📍Dromedary Doughnuts at Ra Ra Rhino, New York City

After dinner at Nowon in Bushwick, we walked around looking for a bar to grab a drink. I remembered reading about this cocktail bar that was also a donut shop in Grub Street. A cocktail bar that has a purpose built donut program is as intriguing a concept as I've ever heard. It was a couple of blocks away.

We walked into this well-lit donut shop. They open in the evening with fresh baked donuts so it looked like they had the full assortment. There's a display right on the counter with tags describing each one. There's a photo booth in the corner and an entrance into Ra Ra Rhino.

When you walk into Ra Ra Rhino, it's much darker. The aesthetic makes you feel like you're in a fantastical jungle. There's a literal purple rhino with gold horns blowing smoke in the center. We got lucky and they had some counter seats right at the Rhino.

It was a bit confusing how it all worked. Both places had different menus. We couldn't order the donuts from inside the bar but we could buy the donuts and bring them into the bar. They plate them for the bar. One of my friends went out to grab donuts and we remained at the seats to order drinks.

We started with the hot honey donut. It had a brioche doughnut base filled with vanilla cream. The vanilla cream was light and surprisingly kept the donut light. It was topped with a hot honey glaze that tasted like the classic sweet heat flavor. The donut was rounded out with a dried prosciutto cracker. It snapped and crumbled with the bite but the salty flavor played so well. As a composed bite I got the sweet, the spicy, the creamy, and the salty.

The second donut was a passionfruit meringue. It had the same base as the other donut. This one was filled with a passionfruit curd that was tropical and sweet, but with just a little bit of tart on the backend. The meringue was light and topped with crushed graham crackers. It reminded me of a lemon meringue pie with the lemon curd swapped for passionfruit.

For drinks, I kept it simple – a shot of well whiskey, Miller High Life, and a caviar bump. Have the caviar first, followed by the whiskey, and wash it down with the beer. After this experience, I'm completely onboard with more bakery and bar combos.

If you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy sharing them, please consider buying me a coffee. I might just write about it. ☕ Buy me a coffee.