&pizza Rose and champagne cotton candy: This is a 2-serving-size cotton candy snack from &Pizza, available in two different flavors: rose and champagne. They taste slightly different from one another, but neither are particularly close to their intended flavor—the Rose is more mild than the champagne, but both taste of pure sugar. Not particularly distinguishable from standard carnival cotton candy. Expensive, at $5 each. 2.5/5.0
sugar dessert pizza rose champagne cotton candy 2.5
Utopia Bagels Mini Everything Bagel with Lox Spread: I never once had a decent bagel when I lived in the Bay Area, so I'm relieved to now have an abundance of options back in NYC. One popular bagel shop I had yet to try was Utopia Bagels, located all the way in Whitestone Queens. Arriving at around 11:30am, the queue to order snaked around the entryway, and for a New York institution, the pace was extremely slow; from getting in line to leaving with food in-hand took about 45 minutes. Not being too hungry, I ordered their snackable mini bag... (read more) 2.5/5.0
bagels nyc bread lox creamcheese queens utopiabagels mini everything bagel spread 2.5
Van Leeuwen Passion fruit ice cream: I ginormous scoop of ice cream so large that it took multiple tries to balance it on a cone. What struck me about this ice cream shop was the strong buttery smell upon entering. I personally prefer lighter, more subtle flavors and found the richness of the passion fruit ice cream to be somewhat overwhelming. Mixed in with the ice cream were oddly dry pieces of cake - what they had to do with passion fruit ice cream I’ll never know. Expensive at almost $6 a scoop. They also don’t mix two flav... (read more) 2.5/5.0
nyc icecream dessert vanleeuwen passion fruit ice cream 2.5
Befco Scallop bakauke rice crackers: Shaped like mini boomerangs, these individually wrapped pairs of Japanese rice crackers come in a variety of flavors. This time, I purchased their scallop version from Sunrise Market in NYC, which was about $0.25 more expensive than their classic soy variety. The scallop crackers have a very strong salty and briny flavor that I wouldn’t necessarily identify with scallop but tastes of seafood more generally. It has a strong odor I couldn’t quite place until I suddenly realized they smelled ki... (read more) 2.5/5.0
japanese befco scallop bakauke rice crackers 2.5 Sunrisemart
The Donut Pub Blueberry donut: This 24/7 West Village donut shop has been open for over 50 years. I asked what the least sweet options were which led me to purchase this blueberry cake donut. I’m used to fried donuts with a light and fluffy consistency - their cake donuts are pretty much the exact opposite. Crumbly and a tad dry, the blueberry flavor was decent nonetheless, and it wasn’t too sweet. It reminded me of a less sweet version of blueberry flavored muffins I had growing up from Costco. I would say Donut Pub is a... (read more) 2.5/5.0
dessert nyc thedonutpub blueberry 2.5 donut
Lundberg White cheddar & jalapeño baked grain bites: I know Lundbergh from their rice crackers, but this is the first time I’ve seen a snack from them that’s shelved outside of the health food aisle. Baked puffed “grain bites” have a bit of heat but largely taste imbalanced, with a white cheddar flavor that doesn’t quite mix with the brown rice taste. Crispy snack is reminiscent of chicharrones, but lighter and of course without meat. 2.5/5.0
organic lundberg white cheddar jalapeño baked grain bites 2.5