Toad & Radio Bakery Yuzu Jaffa Cake Croissant: Toad is an amazing bakery in South London that I couldn't get enough of when I visited University of Arts London last fall. So you can only imagine how excited I was to see that they teamed up with Radio Bakery in Greenpoint, easily the best bakery in NYC, to create a special Yuzu Jaffa Cake Croissant combo, a match that can only be described as what dreams are made of. It consisted of a crispy croissant base (with textbook layers), a sponge cake / chocolate layer, light and airy whipped cr... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional pastries greenpoint toadradiobakery yuzu jaffa cake croissant 5.0Looking for Chai Milk tea with grass jelly: There’s a Taiwanese restaurant In Bellevue named Looking for Chai where everyone speaks Mandarin, photographs of Taipei 101 line the wall, and they have a handwritten menu of about 30 tea drinks written in traditional Chinese before their English translations. When I ordered a milk tea with grass jelly, I realized I had forgotten to specify the sweetness. But the tea was perfect, with an deep herbal flavor barely sweetened and slippery grass jelly that verges on medicinal but exactly as you ... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional drinks Bellevue taiwanese milktea grassjelly lookingforchai milk tea grass jelly 5.0Daybird Strawberry Lemonade: This strawberry lemonade is exceptional on its own but even more so as a companion to spicy foods. I had it alongside the fried chicken sandwich at Daybird (which is definitely worth seeking out), and as amazing as the sandwich was, I was actually left most impressed with the freshness of this drink, which captures perfectly the tart and sweet flavor of fresh strawberries. You can see the quality just in the color of the drink itself, with it's striking red-orange hue. I can't think of any w... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional drinks losangeles daybird strawberry lemonade 5.0三都屋商事 豆せいぞろい Rice Cracker Mix: I've always loved Japanese rice crackers, and these are the most colorful and delicious variety I've had. The rice balls are all glazed with soy and each contain a single roasted peanut; this mix has a variety of surprising flavors – some are covered in toasted sesame seeds, others with flecks of nori mixed with a seafood flavor reminding me of a milder shrimp cracker, my favorite almost looks like it's covered in moss, with a deep seaweed flavor, and there's even one that is slightly sweet... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional japanese seijoishii 豆せいぞろい rice cracker mix 5.0福丸饅頭 Kusa Daifuku : This mochi is from a small confectionary shop in Yanaka, Tokyo that serves a variety of fresh, seasonal mochi. I purchased this green mochi thinking it was matcha-flavored, but it’s actually made of mugwort, a type of medicinal plant of Chinese origin. It has a slightly bitter flavor that’s not at all sweet, like a mix of spinach and peppery parsley. It reminds me of a green smoothie in that people would enjoy it as a dessert, but it’s mostly savory. The texture of the mochi was perfect ... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional japanese mochi kusa daifuku 5.0Hop Shu-Kuri-Mu Matcha Cream Puff: I randomly passed this pastry shop in Azabu Juban and made a mental note to return based on the quality of bread in their window. I'm glad I did, because their cream puffs are insane. The exterior has a crispy baked texture, similar in some ways to dutch crunch bread from San Francisco, and the filling is of the highest quality I've had in any bakery, with a creamy and not too sweet flavor and ideal matcha bitterness. The most interesting part to me was a bruleed base that resembled a nor... (read more) 5.0/5.0
japanese exceptional azabujuban creampuff tokyo sweets hopshukurimu matcha cream puff 5.0