Tenjin Daimaru Ardeur

Tenjin Daimaru Ardeur Macarons

The second basement (B2) of Daimaru is similar to many department store basements in Japan - there's a food area. I wandered into the basement of Daimaru from the Chikagai and scouted around for free samples and views of pretty cakes. There are a couple high end bakeries and some really nice sweets for sale. I got to sample a peach flavored macaron from Ardeur that was awesome, but wasn't heading home for hours, so decided to avoid buying any at the time. The next time I had the chance to stop there, I wanted to buy a couple macarons to share before heading home. This time there was a sample of a green tea macaron (only one of my favorite flavors). I got one of those and a yuzu flavored one, at 162yen each. They come packaged in plastic and are placed into a paper bag with a tiny ice pack. I was informed that there was a chocolate macaron with some damage that would get included in there too, which I was of course happy about. Upon arriving at home and putting the macarons in the fridge for later, I noticed not only one damaged macaron, but three were included! (The shop keeper probably said that, but I didn't realize it.) So we got free chocolate, strawberry, and maple macarons with a little bump in them, not a big deal. I guess they would be used for samples normally but maybe because it was close to closing time the shop keeper was really generous. Ardeur is just a tiny booth in the Western sweets section so there isn't anywhere to sit and eat, as items sold are mostly for gifts.It's easy to find from the Chikagai or near the subway side of the Fukuoka Tenjin station. After entering from the Chikuagai (already on the B2 Floor), you'll pass two bakery shops on the left and some cake shops on the right, and the Ardeur shop is on the left side. The price was not bad at all although the macarons are obviously made elsewhere and I'm not sure how fresh they are. Quite tasty but on the sweet side for me so they need to be enjoyed with some black coffee. Pleasantly surprised about the freebies included this time.