This is IT. This is THE Doughnut Plant.
Voted by Saveur magazine as one of the top 6 places to get doughnuts in the whole USA. Loved by Oprah, Martha Stewart and Joanna C. One of my many food pilgrimages brought me here finally, where I can lay my greedy soul to rest. 
Located on the Lower East Side a few blocks east of Chinatown, this tiny gem of a bakery is well hidden amidst the Jewish kosher bakeries and bialys. I have a weak spot for doughnuts since young, although gourmet doughnuts are something of a recent middle-age indulgence. At US$2 each, these doughnuts are not really value per pop, especially since the bakers took a large hole out in the centre to begin with.
Verdict? The Tres Leches doughnut was creamy in the centre and oozing with milk with every bite. 10/10. Hands down a doughnut worth dying for. The Valrhona Chocolate D was a tad disappointing despite its fancy name. The butter pecan D was a crowd pleaser and I can have it any day for tea as a lil' perk-me-up, Pippy! =) 
There are many more flavours to try such as the banana cream-filled peanut butter glazed Elvis inspired D, so I will continue to make these sinful pilgrimages till I try them all and my tummy starts to protest(unlikely to happen)! 
Since I don't sit on the Board of Directors for Dunkin' Donuts, I am legally allowed to eat cupcakes. When Sex & The City popularised the frosting topped cupcake phenomenom, bakeries selling exclusively cupcakes sprung up all over cities, especially those filled with desperate single women(one good example: NYC). What women couldn't get from men, they get it from cupcakes. The sugar rush might induce a sexual high right on that sidewalk as you bite into the cupcake, just the way Sarah Jessica Parker did. 
Epitomised by the show, Magnolia Bakery in Greenwich is now a tourist institution, selling a bite of the elusive high to anyone and everyone who can afford to queue up 30-45mins for it. 
Every time I am here, there will always be that queue snaking past the bakery corner. People MUST really want those cupcakes!
My dear equally food-crazed friend from Singapore couldn't resist trying these cupcakes at least once in her life, so we joined the queue obediently. If you think I am a foodie, wait till you meet Sylvia. So far, her entire trip to NYC with her husband, Dennis and 3yo Danielle, is almost food-driven. Katz Deli(When Harry met Sally's famous orgasm scene), Serendipity 3(Serendipity), Cafe Lalo(You've Got Mail) and now this. Singaporeans are the most cuisine-focused people when they travel and I think it is a fine quality! ;p *Proud to be Singaporean*
Back to the cupcakes... I must say that the cake is moist and goes rather well with the frosting BUT... eating candy pink and lavender blue frosting takes courage for an adult!!! The colorful candy sprinkles on the top does nothing for me(it is a nostalgic American childhood cupcake emotion they are trying to evoke) and I think I just saw them flush down the toilet bowl intact. Give me a doughnut anytime, baby! 
Having said that, the surprising key lime cheesecake was a bonus and wonderful on the palette after the cupcakes. The next time I'm near Magnolia Bakery again, I am going to make everyone on the line jealous by breezing into the store and buying the cheesecake and waltzing out in under 5mins!
