There really is nothing like a fresh Taiyaki fish shaped waffle cone…read more Taiyaki NYC is the original shop/location that made this type of waffle ice cream cone popular over 10 years ago. The soft serve ice cream here is far above average making the experience all around amazing. A favorite menu item of mine is their small custard or red bean filled fish waffles. They are made to order & soooo good! Do not try & order these before closing because they will say no! This is a grab & go type of business. There are no tables for dining in. Street parking is free & on typical NYC/Little Italy/Chinatown parking. I have had good luck when arriving as late as possible. One of my favorite spots. I hope it never closes. Especially since Williamsburg location no longer exists!!

Take me back to Japan, PLEASE! I sorrowfully miss Tokyo, Japan and the surrounding prefectures…read more For me, Taiyaki NYC is a close illusion visit to Japan. All the hype, all the 3.5k Yelp reviews, all the 5.1k photos to lured me, finally, for a visit to Taiyaki NYC to make my own assessment and patronized visit. It is here Taiyaki NYC where the fish-shaped Japanese waffle that is chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside is well known. This fish-shaped Japanese waffle originated where invented in Tokyo, Japan in 1909. I have a strong proclivity for predilection of traditional ice cream as my personal taste, but occasionally I do enjoy soft serve ice cream. My predilection of traditional ice cream is for maintaining the coldness to intake my time consuming whereas soft serve ice cream melts very quickly. Taiyaki NYC only carries soft serve ice cream. I decided my usual default ice cream flavor green tea one scoop in small cup. Customer service is attentive as my male server cashier was very patient when deciding my order and digging my bag to search for change for cash payment. This male cashier appeared very utterly befuddled with bewilderment questioning the American coin respective values when counting to dispense my change as my payment was cash. Yes, cash is still widely accepted as a valid form of legal tender payment. "Prohibition of Cashless Establishments, as of March 21, 2026, all retail and food establishments in New York State, including New York City, must accept in-person cash payments, banning fully cashless stores." Taiyaki NYC complies. There are very limited ledge seating and absolutely no tables. This brick and mortar storefront business is designed for take-out, the standard NYC on-the-go culture. There are disposable coasters with their fish waffle image. There is a galvanized metal bucket reminisce of mint julep cup serving as makeshift gratuity from one's arts and craft creation. Ice cream cup, one scoop green tea $7.50 It has a very alluring aesthetic food appeal to my eye for the swirls heap in a large, towering mound above the cup ream line. It does have the standard hollow center, but not a large circumference unlike most soft serve ice cream competitor businesses. I find the gargantuan hollow center to be flagrantly egregious cheating and scamming customers for quantity and quality. Aesthetic food appeal for the facade attract customer attention, but can businesses focus on taste, quantity and quality for filling the interior especially at a extortionate price of $7.50? Nevertheless, the taste was a joyful delight as a temporary escape from life's chaotic of my Sisyphean task. Napkins are abundantly available for grabs.

Soft swerve were creamy and has the right amount of sweetness…read more Server was pleasant.

Stopped by for an ube soft serve on an evening walk. The ube is not too sweet, but wasn't as…read moreflavorful as I hoped. The cone was wonderful. Honestly, I wish they made a mini-sized version -- my cone was big enough for two! It made me realize that I'm pretty spoiled with all the great dessert shops back home in Orange County!

Well worth the hype and popularity, some of the best ice cream I've had anywhere! Got the three…read morescoop cup with lychee sorbet, black sesame, and durian. There was a pretty long line but it moved fast, service was good and kept the busy line moving. Flavors were amazing and the texture was rich and creamy for the ice cream with real fruit chunks in there. If you're in Chinatown and looking for dessert, this place is a must!

I had just finished dinner with my friends and we were looking for a little dessert to cap the…read moreevening. It's summer and humid, so ice cream seemed like the perfect finisher. Chinatown Ice Cream Factory was only steps away, so it only made sense for us to check it out. I had heard of CICF before - it has become pretty well known on social media and my brother also frequents this area and has spoken of it. The space is small - outside of a small area indoors to queue up there is no other seating or area for customers. There was a small line when we arrived but it moved quickly; I can see foot traffic being an issue when they're being slammed though as there is no efficient flow of customers in and out. But I mean, it must be working for them - this spot is incredibly popular. Anyway, they have a good selection of ice cream flavors - some common ones and other more unique ones. I decided to try the vanilla fudge which was quite good; I could tell the ice cream itself was quality, and there was a generous helping of fudge ribboned throughout. Service was good - they were working the line well and before I knew it I was outside enjoying. Overall, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory was great - the ice cream was delicious and I wouldn't hesitate to return to explore more of their flavors.

I got the riff sundae, and it was quite good. The vanilla soft serve itself didn't seem to be…read moreanything special, but when topped with the olive oil, honey, and sea salt, it was a great combo. I will admit it was very basic and something I could probably easily make at home, but it was very good nonetheless and it was executed very well with generous amounts of olive oil and honey and a perfectly balanced ratio When I went, the line was medium length, but it moved relatively fast, and the ice cream was ready pretty quickly once I ordered. I probably will try something else next time I come back just for variety, but if if it's your first time the riff is solid and worth giving a shot for a more elevated sundae experience. I did like the aesthetic of the place at night as well.

Good service, great soft serve. However, after paying for my soft serve and asking for a cup of…read morewater, I was denied and redirected to Upside to purchase a bottle of water. Mind you, this was a very hot and humid day - I get that the employees are following protocol of management, but this upsets me, especially with a child in tow. Anyways - use your judgement in the best of circumstances - we went to our local favorite, Lovely Day for a glass of water. Sometimes, it should always be about margins and transactions. Just be a good neighbor, friend to your community.

I haven't been here in a hot second (I'm talking years) and finally decided to come for some shaved…read moreice on a warm day. There's plenty of tables to sit at and there's also a restroom. We tried the melon shaved ice $22 for the large which was a bit pricy but it was quite delicious. We were worried that the large might be too much for two people but honestly we were able to finish it without a problem. The melon pieces were sweet, the ice is milk based so it was creamy and flavorful on its own. We barely used the condensed milk that it came with (and we loved how they put it on the side for us instead). At the bottom of the shaved ice was cereal pieces and mochi which gave a nice different texture. We also tried their drinks specifically their blue lemonade and mango-ade which I thought was just ok. The highlight is definitely their shaved ice. Definitely go for the large as the small seemed much smaller and for double the price, you can get almost 2-3x more. Overall: it's a great place to grab a shaved ice and relax . The atmosphere is chill and you can stay without feeling rushed.

Love love love their bingsoo! I live in Philadelphia for school so it's easy to come up to NYC for…read morea day trip. Stopping here every time I'm in the city is a must now! Especially with the hot weather. I lovvveee their bingsoo. It's the perfect blend of flavor, coldness, texture, and sweetness! A great treat and location

Fantastic ice cream experience! I really enjoyed the texture and consistency of this ice cream…read more However, I wasn't a huge fan of the flavors initially; I thought the toasted rice tasted a bit too toasty (hard to describe) and I thought the ube w/ Vietnamese coffee had too much coffee flavor. The ice cream flavors did grow on me as I continued eating though. Each ice cream also comes with a topping and a drizzle; I got the mochi and the black sesame drizzle, both of which I highly recommend. I think this combination of toppings helped balance out the ice cream nicely. I believe this is a family/individual owned ice cream shop; the lady at the counter was super nice and friendly. There's not a whole ton of space inside to eat and there can be a small line outside. 4.8/5

Got toasted rice and sesame flavors…read more Small but cute shop with interesting flavors. No seating area

Everytime I pass this place there is always a longgg line out the door, and I guess you can say I'm…read morea sucker for lines because anytime I see a long line out the door I associate it with a place worth trying. Finally decided to wait in the long line one day after dinner. It took around 20ish minutes to get to the front of the line. It moved a bit faster than I thought it would. I think I do enjoy froyo more than ice cream because it's less sweet, but I couldn't see how this place stood out amongst other froyo places. They only had 6 flavors to choose from too. You get to try the flavors though! The chocolate and mango were my favorite flavors. The vanilla was good too and not too sweet. They had a blank street matcha flavor, but it had a weird matcha taste and wasn't that strong. The raspberry flavor was too sour and artificial for my liking. And I found out I don't like plain tart because it's too sour and tastes too much like yogurt. The topping selection was decent though. I really loved the mochi because it was so soft. Strawberries were fresh. Despite how many people there were, we were lucky enough to get a small table to sit at! It was a yummy satisfying sweet treat post dinner :)

I was excited to try this NYC frozen yogurt spot after seeing it all over TikTok. Overall, I…read morethought it was just okay. I ordered the vanilla and chocolate froyo, but the texture was much softer than I expected since I prefer a thicker consistency. The toppings were the highlight, especially the pistachio crème. Other than that, it felt like an elevated Yogurtland with much higher prices. Good to try once, but I don't think it's worth the hype.

Stopped by to try their new seasonal flavor and it was delicious! Such a unique flavor and it…read moretasted amazing. The icecream is pricier, but definitely tastes really good!

-First Impression- Teeny tiny little shop. Only enough space for 5-6 people to fit without bumping…read moreinto each other. Only saw one person working while I was there. -Food- Kinda mad I never tried this ice cream before! I got the brown sugar cookie dough brownie flavor in a cup and ohhh my goodness! Absolutely stellar! I love mix ins, and there was something in every scoop! -Service- The young lady behind the counter was very nice, didn't get to chat much because a long line formed after I paid for my ice cream. -Price- Way overpriced, no other notes lol -Did Not Like- See price lolol -Noteworthy- Lots of fun flavors, toppings, vegan options, and pints available. -Recommend- Treat yourself every once in a while! I know I will!