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A tricolore cookie sundae and a mint brownie sundae sit side by side in ornamental glasses
Sundaes at Mel’s.
Christian Rodriguez/Eater NY

15 Desserts Worth Saving Room For

Some are fancy, and others are simple — but all are incredible

by Ryan Sutton, Luke Fortney, and Eater Staff Updated
View as Map
Sundaes at Mel’s.
| Christian Rodriguez/Eater NY
by Ryan Sutton, Luke Fortney, and Eater Staff Updated

Although there’s an endless number of desserts to try in New York, not all sweets are created equal. Some of them are worthy of a special trip, and some even define a restaurant. This here is a list of NYC’s top show-stopping desserts, including Mexican buñuelos, Palestinian knafeh, Italian gelato, classic banana pudding, and more than one sundae.

Health experts consider dining out to be a high-risk activity for the unvaccinated; it may pose a risk for the vaccinated, especially in areas with substantial COVID transmission.

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Morir soñando at 188 Bakery Cuchifritos

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Jose Coto’s 188 Cuchifritos is a palace of pork, a lunch counter that purveys a tail-to-snout array of succulent products like soft ears, meaty stomach, bouncy morcilla, garlicky pernil, and golden chicharrones. The appropriate foil for all these fatty, salty wonders is a drinkable Dominican dessert: the regal morir soñando. Staffers pulverize fresh oranges into juice, then mix the pulpy beverage over ice with a vanilla-laced condensed milk. The sugary, creamsicle-like creation cleanses your palate of all the rampant salts and jolts your body out of a pork-induced torpor.

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468
(718) 367-4500
(718) 367-4500
A person pours yellow morir soñando into a plastic cup.
Morir soñando from 188 Bakery Cuchifritos.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

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Banana pudding at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

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Charles Pan-Fried Chicken is a high temple of barbecued ribs, pulled pork, and of course, thighs and drumsticks that are fried to order in massive cast iron skillets. The chicken is some of the city’s best, but too much fried skin is liable to knock you without a sweet finish. Try the banana pudding: a small plastic cup with slices of banana floating throughout and wafer cookies perched on top. There’s peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, and red velvet cake, too.

340 W 145th St, New York, NY 10039
(212) 281-1800
(212) 281-1800
Banana Pudding at the newly opened Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in Harlem.
The banana pudding at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

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Banana cream pie at Joe Allen

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Joe Allen’s is famous as a post-theater hangout, a place for Broadway spectators and working actors to grab an ice cold martini and a juicy, medium-rare hamburger in a packed room. But it also serves an unexpectedly excellent dessert: a fat slice of banana cream pie, a layer of slow cooked tropical fruit underneath layers of custard and schlag. It is both rich and cooling, making it the perfect foil for another martini.

326 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036
(212) 581-6464
(212) 581-6464

Also featured in:

Avocado at Empellón

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This deceiving dessert may look like a ripe avocado, but it's actually a key lime pie parfait set on top of citrus-y ice and a smear of eucalyptus yogurt. The parfait is made in an avocado-shaped mold and spray-painted to resemble the ombre of a real avocado. It’s “a five-year-old’s dream of what an avocado might taste like, before actually biting into one and realizing it’s oily, fatty, and overrated,” according to Eater critic Ryan Sutton.

510 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022
(212) 858-9365
(212) 858-9365
An avocado and lime purée, eucalyptus yogurt, and lime snow plated on a black dish and set on a light wooden table.
Empellón’s avocado.
Nick Solares/Eater NY

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Raspberry soufflé at Le Rock

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Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the team that brought us Frenchette, are the marquee names at this splashy new restaurant at Rockefeller center, but Mariah Neston and Michelle Palazzo are the duo responsible for the sweets. And what sweets they are. There’s a baba drenched not in rum but génépy, a grand selection of mignardises, and an absolutely stellar raspberry soufflé. The eggy concoction dissolves on the tongue like a cloud, while the requisite creme anglaise (poured tableside) helps bring down the temperature and add a dose of richness.

45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111
(332) 258-8734
(332) 258-8734

Also featured in:

Cheese course at Joomak Banjum

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One of the most unique aspects of Joomak Banjum is that the kitchen likes to invert standard notions of savory and sweet. And while cheese courses have always long played a role in fine dining, no one does fromage precisely like Kelly Nam. This past summer, the pastry chef served a dessert course on the $225 tasting that paired a potato mille feuille with a bright quenelle of raclette ice cream. And now, the chef matches mango gazpacho with brie ice cream, presumably lending a bit of funky richness to the fruit soup.

312 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001
(212) 268-7888
(212) 268-7888
A quenelle of raclette ice cream sits next to a small potato mille feuille in a tiny white bowl; a purple spoon sits adjacent the bowl
Raclette ice cream and potato mille feuille.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

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Baked Lübeck Marzipan at Koloman

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Pastry chef Emiko Chisholm makes marzipan that’s a reminder of why people should love it. Packed with the flavors of almond and honey, it’s wrapped in a flaky pastry laced with a bit of chocolate and a dash of sea salt: An underdog of a dessert that steals the show.

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001
(212) 790-8970
(212) 790-8970
A piece of marzipan on a plate next to a larger serving of it, flanked by a cup of coffee.
Marzipan at Koloman.
Nick Johnson/Koloman

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Sundaes at Mel's

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Georgia Wodder’s sundaes are easily the central draw at this wood-fired Chelsea pizzeria. The pastry chef elevates this otherwise simple dessert to an art form, pairing mint chip gelato — imagine grass cut with menthol — with a dense fudge brownie. She spikes mascarpone gelato with olive oil and sea salt. And she shaves tricolore cookies as if they were truffles over fior di latte gelato, softening the tangy notes of the dairy with a wallop of almond flavor.

85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
(212) 970-2202
(212) 970-2202
A tricolore cookie sundae and a mint brownie sundae sit side by side in ornamental glasses
The sundaes at Mel’s.
Christian Rodriguez/Eater NY

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Husk meringue at Cosme

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Cosme’s husk meringue is Manhattan dessert royalty, one of the most written-about (and Instagrammed) dishes on the menu at Enrique Olvera’s groundbreaking Mexican restaurant in Flatiron. The slightly savory corn mousse is topped with a sugary husk meringue that gives the dessert a perfect balance of flavors and textures.

35 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010
(212) 913-9659
(212) 913-9659
A white meringue broken apart to reveal yellow corn mousse sits on a white plate.
Cosme’s husk meringue.
Daniel Krieger/Eater NY

Banana rum pudding at Thai Diner

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Ann Redding and Matt Danzer attracted a cult following at Uncle Boons for their indulgent coconut sundae, and while their flagship venue closed during the pandemic, the team has brought back the dessert at Thai Diner, loading it up with coconut caramel, palm sugar whipped cream, and candied peanuts. It’s still a heck of a dessert, but consider trying out some of Thai Diner’s newer creations. Case in point: the banana rum pudding, a tri-level parfait that involves a bottom layer of pudding, a whipped cream middle, and a lotus-root shaped sesame tuile crown on top. It’s a rich study in the aromas of deeply flavorful, slow-cooked bananas.

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012
(646) 559-4140
(646) 559-4140
A lotus cookie sits atop a chalice of banana rum pudding, which sits on the corner of the mahogany bar.
The banana rum pudding at Thai Diner.
Gary He/Eater NY

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Chow nai sundae at Bonnie's

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You’ll be tempted to order one of everything at Bonnie’s — from its stunner of a stuffed rainbow trout to its wonderfully al dente “cacio e pepe mein” — but trust us: You’re going to want to leave room for dessert. Cantonese meals commonly end with slices of fresh fruit, available here as a platter, but there’s also an excellent composed dessert, an ice cream sundae. The creation has cubes of deep fried milk custard hidden throughout, and on top, buttered peanuts and hot fudge ratchet up the indulgence factor even higher. It all makes for a finale best shared among a small group.

398 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(914) 875-3709
(914) 875-3709
An ice cream sundae with fried milk cubes, Ovaltine fudge, and buttered peanuts.
The chow nai sundae, with fried milk cubes and ovaltine hot fudge.
Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Also featured in:

Gelato at L'Industrie Pizzeria

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Sharing a cup of soft serve gelato with a friend is peak summer eating, but L’Industrie makes the case for this ritual year-round with seasonal flavors that change weekly. The Williamsburg pizzeria with top-notch slices dispenses two flavors from a soft serve machine by the register — pistachio and grape, on our most recent visit — that can be swirled together or ordered separately. Be sure to get a squirt of olive oil on top.

254 S 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 599-0002
(718) 599-0002
A hand holds a soft serve swirled with white and purple flavors on a rainy day.
Swirl two seasonal flavors together at L’Industrie.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

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Buñuelo con mousse de cajeta at Aldama

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Chef Gerardo Alcaraz serves some serious al pastor tacos at this intimate Williamsburg Mexican spot, but be sure to ask about the desserts, including the elegant buñuelo. Alcaraz fries the dough until it takes on a shatteringly crisp texture, then slathers it all with a goat’s milk cajeta mousse, imparting every bite with the flavor of cream and goat’s milk caramel. Pair with mezcal.

91 S 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249
(929) 298-0233
(929) 298-0233
White cajeta mousse sits atop golden fried dough.
Buñuelo con mousse de cajeta.
Gary He/Eater NY

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Tiramisu at Macosa Trattoria

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Bed-Stuy’s Macosa Trattoria is the kind of place that makes you feel like a regular on first visit, with reasonable prices and heavy-handed wine pours. After polishing off well-made Italian dishes like chicken liver crostini and oxtail ragu, ask for the tiramisu, which may well be the best version of the dessert you’ve never tried. It’s as airy as they come, more mascarpone than anything else, and covered in a mound of chocolate shavings.

310 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
(646) 574-7866
(646) 574-7866
A pillow of tiramisu on a plate against a wooden table.
A pillow of tiramisu.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

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Knafeh at Tanoreen

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Rawia Bishara’s Palestinian restaurant in Bay Ridge offers a variety of fine Middle Eastern sweets, including piney sahlab custard, dense semolina-coconut harissa cake, and anise-y macaroni cookies. But if you’re here for dessert, chances are, you’re here for the knafeh, a giant slab of baked sweet cheese covered in filo and soaked in aromatic orange flower water. Half the fun is watching a server slice it tableside and stretch out the cheese like a pizzaiolo. A small order feeds two to three people; a large order feeds four to six.

7523 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
(718) 748-5600
(718) 748-5600
Knafeh exhibits a burnished top, garnished with green pistachios, prior to being sliced; it sits on a white plate on a brown table
The knafeh at Tanoreen.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

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Morir soñando at 188 Bakery Cuchifritos

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468

Jose Coto’s 188 Cuchifritos is a palace of pork, a lunch counter that purveys a tail-to-snout array of succulent products like soft ears, meaty stomach, bouncy morcilla, garlicky pernil, and golden chicharrones. The appropriate foil for all these fatty, salty wonders is a drinkable Dominican dessert: the regal morir soñando. Staffers pulverize fresh oranges into juice, then mix the pulpy beverage over ice with a vanilla-laced condensed milk. The sugary, creamsicle-like creation cleanses your palate of all the rampant salts and jolts your body out of a pork-induced torpor.

158 E 188th St, Bronx, NY 10468
(718) 367-4500
(718) 367-4500
A person pours yellow morir soñando into a plastic cup.
Morir soñando from 188 Bakery Cuchifritos.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

Banana pudding at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken

340 W 145th St, New York, NY 10039

Charles Pan-Fried Chicken is a high temple of barbecued ribs, pulled pork, and of course, thighs and drumsticks that are fried to order in massive cast iron skillets. The chicken is some of the city’s best, but too much fried skin is liable to knock you without a sweet finish. Try the banana pudding: a small plastic cup with slices of banana floating throughout and wafer cookies perched on top. There’s peach cobbler, sweet potato pie, and red velvet cake, too.

340 W 145th St, New York, NY 10039
(212) 281-1800
(212) 281-1800
Banana Pudding at the newly opened Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in Harlem.
The banana pudding at Charles Pan-Fried Chicken.
Melanie Landsman/Eater NY

Banana cream pie at Joe Allen

326 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036

Joe Allen’s is famous as a post-theater hangout, a place for Broadway spectators and working actors to grab an ice cold martini and a juicy, medium-rare hamburger in a packed room. But it also serves an unexpectedly excellent dessert: a fat slice of banana cream pie, a layer of slow cooked tropical fruit underneath layers of custard and schlag. It is both rich and cooling, making it the perfect foil for another martini.

326 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036
(212) 581-6464
(212) 581-6464

Avocado at Empellón

510 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022

This deceiving dessert may look like a ripe avocado, but it's actually a key lime pie parfait set on top of citrus-y ice and a smear of eucalyptus yogurt. The parfait is made in an avocado-shaped mold and spray-painted to resemble the ombre of a real avocado. It’s “a five-year-old’s dream of what an avocado might taste like, before actually biting into one and realizing it’s oily, fatty, and overrated,” according to Eater critic Ryan Sutton.

510 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10022
(212) 858-9365
(212) 858-9365
An avocado and lime purée, eucalyptus yogurt, and lime snow plated on a black dish and set on a light wooden table.
Empellón’s avocado.
Nick Solares/Eater NY

Raspberry soufflé at Le Rock

45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111

Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the team that brought us Frenchette, are the marquee names at this splashy new restaurant at Rockefeller center, but Mariah Neston and Michelle Palazzo are the duo responsible for the sweets. And what sweets they are. There’s a baba drenched not in rum but génépy, a grand selection of mignardises, and an absolutely stellar raspberry soufflé. The eggy concoction dissolves on the tongue like a cloud, while the requisite creme anglaise (poured tableside) helps bring down the temperature and add a dose of richness.

45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111
(332) 258-8734
(332) 258-8734

Cheese course at Joomak Banjum

312 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001

One of the most unique aspects of Joomak Banjum is that the kitchen likes to invert standard notions of savory and sweet. And while cheese courses have always long played a role in fine dining, no one does fromage precisely like Kelly Nam. This past summer, the pastry chef served a dessert course on the $225 tasting that paired a potato mille feuille with a bright quenelle of raclette ice cream. And now, the chef matches mango gazpacho with brie ice cream, presumably lending a bit of funky richness to the fruit soup.

312 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001
(212) 268-7888
(212) 268-7888
A quenelle of raclette ice cream sits next to a small potato mille feuille in a tiny white bowl; a purple spoon sits adjacent the bowl
Raclette ice cream and potato mille feuille.
Ryan Sutton/Eater NY

Baked Lübeck Marzipan at Koloman

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001

Pastry chef Emiko Chisholm makes marzipan that’s a reminder of why people should love it. Packed with the flavors of almond and honey, it’s wrapped in a flaky pastry laced with a bit of chocolate and a dash of sea salt: An underdog of a dessert that steals the show.

16 W 29th St, New York, NY 10001
(212) 790-8970
(212) 790-8970
A piece of marzipan on a plate next to a larger serving of it, flanked by a cup of coffee.
Marzipan at Koloman.
Nick Johnson/Koloman

Sundaes at Mel's

85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

Georgia Wodder’s sundaes are easily the central draw at this wood-fired Chelsea pizzeria. The pastry chef elevates this otherwise simple dessert to an art form, pairing mint chip gelato — imagine grass cut with menthol — with a dense fudge brownie. She spikes mascarpone gelato with olive oil and sea salt. And she shaves tricolore cookies as if they were truffles over fior di latte gelato, softening the tangy notes of the dairy with a wallop of almond flavor.

85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011
(212) 970-2202
(212) 970-2202
A tricolore cookie sundae and a mint brownie sundae sit side by side in ornamental glasses
The sundaes at Mel’s.
Christian Rodriguez/Eater NY

Husk meringue at Cosme

35 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010

Cosme’s husk meringue is Manhattan dessert royalty, one of the most written-about (and Instagrammed) dishes on the menu at Enrique Olvera’s groundbreaking Mexican restaurant in Flatiron. The slightly savory corn mousse is topped with a sugary husk meringue that gives the dessert a perfect balance of flavors and textures.

35 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010
(212) 913-9659
(212) 913-9659
A white meringue broken apart to reveal yellow corn mousse sits on a white plate.
Cosme’s husk meringue.
Daniel Krieger/Eater NY

Banana rum pudding at Thai Diner

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012

Ann Redding and Matt Danzer attracted a cult following at Uncle Boons for their indulgent coconut sundae, and while their flagship venue closed during the pandemic, the team has brought back the dessert at Thai Diner, loading it up with coconut caramel, palm sugar whipped cream, and candied peanuts. It’s still a heck of a dessert, but consider trying out some of Thai Diner’s newer creations. Case in point: the banana rum pudding, a tri-level parfait that involves a bottom layer of pudding, a whipped cream middle, and a lotus-root shaped sesame tuile crown on top. It’s a rich study in the aromas of deeply flavorful, slow-cooked bananas.

186 Mott St, New York, NY 10012
(646) 559-4140
(646) 559-4140
A lotus cookie sits atop a chalice of banana rum pudding, which sits on the corner of the mahogany bar.
The banana rum pudding at Thai Diner.
Gary He/Eater NY

Chow nai sundae at Bonnie's

398 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

You’ll be tempted to order one of everything at Bonnie’s — from its stunner of a stuffed rainbow trout to its wonderfully al dente “cacio e pepe mein” — but trust us: You’re going to want to leave room for dessert. Cantonese meals commonly end with slices of fresh fruit, available here as a platter, but there’s also an excellent composed dessert, an ice cream sundae. The creation has cubes of deep fried milk custard hidden throughout, and on top, buttered peanuts and hot fudge ratchet up the indulgence factor even higher. It all makes for a finale best shared among a small group.

398 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(914) 875-3709
(914) 875-3709
An ice cream sundae with fried milk cubes, Ovaltine fudge, and buttered peanuts.
The chow nai sundae, with fried milk cubes and ovaltine hot fudge.
Adam Friedlander/Eater NY

Gelato at L'Industrie Pizzeria

254 S 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Sharing a cup of soft serve gelato with a friend is peak summer eating, but L’Industrie makes the case for this ritual year-round with seasonal flavors that change weekly. The Williamsburg pizzeria with top-notch slices dispenses two flavors from a soft serve machine by the register — pistachio and grape, on our most recent visit — that can be swirled together or ordered separately. Be sure to get a squirt of olive oil on top.

254 S 2nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 599-0002
(718) 599-0002
A hand holds a soft serve swirled with white and purple flavors on a rainy day.
Swirl two seasonal flavors together at L’Industrie.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Buñuelo con mousse de cajeta at Aldama

91 S 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249

Chef Gerardo Alcaraz serves some serious al pastor tacos at this intimate Williamsburg Mexican spot, but be sure to ask about the desserts, including the elegant buñuelo. Alcaraz fries the dough until it takes on a shatteringly crisp texture, then slathers it all with a goat’s milk cajeta mousse, imparting every bite with the flavor of cream and goat’s milk caramel. Pair with mezcal.

91 S 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249
(929) 298-0233
(929) 298-0233
White cajeta mousse sits atop golden fried dough.
Buñuelo con mousse de cajeta.
Gary He/Eater NY

Tiramisu at Macosa Trattoria

310 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216

Bed-Stuy’s Macosa Trattoria is the kind of place that makes you feel like a regular on first visit, with reasonable prices and heavy-handed wine pours. After polishing off well-made Italian dishes like chicken liver crostini and oxtail ragu, ask for the tiramisu, which may well be the best version of the dessert you’ve never tried. It’s as airy as they come, more mascarpone than anything else, and covered in a mound of chocolate shavings.

310 Tompkins Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11216
(646) 574-7866
(646) 574-7866
A pillow of tiramisu on a plate against a wooden table.
A pillow of tiramisu.
Luke Fortney/Eater NY

Knafeh at Tanoreen

7523 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209

Rawia Bishara’s Palestinian restaurant in Bay Ridge offers a variety of fine Middle Eastern sweets, including piney sahlab custard, dense semolina-coconut harissa cake, and anise-y macaroni cookies. But if you’re here for dessert, chances are, you’re here for the knafeh, a giant slab of baked sweet cheese covered in filo and soaked in aromatic orange flower water. Half the fun is watching a server slice it tableside and stretch out the cheese like a pizzaiolo. A small order feeds two to three people; a large order feeds four to six.

7523 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11209
(718) 748-5600
(718) 748-5600
Knafeh exhibits a burnished top, garnished with green pistachios, prior to being sliced; it sits on a white plate on a brown table
The knafeh at Tanoreen.
Alex Staniloff/Eater NY

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