Glenn C.
Yelp
LIC review with photos of most of their other desserts (same review here:) https://www.yelp.com/biz/spot-dessert-bar-long-island-city?hrid=vq5ObhHRGj3L4Jcnu_0-_Q
I've been to multiple locations of this fancy Asian dessert bar and my review is essentially the same for all of them though there are some key differences between them. The main thing is of course that the Flushing one and especially the East Village one are much more crowded than the Long Island City one so if you're looking to share some desserts and chat; I might recommend going to their LIC location but I presume if you're looking at this review, you'd likely be going to a place in Flushing so whatever. The photos are separated by location but you'll see a copy and paste for the other spots outside of this part.
Short review: In terms of their normal menu, my preference here is likely the Matcha Lava and Milky Puff with the Golden Toast and Harvest being alright. The latter is just a bit too pricey compared to the more composed desserts here. In terms of seasonal fall/autumn stuff, the Eye Of The Dragon and Autumn Trifle are both excellent and we didn't try the Jjan Hae or Kabocha Pie which is the current seasonal vegan option. The omakase is an excellent deal if you're going with five others which comes with 5 desserts, 3 pastries, and a fancy fruity green tea. If you're going to get a pastry, the Matcha Lava cookie is excellent with the Caramel Miso being alright and their Pasteis De Nata are both overpriced and terrible.
As the prices match per dessert ($14.45,) I'm not listing them. Otherwise this is in order of preference with S before the dessert name meaning seasonal/not always available.
Excellent:
Matcha Lava- Warm dark chocolate cake filled with matcha ganache, served with matcha green tea ice cream. Good quality chocolate mixed with the semi bitter matcha. It's both well presented and also taste delicious.
(S) Eye Of The Dragon- Sticky longan pudding cake, soaked in palm sugar caramel sauce served with condensed milk ice cream. There was plenty of longan flavor which I would describe as a almost musky lychee and the cake was also on the sweet end. This was balanced by the palm sugar caramel poured at the table which had a slight bitterness.
Very good:
(S) Autumn Yuzu Trifle- Layered lemon chiffon cake, soaked in verbena tea, poached red wine pear and homemade mascarpone cream. The dessert (at least in LIC) was composed at the table which was a nice touch. There was plenty of lemon flavor though not nearly enough yuzu for my liking. I wasn't overly sour though with the mascarpone adding some richness. The cake was delicate and the red wine pears both topped and also found inside had juiciness. Excellent.
Milky Puff- Warm puff pastry, brûlée bananas, white chocolate honey comb, corn flakes, served with condensed milk ice cream. Not too sweet with a good mix of textures. The banana is probably the best part of it with a good crisp and sweetness.
Good:
The Harvest- Layers of berries, soft cheesecake, oreo crumbs, earl grey milk tea served with raspberry sorbet. This has the best presentation of all the desserts and might be worth it just for this. However, I find the flavors a little bit bland compared to the other things here.
Golden Toast- Warm crispy honey buttered toast, strawberries, served with condensed milk ice cream
Just an amped up version of this HK classic. The texture of the toast is nice and the strawberries are fresh but there's other spots for this exact dessert and either a bigger portion or much less.
Others/Pastries:
Matcha Lava Cookie: Excellent. Good texture
Caramel Miso: Couldn't taste the miso but good texture and not as sweet as expected
Pasteis De Nata: Terrible texture with a bad custard. Worst thing here.
In short, the average dessert here is probably a mid/low 3 while the seasonal stuff was a low/mid 4 and the pastries are a mid 3 outside of the prices. 3.6-3.8 for all spots with this one being the lowest as it's just too crowded and the seats are too close. Still good though I prefer the other locations.