Van Leeuwen Passion fruit ice cream: I ginormous scoop of ice cream so large that it took multiple tries to balance it on a cone. What struck me about this ice cream shop was the strong buttery smell upon entering. I personally prefer lighter, more subtle flavors and found the richness of the passion fruit ice cream to be somewhat overwhelming. Mixed in with the ice cream were oddly dry pieces of cake - what they had to do with passion fruit ice cream I’ll never know. Expensive at almost $6 a scoop. They also don’t mix two flav... (read more) 2.5/5.0
nyc icecream dessert vanleeuwen passion fruit ice cream 2.5
The Donut Pub Blueberry donut: This 24/7 West Village donut shop has been open for over 50 years. I asked what the least sweet options were which led me to purchase this blueberry cake donut. I’m used to fried donuts with a light and fluffy consistency - their cake donuts are pretty much the exact opposite. Crumbly and a tad dry, the blueberry flavor was decent nonetheless, and it wasn’t too sweet. It reminded me of a less sweet version of blueberry flavored muffins I had growing up from Costco. I would say Donut Pub is a... (read more) 2.5/5.0
dessert nyc thedonutpub blueberry 2.5 donut
Morinaga Mango Pudding Snack: This is another flavor of Morinaga pudding packs. They come in packs of three at the grocery store and are small pudding cups, about 2/3 the size of America ones. (To be fair, the 3-pack comes with smaller cups than the individually-sized pudding cups you can also buy, which are actually bigger than American ones). The mango one is extremely sweet and reminds me of mango-flavored gelatin snacks you get in those miniature squeeze packets from Chinese grocery stores (similar to the lychee g... (read more) 2.5/5.0
inegaya gelatin japanese dessert sweets morinaga mango pudding snack 2.5
Cheeseboard Sticky Bun: I wouldn't say I have a sweet tooth, but I can enjoy sweet things. I definitely have a preference, though, for lighter desserts. This sticky bun from Cheeseboard falls on the opposite end of the spectrum. Soaked with a buttery glaze and topped with chopped pecans, it's the type of sweet that will actually induce a physical reaction, as your body and teeth rejects what it knows is not good for it. Because the sticky bun is from Cheeseboard, I have some confidence in the quality of the ing... (read more) 2.0/5.0
dessert pecans nuts bread bakery baked sweets cheeseboard sticky bun 2.0
Sweet Sydney's Chocolate Chip Brownie: Purchased this brownie from the vending machine at work on a rare day I was craving chocolate. Upon first bite, though, I knew it was a mistake. I'm sure refrigeration came into play, but the texture was hard, and it was insanely sweet, like eating pure sugar. (There's 27g of sugar in this square). Definitely did not need the addition of powdered sugar on top. Standard chocolate flavor. A snack that is certainly not worth the money or calories. 2.0/5.0
dessert chocolate glutenfree sweetsydneys chip brownie 2.0
King Pin Donuts Plain donut: Every few weeks, I end up hungry for an after-dinner snack at around 10:30pm. These sudden cravings typically lead to visits to Telegraph Ave, with its late-night fast food options aimed towards Berkeley undergrads. On my last trip, I paid a visit to King Pin Donuts, a longstanding independent donut shop open until 3am. While the donuts are made fresh all day, the plain donut I had must have been sitting out for a while. It had a weighty pound-cake like interior and slightly crispy but also ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
dessert berkeley kingpindonuts plain donut 2.0