((4.25 stars))
Bub's Bakery is wedged between Lafayette and Mulberry in NoHo. modern-ish interior is bright, neatly maintained, and has a warm welcoming tone with seating down the center and entrances on both Lafayette and Mulberry Streets. beyond the seating, the space is skinny and not much room to hang out in outside of the seating. the bakery is focused on making baked goods that avoid the use of the top nine allergens: soy, eggs, dairy, nuts, peanuts, wheat, sesame, fish, and shellfish. the bakery clearly addresses a need New Yorkers who have food allergies, are just trying to be a bit more health conscious, or curious about how good can baked goods be without the eggs, dairy, wheat, etc. count me in the last category as i have no food allergies that i know of, but i was interested in tasting a mostly allergen-free eats could be. what do i think of Bub's allergen-free baked items? your mileage may vary based on your expectations. i think if you have to avoid certain foods or ingredients then Bub's will serve you well...however will you think these allergen-free eats are indistinguishable taste-wise from baked eats that use eggs, wheat, dairy, etc., i think not...you will see/taste differences pretty immediately. tried three items at Bub's. 1) i tried the Vanilla Cream Cupcake: it's a very small cupcake. the frosting really stands out--good flavor, smooth, and fairly creamy. the cake part while light doesn't replicate a true cupcake--the cake/crumb is not very airy, but more soft mushy...not gummy but not cake-like. while the cupcake is not dry...it's not moist either and the cake crumb isn't very fluffy but those are the limitations of not using butter, milk, etc. while I didn't dislike the cupcake; i didn't really like it either. also the vanilla never really came through in the cake and only somewhat in the frosting. Bub's cupcake did come with a can of vanilla seltzer as a promotion. Cupcake grade: C+. 2) the chocolate chunk cookie is very much a cookie. somewhat medium-sized. though it leans more on the crispy attributes of a traditional chocolate chunk cookie than the soft cookie-ness that most identify with a cookie. the chocolate chunkiness is packed into the cookie which is more crunchy and caramelized outside but doesn't have soft chewy center/insides. and there is nice trace of salt to offset the sweetness of the cookie and chocolate. this is a safe choice if you're not sure what to get and i'd probably order it again. Cookie grade: B. 3) the Maple Glazed Blueberry Scone. American-style scone packed with blueberries. this is a scone that i can get behind. it's big enough to share. the exterior has the maple glaze which helps it be crunchy plays against the soft dense interior. the scone's insides are a pleasant moist cakey crumb with soft blueberries swirled throughout to add that deep rich berry flavors that play off the scone's cakes-ness. it's moist rich inside is very good. i would say while i didn't dislike the maple-glaze crunch and found it enjoyable...maybe a different more subtle sweet flavor would be better match bc maple is such a strong flavor against the main blueberry scone taste. Scone grade: A-. so as long as you adjust your expectations to what allergen-free baked good can be then you'll be pleasantly surprised what can be done. however, are they one for one with traditional ones that use dairy, wheat, etc.? no, but they don't have to be--welcome to one of life's pleasures and pitfalls: variety. outside of the eats, the coffee program here is solid as i had a cortado made with an oat milk and it was good. the Americano's that I had here were solidly good. i think they use Devocion's medium roast which is good, so quality of coffee here will be good even if there is no dairy creamers and such to mix in. the service, i found to be friendly enough, not very chatty. the bakery does seems to be fairly busy with tourists and the allergen-challenged, but waits aren't that long. this place will be very busy once warmer weather hits. prices are on the higher side for a bakery, but i assume making things allergen-free ups the price quite a bit. while my friends who have food challenges will find this place to be a place for them, i don't think i would substitute traditional cookies and cupcakes with the ones here bc of personal preference...however in terms of that scone, i just might. might... read more