Snowdays Ube shaved ice: Taiwanese shaved ice in a classic ube flavor is true to the sweet, earthy flavor of the vegetable. Texture is close to snow - fluffy and light, yet a bit more dense and clumped together at the bottom of the large cup, even for the smallest possible size. Purchased from the East Village location of chain Snowdays. 3.0/5.0
nyc dessert icecream snowdays shaved ice 3.0 ube
Ling Kee Beef Jerky: Around the corner from the East Broadway subway stop on the edge of Manhattan's Chinatown is a small shop called Ling Kee Beef Jerkey (sic). The shop sells pork, chicken, and beef jerky by 1/4, 1/2, or lb sizes, each laid out in stacks under a bright heatlamp. The shop specializes in Malaysian Jerky, which I hadn't had before but remind me a lot of Taiwanese beef jerky, which is nothing like American packaged jerky. Typically, asian jerky is moist, with a glistening, sweet glaze rather th... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional nyc jerky manhattan chinatown malaysian beefjerky meat lingkee beef 4.5
Culture Plain frozen yogurt with pumpkin cheesecake topping : The pumpkin cheesecake topping at Culture, a yogurt chain in NYC, features cubes of pumpkin-flavored cheesecake and a drizzle of pumpkin syrup / caramel. The cheesecake pieces were well spiced, and the syrup was rich but not too sweet. My favorite part was the plain frozen yogurt, though, which is always smooth, tart, and creamy. 3.5/5.0
recommended froyo nyc dessert culture plain frozen yogurt pumpkin cheesecake topping 3.5
Ice & Vice Nankhatai n' cream ice cream : Ice & Vice currently has a variety of Cookies and Cream riffs, ranging from sweet potato and sesame to tomatillo and blue corn. The version I ordered combines chai with bits of pistachio cardamom cookie. The single scoop was pricy, but the portion was generous. It has a smooth consistency with a concentrated spiced flavor that worked really well together. I did find it to be overly rich, and that combined with the large portion size made it feel a bit samey as I was reaching the end, so I wo... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream nyc dessert chai pistachio icevice nankhatai n' cream ice 3.5
Nature's Soy Black sesame soy milk: I love Asian soy milk, which tends to be a lot less sweet and taste of actual soybeans/tofu compared to American soymilk (there's a very good chapter on this in the book Organic inc.), so when I went to Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown NYC, I checked out the refrigerated, fresh soy milk options. This brand happened to have black sesame and matcha soymilk, two of my favorite flavors. Since the half gallons we're quite large and black sesame is a bit more unqiue for this category, I purchase... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended soymilk asian chinese nyc hongkongsupermarket drinks naturessoy black sesame soy milk 4.0
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory Ginger and Black Sesame Ice Cream: I finally made it to Chinatown Ice Cream factory, a shoebox-sized shop that specializes in Asian flavored ice cream like durian and Thai iced tea. It reminds me of Garden Creamery in SF in terms of selection. The ginger ice cream was impressively smooth and had a pleasant ginger flavor, though I personally would prefer it to be spicier and less sweet. The flavor of the black sesame ice cream was very special - quite savory, and sprinkled with real black sesame seeds, it was nutty and not t... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream nyc blacksesame dessert chinatownicecreamfactory ginger black sesame ice cream 3.5