Wild California Mango Jalapeño Crisps: Purchased from Monterey Market in Berkeley, these fruit crisps are a great snack in many ways. They’re sliced just right so that they’re crunchy but not hard to bite into, and the amount of spicy heat is surprisingly potent but well balanced with the sweetness of dried mango. While crisps like these tend to be paired with cheese or dip, I found them to be satisfying all on their own. 4.0/5.0
recommended montereymarket fruit spicy wildcalifornia mango jalapeño crisps 4.0
Wiz Bang Bar Smith Teamaker Big Hibsicicle Sherbert: In the Pine Street Market, an indoor food hall in downtown Portland, is a soft serve and sundae bar named Wiz Bang from Salt & Straw, the ever-popular ice cream shop that has branched outside of the city to several LA and San Francisco locations. Central to Salt & Straw's success is their ability to strike a chord between the familiar and unexpected, with comforting flavors that are also intriguing and sometimes daring. The soft serve that I ordered, the Smith teamaker big hibiscicle sherber... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended softserve icecream portland saltandstraw wizbangbar smith teamaker big hibsicicle sherbert 4.0
Wunderground Orange cardamon poppy loaf: I love the fragrant floral flavor of cardamon and found this slice of orange cardamon poppy cake to be a near perfect companion to the mushroom-based lattes at Wunderground cafe. Dusted with powdered sugar on both side, the slice was just sweet enough and had a fantastic texture from the poppy seeds spread throughout. A segment of orange tops the entire cake off. Surprisingly substantial and entirely delicious. 4.0/5.0
recommended pastry seattle wunderground orange cardamon poppy loaf 4.0
Yaokin Cabbage Taro Baked Cookies: This bag of puffed corn snacks was purchased solely based on packaging, with its friendly green police frog and lack of English labeling. They are more airy than your typical cheese ball, with a flavor that is almost like a junk food mirepoix, with tomato, onion, and carrots. It's unmistakably Japanese, with added sprinklings of nori and MSG. And, like many Asian snacks, they come in small packages, with only 3 servings in a bag. Brought out during a party, these were quickly devoured an... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended japanese vegetables yaokin cabbage taro baked cookies 4.0
YBC Aerial Roe Butter Flavored Chips: It is very rare for me to come across a snack that is fundamentally different than any I've had before, and this fried Japanese corn snack is one of them. I found it at Weica, sort of like a CVS, which has an impressive stock of junk food. These chips consist of multiple crispy layers, each uniquely shaped probably due to the irregularity of the manufacturing process. Each square is about the size of a Wheat Thin in area. The separated layers gives it a light crispy texture unlike any sn... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended weica japanese junkfood yamazakibiscuitsco aerial roe butter flavored chips 4.0 ybc
Yifang Matcha Brown Sugar Bubble Tea: I was delighted to come across the Taiwanese bubble tea shop Yifang in Shin Okubo, the Koreatown of Shinuku in Tokyo. I wish I were able to read the menu of fruit tea options, but I had to go by the pictures and decided to try their matcha latte with brown sugar, a drink that has a fixed amount of sugar (unlike some other menu items, where you can adjust how sweet you'd like it to be). I did find the drink to be sweet for my taste, but the combination of bitter matcha with sweet brown suga... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks tokyo taiwanese boba bubbletea yifang matcha brown sugar bubble tea 4.0