FAO Cafe (Midtown East)

What could be better than baked goods? Baked goods inside a toy store, of course! My frequent nompanion M noticed a Groupon for FAO Cafe a few weeks ago, and we were so excited to try it out. FAO Cafe is located on the corner of 5th Avenue & 59th Street inside FAO Schwarz, AKA the greatest toy store in the world. They feature tasty treats and caffeinated delights from some of New York's finest bakers, some of whom don't have brick and mortar stores. All of this is conveniently near Central Park, The Plaza Hotel, and 5th Avenue shopping.

My biggest complaint with FAO Cafe was the lack of seating. There was one tiny bar along the window with maybe five seats. There happens to be a collection of tables outside across from The Plaza, but New York has been hot as hell suffering from a heat wave, so we were not exactly excited to take our food to metal chairs outside. However, there was a live jazz band there to entertain the tourists; us locals were also pleased, and therefore lured outside.

Now before I get to the food, I want to complain about one more thing: the service was awful. There were no napkins and no silverware. The barista made us feel a bit silly for ordering the amount of food we ordered and taking as long as we did to decide. Now I know I come from a family that values customer service, and I was raised to believe that the customer is always right. Even without my unique upbringing, I'm pretty sure the customer should not be made to feel the way this lady made me feel. Also, iced coffee should not be 75% ice. Just had to get that off my chest.

Luckily, the quality of the pastries (and the mood music) outweighed the seating issues and service problems. We ordered a selection of goodies, and before you freak out, you should know the two of us did NOT attempt to finish all of this in one sitting. But we got pretty darn close.



The first thing we decided on was this Chocolate Crunch Cookie from Selma's Cookies. I would've liked a description of what this cookie contained - or a more fitting title, to be honest - but once I took a bite, I stopped questioning. It was perfect: a delicious, sugary, buttery cookie stuffed with chocolate, M&Ms, and I think butterscotch & some kind of nut. It was the perfect balance of crunch and gooeyness, and the perfect amount of chocolate. I think I would call it The Kitchen Sink Cookie, since it had pretty much everything in it. YUM.

The next thing we tried was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough cupcake from Sarah's Cupcakes. I know I'm a cupcake maker, but it might surprise you to know I don't really like frosting all that much. So it should mean a lot when I say that this frosting ROCKED. It was super sweet, but the cake was so light and fluffy that it balanced out nicely. The cookie on top was perfect, and the crumbs in the frosting were a really nice touch. I know deep down it was really just a vanilla cupcake with vanilla icing and some cookie crumbs, but it was delicious. We had gotten our unique treat out of the way with the cookie - this was meant to be our classic.

Our final choice was the Chocolate Blackout doughnut from Doughnut Plant. This was by far my favorite - a perfect chocolate doughnut with a ribbon of fudge baked in and a chocolatey crumb topping. It was SO rich, but I loved every bite of it. I hear doughnuts are the new trendy treat, and this was the first one I  tried. I now understand the obsession. I will definitely be visiting one of Doughnut Plant's locations to try more of their goodies!

After we ate (and melted from the sun), we went back inside to play in the toy store. I mean, where else on earth can you find a rocking horse that's actually a rocking panda?

Overall, I liked FAO Cafe. The desserts (and coffee) we got would have been well-worth $15, but it was nice that we got them all for the Groupon deal of $7! Would I specifically seek out FAO Cafe to eat in the future? Probably not. But if I was wandering around FAO Schwarz and needed some coffee or sugar, I would gladly stop by and sample some more of New York's local eateries. If nothing else, it led me to a few new brands I want to check out around the city! Their food outweighs their service, and their atmosphere is fun. For that reason...

FAO Cafe gets my stamp of approval!

Have you been to FAO Cafe or tried any of brands they feature? Does bad service ever outweigh delicious food? Do you have ideas of where I should have gone instead or where I should go next? Sound off in the comments!