House Kombucha Rose black Kombucha: Strikes a decent balance - not overly floral yet still clearly tastes of rose. Rose mixed with a vinegar-y fermented flavor is hard to pair with food, though, so this is more of a drink to have on its own. 3.0/5.0
drinks housekombucha rose black kombucha 3.0
Johnnie Ryan black cherry soda: Horribly over-sweetened, should have known from the artificial purple color. 1.0/5.0
drinks avoid johnnieryan black cherry soda
Kung Fu Tea honey black tea with boba: Half a year ago, I posted a positive review of the newly opened Kung Fu Tea in Somerville (Davis Square), with particular praise for their boba. I've since returned several times and have found the quality has dropped significantly. For my last visit, I had half-sugar honey black tea, which was fine, but the boba was mushy and soft. As a result, I am removing my endorsement of KFT Davis. 2.5/5.0
kungfutea somerville boba milktea 2.5 drinks honey blacktea tea black
Lays lattice cut aged cheddar and black pepper chips: Surprisingly good, crunchy chips. Pepperiness is quite high, but cheese flavor mellows it out a bit. Definitely not healthy but pretty satisfying. 3.5/5.0
lays chips potatochips pepper cheddar recommended lattice cut aged black 3.5
Maeda-En black sesame ice cream: Barely sweetened ice cream with a distinctly savory black sesame flavor. Very creamy and rich. Smooth texture. 3.0/5.0
maedaen japanese hmart 3.0 icecream blacksesame dessert black sesame ice cream
Marukyo Black Sesame Funwariyaki Dorayaki: Dorayaki is a delicious filled pancake dessert from Japan that has no equivalent in American pastry (as far as I know). The closest likeness I can think of is the Whoopie Pie, though dorayaki has a bean paste filling rather than cream, and the ratio of cake to filling is slimmer. Berkeley Bowl sells an assortment of refrigerated cakes in their Asian grocery aisle, though I have normally been wary of these silica-packet-filled packaged snacks. I was intrigued, though, by this black sesame ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended berkeleybowl japanese blacksesame marukyo black sesame funwariyaki dorayaki 3.5