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Macaron Parlour Patisserie specializes in one thing: macaroons.  They’ve opened a pop-up location at UrbanSpaceNYC’s Garment District, however, they have two brick and mortar locations in New York: East Village and the Upper West Side.

Generally a macaroon would cost you $2.75 a piece, however they do offer 4 for $10.  Today we’re trying five of their offerings, four suggested by their staff (Red Velvet, Earl Grey, Passion Fruit, and Tiramisu) and the last one we ordered as a wild card (Rosemary Olive Oil).

First, we tried the Red Velvet.  The first thing that hits you when you bite into is is the cream cheese filling.  It’s very pronounced.  What’s also interesting is that it wasn’t overly sweet.  The outer shell was hard, the way it’s supposed to be, however the inside was more chewy than I expected, something reminiscent of a granola bar.  There was also an odd bit of cakey aftertaste when you were done, which wasn’t really pleasant.  I’d say if the cream cheese filling is the overpowering factor to this macaroon and takes away from the overall red velvet flavor.

Second we tried was the Earl Grey.  Per their website, it’s center is a milk chocolate ganache infused with earl grey tea.  At first glance, it reminded me of something straight out of sesame street, with the colors straight out of cookie monster’s palate.  The taste, however was described by a friend as bubble milk tea.  The chocolate adds to the earl grey’s flavor.  The shell offered the same chewy consistency as the rest with a crisp hard shell.

Third in the bunch was the passion Fruit – real passion fruit, which I was looking forward to.  Their website describes the filling as “tart passion fruit and milk chocolate ganache”.  Truthfully, I wish they didn’t add the chocolate.  The tartness of the passion fruit offered a great bright variation to the other pieces, however was dampened by the chocolate, which took away from what would have been a stellar macaroon.  Also the dusting of the chocolate on top was not necessary.  The smell of the passion fruit was enough to make the mouth water.

These days, tiramisu can be found in almost ever nook and crevice in the restaurant world, with it’s mascarpone cheese and espresso mix, we wondered if this version would make itself stand out.  The shell was crisp, but not as dense or chewy as the others.  It really did remind us of a ladyfinger, which is traditionally used for the dish.  The mascarpone was light and the macaroon wasn’t overly sweet.  The espresso flavor was evident throughout, however the cognac flavor, which is mentioned on their website as part of their flavor profile was not evident.

Lastly, our wild card, the rosemary & olive oil macaroon.  Understanding the traditional use of these two flavor profile, found mainly in savory dishes, it was surprising to see it available as a desert, and we are very happy they did.  The rosemary infused olive oil in the ganache was subtle, but pronounced enough to know distinguish itself in the macaroon.   The macaroon itself, just like most of it’s predecessors today was chewy and dense, with a hard shell.  Flavor is actually rather pleasing and it wasn’t overly sweet.

After taking down most of the five offerings, we say “buy some more”.  We love the fact that they aren’t overly sweet nor overly dense, but just enough of both to keep you satisfied.  If you’re not in New York to try out Macaron Parlour Patisserie‘s wares, you can purchase from them online.

They, and the rest of the food vendors at Urban Space NYC (Garment District) will be on Broadway between 38th and 41st streets from now until June 14th, 2015.