Milwon Black Rice Steamed Bread: Frozen steamed buns are some of my favorite quick breakfast items. Back when I lived next to HMart, I would purchase them frequently. After not having had them for several months, I was happy to find some at my local Korean grocery store. These Milwon buns are made with black rice, which gives them a speckled purple color. Each fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and has a red bean filling. The only positive thing I can say about this product is that it's not too sweet. Otherwise... (read more) 1.5/5.0
korean redbean asian milwon black rice steamed bread 1.5 avoid
iTea Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with Boba: While I previously have had very good experiences at iTea in San Francisco, I've found that the quality has seemed to decline over time. On my last trip, I ordered their Roasted Oolong Milk Tea with little sweetness and ice, yet the drink was still sweeter than I would expect and diluted tasting right from the start. The boba, too, was overly chewy without much character. I typically like to order new things every time I go, but if I find myself at iTea again, I will likely order one of m... (read more) 2.5/5.0
drinks boba milktea bubbletea itea roasted oolong milk tea 2.5
Yoshimi Yakitokibi: Several months ago, I wrote a review of Trader Joe's mochi rice nuggets, a fried savory glutinous rice snack unlike any other mochi I had eaten up to that point. Irregularly shaped, almost like golden nuggets, they were crunchy and dense - the polar opposite of the chewy texture I associate with mochi. Recently, I was gifted a bag of corn-flavored fried mochi crackers, brought back all the way from Japan, where this particular flavor can only be purchased in Hokkaido. The texture and shap... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese corn hokkaido mochi crackers friend asian yoshimi yakitokibi 3.0
Coppenrath Traveller Vanilla Cookies on Tour: Purchased the vanilla flavor of these cookies after enjoying the caramel one. The vanilla is much more standard and run of the mill, but still has a decent crumbly texture and good value (the bag can last me more than a week and costs less than $3). If you're going to pick a flavor, though, I would definitely go with the caramel. 2.5/5.0
berkeleybowl sweets coppenrathtraveller vanilla cookies on tour 2.5
Benkyodo Co Mochi: One of the original mochi shops in the US, Benkyodo in Japantown, SF opened back in 1906. Today, the storefront is an odd mix of diner counter, Asian 7-11-type snacks, and fresh made mochi. All of their mochi come in cupcake liners and taste very fresh because they are. The texture is softer than I personally prefer, and there is a little too much starch that coats your mouth with each bite. But I did enjoy that they were not overly sweet. The best was certainly a mango mochi that had f... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japantown sanfrancisco japanese sweets dessert benkyodoco mochi 3.0
Koreana Plaza Market Mochi: Inside the Koreana Plaza Market in Oakland is a small cash-only bakery with a variety of asian sweets, including lotus-paste-filled pastries (review forthcoming), pineapple buns, and almond cookies. I purchased a pack of two red-bean mochi (despite the oven-fresh sticker on the packaging, I'm pretty sure they were steamed). The mochi are about 125% the size of packaged mochi. Biting into a piece, I could instantly tell that it was very fresh. The glutinous rice flour had a bit more resis... (read more) 3.0/5.0
oakland sweets dessert japanese koreanaplazamarket mochi 3.0