La Belle Mitte is the brand new venture for a pair of self confessed Francophiles. The tiny store on Hardware Lane is a macaron-lovers dream, as it is wholly macaron focussed. Macarons are the only food they sell, and the other items on the limited menu are strictly French – tea from Mariage Frères and artisanal lemonade by Hansi of Alsace (food miles anyone?). La Belle Mitte also has specially designed boxes that ‘tell a little macaron story’ and the symbols on the boxes ‘evoke the Promethean contest between man and egg that is French patisserie’ (yes that’s a direct quote).
I don’t want to be mean but it’s all a little pretentious. Nonetheless, I was interested to see whether the macarons lived up to their self confessed hype
Claire and I recently went on a macaron fact finding mission – the day we arrived they had a good selection of flavours on offer.
In addition to the usual chocolate, raspberry and rose, there were some pretty interesting flavours – olive oil, cherry blossom & sake, pink grapefruit, lychee, ginger macadamia and wasabi to name a few.
We thought it was only right to try a selection of the macarons, and since 6 macarons fit perfectly into their presentation boxes, that was the magic number for us:
From left, lychee, cherry blossom & sake, violet & blueberry, olive oil, pink grapefruit and ginger & macadamia.
So how were the macarons?
Pretty damn good. Actually, really good. There was a little inconsistency between the textures of the different biscuits, some having that perfect balance of crust and softness, others slightly too soft and others a little chewy. But the overall package was impressive and there wasn’t a dud macaron in the batch. I liked the off-beat flavours too – the cherry blossom and sake macaron had the unmistakable malty hit of sake, the olive oil was rich and velvety and managed to strike a nice balance between sweet and savoury. The violet and blueberry was pretty special.
I’ll be back.
Details
La Belle Miette
30 Hardware Lane, Melbourne
Ph: (03) 9024 4528
Open Monday to Friday 10am – 6pm (or until sold out) and Saturday 11am – 3pm.
Wow, yet another macaron shop on the scene! They are really popping up like mushrooms these days. But like a moth drawn to a flame, I will be there without fail during my next trip back to melb. Thanks for the heads up and ginger macadamia sounds right up my alley!
Argh! I only just heard about this place the other day, it looks so adorable, can’t wait to give it a try!
More evidence of the macaron domination over cupcakes. Yessssss…..As long as quality remains high. I’m keen to check this place out. Might pop down there soon!
Celeste: Yes definitely worth a visit when you return – the ginger was good, subtle but lovely.
Ashley: Adorable and all about the macarons – craziness!
Esz: I was a little sceptical, but they really were delicious – definitely worth a visit!
Macarons really are the latest craze here in Melbourne. There’s shops popping up everywhere. I wonder how long this craze will last. What did each macaron cost?
They are $2.50 each… the macaron craze has been going for some time, don’t see it ending any time soon. Except for maybe being overtaken by caneles!
I’d never seen or heard of a canele until I had an apple (and cinammon?) one the other day at Hardware Societe. Damn they were awesome! Love them much more than macarons!
Ha! I’m not much of canele expert at all, since I can’t eat them because they are made from wheat. A colleague of mine is duly canele obsessed and thinks that the ones at Dench are the best she has sampled… I might try to make some wheat-free ones some day, but it does seem like an incredibly involved process. We will see…
[...] Fellow food blogger wankster Em who can actually make macarons unlike my sorry self has also visited and reviewed La Belle Miette: I urge you to read her aficionado [...]