Dominique Ansel Kitchen What-a-melon watermelon soft serve: Dominique Ansel celebrates the start of summer with a special watermelon soft serve, served in a fresh watermelon "taco" topped with thin seed-shaped chocolate. We braved the line of Instagram fanatics for 20 minutes in advance of the soft serve window opening at 11am at the West Village Dominique Ansel Kitchen. Admittedly, it's as photogenic as any Ansel dessert, with a mountainous swirl of glistening orange-pink sorbet. The soft serve itself had a concentrated melon flavor and great textu... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Young Tea Roasted oolong tea with grass jelly: This small tea shop in Seattle's Chinatown / International District is just a few steps away from their impressively sized Mitsuwa Market. It takes pride in its traditional Chinese herbal teas, and it comes across clearly in their drinks. The oolong milk tea I had was just right: more tea than milk wth just a bit of sweetness at 50%. The grass jelly was one of the most memorable I've had, with a silky texture and slightly bitter flavor that complements the sweet tea. Highly recommended! 4.0/5.0
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La Nostra Gazzosa: A sparkling lemon beverage from Italy that is more like a concentrated, flavored seltzer than a sugary soda, which I far prefer. Though it has 28g of sugar, it's still less sweet than most bottled sodas in the US - just enough sweetness, in my opinion. The drink has a slightly savory aftertaste as seltzer sometimes does along with a refreshingly acidic lemon taste. Good level of carbonation. Altogether, a unique and worthwhile drink. 4.0/5.0
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Loving Cup The Dude Abides Frozen Yogurt: Loving Cup is a small frozen yogurt shop in Russian Hill serving blended-to-order non-fat vanilla or chocolate yogurt with your standard set of mix-ins, including gummy bears, Oreos, and junior mints. Unlike the tart and lighter fro-yo you might get at Pinkberry or Red Mango, Loving Cup's yogurt is thick and creamy, making it much more akin to regular ice cream. I ordered a mixture of almond butter (Costco organic) with english toffee, substituting vanilla yogurt for chocolate, in what the... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Boba Guys Strawberry Tea Fresca with Almond Jelly: I've only ever had milk teas at Boba Guys up to this point, but their strawberry jasmine tea fresca was excellent, and I will definitely be back to try others. Similar to Asha tea, they use fruit puree so that it has a bit of texture. The almond jelly is soft and tofu-like, and just a tad grainy. Overall, the drink was very fresh and well made; faintly sweet. Highly recommended. 4.0/5.0
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Quenelle Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet: Three years ago, you took a detour to Burbank to check out a humble ice cream shop opened by a former pastry chef with a Michelin-starred pedigree. There, your palate was expanded, with singular flavors like ras el hanout. You were stunned that ice cream could be so good: so creamy and well balanced, yet challenging and complex. You gave it a rare 5.0, and even after consuming ice cream from many respectable places since then, that one scoop stands out in your memory. Fast forward three year... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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