Slam dunks: Old-fashioned doughnuts at Schiller's Liquor Bar.   (Photo: Ellie Miller)

1. Hearth
Hot, crisp, insanely good, sugar-and-apple-cider-glazed doughnuts served with maple whipped cream—better than a trip to Vermont in autumn. (403 East 12th Street; 646-602-1300.)

2. Riingo
Green tea is good for you, so go ahead and finish all three sugar-coated doughnut holes filled with a delicately sweet green-tea jam and served with a mustard-colored swirl of cinnamon sabayon. (205 East 45th Street; 212-867-4200.)

3. Wallsé
Why we want to join the Vienna Police Department: Krapfen, or Austrian jelly doughnuts, served here in miniature form as petits fours. (344 West 11th Street; 212-352-2300.)

4. Casa Mono
The fried-dough equivalent of fugu: These tasty buñuelos are wrapped around aromatic (but inedible) bay leaves. Eat them like artichoke leaves. (52 Irving Place, at 17th Street; 212-253-2773.)

5. Schiller’s Liquor Bar
A smart kitchen leaves nothing to waste. So don’t be surprised if your friendly bartender offers you one of these cakey Homer Price–style sinkers, left over from breakfast, as a late-night bar snack at no charge. Dunk one in your beer, and tip generously. (131 Rivington Street; 212-260-4555.)

Related:

• Archive: “Top Five”
• Articles by Robin Raisfeld | Rob Patronite
• Table of Contents: Mar 15, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!