Bao Tea House Rose pudding bao: A special Valentine's day menu item at Bao Tea House in the West Village, these buttery rose pudding baos have a custard-like filling somewhere between whipped cream and pudding. It's light in texture, but quite rich in flavor and tastes deeply of rose On top is a satisfying crumble coating. Overall, the dessert stands out to me with its combination of baked and creamy textures, but it's on the rich side altogether. 3.5/5.0
recommended nyc dessert baoteahouse rose pudding bao 3.5
Cougar Yogurt Flavoured Candy: Pure, concentrated Yakult (sweet yogurt milk flavor), compressed to a hard-turn-chewy candy. Slightly more elastic than a Starburst. Candy from Thailand. 3.5/5.0
recommended yakult thai candy cougar yogurt flavoured 3.5
Besfren Taro and matcha soft serve: I stumbled upon this tiny pastry shop on my way to Penn Station from KTown and was impressed with the quality of their soft serve. Served in a large but slightly pricy cup (at $5.50), the purple and green ice cream swirl is well balanced and perfectly smooth. The creamy, slightly vegetal flavor of taro works surprisingly well with bitter matcha. My only quibble is that the way the soft serve was swirled gave it a hollow center, so I think a third of the cup I received was just an air pock... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended besfren taro matcha soft serve 3.5 nyc ktown softserve icecream dessert
Lays Nori seaweed potato chips: One of my favorite things is when friends gift me snacks to review (thanks Anjali!). These Lays potato chips are from Thailand and are seaweed flavored, not sushi (which was my first guess upon seeing sushi rolls on the packaging). The texture and consistency is as you would expect (thin and crispy, as much oil as it is potato), and the chips have green nori flecks that make them look like sour cream and onion. It's as sweet as it is savory, which I didn't expect but also seems to be the cas... (read more) 3.0/5.0
recommended potatochips thai international lays nori potato chips 3.0 seaweed
Epsa Blood orange soda: This Greek soda comes in a sturdy glass bottle textured like Orangina's and marked with a distinct diamond emblem reminiscent of an astrological symbol. The soda is pretty sweet, but it's better balanced than Sunkist or Fanta and is flavored with black carrot juice. You could tell it's orange soda right away, yet the blood orange juice is distinctive and worthwhile. Purchased from Saloniki in Boston. 3.5/5.0
recommended soda drinks citrus bloodorange epsa blood orange 3.5
365 Organic Oatmeal raisin cookies: These cookies strike an ideal balance; just chewy enough yet satisfyingly crumbly; decently sized so that two cookies feels like enough; not too sugary but definitely buttery. Basically just a classic, well-done oatmeal raisin cookies that is about as good as you can hope for a store-brand snack. 4.0/5.0
recommended wholefoods 365organic oatmeal raisin cookies 4.0