Cookshop

Cookshop is an American farm to table restaurant in New York, located a few blocks away from my office there.  There isn't a lot about it to make it stand out in particular - no celeb chef, no fancy decor or vibe lighting.  It somehow manages to be located in a touristy area (near the Highline, near Chelsea Market) and yet has a casual, neighborhood feel to it.  It is always busy but not hard to get reservations.  In short, you'd probably never notice it, if you didn't live or work nearby.  

I noticed Cookshop only because they are available on Doordash for delivery, and I was really craving liver one day, and they were one of the few results to come up.  The menu overall was quite appealing to me.  So I ordered from them (after doing a modicum amount of research to make sure people generally liked the place).  It was great.  A year later, I attended a work event with pre-organized small group dinners, and my group was assigned to Cookshop.  I was excited to get the full restaurant experience, but I found it really quite average.  I don't see any reason to return, but I wouldn't be opposed if someone wanted to drag me there.

They are open daily for lunch and dinner, and on weekends for brunch.  Both of my "visits" were at dinner.

Visit #1: August 2024, Delivery

My first "visit" to Cookshop was when I was really craving chicken or duck liver, and ordered just that for delivery.  I was really pleased with it, and vowed to order, or visit, again soon.

Chicken Liver Mousse. $14.

"Pickles, focaccia crackers."

This was really quite good mousse.  Remarkably smooth and creamy, no graininess to it at all. It was sprinkled with a little bit of something on top, that I couldn't quite identify. If I had any criticism, I would say it needed a touch of salt, but that was very easy for me to add some nice large flakes fleur de sel. Really top notch liver mousse, really. 4/5.

The pickled red onions had a great harshness to them, and the acid helped cut the richness of the mouse. I usually like to have a sweet element to a liver dish though so I did miss that. 

The crostini weren't interesting, very hard and abrasive, drizzled with a lot of olive oil. I didn't end up using them, and opted for some truffle brioche toast that I had instead and greatly preferred that combination. I generally want a light fluffy brioche as my carb component for any kind of liver.  2/5 For the toasts, but I still give the dish a 3.5/5 overall. 

My Creation.

The next day, I made my own little creation with the rest of the mousse.  I was VERY pleased with what I made: chicken liver mousse + my great aunt's homemade dilly beans (for acidity to cut the richness) + fresh blackberry (sweet component that is always nice to have with pate/mousse) + sprinkle of smoked sea salt (to make it all pop), on a truffle brioche toast (major upgrade from their crostini).  This was 5 star all the way.

Visit #2: August 2025, Dine-In, Dinner

My next encounter with Cookshop was a full year later, when I went in person, for dinner, with a group of 7, for dinner, at 6pm.  The food really didn't live up to my expectations though, and was really quite mediocre.  Themes were far too much olive oil on everything, and underseasoning.  Service was average.

Patio Seating.

In nice weather, there is a fairly large patio space for outside seating, which I suspect is a big hit at brunch in particular.  However, it was dreary and cool the day we visited, so we were inside.

The restaurant was pretty empty when we arrived, but quickly filled up.  It was extremely noisy within, I failed to get a photo, but there was just nothing to dampen the sounds, and it was impossible to hear each other even at our own table, across from each other.  Service was ok, not neglectful, but not super attentive, infrequent check backs.  They did try to hit some higher service points, like crumbing the table between courses, bringing out fresh cutlery between courses, etc, but didn't really deliver on a high service level experience.

Oven.

One feature inside is the big wood fired oven, where you could see pizzas and roast meats being cooked.  I was surprised that the menu doesn't call out the wood fired items more explicitly, as that seems like a unique feature.

Menu.

I was excited to order from all areas of the menu this time, as there were appetizers, mains, and desserts all jumping out at me when I looked online.  Alas, some of the menu changed the day I got there.

Cabernet Sauvignon. $20.
Trig Point 'Diamond Dust' Alexander Valley, California 2022.

The wine list was pretty short, for reds, there were four options: an Oregon pinot, an Italian, a Spanish, and a California cab, which I went for.

It was a very boring wine.  No real structure, nothing really to it. Not high acid nor tanin, but just ... boring.  Low 3/5.

This is a $30 bottle that they were selling for $20/glass.

Appetizers

Most of my group was fairly hungry when we arrived, as we were at a work summit all day, and, unlike me, they relied on the event catering, and hadn't eaten in 6+ hours.  They quickly ordered some appetizers for the table, doubling up on most of them per the server's recommendation for our group of 7.  We went for mostly hot apps, and skipped the single raw bar option, oysters.

I was heartbroken when we arrived to see the menu.  The dish I was planning to order for my appetizer, and probably NOT share, was gone!  My precious chicken liver mousse that I had before.  It was literally on the menu the day before, but rotated out that day.  I decided to still ask the server about it, who initially told me "if it's not on the menu, it means we changed the menu, and don't have it anymore", in a polite enough way.  I did ask her if she'd still check with the kitchen to see if they had any left, and she sorta non-comitally acknowledged my ask.  She returned several times to check on us, deliver drinks, etc but didn't mention the liver.  I asked again if she was able to ask, and she said no, she hadn't, and this time at least said she would.  I think she could tell I was going to be a bit annoying. She never got back to me this time either, BUT it did work out ...

The appetizers arrived in a couple waves, with a few min lag between waves.

Focaccia. $12.

"Whipped ricotta, olive oil, lemon, rosemary."

The hungry carb lovers really enjoyed the focaccia.  I never care for focaccia, so I skipped it, but tried the whipped ricotta.  I thought it was fine, not interesting, but the group really liked it.  The pool of olive oil on top seemed unnecessary, but set the tone for the rest of the main, which was very olive oil heavy throughout.  It was attractively presented on the cutting board.

Deviled Eggs. $14.

"w/ tuna salpicon."

The group also ordered a bunch of deviled eggs, which came 4 (halves) to an order.  I do like deviled eggs, although rarely order them out (and yes, deviled eggs went through *such* a phase in SF a few years back where ~everywhere had them on menus, with fun toppings/seasonings/etc, so this is not novel to me).  I think I ate way too many deviled eggs in college, where making them myself in the dining hall was my fun hack (as we had hard boiled eggs available in the salad bar, mayo and mustard and pickles in the sandwich bar, etc).

They had a somewhat unique presentation, with the eggs perched on top of extra yolk filling, and the filling clearly applied inside and out with a piping bag.  They were sliced the opposite way of how I slice them when I make them myself, but I suspect this allowed for more generous filling (and they seemed to use more yolks than whites per piece).

I tried one when there were still several left.  The filling was entirely average - it wasn't particularly creamy, it wasn't particularly seasoned, it was just generic deviled egg filling.  The tuna salpicon on top was a nice touch though, it added a salty briny pop to the eggs, much like roe does (another common bougie-up deviled eggs topping).

The tuna was unique, but still just 3/5 as there was nothing compelling about these.

Tempura Vegetables. $17.
w/ lemon aioli.

The server told us all about the vegetable tempura, which changes out based on fresh seasonal vegetables.  She recommended it, and told us it had squash, okra, squash blossoms, and I think a few other things.  I wasn't particularly interested as none of the particular veggies called out, but the group ordered it.  It was a fairly sizable portion, so I did try a few pieces.

It wasn't very good.  The ratio of batter seemed way off, far too much coating, which I wouldn't have minded if the flavor was good, but the batter also didn't really have much flavor.  Nor were they well seasoned.  Kinda greasy.  The pieces were nicely crisp however.  Eh.

The lemon aioli was standard, not particularly strong lemon.  Others dunked their tempura in the ricotta instead.  2/5.

Crab Beignets. $19.

"Carolina lump crab, smoked bluefish, corn, tartar sauce."

We finally got to an appetizer I ordered, not because I was that excited for it, but because it was the most appealing thing on the available menu (as the liver was not an option).  I knew from having read reviews that people were pretty lukewarm on it, and that in particular I should not expect a beignet, but rather, basically a crispier ball shaped crab cake (that also had corn and bluefish in it), so my expectations were set accordingly.

And yeah, the reviews seem accurate.  The balls were very crispy, perhaps a touch over fried, and definitely nothing beignet like about them besides the shape.  They came on top of what was dubbed a tartar sauce, and I usually love tartar sauce, but I wasn't into this.  It seemed more like a watery relish, with lots of chunks (good), but far too much red onion/acid, no brininess, and was just strangely liquidy.  I was excited to dredge my crab in it, until I took one bite, and changed my mind. 1/5 tartar sauce.

Crab Beignet: inside.

Inside was indeed a generous amount of crab, but also bluefish that had a pretty strong flavor, and masked the more delicate crab.  It was fairly fishy.  The corn I didn't actually notice while eating them, but the kernels were there.  So crispy, yes, but again a bit greasy, and the taste just wasn't very good. 2.5/5.

Charred Bread (for liver).

A few minutes later, another server emerged, and put a bread board on the table. We had not ordered another bread, but he quickly explained that it was a gift from the kitchen.  The bread was toasted fairly crisp, and was a kinda generic rustic/peasant loaf style.  Kinda average, not good nor bad, but also not something any of us really wanted.  3/5.  

I later realized this was intended to go with the liver (when I had it previously, it came with little crostini.  I'm not sure if their preparation changed, or if this is just how they improvised given that the liver was no longer on the menu).  

Off-menu Liver!

And behold, my liver!  Although it was not on the menu, and although my server definitely never indicated that they could still indeed whip this out for me when asked, it did show up, with a smile (from another staff member) and a mention of being a special gift from the kitchen.

It came served just as I had it a year ago with pickled cucumber and onion, plus a slightly odd garnish of an herb I couldn't identify.  That herb showed up later on my scallop dish, looking equally, if not moreso, random.

It was creamy, richy, and quite good, but I again felt it was missing salt to make it pop (harder to solve there in the restaurant than at home where I had nice finishing salts handy, and they had no salt or pepper on the tables and I was too lazy to ask), and missing a sweet component to balance it out. The pickles were quite harsh and highly acidic, but did cut through the richness of the liver a bit.

So, the liver itself was easily 4/5, probably 4.5/5, but the composed dish was more like a 3/5.  It wasn't a problem as I had ordered the other appetizers, and just took this home to play with.  I served it on top of fluffy toasted brioche one night, and on truffled brioche crackers another, and added fresh blackberries and fancy salt, and really adored it again.

Salads / Sides

The menu has a trio of salads, only a super basic little gems (literally, just lettuce and radishes in, you guessed it, olive oil dressing), a stone fruit salad, and heirloom tomatoes.  For sides, there are four vegetables, one of which is another raw tomato dish (this time beefsteak tomatoes, but I'm not sure what else is different from the salad version, as both has oil and basil and little else ...), plus romano beans, eggplant, or corn on the cob.  The middle two options didn't seem particularly seasonal, which seemed odd, given the farm to table nature of the restaurant, and the fact that it was peak summer.  I found it interesting that there were no carbs/starch side options, no token mashed potatoes or even fries (although the later did come with a few dishes).

The server tried to encourage ordering some vegetable sides for the table, but no one was interested.  No one wanted salads either.  I however really did want some vegetables, so I ordered one of the two tomato dishes, randomly picking the heirlooms (considered a salad) as it seemed perhaps a bit nicer?

Heirloom Tomatoes. $18.

"Olive oil, salt crystals, basil, red onion."

The dish was basically exactly what it seemed it would be.  Assorted colors and sizes of heirloom tomatoes.  Some thin sliced red onion.  A bit of basil.  And of course, lots of olive oil.  Like other dishes, they needed salt, despite salt crystals being an explicit ingredient.

I didn't find any of the flavors of any of the tomatoes to be nearly as intense as I hoped.  They were vibrant, and it looked great, but the flavors were fairly average.  My office salad bar had more flavorful tomatoes.  Absolutely nothing remarkable about this dish, and certainly not worth $18.  3/5.

Mains

The dinner menu has only 8 main dish protein choices, pretty much the basics: burger, steak, roast chicken, and slightly more interesting pork chop for the meat & poultry eaters, two kinds of fish, scallops, and lobster.  They came as fairly fully composed dishes, the burger and lobster with fries, the steak with potatoes, and others with some kind of minor vegetable side.  The majority of the group, myself included, ordered the scallops, although we had one person get each of the fish (tuna, bluefish), and one person get steak.  I was curious about the bluefish, as I've never had it, but I can never pass up scallops.

There are also two pastas and one pizza, all vegetarian, and it was unclear if these were main dish portions or smaller dishes.  We didn't get any, although one diner was tempted by all of them.

Pan Roasted Sea Scallops. $33.

"Fresh corn pudding, oregano, roasted red pepper relish."

My heart kinda sank when the scallops were placed in front of me.  This was perhaps the least attractive dish of scallops I've ever seen!  But aesthetics aside, I had issues with the execution too.

First, the scallops were sliced horizontally 2-3 times, so although there were 7-8 slices, I think it was only 2, maybe 3, full size scallops.  I know this is a style, and one even Gordon Ramsay does at his restaurants, but, I really like whole scallops, with a hard sear, and mid-rare center.  Particularly for a main dish, not appetizer portion, this prep seemed odd.  These were cooked fine, not rubbery, but barely any sear, and obviously fully cooked since so thin.  They were fine, but just not the style of scallop prep I would prefer.  3.5/5.

Then there was the "fresh corn pudding", that was a sorta chunky corn puree of sorts.  I loved the sounds of this, as I adore summer corn, and the natural sweetness of both scallops and corn seemed like they'd pair beautifully, but it was strangely bitter.  The texture/consistency was good, but the bitterness really somewhat ruined the otherwise delicate nature of the dish.  Another dinner who also ordered this commented that it was bitter and seemed like maybe it was made with just too much olive oil, which can make things bitter.  So, great concept, not great execution. 2/5.

The roasted red pepper relish I actually was sad to see on the menu, as I don't care for red peppers usually, but this was fine, and did compliment both the corn and scallops well.  It was fairly oily though, like many things in this meal.  3/5.

The random herb garnish seemed entirely out of place (the same garnish that came with my liver).

So put it altogether, and it was great concept of a dish, but alas, just not great in actual taste.  3/5.

All Natural Sirloin Steak. $44.
(partially consumed).

"Crisp potatoes, brava sauce, garlic, smoked paprika, salsa verde."

The server told us the steak was her favorite dish, and really sold it.  The diner next to me ordered it, and definitely thought it was oversold.  She thought it was fine, but not particularly great, and definitely not the patatas bravas style dish that was enthusiastically described.  In particular, she was let down by the sauce, that seemed like just gochujang.  She offered me what was left (pictured here), and of course I tried it.

The potatoes were decent - *very* crispy, very oily.  They reminded me of the style of potatoes that are frequently served in Australia, except that the interior wasn't as creamy.  The salt level was good on them.  But they were kinda dry, besides the oil, and I felt myself wanting something to dip them in (even ketchup would have helped!).  And, just swimming in oil on the plate.  Low 3/5.

The condiment provided was a "brava" sauce/spread, that had a bit of smokiness to it, but also just wasn't very good.  It seemed to be lacking something, not quite sure what, but it just wasn't very balanced nor enjoyable. 2/5.

Dessert

After the dishes were cleared from our main course, the table was crumbed again, and we were presented dessert menus.  Even after a kinda ho-hum meal, of course I wanted dessert.

Dessert / Cheese / Drinks.

The desert lineup is fairly small, with just three real desserts (a fruity one, a chocolate one, a cheesecake), plus cookies, ice cream, and sorbet.  Our group all mostly ordered the same thing (shortcake!), although two people opted for just a simple scoop of lemon sorbet, and one selected cookies.  I was disappointed that no one ordered the cheesecake, as I did want to try it (although, it was goat cheese!).  

We were strangely all given spoons only for our dessert, which was difficult to use to eat the shortcake.  Several of us asked for a fork instead.

Summer Berry Shortcake. $12.

"Jersey strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, vanilla whipped cream."

The shortcake was good.  It wasn't quite a traditional shortcake, at least, not how I grew up with it with a biscuit (generally cut in half), topped with macerated (or fresh) berries, topped with whipped cream, but rather it was a layered tower with the shortcake biscuit split in half, with layers of whipped cream between the pieces and on top, and then more of a berry coulis or sauce than fresh or macerated berries spooned over it all.  In fact, the number of sliced or whole berries was fairly minimal.

But it was still decent.  The shortcake biscuit was fairly firm (and nearly impossible to eat with the spoon they gave us!), but it had a decent flavor to it, a slight tang, and some sugar crystals on the outside to accent it.  A fine, but average fine, biscuit.  Not memorable, but it certainly didn't detract if that makes sense.  3/5 biscuit.

The whipped cream was above average, very thick, rich, not overly sweetened, and just tasted like really good fresh cream.  It reminded me of whipped cream you'd get in Japan where the taste of the fresh milk/cream is the dominant feature.  4/5 whipped cream.

The berry element, the least traditional aspect of it, is what I liked most.  The coulis was super fruity, very sweet yet somehow not cloying, and just really intense berry.  I wanted to lap up every last drop of it.  I did sorta miss having more actual berries, but this was too tasty to really be mad at.  4/5 berry stuff.

The plating did feel a bit like they were trying to elevate a classic comfort food homemade dessert to restaurant level, and failed slightly, as it did look messy (and not in a rustic charm way), and the mint sprig was just sorta there.  Overall though, very enjoyable, low 4/5.

One of my fellow diners was smart enough to order vanilla ice cream with theirs, which I got to try as well.  It was good - fairly creamy, quite strong vanilla bean flavor.  Not something worth getting on its own, but so great with that sauce. 3.5/5.

Oatmeal Dried Cherry Cookies. $10.
(+whipped cream, berries).

"White chocolate, pumpkin & sesame seeds."

The cookies actually came with 3 to the order, but the person who ordered them had only one, and passed the rest along to the rest of the group.  No one wanted to even try them, so of course I couldn't let them go to waste, even though cookies are definitely not what I consider a real dessert (particularly when I had my glorious shortcake!).  She also asked for basically the shortcake toppings with her cookies, basically wanting the berries, and was given a small bowl of the berries (which you can see she enjoyed!) and whipped cream that she did not have.  I was more than happy to take the extra whipped cream too!

The cookies were ... fine?  Fairly soft but still crispier around the edges than I like.  Pretty hearty, kinda healthy tasting cookies from the seeds and oats, yet plenty sweet from white chocolate, dried cherries, and sugar, the base cleary was a regular sugar content style cookie, not a healthier style.  I really wanted to like them more than I did, as I do love white chocolate, but I just didn't find anything particularly special about these.  Some slight lemon notes to them as well.  Low 3/5.

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PLNT Burger

Update Review, August 2025 Visits

I visited PLNT 3 times when I was in NY this summer.  I ordered in person twice for shakes, and once online for a burger.  That time was only a quasi-success, as my order was ready at the expected time, but really, it was ready at least 10-15 mins earlier, and wasn't actually warm when I got it.  The times I ordered in person were fine, ready fast. 

Sweets

When I visited last year for my free birthday shake, PLNT used Oatly for the soft serve (and for the oat milk they blend it with).  However, Oatly has ended that product, so they had to find a new plant based soft serve to move to.  They went with Eclipse, which I've had in hard serve before (didn't care for the vanilla, but the cookie butter was good!).  I'm not sure I noticed a difference in milkshake form, since it is blended with the Oatly oat milk still.  

Banana Brulee Milkshake (Small). $6.69.
No caramel, add rainbow sprinkles (+$1), half banana.

"Try this limited-edition, chef-crafted collaboration between PLNT Burger and Cookies, while supplies last. Infused with love and 100% plant-based deliciousness."

I was again a bit stumped on what flavor milkshake to order.  I don't order milkshakes in regular life, and vanilla, chocolate, twist, or black and white just seemed ... boring.  And although I love strawberries, I don't care for strawberry ice cream /  milkshakes / yogurt at all.  Which left me with the mint cookies & cream (that I had last year, uh, sub chocolate sprinkles for Oreo) or this, the special banana brulee milkshake.  I was drawn to it because I saw photos of it, and it was supposed to have whipped cream and brulee sprinkles on top.  Whipped cream isn't even an option with any of the others, so that alone drew me in.

It is made with the vanilla soft serve (Eclipse), oat milk (Oatly), caramel syrup, bananas, and the aforementioned whipped cream and brulee sugar crystals.  Or at least, that is what all their materials say, and what the photos show. But it was handed over like this, sans any fun toppings.  I asked about this, and the staff member just shrugged and said, "Yeah, we don't make them like that no more.".  Well, ok then.  So, no whipped cream, no brulee topping.  

When I ordered, I had the option to include no whipped cream or no sugar topping (and no caramel, no bananas, or sub chocolate soft serve for the vanilla).  I did NOT take those first omissions, but it seems they need to update the menu and the app to reflect how they are currently making the shake.  I did opt to have no caramel added (I was worried about it just being too sweet), but added rainbow sprinkles to give it some sweetness and fun texture, as I had loved the texture the chocolate sprinkles added to my mint shake last summer.  You can add sprinkles (either color), caramel, chocolate sauce, or Oreo for $1 more.  I also asked in person (since not possible in the online ordering) to use only half the banana as I didn't want it over the top banana-y.  After all, I was mostly getting this for the fun toppings (alas!).

Anyway, my annoyance that they changed it to be more boring aside, this was good.  The flavor was definitely oaty, which I don't mind.  It had good banana flavor, definitely exactly what I was aiming for, and if that really was half, I think regular amount would have been way too much for my tastes.  It was perfectly blended, easily drinkable with a straw with some intentional suction, also possible to eat with a spoon with no problem.  It had only a small amount of rainbow sprinkles blended in, which did add a nice sweetness and a tiny bit of texture, but there wasn't much, definitely nothing like last year's copious additions.

So overall, this was enjoyable, and obviously free so a great value, but I wouldn't get this again unless craving banana.  3.5/5.

Vanilla Shake (small). $6.79.
Add chocolate sprinkles (+$1).

A week later, I was craving another shake.  An oat shake at that.  What had gotten into me? For my next shake, I went back to my mint chocolate chip inspiration, this time opting to create a chocolate chip version, so just a vanilla shake to which I added chocolate sprinkles.

It was prepared quickly, and served super full, which I was pleased by.  No skimping here!  It was well blended, a great consistency, and yeah, just a pretty decent vanilla, oat based, shake.  It was easy to drink with the provided straw, or use a spoon if I wished.  Nice sweetness level, no fake vanilla taste.  Just, good.  3.5/5 base.

Vanilla Shake: SPRINKLES!

And the chocolate sprinkles?  Fabulous!  It was much like my first shake that was absolutely loaded with them.  Very bite/sip had tons of sprinkles.  The base had tons of sprinkles.  So much texture, and it really made it eat like chocolate chip soft serve.

Approaching 4/5 really, although I'm still not one to really ever crave a shake, let alone a vegan one, this really is nicely made.

Chocolate Soft Serve.

I asked how chocolately the soft serve was and was offered a sample.  I'm glad I tried it, as I really did not care for it.  It tasted exactly like a fudgesicle (just a sorta oaty one) and I really, really don't like that flavor.  Something about that kind of chocolate flavor and the iciness.  Not for me at all. 1/5.

Burgers

PLNT offers 6 different burgers, ranging from simple burger to a double to a patty melt, plus a few other variations.  You can easily make a few changes to the burgers such as getting it as a swiss chard wrap (no extra fee) or on an actual gluten-free bun (+$3.59), switch out the cheese to pepper jack, get a bigger patty (+$2), change the patty to chik'n (+$1), or change it to their "actual veggies" patty (+$2), and ask for the sauce on the side as easy changes.  You can further customize by "adds" such as guacamole/grilled or fresh jalapenos, crispy onions, mushroom bacon, an extra patty, or "spicy dust" for varying upcharges, and have any of the base elements left out.  They also have 2 chicken (er, Chik'n) and one fish option.

Cheeseburger. $9.39.
(Sub Swiss Chard Wrap, Sauce on the Side).

"Plant-Based Patty, Caramelized Onion, Pickles, Stockeld Cultured Cheddar (V), Green Leaf Lettuce, Roma Tomato, PLNT Sauce, Potato Bun."

For my first actual burger from PLNT, I opted for the cheeseburger.  Since I'm not all that into buns, and I adore swiss chard, I got it as a swiss chard wrap rather than a bun, and asked for the sauce on the side in case I didn't care for it.  These were all predefined easy mods when ordering.

It came wrapped in a pretty large piece of greens, that actually seemed like collard greens, not swiss chard.  I didn't mind this, as I like collards too, but, take note.  The wrap was crisp, fresh, a bit awkward to eat, but a nice change from a bun.  I did actually just end up eating the contents mostly without it, and bringing it home to saute later.  4/5 for the wrap though, good, and a unique offering.

Cheeseburger: Inside.

Nestled within was the rest of the burger ingredients.  Everything was as expected, all ingredients included, although the tomato seemed to be a regular large round tomato, not Roma as the menu said (the third menu inaccuracy I found, after the lack of brulee milkshake toppings and the change of the type of green for the wrap ...).

The cheese was nicely melted, gooey, decent cheddar flavor, and really not distinguishable from regular dairy cheddar, particularly with all the other ingredients within.  The caramelized onions were chopped up bits and were very tasty, particularly with the cheese.  There were tons of them.  I loved these two components, along with the very tasty copious pickle slices.  4/5 for all of that.

The tomato was the only letdown.  I didn't care that it didn't seem to be Roma, but it wasn't very juicy nor fresh, and it was August, peak tomato season, so this was quite sad.  At least it wasn't mealy, it was just not ripe and tasted like nothing really.  2/5 tomato.

And then of course the burger patty.  This was a thin, fast food style patty, so not thick and juicy, but it was nicely charred.  It ate like a meaty style patty, e.g. Beyond or Impossible (although it is proprietary, not either of those brands exactly), not like an old-school traditional veggie burger (although they offer that too, the "Actual Veggies" burger).  With the excellent toppings, I barely cared that it wasn't beef, I mostly cared that it was a thin style patty, which isn't normally what I go for.  But very good for a non-beef burger, 3.5/5.

Put it all together, and particularly carried by the strength of the caramelized onions/cheese/pickles, this may be a low 4 star.

Original Review, August 2024 Visit

When you think of vegan food, you most likely don't think of burgers, fries, and shakes.  At least, I don't.  I think of generally more healthy cuisine, with a focus around whole plants and vegetables.  But ... it makes sense that vegans want indulgent comfort food too.  Enter: PLNT Burger.  Basically akin to Shake Shack or your favorite burger joint, but, entirely vegan.

"Our menu is 100% plant-based, kosher and delicious."

They aren't trying to be ultra healthy, just, tasty.  Now this I can get behind. 

The chain has locations in NYC, the Boston and DC areas, and Pennsylvania.  I wasn't aware of it however until I recently visited NY, and I kept walking by both locations.  I was intrigued enough to look it up, and the reviews were quite positive.  I was sold when I saw they were offering a free burger or sandwich just for signing up for the rewards club, and doubly sold when I saw I'd get a free shake on my birthday (which just happened to be that month).  You know I love my freebies.

Setting

In NYC, there are two PLNT Burger locations, both adjacent to parks, one across the street from Bryant Park, the other half a block off Madison Square Park.

Bryant Park Location.

The Bryant Park location had virtually no seating, just three seats in the window, and a few stools around the center island.  No outdoor seating.  Clearly a location for takeout, during the warmer weather, it is easy to cross the street and dine in Bryant Park.  I'm curious what people do in the winter however.

Ordering is done via several kiosks along the wall, online through your phone, or, in person if you wished.  I ordered online as I had a reward to redeem and that seemed easiest since I was logged in.  The staff at this location were wonderful, very friendly, welcoming, up for modifying things, and wished me a happy birthday (as I was there redeeming my reward).  I was the only guest at 12:30pm on a Sunday though, which seems a bit concerning for their business.

Burgers / Sandwiches

If you are curious, the burgers use Beyond Burger, the cheese is Follow Your Heart vegan cheese.  I'm not sure what brand the crispy or grilled chicken, fish fillets, or "actual veggies" veggie burgers are.  I still haven't tried one of the burgers, but I hope to next time I'm in NY.

Sweets

For desserts, PLNT has four offerings: soft serve, shakes, floats, and cookies.  All are obviously vegan.  

Cookies are your standard chocolate chip, or a healthy sounding carrot-oat-pineapple. The soft serve is oat-milk based, available in chocolate or vanilla, with or without rainbow or chocolate sprinkles.  I was pretty interested in that, as I adore soft serve in general, and really do quite like oat milk (and the common brand of oat based soft serve on the market, Oatly), but my birthday reward was for a shake only.  

For shakes, I had a lot of options.  Too many, really.  I was so indecisive.  The lineup started with the basics: vanilla, chocolate, or swirl, using the vanilla or chocolate (or both for swirl, obviously) based soft serve.  Then there was strawberry, which I think used syrup with the vanilla base.  Or black and white, which, my research tells me, is a fairly common type of milkshake, that uses vanilla base plus chocolate syrup (rather than the swirl, which is both the vanilla and chocolate bases).  So I think it is less chocolately than a chocolate shake (that uses chocolate base), but more chocolately than the swirl (since that has the vanilla mixed with chocolate)?  Next up is peppermint cookies & cream (vanilla base, peppermint syrup, Oreos). From there, the specials roll in, which during my visit was a banana creme brulee, with bananas blended in and a brulee topping.  You can add sprinkles (rainbow or chocolate), graham crumbs, Oreos, chocolate sauce, or caramel to any shake.  So if the peppermint cookies & cream isn't your thing, but you still want cookies & cream, just add Oreo to the vanilla base (or chocolate, if you want more chocolate flavor, etc).   No whipped (non-dairy) cream topping options.

Mint Cookies N' Cream OATasty Shake. $6.49.
(-Oreos, Sub Chocolate Sprinkles).

Even with all the customization options possible, I still wanted something a bit different, not from the menu.  See, I don't like Oreos, or strawberry shakes, but I wanted something more interesting than just vanilla or chocolate (or even either of those with sprinkles).  I loved the appeal of the mint, but, that was only available in the peppermint cookies & cream.  There was no option to remove the Oreos, but I asked anyway, and asked if I could sub chocolate sprinkles for the Oreos.  Both are priced the same as add-ins, so I hoped this would be allowed.  The staff member I asked said it was no problem at all, and she'd be happy to do it.  I told her I was basically trying to make mint chip, and she approved of my creation.

My shake was quickly prepared, and handed over with a smile.  She wished me a happy birthday.  I was really pleased with the service.

I was even more pleased when I took a sip of the shake.  It was good.  Very good.  The mint flavor was very strong (nearly too strong).  The shake was really well blended, the perfect level of soft and melty, easy to suck up with a straw.  It was loaded with chocolate sprinkles.  Again, borderline too much, but, I loved the texture from the little bits, and the pops of chocolate flavor.  Sure, actual chips would be better, but this definitely created the mint chip experience I was looking for.  The oat milk base was, well, oaty, but really quite enjoyable, creamy, rich.  I'm surprised they don't have a cinnamon/horchata shake available, as it seems like it would be a natural fit.

I absolutely loved it, and would get again without question, although I am also interested in trying others.  ****.

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Mao's Bao

Mao's Bao is a food stall located in Chelsea Market.  They also attend food festivals and events around New York with their food truck, and provide catering services.  I've seen them several times, and was always drawn in, but didn't try them until now.

"Mao's Bao redefines the art of dumplings. Dive into the luxury of their JianBao, where each bite delivers a perfect contrast of fluffy softness and crispy crust."

As you may have guessed from their business name, Mao's Bao serves pan fried buns, jian bao.   Reviews are pretty blah - noting that even at the main food stall in Chelsea Market the buns are precooked, which really makes the crispy pan fried nature, well, not that, and noting that the buns have way too thick of wrappers, but I still tried them, when they were at a popup event I attended.

And yep, the reviews seem accurate.  It wasn't *bad* exactly, but certainly not good.  New York has plenty of great dumplings/buns, no reason to settle for such mediocrity. 

Menu.

The bao are available in some basic flavors: beef, pork, chicken, lamb, or vegetarian mushroom.  Each variety is a different color.  You get 6 for $15, or $2.40-$3 each depending on the variety. 

Bao.

 They look pretty, with the variety of colors.  The purple ones were particularly striking.

2x Beef Jian Bao, 2x Veggie Jian Bao, Noodles.

I tried two flavors, beef and veggie.  They came over noodles and mixed greens.

The noodles were very greasy.  Some minor vegetables included (a few mushrooms mostly).  I did not care for the noodles. 1/5.

The buns did have a crispy side, or at least, a side that was pan fried and crispy at some point, but they were now pretty soft.  The wrappers were really quite thick, and didn't taste like much of anything (I'll admit that the colors made my brain expect more significant flavor, I suspect if they were just traditional white bao, I may have been less grumpy that they had no taste).  I didn't find them very enjoyable either, and they too were fairly greasy. Really low 2/5 or maybe 1/5 wrappers.

Beef Jian Bao: Inside.

As for the fillings, the beef was a very spongy meatball.  It sorta reminded me of a slightly bigger meatball like those found in canned Chef Boyardee or SpaghettiOs.  It didn't have a particularly good flavor.  2/5.

The mushroom filling was much better, just minced mushrooms, but they were flavorful and enjoyable enough. Low 3/5.

Put this all together, and it is ... yeah, basically ... 1.5/5.  Just really not good.

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Liberty Bagels, NYC

Update Review, August 2025

Another year, my annual visit to Liberty Bagels to get my free birthday bagel with cream cheese.  I appreciated that the person taking my order smiled and genuinely seemed happy to wish me a happy birthday, and didn't act like I was annoying.  My receipt even said "Happy Bdayyy" on it (yes, with that many 'y's).  It all felt genuine somehow, which made the experience even better.

My visit was around 12:30pm, on a weekday, so there was basically no wait to order, and it was ready in just a few minutes.

Blueberry Cream Cheese (sample).

While I waited, I tried the blueberry cream cheese.

It was very creamy, sweet, and enjoyable, but the blueberry wasn't particularly strong. You could definitely eat it just like a mild blueberry cheesecake though. 3.5/5.

Rainbow Bagel / Birthday Cake Cream Cheese. $6.85 (or free on birthday!).
(untoasted, on the side).

As always, the birthday freebie was the rainbow bagel with birthday cake cream cheese, no options to pick your own.  They do always ask if you want it toasted or not.  I declined toasting, and asked for cream cheese on the side, so I could consume later.  This was no problem.  

I of course tried a bite of the bagel right away, even though I intended to actually properly toast it at home.  It really doesn't need toasting though; the bagel has a great chew to the exterior, is soft and fluffy inside, and just a very good bagel. The color and design is stunning of course, but it is just a plain bagel. A good plain bagel, but a plain bagel. 3.5/5.

The cream cheese was perhaps slightly less sweet than I remembered, but still quite enjoyable (and really, better suited for a bagel, just less well suited to be a dessert as I like to use it!).  Creamy, smooth base consistency, good distribution of colorful sprinkles.  Good with the bagel, great spread on strawberries with cocoa nibs for a little sweet treat too.  4/5. 

Update Review, August 2024

Another year, another birthday, and, my second year in a row being in New York City for my birthday.  This meant that I could get my free birthday bagel at Liberty Bagel.  My birthday fell on a Monday this year, so the lines were less dramatic than last year (which was on a weekend).  Ordering was straightforward, the staff knew exactly what to do, just checked my ID, and moved on.  For the birthday free bagel, you don't get a choice of bagel (always rainbow) nor of cream cheese (always birthday cake), just FYI.

I enjoyed my bagel yet again, and will make this part of any birthday agenda when I'm in NY.  Only valid the actual day of your birthday.

Cream Cheeses.

While I was waiting for my bagel, I asked to sample the peanut butter nutella cream cheese.  It was as tasty as I hoped it would be, basically like a chocolate hazelnut peanut butter cheesecake.  So good.  Great as a little sample.  ****.

The server also had me try his favorite, which was cinnamon raisin.  It was good, nice plump raisins, good cinnamon level, but it tasted more like cream cheese, and wasn't quite as enjoyable to just eat by the sample-spoonful.  ***.

Rainbow Bagel (untoasted) w/ Birthday Cream Cheese (on the side).
$5.80 (complimentary for birthday).

Since I was not planning to eat it right away, I asked for my bagel untoasted and with the cream cheese on the side, both of which were easy to do (and are standard questions they ask when you order if you don't specify anyway). 

When I was handed my bag however it was warm.  I was slightly annoyed, thinking, "ugh, they toasted it even though I said not to", but then I pulled it out to take a bite anyway (I did of course WANT to try it fresh, even though I was on my way to lunch), and discovered that it was not toasted, it was actually just warm, literally fresh from the oven.  Incredible.  

The bagel was excellent.  Obviously very fresh, nice crust to it, fluffy inside, fabulous chew.  It wouldn't need toasting at all if I was planning to eat it right then.  Such a well made bagel.  And obviously a very pretty one, although it was just a plain bagel, so, um, kinda plain tasting.  ****+ quality, *** taste, **** overall.

The cream cheese was also as delightful as I remember.  Yes, it is basically like a dense cheesecake, very sweet, loaded with sprinkles, and not really what you should eat everyday, but for a special occasion, it really is delicious.  I love it on strawberries or crackers too (not just bagels).  ****+ cream cheese.

Original Review, August 2023

Ah, New York bagels.  Yes, a cliche perhaps, but, when I was recently in New York, I had to get a bagel at some point, right?

"Liberty Bagels is your neighborhood bagel shop; it is where you can gather for good conversation and great food. Our head bakers make certain every bagel is baked to perfection, so we can proudly provide our guests with freshly baked bagels, breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, great coffee, catering and so much more. Come on in. Our bagels are delicious and our coffee is strong."

I opted to try a place new to me: Liberty Bagels.  They get strong reviews (4.5 stars on Yelp with zillions of reviews), and ... well, they have a birthday free bagel with cream cheese promotion.  You know how much I love a good freebie, and a birthday one at that, so, Liberty Bagels easily made it on my list of birthday adventures.

Setting

The location I visited was in midtown.  It was a Saturday afternoon.  12:30pm.  I don't recommend this.

Um, the lines.

"Liberty Bagels is home to the best bagels in New York. Our old-fashioned, hand-rolled, and kettle boiled bagels are a NY staple and is a stop you cannot skip during a trip to NYC. But you don’t have to just hear it from us, check out this video Uber featured us in! "

So, yes, I expected some crowds but I was shocked when I turned the corner to see a line going far down the street.  There were two employees outside *just* dealing with the crowd and directing pickup orders.  Others seemed to have no issue with this line, but, I was deterred, and moved on to another one of my freebie quests instead, particularly once I looked inside and saw just how far it was before the register to order.  It easily would have been an hour wait.

Clearly, their Instagram success with the rainbow bagels, and whatever guidebook has been featuring them, was working for the business.

Inside Chaos.

I returned a few hours later, later afternoon.  There was only a short line outside, and once we were allowed in, then it was time to get into another line.  After ordering, we were aggressively told to get out of the way and queue up on the other side.  These crowds are clearly normal for them, but certainly made it a less enjoyable experience for me.

Bagels.

Like most bagel shops, the bagels were clearly visible in baskets behind the counter.  Of course, actually getting to the counter area to see them was a bit of lost cause.  I only managed to snag a photo on my way out, as the crowd control handlers were keeping us moving along.  You really couldn't browse with your eyes to decide what to get.

Bagel Line Up.

Luckily, closer to the register, they had a illustrated visual guide to move of the bagels. 

Individual bagels are $1.85 for the basics (plain, egg, poppy, onion, salt, sesame, garlic, multigrain, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel, everything, pumpernickel everything, whole wheat everything, egg everything), $2.75 for specialty such as Blueberry, Jalapeño Cheddar, Jalapeño Cheddar Everything, Asiago, French Toast, Flagel (Flat Bagel), and $3.50 for the Rainbow or Empire multi colored ones.

Cream Cheeses Part 1.

And then ... the signature cream cheeses.  On display like a gelato shop in Italy.  But, you know, cream cheese.  There was something for everyone here, with sweet, savory, spicy, and everything in between. I won't enumerate all of the choices, but, um, the bacon honey sriracha definitely sparked my interest.

Regular cream cheese is $2.10 with a bagel, flavored is $2.55, vegan tofu based is $2.35, vegan flavored is $3.10, lox spread is $3.85 and flavored lox is $4.40.  You can also get individual portions (1/4 lb) for $2.95-5.25, depending on the flavor, or by the pound ($11.80-$21).

Cream Cheeses Part 2 (including vegan), salad fillings.

The vegan tofu based lineup was particularly impressive, with nearly as many choices as the regular.  Deli salads (tuna, chicken, egg, etc) and meats were also on display.

Food

I would have definitely had a hard time making decisions here, just given the plethora of options and how inviting they all looked, but, for the birthday freebie, there was no choice.  I was getting a rainbow bagel with birthday cake cream cheese.

Rainbow Bagel with Birthday Cake Cream Cheese. $4.40.
(Untoasted, on the side).

I did ask to have it untoasted (options are toasted, double toasted, untoasted, or scooped out), and to have the cream cheese on the side, as this was just a pickup for me, in the midst of my great freebie crawl.  I'd toast it at home later.  This request was easily accommodated.

So, how was it, my first actual NY bagel this trip?

It was good.  NY bagels really do put others to shame.  It was soft, it had a great shine to the exterior, and light chew.  It certainly didn't need to be toasted.  And yes, very colorful and interesting to look at as well, obviously.  A very good bagel, no question, but quite plain.  I wouldn't normally pick a plain bagel.  ****+ for bagel execution, but ***+ because plain was boring.  As much as the rainbow is made for Instagram, if you are eating for your stomach instead, get another variety.

The cream cheese I was even more interested in than the bagel.  It somewhat let me down, as I expected more flavor from it.  It was loaded with funfetti, which added sweetness (and I suspect the base was sweetened as well), but, it didn't taste like much besides sweet cream cheese.  Fun, festive, appropriate for my birthday, but at the end of the day, just sweet and colorful cream cheese.  ***.

Overall though, for a birthday freebie, this one was quite fun, and I'd recommend just for the experience (and for Instagram, of course).  ****.

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Springhill Farm

I love trying snacks in other countries, including Australia, where I spent a significant amount of time for a number of years.  At some point, I picked up these snacks from Springhill Farm, an Australian brand.

Springhill Farm has several product lines, but their dominant products seem to be Slices and Boodles.  All are vegan.  Slices are just healthy bars, and were less interesting to me as that is already a widely covered market.  Boodles however looked more interesting ...

They make several styles of Boodles, all of which are healthy grain clusters featuring soy protein crisps, brown rice puffs, quinoa, and buckwheat, sweetened with coconut sugar, and then embellished. Chocolate clusters are the most decadent chocolate covered confections, "healthy clusters" are made from a combo of grains, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, etc with added adaptogens, and lunchbox clusters are crispy grain puffs with kid friendly flavors like cocoa, vanilla sprinkles, and strawberry.  I tried only the chocolate clusters line.

Boodles Chocolate Clusters

"We keep it light taking the crispy, natural goodness of seeds and grains, like quinoa, buckwheat, soy and rice crisps and smothering them in smooth, creamy chocolate."

Boodles are a form of crispy chocolate cluster, but lower sugar (50% less they claim) and protein bolstered (15g protein) compared to regular chocolate confections.  The protein comes from soy protein cocoa crisps, quinoa crisps, cocoa rice crisps, and buckwheat.

They come in 5 flavors: original chocolate, chocolate and caramel, chocolate speckle (with nonpareils), peanut and pretzel, and chocolate and hazelnut.  I was only able to find the basic chocolate ones, and the hazelnut version, although I really wished I could find the peanut/pretzel or speckle ones!

Chocolate.

These were not bad.  I liked the variety of size pieces, some little bits, some bigger.  All had a great crunch, and good chocolate coverage.  The chocolate quality was decent.  They didn't taste too healthy, mostly just like a chocolate crispy oddly shaped candy bar.  I did want a little salt to make the flavor pop a bit more.  Awesome as an ice cream topping. 3/5.

Chocolate Hazelnut.

"We keep it light taking the crispy, natural goodness of seeds, grains and hazelnuts and slathering them all in smooth, creamy chocolate."

I'm not one who adores all things chocolate-hazelnut.  I don't go nuts over Nutella, etc, but it is a combo that works, and the hazelnut variety sounded a bit more interesting than the plain chocolate.

It really wasn't much different to me.  I didn't taste hazelnut.  But I did enjoy the crispy bits and the great crunch, and the decent quality chocolate.  Again great as a topping on ice cream or pudding.  But truly did not taste the hazelnut. 3/5.

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Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

I eat a lot of ice cream.  I eat it daily.  At least once a day, often twice, frequently as a topping on a warm dessert.  And when I'm in New York, in the summer, I eat even more ice cream/gelato/froyo than usual (although I have a strong bias towards soft serve during the summer weather, something about a soft serve cone in the sun just brings me such joy).  And yet I somehow never tried Van Leeuwen Ice Cream until now (even though I've heard of it, seen their pints in grocery stores, and walked by a location right next to my NY office a zillion times).

Spoiler: I was missing nothing.  But if you do want to try it, they have a slew of stores around New York (and other states), and sell pints nationwide in generic grocery stores.  It isn't hard to find.  They have been around since 2008 (started in Brooklyn) and offer up a good mix of generic crowd pleasing "safe" flavors, and some more interesting seasonal ones.  The regular ice cream is "French" style, which means more yolk than some other brands.  They also have vegan options.

I tried 4 flavors when I visited the shop in Chelsea.  I found the base ice cream for all flavors to be fairly average.  To be clear, I mean average for premium ice cream, I'm not saying it was like a generic cheapo base, but, it didn't stand out in any way compared to other local ice cream shops.  Even with abundant locations that seem convenient to wherever I am, and rarely any lines, I have no reason to return.  I also find it pricey, even compared to its (far better tasting) peers.

Mint Chip / Praline Butter Cake.

I sampled 4 flavors first, and was kinda let down by all of them, but settled for 2 since I was there and did want ice cream.

Mint Chip

This is a very simple flavor, but one I generally enjoy.  Classic minty base that wasn't too strong nor too artificial.  Loaded with lots of high quality dark chocolate flecks.  A simple basic flavor done well.  I like even more with fudge or chocolate sprinkles to accent it (and, ideally, whipped cream and strawberries!).  Higher 3.5/5.

Praline Butter Cake

"Nothing makes us happier than this Praline Butter Cake Ice Cream. We can thank Louisiana for the praline and Mardi Gras. But you don’t have to throw beads to get your hands on this creation; sweet cream ice cream with praline and pieces of brown butter cake."

Definitely an interesting and fun flavor.  It was certainly sweet, but not too sweet.  It was loaded with reasonable size hunks of the gooey, sweet, buttery butter cake.  An enjoyable flavor, unique, and my favorite by far of the four flavors I tried.  That said, it still wasn't exceptional, the base ice cream just fairly average premium ice cream.  Low 4/5 if I was stranded in a small town, but 3.5/5 for NY really.

Sweet Corn & Blueberry Jam

"Nothing makes us happier than this Buttermilk Berry Cornbread Ice Cream. We mix in pieces of honey cornbread with buttermilk ice cream. Then we add in swirls of sweet and tart raspberry. You add your spoon. Before you know it we have a mouth band."

I thought I'd love this!  But I didn't really taste the corn, and the fruity swirls just overwhelmed.  Very sweet in a fruity way.  The swirl also seemed a bit icy.  It was fine, but not what I was looking for. Low 3/5.

Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Brownie

"Nothing makes us happier than this Brown Sugar Cookie Dough Brownie Ice Cream. Dark brown sugar ice cream. Cookie dough. Brownies. It’s a collection of all the best stuff. Like an ice cream platypus whose den is your mouth."

I found this one very boring.  Yeah, it was a slightly interesting sweet base from the brown sugar, and yeah, it had hunks of cookie dough and brownie, but I didn't really think anything stood out, and the mix-ins were overly chewy.  Another low 3/5.

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