In a nondescript building tucked on the Lower East Side, you can catch a sweet whiff of the streets of Hong Kong. It emanates from a tiny kitchen, where a row of curious waffle makers—hexagonal inside and pocked with half-spheres instead of squares—churn out equally curious creations: golden-brown sheets bearing a likeness to giant bubble wrap.
These are gai dan jai, 1950s-style Hong Kong egg waffles. Sweet and reminiscent of eggy sponge cake in taste, each pull-apart bubble has a thin, crispy exterior and plush, cake-like interior. (They taste much better than their plastic lookalikes.)
David Chan, Peter Li, and Yiming Hui, friends and co-founders of Wowfulls, wanted to bring this popular Hong Kong street snack to New York. The twist: Here, they’re served as ice cream cones. The trio started selling their “Wowfulls” at Smorgasburg in October 2015, where they became an Instagram-propelled hit, and opened their first brick-and-mortar shop this year in March.
At the shop, they offer their Wowfulls in three flavors: original, coconut, and chocolate. Smorgasburg runs have included other fun flavors, like matcha and coffee. Customers then load them up with ice cream, like the blue- and pink-streaked Crazy Vanilla or Pop Rocks-studded Cotton Candy; an array of toppings, from mochi pieces and Pocky sticks to cookie dough and fresh strawberries; and a drizzle, like chocolate syrup or housemade matcha sauce. For the indecisive, house combos are also available. Each Wowfulls creation costs $8.
Wowfulls creations are loaded up with fun toppings. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times
