Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream, Ices – The Treats of Summer
The frozen dessert landscape has changed remarkably in recent years. While I am happy to welcome many creative new additions to the marketplace, I also enjoy the time tested traditional ice cream and other frozen treats like lemon ice. Here is my guide to frozen treats.
Frozen Yogurt
Over the last three years we have seen the proliferation of expensive “premium” frozen yogurt in NYC… it started with Pinkberry, then came Red Mango. Even though Pinkberry arrived to NYC first, it is well documented that Red Mango started before Pinkberry.
From there, copy cat after copy cat. The funniest one I noticed a couple of years ago was Red Cherry, which has since gone out of business. Red Cherry doesn’t make sense. Red Mango works because mangoes are not red. Pink Berry, the same thing, there is a chance that a pinkberry exists, but you are more likely to come across a blueberry or a blackberry. There are plenty of red cherries…
Another relatively prominent expensive yogurt place is BerryWild.
Maybe some of you will disagree, but for me there’s very little difference between the three… I feel the yogurt all tastes relatively the same. All charge about the same and have similar topping offerings.
The Pinkberries of the world have almost totally displaced an old NYC favorite, TastiDelight. I never really enjoyed Tasti-D. While we used to order Tasti-D, the premium price for a styrofoam cup of this stuff always bothered me more than paying a premium Pinkberry or Red Mango that at least come with fresh fruit toppings.
Another frozen yogurt category is “weigh and pay.” We have these places that bank on the human instinct to not be able to control themselves. There’s 16 Handles and Phileo Yogurt (by way of Philadelphia, could you tell?), which my friend calls “yogurt land.” Both offer lots of machines featuring tart and not tart flavors. They let visitors take what they want, top it with healthy toppings or candy, weigh it, pay (enough to buy gallons of yogurt from the grocery store), then enjoy.
Recently I went to Jersey and visited Bischoff’s. Since 1934, Bischoff’s has been serving up ice cream sundaes in the same way. My family has been going to Bischoff’s for three generations. My dad, who grew up in Teaneck, used to take dates there in High School.
While I enjoy fro yo as a grab and go treat in the city or the mall, it is nice to sit down and have real ice cream. We asked and they don’t even have frozen yogurt at Bischoff’s! Take a look at these two sundaes that cost a total of $16! There were four of us and we couldn’t finish either one of them.
A City Ice Cream Favorite – Mister Softee
Summer is here and you know what that means….we will see Mister Softee on every other block in the city. According to the Mister Softee website, Mister Softee is the largest franchiser of soft ice cream trucks in the United States. Mister Softee is light soft serve ice cream – creamy with lots of air. Lots of creative ways to enjoy, including the double cone. Don’t forget to dip your cone in chocolate, strawberry, etc. Check out some Mister and Ms. Softee Profiles on Midtown Lunch.
On the topic of Mister Softee, please keep in mind that not all Mister Softee trucks are created equally. If you are in the mood for Mister Softee, please look at the truck carefully. If it doesn’t specifically say Mister Softee, it isn’t (meaning, they buy cheaper, less enjoyable product and try and sell it for the same price). Check out this 2008 article on Mister Softee Knockoffs.
Real Mister Softee
Clearly not Mister Softee!
If I find some better examples of fake Mister Softee trucks, I will update. There are plenty out there, believe me.
Lemon Ice (and other flavors)
There is only one King and he’s from Queens.
I have been enjoying the Lemon Ice King of Corona my entire life but the establishment has been around for twice as long as me (over 60 years). Read my full review.
La NewYorkina Modern Mexican Ice Pops
It was a hot day, I was thirsty and in the mood for something sweet. I had enough Mister softee and fancy frozen yogurt for the week. I walked into the Hester Street Fair, and the answer was looking at me. La NewYorkina “modern mexican ice pops.” Such a simple and refreshing idea.
I asked what the most popular flavor was, and Fanny, one of the propieters, served me Mango con Chile (Spicy Mango). The $4 pop was filled with large mango chunks. The chili made for an occasional bursts of spice. If the pop isn’t spicy enough for your taste, Fany offers seasoning to sprinkle (like you would pepper flakes on a pizza).
Other flavors include:
- Fresa-Strawberry
- Tamarindo Fresco- Fresh Tamarind
- Horchata- Cinnamon Rice Milk
- Jamaica- Hibiscus
- Pina con Menta- Pineapple Mint
- Nuez- Pecan
Fanny explained that she makes the pops after hours in a local wholesale bakery after 7pm during the week. It is a simple process from the cutting of the fruit, to the freezing. literally what you see is what you get. Check out these Facebook pics of the process.
At this point, they are getting ready for the Hester Street Fair each week. I see no reason why this concept can’t go bigger with a food truck or even a well positioned storefront.
Find La Newyorkina at the Hester Street Fair, every Saturday and Sunday,
10am to 6pm.
In Summary…
There is a right place and a right time for frozen treats and we certainly have a lot of options in the NYC Metro area… Enjoy! Please comment below on any of your favorites that I missed.
New York City Street Fair Food Guide
It’s that time of the year. Last weekend as I walked my way through NYC, I stumbled across three New York City street fairs.
This guide will go through NYC street fair food options. I will divide street fair food into three categories.
- Food I look forward to eating at each fair
- Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences (i.e indigestion, a lost tooth)
- Pleasant surprises
Hopefully this guide will help locals and tourists alike to navigate NYC street fair food options.
Food I look forward to eating at each fair
I will pick up some pickles if, for some reason, I have no pickles in my fridge.
Kettle corn: I most likely won’t buy this, I have plenty of equally enjoyable Orville Redenbacher at home, but I will try a free sample.
Sticking with corn, how can you go wrong with fresh corn? I like how most use the grill to char the corn.
Another corn product is the sweet corn arepa. How can you go wrong with melted mozzarella and sweet corn?
Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences
This may be controversial but I never want a candy apple during the summer. Candy Apples are a Fall food for me. I am also afraid that I will lose a tooth when I bite into the hard shell.
Dirty hands making falafel balls and frying in oil on a dirty street, no thanks. The same applies to Zeppoles. I will sometimes try a spinach pie though.
Fear of indigestion, continued…
No desire to have one of those smoothies. How could they possibly wash all that fruit with no running water? They also use the same dirty blenders all day! If you do happen to be by a fair when it’s closing they may sell bananas and other unused fruit for next to nothing. That I will go for!
I may have a crepe or two in Paris, but not on a NYC street…
Pleasant surprises
I would try a lobster roll at lunch time!
As the summer goes by, I will add some pictures of some of the pleasant surprise food options that I come across.
Street Fair Calendars:
Choptank
I received two recommendations to try Choptank in two days, so I gave it a try. It is an impressive space in The West Village. I liked how the traditional design mixed with the modern. The back open air courtyard will prove to be very popular during the spring and summer.
Service was friendly and attentive. Our waiter was a nice guy. Instead of bread, they offer complementary Old Bay Chips and crab dip. We were excited to learn that this was free. Our excitement wore off when we realized that the chips were over seasoned and the crab dip was so thick that the flimsy chips broke each time we tried to dip. We left the chips and dip over.
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By far, the best part of the meal was the generous portion of Peel ‘N’ Eat Shrimp, Cocktail Sauce ($12). I had enjoyed peel and eat shrimp at Dinosaur Bar B Que earlier in the day and I actually liked these better. Why? The high quality jumbo shrimp were served hot. Unlike the chips, they were steamed with just the right amount of Old Bay. The cocktail sauce was tangy and fresh. It was a generous potion for the price.
Onto the steamers. I ordered these over the clams at the recommendation of the people at the next table. The steamers were cooked just right and the flavor came from the actual steamers as opposed to being overpowered with seasonings.
Though the burger came out undercooked and had to be sent back, all and all, it is a good option, especially if you don’t eat fish. They also have fried chicken on the menu.
I noticed a few people ordering crab cakes, which looked good. I also am intrigued by their $50 all you can eat crab menu item.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 8/10
Category:
Food Type – Seafood
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Address/ phone: 310 Bleecker St., near Grove, 212-675-2009
menu: choptanknyc.com/Choptank_MENU.pdf
OpenTable: opentable.com/choptank
Mercadito New York
I have tried practically all the Mexican places in Manhattan and always end up back at Mercadito. The food is fresh and though both locations are a little cramped, after a few margs you start to believe it is part of the charm of the “little market.” More on margs– I love the tres citrus. It is spicy and strong. My wife loves the strawberry with lots of real strawberries mashed in. We always upgrade the tequila to Don Julio but there are plenty of choices if you are feeling adventurous.
For appetizer, I recommend trying at least one of the cevices. My personal favorite is mixto -shrimp, octopus, calamari, tomato, roasted garlic-jalapeño broth. If you are with a group, for $24.5, it may be worth get an assortment of three of their five varieties of cevice to try. The quac is also good.
For dinner, it is best to share. We love the tacos- they are soft shell, about four come with each order. We usually have the steak, the chicken and the shrimp.
We also always end up ordering the pollo a las brasas (grilled whole adobo marinated chicken, three corn pico de gallo, chile de arbol salsa). The three corn picos amazing. I am not sure where the humongous corn kernels come from but don’t care because they are so tasty. The chicken is cooked to perfection and it is a really generous portion.
Rating:
Food – 9/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Mexican
Style – Casual
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
Mercadito Avenue B
179 Ave B between 11th & 12th streets
212-529-6490
Mercadito Grove
100 7th Ave South at grove street
212-647-0830
website- mercaditorestaurants.com
menus – menupages.com/restaurants/mercadito
August New York
August is “Damn Good!” At least that’s how our waiter, Marty referred to much of the food. I have to say, this fun-loving guy made a leisurely Friday night meal with friends truly entertaining.
But, more importantly, August delivered high quality food “rich in the finest traditions of Europe’s food cultures, ranging from the Mediterranean to Northern Europe using local and seasonal ingredients.”
When you walk up to August on Bleecker St, you smell the wood from the wood burning oven which I have to say, isn’t something I was expecting when walking this city street filled with retailers.
The wood burning oven is smack in the center of an intimate front dining area and a larger bright greenhouse dining area in the back.
I started with Roasted Mushroom Soup. The soup was smooth and delicate. It was not cream based but, according to Marty, had the “slightest amount of cream to finish it off.” The sorrel mushrooms and other ingredients were high quality, the smoked eel provided nice flavor and the puffed rice added texture.
I had Heirloom Pork Tortelleni with rock shrimp, fava beans, ramps, and brodo. If you are curious, the blog, CULATELLO, describes heirloom pork as the result of a ”movement of producers and chefs to spotlight pork from unique and rare breeds of pig.” This pork was definitely from a unique pig because it was so flavorful… the filling of the tortellini had almost a pâté taste and texture.
Others at the table ordered the Oven Roasted Whole Dourade, which I would have ordered if I had to do it again… not that my heirloom pork wasn’t good. There was just something about the whole fish cooked in the wood oven. It smelled fresh and appeared to be cooked to perfection. The Roasted duck breast, leg confit, ginger cavatelli, rhubarb, spring onion had a nice portion of duck – the cavatelli was enjoyed by those who had the dish and I enjoyed my taste of the dish, which had a little spice to it.
The Pommes Frites side dish was a popular item. They were fresh and crispy. If you get them don’t forget to try the side of smoky mayonnaise!
For dessert we had the Rich Chocolate Pave with Banana bavois, macadamia, maple. The chocolate dessert was light and well constructed, but I wouldn’t describe it as rich.
We also had the Apple and Pretzel Tartlet. It was the better choice of the two. We finished both desserts, but if I were to do it again, I would walk to Magnolia down the block for dessert.
Marty said…” Chocolate and apple is the classic combination. It’s like love and war.” I don’t know if I’d agree from the combination of these two desserts but we won’t hold that against him.
Rating:
Food – 8/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 9/10
Category:
Food Type – European
Style – Casual
Price – Expensive
Wanna go?
Address/phone – 359 Bleecker Street (between Charles & West 10th), 212-929-8727
website- augustny.com
menus - menupages.com/restaurants/august
De Santos Restaurant
Cute place. Perfect for date night or a group birthday. The ambiance is dark with exposed brick walls, candles, butterflies painted in some areas of the ceiling, a hanging taxidermy elk…. sounds eclectic, but it’s not. They offer simply prepared Italian at reasonable prices.
I started with grilled calamari with fennel and apples. Liked how the dressing was warm on the calamari side and chilled on the fennel side. Very fresh and flavorful. The pastas were great. We had the Trofiette with mixed mushrooms, spicy italian sausage, shallots and shaved parmigiano and Whole Wheat Papardelle with wild boar ragu. Both came out piping hot. The pasta was fresh, the ingredients were high quality. We enjoyed our meal with some nice reasonable Pinot Noir.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 8/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address/phone – 139 W 10th St, New York, NY 10079, (212) 206-9229
website- http://desantosnyc.com
menus - http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/de-santos
reservations – http://www.opentable.com/de-santos-manhattan