Golden Steamer Red Bean Bun: Here's a classic Chinese bao favorite from Golden Steamer in NYC, filled with sweet red bean paste that is surprisingly mild in sweetness, especially compared to the typical sugar bomb you get elsewhere. Surrounded by soft and plump steamed white bread. This one is not bad, but it isn't especially interesting. If you like red bean buns, you will enjoy it, but it will taste like you expect it will. Costs under $1. 3.0/5.0
nyc buns chinatown goldensteamer red bean bun 3.0
Yogurt Pump Red Raspberry Frozen Yogurt: During my visit to Chapel Hill, I tried to seek out local ice cream shops and found the independently-owned Yogurt Pump among Ben and Jerry's and Coldstone Creamery. On offer was about 8 different flavors, ranging from salted caramel to red velvet cake. After sampling the strawberry lemonade (which was extremely sweet), I asked what the least sweet options were, to which the response was Vanilla or Oreo. That was worrisome. But I ultimately decided to order a small serving of the red ras... (read more) 2.5/5.0
froyo chapelhill yogurtpump red raspberry frozen yogurt 2.5
iTea Matcha milk tea with boba and red bean: This matcha drink from iTea in SF contains red bean and boba as default toppings. While the matcha milk tea was decent, the red bean was heavily sweetened so that this 30% sweetness beverage tasted more like a normal 100% sweetened drink. Texturally, the red bean also seemed canned as it was slightly too soft. As a result, I’d recommend getting the drink but skipping the red bean topping. 2.5/5.0
drinks sf milktea itea matcha milk tea boba red bean 2.5 bubbletea
Nature’s Path Love Crunch dark chocolate and red berries granola: For those who enjoy “indulgent” granola, this combination of chocolate-flavored granola, dark chocolate bits, and pieces of freeze dried raspberries and strawberries will be a treat. It turns your granola into chocolate milk and is fun to eat out of the bag. I purchased it on sale at Berkeley Bowl and thought it was one of the better granola mixes I’ve had. 3.5/5.0
recommended naturespath love crunch dark chocolate red berries granola 3.5 organic berkeleybowl
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
Breadtop matcha red bean bun: Breadtop is an Asian bakery chain in Australia. There is one close to the hotel I'm staying at in Brisbane, and it offers staples like sausage buns and sesame balls but also modern takes, like this matcha red bean bun. Unfortunately, the bun was unsuccessfully; the dough had very little matcha flavor, and the red bean filling was overly sweet and uninspired. The dusting of icing sugar made it messy to eat, without much added flavor. 2.0/5.0
breadtop bakery bread matcha redbean asian australian 2.0 red bean bun