At Kora, pastries are a canvas for vibrant Filipino flavors - Review - New York - The Infatuation
"You’ll find New York City's best, most meticulously constructed donuts at this Filipino bakery in Sunnyside. At Kora, your donut might come garnished with ube chips. Or the core might be excavated and replaced by flan. But the fried brioche dough stands up to the fanciful embellishments they’re known for here, while still being light and airy. Kora began as a pandemic-era home-kitchen project, eventually growing a 10,000-person waitlist for preorders. Greeted by New Yorkers with the kind of enthusiasm usually reserved for emergency antivenom or buried treasure, Kora now occupies a bright and spacious storefront with two dozen seats and a large window into the kitchen, where the sight of a baker dunking fresh-fried apple fritter into tamarind glaze is as soothing as a weighted blanket. photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick photo credit: Molly Fitzpatrick The bakery’s offerings have expanded too, from donuts to cookies and laminated pastries—and everything is excellent. Expect a menu inspired not just by Filipino ingredients like ube and calamansi, which have achieved Trader Joe’s-level penetration into the market, but also by spam, ensaymada, and beyond. Food Rundown photo credit: Britt Lam Leche Flan Ni Lola Kora is named after the cofounder’s grandmother, and this pastry is inspired by her. It’s perennially sold out for good reason. The marriage of crisp brioche and jiggly custard is a happy one. There’s also an actual miniature flan inside the donut—an architectural flourish that never fails to delight us, like a secret compartment. photo credit: Britt Lam Ube Another Kora classic. There’s ube in every single component of this donut—the brioche dough, the luxurious custard inside, the beautifully shellacked ube glaze, and the purple yam chips adorning it like a flower crown. The flavor is delicate and floral. photo credit: Britt Lam Apple Tamarind Fritter As far as we’re concerned, the humble apple fritter isn’t just a superlative donut. It’s a D1, S-tier, A-list food, and something we order almost every chance we get. And yet Kora proves that there’s still room for improvement: The tanginess and caramel notes of tamarind in the glaze are an excellent upgrade, a pairing that’s obvious only in retrospect. photo credit: Britt Lam Spam & Cheese Pain Suisse Kora’s lone savory pastry is a total delight, livened up with smoked paprika, hot honey, chili crisp, and most importantly, pimiento cheese. (Did you know that pimiento cheese isn’t just an American Southern staple?) photo credit: Britt Lam Ensaymada Croissant The classic cheese and sweet butter-topped bread, reimagined as a croissant. It’s a fun hybrid. The flakiness of the pastry makes an interesting counterpoint to the soft butter and salty, pillowy cloud of grated Edam. photo credit: Britt Lam Ube Coconut Cookie Though it’s a B-side in comparison to the likes of the ube donut, we might love this long-time Kora offering even more. A stripe of ube halaya through the cookie lends the interior a soft jamminess that contrasts beautifully with the crisp bottom. photo credit: Britt Lam Plain Glazed We’ll give you the same advice about this relatively unassuming donut (topped adorably with a matching donut hole) that someone gave us from behind the counter: “Don’t sleep on that one.” The glaze isn’t actually plain, but an incredibly vivid vanilla bean." - Molly Fitzpatrick
