Grace Street Coffee & Desserts

Shaved snow and fried dough set the programme

Two things define the counter: shaved snow on the cold, shareable side, and ho-dduk on the fried-dough side. The ho-dduk is a Korean donut filled with sugar and nuts, often served with ice cream, so one order gives you soft chewy dough, a sweet crunchy centre and cold dairy in the same bite. The shaved snow is made fresh and built to be pulled apart by a table.

The rest of the case follows the same instinct. A Dubai chewy cookie shows the trend-responsive side, Basque cheesecake covers the richer baked option, and matcha beignets sit somewhere between the two. Drinks share the identity: premium boba milk tea, matcha lattes and the Elixir matcha drink, with plant-based milks and a vegan sorbet for anyone avoiding dairy.

A casual Koreatown dessert stop

Grace Street works as a counter-service dessert cafe. Guests order at the front, then either carry everything out or sit down for a proper dessert course. The quick format suits Manhattan’s Koreatown, where a good share of the room has arrived after barbecue, noodles or fried chicken somewhere nearby and wants the sweet half of the evening.

The atmosphere is contemporary and dessert-led, with sweets built to look as good as they eat: shaved snow towers, layered drinks, plated fried dough. The Midtown setting means the crowd is split between Koreatown regulars and people moving through the commercial corridor near Penn Station, the Empire State Building and the surrounding offices, which keeps the counter busy at odd hours.

Order Korean donuts first, then add shaved snow

Start with the Korean donuts if the table wants one defining item. Ho-dduk is the clearest signature: fried, chewy, filled with sugar and nuts, and usually served with ice cream. It brings warmth and texture before anything colder arrives, which is the right order of operations here.

Then add shaved snow as the shared centrepiece. It is made fresh and it is the dish that does the most work at a table of four. For drinks, boba milk tea is the direct choice; matcha drinkers can take a matcha latte or the Elixir matcha. For a fuller spread, build around ho-dduk, shaved snow, Basque cheesecake, matcha beignets and a Dubai chewy cookie, then add waffles when the order needs something more filling.