Durian NYC

Owner tried to sell me a larger durian than I wanted lying that it had been more defrosted. When he opened it it was still frozen. 40 dollars, and when I came home, let it thaw, and tried it, it was flavorless. You can see the pale color in this photo. Not ripe at all. They ripped me off. Will not buy here again. I miss fresh durian at home. Do not believe when they say nonsense about how long it’s been out in the sun and such.

I recently went to Jamaica and fell in love with soursop. After a lot of googling I found that this stand might have soursop. I’m not sure if they also own the stand next to it with the other tropical fruit, but that is where I found it! Very friendly staff. A little bit of a language barrier but the guy wanted to find me the perfect one depending on which day I was going to eat it. The soursop was so sweet and delicious. He said it is only sold on weekends. They also had other tropical fruits like passion fruit reasonably priced for being out of season. (2 large passionfruits were $2.50 each) the soursop was $15. So worth it!

Best place in NYC for durian! A bit pricier than supermarkets, but MUCH better quality – Malaysian musan king, in addition to more common Thai ones. Call ahead, since hours are irregular and they sell out.

They were so helpful. This shop is the only shop that sells sour sop fruit which is used for many health benefits. They open your fruits for you as well.

Amazing who wouldn't love to durian ugh just brings back so many memories amaizng time visiting this place!

Only place I found passionfruit in Manhattan's Chinatown. Gem!

Very friendly and helpful. Helped us chose exactly what we needed.

Awesome! Got fresh durian for my wife!

In my quest to find a new fruit, I came across the Durian. Knowing nothing about it, the helpful people here helped me choose one for 5/per pound and then cut it for me and let me try some. Ultimately it ended up costing me only $15 for a good amount of the Durian. Word to the wise, the Durian is EXTREMELY pungent. It has an indescribable taste that I can't really say was bad. Just don't mix with alcohol--apparently a deadly combination.

- ABOUT DURIAN: Durian stinks. It smells like a one-month-old garbage fished out from the drain. It is even banned in some public transportation in South East Asia because of its sewer gas aroma. Durian is the world's smelliest fruit. The smell is deadly. Even chef Anthony Bourdain once said, "Your breath will smell as if you've been french kissing your dead grandmother." Durian is also the world's most socially divisive fruit -- You either love it or hate it. But once you are won over by durian, you will enter the society of competitive eaters. In this society, whenever one of your senses is excited by durian, other senses will automatically receive the same excitement. Durian is called "The King of Fruits." Its spiky appearance of a durian is hardly ever sexy, but its armors cover such creamy and sweet, custardy "meat." The taste of durian meat is so distinctive that no words can describe it but its own name. Like taking a tequila, eating durian makes your body temperature increases. It is called a heaty fruit like ginger and garlic, so you should not consume the whole durian in a day. Either share the fruit with people around you, or cover it with a lot of plastic bags to avoid smell invasion. - ABOUT DURIAN NYC: Jay Fan is the owner of Durian NYC, which is the only durian business that was introduced in New York Times (see the link http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/nyregion/the-durian-man-of-chinatown.html?_r=0). He owns the most famous durian place in Chinatown NY. His 17-year-old durian business is right next to Tu Quynh Pharmacy, at a very clustered crossroad of Bowery & Grand St. Durian NYC specializes in durians from Malaysia and Thailand, which produce the BEST durians in the whole wide world. Jay updates his business mainly through his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/duriannyc). Besides durian, he has other tropical fruits such as sour sop, dragon fruit, rambutan, and persimmon. Prices range from $20-$45 depends on what you buy. A durian here is around $20, and Jay's assistant will open a durian, carefully pack and seal durian meat for each customer, so there is absolutely no worry about its smell. That's why Chinatown loves Jay. And that's why customers keep coming back for Jay. If you are already converted into a durian lover like I am, visit Jay and Durian NYC. Tell him to take your money and give you a box of King of fruits.

It's not like you get many choices in New York. I got one the other day and it was okay. It's gotten more expensive thanks to China demand--the Times wrote in 2013 that a Malaysian cost ~$40, now a Thai cost me $50 at $5/lb. (gross weight). I didn't get the $10-12/Malaysians because the stand helpfully cuts the spiky fruit for you and I saw that the customer before me was getting one that had been in the fridge for a bit too long. People who tell you to go elsewhere for other Asian fruits make no sense to me. Nothing tastes like the stinky durian, whose texture for me resembles ice cream (not really, you'll see, but it's what comes to my mind).

It's call the king of fruits but most wont try it because of its "distinct" aroma. If you are able to pass that hurdle then you'll be in for a treat. I purchase 4 durians from here. Two were from Thailand and the other two is from Malaysia which supposed to bet a lot better and of course 3x the price. I like the Thai durians better. The Malaysian durian has a yam constancy and were not as creamy and flavorful to the Thai durians. I'm sure it's there's a reason why it'3x the price but I can't see how and why. As for the folks selling these durians, they were fantastic and very helpful. This is a must try fruit if you claim to be any type of an adventurer in food expiration.

I have ALWAYS wants to try durian but never make my way to Chinatown when visiting NYC. However, today I got to enjoy Durian NYC's delicacy. The cost is $4 a pound. We got about a 5 pound fruit which was more than enough for two people to taste, enjoy, and bring home leftovers! They cut it, sealed it, and packaged it for us to take with us. I requested to take the outer spiky flesh and they were so willing to safely wrap it in newspaper. The people operating this little gem are very kind. The whole experience was exciting for me because I had been dying to taste this fruit for a while. In my opinion, it taste pretty oniony but the ooey gooey parts are super sweet and indescribable. I would recommend trying this exotic fruit for Durian NYC! It is an experience!

Do not come here!!!!! They completely and shamelessly cheated me. Durians are small and dried up with hardly any flesh, see attached photo. The weight is calculated from a frozen fruit so they are heavier, it is not worth the price per pound at all. This shop works out more expensive for western fruits than Whole Foods and there are many more better quality options nearby such as HK Supermarket or the fruit stalls on Chrystie or Mott street for Asian fruit.

Durian has it hard in the US. People usually haven't heard of it or have only heard bad things. I'm here to stand up for durians that they're delicious and you should eat them. Some durians taste smellier than others, some are sweater than others, some are more moist than others, etc. If you're not going to southeast asia, this might be your best chance at giving it a try. The staff here are very nice, can sell you a section of durian if you want to give it the littlest try and can cut apart whichever durian you chose and pack it up for you if you know you like durian but don't want to have to worry about cutting it yourself at home. If you're not sure that all your roommates and neighbors like durian, then you probably shouldn't bring it home.

The durian was as expected but overpriced is An understatement. $60 for one piece of fruit. But then again I had never had it before so it's a one and done type of this so whatevs

Durian can be hard to find. I tried the stuff from the freezer section and it was pretty bad. Finding this fruit stall was amazing! I have no idea where else in the US you can find fresh, prepared durian, and it was delicious! There wasn't much smell initially, but you should eat it fast. The "fragrance" really starts to seep through the container AND the plastic bag over a few hours. While I didn't find the smell offensive, it was certainly strong and pervasive. It's expensive and cash only, but I felt the experience was worth it.

I went here today and bought a Monthong (Thai) durian. I paid $40 ($5/lb) and the lady opened it in front of me. She used two spoons to take the pulps out without touching them which was nice (sanitation). She was also nice. My husband and I really enjoyed the durian.

I was offered two types of durian to buy. I chose the Malasian. They cut it up. It was Frozen. the fruit had been Frozen for days. (maybe over a week or two) It didn't smel good while I was trying it. I knw it was in the freezer because it was still collecting moisture after I brought it home. The fruit costed $33 dollar. You can not try samples to make the decision even if you never had durian before! This is my first time; and I do not recommend this place or the entire fruit from any place unless you already like Durian. There are better fruits other there Like the chinese Dimocarpus or "Longan Litchi" way better in my opinion which I bought from the next block.

Extremely nice couple who runs this little stand. I came all the way from Dallas to pick up a durian for my mom for Mother's Day but ended up getting two, one big standard one and one smaller "stinkier" one. The smaller one ended up being more expensive than the bigger one I asked if I could get a discount since I'm buying two (mostly jokingly) they laughed and said no but the gentlemen later on slipped me a couple dollars for "lucky money". They were both very funny and friendly and I'm super happy with my two durians! Great little stand, reminded me of my home country.

I've been wanting to try durian for so long, so I came here in a whim one day near the east village. There were 3 different varieties of durian from different countries like Thailand and Malaysia m, each from $5-$9 per pound. I was so curious, but the cheapest one I could get was $19. The man selling the durian was friendly and cut it apart for me. It was a nice experience trying the durian, but I'm fairly certain the one I got was pretty overripe and slightly moldy, so I only got to eat half of it, which was a very little amount.

First of all - I am crazy about durian! It is one of the best things I have ever tried in my life so far. I was super excited to finally have durian again and also have my friend try it for the first time. When I got there they only had about 10 durian to choose from (from Malaysia and Thailand). The guy selling them was very friendly and helpful. He cut the durian for us and packed it in a plastic takeaway container. It was so delicious and so worth over eating on it! I would definitely go back and spend way too much money on one of these lovely fruits again!