Notes from a New York City Foodie Trip
Is the banana pudding worth the hype?
Magnolia Bakery apparently became famous because of a scene in Sex and the City – an early 2000s show about four single women living in NYC. While I watched the show, I didn’t remember the bakery at all, but it came up repeatedly during my research of what to eat while in New York City.
Magnolia Bakery is particularly famous for its banana pudding. So much so that, at least in the case of the branch at Rockefeller Center, they have a line dedicated for people ordering the banana pudding alone. As you can see, very few people seem to visit the bakery and not order it.
The pudding is prepackaged into ice-cream style cartons, and comes in thee sizes. We had the medium (12 oz, $7.25) the first time, and the large (16 oz, $8.75) in a subsequent visit.
The banana pudding is light, with large chunks of cooked banana. The top is somewhat frothy. It has a strong banana flavor but it’s not as sweet as I feared – though that’s relatively speaking, as cooked bananas are incredibly sweet. I liked it, as far as banana pudding went, but I didn’t love it. Then again, I’m not a huge fan of banana pudding. My husband, who is, was in love with it. He pronounced it “really good” and went back our last night, after an incredible dinner at Kochi, to get more.
So, is the banana pudding worth the hype? I think yes, if you are a banana pudding lover – and no, if banana pudding is not your “go to” dessert.
Magnolia Bakery serves, of course, a plethora of other baked goods. The cupcakes and cheesecake are said to be particularly good. However, we didn’t try anything else.
Magnolia Bakery has 9 locations in NYC, one in West Hollywood and one in Chicago. In addition they have a plethora of locations in Asia and the Middle East.
Magnolia Bakery 1240 Avenue of the Americas (at 49th Street) New York City (212) 767-1123 Hours of Operation Sun-Thurs: 8 AM - 10 PM EST Fri-Sat: 8 AM - 11 PM EST
I got these to serve as the last course of my 13-course Xmas Eve dinner and they were perfect. Indeed, these were very good lemon bars overall. They come frozen, and the curd is perhaps more cream-like and less sticky than that of a regular lemon bar, but it had the right degree of balance between sweetness and sourness, and they were the perfect size for an after dinner bite. All in all very satisfying for anyone who likes lemon bars.
This week I found Ben & Jerry’s Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road ice cream at Grocery Outlet. This “limited edition” ice cream once again reminds us of the fact that without Ben and Jerry, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is completely lost. Indeed, how long has it been since they’ve come up with any ice cream flavors that have been successful? By now, all they seem to do is either randomly assemble flavors or play it safe and boringly. This ice cream, as most of its predecessors, is a complete failure. It mostly tastes of mediocre chocolate ice cream, sometimes of caramel, and never of anything special. No wonder it ended up at GO, for $1.50 a pint.
I haven’t had Sarah Lee Frozen Cheesecake (original or New York) for years, but if you’ve been craving some, GO has the little ones on sale for $2. Seems like a pretty good deal.
Of greater interest to those of us planning holiday dinners and parties, GO is selling Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets for $2 a package! These usually sell for about $6 a package. Expiration is 12/23/09 – but I’m sure they’ll be fine for Xmas dinner.
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