Wall-to-wall walnuts.
A slice of walnut strudel ($1.80, at roughly $6 per pound) was fat with moist filling, though the pastry dough was proportionately sturdy. Previously: Kichel (rhymes with pickle; below; $1), a brittle baked flatbread topped with brown sugar, was not as sweet as its cookielike Mexican cousin from Elmhurst. A poppy hamentash (not shown; $1.50) had rich, crumbly dough and — even though Moishe's was closing for the evening — seeds that were still fairly moist, with just the right amount of bitterness. The hamentashen are even better earlier in the day, I've found.
Moishe's Home Made Kosher Bake Shop
115 Second Ave. (6th-7th Sts.)
212-505-8555
If you want sweeter kichel, ask for it "dark"--the sugar will have caramelized more and it will be crunchier. I find lighter-colored kichel to be a little dull.
Moishe's also has very good almond horns, "pretzels" (intertwined regular and chocolate pastry), challah, and babka.
Posted by: Stephanie | October 11, 2009 at 09:33 PM
i love these old school bakeries. This bread reminds me of the pastry I had in Poland.
Posted by: Kim | October 12, 2009 at 08:30 AM
Best black-and-white cookies in NYC @ Moishes.
Posted by: mark | October 12, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Not a huge fan of their black and white cookies for whatever reason (for some reason I find the texture a little weird), but love their poppy seed hamentashen. My wife really likes their small fruit-filled hamentashen as well.
Posted by: Joseph Gelfand | October 13, 2009 at 09:09 AM