Furuta Green Tea Cookies: I was lucky to find these crumbly green tea sandwich cookies at Niniya Market for a very reasonable price just over $3. The biscuits are lightly sweetened and more substantial than normal Oreo-like sandwich cookies, and the cream filling has a much more natural matcha flavor than most packaged snacks I’ve had. Great value and taste! 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese matcha nijiya furuta green tea cookies 3.5
Ring Tofu Donuts Yuzu Lemonade: I was surprised at how overly sweet this housemade yuzu lemonade was given the light, barely sweetened flavor of Ring Tofu’s donuts. It reminded me of a slightly more tart version of korean citron tea. Definitely stick to the Donuts. 2.5/5.0
drinks losangeles ringtofudonuts yuzu lemonade 2.5
Riska Cheese Corn Snack: This flavor of umbaibo has a cheese flavor familiar to Asian snacks. It tastes a bit like the cheese powder from boxed mac and cheese but with a creamy, milky flavor that's mild rather than tangy. Very different than the bolder cheese taste of American cheese snacks like Cheetos. Like other Umaibo, the texture is crispy and light. In this particular package, they're cut into mid-sized rings. 3.0/5.0
umaibo japanese riska cheese corn snack 3.0 tokyofishmarket berkeley
OO Tea Jasmine milk tea with boba: OO Tea is a Taiwanese import of the brand “Wushiland.” As far as I know, there are only two locations in the US: one in a San Gabriel strip mall in LA and another in a Ranch 99 in San Diego. I went to the latter, which was an unassuming bubble tea stand without any seating; my order was taken in Mandarin, not English. Wushiland uses organic milk for their milk teas and it shows. I ordered their jasmine milk tea and found it to be the single best version of milk tea that I’ve ever had in the ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional sandiego bubbletea milktea ootea jasmine milk tea boba 4.5 drinks
Riska Yasai Salad Snack: I’m on a quest to try all flavors of umaibo, the Japanese puffed corn snack. This one is salad flavored, resembling veggie crackers but with an Asian twist incorporating soy and sesame oil. They have a consistent ring-shaped form factor thicker than American Funyuns. It’s not one of my favorite umaibo flavors, but it’s still tasty. 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese umaibo riska yasai salad snack 3.5
Boba Guys Horchata: For those who are tired of Asian bubble tea options, the horchata at Boba Guys is refreshingly sweet, with a pleasant spiced cinnamon flavor. 3.5/5.0
drinks recommended bobaguys horchata 3.5