Bonobo's Vegetarian Restaurant

Most of Bonobo's ice cream custards ($4.95 and up) feature either banana and coconut, alone or in some combination. Then there's the durian (shown; $2.50 per scoop), made from the notorious fruit with the looks and heft of a spiky melon and an aroma that's best kept downwind of sensitive noses. (Some liken it to sweat socks, or worse; I think of overripe ricotta.) Cut through the durian's thick rind, if you dare, and you'll uncover four or five pale yellow lobes with the texture of a semisoft, sticky custard. This spoonable version is not far removed from the source, and very nearly as potent, each day's batch seems to disappear fast, and rightly so.

Bonobo's Vegetarian Restaurant
18 East 23rd St. (near Madison Ave.)
212-505-1200