::Nanuenymous::

Hi
I'm off by a week. Forgive me.

I blab a little (or a lot actually) on Twitter, promising myself to 'blog up a feast' immediately after I reach 10 pages of my report. Alhamdulillah I shot the target and here I am devoting a small chunk of my time to talk about something I love. Something we all love, but please, the Obese gang shall refrain themselves from these 'evil' specimens. Ooops.

No I did not just discriminate.
So yes, food.
One of the many reasons I love Ottawa is the food galore. We have some of country's finest here or at least, the food here are definitely up to my personal par. But that could possibly be under two concrete reasons, though. First, I didn't have adventurous appetite when I was in Malaysia so I didn't try many international food, because I tend to opt for the fusion ones instead of the authentic ones. So basically, all the authentic food I had here were my first. These food set up the benchmark for the coming food I'm about to try so that's why I think Ottawa has some of the best food out there. So far, I've tried Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, American, Mexican, Sri Lankan, South Asians, Seafood, Diners', French cuisine, Lebanese, Somalian, just to name a few. After being here for quite a while, my tummy started to adapt to these varieties of food from all around the world and I found myself enjoying the taste and the unique differences they carry. In Ottawa, we have just about everything. Provided if you have the money. I always picked fusions because I wasn't sure of the fulfilling-ness that other entrees (besides rice) would serve. So, it took me 18 years (the age I came here) to convince myself that mashed potato is just as satisfying as rice. Eversince, we started to stay away from rice as much as we could when we're eating out.
So from now on, if I have the money and time, I plan to do some overviews of the restaurants that I went to, here in Ottawa or anywhere else. Because I love food and I love sharing it with you :)

So yes, today I actually plan to show you one of Ottawa's most treasured findings. Macarons at The French Baker, Murray St. First I'd like to clarify one thing about the spelling of macarons. I see a lot of people spell macarons as macaroons. Well, it is suppose to be spelled as macarons, and not macaroons because that's how the French spell it. Also, macaroons are these coconutty pastries that taste horrible because I bought it once at a local store because I was deceived by the tempting look. Maybe I got the bad batch but I regretted the purchase. So yeah, French people spell it as macarons and not macaroons. OK?
So. The other day, Aini texted me before my lunch hour, asking me if I want to tag along, to her search of the best macarons in town. She told me it's at The French Baker, not too far from Carleton. I was reluctant at first but then I thought that wouldn't steal much of my lunch time so I agreed. Just a lil trivia: French people make the best macarons in the world because duuuhhh, it's their food.

OK. While I know the macarons me and Aini were about to have wouldn't come as close as the ones in Laduree, Paris, I knew I was going to have myself amazed at the taste of it so I had high expectations before we stepped in the store. Aini did a lil bit of research beforehand and some reviews said that on certain days, customers had to call the baker first before they got them in store because it's that famous you might miss it. But we tried our luck and alhamdulillah there were about 5 left on the counter, and they were all chocolates and hazelnuts. The cafe looked hideous from the outside but we were enthralled by the panoply of cakes and numerous other sweet cakes and pastries (which of course scream calories) they offer inside. It's true that they don't have that typical, luxurious pretty Parisian tearoom setting but the white-ish interial decor gave the petit bakery the ambiance of cleanliness and that added indie feeling to it is to me, very pleasant. One thing pissed me off though; the not-so-friendly girl that ran the counter. The owner needs too hire you, my awesome friends instead.

Aini bought 4 macarons and I settled for a piece of chocolate macaron and a caramel truffle. The taste? UH-MAZING. It was so good, it had me coming again for another treat a couple of days after (Aini doesn't know this hehe), just to have a taste of their ever famous pistachio macaron because they ran out the first time we're there. On my second visit, I walked off with a raspberry, a pistachio and a chocolate. I can still recall that very moment I bit the pistachio piece, that second I thought: I would never disappoint myself everytime leave the premise. The crunchy outside, combined with the tender inside created this divine piece of mini darling that I so love :) My favourite is pistachio :)


The price, however, is a lil bit on the pricey side so this shall never be your (or my) weekly treat. This shall be a monthly treat.

If you ever plan to come to Ottawa, don't hesitate to give me a call. I'll arrange a perfect day out with you to some fabulous stops this city has to offer, food-wise.

I wrote this all in 20minutes. Wow.