Macaron Cafe
Has anyone else been to Macaron Cafe, on 36th St., just east of 7th Ave.? I am almost hesitant to post about it because it is tiny and already starting to overflow with people, but you must go! Great coffee (where a latte is actually a European-size latter rather than a Starbucks abomination) and fantastic, authentic macarons in 10+ flavors (so far, pistachio and lemon are my favorite). In addition, they serve great baguettes for lunch. Their "Paris" sandwich is Paris ham, delicious gruyere, cornichons, and homemade mayo on good bread, for a very reasonable $6.25! They also serve crepes, hot chocolate, and breakfast pastries, none of which I have tried yet, but all of which look very appetizing, As I said, it's teeny tiny, and they make all the sandwiches fresh, so it's not a good place if you're in a rush, but it's completely worth the wait. Everyone I"ve encountered who works there is very friendly and happy to see people. This has become a little haven in the no-man's-land of Herald Square!
By neversent
on Mar 12, 2008 11:55 AM
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I passed by it this weekend but was closed. How were the macarons? Comparable to Le Madeleine (or perhaps even better?). It looks promising. The only thing that made me feel a bit queasy about trying the place was the huge uncapped tub of nutella that was left by the window.
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I picked up a few macarons there yesterday -- hazelnut, espresso, chocolate and peanut butter. It seems that they are still working out the kinks. Espresso grounds all over the place. Unfortunately I received coconut instead of pb. However, the coconut was the best one because it was fresh. The espresso was rock-hard and very stale. This place has amazing potential for macarons. I'm not sure how fast they're going to move though (hence, the stale macarons). I don't think NYC is very much macaron town as I can see a lot of people think they're too expensive for what you get (a lot of people here seem motivated by portion size). It seems that more people were ordering sandwiches than macarons. I hope it works out for them. The guys who worked there seemed very nice and friendly. And the coconut macaron was very good. Now if all the macarons could taste that good I'd be very happy.
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Always walked past this place, so sorry that I have overlooked it for so long! The place is small and easily missed, but they made use of the little space they had. I did not try out the macarons yet, will definitely go back tomorrow (supposedly they're the best in the city, we'll see about that). Co-workers and I ordered up the norvegian and italiano. It was definitely amazing. And the price was decent for the great food. Midtown needed something like this in the area. It's a definite recommend, like all places in midtown, I'd go before the noon rush. Anytime after that, you will be greeted with a line outside the door.
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I'm glad to hear that the sandwiches are good. Yes, I concur that we definitely needed a place like this.
I haven't been back since I posted my report but my coconut macaron was really good, probably better than Le Madeleine. Macarons are very delicate and go stale easily. Unfortunately the other three were duds. So I'm hoping more people order them so they can maintain a fresh inventory.
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I actually stopped and picked up lunch there. The line was out the door and I got the Paris sandwich (minus the cornichons -- as some posters know, I've got pickle phobia). It was around 2:30P but the line was still very long. The sandwich was very good -- not too large (which will probably disappoint some of the big eaters) and the amount of filling was just right (a bit more than what you would sometimes get in Paris but less than what you'd get at a standard NY deli). Sandwiches were made fresh to order and staff is really sweet. The guy (I'm presuming he's the owner or manager) is incredibly charming.
I also got the dark chocolate macaron. Thank goodness it wasn't stale. It seemed that about half the people on the line was getting a macaron with their sandwich. So that's good news. Hopefully these guys will stick around.
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