Alimama is a gluten-free dessert shop owned and operated by Janie Wang that centers on the mochi in Chinatown. (Mochi is made of rice flour and rice is naturally gluten-free.)
Wang merged traditional ingredients with modern flavors, so her mochi donuts are available in flavors like matcha with toasted rice krispies, caramelized sugar and salted Nutella caramel, and dark chocolate with coconut. The donuts are dense and chewy like mochi and has a gentle crisp exterior. The glazes and toppings are barely sweet enough to register in my brain that it’s dessert (that is a very good thing if you aren’t into the sugary sweets).
Along with their mochi-inspired desserts, Alimama offers cream puffs with seasonal fillings (currently offering matcha, ube and yuzu). These large, fist-sized pastries were filled with lots of cream. The matcha was my favorite in terms of the pastry cream’s texture, creamy and not too thick that it oozes a bit. The matcha flavor wise, it’s good. The ube (purple yam) was had a pretty purple hue and had a hint of ube flavor. The yuzu cream puff flavor was prominent like bright citrus sunshine when I get a lick of the yuzu whipped cream.
This shop serves a concise menu of teas that they brew. Between my friends and I, we had the black oolong, earl grey lavender, jasmine mint, and beet root with rose and rose hip. The teas have an element of the healthful aspect but in general, I prefer the teas to be stronger flavored and/or less milk. The most refreshing was the jasmine mint. The beet root rose drink had the most flavor of what’s stated.
Overall, this shop’s interior is cute and the dessert offerings are very solid. I’ll definitely be back for the sweets when I’m in the neighborhood.
To view more photos of this visit, please view the gallery below or CLICK HERE for the photo set:
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Alimama
Official Website
89A Bayard Street
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 235-7288
