Diving into a treasure trove of desserts by the river.

Our experience

Long-time readers of this dessert blog will know that we have moaned on quite a few previous occasions that many a restaurant in New York, overwhelmingly fail…and fail tremendously… at executing memorable dessert epilogues to an otherwise wonderful meal.  An uninspired plate of cookies, a stale slice of cake or a careless plop of ice cream does not constitute a proper dessert in a restaurant.  It’s a tragedy that leaves these Dessert Correspondents especially, in a bamboozled state.  Why the anti-climax?!  😦  It has thus been our mission to seek out the New York restaurants who do afford more considered attention to the dessert menu.  Arriving a few months ago, the Fulton has somehow not become a disappointing tourist trap despite its highly-coveted waterfront location.  In fact, after several visits, we consider it as one of our most reliably recommended restaurants in NYC.  The restaurant is split into three sitting areas – a riverside patio for glorious summer days, a lower level for the refined casual weekday lunch and a nautical-glam themed upper level for more date-night-style dining.  In a city where return visits to a single restaurant is as rare as winning the Hamilton Broadway lottery, these Dessert Correspondents have returned several times.  The peppered octopus partnered with creamy yet tangy mozzarella, and the tower of rainbow-like sashimi will always be a winner, but by golly, the desserts are of course, what you read our blog for and one of the reasons we will return to the Fulton again.

The Fulton offers a seasonally-changing menu of at least five desserts, of which we have sampled four.  Note that many of the desserts at the Fulton follow a fruity theme, making for a well-balanced finale to the “lighter” seafood-centric savoury fare.  For example, during the summer months of 2019, there was the “Strawberry Sundae” ($12), a bowl of berries and lime, sorbet and granola, masquerading as a “healthy dessert.”  Then when autumn danced into NYC, we recently sampled the “Honey Fig Pannacotta” ($13).  We don’t typically order panna cotta, having been thoroughly disheartened over the years by countless lacklustre creations that can’t decide whether it is a creme brulee, flan or collapsing jelly edifice of sorts.  On the insistence of our dining companion in this instant though, we ordered the Fulton’s rendition, and certainly did not regret the choice.  It was an ambrosial creation, of figs and honey and rosemary ice cream.  A classic re-imagined and re-vitalized.

Sighted as a constant menu offering, and recommended by almost every waiter we met, the “Meyer Lemon Pudding” ($12) seems to be a signature dessert at the Fulton.  It’s a dessert created as though someone decided to tip out an entire jar of lemon curd into a bowl, smooth its surface, set fat little snowmen-like meringue in a five-pointed star pattern, and drop a plop of zingy lemon-rind sorbet into the centre.  Sunny divinity, that is all.  Eat it.  You could share it, and probably should given its size, but this has to be one of the few times that it is most acceptable to be selfish.  If you are looking for a “heavier” dessert option, there is the “Chocolate Mousse” ($13).  Perhaps inspired by the millefeuille pastry, it is chocolate layered into a tower, and accompanied with two spheres of of vanilla ice cream and passionfruit sorbet.  Whoever makes the ice cream and sorbet at the Fulton, consider opening an ice cream shop one day, please.

Our verdict

As we have mentioned on previous dessert adventure posts, the Financial District is our “work home,” rather than our “off-duty home,” and the very thought of spending more time than necessary in the area sends our blood pressure skyrocketing.  On occasion though, such as when we visited the glorious Manhatta and the timeless Augustine, these Dessert Correspondents have been tempted to spend our off-work hours in FiDi.  We would add the similarly-recent newcomer, Fulton, to the list.  Housed in the corner of a modern structure with wrap-around glass windows that afford a panoramic (read highly Instagrammable) view of the historical Brooklyn Bridge, the Fulton reflects this same intermingling of classical New York and contemporary New York in its food offerings, both savoury and sweet.  We recommend a straight dive to its treasure trove array of memorable desserts.

Dessert adventure checklist

1. ☑  Dessert destination: The Fulton, 89 South Street (Pier 17), Financial District, New York 10038.
2. ☑  Budget: $$$-$$$$.
3. ☑  Sweet irresistibles: Restaurant dessert.
4. ☑  Must-eat:  Meyer Lemon Pudding.
5. ☑  The short and sweet story: Diving into a treasure trove of desserts by the river.