The Forthright Fork

January 5, 2012

Just when I thought I finally had the Lower East Side all figured out, I visited Economy Candy and had my mind blown all over again.

Since 1937, Economy Candy has been supplying Manhattan (and other boroughs, I suspect) with endless amounts of sugar-highs and nostalgia. This massive candy store literally has over a thousand varieties of sweets, ranging from the common Halloween fun-size bags of chocolate to rare and discontinued candies from abroad.

Fruit overload!

I can't even think of the last time I've even seen a piece of Bazooka gum... 

Personally, I can definitely vouch for the impressive selection of merchandise at Economy Candy. During my visit, I was shocked to find milky (strawberry cream, pudding, choco-vanilla, etc.) Chupa-Chups in stock (no picture, unfortunately). These lollipops are a favorite of A.'s but were discontinued outside of their native Spain. We sadly didn't buy any, however, because they were only sold in 2 lb. gift tins.

In terms of what we did buy, we first took advantage of Economy Candy's giant Jelly Belly dispenser. There were tons of flavors such as watermelon, mango, apple and even the infamous buttered popcorn. We tried to keep it manageable and left with just a small bag of the cinnamon, cream soda, creamsicle and pear flavors.

 These beans over real beans every time.

I was also super excited to find that Economy Candy had lokum (Turkish Delight).

Ever dream of a nut-flavored gummy? If so, lokum might be the perfect treat for you!

The store only had this pistachio studded variety but it was the freshest and most authentic that I've come across in the U.S. Toothsome, not too sweet and very nutty, it was quite reminiscent of the many luscious lokum I had sampled in the Egyptian Bazaar (Misir Carsisi) of Instanbul. A., who had never had good lokum before, loved it.

Tangy perfection. 

We also picked up a bag of dried pineapple. Unlike the crystallized variety, these pieces of dried fruit were sweet and sour, like natural Sour Patch Kids. The chewy texture and mouthwatering tang of each bite made it absolutely impossible to stop eating.

Finally, we couldn't leave Economy Candy without picking up some chocolate. I went with Ritter Sport because I love the way Ritter milk chocolate complements the taste of nuts. Extremely creamy and sweet, the Edel-Nuss Mix and Nugat flavors are among the rarer varieties out there. Needless to say, these sizable bars were gone in no time.

Gotta love the one-and-only Ritter square packaging. 

As you can tell, our trip to Economy Candy was pretty awesome. I saw many brands and flavors that I had never seen before. Definitely check it out - you might be really happy with what you find!

 In other news, metallic gumballs actually exist?! (and are Kosher?!)

Economy Candy
108 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002