Looking for sweet dessert spots for your visit to New York City? Look no further! Here’s a list of NYC dessert recommendations, Manhattan Edition!
It’s no secret that I love desserts and sweets, and will squeeze in any excuse to get my hands on some adorable pastries. I also noticed while writing my birthday post (filled with lots of cake) that this blog is missing food posts for being run by a foodie! This must be rectified immediately!
Here’s a list of 5 NYC dessert shops you should check out the next time you are visiting New York City!
Most of these are family-owned, passion projects, or life-long dreams of young people who have created successful dessert shops in the Capital of the World!
Spoiler alert: Here are the 5 NYC dessert shops I am going to introduce in this post:
Bibble & Sip ★ Eclair Bakery ★ Boba Guys ★ Taiyaki NYC ★ MarieBelle
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NYC Dessert Recs: Midtown
(Hell’s Kitchen/Midtown East)
★ Bibble & Sip ★
Of all the NYC dessert recommendations I give on this post, Bibble & Sip hands down has the cutest pastries.
Drools!!! Bibble & Sip is a family-run business specializing in gourmet coffees and pastries, all freshly house-made. The chef was trained in French Confectionery, and “inspired by Asian flavors,” so you’ll see a lot of Asian/Matcha-themed sweets here, including lattes like Matcha Jasmine and Lavender. Their puddings come in adorable little jars, and are delicious too.
Personally never been able to make it in time, but rumors are, on Fridays they make adorable character macarons that are to die for…
Hiro’s Favorite: Matcha Cream Puff
They are huge and filled to the brim with green tea cream. The black sesame and earl grey cream puffs are pretty darn tasty too!
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★ Eclair Bakery ★
If Bibble & Sip has the cutest pastries, Eclair Bakery in Midtown has the best looking eclairs. Best part? They are always open late, so you can go for a quick dessert after having dinner in one of the near-by Midtown dinner locations!
Of course, their main squeeze are eclairs, but they have tons of other pastries to pick from, as well. I’m always a fan of carrot cakes! In the winter (?) they also have delicious apple cider, but always have good selection of hot chocolates and lattes for any cold day.
Eclair Bakery was founded by a French pastry chef from Paris, trained at the French School of Culinary Arts. He was working for a few years in NYC at a French bakery before opening his own bakery in 2013. Their desserts are baked fresh on-premises every day, and bake croissants, macarons, tarts, and eclairs every day. With names like “Mascarpone Blackcurrant Eclair,” “Dulce de Leche Eclair,” and “Kara Pralin Eclair,” who can say no?
Hiro’s Favorite: Eclairs
All of them. You can’t make me choose!! The flavors are seasonal, so make sure to check back every few months (if not every few weeks) for new flavors!
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NYC Dessert Recs: Lower Manhattan
(Chinatown/Little Italy/SoHo)
★ Boba Guys ★
Boba Guys is a Bubble Tea chain originating in San Francisco. I had my first Boba Guys a year or two ago in San Francisco, and promptly fell in love. They stand for “quality, transparency, and giving a damn,” and was founded in 2011 by 2 coworkers who worked at Timbuk2 together. (Apparently they were the only 2 Asian guys in the company. Womp womp.) They source responsibly, use high quality ingredients, and are always expanding. They have locations in San Franciso, Los Angeles, and New York City.
Their bubble tea is consistently top notch, and their matcha (green tea) is the real deal. (They even make it in front of you with the whisk thing, which is cool!)
In some locations, and during special events, they serve food as well, including rice balls, macarons, scones, and cookies.
Here’s a list of NYC locations: BobaGuys/NYC Locations Someone tell them they need to come further up north!
Hiro’s Favorite: Strawberry Matcha Latte
I mean, just look at how pretty it is?! This is one of those drinks that is a treat to look at, taste, and play with, but you will not sleep at night from the caffeine if you drink it after 3PM…
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★ Taiyaki NYC ★
Taiyaki NYC opened in Little Italy/Chinatown in 2016 to much fanfare and hugeeeee lines. For a while, no matter when you went, there was a line snaking around the block from the little shop. This shop was also founded by a few young dudes with a dream of bringing Asian goodness to NYC.
Now, with much more robust offerings of flavors and types (the one in the photo above is “Unicorn Taiyaki), you can get your soft-serve atop custard or red-bean paste-filled cake-fish in not just NYC, but also in Florida.
Every holiday has a special flavor or design, and they are all extremely instagram-able.
Hiro’s Favorite: Sesame/Matcha Swirl
I can never say no to Sesame and Matcha swirl soft-serve. Combine that with red bean paste filling inside soft, warm taiyaki? A winner!
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★ MarieBelle ★
Have you ever heard of MarieBelle Cacao Bar in SoHo? I hadn’t until I stepped foot into it! Many people know about the MarieBelle gourmet chocolates, but not many know they also run a cocoa and pastry cafe. Located behind their chocolate shop, it’s like walking into Victorian Europe. There are antique furnitures, chandeliers, glass walls, and beautiful china sets. I was honestly mesmerized by the cafe, and wasn’t even sure I should be in there, looking like I’d just stepped out of a tech start-up.
Their hot chocolate bar consists of a large selection of exotic cocoa, like “Aztec,” “Aztec King Fiery Hot,” “Tropical Orange,” and “Mestizo” hot chocolates. And don’t mistaken these “Hot Chocolates” for your mix-with-warm-milk instant Hot Cocoas! These are real, thick, molten chocolate. The glass vases lined up along the wall in the photo below are all different types of hot chocolates you can order. If you’re a “White Hot Chocolate” kind of person, there are curious mixes like “White with Banana” and “White Chocolate & Japanese Matcha.”
If you’re not feeling hot (neither am I, honestly), they have iced chocolates and smoothies as well. And of course, gourmet coffees for coffee lovers, and fine teas for the tea lovers.
And of course, they have amazing assortment of delicious desserts ranging from ice cream to crepes to gouttes de chocolat to nutella brioche. Their pastries and gelato are delicious as well, but their main offering is definitely their selection of solid and liquid chocolate.
MarieBelle was founded by Maribel Lieberman, who grew up in cocao fields of Honduras, and works to empower women producing cacao by buying directly from producers. Another do-gooder with a passion! The first chocolate store opened in Nolita in 2000, and the cacao bar followed in 2001. Since then, they’ve opened various cafes and shops in Japan and United Arab Emirates.
Hiro’s Favorite: Aztec Hot Chocolate
I’m not much of a “spicy” person, and a good selection of the hot chocolates were spicy. “Spicy 65%” was “with chipotle and ancho chili.” “Aztec King Fiery Hot 82%” has spices and chipotle. The Aztec isn’t a “normal hot chocolate” by any means either. It has very distinct and interesting flavor coming from the mix. Honestly, I want to try all of it (except maybe the super spicy things), but each cup is like drinking a whole cup full of chocolate, so it’s extremely heavy. Personally, I’m really interested in the “White Chocolate & Japanese Match” Hot Chocolate…
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What’s Your Favorite NYC Dessert Spot?
Have you been to any of these when you visited NYC? Or did any of these make the short list of places to visit the next time you’re in town?
If you have favorite NYC dessert shops, please let me know! I’m always on a look out for delicious sweets in the city!
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You can find these and more NYC dessert recommendations on my Yelp Collection, “Sweets in NYC“!
Wow, they all look so amazing and I think my head and heart exploded at the cuteness of some of those deserts, omg.
Aren’t they the most adorable??? I always feel REALLY bad when I bite into them…. :E
Wow!!! Everything looks so pretty!!! I totally missed out on these places last time I went to NYC!!!
I hope you get to come back soon to try them!!! They are a bit $$ sometimes but definitely worth it!! 😀
I was just in Manhattan… New York is massive. We stayed in Greenwich Village and there is just so much to do around the entirety of New York. I heard of Boba Guys from a friend, too, but in San Francisco every time I wanted to go there it was closed or I was full of some other dessert. Eating all the food when travelling is HARD. But I think I might come across Boba Guys when I am in LA… fingers crossed lol.
I don’t really use Yelp, in Australia I think Zomato is a bit more common. But I will remember to come back to your post when I visit New York again 😀
Also I wouldn’t recommend it per se, but Cookie Dō was a place we went to for dessert, that does cookie-dough flavoured dessert: https://www.cookiedonyc.com I think it actually made me a bit sick HAHA. I liked having a sample but even one scoop was a bit sickly.
Ohhhh the fancy part of NYC! (Ok, I guess half of Manhattan is fancy part of NYC. LOL.)
So much pressure to EAT AND DRINK ALL THE THINGS!!! I think there was one probably near you in Manhattan! I hope you get to it in LA. Definitely worth a try!! Their quality is pretty amazing.
Every country seems to use a different one; I’ve never heard of Zomato! Haha. We were trying to figure out what people use in Japan, and it was something we’d never use here.
I tried Do a year ago when my company had them custom deliver us ice cream cookie thingies for an office party, and I wasn’t really impressed. There were lines for an hour + at that point, so I was pretty excited to see what all the hype was, but you’re right. We had them in these teeny tiny cups, and honestly that was enough. LOL. I can’t imagine what I’d have done if I had a whole ice cream cup full of it…
Wow the desserts look really cute!
Don’t they?? I feel bad when I bite into them… LOL.
Goodness gracious they’re beautiful to look at – I’d feel so terrible to even take a bite of them! </3
On the other hand, this is one of the few times I must say that it's a good thing that NYC is expensive. If they're cheap to consume, I'll face some ramifications for overconsumption! 😉
Well a lot of delicious food IS cheap… Which DOES cause a lot of problems… LOL! But these adorable things are quite pricey, so there are definitely barriers to destroying too many adorable things!!!
HAHAHAHA! This post is like the calling of my mothership. When I lived in NYC I LIVED on these things – now that I’m in California I’ve been a lot more conscious about not having cheat days. I’ve been to Bibble&Sip once and Taiyaki gave me a free ice cream when three of my friends worked there a few years ago! The other ones I haven’t tried yet (minus Boba Guys). NYC is SO FAMOUS for all the Instaworthy desserts!
My favorite NYC places are Grace Street and Spot Dessert Bar. I used to like Snowdays but they changed their menu the last time I went back and took away my favorite nilla wafer cookies that they put in the ice cream. Also check out La Newyorkina, Soft Swerve, and Eggloo at some point.
Spot Dessert Bar is delicious! Though I’ve found they are a bit too pricey for what I get. But they are definitely really cute. I’m not too fond of the snow… I much prefer shaved ice for some reason. The texture doesn’t sit right with me. LOL. But the only Snowdays I know of was in Flushing and I think it’s gone now. So I can’t even try it again. LOL. I’m gonna put those reccs in my Yelp and check them out!!! 8D
Mmm…those all look so yummy. Wish I could go try them!
One of these days!!! 😀
These places all looks so good! Can’t wait to try them out! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
OMG I want it all!!! Too bad I live to dang far away! haha
I just recently found out about a bakery here in my little hick town. I need to check them out but I heard he sells out in like the first 90 minutes… However, this one lady brought a bunch of them to work once it and it was soooo good. It made me wonder if he does other things. Now I’m just making myself hungry haha
Omg that sounds AMAZING. You totally need to get at it!!
It’s so bad having easy access to all these goodies… ;_: For both money and belly!