oakland (9)
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La Farine frangipane: Excellent pastry. Flaky crust topped with almonds. Inside is fluffy and light. Center has lightly sweetened almond paste. Some parts of the exterior are dark, but they're caramelized rather than burnt. Very sizable and filling for the price ($2.95). 4.5/5.0

lafarine bakery pastry almond frangipane croissant oakland exceptional 4.5
2017 02 25 12.39.31 hdr

50 Tea Longan Red Date drink with grass jelly: On my last visit to Oakland, iTea was out of ice and only offering hot beverages. Given the beautiful weather, I decided to go across the street to a new tea shop instead. Named 50 Tea, the shop is iconic Chinatown – half of the storefront is for tea and ice cream while the other half is for purchasing various goods like DVDs and small trinkets and gifts. Their walls are covered in hand-written menu additions with distinctly Asian flavors like winter melon and sour plum. I opted for thei... (read more) 4.0/5.0

recommended drinks oakland tea grassjelly asian 50tea longan red date drink grass jelly 4.0
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Little Giant Ice Cream Thai Green Curry and Key Lime Pie Ice Cream: Known for unusual flavors like asparagus and beez cheese (a combination of goat cheese, honey, and black pepper), Little Giant Ice Cream, located on Telegraph in Oakland, did not disappoint, particularly with the well-balanced Thai green curry ice cream. Equal parts savory and sweet, it's a creamy concoction where the lemongrass is unmistakable, and while it's vegan, it's incredibly smooth. The key lime pie was quite good but did not quite hit the same high point largely due to its slightl... (read more) 4.0/5.0

recommended icecream oakland littlegianticecream thai green curry key lime pie ice cream 4.0
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Reem’s Hibiscus Rose Cooler: Finally made it to Reem’s, the middle eastern cafe in Fruitvale (Oakland) specializing in housemade flatbread. To accompany the robust za’atar-spiced flatbread, I got a cup of refreshing and sharp hibiscus rose cooler, a purple-maroon colored drink that tasted of an amped-up floral pomegranate juice. Well balanced and perfectly complementary, it rounded out a complete, delicious meal at Reem’s. 4.0/5.0

recommended drinks oakland reems hibiscus rose cooler 4.0
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Sweet Belly Desserts Rosie Milk Tea Soft Serve: Sweet Belly Desserts is a small shop around the corner from the 19th Street Oakland BART station. They have a rotating menu of seasonal soft serve flavors as well as mini donuts with housemade glazes and dips. I ordered just the softserve, without any toppings, which cost a little more than $5. This particular flavor is an excellent tribute to floral milk teas, capturing the herbal yet creamy essence of black milk tea along with an aromatic rose flavor. And it wasn't too sweet! Textuall... (read more) 4.0/5.0

oakland softserve icecream sweetbellydesserts rosie milk tea soft serve 4.0 recommended
2017 04 07 20.23.58

Koreana Plaza Market Mochi: Inside the Koreana Plaza Market in Oakland is a small cash-only bakery with a variety of asian sweets, including lotus-paste-filled pastries (review forthcoming), pineapple buns, and almond cookies. I purchased a pack of two red-bean mochi (despite the oven-fresh sticker on the packaging, I'm pretty sure they were steamed). The mochi are about 125% the size of packaged mochi. Biting into a piece, I could instantly tell that it was very fresh. The glutinous rice flour had a bit more resis... (read more) 3.0/5.0

oakland sweets dessert japanese koreanaplazamarket mochi 3.0