Awan Coffee Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: Awan is a vegan ice cream shop with a small "window" in West Hollywood where you can take scoops / pints to go. I'm not normally one to get coffee or chocolate ice cream, but after sampling a few flavors, the coffee chocolate chip was the clear winner to me. The texture is remarkably smooth and creamy for vegan ice cream, and the coffee flavor was toasty and rich, with chips of chocolate chip that had a quality snap in texture. Kiddie size was perfect even for sharing. 4.0/5.0
recommended icecream losangeles vegan awan coffee chocolate chip ice cream 4.0
The Base Co Strawberry Shiso Match + Oatly: Purchased at Holy Basil in Downtown LA, this canned beverage is one of many house-made drinks available including Hibiscus Oolong Tea and Thyme Orange Meyer Lemonade. The selection made it hard to choose, but given that I expected the Thai dishes at Holy Basil to have a bit of heat, I opted for a milk tea option. I really enjoyed the fruity, herbal combination of this strawberry matcha drink, which had a creamy finish that was distinctly oat milk (but not overly thick). It gave me nostalg... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended losangeles drinks thebaseco strawberry shiso match + oatly 4.0
Walkers Monster Munch: I saw a Snack Masters episode where British chefs tried to replicate the texture and flavor of the pickled onion Monster Munch snack, a baked corn snack shaped as monster paws with a punchy seasoned coating. You can get these at any convenience store in London. The texture is slightly denser than puffed Cheetos but has a similar effect - you get less in a bag than you might expect given the volume of each piece. The pickled onion coating was quite unique - not like any flavor I’ve ever had i... (read more) 3.0/5.0
british walkers monster munch 3.0
Jolibee Peach mango pie: Often when lots of people are effusive about something, I try not to learn too much about it beforehand so it doesn’t color my first impressions - like watching a trailer of a movie or reading a review of a novel. Jolibee is one of those establishments that has its own religion, so when I finally got to try it, I knew both that the fried chicken and mango peach pie were favorites but nothing more about them. I was surprised to find that the mango peach pie was fried, but in retrospect it’s ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
jolibee peach mango pie 2.5
Lotte Yogurt Jelly: These are the Yakult-style gummy equivalent to Haribo cola gummies. They come in small snack-size packaging that contains about ~2 servings. Each gummy is shaped like the squat yogurt-drinks many asian kids had growing up. Definitely on the sweet side, but pretty true to the flavor of Yakult. 3.0/5.0
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Snacklins Barbecue Plant Crisps: I purchased this bag of plant-based "cracklings" from Whole Foods not knowing anything about the brand's Shark-Tank success story. The vegan crispy, puffed crisps are made with a combination of yuca, onions, and mushrooms and have a light, melt-in-your-mouth texture that is definitely the closest I've ever tasted to meat-based pork crackling (though more like the softer versions than the heavily fried crunchier ones). Comparing it to a meat product is a little unfair though, because they a... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended wholefoods vegan snacklins barbecue plant crisps 3.5