SMASHED NYC

Smash burgers aren't exactly a new thing, but I didn't encounter many prior to this summer when I moved to New York (granted, I hadn't really sought out any kind of burgers in many years, not singling out smash burgers).  Somehow though, along with pizza and bagels, I found myself consuming far more burgers since I moved, and smash burgers in particular.  I blame 7th Street Burger for giving out so many free burgers during the playoffs, and I got in on that freebie action.  After that crazy few weeks, I found myself actually craving burgers for the first time in decades (yes, my blog has a label just for burgers, because many, many years ago, as in, 20 years ago, I regularly lead a group of friends to get burgers every Tuesday night, and when I started blogging I still had some residual burgers adventures).

My burger quest lead me to SMASHED NYC, a small (4 restaurant) chain of fast casual burger restaurants in NY.  As you can guess, their main attraction is the smash burgers.  It was started during the pandemic, after the chef-owner closed his fine dining bistro.

Sides

SMASHED NYC has a decent number of sides, including of course the mandatory burger place staple of fries (to which you can add several seasonings, or get as chili cheese fries), smashed potatoes (sorta a signature thing, these also can turn into chili cheese smashed potatoes), sweet potato fries, onion rings, and mac and cheese.  I tried the smashed potatoes because I wanted to try their unique thing, and onion rings, as I adore those.

Smashed Potatoes. $9.

To go with your smashburger, of course you want your potatoes smashed too right?  I'll admit I was expecting something a bit more interesting, as these were just whole skin on fingerlings, cooked in some unclear way, and then lightly smashed and seasoned.  I'm not really one for potatoes like this (or baked potatoes, or roast potatoes), and I don't really like fingerlings, so ... these weren't ever going to be something I loved.

That said, they were very well seasoned, herbs and spice too, and they were smashed and had assorted textures and crispy bits.  So, fine if you want potatoes ... which I didn't.  2/5 for me but I suspect would be 3 or higher for people who like these sorts of things.

Not pictured is the garlic aioli I had to dunk them in, and that was crazy good.  So much garlic.  4.5/5.

Onion Rings. $5.

The onion rings were very standard, but good.  Assorted thick sizes, well battered, the batter didn't fall off too easily.  Not particularly interesting batter, but fine.  For $5 this felt like a very reasonable portion.

I doubt they make these in-house, likely just a Sysco or whatever product, but they were good.  High 3.5/5.

Burgers / Sandwiches

Smashburgers are definitely their main thing, but they do also have a few options for fried chicken sandwiches and hot dogs.  Vegans are in luck too, as they have Impossible Burger option.  Those who don't want the regular potato bun can opt for a lettuce wrap or gluten-free bun.

For regular burgers, there are 10 different curated burgers to choose from, most of which can be a single, double (+$3), or triple (+$6).  These all have different cheeses/aiolis/toppings.  Interestingly, none of there are a basic cheeseless burger, the "classic smashed" still has cheese (American, along with both griddled and raw onions, pickles, and their house sauce), but they do allow modifications. The most decadent is the truffle burger, with truffle cheese, truffle butter, onion jam, black truffle sauce, and comes on a brioche bun, for a whopping $28 (which is a normal price for a restaurant burger, but not a fast casual smashburger).

Classic Smashed (Double). $12.

"Beef Patty, American Cheese, Griddled Onions, Raw Onions, Pickles, SMASHED Sauce on a Martin's Roll."

I went for the classic, to really evaluate the burger in its purest form, not totally loaded down with toppings and fancier sauces.  I opted for a double since I knew the patties would be thin.

There were some things I loved about this burger.  I loved that they used both onions griddled with the patty and raw onions, and they were generous with it.  They were generous with the pickles too.  Their SMASHED sauce was good, the cheese was well melted, Martin's roll was as expected, soft, slightly sweet, great match for the burger.  The patties themselves were good, nicely griddled and crispy edges, but the beef didn't have that much flavor to it.  Overall, I think a low 4/5 maybe 3.5/5 as I really did wish the beef was more flavorful.

I feel I must compare this to 7th Street Burger, the other NYC smashburgers I've had a lot recently.  Flavor of the beef-wise, 7th Street definitely wins.  They are equals on cheese and bun.  Smashed though definitely wins on the other toppings, and they contribute so much flavor to the overall eating experience, I think it gets a slight leg up, although it is also pricier, so that could give another point towards 7th Street, making it a draw.  

The $9 price (for a single, this was double, so $12) was reasonable compared to fast food chains, but still a lot more than 7th Street Burger, which I enjoyed even more.

Vegan Classic Smashed (Double). $13.

"Impossible Patty, Vegan Cheese, Griddled Onions, Raw Onions, Pickles, SMASHED Sauce on an Arnold's Potato Roll."

I also got a vegan burger to take home for later, as I was really strangely craving one, after having a really great vegetarian burger at PLNT a few weeks ago.  I've been craving one every since.  I again just got the classic, double.

It was basically exactly the same, but with Impossible meat, which clearly doesn't smash in quite the same way.  The texture inside was pretty mushy, even though it looked seriously identical on the outside.  I grew sick of the taste of the Impossible meat pretty quickly, and the mushy quality was off putting.  PLNT wins by a landslide on the vegan burger contest.  Oh, this also had vegan cheese, which was fine, it melted nicely and didn't have too much funk to it.

The vegan burgers cost $1 more than their regular counterparts.

The toppings and bun were solid 3.5/5 but the patties ... eh.  This falls to a 2.5/5 overall and is definitely not something I'd get again.

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Wafels & Dinges

I was this many years old when I learned what dinges were, when researching a small chain of waffle shops in New York, Wafles & Dinges. If you, like me, did not know the Belgian word, it simply means ... thingamajig.  You know, a whatchamacallit. A word for generic stuff. In this case, they use it to refer to assorted toppings you can put on waffles.

"You can feel sweet buttery goodness radiating from the Wafles & Dinges truck when it pulls up to the curb. Over ten years ago, Belgian-born Thomas DeGeest set out to bring authentic Belgian waffles to the US, creating Wafels & Dinges. Spelled the Flemish way, Wafel & Dinges (pronounced ding-us, and slang for “stuff”) has taken the New York street food scene by storm. From their Liège Wafels in Chocolate Fudge or Spekuloos to the Throwdown Wafel (named after the time DeGeest beat Bobby Flay on season seven of Throwdown), these waffels do not disappoint."

Wafles & Dinges has actually been around in New York since 2008, first started as a food truck,got more famous after beating Bobby Flay in 2010, expanded to a kiosk in 2013, now with several brick and mortar locations.  They also ship nationwide via Gold Belly.

The main attraction is the liège waffles.  They do not offer American style waffles, nor the other kind of Belgian waffles.  Just liège.  The menu has some curated waffles with toppings, but you can also build your own with a selection of toppings including sauces, fresh fruit, uh, candied bacon, and whipped cream or ice cream.  I found it interesting that chocolate chips or anything like it were not an option, yet mini marshmallows were?  During the fall, they also offer a pumpkin spice base waffle.

Besides the waffles, they have ice cream, croissants, crofels (croissants, waffled), and drinks.

Extravaganza Box. $90.

"Comes with: 8 Liège wafels (large), 8 Wafelinis and 3 topping jars (spekuloos cookie spread, dulce de leche & real Belgian chocolate fudge)."

We ordered for a group, so the "Extravaganza" box seemed appropriate.  It came with the regular size waffles (on the right) plus the smaller ones dubbed "Wafelinis" for those who wanted a smaller snack. We also got the included 3 spreads, one other kind of chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

Additional jars of spreads are $8.95, and cans of whipped cream are $12.

Wafelini w/ 4 dinges.

I started with a wafelini, and a tasting of all 4 spreads.

The spreads were fairly standard, not very memorable.  The Spekuloos was my favorite, but not on the waffle as it is pretty thick and rich, but I really enjoyed the leftovers later (on bananas, on plantain chips, on baby carrots, by the spoonful ...).  With the waffle, I probably liked the dulce de leche the most, or really, just the whipped cream (which was a large foodservice generic can, not a store brand, nor their own thing).  

The wafelini was fine. Slightly crispy and caramelized on the outside as it should be, pretty standard liège style, soft and fluffy inside.  I also had the full size wafel, and I found that preferred the smaller ones as they seemed a bit doughier and the pockets a bit more caramelized.

Overall this was all fine.  No complaints.  But not very memorable nor unique, assuming you've had liège waffles before.  I think I was spoiled by b. Street Waffles as a regular part of my life in San Francisco for years, and they just do not compare.

3.5/5, maybe, generously, as again, they were fine, but, I see no reason to seek them out again.

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Power Crunch

Power Crunch is a brand that primarily makes protein wafer bars, but they experimented with a protein chip product line too.  As an avid snacker, but also someone who is conscious of protein intake, of course I wanted to try these out.

Protein CRISPS

"PERFECT POTATO CHIP ALTERNATIVE: The Power Crunch Protein Crisps provide all the crunch and satisfying taste of a regular chip but packed with protein. With 12 grams of protein per serving (2 servings per can), you can feel good about eating Power Crunch CRISPs."

While they primarily have pea protein (yay!) I later realized they have whey protein isolate, which my body really, really does not like.  If you can tolerate these things though, 12 grams of protein seems great.  They come in small cans a la Pringles. The shape of the chips is exactly like Pringles too, saddle shaped.  Each small can is listed as 2 servings, which ... is ambitious.  I think most people would finish one.

"The Power Crunch high Protein CRISPS are seasoned to perfection while also providing a light, airy chip-like crunch that’s impossible to resist."

I found it interesting that they call the chips "light" and "airy" as they were thicker and heartier than most chips.  They also broke ridiculously easy, despite being thicker, as they were just really quite brittle.  I tried 3 flavors of these (all but their 4th flavor, salt & vinegar), and found myself wanting to like them more than I ever did.  I wouldn't get again.

Barbecue.

I'm a barbecue chip girl to the core, always what I'll pick in a standard American chip flavors lineup, so of course I started with those.  

The chips were considerably more orange than I was expecting, making my brain think they were sweet potato chips, but of course they were not. They were crispy, and broke easily (hence the need for the can I guess?).  They certainly didn't taste like any normal chips, nor much like potato at all.  They didn't taste bad, just, different, and not familiar really.  Sorta healthy.

They were well seasoned with assorted savory spices, and did taste fairly barbecue.  They did have MSG if this matters to you.  I liked the seasoning. 

It took me a long time to figure out how I felt about these.  Well seasoned, good form factor, and great to get so much protein in a snack, but they weren't actually that tasty.  Inoffensive, and again, good for protein, but they won't replace the desire for a yummy snack. 3/5.

Cheddar.

I was going through a particularly cheesy phase of life, and the cheese flavor called out next to me.

They were much the same as the bbq: they broke easily, they tasted a bit odd and healthy, and they did have a reasonable cheesy flavor.  They were almost good, but the aftertaste and overall oddness just never made me really crave more.  Low 3/5.

Hot & Spicy.

The hot & spicy had some promise, but they looked the least visually appealing.  Again same overly breakable form factor, that was almost ok, same base flavor that was kinda off but almost ok, and another MSG laden seasoning mix that was almost compelling ... but under it all was just a taste I didn't care for.  Another very low 3/5.

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Bluestreet Dessert Cafe

Dessert.  If you read my blog, you know I'm a dessert girl through and through (I eat dessert after every lunch and dinner, without fail, my blog has a label just for desserts and I review exclusively bakeries and ice cream shops on Thursday, etc).  So of course when a new dessert cafe opened in New York this May, I was going to pay attention.

"Coffee • Crepes • Waffles • Desserts. Your day-to-midnight cafe in NYC."

Note though that Bluestreet is a dessert cafe, not a bakery, a point I didn't quite realize until I visited.  The main attraction is their crepes, which they do make there and smother in Instagram worthy sauces, but most of the other desserts from the extensive lineup seem purchased from elsewhere.  Still a cute place, but not where to go if you want homemade desserts (other than the crepes and waffles).

Exterior.

The exterior was quite eye catching, with bright blue color (for "Bluestreet"?) and clear "COFFEE" and "DESSERT" signs.  In the summer, the whole front opens up, making it really quite inviting.

Inside.

Inside has table and long display cases, and an open prep area where you could watch them assemble items like crepes.

Nice Decor.

The place is really pleasantly decorated, is well kept, and clean.  I used the bathroom when I was there, and it too was aesthetically pleasing and clean.

Baked Goods / Chocolate.

The pastries looked decent, relatively glossy and flaky looking croissants, muffins with a homemade look, soft looking cookies.

They also sell several styles of $$ Dubai chocolate bars.

Cakes / Cookies.

On the bottom two rows of this case were cakes that didn't really look housemade.  I can't imagine a bakery making them in house putting in the little paper separators like that.  I suspect these are frozen and thawed, from a wholesale distributor. It was also notable that only one item in this entire case, on the middle row, said homemade (the carrot cake). The top layers were cookies and more cakes.

Mousses / Baklava. 

The most attractive looking items were here, as they carry a bunch of those fruit mousses that are shaped and colored to look like real fruits, and come wiht names like "Strawberry Bliss" (for the strawberry shaped one), "Blueberry Dream" (for the blueberry), etc.  This section also had tons of styles of baklava, and some other cookies and bars.

Dubai Chocolate Cake. $8.90.

"Rich chocolate cake layered with pistachio cream and crispy kadayif, finished with a glossy chocolate coating."

I ordered online in advance, so I didn't realize that the time I was picking something that didn't look homemade.  Yep, I went for the Dubai chocolate trendy cake.  I know, I know, but I really like crispy kadayif, and was in the mood for chocolate, so this sounded promising.

The cake was ok, but not really anything special. The chocolate cake bottom layer was a bit dry, not necessarily the freshest.  But the pistachio cream was sweet and creamy, I loved the texture from the crispy kadaif, and the fudge was fine.  This cake was definitely carried by the toppings, not the cake itself.

I did finish this (part I had with ice cream to balance the rich fudge) and liked it well enough, but I wouldn't get it again, and I doubt they make it in-house.  3/5, higher end.

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Ark Bagels

Ark Bagels is a bagel shop I walk by daily, literally right across the street from my office. I've never really given it a second glance.  It doesn't look particularly interesting, I've never heard it mentioned.  It opened in 2023, so it has lasted a few years, but reviews are mediocre-average.  I likely wouldn't have ever set foot inside, if it wasn't the summer of Paze*, and I opted to get a few orders there due to convenience.  Even though it was very convenient, the staff were friendly, my orders were always ready on time, I don't see myself returning as it just wasn't very good.  

*If you are unfamiliar, Paze is a digital wallet system (like Paypal or Google Pay) that you can use to check out with some merchants.  In the summer of 2026, when they launched, they had a promotion with most major credit cards and banks to give you back a $10 credit, up to 10 times, per card/account, if you spent $10 and paid with Paze.  One of their launch partners was Clover, the company behind many restaurant POS systems, so if you ordered online through their Clover storefront, and paid with Paze, you got $10 free (over and over, again, 10 times per card/account).  Tax, tip, it all counts towards the $10, so you could get something <$10, and just tip up to the $10 to trigger the credit.  I love a freebie, and I love excuses to check out places that I wouldn't normally stumble into, so I used Clover and Paze to go on little missions every weekend, gettings $100s in free food along the way

Bagels

Given the business name, you can guess that bagels are their main focus.  They make all the standard varieties, offer cream cheese and other spreads, and make breakfast egg or omelettes on a bagel, and lunchtime bagel sandwiches.

Poppy Seed. $1.99.

I tried one bagel, poppy seed, something I used to get frequently back in my regular bagel eating days.

It was very average bagel.  Probably above average for not New York, but, average for here.  Big, puffy, decent enough chew.  Well coated in seeds.  But otherwise completely unremarkable. 3/5.

Pastries

Near the registers they also have a variety of muffins and danishes.  Unsure if they are made inhouse, baked off in house, or acquired from elsewhere.  Some were fairly unnatural looking.

Banana Nut. $2.99.

This is one of the most unique banana nut muffins I've had.  To start, it used peanuts, not the more standard choice of walnuts.  This was fine, as peanut (butter) and bananas go together very well, but it does break from the mold.  The nut element however was extremely minimal - just the visible scattering on top.  The peanuts were chopped McDonald's hot fudge sundae style.

The muffin was evenly baked, slightly crisp top, moist enough inside, consistent crumb structure.  But no nuts within.

Banana Nut: SO YELLOW!

Inside the muffin was also a surprise: SO YELLOW!  The taste was banana but banana "flavored" not banana like banana bread.  So I guess artificial, although it wasn't a bad taste.  Just, clearly banana flavor not banana. 

It was a passable muffin, about what I'd expect at a generic cafe or hotel breakfast, not a real bakery fresh muffin.  3/5.

Deli Sides

They also have a small deli counter with salads, e.g. tuna, chicken, white fish, and the like.  One co-worker got the chicken salad and said it was horrible, but I love macaroni salad, potato salad, and slaw, so I still tried.

Macaroni Salad. $2.49.
(1/2 pound)

I was so excited for this.  I like even generic low end deli or grocery store macaroni salad.  When I saw it had both corkscrews and macaroni noodles I got even more excited.  It seemed actually homemade? And they ran out of a noodle type?

But ... yeah, wow, it was not good.  The pasta was really hard and gummy at the same time.  The overall taste was harsh and too acidic.  It had a very bad aftertaste.  I tried to mix it in with my regular salad, but the texture and flavor were both bad enough that I gave up and ditched it.  0 stars?

Potato Salad. $2.50.
(1/2 pound)

The potato salad fared slightly better than the macaroni salad, but it still was not something I'd get again, and seemed a bit sus in terms of freshness.

The potatoes were not too mushy nor too hard, so they were properly cooked.  The pieces were relatively small but fine.  But there were a lot of black spots that concerned me.  There was minimal anything else, just some unidentifiable bits of some kind of vegetable.  Reasonably well dressed.  But another meh here, and the black spots on the potatoes really did worry me.  2/5.

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Ayada Thai

I knew the hype.  The viral mango sticky rice.  Michelin-recommend. Yadda yadda.  I honestly didn't pay much attention to it, despite the fact that I work right next to Chelsea Market, and despite the fact that I do quite like mango sticky rice.  I've mostly just been over mango in the United States since living in Sydney for a while and having it locally grown.  It is just so dramatically better there than anything we have here (and I'm sure Thailand and others are great too).  But when my mom recently visited me in New York, and we did the tourist thing of wandering through Chelsea Market, I had to at least get *something* out of enduring that right?  Viral mango sticky rice it was.

Ayada Thai actually has a full sit down restaurant, that I've never heard anyone talk about.  I don't think it is noteworthy in any way, besides their sticky rice. The sticky rice got so popular that they opened a second business a few doors down, a much smaller space, that is literally just for the mango sticky rice. There are a few seats but it is basically a very efficient take out spot.  Since they sell one thing only, the line moves fast (and yes, there was a line).  All you do is say how many you want, and it is handed over instantly, as the containers are all ready to go.  They have multiple staff members off to the side doing nothing but cutting mango, and someone else packaging it up with the rice and sauce, so even though not made to order, it really did seem likely made within the last 20 minutes at most.  The level of streamlining they have done is impressive.

Mango Sticky Rice. $12.

The product however didn't look very impressive.  Packaged for takeout, the rice wrapped in plastic, the coconut cream in a little container. The mango fairly pale.  I didn't think it would be anything special, and sorta rolled my eyes at myself for even caring enough to get it.

But once I got home and warmed up that sticky rice and plated it up ... well, damn.  It is the best I've had in the US.  The sticky rice itself was actually perhaps the best I've had anywhere, which is shocking for takeout that I heated up at home a bit later.  The level of sticky, the sweetness in it, all was just perfect. I have no memory of having a better version.

The mango didn't look particularly ripe or like it would be better than average, but, it was.  Perfectly ripe actually, flavorful, pleasant sweetness.  I've had much, much better mango in other countries, but I don't think I've had better here.  The coconut cream was standard.

Put it all together, and no question, the best I've had in the US.  Yes, I'd get it again.  Yes, this is dangerous knowledge as I work across the street.  4.5/5.

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Zaab Zaab

I spent a significant amount of time in Sydney over the years, and whenever I was there, I ate southeast Asian food basically the entire time (with a bit of "Australian" thrown in from time to time, but mostly, southeast Asian).  It was just sooo good there, considerably better than anything I had in San Francisco.  I had kinda stopped eating that food in the US for the most part, as I was always let down. But since moving to New York, I've started warming to the idea of finding good Thai (and Singaporean and Malaysian, hopefully) food, particularly after loving some dishes from Thai Diner and Fish Cheeks.

I still didn't actually seek out Zaab Zaab, a local Thai restaurant, with two locations, one in Brooklyn, one in Queens.  They actually came to my office to do a catered meal, which is obviously a different experience than visiting their real restaurant.

Menu.

"All Khao Soi's are served with your choice of protein, egg noodles, broccoli, chopped garlic shallots, lime, and optional dried chili, topped fried noodles."

Our menu was one main dish: khao soi, which delighted me, as it has been my recent favorite Thai dish anywhere.  I liked the visual display with the real product, which probably was helpful to those less familiar.  For proteins, the options were fried chicken, regular or spicy pork belly, or fried tofu.  Interestingly, at the restaurant, they have only one version, with beef shank (which we didn't have).

Assembly Line.

Dishes were assembled to order, assembly line style.  Pick your base (rice, noodles), your protein (chicken, pork belly, tofu), your toppings (broccoli, garlic shallots, lime, herbs).  Items were added to your bowl, which was then finished with a ladle or two of the curry sauce, and crispy noodles.  Chili was on the side for us to add ourselves to customize the spice level, and it was legit spicy, I greatly appreciated this.

Khao Soi, Tofu.

I got noodles as my base, all the toppings, and fried tofu, as I was just not in the mood for pork belly, although it looked crispy, fatty, and excellent.

I liked this.  The noodles in the base were well cooked, not too mushy.  The curry was creamy and flavorful, relatively complex and balanced.  My scoop of chili definitely put the spice level in a nice place.  The toppings were all standard and good, the broccoli nicely crisp.  Of course I adored the crispy noodles on top.  The fried tofu had a really fresh flavor, strong soy, and I liked the fried aspect.

This was all good, average for a real Thai restaurant.  I liked it, it was comforting, and it seemed relatively authentic, but I wouldn't call it a destination dish.  Just, good.  3.5/5.

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