Ando Patisserie

I have a New York based friend and coworker who loves baked goods, and Asian flavors, as much as I do.  We regularly drool over places together. One place she's been wanting to get more goodies from is Ando Patisserie, a pretty pricey option, for fancy Asian desserts.  She previously had a few things at a party once, and has wanted to go back since.  So when we had some budget left over for a team event, it was no question where we were ordering from.  Ando Patisserie, as we are both too frugal to pay these prices normally ...

"Classic french patisserie twisted with asian flavors and ingredients. The one and only in New York city."

Ando has an interesting space in the market, with a classically French trained pastry chef, who focuses on Asian flavors and ingredients (including, yep, taro, durian, pandan, and the like).  Nearly the whole menu sounds pretty amazing to me. We ordered a variety of items, hitting all areas of the menu.

Earl Grey Portuguese Custard Tart.
$12 ($15 DD). Only sold in pairs.

"Custard Infused With Earl Grey Tea, Boba Marinated In Brown Sugar, Cocoa Powder."

We didn't actually order these initially, but one item we ordered was out of stock, so we subbed this in instead.  I'm not someone who really cares for black tea, so this wasn't exciting to me, but the boba topping was certainly unique in this application.

These weren't great.  The tart shell was fairly standard, slightly flaky, relatively fresh.  As I sorta expected, the earl grey flavor wasn't compelling to me, and it was more of a pudding than a custard really.  I had Lelecha egg custard tarts (for the second time) the next day, and those were just on an entire different plane of existence than these.  The boba, while novel, were kinda hard and didn't seem particularly fresh.

So overall, meh for me.  Low 3/5, maybe even lower.  My least favorite item we got.  Not sure why they are only sold as a pair.

Durian Parfait. $18 ($22.50 DD).

"Layers Of Durian Fruit, Durian Custard, Chiffon Cake; Topped With Fresh Cream & Soybean Powder."

Ah, yes, durian.  My friend was even more excited than me to get this.

It was good, although not anything more than the sum of its parts: light chiffon cake, lots of cream, durian.  It had just a bit of funk, legit durian, but not over the top in your face stinky.  A nice intro level durian treat.  Not too sweet.  The soybean powder on top made it more savory too.

I enjoyed watching another co-worker, who had not previously experienced durian, try this.  His face was more of confusion than repulsion, which I think is more of a testament to how mild this was, than his tolerating legit durian.

If you want durian and cream, in a not-too-sweet, not-too-intense way, get this.  3.5/5.  My third favorite item we tried.

Taro & Mochi Parfait. $15 ($18.75 DD)

"Layers Of Taro Paste, Fresh Cream, Chiffon Cake, Mochi Topped With Fluffy Pulled Ham, Nori Flakes, and Remoulade Drizzle. "

Far more exciting for me was the taro & mochi parfait.  I love taro (hence the label on my blog), but even more, I ADORE pork floss, and of course I was excited for nori and remoulade.  This one I can imagine really turning some people off, as it is confusingly sweet-savory, but I really liked it.  

Creamy taro, decent taro flavor, but not super strong.  Gooey sticky mochi that made it a bit hard to eat, but was great texture.  Mmmmm, pork floss.  Meh boring chiffon cake.  Another not very sweet item, and one I think made a good snack, but would be a bit odd for me as a dessert or as part of a meal, as it really walked that sweet-savory line.  Also, the remoulade drizzle was so minimal it really had no impact on taste nor on adding a creamy element.

This too wasn't really greater than the sum of its very good parts though.  Good for a taro and pork floss craving, but not going to change your world. 3.5/5.  My second favorite item.

Black Sesame Lava Cream Crepes Roll.
$18.00 ($22.50 on DoorDash).

"Black Sesame Cream Wrapped in Layers Of Crepes With A Black Sesame Lava Center; Topped With Soybean Powder."

This one was my request, and I enjoyed it the most.

Lots of flavorful black sesame cream.  Thin delicate crepes.  Again, not overwhelmingly sweet.  A somewhat simple dessert, but just full of black sesame flavor, and I'm a sucker for cream, so, I liked this quite a bit.  4/5.  My favorite item.

Basque Combo. $36.

"Creamy, rich cheesecake with a caramelized top, perfect for a sweet indulgence."

And finally, the basque cheesecake.  The basque cheesecakes are available in several flavors, including original, matcha, thai tea, yuzu lemon, and gway hua oolong.  $15 each for a slice, $80 whole, or as we got it, $36 for a combo of small slices of 4 of their choice.  I'm not entirely sure what our 4 were, taking my best guesses, I think we had the original, thai tea, matcha, and oolong.

None of them seemed particularly basque style to me.  Yes, they had no crust, but they didn't have the gooey creamy center, and really just seemed like regular, crustless, cheesecake.  Barely scorched on top.  They came topped with some cream, pomegranate seeds, berries, and flowers, which I know was supposed to be a nice presentation, but the big leaf in particular was not practical in any way, not edible.  All had fairly mild flavors.

Pretty average, but pricey, cheesecakes.  My least favorite items, and really, I was grumpy at the promise of basque style not living up.  Low 3/5.