I'm Donut?

Yes it is called I'm Donut?  Yes, it opened in New York with a ton of hype, the first location outside of Japan (yes, it is from Japan and known around the world).  Oh, and they make not only sweet but also savory donuts, which of course garners even more attention (I'm talking scrambled eggs, honey, and tomato mayo in one, three cheese bechamel and anchovy in another ...).

I've had a lot of great donuts in my life (I have a label on my blog devoted to them after all), so I rolled my eyes at this place, and assumed I'd find it fairly boring.

I did not.

This is truly the most magical donut I've ever had.

"Get ready to try nama donuts - airy, melt-in-your-mouth delights that are soft and light. Our specialty dough and toppings are meticulously handmade on-site 
daily, for a donut you'll never forget."

Apparently "nama" means fresh or raw in Japanese, and they use it here to refer to the texture. Which sounds crazy, until you have it. I've never had anything like this before.  So fundamentally different than any other donut, yet clearly identifiable as a donut at the same time.  It confuses my brain to eat these, but I delight in every moment of it.

I'm Donut? Original. $3.98.

"Airy, melt-in-your-mouth nama donut."

Magic voodoo.  That is all that I can say after eating this donut.  They are doing magic voodoo with these donuts.  I don't understand how this texture is possible.  So fluffy.   So light.  So airy.  Not at all greasy or oily, but clearly fried not baked.  Not too sweet, even with the powdered sugar.  This is a donut that doesn't leave you feeling weighed down, and even makes you consider eating a second one with no regrets.

If you are curious, the answer has to do with their donut base that is a mix of Japanese flours, squash, and organic shortening.  And clearly some interesting technique.

I don't understand how a donut can be this good.  5/5.  Stunned.

Strawberry Chocolate Ring (Vegan). $6.98.

"Strawberry chocolate coated glazed donut, sprinkled with fruity strawberry flakes."

I was stunned by this donut.  A vegan one at that.  I originally took only half, but went back for the rest immediately.

The glaze on it was remarkable - so fruity, not too sweet, and somehow ... juicy.  Yes, this was a juicy donut. Like biting into a fresh juicy strawberry.  I don't know any other way to describe, as totally crazy as that sounds.  Fruity and juicy and delightful.  The donut underneath the glaze was light and fluffy, didn't taste like like oil, and certainly didn't have any strange vegan vibes.

Adored this.  4/5 or maybe higher.

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Cubby's

Cubby's is a fast casual burger join in Hell's Kitchen, that I never would have discovered if it wasn't for the summer of Paze*, but I'm so glad I did.  It is a unique setting, the quality seems high, and the staff were always friendly.

*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.

Exterior.

Cubby's is relatively easy to notice, with several signs advertising their offerings, and bright flags decorating the awning.

Counter Seating.

Inside is unique and charming, with games laid out on the counter to play, with everything from Uno to chess to even a mini pacman arcade game.  The stools and bar seating make it great for solo diners too, and they had a few small tables as well.

Ordering Area.

Orders are taken at a register in front, although I ordered online and just picked up from the same area.

The menu is mostly burgers, in many variations, plus close siblings like hot dogs and grilled cheese, along with fried sides, and ice cream/shakes.

Sides

The lineup of sides at Cubby's is great: fries (regular, seasoned 4 different ways, chili cheese'd, or even loaded with a chopped cheeseburger and sauces on top), sweet potato fries (again, 4 different seasoning options), tots (shaped like tetris pieces), or onion rings.

Sweet Potato Fries. $6.25.
(no pepper).

"Medium cut sweet potato fries seasoned with salt and pepper."

I adore sweet potato fries, and since moving to New York have been mourning the loss of my favorite sweet potato fries in San Francisco, so I've been trying them everywhere I go.  These were, hands down, the best I've had in New York.

They were a average size, not big and think like I really prefer, but they were crispy, and very well flavored.  Perfect salt level, not greasy.  You can also get them seasoned with old bay, cajun, or truffle seasoning for $1 more, but I opted for the basic experience this first time, although I asked for no pepper (they include S&P normally).

I really enjoyed these, and plan to get them again soon.  4/5.

Seasoned Sweet Potato Fries.  $7.25.
Cajun, no pepper.

My next visit, I got the sweet potato fries again, no pepper, but also added cajun seasoning for $1 more.

The cajun spice added a bit more flavor to them, but I wouldn't say there was all that much seasoning, and I don't think it necessarily added much.  Probably not worth the $1 extra, but it was fun to try. The fries themselves were just as before, nicely crispy, clearly fresh.  4/5.

Mizz Honey Mustard / Truffle Aioli / Black Pepper Aioli.
$0.90 each with fries / $1.14 separately.

I was really excited by Cubby's lineup of house made sauces, and ordered three to try with my fries.

Mizz Honey Mustard:

A very creamy style of honey mustard. I liked it; it wasn't too sweet or too mustardy, but you definitely have to want a creamy mayo version, not a mustard forward version.  This was very mayo.  Probably best for the burgers, less of what I wanted for my sweet potato fries. 3/5.

Truffle Aioli:

Nicely creamy, pretty good truffle flavor, nice aroma.   Definitely my favorite of the sauces.  4/5.

Black Pepper Aioli:

"Mayonnaise, black pepper, minced garlic."

This was fine, but really just mayo.  I didn't really taste garlic. The black pepper flecks were large, and did give some flavor, but not much beyond what you get with properly seasoned food in the first place.  It was fine mayo, but not something I'd order again unless I really wanted mayo with pepper in it for some reason. 3/5.

Mizz Honey Mustard / Wheely Sauce (BBQ).
$0.90 each with fries / $1.14 separately.

Even though I thought the honey mustard was too mayo-y last time, I still got it my second visit, as in my world, sweet potato fries need honey mustard.  I also tried the Wheely Sauce this time, their version of bbq.

Wheely Sauce (BBQ)

A decent bbq sauce.  A bit tangy, a bit sweet.  Not overly complex, no smokiness, but it was fine.  3/5.

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Mister Softee

Mister Softee.  An iconic brand you'd think I would have experienced before now, given that I adore soft serve ice cream.  And yet, although I had great brand awareness, I hadn't ever actually visited a Mister Softee truck before now.

"Mister Softee was founded by William Conway and James Conway in 1956 in Philadelphia and is one of the largest franchisers of soft ice cream in the United States, with about 350 franchisees operating 625 trucks in 18 states. The headquarters have been in Runnemede, New Jersey since 1958. It is still run by the Conway family, co-owned by cousins Jim Conway Jr. and John Conway."

Mister Softee trucks are ~everywhere in NYC, but the city also has so much actual premium high end specialty soft serve I've just never prioritize it, although I've walked by the trucks many, many times.  Also, I'll admit I've always thought they were overpriced for what is pretty basic ice cream at the end of the day.  They do NOT post their prices on the trucks (hello, tourist tax), but when I've stopped by to ask a few times I recall a basic cone being $6-8, which seems crazy to me.  They have just the basics: vanilla and chocolate soft serve (or twist), cup or cone (or double cone), and standard generic chocolate or cherry dip, sprinkles, and simple sauces for sundaes.  I think they only do a single size.  That is it.  Iconic, yes, premium, no.

Visit #1: Catered truck, June 2026

But ... they also do catering, and I attended an event with the Mister Softee truck for all attendees, so I seized the moment to finally get to try it.

Small Vanilla with Rainbow Sprinkles.

This was such a basic cone!  It wasn't made with any particular care, it was kinda small (although really the size was fine with me), the sprinkles weren't particularly well applied.  Basically, generic, you can get it anywhere, in terms of looks.

The taste was good, but again, pretty generic you can get it anywhere.  The base flavor was perhaps a bit vanilla, not too fake tasting, not too sweet, but definitely more akin to frosting flavor than a deep rich vanilla.  It was very creamy, perfect temperature and consistency, and melted beautifully.  Their machine is clearly well calibrated.  The sprinkles were standard sugar sprinkles, the cone a triangle shape cake cone (which is actually my favorite style - I grew out of sugar cones for the most part, but I get annoyed by the flat bases of standard cake cones).  Both were fresh though, no staleness detected.

I see this as what is probably a very reliable, basic cone.  It is good, there is nothing at all wrong with it, but it is not an interesting, unique, or premium product.  Certainly many steps above a fast food cone though.  High 3/5, maybe 3.5/5.

Visit #2: Citi Field Concession Stand, July 2026

About a month after my first time actually having Mister Softee, I found myself again at an event with their ice cream, this time, at Citi Field, where several of the concessions had their soft serve.  Since it was a special event, the menu was very basic: cups only (no cones), vanilla/chocolate/twist, sprinkles.  That's it.

I again really wanted to like Mister Softee more than I did.  It was a bit better than fast food soft serve, but, barely.  It is just a shame to eat this kind of soft serve in a city with such better soft serve. 

Twist w/ (Mets) Sprinkles.

Since I had a vanilla cone my first visit, this time I went for the twist, even though chocolate ice cream of any kind isn't my favorite.  I got the sprinkles of course, and they were Mets colors in honor of the venue.

I was not very into this.  As I sorta feared, the chocolate ice cream was a miss for me (it was fine, but just not my thing).  I really like my soft serve in a cone (unless being used as an a la mode component) and only bowls were available.

It was a nice consistency, and melted nicely, but I found myself less and less into it with every bite.  Very low 3/5, really probably 2.5.

Vanilla w/ (Mets) Sprinkles.

At the end of the event, I decided to give Mister Softee one more try, opting for vanilla only.  Of course with sprinkles, which were pretty meagerly applied.

I liked this more than the twist, but the ice cream flavor just wasn't particularly good, a bit sour.  The ice cream melted nicely, but it was less creamy and premium than really good soft serve.  Another very low 3/5, if that.

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Tea Makers

Tea Makers is one of my absolute favorite finds from the summer of the Paze promotion*.  I likely wouldn't have stumbled in otherwise, I am I glad I discovered it, driven by of course the freebies.

*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.

Setting

The Manhattan location is in Koreatown, right along a busy street, really a great vibe.  They also have a location in Brooklyn.

Window.

It would be very easy to miss Tea Makers, even if you walked right by.  The store is just a window, with a tiny little prep space inside.  Obviously, no seating, etc.  The service was fast and efficient. 

Food & Drink

Tea Makers is primarily a tea shop, as you may have guessed from the name. 

"Make Tea as it Should Be. It originally created Cheese Fresh Fruit Tea, Brown Sugar Milk Tea and Cheesecake Milk Tea, etc. Teamakers uses the best original leaf tea from the tea source, fresh fruit from the farm, imported cheese and wheat flour. The products are all made-on-side."

In addition to classic milk teas, they also make fruit tea, slushes, fresh sodas, and "cheesecake" drinks.  You can adjust sweetness, milk type (Lactaid, almond, oat), and of course mix-ins.  They have exactly one food item: pudding.  As a pudding lover, this thrilled me.  In fact, I ordered it rather than a drink my first visit.

Korean Banana Pudding
(Large). $8.50.

"Homemade creamy banana pudding made with fresh bananas, fresh cream, and cozy wafers. Super delicious and made fresh daily."

I'll admit I had no idea what Korean banana pudding would be when I ordered this, and, after eating it, I still do not know.  This just seemed like ... regular banana pudding?

That said, it was very good banana pudding.  It was thick and rich.  The pudding was perhaps vanilla or perhaps banana, not quite sure, but there was tons of banana flavor from plentiful banana slices.  The banana was not too mushy nor browned, so it really did seem relatively freshly made.  It was not too sweet.  The wafers ("cozy wafers"?) were quite soft and just provided a different textural element.  Everything in here was good, and the ratios were right.

I may have liked this more than Magnolia even, as I appreciated that it wasn't over the top sweet.  High 4/5.

I got the large for $8.50, they also sell a smaller one for $5.

Taro Slush, 0% sweet,  (L). $6.75.
Almond milk ($0.50), +coconut jellies ($0.75), +cheese foam ($1)

It was extremely hard not to order the pudding again my next visit, as I loved it so much, but it was a hot day, and I really did want to try one of their drink items.  The taro slush it was, which I asked for 0% sweet and almond milk (you can pick almond, oat, or Lactaid for $0.50 more), and added in one fun mix-in (coconut jellies) and one fun topping (cheese foam). 

My drink was quickly prepared and handed over. They were very generous with the coconut jellies, as they occupied a pretty substantial part of the base of the cup.  They were standard, sweet, slimy, slight coconut flavor.  The flavor was a good match for the taro, but they were quite sweet.  I would have preferred fewer actually.

The drink itself was fine, the slush nicely mixed, no big chunks.  The taro flavor was good, but clearly powder.  I could taste the almond milk, and it worked really well to give a complexity to the overall taste.  However, it was really, really sweet.  I said 0% sweetness, and I know using a powder has some sweetness anyway, but this was really, really sweet.  To the point that I wondered if they made it full sweet.  Combined with the jellies, just, too much sweet for me to consume much of in a sitting.

I loved the thick rich cheese foam on top, great tang.

Overall, I enjoyed the creation, but it wasn't something I'll repeat just due to the sweetness.  3/5.

Taro Cheesecake.  %0 sweet, (L) $6.50.
Almond milk($0.50), +aloe vera ($0.75), +matcha cloud ($1.25)

"If you’re looking for an alternative that won’t melt on you, Teamakers mixes the best things about a halo-halo with one of the best things they’re known for — cheesecake milk tea! "

I returned to try another taro creation.  This one is called a "cheesecake" but I knew it was going to be a drink.  It still wasn't quite what I was expecting at all.  I really thought the cheesecake part would be more dominant - I thought there would be thicker denser cheese foam and maybe some of their cheesecake that is an available mix-in in it.  Instead it really just seemed to be a taro milk tea with a bit of cheese foam that was drizzled around the cup before the taro milk tea was poured in.  It was liquid, not thick or rich at all, and it was pretty hard to even taste the cheese foam.  I tasted it more in my taro slush from having it on top.

So it was an ok taro milk tea, although again quite sweet even though I asked for 0% sweet, and I didn't actually taste almond milk this time (even though I paid for it), and it had ice even though I asked for none.  They really don't seem to pay any attention to customizations, although it did have my aloe vera pieces (soft, sweet, refreshing) and the matcha cloud (decent matcha flavor, but just seemed like matcha whipped cream?).

Very underwhelmed given what I thought I was getting, and lack of accuracy in my order, so for all that, this is a 2.5/5, but for a taro milk tea with a bit of foam and matcha whip, sure, 3.5/5.

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Telegraphe Cafe

Telegraph Cafe is another small business I wouldn't have randomly stumbled in to if it wasn't for the summer of the great Paze promotion, but I was charmed by it instantly when I entered.

*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.

Setting

"Welcome to Telegraphe Cafe,your cozy neighborhood cafe! Whether you’re looking for a place to catch up with friends , relax with a good book, or get some work done, we’ve got you covered."

I found the cafe very charming, ambiance wise.  Located of a side street, and every time I visited it had such great coffee shop vibes, with folks sitting and working at laptops, pleasant music playing.  I could see it being a great neighborhood place, just as they say.  And they seem to welcome lingering.

Counter.

The space is pretty small, with a counter for ordering, a back prep area, upper level storage, and a few seats along the window on barstools.

Seating.

There were also a few small tables.  No outdoor seating.

Food

Telegraphe is both a coffee shop and a cafe, and they do have a back kitchen with real food.  The breakfast menu has a large lineup of egg sandwiches, plus standard bagels, granola, yogurt, overnight oats, pastries.  Lunch is sandwiches, soups, and salads, and I appreciate that they offer half sizes.

Pastries.

The pastries look better than average for a coffee shop. They do have a house made look to them, or at least not mass produced, although I'm not sure if they really do make them there, I doutb it.

The lineup had an assortment of croissants,danishes, and muffins, plus several kinds of cookies in jars along the counter.

Spinach Turnover.  $5.60. 

In non-standard Julie behavior, I opted for a savory pastry, the spinach turnover.  I ordered it thinking it was going to have spinach and ricotta inside.  Or maybe spinach and mozzarella.  I was quite surprised when I warmed it up to discover ... woah, it was like spanakopita inside.

Spinach Turnover: Inside.

It was quite generously filled, and the filling was quite flavorful but ... I don't care for feta, and these just weren't flavors I was excited by.

The pastry itself was nicely flaky, and almost seemed like it might be a bit whole wheat?  It had some grains and heartiness to it I wasn't expecting.

Overall this was a bit unique, and well made, but not the flavors I like much.  Low 3/5.

I handed it off to my mother who was visiting, who does like feta, spinach, whole grains and she didn't care for this either, so ... shrug.

Some Kind of Cookie. $3.50.

Of course I wanted something sweet too.

What I ordered (from the menu, online): "White Chocolate Cookie & Oatmeal chocolate cookie" ... which I hoped meant they had both these kinds and I'd get one of them, or perhaps that it was one kind of cookie with all these things, or even one of each.  I wasn't entirely sure what I'd be getting, but I did expect at least one of white chocolate or oatmeal to be present.

What I got: this.  A rock solid, like, not just crispy, but hard puck of a non-oatmeal cookie with chocolate hunks in it and chocolate coating.  Oh, and nuts, bits of walnut. Good thing I do not have a nut allergy.  No white chocolate.  No oatmeal.  And a very, very stale hard cookie.  The base flavor was actually ok, but, just not at all what I ordered, and way too hard.  The chocolate coating wasn't particularly good either, which is a shame, as the dark chocolate hunks inside were decent.  2/5.

Looking at the menu on their website, not the online ordering page, they have "Double Fudge Chocolate Chip", perhaps that is what it was?

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L'Industrie Pizzeria, NYC

Update Review, October 2026

When another group at the office has a pizza party, and pulls off bringing in L'industrie, of course I went running for their leftovers!  I'm glad they seriously over-ordered, as they had full untouched pies of several kinds still left.  

I was able to try two new-to-me options.  The crust and the sauce were the highlights on both, just as I remembered from my previous slices.  Perfectly crispy crust, great depth of flavor to it, nice back crust with a bit of char, and slices were evenly coated in vibrant slightly sweet sauce.  These elements are what really put L'industrie on top, at least for me.

New Yorker. $38/whole.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, spicy sausage, ricotta cheese."

My first pick was easily the New Yorker, as I love pepperoni and sausage (although I'm less a fan of ricotta on pizza).  The sausage was my favorite part, slightly spicy, nice rustic style hunks, although there wasn't all that much of it.  I would gladly have more.  The pepperoni I thought was only average (fancy pizza shop average that is).  It was good, but it made me really just want Grandma's One pepperoni.  It was rather haphazardly applied.  The ricotta was the only topping that seemed applied with any precision.  It was fine, but again, not really a ricotta on pizza person as I feel it makes it eat a bit dry.

So overall, this wasn't perfectly made pizza (e.g. topping distribution), the toppings weren't amazing, but the crust/sauce/cheese is just so good that it was still an excellent pizza.  Low 4/5.

Spicy Salami. $38/whole.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I moved on to the spicy salami.  I could tell immediately that this one wasn't perfectly executed given the burnt crust.  I'm actually a little surprised they didn't re-fire it.  Besides that very charred back crust though, it was actually good.  Again, great crust/sauce/cheese, and again, kinda haphazardly applied topping, salami in this case.  The salami was fine, fairly flavorful, albeit fairly greasy too.  

Another 4/5, because dammit, their crust and sauce are just so good, but I do wish for a bit more precision.

Original Review, September 2025

When you tell someone you'll be spending time in New York, the inevitably start telling you all the places you *have* to go.  The best bagels/pizza/burger/pastrami/drinks/etc of their lives, yadda yadda.  Even locals get quite passionate about some of these categories, and pizza of course is a common one to debate.  Once you get past the variations like square pizza (generally frowned upon), places only by the slice or only by the pie, etc, you are still met with intense debate.  But there are a handful of places that nearly everyone has heard of, and at least agree are in the top.

L'Industrie is one of these places.  It is also one of those places where people line up and wait for quite a while for their slices.  Those who want a whole pie can at least order those in advance for pickup (but, no delivery, and they have 6 pie order maximums).  But most people seem to line up and wait, as part of the overall experience.  They do not take reservations.

L'Industrie has two locations, the original is in Williamsburg, opened in 2017.  They followed their success by opening a second location in Manhattan in late 2023.  Both locations are open daily, 12pm-10pm.  Both are equally busy, all the time.  

"From the City of Pistoia and the streets of NYC. We’ve come together to bring you L'industrie Pizzeria. With the artful techniques and passions of Italy blended with the flavors and characteristics of a classic New York slice. We work daily to bridge the gap between these worlds, while putting quality and passion above all."

They serve classic NY slices, but, more upscale versions of them.  The menu has 12 different curated pies on it.  No gluten-free options.  They also have a daily sandwich, soft serve gelato, and some Italian desserts (tiramisu, pistachio tres leches, cookies, olive oil cake, bombolone, etc).  No salads, no appetizers.  Just pizza and great desserts.  I like their style.

OMG, pizza.

I was thrilled, overjoyed really, when I arrived at an event to see the L'industrie boxes.  OMG.  Our hosts really brought it, with plenty to go around, a lineup of 6 different varieties (so half the menu), all of which they had to go fetch and transport to the venue, as they do not do delivery.  Dedication to serving us the some of the best pies in NY!  I was a bit sad they didn't get the fig jam and bacon one, but otherwise, happy to see the host's selections.

I tried to have restraint, and tried only 3 of the 6 kinds we had.  I'm glad I got to try 3, but my experience of each slice was fairly different.  One was ... exceptional, life-changing nearly, the others, forgettable.  That said, the great one was so great, I'll go back in a heartbeat.

L'Industrie Pie. $47.

"Prosciutto di parma and burrata."

I nearly started with their namesake pie, topped with burrata and prosciutto because, well, you kinda have to right?  And clearly many other people were going for it as their first slice.  But the prosciutto just wasn't calling out to me.  

Note that this pizza, when you get it fresh, it topped with the burrata and prosciutto after it is cooked, so those are cold toppings on the pizza.  You can see the burrata had partially melted here from being boxed up with the hot pizza, when first served, they are fresh gooey gobs.

Spicy Salami Pie. $37.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I briefly considered the spicy salami too, but quickly moved on, as there were other meat toppings I was more drawn to.

Margherita Pie. $31.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, basil."

The basic margherita was easy for me to look past, although I did hesitate for just a second thinking it might be good to try just a simple classic one as a good base point.

Burrata Pie. $37.
(Signature).

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, burrata."

I moved on because I saw the burrata pie, and that was clearly the answer for me, for my first slice.  A notch above the margherita, and in the direction of their namesake pie, just, sans the pork product.  And *this* is the one that turns out to be their signature pie.  I immediately understood why.  My goodness, this was an exceptional pizza.

It came with the expected big gobs of burrata well distributed on top, along with some less well distributed basil.  Again, when you get it in person, the burrata is applied after cooking, so not as melted in as it was here, the heat from the pizza had melted it a bit (which was fine with me!).

Burrata Pie (slice).

I selected a slice, and dug in.

My goodness.  I was blown away on all levels, even with extremely high expectations.  It lived up, surpassed even.

The crust was perfectly crisped, dusted with a tiny bit of flour, lightly chewy.  It was the right thickness to hold its shape well but not overwhelm, the back crust was puffy and had a slight char. Very good crust.  I'm not a crust person usually, but I wanted this crust.

The sauce is what blew me away, just the right level of tang and sweetness, and applied in the proper amount so that I tasted it in every bite, but it too did not overwhelm. And then of course the cheese and burrata on top, perfectly melted, and just dreamy.  The ratios here were right too.

Every element about this was done well, just really exceptional all together. I don't think I've had a better pizza of this style before.  5/5.  Nothing I'd change.

Pesto Hello Pie. $38.

"Crumbled Spicy Pork Sausage, Nut Free Pesto."

Next, I went for the Pesto Hello, an odd choice for me as I'm not a huge fan of pesto, but the spicy crumbled pork sausage really did call out to me.  It also had (not on the menu description) gobs of ricotta dotted on top.  This one was ... fine.

It actually had no sauce (I was expecting pesto spread under the cheese), but instead was a white pie with the pesto zig-zagged on top only.  The pesto was fairly standard, classic pesto taste, but there wasn't a lot of it.  

The sausage was as excellent as I hoped it would be, super flavorful.  I wanted even more hunks of it, or bigger hunks, as I loved it so much, and it was fairly minimal.  4/5 sausage though.

The ricotta was standard, slightly herby.  Same great crust.  But I found the slice a bit boring, besides the sausage.  Kinda dry.  It was excellent sausage but the rest of the slice wasn't compelling enough for me. 3.5/5 overall, although the sausage really was a 4/5 itself.  I wouldn't get this again, but I could imagine getting the sausage on another pie (they do allow customizations).

Tartufo Pie. $37.

"Mozzarella, braised cremini mushrooms, ricotta and truffle oil."

And for my final slice, I went for the tartufo, sorta because I had been really loving mushrooms on that trip. It too was one of their white pies, no red sauce, and it came with the same dots of ricotta on top.  The truffle (oil) aroma was strong as I picked it up.

It let me down.  The truffle oil is definitely the first thing I tasted with this one.  It was fine, but definitely dominant, so, be prepared for that.  But that is really all I tasted, no other flavors really came through.  It was fairly oily from both the truffle oil and the cheese.  It did have a good distribution of mushrooms on top as well, but I found myself really wishing it had some kind of sauce, and that the truffle oil was tamped down.  It did still have their great crust though.  The ricotta again made it eat a bit dry (besides all the oil).

But really all I tasted was truffle oil. 3/5, my least favorite.  I wouldn't get this one again.

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Don Ceviche

Don Ceviche is a Peruvian restaurant with locations in the East Village and Essex Market.  They do, of course, serve ceviche, and are known for their rotisserie chicken. 

I didn't visit either location however, as they came to do a popup catering event at my office, with a limited menu of 3 main dishes, including the signature chicken (with rice & beans).  They also had beef stew and a veggie option, both of which were served with rice, and an additional side dish of yuca.  As I don't like chicken, rice, or beans, and wasn't really into beef stew, I went vegetarian and only got the one side dish.  The staff were very confused that I didn't at least want the rice and beans!

Saltado De Champiñones / Yuca.

Saltado De Champiñones:

"A savory vegetarian delight featuring a stir-fry of assorted mushrooms, crisp vegetables and Peruvian spices."

The vegetarian offering, particularly without rice, was more of a side dish really.  It was definitely a bit boring, just mushrooms and TONS of onions and a few tomatoes, but the sauce was flavorful.  The ratios seemed all out of whack though, as in my portion I had 1-2 tomatoes, 5-6 mushrooms, and the rest was just onions.  I liked the onions, they were quite flavorful and soaked up so much of the sauce, but, definitely felt a bit off.  3/5.

Yuca

The menu said yuca frita, but this really did just seem steamed.  I liked it though, not too soft, not too hard, nice starchy flavor.  3.5/5.

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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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