Beard Papa Sweets Café

Cream-puff specialists / $

2167 Broadway between W. 76th-77th Sts.
1 train to 79th-Broadway, 1, 2, 3 to 72nd-Broadway
(212) 799-3770
www.muginohousa.com

7 days, 10 AM-8 PM, open all holidays
Limited seating
Takeout & delivery available
VIsa, MCM

What would you say if we told you that the Upper West Side has a storefront full of young Japanese women making and serving nothing but cream puffs? Well, almost nothing—there's also coffee, cheesecake, mango pudding, mango sorbet, and "mango ice shower" (shaved ice over mango). But the star attractions are the round cream puffs measuring about three inches wide by two inches tall. The outside is not at all like a cream doughnut. It's crispier, lighter, and baked, not fried. Inside is a sweet pale yellow cream filling that beats any doughnut. Order them one at a time (surely one can't hurt) or in boxes of half- or one dozen. When we visited on a sunny Saturday, the line spilled out the door, but service was so speedy that we waited no more than three minutes to get our cream puffs. Only in New York!

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