Iris T.

I love French macarons and though I'm not an expert, I've tried my fair share and even attempted making my own. Almost every patisserie in Paris also offers macarons and I couldn't possibly try it every time I saw them (or at least it wouldn't be a good idea for my health or wallet in the long run) so I looked up some places to try. I heard of this place and decided that it would be great to try macarons in more unique flavors. Thankfully, the place was open in August (one of the other places I had planned to try was closed for the month for vacation and I was getting a bit despondent) and I walked in. The place looked pristine but it doesn't seem to be a sit-down place. They also serve beautiful looking patisseries and we ultimately decided upon the Black Sesame, Houjicha, and Wasabi. I got their matcha and red bean dessert (sorry, I forget the actual name and no photo because we took everything to-go and when we finally got a chance to eat it, it had fallen over and looked a little sad). There is a minimum €10 purchase for credit card; we were slightly short on cash so that's why we had an odd number of macarons (one was added last minute). We immediately tried the macarons as soon as we left the shop. I felt like a naughty kid savoring every morsel. I strangely liked wasabi a lot more than I thought I would; it wasn't overpowering at all. The Houjicha was a close second (or did it come first?) - the flavor was perfect and very much apparent. The black sesame was good too, but out of the three, it came in last - something about the texture? However, I did love all the macarons as a whole. Nothing was too sweet and the texture was good. We got to the pastry over an hour later, after strolling through Paris and found a Starbucks where we could enjoy food from other places while sitting down. As I said, it had fallen over and the cream wasn't as firm as before, though the cellophane held it together well enough. However, it was still very delicious. We had gotten it on the recommendation of the lady helping us (I was also considering "Bamboo") and I'm glad we did! The matcha flavor was beautiful and though I'm not too fond of beans in desserts, it was smooth and I actually liked it. I wish I could visit again to try more of their pastries and perhaps even macarons. They're not cheap (though the macarons are still cheaper than how much they run in the States), but worth it! The employees don't seem to know much English and I was trying to remember my Japanese (who knew I would need to know Japanese in France?), but it was still good and went smoothly. I just wish they had some seats so I could have enjoyed everything fresh!

Fitzwilliam D.

Strangely enough, Sadaharu Aoki reminds me of Goldman Sachs! Before anyone visualizes a place where people are angrily picketing outside (for being the poster child of what's wrong with the global economy), let me explain what I mean by that. Sadaharu Aoki has a fabulous brand name and reputation in the industry. Everyone who has dealt with it is in awe of its abilities and track record. But, what few people know is that it's not a fountain of ingenuity and creativity - instead, it has mastered the art of replicating a successful product. It's strength really is execution, as opposed to innovation. For seven years, my profile has had under 'My Last Meal On Earth': "Macarons & Pastries by Pierre Herme and Sadaharu Aoki" - That's been edited after my last trip to Paris, to include just one name... Is the patisserie still making efforts to innovate? Have I missed any developments with Aoki's life? Why have the bakery's Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts (in English) not been updated since October 2016? (Even the today's catalogue on the English website is as of December 2016). I hope, and pray, that all's well with him. But, even if he's doing well, I still worry that the silence on the social media accounts is part of a bigger picture: of the patisseries now being on auto-pilot... You're always safe in ordering anything at Sadaharu Aoki that features black sesame or Matcha (his sesame éclair and tarte caramel are masterpieces!). I ordered four macarons here in my last visit: Sesame, Hojaicha, Citron, and Rose. Rose was clearly the one I liked most - for the aromatics, not just the texture and taste. In the sables, I got the Diamants, which were competent, but lagged a superior version I'd had in Montreal (Maison Christian Faure). I also tried three different pastries, including the popular Bamboo. Cheese cake Citronne: Pate sucree, cream cheese, lemon cream, hazelnut crumble. Bamboo: light almond sponge cake, green tea cream, dark chocolate ganache, green tea punch. Ginza: almond biscuit, hibiscus cream, coulis of strawberry, raspberry, and currant. It's clear that in terms of design, chef Aoki prefers the spiral. It's there in his Ispahan equivalent: Symphonie (with earl grey crème brulee)... and, as one of the biggest fans of the movie Vertigo, I can understand why. But, as he says about his motto on everyday life after hearing someone say "Delicious!": "Good, but I can do even better!" Yes, you can! Master Patissier, Aoki. (4.5 stars)

Rob Y.

As part of our hunt for the best macarons in Paris, we were led to this place. We saw a stand at the Galleries de Lafayette and had read that they had the best ice cream sandwiches, but the stand told us that we would need to go to one of the shops to try it. We found the place and got ready for the double dip: macaron and ice cream sandwich. First off, the store is pretty small. Very clean decor with white display cases, it felt almost clinical/japanese. There were 2 japanese ladies who incidentally only spoke french and japanese. We were able to order 2 ice cream sandwiches (chocolate and sesame) as well as a few macarons. The macarons were good. very good...but not as good as la duree. It just seems like there's something missing. The cookies weren't as light and the filling not as good as the one from la duree, but it was also slightly cheaper. Overall, it was the 2nd best one we had on our trip. Now the ice cream sandwiches are for real. The chocolate wasn't this uber rich/dense ice cream. it was light and refreshing and the actual sandwich was delicious. The sesame one was very subtle on flavor. both were definite winners. I'd return here just for the ice cream sandwiches. can't really lose with those...

Eileen C.

This place is really hit or miss. First of all, the treats are expensive for how small they are. I live really close to this place and have tried all of their staple pastries. The treats aren't consistent. Sometimes the Yuzu is too sour, sometimes the matcha is so strong it's nauseating. I'm not the biggest fan of their Eclairs because they taste strange with a Barley & green tea eclair and then the black sesame eclair. Their chocolate fondant is good but you could get it anywhere. Their matcha and caramel tarte is the best thing on this planet. They have limited quantities so go early if you want dibs on the good stuff. They have a glass case wth pastures and a wall of packaged breads, jams, and cookies. They also sell a jar of macarons without the filling which is interesting. Quality here is much higher than Aki Boulanger in the Opera area. They don't allow photographs inside the bakery which is heinous considering we are in Paris where almost everyone has a camera on them. But what is nice is that they tape down your treats to the box so there is very little damage done on the transport home. They also taste quite good the next day which I can't say for most pastry shops!!!

Valentina D.

HOLY JESUS - It's official: this is one of my new favorite patisseries! Sadaharu Aoki is a Japanese patissier who has made it in the French pastry world big time - and it's obvious why. His macarons were perfect; everything you could possibly want in a macaron. There are loads of strange flavors and I wanted to try them all but we stuck to matcha, yuzu, black sesame and wasabi. I would never had tried the wasabi but my friend Kady asked for it so I went along... it ended up being one of our favorites! Then again, I'm not sure we were able to pick a definite favorite. They were all so good. I'm not big into fruity flavors in macarons but the citrus yuzu macaron was to die for. So much better than any other lemon macaron I've tried. I cannot recommend these macarons enough! Another day, we shared a matcha almond croissant.... HOLY C**P - so incredible. Every day since, I've tried to get myself to wake up early and go get one for breakfast again... On the downside, I don't recommend the euro 'maquillage' chocolates. I got one that was matcha flavored just to see what it tasted like. Honestly, nothing special about it. We also tried a pink round pastry (with earl grey and something else...) that was good but veeeery sweet. A bit too sweet in my opinion. Stick to the macarons and maybe try a pastry or two. and the croissant!

Rita Y.

After visiting all the other pastry shops in the area (Pierre Herme, Laduree, etc) I've come to the conclusion that Sadaharu Aoki was my favorite place to go for cakes. I love the clean look of the shop as well as all the beautifully placed good. The different varietys of Asian flavored treats are amazing as well! I bought several of the more interesting Asian flavored Macarons - Hochi Matcha, Wasabi, Seasame, Yuzu. I didn't find any of the flavors particularily interesting though. To be honest most of the flavors were relatively weak and I could barely taste the supposed flavor. However this place was one of the cheapest place to buy macarons as it was only 1.40 euros for one The cakes on the other hand were my favorite. I would recommend the Bamboo (about a matcha flavor), Chocolate, and Strawberry. The Black Seasame wasn't that great. The crust of seasame felt too much and tasted too dry with the combination of the frosting.

Katelyn T.

This place was super quaint! If you're on the way to the Eiffel Tower, drop by for some sweet treats. First of all, I am a matcha fanatic and their matcha cream puffs were on point! The matcha cream was delicious, not too sweet and just had the perfect amount of matcha mixed in. Their macaron flavors were unique, such as yuzu hojicha, and black sesame. Oh of course, they had matcha macaron as well. Highly recommend a little visit! I enjoyed my matcha cream puff while soaking in the sunshine in front of the Eiffel Tower, sort of melted and all after a million selfies.

Lila H.

Amazing little pastry shop. Glad my hotel was near this place. The Japanese flavored macarons here tasted so good. I actaully like these macarons better than Laduree. The workers arent the friendliest but that's my only complaint.

Stephanie C.

Asian twist on French classics; what more could you ask for? The store is almost uncomfortably pristine (I usually prefer the slightly more hole-in-the-wall neighborhood patisserie feeling, but I wouldn't have expected anything else from a shop so recommended) but beautiful nonetheless. After much serious deliberation, I decided to go with the Matcha Choux (Chou Mâcha). Even after an hour of shopping and torrenting rain, my choux remained perfectly packaged when I arrived home. The cream had a very distinct, strong matcha flavor that was the perfect consistency--thick enough that the pastry was surprisingly heavy but light enough that it felt like whipped cream--and the choux bun was perfect and tasted very fresh. Overall, perfect when I want a French pastry with a twist. Definitely want to go back to try the Napoléon (mille-feuille) and chocolates (beautiful display)!

Desiree L.

Love the macarons here! They offer very unique flavors. My favorites are the yuzu and genmaicha macarons.

Sally Z.

Sadaharu has very unique desserts inspired by Japanese flavors. I got the matcha croissant, genmaicha and hojicha macarons. The croissant was definitely my favorite, but I wish the matcha flavor was stronger. The two macarons were good as well, but a bit on the sweeter side which I didn't prefer especially since they were tea macarons. Overall, this place is more unique than most pâtisseries and I would definitely recommend trying it out!