Dominique Ansel – Delicious and Expensive!

Date Dined: July 5, 2014

Overall Rating: 3.0 stars

In New York all by ourselves… let’s do the most touristy things possible! Long has the television touted the cronut, that magical blend of delicate French pastry and artery clogging American. So of course we had to try and get one.

Shockingly they were out by the time we strolled in. But other wonders awaited us!

Décor Rating: 4 stars

The bakery itself is very New York. You’ve got the counter, the wall and a very small amount of space in between. However if you can make your way to the back of the shop then you’ll find two wondrous dining spaces. The first, where we dined, is what a greenhouse might look like if you filled it with pastries. Through those doors is an outdoor seating area, also very nice, but a little too warm for me in the summer. Nicely spacious for a small Manhattan bakery.

Service Rating: 2.0 stars

We weren’t there during a major rush, but they seemed a little disjointed. We had to state our order to the person behind the baked goods counter, then repeat our order to the person behind the cash register, and finally repeat our order a third time when the cashier finally asked if I was paying in cash or credit. Granted this might have been an isolated incident, but I have nothing else to base my rating off of except this one visit.

Price Rating:  3.0 stars

Expensive, but that was to be expected. The frozen smores at $8.00, the giant peaches $7.50, and the DKAs around $5.00. If I actually lived there I don’t think I would stop by more than once or twice a year, but for a tourist trap it wasn’t too bad.

Food Rating: 3.5 stars

Some interesting dishes that don’t quite meet the hype. (If you want to taste something that does try the chocolate mousse cheesecake at Ryeridge Deli in Stamford). Still, nothing stopped Jess and I from pigging out to our hearts content.

First up, the Giant Peach. A Champagne poached yellow peach with a lychee cream center on top of a moist lemon financier base. Basically a very fancy way to say peach stuffed with lychee jam on top of a sponge cake. The peach was unexpectedly cake-like (I was expecting more juice). The lychee chunks inside were good, but almost indistinguishable from a normal chunky jam. The sponge cake was a disappointment and didn’t add much to the dish other than a pedestal for it to sit on.

Next, up the Frozen Smore. The very very tiny and expensive frozen smore. Take a marshmallow approximately one and a half times the size of a smore mallow, stuff it with ice cream, graham cracker crumbs, and chocolate. Then toast the outside and let the ice cream melt just a little bit. Sounds delicious right? And it was! Just waaay too expensive. But it’s given me the inspiration to try it at home.

We followed that up with the Magic Souffle. Described as a Grand Marnier chocolate soufflé inside an orange blossom brioche. Apparently, it was quite a feat of baking to figure out how to make it and a closely guarded trade secret. Out of everything that I had tasted thus far it was my favorite. The crust was light and fluffy, reminiscent of a soft shortbread. The filling was rich, not too sweat, warm, and chocolaty. One of the few dishes was worth the price for me.

Finally, my substitute to the cronut, the DKA short for Dominique’s Kouign Amann. The KA is a bread, similar to a puff pastry, but a little denser. It reminded me of a cross between the layers of a croissant and the density of a french loaf. The outside was sprinkled in sugar and the entire thing was made muffin sized. Delicious and the cheapest thing we ordered. Definitely grab one if you stop by. I very begrudgingly gave one to some of our best friends and I was surprised to see that they had maintained most of their deliciousness even after 3 days.

In Conclusion

If you’re in town for the weekend, go ahead and try it out. The bakery is close to NYU campus so there’s an assortment of fun shops on the way. Be prepared to shell out a pretty penny if you want to sample a few items, but hey you’re on vacation! Still overall, most dishes are average at best.