Vive la Tarte Almond croissant : I had high expectations after having the excellent orange blossom croissant from Vive la Tarte in SF, but this almond croissant was less successful for a few reasons. The almond paste filling, while substantial, was wet enough to render the pastry a bit soggy, and the filling combined with the powdered sugar was very sweet overall. Quite large for a croissant, but also more expensive than your typical local bakery at a little over $4. You could taste the quality of the individual ingredients... (read more) 3.0/5.0
bakery sf sanfrancisco vivelatarte almond croissant 3.0
Rabbit Rabbit Tea Japanese buckwheat milk tea with almond pudding: A caffeine-free option at bubble tea shop Rabbit Rabbit Tea, located at the edge of Union Square. It tasted more of milk than buckwheat, but it did have a familiar Asian breakfast porridge vibe to it, reminiscent of powdered grain packs you mix with hot water. The tea was so so, but the almond pudding was quite good - it had a distinctly non-dairy-milk nutty quality and a soft, slick texture. Overall, though, I probably wouldn't come back to Rabbit Rabbit gven the quality of this drink alone. 3.0/5.0
drinks milktea nyc rabbitrabbittea japanese buckwheat milk tea almond pudding 3.0
Morinaga Annin Tofu: Morinaga is a common Japanese brand that can be found in the supermarket for all sorts of things, probably most popularly in the US for their Japanese instant pancake mix. Recently I've been trying their pudding sets, which are overall decent and affordable. This was their version of almond jello (called annin tofu, though it doesn't contain tofu but just resembles it in its look), the type you get in asian restaurants with canned fruit or goji berries. It has a familiar concentrated almo... (read more) 3.0/5.0
inegaya pudding japanese almond morinaga annin tofu 3.0 dessert sweets
Cadbury Daim Dairy Milk Chocolate: I'm a big fan of Daim and Heath-like candy bars generally. This chocolate bar had a generous portion of crushed Daim, which added good texture. Unfortunately, similar to the Oreo bar, the milk chocolate itself was too sweet. Best to just stick with the Daim, which normally already had chocolate. 2.5/5.0
cadbury chocolate candy daim sweets almond dairy milk 2.5
Perfect Bar Almond Butter Bar: Dense, nutrient rich snack with just about every ingredient you might find in a health food store, including flax seed oil, kale, rose hip, celery, kelp, and of course, almonds. Not a flavor combination I would ever crave. Texturally, it reminds me of a Power Bar without the glazed coating and with a more dry mouthfeel. Extremely filing, but you would hope so at over 300 calories per bar and 13g of protein. 2.5/5.0
perfectbar almond butter bar 2.5
State Bird Seed Almond Rosemary Puffed Quinoa, Seeds, Almonds & Herbs: State Bird Provisions and The Progress are two restaurants I always recommend to people asking me where they should eat in San Francisco. I heard that the chefs behind the restaurants came out with a line of snacks and fortuitously found them stocked at Berkeley Bowl West. There was only one flavor on the shelf when I went, an almond and rosemary savory "granola" combining quinoa and sunflower seeds. Sadly, I found that it had a bitter aftertaste, almost like it the granola had been baked... (read more) 2.5/5.0
statebirdseed almond rosemary puffed quinoa seeds almonds herbs 2.5