Wiz Bang Bar Smith Teamaker Big Hibsicicle Sherbert: In the Pine Street Market, an indoor food hall in downtown Portland, is a soft serve and sundae bar named Wiz Bang from Salt & Straw, the ever-popular ice cream shop that has branched outside of the city to several LA and San Francisco locations. Central to Salt & Straw's success is their ability to strike a chord between the familiar and unexpected, with comforting flavors that are also intriguing and sometimes daring. The soft serve that I ordered, the Smith teamaker big hibiscicle sherber... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended softserve icecream portland saltandstraw wizbangbar smith teamaker big hibsicicle sherbert 4.0
Blue Star Donuts Buttermilk Lemon Poppyseed Donut: Portland is pretty serious about donuts. On my latest visit, I saw a much higher percentage of commuters eating donuts for breakfast than I have witnessed in any other city. So when I was about to fly out from PDX and realized there was a Blue Star next to ticketing, I willingly went through security a second time in order to see what all the fuss was about. There were many flavors I was interested in trying, from their strawberry-rhubarb jam-filled pastry to a more traditional donut ring ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
sweets dessert portland bluestardonuts buttermilk lemon poppyseed donut 3.0
鯛 Tai Arare: I purchased this snack from Tokyo Fish Market, a Japanese grocery store in Berkeley, hoping the fish-shaped crackers would be seafood flavored, as many Asian snacks are. The Chinese character on the packaging even literally translates to "red snapper" (though I have to admit that I had to use Google Translate to determine that). Despite the name and shape, the crackers are just regular glazed rice crackers – crunchy, sweeter than you would expect, but still with a savory soy aftertaste. A... (read more) 3.0/5.0
tokyofishmarket ricecrackers soy japanese tai arare 3.0
Kameda Kotsubukko : Bite-sized pieces of chocolate, tins of mint, or take-away cookies never work on me as impulse grocery store purchases. But rice crackers with too-cute packaging positioned directly next to the checkout does the job. This pack of 4 snack-sized bags of sweet and savory soy flavored crackers have a deep savory taste and are portioned larger than most so that a bag is actually filling. But beyond the cute Japanese branding, they aren't particularly distinctive as far as rice crackers go. I ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese soy kameda kotsubukko 3.0 tokyofishmarket
Lundberg Organic Kettle Corn Rice Cakes: Brown rice rice cakes with a slightly glazed sheen. Crunchier and heartier than other rice cakes I've had. Great sweet and savory flavor. Even found a few actual corn kernels. A healthy option that actually tastes good and is decently filling. 3.5/5.0
recommended lundberg organic kettle corn rice cakes 3.5 producecenter
Riska Mentai Corn Snack: I love that Japanese culture is seemingly contradictory. There is the upmost respect for serenity and simplicity, along with an obsession with quality and workmanship (e.g., tea gardens, sashimi and sushi rice, Yurbai melons) - yet, at the same time, it can be loud, brash, and colorful (e.g., manga, Pachinko). This purple bag of Mentai (cod roe) puffed corn snacks is sensory overload all on its own, with multiple exclamation points, bold lettering, and metallic silver foil highlighting. I... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional japanese mentai cod roe fish seafood junkfood riska corn snack 4.5 tokyofishmarket