At the new Deli Manjoo Korean sweets are selling like hot cakes.

PLEASE NOTE DELI MANJOO IS CLOSED

“Is there a Korean donut place like that one in Eater,” my doughnut obsessed pal asked via text message the other day. “Not sure,” I responded, but there are at least two places that sell piping hot Korean sweets. Deli Manjoo, the newest, opened in the bustling J-Mart supermarket a few days ago and is doing a brisk business.

Custard-filled fish and walnut cakes.

Deli Manjoo’s draw is fresh, hot sweets made right before your eyes in a waffle press looking contraption. There are pudding filled fish ($2.99 for 6), which I did not try, and little walnut-shaped numbers ($3.99 for 6). The latter known as hodo gwaja are filled with red bean paste and a bit of walnut. Before I’d even left J-Mart I’d gobbled up the entire lot.  They are a nice alternative to the nearby outpost of New Flushing Bakery.

Is this the Korean Ladurée?

Further down Northern Boulevard lies Cocohodo. “It’s like the Korean Ladurée,” a friend said of the outpost of a Korean chain. Unlike Deli Manjoo, Cocohodo sells one thing and one thing only, walnut pastries. (Well, they also sell a full complement of coffee beverages and teas.)

I scored a mini gift box of 12 for $6.95. Cocohodo’s pastries are lighter and have a much larger chunk of walnut in them than Deli Manjoo’s. If you come at the right time of day, around 2 p.m. you can watch them being made too. It’s a boutique experience, at a much gentler price than that Soho macaron parlor. As for those Korean donuts,or hoettok my buddy mentioned I am sure they can be found somewhere in the vast K-tropolis of Northern Boulevard.

Deli Manjoo, J-Mart, 136-20 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing
Cocohodo, 158-07 Northern Blvd., Flushing,917-808-5306