FRANCES

REPORT #20

404 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213)680-4899

Mon - Fri:  7:30am - 7pm

Sat: 8:30am - 7pm

Sun: Closed

Private Lot or Street Parking

Frances is a cake shop located in Little Tokyo, and it is very much a Japanese-American-run establishment. There are short cakes, green tea cakes, mousses, mont blanc, and many other cakes that you would find in a Japanese bakery.  What makes this shop also very Japanese to me is how each item in the house is carefully packaged.  You can't get any more Japanese than this.

I usually judge a book by its cover, and for this case, that is exactly what happened.  The macarons did not all look prim and perfect, nor did the colors look oh so exciting.  There were more than half a dozen to try, and all looked very simple and average and the price was $1.85 each.  Nevertheless, I asked for a few of these, and the lady packaged it in a cute small plastic package that was machine sealed, and was tied up with a ribbon, without asking.  It was a nice gesture.  And little did I know, these macarons were soon to be discovered as the best ones on my list.

OVERALL:

• about 1½" in diameter
• aromatic and subtle flavors
• gift wrapped at no cost
  

DETAILS: 
MINT

Mint cream colored puffy exterior has a nice crunch, a bit of an air pocket, but it's moist and slightly chewy inside.  The filling is a sweet cream with a hint of peppermint.

RAISIN

White outer layer has a slight crunch and a moist and chewy inside.  The cream is milky, like condensed cream and has a raisin.

MATCHA

The light olive green colored shell has a crunch, a nice chew and is moist.  The cream is very milky with a flavor of green tea latte.

CONCLUSION:

Each macaron had a nice crisp outer, full inside, rich in flavor, and had a great balance of the outer & filling.  It was such a surprise to be able to try such delicious macarons here in the middle of Little Tokyo, in a very humble cake shop.