Asha Tea Sparkling ginger lemonade: I didn’t know Asha Tea served any non-tea drinks, but they currently have a special sparkling ginger lemonade drink available only available at their Berkeley location. Ginger soda is my favorite drink, so when I saw the sign at the register for this new special, I switched my order to get it. The drink is made from a house made ginger syrup and has a pleasantly potent spicy flavor that stays with you for several minutes even after you’re done. The lemon flavor is milder and has a cooling ef... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks berkeley ashatea sparkling ginger lemonade 3.5 soda
Q Spectacular Grapefruit Soda: Spectacular may be a stretch, but "Quite Good" is not quite as catchy. This fizzy grapefruit soda has a tangy flavor that's somewhere in between not-very-sweet and Coca Cola sweet, which is to say that it's sweeter than I personally would prefer but nowhere near as sweet as most canned sodas. It definitely has a distinct flavor from orange soda, so if you like grapefruit juice over orange juice (as I do), this is a good alternative. It's meant as a mixer for cocktails but tasty all on its... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks soda q spectacular grapefruit 3.5
Humphry Slocombe Malted milk chocolate ice cream: I had a nerve wracking week, with a lot of “hey, can we chat?” meetings with people at work. At the end of it, I found myself naturally walking to a Humphry Slocombe in the Ferry Building, a place I don’t go to frequently but realize now that I always went to when I needed a bit of comfort on my way home from work. It’s a reliable ice cream shop, uniquely San Franciscan with flavors that fall out of the ordinary. I sampled their POG, a passion fruit, orange, and guava sorbet (the toy also co... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended sf ferrybuilding humphryslocombe malted milk chocolate ice cream 3.5
Cheeseboard Cheese Roll: This is a quintessential offering at Cheeseboard, combining the two things the famed bakery is know for: cheese and bread. The roll has a tangy, sharp flavor both from the melted crispy gruyere and from its sourdough base. Slightly crusty but soft and fluffy inside, it’s delicious in its simplicity. 3.5/5.0
recommended berkeley bread cheeseboard cheese roll 3.5
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
Auntie Anne’s Sour cream and onion pretzell: Almost missed my flight to get this pretzel since they needed 10 minutes to “bake it fresh.” Surprised to find it’s actually the plain pretzels with a heavy coating of powdered seasoning. The sour cream and onion flavor was insane, with an ultra tangy sour cream flavor that had a sharp aftertaste like sweet onion. It was kind of like the coating on sour cream and onion Pringles except 2x more concentrated. The pretzel was very buttery but had a nice soft texture. Actually pretty good for an... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended junkfood auntieannes sour cream onion pretzel 3.5