Introduction
As some of you might know, we regularly update our “best NYC desserts” round-up reviews. However, when we do so, email subscribers don’t receive an email notification. 😦 Only those who follow us on Instagram will be alerted of each update. So, for those who don’t follow us on Instagram, here’s our half-yearly installment of NYC dessert trend updates of what’s hot and what’s not in the city’s dessert landscape. And scroll down for a big news update 😦
Recently updated round-up reviews:
NYC’s best Asian dessert collection: From one to five, we now have five separate volumes of the best Asian desserts in NYC. Owing to the continued explosion of Asian dessert spots in NYC, these guides are our most frequently updated desserts guides, so make sure to bookmark and keep checking back. 🙂
- NYC’s best sit-down Asian dessert spots for group outings and dates in Manhattan are compiled here,
- NYC’s best take-away/street food Asian dessert spots in Manhattan are listed here,
- The best traditional Chinatown bakeries in NYC are noted here,
- A curated selection of our favourite Asian dessert spots in Long Island City and Flushing are featured here, and
- The newest arrivals are showcased here.
- NYC’s best shaved ice: Just in time for the start of the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere, we updated our guide to the best shaved ice in NYC. Two years since it was first published, it remains one of our most read NYC dessert guides – thank you! Updated review: Here.
- NYC’s best cream buns: From the chef of one of our most favourite Michelin restaurants, we added an excellent new cream bun to the list of NYC’s best maritozzi and cream buns. Updated review: Here.
- NYC’s best cream puffs / bubble tea desserts: Aside from Alimama and Bibble & Sip, there is now a third dessert shop selling giant cream puffs topped with generous scoops of bubble tea bubbles. Savoury cream puffs with nori, cream cheese and pork floss may also be found at a new modern Chinese patisserie. Updated review: Here and here.
- NYC’s best mille crepe cakes: Mille crepe cakes were all the rage when we first arrived in NYC way back in 2017. Not so much now in 2024. It’s sad, because it remains one of our most favourite desserts in NYC. We added a new favourite spot to the list. Updated review: Here.
- NYC’s best high teas: As of early 2024, we finally accomplished our mission of trying all of the high teas in NYC. 🙂 All of the high teas that we would recommend are compiled in this consolidated guide here. The high teas include the best spots for old money-style high teas, flashy nouveau riche high teas, mid-range hotel high teas, high teas for Christmas or Halloween, high teas that will make you feel like you are in a movie and unique Asian-infused high teas. High teas that we disliked are excluded. And if you don’t have the attention span for reading it, we also have a pictorial guide instead, see here.
- Consolidated NYC dessert guide listings – we recently updated our compass pages. All NYC dessert guides can be found here. And if you are looking for specific desserts (e.g. eclairs, pies, pastries, ice cream etc), a list of everywhere that we have loved and reviewed by category and alphabetical order can be found here.
Other NYC dessert news:
- Latest Western dessert trend: The dessert menus of many Western restaurants have been largely uninspired soporific creations of late. Similar to the patisserie/bakery landscape too. 😦 Every year since the end of the pandemic, in 2021, 2022, and 2023, NYC has been hit each summer season with an epidemic of viral bakeries all offering their own version of a croissant. Given that there is, in truth, very little other creativity to distinguish one croissant from another, we will never understand NYC’s infatuation with croissants. But thank you all the same, dessert addicts of NYC, for making our updated guide to NYC’s most viral croissants the most read NYC dessert guide of all time (and arguably, catalyzing the attempts of other food media outlets to compile their own list…lolz).
- Latest Asian dessert trend: Much of NYC’s dessert creativity can be found in the Asian dessert landscape instead. In the past year, we have seen a tsunami of Korean desserts (we compiled lists of fancy K-desserts, casual K-desserts, K-icecream and K-street food dessert, and hotteok can even be found at Trader Joe’s now). In 2024, we also observed an intermittent wave of South East Asian desserts, and splashes of modern Chinese desserts. We look forward to more modern Asian desserts, and all the incredible creativity they exhibit..compared to that very ordinary croissant.
- Most unique dessert: Flower cakes (鲜花饼) infused with thousands of years of Chinese dessert tradition finally showing up in NYC. See review here.
- Most interesting dessert ingredient: Corn. From Latin American dessert to East Asian desserts, we are seeing it more and more. See review here.
- Dessert adventures abroad: You may have noticed that we have published a range of new dessert travel adventure reviews, canvassing Denmark, Norway, Antigua, Azores, Malaysia, and Japan. If you are in the need of a world adventure, don’t forget our other dessert adventures around the world here. We also recently took a travel break so there will be more coming up too! 🙂
A last note:
We started this dessert blog back in 2011, and just as it was taking off in Australia, we relocated overseas for work. Work saw us move from London to Hong Kong to NYC, and on each stop, we chronicled the best desserts that each of these amazing cities had to offer. And after seven years of hunting down NYC’s best desserts — and just as we reached an incredible peak readership in 2023 — we are so sad to announce that we recently relocated back to Australia. 😦 That said, we intend to visit NYC fairly often for work and leisure, and when we do, we will do our very best to catch up with all the latest and greatest desserts. Thank you so much for your support across the last decade, and please stay tuned for more exciting dessert adventures in Melbourne, in NYC and so many other places around the world! 😀
Dessert Correspondents 