The Penny Ice Creamery Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream with Blackberry Compote: Waited in line for about 20 minutes to enter this small ice cream shop in downtown Santa Cruz. Entire clientele was student-aged. They make all their ice cream in house, and they had some interesting flavors like celery and raisin sorbet (which I sampled but found did not taste as much of celery as I would like). I got a mini scoop of their lemon poppy seed ice cream with fresh made blackberry compote, which cost a little more than $4. You can tell from the texture of the ice cream that ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended pennyicecreamery santacruz icecream dessert thepennyicecreamery lemon poppy seed ice cream blackberry compote 3.5
Tiger Sugar Brown sugar boba milk tea with cream mousse: Stopped by the Tiger Sugar stand on Main Street in Flushing on a Friday night and waited in line for about 15 minutes to get a cup of the famed brown sugar boba milk tea with cream mousse. The Flushing location is the first in the US from Taiwanese chain Tiger Sugar; there is an additional spot now in Sunset Park, and the latest will be opening in Chinatown this Saturday, so all major Chinese neighborhood across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens are covered. I actually didn't know too much a... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks boba taiwanese brownsugar tigersugar brown sugar milk tea cream mousse 3.5
Tim’s Sour cream and onion potato chips: When I arrived in Seattle, it was late enough that most restaurants were closed (10pm by the way, which I’m not sure is a COVID thing or just that things close earlier more generally). The only thing open was a little bodega type shop called NYC Deli; in true Seattle style, as I was walking there, I got caught in a sudden downpour and was drenched by the time I arrived. I don’t know if there’s a bigger insult to a former New Yorker than to serve a sandwich with sliced bread and pass it off a... (read more) 2.5/5.0
potatochips sourcreamandonion tims sour cream onion potato chips 2.5
Tokyo Milk Cheese Strawberry Cream Puff: Catching up on some reviews I never wrote back when shops were still open. This is a cream puff shop right outside of the Akihabara train station in Tokyo. They have regular cream, chocolate, and strawberry flavored cream puffs, as well as some seasonal flavors. I purchased the strawberry one, and it was quite good - the pastry was flaky and dusted in powdered sugar, and the strawberry cream inside was smooth and pleasantly sweet. Definitely decent for a chain shop and a quick snack. 3.5/5.0
akihabara japanese desserts creampuff tokyomilkcheese strawberry cream puff 3.5
Tominga Melon Cream Soda: Purchased from Galco's in Los Angeles, this Japanese fruit soda is like a carbonated melon-flavored Calpico: intensely sweet and like a liquified starburst with its artificial fruit flavor and atomic green color. It has a slightly milky finish, with a white froth that collects at the top of the bottle. I've never had a soda like it before, and I probably don't want to have a soda like it again. 3.0/5.0
drinks japanese tominga melon cream soda 3.0
Trader Joe's sour cream and onion corn puffs: Has a hint of junk-food sour cream & onion taste without all the guilt typically associated with fried snacks of the same flavor. Texture is not the greatest, at an awkward place far from crunchy yet too dense to dissolve gracefully. A great value at $1.99 for a huge bag, though. 3.0/5.0
traderjoes sourcreamandonion sourcream onion corn puffs cornpuffs 3.0 sour cream