Popbar NYC: A New Frozen Treats Shop
It's popsicle time in New York City, apparently, with pop shops popping up all over town. First there was People's Pops in Chelsea Market, then La Newyorkina at the Hester Street Fair, and now, on a bustling stretch of Carmine Street in the West Village, comes Popbar NYC, an open festive little parlor that's been cooling off the crowds for a few weeks now with handcrafted sorbets and gelatos on a stick. We've popped into Popbar a couple of times already, tried three different pops and, even with the amazing Grom right down the block (and the almost-as-amazing L'Arte del Gelato a quick walk over on Seventh Avenue), we will certainly be back for more.
The Popbar NYC concept is simple and, for the most part, well executed: 1. take fresh ingredients; 2. turn them, at the on-site "PopLab", into creamy gelato or crisp sorbet; 3. put it on a stick, dip or roll in "poppings", as desired. In our admittedly somewhat limited Popbar experience, the popGelato outshined the popSorbetto, but both were satisfying frozen treats.
The best popsicle we tried at the Popbar NYC was the Coffee, covered in a "full dip" of dark chocolate, the gelato intense, the chocolate shell crunchy and rich and sweet. Definitely hit the spot while walking downtown on a warm sunny afternoon. The Strawberry popSorbetto was also good, a "half dip" of chocolate the perfect complement to the tangy, refreshing frozen fruit. Less successful was the Pineapple popSorbetto, enlivened again by a full dark chocolate dip (ok, we admit it, we really like chocolate!), but too crystalized-icy and surprisingly flavorless on its own. Perhaps this presumably less-popular Popbar NYC flavor had been waiting around longer than the others?
Popbar NYC Details
Popbar is located on Carmine Street at Sixth Avenue, next door to Joe's Pizza, right down the street from the IFC Center movie theater. The Popbar NYC popshop is open from 12:00 noon until 11:00 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday, and until 1:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. Dips include dark, milk and white chocolate, as well as an orange concoction that looked interesting. You can also have them roll your popsicles in "poppings" such as almonds, pistachios, coconut flakes, crushed coffee beans, biscotti crumbles and brownie chunks. For more information on all things Pop, please visit the Popbar NYC website.
Posted in NYC Dining, Other Neighborhoods |
