New York City is home to many incredible innovative treats, each with a unique ability to give us one hell of a sugar rush. We've had the cronut, egg waffle ice cream cones, fish cones, and now we are the proud owners of our very own unicorn milkshake.
With the surge in unicorn treats across the US, like coffee and hot chocolate, it was only a matter of time before the magical creature got its hooves into our city.
New Territories, a new member to the Lower East Side dessert family, is slinging some incredible treats, with unicorn shakes being just the beginning. The small storefront has a line to the door full of customers waiting to grab and 'gram some tasty treats before taking them down.
The unicorn shake itself mixes vanilla ice cream and ube—a purple sweet potato used in many desserts lately—and is decked out with marshmallows (coconut, plain, heart-shaped, and rainbow) held by pocky sticks, topped with whipped cream and Fruity Pebbles and decorated with a rim of white chocolate and sprinkles.
The shake tasted surprisingly close to a plain vanilla milkshake, which I didn't mind at all, although a bit fruitier thanks to the Fruity Pebbles. I wish I could say I loved the ube, but it was almost more of a decoration than a flavor, even when I tried to scoop some out to taste on its own. It was so subtle.
Other menu options include bubble waffle cones in assorted flavors like black ash, classic, and ube, with ice cream options including banana chocolate cream pie, vanilla bean, earl grey, and ube, and toppings like a beautiful cream rose, banana chips, animal crackers, and more.
New Territories' Dark & Snowy sundae, which I also tried, had banana chocolate cream pie ice cream in a black ash bubble waffle with banana chips, cream rose (which they'd replaced with whipped cream because they ran out), and white chocolate drizzle. The ingredient list was pretty intimidating, but I couldn't resist.
The ice cream was delicious and had surprise bites of banana chips and fudge in it, and the black ash cone—which I assumed would be kind of gross—was unexpectedly delicious and added a great savory note to the sweet treat scooped inside. There was also a fortune cookie hidden in the bottom for added excitement.
On top of that and more sundae options, the milkshake is one of two dine-in-only options at New Territories, accompanied by another drink called the AffoTHAIgo, their clever play on an affogato. It's a bubble waffle, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream topped with a pour of Thai tea (if you've never tried this, make sure you get a taste. It's way better than coffee in my humble opinion).
It may be a bit of a wait depending on when you get there, but I promise this indulgence will be worth the wait (and weight). Just make sure to bring along some friends so you can get a taste of everything their menu has to offer, because believe me, there's a lot of sweet goodness to try.