UHA Tea Gummies: An impulse buy at 7-11, these are miniature gummy candies about half the size of a typical gumdrop. There are four different flavors: brown sugar, milk tea, mango tea, and orange tea. They seen extra chewy and dense. My favorites is the milk tea and mango, though they all have a definitively artificial candy flavor. I'm not sure it works collectively since milk tea is pretty different and someway clashing in flavor with free teas. 3.0/5.0
japanese candy 711 uha tea gummies 3.0
Uji Purple Potato Soft Serve: Returning to this small ice cream shop on Shattuck to sample additional soft serve flavors, I tried their seasonal purple potato ice cream, which came in a lovely shade of lavender. The ice cream had a rich milk flavor with only a hint of potato at the end. Given that the tofu, black sesame, and matcha flavors from Uji are all vastly superior (I've sampled all three flavors by now), I wouldn't recommend the purple potato ice cream, but it's decent. 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese berkeley uji purple potato soft serve 3.0 ujitime softserve
Uji Pineapple softserve in small taiyaki cone: Two exciting updates on the Uji-front (my favorite soft serve spot in Berkeley): they now have "small" sized taiyaki cones, which are ideal (you still get a ton of soft serve, and it's about $5), and the new seasonal flavor is pineapple. The taiyaki cone is as good as ever - a fish-shaped waffle that's crispy on the outside and soft and chewy inside, with a surprise of red bean plugging the bottom. It's the ideal serving vehicle that holds up especially well compared to regular cones (it d... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended icecream berkeley japanese uji pineapple softserve in small taiyaki cone 4.0 ujitime
Usagiya Dorayaki: I first learned of the Japanese snack Dorayaki from Doraemon, a cartoon for kids about a robot cat whose favorite snack is the red-bean filled pancake. Since watching Doraemon as a child, I've enjoyed eating Dorayaki in the states mostly from the refrigerated aisle of grocery stores, where the packets always contain silica gel to maintain freshness. I was excited to try freshly made ones at Usagiya, a famous confectionary shop in Ueno specializing in this dessert. For a little under two d... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese ueno desserts redbean usagiya dorayaki 3.0
Vivit's Peach Mix Soda: This was a vending machine purchase made out of dehydration. In the US, I had solely associated Ito En with calorie-free bottles of ice tea, but they own a wide variety of brands of sweet drinks in Japan. This one is extremely sweet and reminds me a lot of ramune, but tasting of peach instead of pear. It's also very fizzy and one of the more carbonated drinks I've had here. Maybe it's the nostalgia of drinking ramune as a kid, but I really liked this one, even though I could tell it was ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
drinks recommended vendingmachine itoen vivits peach mix soda 4.0 japanese
Wakabato Iso Hineri rice crackers: Thought I hadn't tasted this particular brand before, these seaweed-flavored rice crackers are a classic Japanese snack. The rice crackers have a braided texture and curled shape, almost like a tentacle, and are coated with a sweet and savory glaze speckled with nori. Addictive and well balanced, these are the rice crackers I most often crave. Purchased from Tokyo Fish Market. 4.0/5.0
recommended japanese nori ricecrackers tokyofishmarket wakabato iso hineri rice crackers 4.0