Hot Crush
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur
Jason's verdict
- Stops
- 1
- Dishes
- 8
- Visits
- 2
The verdict
BolehJason tries all six macaron flavours plus two co-brew drinks at Hot Crush in Pavilion KL, where the queue is long even on a weekday. The cheese walnut macaron is the standout at a borderline 7/10, but most items land between 4.2 and 6.6, and the RM15 drinks taste like a basic RM6-7 Americano. His verdict: either price things about 40% cheaper or make the cream filling melimpah (overflowing).
Highlights
- Price: Drinks cost RM15 but taste like a RM6-7 Americano; reviewer repeatedly says the cream/filling doesn't justify the price
- Taste: Cheese walnut is the best — whipped, slightly sour cream cheese like Thousand Island with a crust that tastes like Honey Star; most other flavours are decent but under-filled
- Ambiance: Long queue even on a weekday inside Pavilion KL
- Other: The giant macaron sandwiches 'look like Subway'; he suggests they either cut prices ~40% or make the ingredients melimpah
Dishes tried
- Cheese Walnut MacaroonScore 7.0 out of 10
Borderline 7 — whipped cheese cream with a little sourness, raisin sweetness, walnut crunch and a crust that tastes like Honey Star
- Pink Guava Cream MacaroonScore 6.5 out of 10
Playful, not too sweet with lots going on, but needs more pink guava to justify the price
- Pistachio Co-BrewScore 5.0 out of 10
Very watery with barely any pistachio — inside it's really just a 6-7 ringgit Americano
- Rich Dark Chocolate Hazelnut MacaroonScore 6.6 out of 10
Like Ferrero Rocher in bread with the same nuttiness, but no bitterness from dark chocolate despite the name
- Iranian Pistachio Walnut MacaroonScore 4.2 out of 10
Cream is so light it's indistinguishable, with an odd umami/seaweed-y note — the weakest of the lot
- Chocolate Co-BrewScore 5.0 out of 10
Refreshing but not RM15 refreshing — like someone sprinkled Cocoa Crunch on an Americano with creamer
- French Strawberry Cream MacaroonScore 5.5 out of 10
Strawberries are fresh and more sweet than sour, but he'd rather just buy real strawberries; tastes like strawberry yogurt with freeze-dried crumbs
- French Shine Muscat Jasmine MacaroonScore 6.5 out of 10
Best decorated, with light milky jasmine-tea whipped cream and fresh muscat, but lacks the creamy full-bodied bite you're chasing
Full transcript541 words
They call this macaroon but it looks like Subway. The cheese cream is like... Wah, weekday queue is also so long. This time we're gonna have to try all 6 flavours. This is your hot crush again. Oh, this time I have a new one. Our cashier. I think it was you. Oh! The feeling is neutral. Cheese walnut macaroon. Cream check. Not as much as I'd hoped for this price. Very soft. I'm not getting the cream yet. It just feels very easy. Oh! This part of the sweetness comes from the raisin. The nuttiness from the soft crunch of the walnuts. It helps from the overall soft feeling of the bread. The cheese cream is like whipped cream. A little sourness. Similar to Thousand Island. The crust on the side, I kid you not, it tastes like honey star. This doesn't feel like macaron. Cream cheese is quite seductive. Borderline 7 for me. This is your pink guava cream hot crush. For this price, you need to put the cream inside also. Oh! What a playful pink guava. Still crunchy man. It's not that sweet. If it wasn't for all the flavours going on inside here, charcoal-looking bread has a little hunginess one. Sweet tooth will like this. Add more pink guava, then we're talking. 6.5. Pistachio co-brew. Mahanaman Pui! Do we have to expect drinks costing a proper full meal nowadays? Excuse me hot crush. Very watery. I'm not getting too much of the pistachio. Inside is really just 6-7 ringgit Americano. 5. Rich dark chocolate hazelnut. Hot crush, can you make your cream melimpah a bit for this price? This feels like you're eating a classic chocolate soft cookie. Bottom here, they put some, I guess, chocolate chips, something. Oven bakar a bit. This is Ferrero Rocher in bread. It's got the same nuttiness. Unlike the name, it doesn't have any bitterness from dark chocolate. 6.6. Iranian pistachio walnut. What does it feel like sweet chayah instead? A little bit of umami, seaweed-y-ness. But the cream is so light and indistinguishable to anything. 4.2. Chocolate co-brew. I mean it's refreshing, but is it 15 ringgit refreshing? Probably not. It feels like someone scrunched up Cocoa Crunch, sprinkled at the top of your Americano, added some creamer. That's it. I think this drink is missing two words in the start. Barely any. 5. This is the French strawberry cream. Ter paling mahal nak ma betui. This better minimum be Cameron Highland strawberry. Strawberry still feels fresh. It's more sweet than sour, thankfully. I'd rather buy real strawberries and just eat like that. It feels like strawberry yogurt because they also put these freeze-dried crumbs. Very very mint. 5.5. Oui oui. Omelette du fromage. This is called the French shine muscat jasmine. Why does this one have more decoration? I like the whipped cream. It's light. You can clearly taste the milkiness. Yeah there's tea flavour on the whipped cream. I like that. Muscat is fresh. Sandwich between these macarons. It's not giving you that creamy full-bodied bite that you're chasing for. Super Brady. Other than that it's decent. For me two things. Either they price this at least 40% cheaper or they make the ingredients inside Malimpa. 6.5.
More visits to Hot Crush
Every time Jason has stopped here.
RM15-20 · Cheese Walnut Macaroon