Swensen’s Lychee ice cream: Swensen’s is a historic ice cream shop in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood. Opened in 1948, it now has locations around the world. I don’t find myself in this neighborhood very often, so the last time I was there, I finally got a chance to try it. They offer a bevy of flavors, mostly traditional favorites, but I got a scoop of lychee. Unfortunately, the ice cream had an overly icy, almost clumpy texture, and though it had sizable pieces of lychee throughout, the moisture content of ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
icecream sf sanfrancisco swensens lychee ice cream 2.5
Matchabar Fuji apple ginger iced matcha tea: Was feeling sleepy, so I picked up this matcha beverage at The Foodhall en route to The Chapel. This dark green beverage is a mix of green tea, Fuji apple, and ginger. It has a fantastically clean and balanced flavor, where each component is easily identifiable. The ginger leaves a tingly spiced flavor in your throat, as any good ginger beverage should. And it definitely woke me up, but not in a way that made me feel jittery or gave me a headache. Super quality beverage that I would recomm... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks matchabar fuji apple ginger iced matcha tea 4.5
Ici Lemon ice cream with ginger cookie: Faintly sweet but super rich and creamy lemon ice cream filled with bits of spiced ginger cookie. The cookie pieces were my favorite part and felt very seasonal. The ice cream itself could have been more smooth in texture but was good overall. 3.5/5.0
recommended icecream dessert berkeley ici lemon ice cream ginger cookie 3.5
Nature’s Path Love Crunch dark chocolate and red berries granola: For those who enjoy “indulgent” granola, this combination of chocolate-flavored granola, dark chocolate bits, and pieces of freeze dried raspberries and strawberries will be a treat. It turns your granola into chocolate milk and is fun to eat out of the bag. I purchased it on sale at Berkeley Bowl and thought it was one of the better granola mixes I’ve had. 3.5/5.0
recommended naturespath love crunch dark chocolate red berries granola 3.5 organic berkeleybowl
Osem BBQ Bissli: Israeli snack that is similarly shaped to spiral Fritos, but with a darker color, which I think is due to mixed grains. Same crunchy consistency. A fairly neutral bbq flavor - neither too sweet or overly smoky. 3.0/5.0
osem bbq bissli 3.0
Asha Tea Pineapple Oolong: I’m not a huge fan of pineapple but have exhausted the entire Asha tea seasonal fruit teas and decided to try this one. It was perfectly balanced - just sweet enough without being tart, with a very fragrant oolong tea. It’s no wonder I always bring visitors to this worthy Tea Shop. 4.5/5.0
exceptional drinks berkeley tea ashatea pineapple oolong 4.5