. They offer a high tea option, and normal dining. The dark lighting made it difficult to take photos, so apologies for the bad quality.

Poached chicken and avocado sandwich

A combination that is loved by my friends and seems to never go wrong. A generous amount of avocado with chicken and rocket to balance out the entire sandwich.

Smoked salmon, avocado and rocket on toast

Anything with smoked salmon is delicious (in my opinion). The toast looks burnt, but it was  a rye bread. There was little bits of dill which provided a kick.

Poached eggs with halloumi cheese, avocado, cherry tomato and rocket

I love poached eggs, I could eat it at any meal. The avocado wasn't as good as the ones that were with the salmon. The halloumi cheese adds a different light to normal cheese on bread, tasty dish!

Banana split

It was called banana split on the menu, but it was more of an ice-cream sundae. The best part of the dessert was the home-made honeycomb that was nestled under the cream. The honeycomb added a sweet caramel crunch along with the macadamia nuts. I didn't  finish it but my friend did, the perks of eating with friends to finish off dishes.

Sticky date pudding

Ice-cream filled profiterole

The sticky date pudding and profiterole were my friends dishes. The sticky date pudding was with a caramel sauce. I am not big on sticky date pudding, therefore I found it mediocre. The profiterole was very different. instead of custard there was ice-cream. It was a bit strange for me, traditional profiteroles are the way they should be.

After the dining experience they provided each of us with an empty box. The waitress told us to go upstairs and pick out a chocolate from the Bon Bon Fine Chocolate store, only rule was that the piece of chocolate had to fit in the box. A lovely surprise to be able to pick out a free chocolate.

Bon Bon Fine Chocolate Cafe is well priced, where you can get lunch and dessert for less than $30 per person. The staff are friendly and the cafe has a lovely brunch feel.

Good food, good times!

Ladurée @ Westfield Sydney, Level 3

I heard about Ladurée opening in May, where it was supposed to be opened in July. Now, after months and months of waiting, the day finally came, the day that Ladurée opened. I was there on opening day (11/09/2012) at 10am, to only find out it would open at 12, and then 1, and then 2.30! My friend and I went back at 2, and they had already started selling, and the queue to buy macarons was extremely long. With that, we decided to queue in the in store cafe line (where we only had to wait 30 minutes) and able to dine in to enjoy macarons and buy some takeaway.

I have yet been able to go to France where the original store is, but I will one day. This is the closest I could get to experiencing the real thing. The macarons are a bit on the pricier end of the spectrum, but considering they are shipped from Europe, it is reasonable and worth it.

The flavours

The Store:
I guess Ladurée Sydney isn't quite a store, but just to make things easier it shall be described as one. The Ladurée store is surrounded with products they sell, ranging from bags, perfume, teas, jams, chocolates, gift boxes and of course the infamous macarons. At the top of all the display windows there are lovely tiered macaron boxes tied with ribbon or macaron towers. The gold trimmings around product labels and all the signage are very French chic. 

The cafe:

The cafe is located behind the store and has a lovely outdoor garden feel as it is surrounded with small hedges. The layout is basic with tables of 2 or 4, low back chairs and simple black tables providing an elegance of a high tea. Further displaying large  boxes of macarons and scented candles.

Tea & Macarons:
Tea and macarons are a few of my favourite things. The teas are named after famous French Monarchs, each with their own individual scent and taste. They allow you to smell each tea, and pick your favourite for a pot. Tea costs $7.50 per pot. I love how Ladurée place a little napkin on the tea pot handle, so simple, yet so elegant.

Marie Antoinette (background Roi Soleil)

I went to Ladurée with a uni friend, so we decided to get every single flavour available and halve it. Overall the texture of Ladurée macarons are exquisite and perfect. They are light, with the perfect chew, and an exceptional balance between macaron shell and filling. They are somewhat indescribable, but I can now sort of understand the hype and fame of Ladurée macarons (until I experience the original in Paris).

Plate 1 (clockwise from white):
Vanilla, Lemon, Chocolate, Almond and Coffee. 
We thought we would start with the basics. My favourite of these was the coffee. It has the taste of a perfectly brewed coffee. My friends favourite was coffee, and also lemon (one of her favourite desserts are lemon tart), it has an intense lemon taste, so if you like a little zest in your life, then lemon is perfect for you.

Plate 2 (clockwise from purple):
Blackcurrant, Strawberry Poppy, Raspberry, Salted caramel, Liquorice, Pistachio and Chestnut (middle). 
These flavours are a bit more on the exotic range of the spectrum. I enjoyed all of these flavours. The strawberry poppy was delectable, it wasn't too sweet like other strawberry macarons are and I think that is because of the poppy component. The subtle poppy flavour balanced the macaron, a definite favourite. This delighted both our taste buds.

My other favourite was the salted caramel. I have tried many salted caramel macarons and never been completely satisfied (part from La belle miette). However, at Ladurée there was the perfect middle point of salt and caramel, the best salted caramel I have tried in Sydney...to date.

Plate 3 (clockwise from green):

Almond marshmallow, Lemon Lime marshmallow, Strawberry marshmallow, Violet marshmallow.

As a part of the 150th anniversary, Ladurée created 4 new flavours to celebrate the homage of the world famous macarons. All of the macarons contained a marshmallow centre that wasn't too gooey or sticky. The lemon lime was a very unique flavour, where it tasted very similar to gatorade, quite intense. My favourite of all these was  the strawberry marshmallow (I also bought this flavour for 2 of my other friends and they loved it too). Just thinking about it is making me salivate, the strawberry flavour with a slight crunch due to the sugar on top, just wonderful. 

Upon second visit, I tried Orange blossom and Ghana Chocolate (bottom two) where there was a subtle hit in the orange blossom, and the ghana chocolate has a darker chocolate taste compared to the normal chocolate. I prefer the ghana chocolate over the normal chocolate.

Table of goodies

16 macarons, done and dusted

Complimentary chocolate (even the chocolates are labelled Ladurée)

Bags of macarons

Good food, good times!