Review: Dessert Kaiseki Course @ Kyotofu, no. 705, 9th Avenue, W48th street

Yesterday, I had fruits for both lunch and dinner. My mom reckons that I should stop punishing myself but I could not help myself but do so. Plus, I was craving for pineapples, mangos and grapes. I guess it must be due to days and days of eating bananas and pink ladies. After my fruity meal, I had this strong urge to have desserts. Like any food blogger, I started googling up the top dessert places in New York and discovered Kyotofu, a place renowned for its quaint and dainty Japanese desserts. Price wise, it's not too bad. Desserts range from 3-17 USD, depending on what you want. Their take homes are good too.


Subway

I took a subway ride up to 50th street and walked from 7th avenue to 9th avenue. It was quite a long walk but I got to see lots of things. :)

Hell's Kitchen - no it's not Gordon Ramsay's restaurant! It's an area near Broadway in Manhattan NYFinally, I've reached Hell's Kitchen. See, Hell's Kitchen is not Gordon Ramsay's restaurant. It is a place in Manhattan. :)

Kyotofu
Service is very efficient at Kyotofu despite the busy dinner service. Lots of people are going in and out of the tiny dessert bar. I was given a seat at the communal table which had a great view of Hell's Kitchen. I looked at wh! at other s were having and realized that the portions were pretty huge. Therefore, I went for the Dessert Kaiseki Course, which offers a range of Kyotofu's signature desserts at small sizes. Variety and small portions are my best friends. :)


Tofu!!My first course was sweetened tofu. It was not as sweet as the name suggested it to be. In fact, it had a very light, subtle sweetness.

Sweetened tofuThe chilled dessert is rich with the flavors of freshly ground soy beans. The taste of the beans is amplified by the light raisin-raw sugar syrup. I know it sounds off but the syrup is really light. A tofu lover's delight.

Green tea creme brulee

The mains comprised of a creme brulee, chocolate cake and cheese cake. I started with the creme brulee because technically, it should be the lightest dessert among the three. The creme brulee has a crispy caramel top and a melt-in-your mouth texture. The taste of green tea is prominent. If I could, I would lick the ramekin clean but that would be very uncivilized of me.

Miso chocolate cake

The miso chocolate cook looks really dense and moist but it is surprisingly light. The use of miso in the cake gives this cake an extra dimension. It is not just sweet and chocolate-y but also slightly salty. Reminds me of Lindt's fleur de sel chocolate. :)


Raspberry tofu cheesecakeThe raspberry tofu cheesecake makes a good exit for the mains. It is very light and again, not too sweet. There is balance in terms of the amount of soy and raspberries one can detect from savoring this smooth, velvety cheesecake. The tart flavors from the raspberries and the raspberry coulis offers a refreshing end, allowing a smooth transition to the final course.

Green tea chocolateThe green tea chocolate was very interesting. If I am not mistaken, it is made of cocoa butter and lots of green tea, thus the green colour and the slight acidity. It marks a sweet and rich ending to the Kaiseki course.

All and all, I love Kyotofu. If I were to live in New York, I would come here really often because their desserts are so goooooooooood. I even bought green tea, black sesame and brown rice shortbread cookies. I had them for breakfast just now with fruits and they were delicious. Not too sweet and had the right amount of flavors. :)

If you are bound to New York, Kyotofu might fix your dessert cravings like how it fixed mine. In fact, I thought it did a lot more than that. :)

Little things:
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-Cui sine: Japanese, modern, desserts

-Ambience: Don't expect it to be fancy schmancy. It's clean.

-Service: Prompt and efficient.

-Budget: Damage done was 17 USD excluding tips. The pack of 6 cookies cost 3 USD.

-Portions: Reasonable. I feel it's appropriate for my standards. The regular desserts are a lot larger though.

-Kyotofu was rated 3 out of 5 by New York Magazine and rated 13 out of 20 by Gayot. The rating probably includes their savory items, which I did not try in this visit.

-More information:




Other sights of New York:

Cute NYPD vehicles

Entering Korean town, 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) cnr W 32-35th st




Caught in the rain
Mom, you must watch this!!! They speak in Korean but look at the stuff they do, the dance moves and clothes! Tell me what you think of it, mom. :)