Sogetsu Kuromatsu Doriyaki: This doriyaki was an unexpected special gift from someone I met who knew about my snack blog. Because it was given to me, I didn't get to visit the shop directly, but the red bean pancake comes from Sogetsu, an almost 100-year-old brand whose shop in Kita-Ku attracts very long lines. The doriyaki has a marbled color, which is where its name Kuromatsu (black pine) comes from, as it resembles the bark of a tree. This coloring comes from a combination of brown sugar and honey used in the bat... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional japanese tokyo redbean sogetsu kuromatsu doriyaki 4.5
Sophia's Greek Pantry Honey Greek Yogurt: Sophia's Greek Pantry is a Greek grocery store in Belmont that sells homemade yogurt in a variety of flavors, including ouzo, coffee, and your typical assortment of fruit options (e.g., strawberry banana, blueberry). You can find the yogurt at the back of the store, where it's sold in small, medium, or large containers. The quality and consistency of the yogurt is phenomenal: thick, creamy, and smooth. After looking up information about its ingredients online, I was surprised to find that... (read more) 5.0/5.0
exceptional belmont sophiasgreekpantry honey greek yogurt 5.0 sophias
Sun Fruits Apple Juice: In the basement of the swanky Tokyo Midtown department store is a speciality fruit shop called Sun Fruits, the type of shop where sumo oranges (dekopan) are individually wrapped in a form-fitting web of styrofoam and boxes of pale white strawberries go for 8,000¥ ($73 USD). The one item I felt I could afford, and also I was most interested in trying, was a bottle of what I presumed to be a barely-pink fruit soda, which cost $3.50. It turns out that it was a bottle of apple juice, with frui... (read more) 4.0/5.0
exceptional drinks applejuice tokyo japan sunfruits apple juice 4.0 japanese
Suzie's Organic Saltines with salt and extra virgin olive oil: Though I've been maintaining Tasty Snacking for 6 years now, I haven't written a single review of saltines, though I've eaten them many times on off days. I realized it's largely because I typically purchase the Nabisco "Premium" saltines, which are adequate in their expected blandness – they manage to be both contradictorily crispy and soft, and they quickly dissolve into a soggy nothingness that makes them easy to digest. My stomach hasn't been doing so well over the past few days, so I ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
organic exceptional suzies saltines salt extra virgin olive oil 4.5 parkslopefoodcoop crackers
Suzukake sogetsu Doriyaki: This Japanese treat was a gift from a visitor to my lab. The packaging had zero English, but with the help of Google Translate, I determined that the brand is Suzukake, and the snack is called sogetsu. I expected it to be dorayaki, but the pancake wrapper was actually made of glutinous rice instead of cake. As a huge fan of mochi, I am completely in favor of this substitution. Beside the texture, it tasted just like dorayaki, with a red bean filling that was sweeter than other Japanese confe... (read more) 4.5/5.0
sogetsu dorayaki japanese redbean 4.5 exceptional dessert sweets suzukakesogetsu doriyaki
Tartine Manufactory Blood orange sorbet and cardamom soft serve: Tartine Manufactory closes its bakery section, including soft serve, for dinner service, but if you ask nicely, they will serve it (as I found out last night). This swirl of blood orange and cardamom was one of the best things I ate all year, with potently spiced cardamom and sharp citrus. The texture was smooth and consistent. Often, independent flavors in swirled soft serve compete and don’t quite work in harmony, but this unexpected combination was both balanced and even better with one a... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional sf sanfrancisco icecream softserve bloodorange tartinemanufactory blood orange sorbet cardamom soft serve 4.5