Hit the "Spot"

Picture taken from the website

Restaurant Name: Spot Dessert Bar

Location: 13 St. Marks Place, New York

Website: http://www.spotdessertbar.com/

Price Range: Tapas are like $8.50 each (15% off with college I.D.)

JCL Rating: 9/10
JCL's Choice: Chocolate Green Tea Lava; Green Tea-ramisu


My friend had to review a dessert bar/bakery for his term paper. Spot was on the list, so here we were. The new pastry chef is Ian Chalermkittichai (Kittichai for short). Chef Ian Kittichai is a renowned chef that brought Thai cuisine to a new height. Spot is one of the few places in America that offers Classic American/French desserts with Asian twist. It is also a very "green" place. Most of their decors and packaging were made with recycled materials (Spot's Story, website). Spot offers a wide range of dessert tapas to ice creams/sorbets to pastries, brunch and beverages.


Spot is a small place, with maybe less than 25 seats, I have been here two times. As we enter, we were greeted warmly by the waitress. She was very professional and has an extensive knowledge about the menu. I asked her for recommendations on which desserts to order since it was my first time here. She asked if I liked more sweet or tart. I was never a fan of sweet stuff, so I said more tart than sweet. She recommended the Yuzu Eskimo. My friend had the Green tea-ramisu (tiramisu get it?). For drinks I had the black rose tea and he had a spicy hot chocolate. The second time I had the Chocolate Green Tea Lava cake and Jasmine green tea. 

The Yuzu Eskimo had the sweet and sour contrast. This dessert consisted of a very unique raspberry foam, fresh blackberries, chocolate pearls, oreo crumbs, yuzu ice cream with oreo crust and chocolate ganache. Yuzu is an Asian citrus fruit that is very similar to mandarin, very sour. But the oreo crust balanced out the tartness of the yuzu, it was a perfect marriage. The crunchiness from the oreo crumbs and chocolate pearls adds the extra texture to the dessert. As for the raspberry foam, it had a very interesting texture to the tongue. It goes great with the chocolate ganache. And the fresh blackberries adds on that extra refreshing feeling if you are not awaken by the yuzu ice cream yet. The plating was very contemporary as well. Perfectly executed. 

The Green Tea-ramisu was amazing. It also had a very interesting plating. It comes in a wooden cube with a small jug of green tea anglaise, matcha (green tea powder), and a wooden spoon. When they present you the dish, they will pour the green tea anglaise over the wooden cube then sift the matcha powder over it. I had a few spoons of it and I was amazed at how balanced the flavors were. This dessert consisted of the matcha, green tea anglaise, green tea madeleine (mini sponge cake), and white chocolate chunks. The green tea anglaise takes away the dryness of the sponge cake, and the powder adds a nice texture to the bite. The chunks of white chocolate gives you the crunchiness. There is a very strong of green tea flavor here but it was not bitter like the actual tea. Excellent dessert!

The black rose tea had a very nice floral scent. It is not your regular day tea, a very mild bitterness tea. Perfect tea to warm you up in a cold winter day! It goes great with the Yuzu Eskimo. 

As for the spicy hot chocolate, my friend said it was too overwhelming. The spices overpowered the chocolate. It was sweeter than the Green Tea-ramisu. I say he should have ordered the jasmine or green tea. He did say this spicy hot chocolate is great for a cold day though. 

The Chocolate Green Tea Lava cake was one of the most outstanding dessert I have ever tasted. It is accompanied by green tea ice cream, chocolate pearls, matcha powder and a thin cookie served on a black plate. The matcha powder high lights the lava cake on a black plate. Lava cake is a brownie with a runny inside. In this case, it is a mixture of green tea and chocolate ganache. What a perfect combo that is! Once you break the crust, the green tea and chocolate ganache pours out! It was so flavorful. It's like heaven in your mouth. A bite of the green tea ice cream cools you down  from the hot lava! What an incredible dessert. A sip of the jasmine tea sooth your palates and you will be ready for another bite of heaven!


What a wonderful place Spot is... and I am not even a dessert guy. Damn, this is such an amazing dessert bar. I highly recommend any person with a sweet tooth to go to Spot! From plating to flavors, they are on top of their game. Props to Chef Kittichai! This will be one dessert bar that I will repeatedly come back. Definitely.