MItchell's Avocado and Lucuma Ice Cream: My quest to try every major ice cream shop in San Francisco has perhaps come to completion now that I've finally stopped by Mitchell's. Located about a 10 minute walk from the 24th Street BART station, Mitchell's has been serving San Franciscans for over 50 years, with a menu of classic flavors as well as exotic tropical fruits. Asian flavors skew Filipino, with ube, halo-halo, macapuno (young coconut), and lacuma, the last of which I was excited to try for the first time. I purchased a s... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Amausaan uji Matcha Matcha Ice Cream: Green-tea-flavored soft serve from Japanese sweets stand Amausaan uji Matcha in the Richmond district of SF (they also have a location in Berkeley). At $5, this large portion comes in a waffle cone and is topped with matcha powder. Most of the bitter matcha flavor comes from the powder, but the ice cream is creamy and smooth; the cone is standard in both flavor and texture. I enjoyed it overall, but sampling it at the Berkeley location the next day, I found the ice cream to be too sweet, ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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New Silverstar Deli Limeade: At my new favorite lunch spot near work, a small banh-mi shop called New Silverstar Deli, they make their own limeade, a traditional offering from Vietnamese shops. Generally, I try to order fresh-made drinks without ice so I can more accurate assess the flavor without any dilution. When I requested the drink iceless, I was asked whether I wanted any additional water added as the limeade is "very concentrated." I said no, and they retrieved a pre-poured cup from their fridge, filled slight... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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I-Tea Roasted barley milk tea with grass jelly: Returning again to the Kearny St. location of this bubble tea chain, I decided to try a drink with 0% sweetness and opted for the roasted barley milk tea. Like the last drink I had from i-Tea, the grass jelly was excellent. However, I found the tea to lack flavor, verging on bland. This may be my fault, since there was no sugar, but places like Asha do a fantastic job with barely sweetened teas, so I think this particular flavor just might be not so great. Still, there are other better o... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Benkyodo Co Mochi: One of the original mochi shops in the US, Benkyodo in Japantown, SF opened back in 1906. Today, the storefront is an odd mix of diner counter, Asian 7-11-type snacks, and fresh made mochi. All of their mochi come in cupcake liners and taste very fresh because they are. The texture is softer than I personally prefer, and there is a little too much starch that coats your mouth with each bite. But I did enjoy that they were not overly sweet. The best was certainly a mango mochi that had f... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Humphry Slocombe Fromage Blanc with Strawberry Ice Cream: Classic cheesecake flavor - with more cheese than strawberry (and thus, aptly named). Rich enough to make you dehydrated. Slightly icy in texture rather than smooth. If this were my first exposure to Humphrey Slocombe, I would think it was overrated and probably wouldn't return. But since I've had better there, I know there are other flavors worth seeking. 3.0/5.0
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