My Sweet Sweet Bella What Happened!?

There came a time when I went to Burgos Circle every weekend to buy a piece of rose flavored macaron. It was a time when the place was fairly new and the milktea craze was still on a high. I'd go for a pair or three of Sweet Bella's luscious french macarons whenever the line a Serenitea was far too long for my patience. It was my go-to place on that side of the Fort since other restos are more "restaurant-like" than a cafe. 




Those macarons were hands-down my favorite. It was small, packed with a well-balanced flavor, and crumbles only in your mouth. I remember unconsciously closing my eyes in bliss whenever I took those first bite. The rose flavor was my favorite as it has the subtle taste that only whiffs down your tongue and up your nose like perfume, only better since you can eat it. Other flavors were also delightfully fragrant as you can taste the essences of such from their basic lemon or coffee flavors to their more interesting passion fruit and then-not-so-common salted caramel macaron. It was something beautiful to look forward to every weekend. The habit eventually stopped when new dessert places opened and my attention was caught in pandemonium and I ended up taking for granted what once was a weekly ritual. 

It wasn't until a few days ago when I passed by their shop at Greenbelt 5 and my friend suddenly yelled pointing,

"Ahhhh! Sweet Bella! Ahhhh! Macarons!"

I looked at the empty space (it was 11am and a Sunday) and saw the macarons behind the glass a lot different from when I last saw them. They were bigger and darker in color...two things that make me back away from trying a macaron. I've fallen for large-dull colored macarons more than twice concluding me to believe that through those macarons I now know what chalk tastes like. But despite those visual warnings, I tried to prove my impression wrong and regretted that I ever did.

Now, the macarons costs Php60 which is 10 pesos more than when I liked it. Now, I find the macarons overpriced simply because the quality was compromised...it looks unappealing as it tastes. I picked up the macaron and immediately it crushed under my fingers, crumbling down to dirty my table. I took a bite and there was a lot of air in those things. The taste that I once loved so much has been degraded into a commercialized version, turning me off at every bite. I opened the cookie and saw this dab of filling, as small as a ten centavo cream smudged down the center. It was awful and I'm not coming back until I see those macarons back to their former glory. Sweet Bella, you've turned into a Dulcinea. Disappointing.

I hope the rain shall soon pass.