Ladurée Ginza (Tokyo) – Opulent French Cafe with Lovely Macarons and Pastries

After window shopping around Ginza (Tokyo) one night, the wife and I decided to take a break at Ladurée. This popular French pastry cafe is located on the second floor of Ginza Mitsukoshi mall. The pastries were very expensive, but the ambience and service were pretty good.

Ladurée

As many of you probably already know, Ladurée is a French cafe famous for its lovely macarons. The cafe also offers a variety of delicious pastries, sandwiches, and premium teas.

The history of this classic French cafe can be traced back to 1862, when it was founded as a bakery in Paris by Mr. Louis Ernest Ladurée.

During the late 19th century, French society starting becoming wealthier and more refined. Therefore, Ladurée was transformed into one of the first salon de thé (tea room) in Paris for rich Parisian women to relax and socialise.

In 2005, the cafe opened its first overseas branch in London. Since then, it has expanded rapidly across the world, with outlets in Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, Philippines, USA, and many other cities.

In 2008, Ladurée opened its first Japan branch in Tokyo at Ginza Mitsukoshi mall. Currently, it has a total of six branches in Japan, all located in Tokyo. We went to the Ginza branch.

As expected, Ladurée is really popular in Japan because the Japanese love French and New York pastries. Be prepared to queue if you visit during peak hours.

Posh Ambience and Great Service

I was really impressed with the posh ambience here.

The stylish cafe exudes a classy Parisian charm with its white marble tables and cushy suede chairs, complete with glittering chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

Looking around, I saw that the panelled walls were decorated with elegant motifs of French art and prints.

This is the definitely the place to go if you want to experience some French opulence.

We went to the cafe at around 8pm and it was quite empty. Therefore, we were able to get arguably the best seats in the cafe: a lovely “balcony” area overlooking the bustling Ginza cross-junction below.

Our seats were perfect for people-watching the busy shopping district of Ginza. We even spotted a fleet of mario karts racing through the streets!

I was also very pleased with the great service here. All the staff were extremely polite and attentive.

Menu

The Ladurée Ginza menu offers eight macaron flavours: Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Pistachio, Matcha, Rose, Raspberry, and Lemon. Two pieces cost JPY 736, while four pieces cost JPY 1472.

Pastries include the Plaisir Sucre (JPY 929) and Ladurée Fraise (JPY 1123).

There is also a selection of premium teas.

If you are coming in the afternoon, you can consider the Afternoon Tea Set for Two (JPY7,128). It includes juice, tea, and a selection of sandwiches, macarons and pastries.

As you can tell the prices are quite expensive. And they do not include the 8% consumption tax yet.

Macarons

Since we were going to check out Buta-Daigaku later, the wife and I ordered just four macarons (JPY 1472) to share. For the flavours, I chose Chocolate and Pistachio, while the wife went with Lemon and Matcha.

I really liked the pistachio flavour, which had a distinctive sweet-musky flavour. The lemon macaron was delicious too. It had a sweet and slightly tangy taste that was quite refreshing.

Plaisir Sucre

We also shared the Plaisir Sucre (JPY 929), which is a gourmet dacquoise cake with layers of hazelnut, praline, milk chocolate, and chocolate whipped cream.

The lovely chocolate pastry turned into a pleasant mush in my mouth as I chewed, with the sweet delicate flavours of the chocolate and whipped cream punctuated by the crunch of lightly musky hazelnut and praline.

Both the wife and I really liked this delicious pastry. Even though it had very rich flavours, we did not find it overwhelming at all and finished the whole cake in a matter of minutes.

Conclusion

On the whole, we had a pleasant dining experience at Ladurée Ginza in Tokyo. It was a relatively expensive meal (JPY2400 for four macarons and one small pastry), but I guess the nice ambience, window seats, and great service made up for it.

Ladurée Ginza Salon de thé
What to Order: Macarons (2 for JPY 736, 4 for JPY 1472), Plaisir Sucre (JPY 929).
Opening Hours: Daily 10.30am to 10pm (last order 9pm)
Address: Ginza Mitsukoshi 2F, 4-6-16 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Directions: The cafe is on the second floor of Ginza Mitsukoshi, right outside exit A8 of Ginza Station.
Other branches: www.laduree.jp/#stores
Phone: +813 3563 2120

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