b. patisserie milk tea tart: At the corner of Divisadero and California in Lower Pacific Heights (San Francisco) is popular bakery b. patisserie, led by a former pastry chef at fine-dining establishments like Gary Danko and Manresa. The sizable shop feels like a luxury in San Francisco, with only a handful of bakeries able to afford real estate to seat multiple families and smaller parties; the line out of the door, with about a 15 minute wait to the counter, signified they're doing just fine. For Chinese New Year, b.... (read more) 2.5/5.0
desserts pastry sf chinese milktea bpatisserie milk tea tart 2.5
Reem’s Hibiscus Rose Cooler: Finally made it to Reem’s, the middle eastern cafe in Fruitvale (Oakland) specializing in housemade flatbread. To accompany the robust za’atar-spiced flatbread, I got a cup of refreshing and sharp hibiscus rose cooler, a purple-maroon colored drink that tasted of an amped-up floral pomegranate juice. Well balanced and perfectly complementary, it rounded out a complete, delicious meal at Reem’s. 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks oakland reems hibiscus rose cooler 4.0
Golden Gate Bakery Egg Cupcake: No surprise that lines at famed San Francisco bakery Golden Gate Bakery were long for Chinese New Year, but I still didn’t expect it to take 80 minutes to get egg tarts. At around 6pm, the owner started rationing; no single person could order more than 2, for fear she would run out. The eggtarts were as good as ever, but waiting this long necessitated making another purchase, this time for an egg “cupcake,” seemingly made just of egg, flour, sugar, and oil. It was very lightly sweetened, sof... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended sf goldengatebakery egg cupcake 3.5
Noosa Pumpkin Yogurt: I’ve recently been getting back into Noosa yogurt since they continue to release new flavors I haven’t seen from other brands. This pumpkin one is especially good, with a creamy spiced pumpkin-pie-like filling swirled into rich smooth whole milk yogurt. It’s perfect for those who like the silky consistency of non-Greek yogurt but still prefer a denser texture. My only criticism is that it’s on the sweet side, but flavor wise, this is definitely worth a try. 4.0/5.0
recommended noosa pumpkin yogurt 4.0
Steap Lychee Love Tea: I’ve been searching for a quality bubble tea shop in Chinatown, San Francisco and tried this modern bubble tea spot on my most recent visit. Steap prides themselves on highly customizable fruit and herbal teas. The lychee love drink is a jasmine and green tea mix containing lychee jelly (I also ordered boba as an add-in). You could taste the ambition, as the tea was not as sugary as what you might find at a nearby chain, but it taste a bit diluted, and the boba was too soft. The search conti... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks bubbletea greentea jasmine chinatown sf boba steap lychee love tea 2.5
Yaya’s Herb and garden vegetable popcorn : More herb than vegetable, this popcorn tastes strongly of oregano and olive oil. Because of its one-dimensional taste, it has been sitting in my pantry for several months now, an unheard of amount of time for any snack in my apartment. Would not recommend, but the popcorn otherwise (fluffy and light) is good enough that I would consider trying Yaya’s other flavors. 2.5/5.0
berkeleybowl yayas herb vegetable popcorn 2.5