Disneyland Jalapeno Groot Bread: I know nothing about Guardians of the Galaxy having never seen the movie, and I was a bit sad to hear the classic Tower of Terror ride was rebranded for this movie at Disneyland. Nonetheless, my family decided to try one of the park's newest snack offerings: Groot jalapeno bread. About a foot tall, the bread is served at room temperature and consists of cheddar cheese and jalapeno "hair," neutral bread as the face and eyebrows, and olive eyes. It had obviously been sitting out for several... (read more) 2.5/5.0
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Mr. Boba Mixed grain slush with boba: There is no shortage of boba tea shop in LA’s Koreatown. Mr Boba is a small, humble shop with an expansive menu of slush, milk tea, and coffee options. I purchase a mystery mixed grain slush with boba, the ingredients of which the employee didn’t even know. In the end, it tasted like the powdered cereal packs you can get at asian grocery stores that you mix with hot water to give you a loose porridge consistency. You can commonly find them with a mix of ground barley and black sesame. As a s... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Wanderlust Creamery Japanese Neapolitan ice cream with sticky rice and mango in an ube cone: Inventive flavors inspired by places around the world abound at Wanderlust Creamery in Los Angeles. Their Japanese Neapolitan, combining matcha, hojicha, and black sesame, was all the flavors I want to eat in one scoop, creating a beautiful marbled color. The sticky rice and mango was very rich, with a prominent coconut flavor and ribbons of mango throughout. I was most impressed by the housemade ube cone, which was probably the best cone I've ever had. The waffle cone was thicker than m... (read more) 5.0/5.0
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Quenelle Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet: Three years ago, you took a detour to Burbank to check out a humble ice cream shop opened by a former pastry chef with a Michelin-starred pedigree. There, your palate was expanded, with singular flavors like ras el hanout. You were stunned that ice cream could be so good: so creamy and well balanced, yet challenging and complex. You gave it a rare 5.0, and even after consuming ice cream from many respectable places since then, that one scoop stands out in your memory. Fast forward three year... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Kimura Yuzu cider: I think I could live in the soft drinks section of Marukai Market in Gardena, LA, with its seemingly endless array of bottles in every color of the rainbow. It was hard to pick just one, but the beautiful vintage-style label of the Kimura brand sodas stood out to me, and yuzu-flavor just felt appropriate. The fizzy drink is pretty sweet, like a tangier Sprite. Paired with the rich burger I had for lunch, it worked well, but on its own, it's a bit too sweet for my taste. Still, as an alternat... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Blockheads Black sesame shaved ice with red bean, rice cakes, almond jelly, and condensed milk: Finally got to try this LA-based Taiwanese shaved ice chain. The black sesame ice cream had decent flavor but the texture was not as fluffy as I knew it could be given my recent experience at Powder in San Francisco. At Blockheads, they make their rice cakes in house, which are essentially tang yuan (the mochi-like glutinous rice dumplings that often accompany red bean soup). I expected their almond jelly to be almond jello, but it was more like the harder gelatin cubes often used in Asia... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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