Mr. Holmes Bakehouse Peach Cardamon Danish: An entire think piece could be dedicated to Mr. Holmes Bakehouse, a pastry shop in the heart of San Francisco's Tenderloin district. The Dominique Ansel Bakery of SF, it has an equally iconic dessert: the Cruffin. A cross between a muffin and croissant, the Cruffin is filled with a seasonal cream and is made in limited quantities, requiring those willing to wait to get in line early (the bakery opens at 7am on weekdays). But unlike DA Bakery, Mr. Holmes is not based in the SOHO of SF. To... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended desserts pastry sanfrancisco sf mrholmesbakehouse peach cardamon danish 4.0
iTea Guava green tea with lychee jelly and boba: I can’t tell if the fruit teas are generally underwhelming or the quality of this bubble tea shop has just declined over time, but this guava green tea from iTea on Kearny in SF was too sweet, even at 30% sweetness, with a syrupy taste and no trace of green tea. Contains lychee jelly and boba, both of which were decent. Lines were incredibly long at the end of a weekday. Questioning whether I should just stop returning to this once-favorite place. 2.0/5.0
drinks bubbletea sanfrancisco sf itea guava green tea lychee jelly boba 2.0
Craftsman & Wolves Strawberry Lemonade: Vividly colored seasonal lemonade from Mission bakery Craftsmen & Wolves. Strawberry flavor was concentrated, but the drink overall was incredibly sweet and not particularly acidic. I had to consume it in small sips for it to be palatable. 2.5/5.0
drinks sanfrancisco craftsmenwolves strawberry lemonade 2.5
Garden Creamery Black sesame and oolong ice cream: By now, I've become wary of long lines in San Francisco, and there is nowhere else where this sense of trepidation is stronger than in the Mission, the tech-saturated, ultra-entitled west coast version of Williamsburg. Regrettably, I do find myself here once in a while, often to see a show at the neighboring Chapel, which is exactly what brought me to Garden Creamery, an ice cream shop squarely at the halfway point between the 16th and 24th street Mission BART stops. I had some extra time ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended dessert icecream frozen gardencreamery black sesame oolong ice cream 4.0 sf sanfrancisco
San Francisco Hometown Creamery Corn ice cream: This ice cream shop in Inner Sunset claims to be the first to make small batch ice cream completely in house in San Francisco. It has a small town neighborhood vibe, with varnished wood beams and hand-painted murals that are more charming than artistic. Their seasonal corn ice cream had a pastel daisy-yellow color and tasted mostly of cream rather than sweet corn. Its texture was icy, with frozen hard bits or corn throughout (even those pieces did not have an identifiable corn flavor). Based... (read more) 2.5/5.0
icecream sanfrancisco sanfranciscohometowncreamery corn ice cream 2.5
Powder Ube shaved ice with mochi and condensed milk: This is the third flavor I've had from Powder, a Taiwanese shaved ice shop in San Francisco. The first, black sesame, was excellent, with a light texture but creamy flavor. The second, matcha, had a great green tea flavor but was more dense in texture. This last one was, unfortunately, the worst texturally, which is apparent from just the image itself - the starchy potato may have made it harder to achieve the same airy consistency that the black sesame ice had. Ube is a seasonal summer ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream ube sanfrancisco taiwanese shavedice powder shaved ice mochi condensed milk 3.0