Sweetheart Cafe Jasmine milk tea with boba: Sweetheart Cafe is a small bubble tea shop on Durant right on the south edge of UC Berkeley's main campus. The main draw to this inexpensive mom and pop shop is their boba, which as far as I'm concerned is unrivaled in the Bay Area for its chewiness and overall consistency. The Jasmine milk tea that I purchased alongside the boba had an identifiable Jasmine tea flavor but was more milk than tea. Would not be surprised at all if it was powder-based. 4.5 for the boba, 3.0 for the tea. Overall... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks boba bobatea milktea berkeley bubbletea sweetheartcafe jasmine milk tea 3.5
Craftsman and Wolves Strawberry Cake: On Valencia in the heart of the Mission is the original location of the Craftsman and Wolves, a pastry shop where each item is backdropped by a matte black countertop, with slide-out trays for individually plated cakes and specialty items. The presentation of the pastries is impeccable, with a commendable level of consistency and care put into every piece. Of course, as with any San Francisco establishment, you pay a premium for quality - the strawberry cake, about 4 inches long, was $8. ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended pastry berries sanfrancisco craftsmanandwolves strawberry cake 4.0
La Croix Mango Sparkling Water: Only the second flavor of La Croix I've ever had, the "mango essenced" sparkling water was worthwhile, with a high level of carbonation and punchy mango flavor. Doesn't have a salty aftertaste like other seltzers sometimes do. A solid, affordable flavored seltzer. 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks lacroix mango sparkling water 3.5
Powder Matcha Shaved Ice: This Taiwanese shaved ice shop on Divisadero in San Francisco has a variety of Asian flavors like black sesame, matcha, and Vietnamese coffee. Having had their excellent black sesame on a previous trip, I opted for matcha, which was shaved into thin, overlapping ribbons. While I remembered the black sesame shaved ice being remarkably light, this one texturally was more dense, with the ice cream packing together less than 1/3 of the way through. The matcha flavor, though, is very good and ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
recommended icecream taiwanese sanfrancisco powder matcha shaved ice 3.0
Dinosaurs Watermelon and Lychee Shake: Dinosaurs is a small Vietnamese sandwich shop bordering the Castro in San Francisco. It has reasonably priced, tasty sandwiches (I especially recommend the meatball bahn mi) as well as fresh juices. I love watermelon, and I also love lychee, so their watermelon and lychee shake was an obvious choice for me. Rather than being flavored like lychee, the lychee comes in the form of chewy and slightly crunchy lychee jelly - the same rectangular kind you find in boba tea shops. The watermelon ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
drinks dinosaurs watermelon lychee shake 3.5
The Nobel Times Super Cola candy: While the packaging says "Since 2014," I have vivid memories of eating the lemon version of this sweet as a child. (The date is likely a result of an acquisition.) Inside are individually wrapped cola-flavored hard candies. Like Warheads, it induces discomforting anticipation of a largely unpleasant sour flavor at the onset; unlike Warheads, there is a much more mild sweetness after the coating wears off. I remember running the snack under the kitchen sink to rub off the salty-bitter exterio... (read more) 3.0/5.0
thenobeltimes super cola candy 3.0 berkeleybowl