119 Baxter Street
New York, NY 10013
Contact | 212.966.2882
A sudden two-day heat wave brought us to Taiyaki NYC‘s little ice cream shop on Baxter Street, just north of Canal.
The quaint storefront leads you into a shop that’s no more than a couple-hundred square feet large, with two small booths flush against the wall. But there’s no need for anything bigger since they’ve streamlined the menu and ordering process pretty well.
There are a handful of pre-set combos. “Straight Outta Japan” is the quintessential selection if you’re looking for one that gives you a taste of the culture that inspired this trendy dessert. A mixed swirl soft serve of matcha and black sesame flavors come in a wide-mouthed baked fish, which is a classic street-vendor snack in Japan known as taiyaki.
The best part is that the taiyaki arrives warm and ever-so-slightly crispy, with a small dose of sweetened azuki red bean baked in. The super-soft colorful mochi kabob and pirouette cookie add to the visual appeal (naturally making it Instagram-able).
At $7 a pop, it’s not low enough to be deemed a great deal, but not high enough to be called expensive. A slight premium is justifiable though since the taiyaki comes out fresh and nearly made-to-order. I appreciated the size as well–it’s not gratuitously large, with the fish waffle no bigger than your palm. It’s perhaps even a tad smaller than what the zoomed-in Insta-posts might suggest.
cyn8nyc 