Fancy Lolita Tea Time - DT Bistro

We skipped having a meet in May since Anime North was happening and we had a lot of other things to do with Cafe Delish. By some random occurrence of the lolita gods, this meet up fell on the weekend after I was admitted into the hospital for appendicitis. Of course if it happened to be that weekend, I would've insisted that the other girls follow through with the plans and be fancy for me while I was feeling not so fashionable my in hospital smock. (Although I have to say, they are very comfortable...!)

DT Bistro

I had a week to mostly recover and come to June's summer lolita meet up. It was also to celebrate a belated International Lolita Day (summer edition) which usually falls on the first Saturday of June (the other being in December). This month, I chose for us to go to DT Bistro, located in downtown Toronto along Spadina and Harbord St. I came across it in pictures and was delighted to learn that they also serve afternoon tea on weekends from 2-5pm. 

The interior of the restaurant is very open, lots of natural light streaming in and they had set up our table for afternoon tea beforehand. They also have a brunch/lunch menu that you could order from, but I opted to tell them that our group was coming there for afternoon tea when they called me to confirm the reservation. 

They have a shorter tea list, which sometimes makes it easier to choose what kind of tea you would like. They have afternoon tea options, one being the normal one and the other being deluxe, which includes a DT Bistro special cocktail along with the pot of tea you would get in the normal tea option. 

Our waiter kept mixing up our tea orders and poor Keiko had her pot of tea replaced four times, and I still think it wasn't correct after the fouth try. They also ran out of mint tea for Tenshi, so she had to order camomile instead. Archangeli's genmaicha was missing the gen mai, it just tasted and smelled like regular green tea, with no puffy rice bits, so really she just ordered sencha. Their tea selection has some interesting choices, but I would stick to a tea you're familiar with before they mix it up with something else by accident. Our server was trying to convince me that my jasmine tea was chai when it clearly did not look like or smell like chai tea. You got to stand your ground for your tea especially when you know it's the right pot you have!

Afternoon tea

The savory plate was really appetizing, however the cornbread and tomato soup were a bit of an odd edition. There was this amazing braised beef with melted cheese, I would eat a whole plate of those, they were delicious! I was so stuffed I couldn't even eat my scone, not that I did not want to! I just find my stomach capacity to be less after surgery. I'm sure I'll be a food heathen soon enough again!

Each tier had a slightly different dessert plate on top. I actually forgot to mention I preferred no chocolate...so I just didn't eat any of the chocolate items, except for the fruit tart and one of the macarons.

DT Bistro has a lot of potential and it's great that they take reservations. Their afternoon tea sets start at $30, which I think is a very reasonable price point. If only they served sugar cubes instead of packs of sugar, it would definitely elevate the experience. They also did not have enough tea pots with infusers for our group, so half of us had tea bags in our pots, a slight detail I took notice of. 

Some of the patrons who were coming in for a drink were very enamored by our group, I think most of them have not seen lolita before? Lots of subtle smiles and curious glances were thrown our way. A lady on the street, rolled down her car window to yell, "You girls look adorable!" while Keiko and I were making our way to the streetcar. Gosh, I love Toronto. 

Photo credit: Archangeli

Photo credit: Archangeli

This was also Naoko's first lolita meet up! I didn't realize that she was interested in lolita until the month prior.  I invited her to come to this meet up to wear one of her only lolita items she purchased while in Japan. 

Naoko-chan! You're more than welcome to visit Machiko's Lolita Closet Rentals! 

Please don't get any tea or stains on rental items though. You will be subject to dry cleaning fees and eternal tears from Machiko if stains don't come out.  (>o<;;)

I opted to wear something with a high waist so it wouldn't bother the area that had been operated on. I definitely was not able to wear a petticoat. I will have to wear this print again sometime to give it some justice!

For this meet, I wore Angelic Pretty's Dreaming Macaron.

Until our next meet, 

eat some more scones!

~*~

Bonus:

Derp lolita?

Hahaha!

Fancy Lolita Tea Time - Yuzu & Macaron Day

For this month's meet, the lolita gods were against me in helping me get a location for us to have afternoon tea. I think I called around 6 places and they had no space for us...and I learned from then on that I needed to book these places probably weeks in advance if we were going to try to get a reservation for a group of 6 or more.

Chirashi

In the end, we decided to go to a Japanese restaurant, Yuzu no Hana, to have lunch and then head over to Butter Avenue (Queen St. W) for Macaron Day.

Yuzu has lovely and elegant interior space. I think the workers there were amused that a group of girls in lolita showed up for lunch, but nonetheless, they were very polite and offered great service. I ordered the chirashi and it was lovely.

Onto the main attraction! Getting those macarons!

By mid afternoon our main group headed towards Butter Avenue and then Bosu and Yumi met us there in the downstairs seating area. Butter had organized a fabulous line up of 30 new flavours for Macaron day with 30% of the proceeds going to charity. So many flavours to choose from...but I can't eat them all!

Photo credit: Butter Avenue

Butter Ave.

Our group managed to hog a nook in the corner in the downstairs seating area and other patrons were kind enough to let us use their empty chairs so that we could sit together and not squish ourselves in the bench seating. I picked up an extra box of macarons for my friend's birthday which was coming up, but my box contained these flavours; Butterscotch Rum, Strawberry Basil, Guava Plum x 2, Toasted Sesame (which I ate and is not in the picture), and Iron Goddess. 

Delysees

By far my favourite flavour is guava plum. They had it the year before...and if they bring it back next year, I should just get a whole box of them. I love them!

We relaxed there with some tea and water for a bit until part of the group had to leave and venture off to different destinations. A few of us decided to go to Delysees to get some of their donut macarons! They were so cute looking and a bit small compared to a usual macaron, but they were very sweet and hard to eat more than two at once. 

Did you enjoy Macaron Day and head out to get some free macarons? Let me know in the comments or just tell me if you love macarons too! 

At this meet I wore Angelic Pretty's Day Dream Carnival (Twilight set). 

Photo credit: Bosu

Until next time!
Stay fancy~!

~~~

Bonus:

I spotted a yellow bird at Prairie Girl cupcakes. I want it... 

So cute and fluffy!!

Macaron Journey - Ladurée in London

What is a trip to London, England without a trip to a Ladurée location? It seems to have become a little tradition between my sister and I to visit one of their tea rooms to have our version of high tea or to pick up a box of macarons because I collect their limited edition boxes. 

A couple years ago, my sister and I went on a macaron pilgrimage while we were in Paris to taste the confections from the "holy trinity of macaron goodness". 

(If you must know, they are Ladurée, Jean Paul Hevin, and Pierre Hermé.) 

Ladurée at Harrods, London

 Since I have not done a macaron post in awhile, let's start with my favourite! My sister and I always rave about Ladurée and their macarons. Nothing in Toronto seems to compare to them and some of our friends had been slightly skeptical of their greatness, but they have all been converted by us!

I initially stumbled upon them a few years back when my best friend mentioned she wanted to try really good macarons. I asked my cousin, while I was visiting her in England, where I could find some since I did not know where to get them. She directed me to Ladurée and I've never looked back! (I also brought home a box for my friend, who enjoyed them immensely. (*o*)~

My sister and I have tried pretty much every flavour of macaron they make and we make an effort to try out all their new seasonal flavors when we visit a Ladurée shop, be it in Tokyo, London or Paris. Their macarons are flown in from Paris to all over the world. The flavours that my sister and I like are Vanilla, Salted Caramel and Pistachio.

Laduree, Covent Garden

I'll make multiple blog posts about the different experiences I've had at Ladurée locations, so we'll just stick to London for this one! There are 4 locations in London that can be visited, each has their own little charm to it. The one located at Harrods and Covent Garden have tea rooms where you can dine and enjoy a cup of tea. I wouldn't recommend sitting at the Burlington Arcade location to drink tea or macarons since they have limited seating outside the store and the overall experience we had was a bit fussy. On this trip, I discovered they opened another location in Cornhill (near Bank station). It is a patisserie and only sells macarons and some of their desserts, but also carries an extensive amount of their souvenir items and official merchandise. 

Le Saint Honoré Rose-Frambois

Ladurée - Lanvin collaboration

Hands down, my favourite dessert they serve is the Le Saint Honoré Rose-Frambois, or as my sister and I call it, the "Rose Puff". I missed out on having this desert while I was in Tokyo, so I had to have two rounds this time in London to make up for the loss! Everything about it is infused with hints of rose and raspberries. Even if you're not a fan of rose flavored things, after eating this, you'll be converted. I converted my sister who never enjoyed anything Rose flavoured and it seems to be the only thing we order now. (^__^;)

I ♥ Lanvin . . . and macarons!

Macarons for me!

The fun thing about Ladurée is that they always have fun collaborations with well known designers for a limited time. If there was a designer macaron, Ladurée would be the one to make it! Their latest collaboration is with French designer, Lanvin. When I saw the promotion pictures for it, I knew I had to collect the box and try the new flavour, bubblegum! I love Lanvin artwork, and the cute illustrations on this box were adorable. My sister and I tried the bubblegum macaron while we were at the Harrods location and unfortunately, it was not one of our favourites. It was very sweet and tasted very similar to Double Bubble bubblegum. 

Some previous collections limited the amount of limited flavors you could get for a special box or you could only get the special macaron by purchasing the box. Since I was not ready to indulge myself with another bubblegum macaron, I filled up my box with Vanilla, Pistachio, Raspberry and Cassis (Black-current) macarons. 

Cashmere & Lanvin boxes

The day I purchased the Lanvin set, the sales associate told me that they were launching new packaging the next day for the holiday season. Since I like collecting the packaging I groaned about, because if it was pretty I would have to get it. I opened their seasonal news letter that was at the cash register and gasped at the pictures of the box and showed my sister. It was horrible because we knew there would be damage to someone's wallet. /(>_<;;)\

I have never seen a Ladurée box like this one. Officially the collection name for this release is called "Cashmere". The print was inspired by French textiles of the 16th century and features calico patterns. 

Cashmere, box of 12 macarons

The macarons had a plastic casing to prevent them from jostling around in the box and also has the calico design on it. My sister bought this box set and filled it up with her favourite flavored macarons. Lots of Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Pistachio, Pure Origin Chocolate and Raspberry. She gave me the box to store and to keep (*o*)!! Thank you!! ♥

I'm glad that I only get to visit Ladurée in specific places because I think a lot of my money would be spent on their confections. They have a new special edition box for each month of the year and I'm sure my wallet would cry! You might be thinking, "What does she do with those boxes?" I actually use them to store small trinkets and things, and one set I use to store sets of shoes for my dolls. I'll document all the boxes I have in a future post!

I think if there was a Ladurée in Toronto, it would loose some of it's luster for me. Part of the charm and excitement of Ladurée is that I only get to experience it once a year (maybe..if I'm lucky!) and I enjoy every moment of it because I don't know when the next time I will visit another location. I savour every bite of a macaron, dessert and drop of tea because it's special to me. 

...

However, at the same time, it would be much more convenient to have a location here!

I just can't win in the end.. (^__^)*

Until next time Ladurée!

♥

 

Macaron Journey - Part 2 (featuring Nadège)

Although my I lost most of my files when my computer hard drive decided to stop working, I still had pictures on my camera to upload, so thankfully, this is the next part of the Macaron Journey!

My friends and I celebrated a birthday last month, and Keiko and I decided to get some macarons for the mini-party (and it was also a temporary....gift since we had not found anything suitable yet.) These macarons are from Nadège, a cute cafe and patisserie on Queen St. W. I've passed there many times to get some supplies but I would forget to pop in to try their macarons. My sister has tried them before, and said some flavors were too sweet or lacking. So it's time to try them out!

I think their packaging is very sophisticated, no?

Keiko and I decided to get the 12 piece set. It was very interesting watching the lady pick and choose which macarons to put into the box. We asked for one of every flavor (they only have 10), and the remaining two to be chocolate and pistachio. None of the macarons were the same size...some where very large or small in comparison. And you couldn't fit all 12 into the box because of the size difference. That is why we have one sitting out by itself. Lonely macaron :(

The pistachio macaron! Nadege's macarons aren't as creative as On's, and this is probably the most decorated they have. But it's not always about how they look, it's more about the taste!

Don't they look yummy! From my recollection, they have these flavors:

-Chocolate

-Raspberry

-Mojito

-Pistachio

-Vanilla

-Orange Chocolate

-Cappucino

-Rose

-Cassis

-Salted Caramel

In order for us to try most of all the flavors, I was dividing them up in halves or quarters. This one is the Mojito. I personally wouldn't recommend it, as it tasted like fresh tooth paste. It had a very strong mint flavor to it.

Keiko also bought some Pecan Milk Chocolate Nougatine at Nadege to share. I don't normally eat chocolate anything, but I decided to try a bit of it, because the others were saying how good it was. It had great texture, but I'll leave it to the chocolate lovers to eat it while I deal with the macarons :)

I thought the nougatine looked a bit like beef jerky, it has to be the way it photographs. Bossu brought out some of his homemade green tea short bread cookies. They were very good...wish I knew how to bake! So here are some of the general opinions of some of their flavors. 

I thought the Vanilla was not very good. The texture was gritty and very sweet. I only had a quarter of it...and I don't want to know how sweet a whole piece would have been. Laduree is still #1 when it comes to Vanilla.

Cappuccino was very interesting. It had a very strong coffee flavor and between the 4 of us who shared it, we really liked it. 

Rose, unfortunately, did not fare so well among us. It tasted like liquid hand soap, something from Bath & Body works, it was quite awful. :(
Cassis was recommended. However, Bossu ate it all, so I can't comment on the taste. ^__^"

Orange chocolate was another flavor I didn't personally taste, however it apparently was sweet with a strong chocolate flavor. The orange taste was similar to orange jell-o. 

Overall, I don't think I'd buy macarons from Nadege again unless it was for specific flavors. Some of the flavors were just too over powering and too sweet. I do think Cappuccino is worth going back for...but the other ones are a bit too mediocre. I think the desserts they offer there would be a better option rather than their macarons. 

This is a little extra!

This is the other item I bought that day. I actually really like their marshmallows. Lemon flavor is the best! They're a bit pricey...so I only indulge in them one in a blue moon.

The Macaron Journey blog series will feature other macarons we've tried around the world. Please stay tuned for more and my comments about them! ♥

Macaron Journey - Part 1 (featuring On Patisserie)

One of my little hobbies with my sister is going around the world and trying different macarons from different Patisseries or cafes. What are macarons?

A macaron is a sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. The macaron is commonly filled with buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two cookies. Its name is derived from an Italian word "maccarone" or "maccherone". This word is itself derived from ammaccare, meaning crush or beat, used here in reference to the almond paste which is the principal ingredient. It is meringue-based: made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar. (Shamelessly copied and pasted from Wikipedia.)

Ladurée's 12 piece set. Lots of vanilla (my favorite!) and some seasonal flavors. I'll blog about it later :)

My cousin was visiting from England for the past couple weeks, and we got together earlier this week before she left. We went out for tea and she treated me to macarons since she knew that I was obsessed with them. These macarons are from On Cafe. Imported from London! Haha...they weren't fresh obviously, but she kept them in the freezer while she was here...and by the time we sorted out where we wanted to get a drink, they had defrosted. (It's not the ideal way to enjoy a macaron...but refrigerating them does help a lot :) Especially if you have a 12 piece set you want to enjoy...!)

A small 5-piece set from On Cafe! I love the simplistic yet very attractive packaging. Must be the colour scheme that makes me happy... :)

I thought the way the 5th macaron was arranged was kind of odd. It was the buffer for the rest, so it got crushed and banged up a lot more than the others. I think if it was on some sort of tray to keep it in place it would have been better, although Ladurée, Jean Paul Hevin or Pierre Hermé are just boxes too. It's not a big deal. However, it happens, once in awhile a stray macaron does get crushed :(

Black sesame Glaced ginger & a smooth chocolate ganache. Poor thing got smushed!  It tasted severely of chocolate...so I was gagging for a bit...but then the sesame flavor came out.. which made it more bearable.(Let's recap a bit: I don't like chocolate, I don't like the taste of it and the texture. Yes, I'm odd and strange, but I do eat Green Tea Kit Kat bars from time to time...and the Sakura ones are bearable too.)

Cointreau Vanilla. So lovely!!! It tasted lovely too..although you don't taste too much of the cointreau...and overall the macaron is very creamy/buttery compared to Laduree. I really like the attention to detail they have for these macarons.

Mango. Tasted very delicious. The flavour is subtle and not overbearing, very nice. It is also very rich in texture and creamy/buttery. We were splitting all the macarons in half to share, I liked how you could see the layering of the buttercream.

So pretty right?! Chocolate Strawberry. It looked lovely, but the chocolate kind of killed me. My cousin started laughing at my facial expressions. More strawberry, less chocolate! (However, I think for the chocolate & strawberries lover out there, they would love this.) I really like the light glaze of silver they added on top of the biscuit on top. It may not add to the flavour but it does make the macaron seem so special.

Pink Peach & Champagne. This tasted like fluffy happiness. It was also very rich and creamy, but the taste was very lovely ♥ I think this was my favorite of all of the 5. It wasn't overly sweet, but it had just enough peach flavor and the buttercream just worked very well together. 

I think overall On Cafe has some great macarons. It seems that they are also a feast for the eyes, but it's not a cover up for lack of flavor. I think having a few of them at a time or sharing them with another person is a great way to enjoy them. It's a bit too rich and heavy. We couldn't place what exactly it was that made it a bit too much, but we suspect it's the buttercream.

I don't know when I'll be back in England again, but I'll think my sister and I will go there to get some more in the future :)

The Macaron Journey blog series will feature other macarons we've tried around the world. Please stay tuned for more and my comments about them! ♥