Eat Here Now: Underwest Donuts

In case you haven't heard, the Westside Highway Car Wash now has a donut shop inside. I have been blessed with the good fortune of living only five blocks away from this car wash, meaning these new, perfectly fried cake donuts are only a quick walk away- perfect for those moments (those moments meaning every second of every day) when I'm craving something crispy, cakey, sugared and delicious. 

This morning, my girlfriend and I trekked those few blocks and met the owner, Scott, who was unbelievably laid-back and incredibly sweet. He whipped us up some fresh dough, telling us how simple it is to make at home, and then fried and sugared them right there in front of us. The donuts are much smaller than your typical Dunkin Donuts donut, but not small enough to be considered mini. Personally, I think they're the perfect size because you can get one of each flavor and taste them all without feeling like you're eating an obscene amount of fried, glazed dough. The flavors were incredible- the dark chocolate and halva both too delicious to deem one superior to the other. As I've described a million times already in this post, each donut was crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft, cakey, and crumbly on the inside. They are most definitely some of the best donuts I've ever had in the city, and are more than worth the trip to go taste them for yourself. 

Here they are in all their glory- old-fashioned, coco raspberry, cinnamon, dark chocolate, coconut lime, espresso, & halva in the middle

The dark chocolate was a light and airy chocolate cake inside, covered in a dark and rich glaze. On top is a crumble reminiscent of Oreo cookies, but with a more prominent chocolate flavor. The airy cake, crackly glaze, and crunchy cookies on top create the perfect donut-eating experience. 

Just as incredible an experience was the halva donut. The flaky halva on top melts beautifully as soon as it hits your mouth, and the perfectly sweetened tahini glaze gives way to the soft and flavorful dough inside. It is such a unique, savory flavor to pair with a donut, but the result is an excellent product that you can't find anywhere else. 

The coconut lime was visibly smaller and fatter than the other donuts. The cake was also exceptionally pillowy, dipped in a delicious lime glaze, coated in the perfect amount of sweetened, shredded coconut.

The three sugared donuts on the bottom left were excellent. The cinnamon was classic, but with a bit more cinnamon, making it warm and spicy. The coco raspberry was good as well, but the espresso sugared donut was my favorite of the three, with a strong, bitter kick from the espresso beans that is balanced out beautifully with the sweetness from the sugar. 

One more shot of our doughnuts mid-feast. It took about three minutes for the two of us to finish almost all nine of them. Yes, they really are that good. 

Eat Here Now: Broadway Bites

Once again, I've complied a list of some of the best bites at one of the food markets by Urban Space- Broadway Bites. I have to admit that one of the best feelings in the world is walking down through one of these food markets. With one step you experience the incredible smell of warm, spicy, sugared doughnuts, and with the next step you are taken over by the heat radiating off of hot, cheesy pretzels, and then the sight of chocolate chip cookies bigger than your head or dozens of mini fried rice balls, waiting for you to bite into their crispy exterior. If you have any interest in experiencing what I'm trying to describe here, I suggest you get to Broadway Bites immediately. 

Sigmund's Pretzels

The perfect snack for walking around in search of more food to eat were these warm, pillowy, pretzels from Sigmund's. The churro pretzel, coated in not-too-much-but-not-too-little cinnamon sugar was doughy, soft, and incredibly addictive. I contemplated buying another after I reached in the brown paper bag it was served in to find that I had finished the entire pretzel. Equally delicious was the cheddar-truffle pretzel on the right. Sprinkled with a heavy dose of cheddar cheese and a rich truffle flavor, this pretzel left me feeling like I was indulging in something from an elegant restaurant rather than a tiny pretzel cart on 34th Street. 

Macaron Parlour

Offered at the Macaron Parlour booth, this corn macaron stood out as the perfect balance between the traditional flavors like salted caramel or vanilla bean and the stranger ones like Cheeto or sour cream and onion. The delicate exterior shatters beautifully as soon as your teeth touch it and gives way to a chewy, corny interior. Next you reach the slightly sweetened white chocolate corn buttercream, which has a flavor reminiscent of the heavenly corn ice cream from Cones in the West Village.

Two Tablespoons

As the winds grow stronger and the air starts to bite, ordering a bowl of chili or mac & cheese from Two Tablespoons is the best way to keep warm. The sweet potato chipotle chili was hearty, spicy and loaded with chunks of sweet potato, chickpeas and both light and dark red kidney beans. Each forkful of the smoked gouda mac & cheese was loaded with melty, stretchy gouda, a prominent smoked flavor, and a hint of paprika. While both dishes were rib-sticking and perfect for the brisk weather, they still managed to feel clean, light, and actually good for you. 

Bar Suzette 

The crepes at Bar Suzette seem basic, but are perfectly cooked- a subtly sweet batter that was crispy around the edges, yet soft and sturdy enough in the middle to hold spoonfuls of nutella and warm banana slices. 

Doughnuttery

These hot, sugary, crispy bites are far from your average doughnut. Each batch is freshly fried and rolled in a flavored sugar of your choice. I opted for the pumpkin pie brûlée sugar, which was a mix of brûléed sugar, pumpkin, graham cracker and fall spices. The crunchy bits of graham cracker were unexpected yet gave each bite a deeper texture that kept me coming back for more. 

Breads Bakery

Breads Bakery is rightfully famous for their chocolate babka, but I wouldn't blame you for mistaking the almond croissant for their speciality. The crispy caramelized edges are heavenly to bite into, and the sliced almonds piled on top are sprinkled with a light dose of powdered sugar. With each bite you're treated to the flaky, crunchy exterior which gives way to the softer-yet still incredibly flaky- inner dough, followed by what I can only describe as a bed of almond paste just waiting for your teeth to sink into it. It truly was the best almond croissant I have ever had- and I have eaten far too many almond croissants in my 18 years of life. 

Peppermint Bark Chocolate Cookies

Nothing gets me more in the holiday spirit than sitting on the couch with a box of peppermint bark to myself. Normally a hater of white chocolate, there's just something about the way it pairs with bitter dark chocolate and crunchy, minty candy cane pieces that I can't resist. While the stuff is good enough on it's own, the thought of stuffing chunks of it into soft, chocolate cookie dough and baking them until those chunks melted throughout the warm cookie was too tempting not to try.   The chocolate cookie base that I use here is based off of a Pioneer Woman recipe (love you Ree,) and yields some of the darkest, chewiest, and most addicting cookies you will ever put in your mouth. I've used both regular and dark cocoa powders when making these cookies, and I would definitely urge you to use a dark chocolate cocoa powder, because it truly does give the cookies a richer and more sophisticated flavor. 

I want to apologize in advance for not having any pictures of the final cookie, but they were all too horrendous to show you. I'm sure you can imagine how delicious-looking they are, and if you can't, then that's another reason to go make these babies. 

Ingredients:

-2 & 1/2 stick of room temperature butter

-2 cups of sugar 

-2 eggs

-1 tbsp of vanilla extract

-2 cups of flour

-heaping 3/4 cup of cocoa powder (preferably dark)

-1 & 1/2 tsp of baking soda 

-1 tsp of salt

-1 cup of peppermint bark chunks

Recipe: 

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

-Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

-Add the eggs, mixing after you add each one

-Add in the vanilla and mix just until combined

-Stir together dry ingredients

-Pour those dry ingredients into the butter mixture in batches, mixing just until combined

-Stir in peppermint bark chunks

-Roll into balls and bake for 9 to 11 minutes

 (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2013/05/chocolate-chocolate-white-chocolate-chip-cookies/)