Gjusta Lemon Cake: This slice of lemon cake from Gjusta in LA is thickly sliced and has a decently tart flavor. Texturally, though, it eats a bit dry. In the landscape of lemon desserts, this one falls somewhere in the middle - not bad, but not particularly notable. 3.0/5.0
losangeles pastry dessert gjusta lemon cake 3.0
Haitai Korean chili rice cake snack: A uniquely addictive snack with a bit of an identity crisis. Tubular, ridged wheat \"crackers\" that are meant to resemble their solid rice cake counterparts but look more like macaroni. Unlike real rice cakes, this snack is crunchy. Coated in a sweet and savory chili glaze. The immediate flavor is sweet, but the finish is just spicy enough. Really didn't know what to expect when getting this snack, but it is oddly delicious and definitely worth trying. 4.0/5.0
haitai korean chili ricecakes hmart recommended rice cake snack 4.0
Haitai Singdandong Hot Chicken Tteokbookkki Rice Cake Snack: I used to buy Haitai tteokbokki rice snacks from HMart regularly, so I was very pleased to see these Korean snacks at my local Lawson convenience store in Tokyo, though I hadn't tried this particular flavor. The normal ones are satisfying sweet, savory, and spicy glazed rice snacks shaped like large, ridged elbow macaroni, crunchy rather than chewy like the actual tubular rice cakes you get at a Korean restaurant. They were reliably good, the type of snack I would always manage to buy when... (read more) 3.0/5.0
lawson korean haitai singdandong hot chicken tteokbookkki rice cake snack 3.0
IKEA Tarta Mandel almond cake: As part of my free meal at IKEA, I got a slice of their almond cake, the most harmless looking dessert on display. It consists of two thin layers of cake with butter cream in between; sliced almonds are sprinkled on top. While the portion size was not very large, it was difficult to get through given the over-sweetend and gummy icing. The nuts offered neither texture nor flavor. It was free, but I would not choose to eat it for free again. 1.5/5.0
avoid ikea tarta mandel almond cake 1.5
Japonaise Bakery Green Tea Cake: Located on Beacon Street in Brookline, this small bakery has an assortment of pastries as well as packaged Japanese snacks. Their green tea cake is multi-layered, with green tea creme and a layer of gelatin on top. While the matcha flavor was not bad, the cake was a bit dry, and the gelatin was largely for texture (it didn't have much flavor). It looked better than it tasted. 3.0/5.0
matcha desserts japonaisebakery green tea cake 3.0
Jinga rice wine cake: Korean rice flour "cake" that had a glutinous yet spongy texture. Traditionally called jeungpyeon, it is similar in flavor to sake-steamed glutinous rice desserts you might have in Taiwan. Unfortunately, this version is dry and difficult to eat, and the flavor is one dimensional. 1.5/5.0
jinga korean ricecake glutinous rice avoid hmart wine cake 1.5