Bao Tea House Jasmine peach milk tea: Bao Tea House is a small shop in the West Village close to the West 4th subway stop, and it's my favorite place in the city for tea. Their jasmine peach milk tea was very well balanced, with a fragrant, creamy, floral, and fruity flavor (a combination I imagine most places would not get right). The drink came with brown sugar aloe cubes, with a slightly chewy texture that still has a bit of bite. Though it's an entirely different type of dish, the closest analogy I can make in terms of textu... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks nyc milktea jasmine baoteahouse peach milk tea 4.0
Bar pa tea Roasted oolong milk tea with boba: Located near Soho, Bar Pa Tea bubble tea shop is a sister shop to Pa Tea, another shop I reviewed earlier this summer. The chronology of my reviews is off, though - I actually went to Bar Pa first, not knowing they were related. This milk tea was alright and just average, like bubble tea you can get from any ok tea shop in California. The boba was actually below average, though, as it was too soft. I did however sample their oolong soft serve and thought t was surprisingly good, which is why... (read more) 2.5/5.0
bubbletea drinks nyc barpatea roasted oolong milk tea boba 2.5
Belly Good Cafe & Crepes Black Milk Tea with Boba: To accompany the crepe I purchased at Belly Good Cafe, I purchased a cup of black milk tea with boba. It was probably the single worst bubble tea I've had in my life. The tea had zero herbal flavor and tasted of watered-down sugar water with a bit of dairy. The boba was also complete mush, with no give and a slimy exterior. I hate wasting food, so I did force myself to drink the entire thing, but I will be scarred from drinking bubble tea again in the near future. 0.5/5.0
avoid drinks bellygoodcafecrepes black milk tea boba 0.5
Bin Bin Coconut Milk Flavor Rice Crackers: I grew up eating Bin Bin rice crackers, the classic kind containing individually wrapped packets of 2 peanut-shaped rice crackers coated with a sweet and savory MSG seasoning. But did you know that they had coconut milk flavored crackers? I didn't until this weekend, when I stumbled upon this product at Uwajimaya. The coconut flavoring seems to be in the biscuit base itself, which still has the familiar crispy cracker texture of the original. I was hoping it would be a little more savory... (read more) 3.0/5.0
uwajimaya binbin coconut milk flavor rice crackers 3.0
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
dessert icecream asian losangeles shaved ice rice cakes almond jelly condensed milk 3.0 redbean blacksesame blockheads
Blue Hill butternut squash yogurt: Celebrate Thanksgiving year round with this spiced yogurt. The consistency is thinner than expected but still has a rich flavor due to whole milk content. Vibrant orange color. Expensive but unique. 3.5/5.0
butternutsquash milk dairy wholefoods recommended bluehill butternut squash yogurt 3.5