Bao Tea House Chocolate Milk Bao: This is a special at Bao Tea House in the West Village that will be added to the full menu soon (in that way, it’s more of a preview than a special). Ordered in sets of two, the chocolate baos are coated in melted milk chocolate and slices almonds, with chocolate chips and a cream filling. I’m not a very big chocolate fan, so this wasn’t really a dessert for me, but texturally I liked the combination of crunchy and soft. The cream filling was a bit overwhelming though; it felt more like calo... (read more) 3.0/5.0
manhattan nyc desserts sweets baoteahouse chocolate milk bao 3.0
Mango Mango Mango Sampler: Purchased from the St. Mark's location of asian-dessert-chain Mango Mango, this platter contains a sampling of three different desserts. The first was starchy and slightly too firm glutinous rice balls paired with fresh mango fruit (the latter of which was ripe and sweet). The next was lychee jelly (very sweet and similar to the type you would expect to be at the bottom of a bubble tea) and a scoop of mango ice cream, which was a tad creamy and did not tasting distinctively of mango. The ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Bonsai Kakigori Coconut Lime Crunch Kakigori: Located in the back of Canal Street Market, Bonsai Kakigori serves freshly-shaved Japanese ice desserts. Similar to Korean bingsu, the shaved ice has a fluffy consistency that's much lighter than Italian ice. At Bonsai, the shaved ice is piled high and served with a generous number of toppings. The Coconut Lime Crunch flavor had a coconut foam topping, toasted coconut flakes, lime zest, and toasted peanuts. Equal parts crunchy, creamy, and citrusy, it was well balanced and a treat to sha... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts nyc japanese lime bonsaikakigori coconut crunch kakigori 3.5
Meet Fresh Sweet Potato Tofu Pudding: Meet Fresh is a sweets shop from Taiwan serving a variety of hot and cold desserts combining classic toppings such as mung bean, taro, and barley, along with glutinous rice balls, boba, and other chewy treats. Their first New York City location is around the corner from Cooper Union. I ordered the chilled version of their tofu pudding with sweet potato, which came with a small mound of ice, all swimming in a lightly-sweetened honey water. The sweet potatoes came in homely, large chunks, a... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Snowdays Creamsicle shaved ice with coconut ash condensed milk: A collaboration between Korean fast-casual chain Korilla and Taiwanese shaved ice shop Snowdays, this dessert combines orange creamsicle shaved ice with a drizzle of black charcoal-colored condensed milk, giving it the appearance of Korilla's tiger mascot. Available exclusively at the Korilla stand at Madison Square Eats, a single-size container costs around $7, which is quite expensive but can also easily be shared among a small family. Overall, the dessert is not bad; the milky coconut p... (read more) 3.0/5.0
desserts shavedice taiwanese nyc korilla collab snowdays creamsicle shaved ice coconut ash condensed milk 3.0
MItchell's Avocado and Lucuma Ice Cream: My quest to try every major ice cream shop in San Francisco has perhaps come to completion now that I've finally stopped by Mitchell's. Located about a 10 minute walk from the 24th Street BART station, Mitchell's has been serving San Franciscans for over 50 years, with a menu of classic flavors as well as exotic tropical fruits. Asian flavors skew Filipino, with ube, halo-halo, macapuno (young coconut), and lacuma, the last of which I was excited to try for the first time. I purchased a s... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream sanfrancisco sweets desserts mitchells avocado lucuma ice cream 3.5