After La Churreria, I decided DLS and I should walk over to meet TC and Hungry at Spot Dessert Bar. (And again, here.) That’s right – for those of you counting at home, DLS and I ate at FOUR different places in the space of ONE evening, beginning at 6pm and ending around 10pm: Joe’s Ginger, 456 Shanghai, La Churreria, and then Spot Dessert Bar. Two dinners deserves two desserts, right? Right.
We each chose from the dessert tapas section of the menu, which meant that we got a discounted price for ordering 4 tapas – I think it was around $28, which is a good deal. My memory is failing here (and I didn’t pay – thanks again to Hungry for sharing her Groupon [or similar] discount!). My choice was the green tea tiramisu, which unfortunately wasn’t green-tea enough for me. I also didn’t like the hard white chocolate pieces on top; the textural contrast was too great. Something crunchy or crispy on top against the creaminess would have worked better in my opinion; cubes of white chocolate just made for awkward chewing while I tried to enjoy the dessert. No one who tried mine liked it very much… I had the FAIL dessert of the night!
TC chose a green tea molten lava cake. I know he enjoyed it and I definitely enjoyed the green oozing out… the cake was moist and the green tea, though muted, was still present.
After I mentioned to DLS that the yuzu eskimo was super popular among my friends, but that I really enjoyed the white miso semifreddo – which our server “warned” us is more savory than sweet – DLS chose the white miso semifreddo. I was pleased to taste that it hadn’t changed much, if at all, since the first time I had it. An extremely moist, dense “pound” cake sandwiching white miso semifreddo (like an ice cream), savory but still lightly sweet. The tart raspberry ice cream on the side was good but just gilding the lily – I would be perfectly happy just eating the two slices of cake with semifreddo. (And in fact, after a moment with my tiramisu, I said “I don’t want any more; you finish it” and pushed it across to DLS… and then asked him if we could trade because I liked the semifreddo better. He said yes, hehehe)
Hungry’s Thai tea creme brulee was by far the most involved and most interesting of the night, I think – she had milk, Thai tea, and sugar syrup in small containers on the left, and then a Thai tea creme brulee on the right. She was supposed to drink the shot and then eat the creme brulee, I suppose, to enhance the flavors. I tried a bite of the creme brulee and found it really lovely – the Thai tea flavor shone through but was balanced by the creaminess of the creme, and the top crunchy sugar crust was great. I really enjoyed this – if I came back with just one friend, I would almost insist that one of us get this and the other get the white miso semifreddo… nom…
Yvo says: It seems as though the secret is out, as the wait times have been getting progressively longer and longer each time I’ve visited. I’m glad they have a good fan base now! though obviously I would prefer not to wait, haha. In any case, I am happy to see how Spot has developed as a cute dessert place on St. Mark’s Place, with great little bites for post-dinner nomming. I think this is a fantastic date spot too, and I love how the desserts aren’t all sugar bombs.
recommended
kim says
I adore matcha and had so much matcha-related sweets when working in Japan. If you like Spot, you might want to try Coppelia (I’ve been wanting to try the lunches) since Chef Ong is the dessert consultant there. 🙂
Feisty Foodie says
I’ve heard good things about Coppelia. Must get over there!
Niko says
100% agree w/ your final assessment. I dig spot and am happy for them.
@Kim – Pichet is not part of Spot anymore – this menu was designed by Ian Kittichai
kim says
@Niko – I realized that, too; but some of the popular dishes are still available there and it’s still got the Asian-influence. 🙂
Feisty Foodie says
Chef Kittichai is Asian! I believe he’s Thai. But yes, some of the best sellers/most popular desserts have been there since the beginning – as mentioned in my post, the yuzu Eskimo is still on the menu, as is the white miso semifreddo. I think of the white miso semifreddo as one of the best on the menu, but I also like savory things more than sweet. But aside from that dish, I believe everything else in my post is from the new menu.
T.C. says
Mmm green tea ooze!! Me like chocolate lava cakes.
And it was a Living Social deal that Hungry, the dear coupon lady, used. Haha.
Feisty Foodie says
That’s why I wrote “Groupon-like” – I couldn’t remember which. Hahaha!
hungry says
I totally enjoyed my Thai Tea Creme Brulee even with my hesitations.
Also, I think most of the wait was due to other people also using their coupons before it expired the next day.
Feisty Foodie says
Perhaps – but I’ve been other times and the wait times have definitely been getting longer and longer. I have fun exploring their changing menu (while still enjoying the mainstays) so I don’t mind waiting… unless it’s cold out, then I get grumpy when the line extends outside! 🙂