Two New(ish) Manhattan Spots To Satisfy Your Donut Fix
It's getting to the point where there's really no excuse to eat a mediocre doughnut ever again in your life. Sugar-bombs from the chains? Processed boxed nonsense from the supermarket? You can if you want, I guess, but given the number of first-rate bakeries slinging first-rate doughnuts there days, wolfing poor pastries is more of a choice than a necessity. Peter Pan, Doughnut Plant, Dough Loco, Pies-n-Thighs, Cinnamon Snail, Babycakes… the list of "favorite" spots is long and wonderful and now includes two newcomers (well, one's just a new branch of old standby): the great Dough, now in Chelsea/Flatiron; and, get ready for this one, Underwest Donuts, located in a car wash (yup) along the West Side Highway.
Brooklyn's Dough Brings Delicious Donuts To Manhattan
The original Dough, in Bed-Stuy on Franklin and Lafayette, has been around for more than five years now, and it's a great success story. The Brooklyn spot is always busy with locals and doughnut pilgrims, and their vibrantly-glazed yeasty beauties (that pink one that you see on all the Instagrams is the excellent Hibiscus) have become a welcome fixture at food festivals and gatherings. And then last fall they opened a comfortable new outpost in Manhattan, on 19th Street just west of Fifth Avenue. All the usual fresh, handcrafted amazingness is here: the Dulce de Leche (which is still my personal #1 fave), the Passion Fruit, the Chocolate Salted Caramel (also my #1 fave!), the Cafe au Lait, the Mixed Berry, on and on.
What To Order at Manhattan Dough
Manhattan Dough has a medium-sized communal table where you can chill and gorge and sip your Intelligensia coffee. Or grab a half dozen or so and be a hero in your home. The Manhattan Dough is open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays, and from 7:00 to 6:00 on the weekend.
UPDATE: Dough will be introducing their first-ever cake donuts (they've only eve done the yeast ones before) sometime in February! Flavors are rumored to include apple-pear cider, chocolate malt, and buttermilk, though this last one might possibly be sour cream, more info on the Brooklyn Dough website.
Unbeliveably Tasty Doughnuts at Underwest Donuts
Meanwhile, over at Westside Highway Car Wash on 47th and the Hudson River, some of the city's best new doughnuts are available in a hallway side by side with, well, you know, a car wash. Yes, it's a 100% legit, working car wash, (an extremely busy one at that) so if you own a car, and you need it cleaned, this seems like the obvious place to go. Because doughnuts!! And not just any pastries, mind you: Underwest Donuts master baker Scott Levine used to be the sous chef at Chanterelle, and his obvious skill in the kitchen is apparent here. These are all the "cake" kind of doughnuts, and they are dense and moist and so much more bursting with flavor than they look. I've eaten basically the entire Underwest Donut menu at this point, and while there are no duds here, my favorites were probably the Halva, which I'm pretty sure is the only such doughnut in town; the intense Brown Butter; and the Coconut Lime. The location's a bit odd, to be sure–a member of Levine's family owns the car wash, so he had an in–but especially once the weather warms up again, and you're biking or running by the river, and want to put all those calories you've just burned off right back in, Underwest Donut is just the ticket. For more info check out Underwest Donuts on Facebook and Twitter.
Posted in Midtown West, NYC Dining, Other Neighborhoods, Westside | Tagged best donuts in nyc • best doughnuts in nyc • donuts • Dough Brooklyn • doughnuts • NYC • Underwest Donuts
