Why is it that if you don't order dessert after your meal, you feel empty inside? Dining out should be a comprehensive experience, a delight from beginning to end. Capping your night with something sweet, especially at a restaurant that puts heart and soul into its desserts, is not only the added indulgence you deserve, but your duty as a diner in this great foodscape we call Philadelphia. To cap off Sweets Week, we've compiled a guide to all of the desserts you should be eating in this city, here and now.
And they range! Gargantuan cakes, comforting pies, ethnic goodies, French delights, what have you — all treats that will make your inner child jump for joy, mapped out south to north for your every convenience.
Dip your spoon into this cloud of Valrhona chocolate and you'll know heaven intimately. Townsend's chocolate soufflé with a side of Pernod chantilly is a destination dessert, French at its finest, and a perfect nightcap.
How can something so monstrous taste so good? Neuf's Paris-Brest, a Parisian bicycle race-themed choux pastry dessert, shaped like a wheel and stuffed with cream, gets an added bump of Middle Eastern flair with rose water and cherries.
It might not look like much when it hits the table, but Saté Kampar's thick-cut white toast slathered with an especially addictive coconut custard is the ultimate Malaysian comfort food.
After a feast of homemade charcuterie, fresh pastas, and hunky roasts, you'll probably want a light dessert. Opt for a cappuccino, maybe some amaro, and a stunning plate of homemade Italian cookies.
The Dutch butter cake has become somewhat synonymous with Passyunk Avenue's Northern European BYOB. One slice usually feeds two, the advocaat — a brandy custard — underneath is basically a dessert unto itself.
Any cake at mid-century modern Bud & Marilyn's is choice, but the peanut butter malt ball cake might be the best slice of dessert in town. Make sure you get everything on your fork — fudgy dark chocolate cake, airy peanut butter buttercream, and crispy malt ball — for the perfect bite.
Baklava is like pizza, in that it's hard to find bad baklava. But Kanella Grill's baklava is perfect: balanced sweetness, stacked high with chopped nuts — still crunchy and not pulverized to oblivion— and the phyllo still crisp and crackly.
The cool thing about Peter Serpico's restaurant is that he's pretty much cooking whatever he wants, whatever he likes. And wouldn't you know it, he likes rocky road ice cream. His is made up of frozen chocolate pudding, toasty marshmallows, and candied walnuts—probably better than any rocky road ice cream you'll ever have.
Pretty much any dessert — breakfast, lunch or dinner — at this Queen Village hotspot is worth a try, but pastry chef Pat O'Malley's pumpkin pie is every bit of that comfortable, homey goodness you often crave in the fall.
If you're craving a good ol' chocolate cake without any of the fuss, Southwark does it right. Topped simply with some salted caramel ice cream, Chris D'Ambro's grandmother's chocolate cake recipe is top-notch.
Fond's pastry chef and co-owner Jessie Prawlucki has a laudable seasonally rotating dessert menu, and currently, her toasted hazelnut cake with chocolate hazelnut ganache, raspberry sorbet, and white chocolate cream is an absolute delight.
Bistrot la Minette's mille-feuille is textbook: stacked three layers high with piped pastry cream, raspberries, and a little extra puddle of raspberry coulis love.
Bubble waffles are what regular waffles should aspire to be, and few do it better than Yummy Yummy in Chinatown. QQ waffles come in a variety of flavors, but green tea is the favorite.
Wister's Nutty Buddy will make you feel young again. The big bowl of Franklin Fountain chocolate ice cream, chocolate peanut ganache, caramel, and tiny waffle cones is the type of over the top dessert a child would dream up. And you, as an adult, will love every spoonful of it.
Ordering the Gâteau Basque at Helm is tradition. The adorable creation — a lifelong fixture on the restaurant's chalkboard menu — comes out warm and buttery, always, and forever, topped with goodies of the season.
Dip your spoon into this cloud of Valrhona chocolate and you'll know heaven intimately. Townsend's chocolate soufflé with a side of Pernod chantilly is a destination dessert, French at its finest, and a perfect nightcap.
How can something so monstrous taste so good? Neuf's Paris-Brest, a Parisian bicycle race-themed choux pastry dessert, shaped like a wheel and stuffed with cream, gets an added bump of Middle Eastern flair with rose water and cherries.
It might not look like much when it hits the table, but Saté Kampar's thick-cut white toast slathered with an especially addictive coconut custard is the ultimate Malaysian comfort food.
After a feast of homemade charcuterie, fresh pastas, and hunky roasts, you'll probably want a light dessert. Opt for a cappuccino, maybe some amaro, and a stunning plate of homemade Italian cookies.
The Dutch butter cake has become somewhat synonymous with Passyunk Avenue's Northern European BYOB. One slice usually feeds two, the advocaat — a brandy custard — underneath is basically a dessert unto itself.
Any cake at mid-century modern Bud & Marilyn's is choice, but the peanut butter malt ball cake might be the best slice of dessert in town. Make sure you get everything on your fork — fudgy dark chocolate cake, airy peanut butter buttercream, and crispy malt ball — for the perfect bite.
Baklava is like pizza, in that it's hard to find bad baklava. But Kanella Grill's baklava is perfect: balanced sweetness, stacked high with chopped nuts — still crunchy and not pulverized to oblivion— and the phyllo still crisp and crackly.
The cool thing about Peter Serpico's restaurant is that he's pretty much cooking whatever he wants, whatever he likes. And wouldn't you know it, he likes rocky road ice cream. His is made up of frozen chocolate pudding, toasty marshmallows, and candied walnuts—probably better than any rocky road ice cream you'll ever have.
Pretty much any dessert — breakfast, lunch or dinner — at this Queen Village hotspot is worth a try, but pastry chef Pat O'Malley's pumpkin pie is every bit of that comfortable, homey goodness you often crave in the fall.
If you're craving a good ol' chocolate cake without any of the fuss, Southwark does it right. Topped simply with some salted caramel ice cream, Chris D'Ambro's grandmother's chocolate cake recipe is top-notch.
Fond's pastry chef and co-owner Jessie Prawlucki has a laudable seasonally rotating dessert menu, and currently, her toasted hazelnut cake with chocolate hazelnut ganache, raspberry sorbet, and white chocolate cream is an absolute delight.
Bistrot la Minette's mille-feuille is textbook: stacked three layers high with piped pastry cream, raspberries, and a little extra puddle of raspberry coulis love.
Bubble waffles are what regular waffles should aspire to be, and few do it better than Yummy Yummy in Chinatown. QQ waffles come in a variety of flavors, but green tea is the favorite.
Wister's Nutty Buddy will make you feel young again. The big bowl of Franklin Fountain chocolate ice cream, chocolate peanut ganache, caramel, and tiny waffle cones is the type of over the top dessert a child would dream up. And you, as an adult, will love every spoonful of it.
Ordering the Gâteau Basque at Helm is tradition. The adorable creation — a lifelong fixture on the restaurant's chalkboard menu — comes out warm and buttery, always, and forever, topped with goodies of the season.
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