Motorboat & the Big Banana's Frozen Bananas Are Summer on a Stick
Rebecca Marx
As anyone who has ever stuck a bowl of grapes in the freezer can attest, frozen fruit is a criminally underrated dessert. Particularly when you're at the beach and don't want to sink under the weight of whatever you've just eaten or end up with a blanket full of crumbs. All of which makes the chocolate-covered frozen bananas at Motorboat & the Big Banana an ideal pairing for a day at Rockaway Beach.
M&tBB is a collaboration between Jean Adamson, one of the owners of Vinegar Hill House, and Lindsay Robinson, an alum of Diner and Bonita. Although their concession stand is primarily committed to its deep-fryer, they pay homage to the name with the aforementioned dessert. You can order it plain, coated with toasted coconut, pretzels, or peanuts and sea salt. Each comes impaled on a wooden stick, and will set you back $3.
As slaves to the salty-sweet, we're fans of the peanut version, which gets added points for its delectable crunch. Because the chocolate is dark and the banana only moderately sweet, it's a pretty lo-fi dessert, one that won't deter you from either the ocean or more food. Also, as the photo above attests, it's only a half banana, and therein lies our one quibble: For $3, shouldn't we get the whole goddamn thing? And isn't this faintly embarrassing coming from a place that bills itself "the Big Banana"? We are unfortunately inclined to think so, although true believers will be too busy enjoying their brain-freeze to care.
Motorboat & the Big Banana
96th Street and Boardwalk
Rockaway Beach, Queens
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