Melange of Macronage: Vegas Edition

When you think of Vegas, gambling, clubbing, or getting married when you’re drunk comes to mind right? For me, I immediately put my new HTC Thunderbolt to use and looked up places to get what else but my favorite macarons haha Ironically, there were no FRENCH macarons at Paris but instead I found them at the Venetian, Caesar’s Palace, and the Bellagio.

First stop, Bouchon Bakery at the Venetian. This bakery has 3 locations, Vegas, NYC, and Napa Valley... it makes me very happy that I’m moving to NYC because this place has amazing macarons, up to Paulette standards which for me is the top tier until I try Laduree macarons in Paris. The macaron shells were the perfect combo of crispy and chewy and the filling was flavorful but not overpowering. It also had that melt in your mouth sensation... yumm :) Good start to macaron hunting for the day.

Flavors: Pistachio, Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla

Next stop, Payard Patisserie at Caesar’s Palace. These macarons were pre-packaged so I was a bit worried... and I wasn’t thrilled about the choice of flavors. I saw raspberry, lemon, violet... basically a buncha fruity flavors that I’m just not fond of. The macaron shells were too soft and there was no sense of chewiness which I think a macaron should have. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed but the coconut one was surprisingly good. The rest were a bit too sweet.

Flavors: Raspberry, Violet, Lemon, Coconut, Vanilla, Coffee

Last stop, Jean Philippe Patisserie at the Bellagio. I’m hoping for redemption here after being disappointed by the previous place. These macarons also came pre-packaged so I didn’t have very high expectations. These had an explosion of filling which overpowered the cookie and just left you with a lotta filling in your mouth and no balance between cookie and filling. So if I could combine these macaron shells with the filling from the previous place, I’d get a better macaron.

Flavors: Chocolate, Pistachio, Raspberry, Coffee 

Lesson of the day: don’t buy pre-packaged macarons... and Bouchon totally saved the day haha