[Photo: Robyn Lee]

Mud pies are common, but mud cakes are less frequently spotted. So when I came across a mud cake ($7) on the menu at the newly opened Rye House, I made it a point to end my meal with just that. Here they couple crushed walnuts and a pour of sticky Fluff sauce—imagine marshmallow cream, only closer to a liquid—over Valrhona cocoa cake. Cake was on the dry and powdery side, though still edible.

Despite the elaborate construction, it was an inoffensive but forgettable dessert that no one at our table loved or hated. Can't help but be slightly disappointed.

Rye House

11 West 17th Street, New York, NY 10011 (map)
212-255-7260
ryehousenyc.com