The great Melbourne Macaron Chase: part 3

In my research for my Melbourne trip, I stumbled across our next and final stop on the great Melbourne Macaron chase: La Belle Miette. Recommended by numerous blogs around the traps, it was high up on my list of things to do while we were in town. On Thursday morning I made a brief trip into town to collect macarons from Cacao for morning tea and La Belle Miette for a gift for a dear friend, the lovely Mummy from Homemade Heart. The macarons come in such beautiful gift boxes it's just hard to pass them up as a sweet and simple hostess gift. Very Laduree.


I arrived shortly after opening (10am) because I wanted to get a large selection of flavours for both myself and The Mummy. The shop is on Hardware Lane and is very reminiscent of a gorgeous Parisian boutique, decorated in gorgeous icy mint and pastels. The decor is very soothing and pretty.

How pretty are the gift boxes?

They had 15 flavours to select from and their beautiful gift boxes hold 12 which is a nice number for a gift. The flavours currently on sale include 72% Cocoa Single Origin Chocolate (Venezuela),‘Bastille’ – Moet et Chandon and Blackcurrant, Caramel a la Fleur de Sel, Cherry Blossom & Sake, Hazelnut Belle Miette, Lemon, Mariage freres earl grey tea, Olive Oil & Vanilla, Pimm’s & Pomegranate, Pink Grapefruit, Pistachio, Raspberry, Rose, Strawberry & Vanilla and Violet & Blueberry. They also have Ginger & Macadamia which is currently unavailable. I love that the flavours are mostly traditional or have traditional leanings.


The feet on these marvellous beauties are consistent and ruffled, the contrast between biscuit and filling is absolutely perfect for me. They were easily the best of the macarons we tried in Melbourne and were just as good the following few days.

In terms of flavours, all were fabulous but there were some definite stand outs.

The Caramel a la Fleur de Sel is the best of that variety I have ever had. Ever. Fabulous balance of salt and sweet and the sticky unctuousness of the filling is absolute perfection.

The raspberry is like a mouth explosion - the delicate zingy fruitiness is so sublime it defies description.

The chocolate (72% Cocoa Single Origin Chocolate from Venezuela) is like the best chocolate brownie you have ever eaten. The bitterness of the chocolate is a perfect foil for the sweetness of the almondy macaron shell.

The Mariage Freres earl grey tea is sublime - the contrast of the floral tea flavour and the chocolate ganache filling is fabulous.

The Hazelnut Belle Miette is sweet and rich and redolent of nutty goodness. It does remind me of nutella but in a very, very good way. Delish.

The lemon is sherbetty, light and fresh and the Bastille is just gorgeous - the contrast between the Chandon and the blackcurrant is beautiful.

The other flavours are all good, but these were the ones that stood out to me as being the best of the best. I thought La Belle Miette had such good macarons that we went back on Saturday morning and I bought more. More!! Fabulous.

La Belle Miette is located at 30 Hardware Lane, Melbourne, just around the corner from Bourke Street. It opens at 10am Monday to Saturday and closes at 6pm Monday to Friday and 4pm on Saturday or until the macarons run out.

Kitty