Elbow Bread Sweet Potato Pretzel: Straight from the oven, this sweet potato take on a classic pretzel was pretty much flawless – great amount of chew, just enough seasoning, and a subtle sweet, roasted flavor you're unlikely to find anywhere else. I love pretzels, and I'm pretty sure this is the best one I've ever had. New from Elbow Bakery at the border of Chinatown / LES. 5.0/5.0
exceptional nyc chinatown sweetpotato elbowbread sweet potato pretzel 5.0
Caffe Panna Peach Olive Oil Soft Serve: I had so heard so much about Caffe Panna, so I was excited to finally get a chance to try this popular ice cream shop started by Danny Meyer's daughter. The line took about 20 minutes to get through on a Sunday evening at the Gramercy location, and I opted for the soft serve with peach and an olive oil drizzle. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, it seemed to be already melting by the time it was handed to me, and once I found a bench 2 minutes later to sit and consume it, it was ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
softserve icecream nyc caffepanna peach olive oil soft serve 2.0
Bibble and Sip BBB Black Sesame Bun: I love pineapple buns, and this was an inventive reimagining of the classic pastry flavored with black sesame. The "pineapple" crust was less thick and crispy than traditional buns, giving it a more consistent but pleasant texture. Inside, the bread was black and contained a mixture of egg custard and black sesame filling. The bread itself was lightly sweetened, with most of the sweetness coming through in the egg custard filling which reminded me of salted egg yolk. It's all topped with a ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
pastries recommended blacksesame pineapplebun bibbleandsip bbb black sesame bun 3.5 nyc
Kam Hing Pandan Sponge Cake: Kam Hing offers ~half a dozen flavors of sponge cakes, and after working out of NYC for a couple weeks, I've sampled a good number of them including pandan, original, brown sugar tea, ube, coconut, and black sesame (to be fair, I also brought back a bunch of them to share with my parents at home). The first one I purchased was pandan, a spiky tropical fruit that looks like a cross between a pineapple and durian but has a milder flavor that belies its spiky exterior. Overall, it has a pleas... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended chinatown nyc kamhing pandan sponge cake 3.5
Kam Hing Jujube Tea: Kam Hing is a cash-only shop on Baxter in Chinatown that is known mostly for their $1 sponge cakes that come in a variety of flavors. To accompany my sponge cake (review forthcoming), I purchased an iced jujube tea, made to order with chopped up dried jujube dates on the bottom (a popular Chinese snack). The drink instantly brought me back to Taiwan, where I spent some summers in my childhood – the beverage tasted like sweetened honey water, and the beverage softened & hydrated the diced j... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks chinatown nyc kamhing jujube tea 4.0
Kopitiam Lychee Bandung: Kopitiam is everything I want in a restaurant – it's unfussy, always introduces me to new flavors, is dependably delicious, and a great value. And I love their drinks, which are always served in pouches. Their current seasonal drink consists of lychee and rose syrup, with a generous helping of whole pieces of lychee fruit. I'd normally find it a little too sweet, but with the extremely hot weather in NYC, it was the perfect thirst quencher. Its floral notes are present but not overly dom... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks nyc malaysian kopitiam lychee bandung 3.5