Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Doughnut Plant - Kossar's - Gus's Pickles

19. Doughnut Plant
379 Grand Street at Norfolk Street

Doughnut plant has been getting a ton of press since it first opened in the mid 90’s, serving freshly made donuts with unique flavors and filling combinations such as pistachio and peanut butter filled with raspberry jelly. With a line wrapping around the small store-front it is clear that there is a reason for all of the publicity. After seeing all of the different donuts, peeking through the kitchen window and smelling all of the cinnamon and chocolate I wanted to try all of the flavors they had that day, but I ordered the donut I was coming for, the coconut cream doughnut ($2.75) Biting into it released the liquidy coconut cream center (liquidy because it had just come out of the oven) and it was topped with a coconut glaze sprinkled with sweetened coconut shavings. The crust is flaky like a krispy kreme donut but isn’t greasy or oily, the donut isn’t too sweet and the coconut isn’t overbearing.

Was it a good donut, considerably outflanking Krispy Kreme and Dunkin? Yes. But, the $2.75 price tag is a little too hefty for me to be able to justify coming back for it. I also sampled what I believe is the blackout donut (I just asked for the one that the guy in front of me ordered). Chocolate cake topped with cocoa powder and filled with chocolate pudding. Awesome, and probably better than the coconut cream. Cake donuts are typically too dry for me but that’s what made the chocolate pudding such a solid compliment. Still a bit pricey but I can see what the fuss is about and don’t fault anyone for picking up one or two. Maybe a dozen.

Kossar’s Bialy
367 Grand Street

I hadn’t planned on stopping here but Kossar’s is constantly ranked as having one of the best bagels / bialys in the city. Picked up an everything bagel and a bialy to taste. Maybe it was too late in the day (2pm) to really be able to judge Kossar’s, (though Ess-a Bagel is still good in the afternoon on a Sunday), but I was very disappointed. Not only was it nowhere near Murray’s or Ess-a but it wasn’t even a good bagel. Marginally better than the random bagel I could get from any deli. I took a couple of bites and threw the rest out. If you know me, you can’t even imagine me throwing out food and yet Kossar’s wasn’t worth it.

Gus’s Pickles
87 Orchard Street at Broome

It’s pretty awesome when you can be a famous pickle store and just sell them out of barrels on the street with a small storefront to use as storage. Gus’s sells 2 pickles for a dollar ($6.00 for a quart), offering full-sour, ½ sour and a handful of other pickle varieties. I went with the full sour. It’s a pretty small pickle but it is quite tasty. Garlicky, sour, crunchy. What more can you ask for from a pickle? It’s not worth a special trip, but if I lived in the area I’d pick up a couple for a snack.

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