Each month, members of our team eat their way across New York City, frequenting old favorites and discovering hot new spots. Whether you're looking to feast or for a quick treat—or anything in between, we've got the recs for spots to eat, drink, and clink. In this roundup, our staff dishes on ten bites that we've been loving this January.
1. Frozen S'more
Dominique Ansel Bakery, SoHo
Recommended by: Valentina Maldonado, Assistant Marketing Director
The Frozen S'More starts with a special marshmallow (rather like a meringue, as opposed to the standard Jet-Puffer version you're probably familiar with), stuffs it with house-made vanilla custard, and then blowtorches the entire thing to form a crème brûlée-like crust.
2. Classic Donuts
Glaze Donuts, New Milford NJ
Recommended by: Graham Harris, Website Manager
Glaze Donuts features an astounding variety of flavors, ranging from classic options to more unique offerings like 'Maple Bacon Apple Filled,' to 'Ring Ding a Ling' (filled with whipped buttercream coated with chocolate frosting), to the signature 'Italian Rainbow' (tricolor almond flavored cake filled with marzipan, raspberry filling, topped with chocolate ganache and chocolate sprinkles).
3. Strawberry Pancake
Flipper's, SoHo
Recommended by: Katie Sun, Managing Editor
It's hard to believe a fluffy pancake can be this good—but it is. It's rare that a place that feeds on Instagram hype actually lives up to it, but these perfectly light little clouds exceed expectations. (Check out our review here).
4. Truffle Wagyu Burger
Boucherie (Locations at Union Square and West Village)
Recommended by: Emily Hoang, Marketing Team
Kow wagyu blend, truffle dijonnaise, caramelized onions, aged gruyere & shaved burgundy truffles. Yum.
5. Tanghulu
Junzi Kitchen (Locations by NYU and Bryant Park)
Recommended by: Angela Choe, Marketing Team
We dropped by Junzi Kitchen for their annual Chinese New Year celebrations and picked up some Tanghulu. The tower you see in this photo features hawthorn berries dipped in sugar syrup.
6. Chicken Katsu
Barn Joo, Union Square
Recommended by: Jamie Han, Staff Writer
Probably one of the most gorgeous katsu's we've seen—and to top it all off, just the right balance of crispy and juicy.
7. Nutella Bomboloni
Angelina Bakery, Garment District
Recommended by: Maddy Choi, Marketing Team
Soft and doughy on the outside, perfectly sweet and creamy on the inside— *chef's kiss*.
8. Chicken Katsu Club
Golden Diner, Two Bridges
Recommended by: Adam Moritz, Staff Writer
Featuring chicken cutlet, blt, red cabbage slaw, and bulldog sauce, the Chicken Katsu Club hits all the right notes. Adam also recommends splurging on a side of home fries, but even if you choose otherwise, he assures us that it's "difficult to go wrong here, so just eat as much as you can and know you’ve done it right."
9. Choco-Toffee Cookies
Red Gate Bakery, Bowery
Recommended by: Sophie Park, Staff Writer
In case you missed it, Sophie's chocolate-chip-cookie-topped, ice-cream stuffed cream puff recipe qualified as a #TastyChallenge finalist, so she's definitely one of our resident baked-goods experts! These choco-toffee cookies got her seal of approval: "I’m very picky with my cookies but I highly recommend these!"
10. Chelsea Bowl
BEC Chelsea, Chelsea
Recommended by: Vivianne Ramselaar, Marketing Team
BEC Chelsea specializes in made-to-order organic egg sandwiches, offering takes on the classic NYC bacon, egg, and cheese. Grab one on a roll or in the bowl— we loved the homemade walnut pesto (and hot sauce!) on this one.
Have any restaurant recommendations for us? Send them to biteclubnyu@gmail.com!