Maeda-En black sesame ice cream: Barely sweetened ice cream with a distinctly savory black sesame flavor. Very creamy and rich. Smooth texture. 3.0/5.0
maedaen japanese hmart 3.0 icecream blacksesame dessert black sesame ice cream
Mango Mango Mango Sampler: Purchased from the St. Mark's location of asian-dessert-chain Mango Mango, this platter contains a sampling of three different desserts. The first was starchy and slightly too firm glutinous rice balls paired with fresh mango fruit (the latter of which was ripe and sweet). The next was lychee jelly (very sweet and similar to the type you would expect to be at the bottom of a bubble tea) and a scoop of mango ice cream, which was a tad creamy and did not tasting distinctively of mango. The ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts nyc mochi icecream lychee jelly glutinous fruit asian mangomango mango sampler 3.5
Marunaga 焼きおいももなか Roasted Sweet Potato Ice Cream Sandwich: This ice cream sandwich is shaped like a roasted sweet potato using potatoes from the Kagoshima prefecture. It is impressively textured to mimic the wrinkly skin of a sweet potato using monaka, a thin rice-based wafer used in many Japanese treats. The monaka doesn't have any flavor on its own, but inside the two halves of the potato are a white sweet potato ice cream and a yellow paste, almost like a cross between a jam and a mash. Overall, I found the dessert to be too sweet, especially ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese santouka dessert sweetpotato marunaga 焼きおいももなか 3.0
Mashti Malone Cucumber Sorbet: After getting a scoop from Saffron & Rose, my sister and I stopped by Mashti Malone to compare. Half of Mashti Malone has regular American ice cream, while the other has more interesting Persian options. The difference in quality between S&R and Mashti is immediately noticeable, though, even before tasting. While the cucumber sorbet I tasted had an interesting savory vegetable flavor, it was more of an italian ice than a sorbet, with a very icy texture. When it comes to Turkish flavors, ... (read more) 2.0/5.0
mashtimalone cucumber sorbet 2.0 icecream losangeles
Matcha Cafe Maiko Matcha soft serve with matcha powder and mochi: According to the Matcha Cafe Maiko website, the San Francisco shop located in the Japantown center is the first to open in the "American mainland," with an original location in Hawaii. Its matcha products are imported all the way from Harima Garden in Kyoto. While the menu features their matcha soft serve, they have a surprising variety of lattes, floats, and other beverage pairings as well. At $5.50, their soft serve is a bit steep for a single serving, but it has a concentrated herbal f... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japantown sf dessert softserve icecream matchacafemaiko matcha soft serve powder mochi 3.5
Matcha Man Ice Cream and Taiyaki Black sesame taiyaki ice cream: This taiyaki ice cream shop in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood is the first to serve taiyaki in Seattle and proved popular on a Saturday evening, taking about 25 min from line to ice-cream in hand. They feature classic flavors like matcha and black sesame as well as Thai iced tea and dole whip. Being a big black sesame fan, I had to go for the classic in a fish-shaped waffle cone. The waffle is more western than taiyaki you would get in Japan, which is very crispy. This one instead was mor... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream blacksesame seattle matchamanicecreamandtaiyaki black sesame taiyaki ice cream 3.0