Trader Joe’s Spicy Cheese Crunchies: Similar in shape, size, and consistency to crunchy Cheetos, these spicy cheese crunches from Trader Joe's have a strong hot-sauce flavor that tastes most prominently of chili and vinegar. It reminds me a bit of their bottled Chipotle Pepper hot sauce, which I enjoy adding a few drops of on scrambled eggs, but is not something I really want to eat by the handful. Overall, it's just so-so. 2.5/5.0
traderjoes spicy cheese crunchies 2.5
Mango Mango Mango Sampler: Purchased from the St. Mark's location of asian-dessert-chain Mango Mango, this platter contains a sampling of three different desserts. The first was starchy and slightly too firm glutinous rice balls paired with fresh mango fruit (the latter of which was ripe and sweet). The next was lychee jelly (very sweet and similar to the type you would expect to be at the bottom of a bubble tea) and a scoop of mango ice cream, which was a tad creamy and did not tasting distinctively of mango. The ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts nyc mochi icecream lychee jelly glutinous fruit asian mangomango mango sampler 3.5
Nohohon Iced Matcha: I was really excited to finally try this small matcha shop on St Marks, where matcha beverages are whisked by hand to order. To judge the quality of the matcha alone, I opted for the iced matcha instead of their lattes. While I enjoyed the experience of entering the small storefront through their traditional Japanese Noren curtain and watching my beverage made, with hot water poured into the whisked matcha with a wooden ladle, the positives end there. The matcha was bitter with no complex... (read more) 1.0/5.0
drinks matcha nyc manhattan nohohon iced 1.0 avoid
Boba Guys Chai tea with boba: A pretty good drink from Boba Guys in Canal Street market, but too sweet even at 30% sugar. Otherwise, a nicely spiced chai. I generally find the boba to be a bit inconsistent from this location. This time, it was overly chewy. 3.0/5.0
drinks nyc bubbletea milktea bobaguys chai tea boba 3.0
Culture Frozen yogurt with pina colada topping: Culture is a chain of NYC yogurt shops offering both frozen and regular yogurt in an ever-changing menu of flavors, with new menus every day. Their seasonal flavored yogurts are consistently excellent—concentrated and clean with a high quality tart yogurt base. I enjoyed their plain yogurt their pina colada seasonal topping, which had a sweet tropical drizzle and chewy coconut macaron-like bites. It was very tasty and had a great balance of sweet and tart. Look forward to an embarrassing num... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended froyo brooklyn dessert culture frozen yogurt pina colada topping 4.0
Bonsai Kakigori Coconut Lime Crunch Kakigori: Located in the back of Canal Street Market, Bonsai Kakigori serves freshly-shaved Japanese ice desserts. Similar to Korean bingsu, the shaved ice has a fluffy consistency that's much lighter than Italian ice. At Bonsai, the shaved ice is piled high and served with a generous number of toppings. The Coconut Lime Crunch flavor had a coconut foam topping, toasted coconut flakes, lime zest, and toasted peanuts. Equal parts crunchy, creamy, and citrusy, it was well balanced and a treat to sha... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended desserts nyc japanese lime bonsaikakigori coconut crunch kakigori 3.5