2016 07 10 20.52.54

Pinkberry milk flavored frozen yogurt: The milk-flavored froyo at Pinkberry is surprisingly creamy and is more mild than the plain slightly tart yogurt. Paired with fruit, it's a refreshing treat for warm summer days. 3.5/5.0

recommended frozen pinkberry milk flavored yogurt 3.5
2016 07 11 20.57.00

Trader Joe's Mango O's cereal: Trader Joe's recently refreshed some of its usual product lines with seasonal mango-flavored versions. One example is their O's cereals, which otherwise comes in plain and honey renditions. This version has mango puree added to the oat O's as well as freeze dried cubes of mango. Overall, it's more tart than sweet and does have a distinct mango flavor. It's not something I would want to eat all the time, but it's not bad. 3.0/5.0

traderjoes mango o's cereal 3.0
2016 07 02 16.22.16

Tong Tong Bay Roasted dried squid: A delicious, chewy snack with a slightly smoky flavor. Good amount of seasoning, and high level of umami. 3.5/5.0

recommended hmart seafood tongtongbay roasted dried squid 3.5
2016 07 02 14.51.48

Kung Fu Tea Lychee tea with boba and lychee jelly: Purchased from the Kung Fu Tea in Edison, NJ, this tea drink was far too sweet despite specifying 25% sweetness. The boba was also disappointingly soft. The jelly, though, had a decently firm bite. It's too bad there is so much variability with drinks from this chain. 2.0/5.0

drinks tea kungfutea lychee boba jelly 2.0
2016 07 01 13.09.54

Lemon Ice King of Corona Rainbow Ice: Practically a landmark in Corona, Queens, Lemon Ice King has been serving house-made Italian ices for over 60 years. I first found out about it on an episode of Real Food with Mike Colameco, which featured several Queens-based institutions. The corner shop has a wide array of flavors to choose from, but I had to choose the flavor I always ordered as a kid from my neighborhood's Italian Ice truck, Little Jimmy's. This ice, though, was far superior, with by far the best texture Italian ice I... (read more) 4.0/5.0

recommended queens italianice lemonicekingofcorona rainbow ice 4.0
2016 07 01 12.29.21

Tomarchio Limonata Sparkling Lemon Soda: A nicely balanced acidic soda that's slightly reminiscent of Mountain Dew, but just for a second. The sizing of the can makes it feel more filling than a typical 12oz, though it's all psychological I think. 3.5/5.0

recommended italian drinks tomarchio limonata sparkling lemon soda 3.5