A new dessert spot serving smoothies, shakes, crepes and other sweets had its soft-opening on the Upper East Side on Friday.
Shwkulata is located at 415 East 70th Street (between York Avenue and First Avenue), a cozy space with a few counter seats by the window. A sizable chocolate fountain by the register greets customers.
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In addition to classic smoothies like strawberry banana and strawberry mango ($7.99), Shwkulata offers decadent milkshakes including a Nutella shake (with milk and vanilla ice cream, $8.99) and a very of-the-moment Dubai Shake, which is made with vanilla ice cream and pistachio butter, crushed pistachio nuts, milk chocolate, kunafa and whipped cream ($12.99).
A strawberry banana shake with drizzled Nutella
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Besides sweet drinks, the café sells crepes, waffle sticks, cheesecake and more. But the specialty here are the Dubai chocolate offerings. Although a worker told East Side Feed that the shop is still getting the necessary ingredients for offerings like the Dubai Strawberry Cup ($13.99), it expects to fulfill every order in the coming weeks.
“Indulge in the perfect combination of Dubai strawberry and rich pistachio—a flavor combination like no other,” the shop posted on its Instagram feed about its Strawberry Cup last week.
The name “Shwkulata,” an employee told us, is an English spelling of the Arabic word for “chocolate.” Dubai chocolate—a luxurious mixture of cocoa, the Middle Eastern dessert kunafa, and pistachio—has been steadily gaining popularity around New York and the rest of the United States over the last year. Although it usually comes in chocolate bars, creative cafes are adding the ingredients to a slew of other desserts.
Shwkulata is currently open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
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Guilty pleasures.