Wat Mongkolratanaram Khanom Krok: My first exposure to this Thai street food was at Wat Mongkolratanaram, a buddhist temple in Berkeley right around the corner from Berkeley Bowl. Every Sunday, they host an outdoor market serving a variety of dishes, including pad thai, thai iced tea, curry, and beef noodle soup (a non-vegetarian buddhist meal). Along with these entrees are two desserts: mango sticky rice and khanom krok, the latter of which is $6 for 8 pieces. Khanom krok are a mash up of pancakes and rice pudding served... (read more) 2.5/5.0
thai pudding coconut berkeley watmongkolratanaram khanom krok 2.5
Trader Joe's Salted Caramel Coconut Cookies: Smaller and less rich than Samoas, these chewy coconut cookies can be purchased outside of Girls Scout Cookie season. The salted caramel contributes to the texture but it not seasoned as much as I would expect for a salted caramel. Slightly larger than a quarter, they are snackable and good for portion control. 3.5/5.0
recommended traderjoes salted caramel coconut cookies 3.5
Ici Coconut passion fruit sorbet: Ici is an ice cream shop in Berkeley started by a former Chez Panisse pasty chef. Its menu consists of elevated classics made with quality ingredients. The coconut passion fruit sorbet I ordered had a vibrant orange hue and was more tart than sweet, with an acidic passion fruit flavor and smooth coconut finish. The balance was slightly off, as it was more sharp than I personally prefer, but the most disappointing part was the texture, which was varied and mostly too icy. The homemade cone, t... (read more) 3.0/5.0
berkeley icecream ici coconut passion fruit sorbet 3.0
Harmless Harvest Harmless Coconut Water: This is a product that appeals to all types of coconut water consumers: it's fair trade (for the socially responsible), it's organic (for the health-conscious), it has a distinctively shaped bottle (for designers), and it's kind of expensive (all of the above). Some are pink (which happens when the polyphenols naturally present are exposed to light), while some are clear. Overall, I found it to be well balanced, refreshing, and light. 4.0/5.0
organic recommended drinks coconutwater fairtrade harmlessharvest harmless coconut water 4.0
Boba Guys Coconut green tea with boba: On a Sunday afternoon, the line for the Mission Boba Guys in San Francisco was entirely too long, with about a 13 minute wait to order. I ordered their coconut green tea with organic milk and boba. At 25% sweetness, I still found the drink to be a tad too sweet, which is consistent with my experience at this Boba Guys (compared to the one in NYC, which doesn't seem to add as much sugar). The drink came out at room temperature, but the ice helped bring it down in temperature after a few mi... (read more) 3.0/5.0
drinks bobaguys coconut green tea boba 3.0
Shribark Toasted Coconut Caramel Snack: Up to this point, I've avoided this brand of snack from the Media Lab Leanbox, fearing that it was another questionable health-food snack. Lacking alternatives, though, I decided to purchase the bar and was pleasantly surprised. The texture is very good, with a sweet caramel that binds together the granola and seeds that comprise the bar. It was very filling and leaned more towards the candy end of snack bars. Would purchase again. 3.5/5.0
recommended leanbox shribark toasted coconut caramel snack 3.5