Kurkure

As you know, I love all snacks.  And I really adore trying random products and flavors from other countries.  These combined to lead me to Kurkure, an Indian snack brand.   I can't find much information about the Kurkure brand though, besides that it is a subsidiary of Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd.

I've been told that Kurkure is a "famous munching snack of India", which most definitely has my name all over it.  I'm all about munching.  I tried only one of their flavors of the product ("Naughty Tomato"), but they also come in other Indian spiced varieties such as Chili Chatka, Masala Munch, and green chutney.  After the success of the one I tried, I'd gladly try more flavors ... if I ever see them somewhere again.

Naughty Tomato.

"Hot and Spicy snack with the tomato flavor and a sweet and sour flair."

"Kurkure Naughty Tomato is a delicious and crunchy snack that will tantalize your taste buds. Made with high-quality cornmeal and rice flour, this snack is seasoned with a unique blend of spices that gives it a tangy and spicy tomato flavor. It's perfect for those who love to indulge in a snack that's fun and naughty."

"Hot and spicy snack similar to Cheetos, with a tomato flavor and a sweet and sour flair!"

I truly had no idea what to expect with this product.  I was a bit surprised to open the bag to see what looked much like crunchy Cheetos, but, more red (akin to the Flamin' Hot Cheetos).  They were awesomely crunchy, and had a far more interesting base flavor, made from rice, corn, and gram meal, rather than just corn meal like Cheetos.  I really did like the form factor, even though I don't like crunchy Cheetos themselves.

And then ... the flavor.  These tasted like a Bloody Mary.  Or, at least what I assume a Bloody Mary tastes like.  I can't say I really recall ever having ordered one, although I assume at some point in my early 20s I must have been at a brunch with one?  Ok, maybe the flavor is more like spicy V8 (also not something I gravitate towards, but I've had that at least once in the past 10 years ...).  They did have a strong tomato flavor, and were spicy (chili powder), but also there was lots of other vegetable flavor (onion and garlic for sure), and then a ton of complexity on the finish due to spices like cinnamon, clove, ginger, and nutmeg.  Oh, and some sweetness, as sugar is added too.

I can safely say that my brain didn't know what to make of these.  They looked like very familiar Cheetos,  had a great crunch, and tasted like a spicy V8, with a splash of chai.  Whaaaa?

This was a very unique product for me, and I devoured the entire bag (which, oops, is supposed to be 3 servings) in one (very brief) sitting.  So fascinating.  I'd love to try other flavors!  ****.

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Miette Patisserie & Confiserie

Update Review, Late 2023/Early 2024 Tastings

Chocolate & Mocha Cupcake. $4.

"Double Chocolate Cake with a swirl of coffee buttercream."

It had been years since I last had a Miette cupcake, which is surprising given the proximity to my office.

This is a pretty good bakery quality cupcake.  The cake is moist and fairly light.  Not remarkable, not a super deep rich chocolate, nor any tang to it, but, better than a grocery store cupcake.  Average decent bakery quality.  ***.

I did love the fluffy sweet buttercream, sweet but not cloying, and no overly strong butter element.  Only mild coffee flavor however.  **** for consistency, *** for flavor.

Overall, a satisfying cupcake, but not one to go out of my way for. ***.

French Vanilla Birthday Cake.

"Of course this cake can be served at any occasion, but we wanted to offer a quintessential birthday cake, perfect with candles and an inscription. This cake is three layers of our tender Hot Milk Cake and frosted on all sides with French vanilla buttercream, made with organic egg yolks and pure Bourbon vanilla. And we know it will pair extraordinarily well with a chorus of Happy Birthday to You...!"

Hot Milk Cake sounds more interesting than this was for me.  For me, it was just, well, fairly plain cake.  Reasonable crumb structure, reasonable density, reasonable moistness, but, nothing really remarkable nor interesting about it.  The frosting was similarly a bit boring, although it was a nicely made buttercream, well balanced in sweetness and butteriness.  

Overall, just boring, but not bad.  ***.

Milk Chocolate Birthday Cake.

"Of course this cake can be served at any occasion, but we wanted to offer a quintessential birthday cake, perfect with candles and an inscription. This cake is three layers of our tender Hot Milk Cake and frosted on all sides with milk chocolate buttercream, made with organic egg yolks. We know it will pair extraordinarily well with a chorus of Happy Birthday to You...!"

The milk chocolate birthday cake is the same cake, just, different buttercream.  The cake was again fine, but not noteworthy.  Fairly plain cake.  The buttercream was very mild chocolate flavor, not particularly interesting.  Overall, just, boring.  Better than a grocery store cake, but, not special in any way.  ***.

Scharffen Berger Cake.

"This cake gets its name from Scharffen Berger Chocolate, the small-batch chocolate makers who were our original neighbors in the Ferry Building. We developed this cake using their raw cocoa powder because it delivers a huge chocolatey flavor. The cake itself is dense and moist, and we glaze it with two coats of smooth-as-silk bittersweet chocolate ganache. It's a lot of chocolate, yes, but it's never overwhelming because of the surprising variation in textures and flavors."

This cake was indeed very chocolate heavy.  The cake was dense and rich.  The ganache was thick and richer.  Definitely paired best with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  But I still didn't find it particularly compelling.  ***.

Original Review

Miete is one of the first bakeries I ever discovered in San Francisco.  Er, patisserie & confiserie that is.  Even better.  Baked goods AND great candy.  My kind of place.

"San Francisco's Most Charming Pastry Shop including macarons, made-to-order cakes, licorice, candy, and artisanal chocolate."

Miette has a shop right in the Ferry Building that I used to frequent, and, given the proximity to my office, their macarons regularly showed up when co-workers brought in treats.  The macrons are their most famous item, but I was always drawn towards the cupcakes, and candy, which features a very pricey but well curated range from many other countries (not housemade).  They have the best salty licorice collection I've found around town.  The main location in Hayes Valley carries even more candy, and is really quite adorably decorated.

The baked goods all use high quality local ingredients when possible, like Straus cream and butter and Scharffen Berger chocolate

As more and more cupcake shops have opened I visit Miette less frequently, but it still holds a special place in my heart for all those early visits when I moved to the area.

Cakes & Cupcakes. 

Cupcakes are the main draw to Miete for me.  The lineup always has their famous gingerbread cupcake, along with basic chocolate and yellow cakes, and a carrot cake.  No other wacky flavors, besides sometimes seasonal icing.  $4 each.  Some are available as full size cakes as well.

The full size cake lineup also has a lovely Princess Cake and crowd pleasing chocolate forward Scharffen Berger cake, along with layered versions of basic cakes.

The chocolate cake base is "double chocolate", made from both unsweetened Scharffen Berger Cocoa Powder and 70% Guittard Chocolate, an interesting choice to mix and match, but, clearly, they found what they like!

Old Fashioned Cupcake.

"Double Chocolate Cake with a puff of sweet marshmallow icing and topped with a candy-coated peanut."

The old fashioned cupcake is my strongest memory of Miette.  My partner absolutely loved this thing.  He doesn't care for buttercream ever really, but adores the glossy boiled icing on this.  When we used to go to Miette as a large group, it was always a point of contention to see what style others would like - would they fall in his camp and love the Old Fashioned, or mine, and go for buttercream? (The answer?  Generally, split!).

Not that I don't like the Old Fashioned, don't get me wrong.  It uses the same chocolate base as the rest of the lineup.  The marshmallow-like topping is quite delicious, and I love the candied peanut, I just like the buttercream more.  I have to admit the boiled icing does look really, really tempting, so in the looks department, this one does win.  The icing is pretty sweet, so not a good choice if you are going for something less sweet.

This flavor is also available as a full size cake, which I of course got for his birthday one year.  That one has a cherry rather than a tiny candy coated peanut though, which is a better size, but, I missed the crunchy candied nut!

A great cupcake if you aren't craving buttercream.  ***+.

Chocolate Raspberry Cupcake. $3.25.

"Our double-chocolate cupcake with a swirl of vibrant raspberry buttercream made from fresh, organic berries."

I have had a lot of Miette cupcakes in my day, but I've never really been that excited by their chocolate ones.  Sometimes I get a chocolate base as part of the Old Fashioned, since they only put the boiled icing on the chocolate cake, but given the choice, I always pick Miette's yellow cake over the chocolate.

I'm not sure quite what it is about the chocolate cake that doesn't do it for me.  The cake is chocolately, very consistent, not quite moist nor dry, just somewhere in between.  Unremarkable to me, as I prefer moister, or a crispy top.  The vanilla cake is the same in that way, but has a rich vanilla flavor.

For buttercream frostings, Miette makes classic vanilla, chocolate, and a seasonal flavor, often raspberry or strawberry.  This one had a sweet fluffy raspberry buttercream.  Again, not that remarkable.  It wasn't too sweet, had good raspberry flavor, but overall, it was just there.   That said, the frosting to cupcake ratio on these is perfect for my liking.

I probably would not get this again, as I prefer the yellow cake.  ***.

Chocolate Chocolate Cupcake.

"Double Chocolate Cake with a swirl of chocolate buttercream. ".

I picked this up for my partner one day when they were out of Old Fashioned, but of course I snuck a bite.

The same base chocolate cupcake as the Chocolate Raspberry and the Old Fashioned, but this time with chocolate buttercream.

The buttercream was pretty tasty, slightly sweet, nice milk chocolate flavor.   Again, great amount of frosting for the amount of cake.  But I still just rarely go for their chocolate cupcakes.

***.

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Yellow Vanilla Cupcake

"Golden yellow cake with vanilla buttercream."

As boring as it sounds, the vanilla is, hands down, my favorite.  The cake is still a bit dry for my taste, just like the chocolate cake, but the flavor is buttery and rich.  A really great flavor in that base.

I love their vanilla buttercream.  Sweet, simple, creamy.

Yes, my absolute favorite cupcake there is the yellow cake with vanilla buttercream, by far the most basic one they make, and I always enjoy it.

****.

Gingerbread Cupcakes (back row). Carrot Cupcakes (front row)

Gingerbread: 

"Our all-time best selling cupcake.  Made with a dark stout beer, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom then topped with a sweet cream cheese frosting." 

Now, I know people who go nuts for this cupcake.  Food Network dubbed it the "Best Cupcake in America".  I could care less about it.  

The cake flavor is rather mediocre, the frosting a bit sour.  I've tried it several times, and still haven't ever liked it.  To each his own right?  I still love the Yellow Vanilla!  This one is also available as a cake.

**+.

Carrot:

"A little cupcake chock-full of carrots, walnuts, & currants, topped with a creamy, tangy cream cheese frosting."

So, I have strong opinion on carrot cake (I LOVE my great aunt's recipe), so I didn't expect to love Miette's version.  I avoided it for years, until I was at an event with only gingerbread or carrot to choose from.  Since I hadn't cared for the gingerbread before, I figured it was worth trying the carrot.

It was a very boring carrot cake.  Yes, it had shredded carrot, some little bits of walnut, and little currants in it, but, the flavors didn't pop.  It wasn't dry, it wasn't moist, it just was what it was.  Homogenous, a bit oily, and boring.  

I did like the cream cheese frosting though, very, very rich, thick, and tasty.  This one is also available in cake form.

***.

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Princess Cake: 

“White chocolate fondant drapes over a sponge cake soaked in eau de vie syrup, layered with homemade raspberry jam, pastry cream and a mound of lightly sweetened Straus whipped cream.” 

I was excited when someone brought a Princess Cake in for a birthday at my office.  I had wanted to try it for a long time, but since only available as a full size cake, I wasn't ever able.

It was a nice buttery moist cake (super moist from the syrup), with layer of flavorful raspberry jam, subtle layer of pastry cream, and tons of whipped cream. These things all combine together beautifully.  The outer fondant shell was just sweet and gross though.  I understand that it is part of a traditional princess cake, but meh.  

***+ overall, only the outer layer brought it down.

$60 for a 6 inch cake.

Cookies

By now you probably know how I feel about cookies.  They are "ok", but generally more of a snack than a "real dessert", in my world.  I don't seek them out often, but I've still managed to try many of Miette's offerings, as they show up at my office frequently.  Miette's cookies are all a crisp style, not soft fresh baked cookies.  They make several flavors of shortbread, sablés, and snap.

Chocolate Wafers. $8.50.

"This cookie is based on the chocolate wafer cookie that is used to make the famous Icebox Cake. The Miette version is crisp and buttery, with an intense cocoa flavor that is highlighted with both sweet and salty accents. We use brut cocoa powder, a type that is especially dark, and it makes the cookie almost black. Each cookie is cut by hand, sprinkled with sugar, and baked to crispy perfection."

You may have noticed that I often review chocolate.  That is partially because I run a very informal chocolate tasting at work, where I bring in different chocolate, and make everyone try it with me.  I enjoy hearing other's reviews of the chocolate, and it also enables me to get through many more bars than I normally would on my own.  Anyway, one friend knew I was into chocolate tasting, so she brought me a container of Miette's Chocolate Wafers to feature at my next chocolate tasting.

These had a very rich dark chocolate flavor.  They were crispy, buttery, and sprinkled with sugar. Really quite good, and everyone enjoyed them.  They were actually a bit bitter, but so buttery that it cut the bitter nicely.  And then hold up for quite a few days if you keep them sealed.

****, and a nice surprise as I tend to go for softer style cookies.

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Chocolate Sablés: 

"Pierre Hermé of Paris is the inspiration behind this cookie. The Miette version replicates the same experience of biting into a crisp, sandy cookie with bits of pure, soft chocolate. This recipe calls for both cocoa and chocolate. When you bring these two ingredients together, you get a resounding chocolate taste, much more complex than if you were to use just one or the other. Each bite-sized cookie is carefully packaged by hand into our signature polka-dot bag."  

The sablés are thicker and less crispy than the wafers, but also have a deep chocolate flavor.  Basically a chocolate shortbread.  Not really my thing, but my mom loves them, and brought a package home after her last visit to San Francisco.

***.

Chocolate Chip:

"There are so many great versions of this all-American favorite, and here's ours: petite chocolate chips, crushed toasted walnuts and coarsely-ground oatmeal incorporated into a crisp, buttery cookie. Each bite-sized cookie is carefully packaged by hand into our signature polka-dot bag."

Eh. This was just a dry boring cookie, hard style.  I think fairly shelf stable, which just isn't a selling point for cookies for me.  Also, beware, it is oatmeal based, no traditional chocolate chip here.  **+.

Lemon Shortbread: 

"This cookie takes the tart, fresh flavor of lemons and contrasts it beautifully with the richness of butter. The zest for these cookies comes from the year-round supply of organic lemons we have in California. Each bite-sized cookie is carefully packaged by hand into our signature polka-dot bag."

Decently buttery, but I didn't really taste the lemon.  An ok shortbread, but not likely something I'd go back for.  **+.

Lavender Shortbread:

"Bite-sized and delicate, this buttery shortbread cookie has a restrained floral taste that will remind you of summer. The lavender is picked from the fields at Eatwell Farms in Dixon, California. Each bite-sized cookie is carefully packaged by hand into our signature polka-dot bag."

Like the lemon, decently buttery, crispy.  The lavender was subtle and nice.  But still, just a shortbread, not really my thing.  Would probably be very nice with a cup of tea! **+.

Macarons

A category of their own, the macarons.  Displayed in glass jars atop the pastry counter at Miette.  A centerpiece of the store, no question.

"This unusual little cookie put Miette on the map. Although it's been popular in France for decades, they were virtually unknown in the states. After a trip to Paris, we decided to start making them at Miette and they've been our most popular item ever since. Our macarons are dense, chewy, and meltingly light. They are made with coarsely ground almonds with the skins intact. We do not add any food coloring or processed flavorings, so they are distinctly rustic and natural."

The macarons are all assorted colors, available in a slew of flavors: chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, pistachio, dulce de leche, rose geranium, raspberry, chocolate orange, lemon, and more.  I've had these many times over the years, but seem to have lost most of my other tasting notes.  

The macarons are fairly classic: the cookie part has a nice give to it, shiny on the outside, a little texture from the almonds inside.  The fillings are creamy and infused with flavor.  Yet somehow they never wow me.  Maybe that is because macarons in general are just not all that interesting to me (well, unless they it is a black sesame and foie gras mouse macaron!)  The only sweet macarons I've really enjoyed are from Sugarie, although La Boulange makes a few decent ones, and everyone's are leagues above the ones from Tout Sweet.  Even the famous ones from Confiserie Sprüngli in Zürich did not impress me. 

That said, if someone brings a box of Miette macarons, and there is a rose geranium one, I'll still go for it, my favorite.

Macarons!

One of my co-workers decided to randomly bring in macarons from Miette.  I tried a few:

• Raspberry: Classic almond cookie with raspberry buttercream filling. The filling had a really nice raspberry flavor if you had just the buttercream, but it was too easily lost when eating a whole macaron, the flavor masked by the cookie. ***.
• Rose Geranium: Same basic cookie, rosewater and geranium infused buttercream.  This is always my favorite!  Everyone else seemed to hate this flavor, saying they tasted like soap.  I continue to love the subtle flavor and the sweetness from the rosewater. ***+.

Other

The rest of the baked goods lineup at Miette is varied, with some tea cakes, puddings, tarts and tartlettes.  This lineup seems to have really dwindled in the Covid days, now I rarely see these available.

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Banana Cream Tartlette:

"A buttery pâte sucrée crust filled with chocolate ganache and ripe banana slices and topped with pastry cream." 

Wow! This was a pâte sucrée tart shell, covered with a layer of chocolate ganache, then a layer of fresh banana, a layer of pastry cream, whipped cream, and topped off with chocolate shavings.  It far exceeded expectations. 

The tart shell had a nice flavor, perfectly buttery.   To be honest, I expected to throw out some of the crust, since tart shells are always fairly boring, but this was just too good.  Perhaps the best tart shell I've ever had.  

The fresh banana had great taste, the pudding was super banana-y, the chocolate layer was subtle but added a nice chocolate component, and whipped cream was good.  This came together far better than I imagined! $6.50 for a tartlette, $27 for a full tart.

****+.

Lemon Tea Cake: 

“Our buttery, lemon pound cake is glazed with zesty lemon icing.” 

This had decent lemon flavor, was fairly moist, and was good for what it was, not something I'd normally pick, but someone brought it in, and I had a slice with a cup of tea.  There was lots of very sweet icing on top.  I wouldn't get it myself, but I'd eat another slice if if showed up in front of me.  $7.50 per mini loaf.

***.

Pumpkin Walnut Bunt Cake: 

Pretty standard and generic.  It was moist, good chunks of walnut, but nothing standout.  Then again, how exciting is bunt cake?

***.

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Yank Sing

Update Review, July 2023

Last November, I ordered from Yank Sing for delivery, and was horribly disappointed, as you may have read about then (or just scroll down!).  9 months later though, I was craving dim sum again, so I gave it another try.  After all, I really did use to like the place ...

Overall, I was let down, but not as dramatically.  I think it will be a while before I give it another try.

Condiments.

When I ordered online, there was an option to add condiments and utensils, which I did, for two.  This meant a napkin and fork each (no chop sticks, surprisingly ...), along with one each of a packet of soy sauce, red vinegar, and hot sauce.

I also had to laugh, or perhaps be impressed by, the fact that every one of my food items came in a different style of container.  I had a white plastic square clam shell with vents in it for one item, a black plastic with clear top square clam shell without vents for another, and two styles of round plastic containers/bowls for others.  They clearly put thought into packaging to best present the food, and also, attempt to keep it properly crispy or moist.

Turnip Cake. $6.50.

I'm pretty sure I've never had the turnip cake from Yank Sing before.  In fact, I don't think I've had turnip cake more than 2-3 times ever in my life, an item only discovered right before the pandemic when I was in Singapore, and I later got once in SF from Hong Kong Clay Pot restaurant in Chinatown.  I'm not sure why no one I've ever been to dim sum or Chinese food has never ordered it before!  Probably because many Americans don't like turnips, and assume it will taste like what they know as turnips?  If you are unfamiliar, it does not ...  as it is made with radish, not turnip (and is called "carrot cake" in Singapore, which is even more confusing if you aren't familiar!).  But, the base is shredded radish (diakon) and rice flour, which creates the somewhat glutinous soft cake, that is then pan fried to be lightly crispy on the outside.  It is filled with other bits of yumminess inside, usually something fishy.

This version was decent.  It was lightly crispy on the outside, soft inside.  A bit greasy for my taste. Even though I knew it would be pan fried, this was pretty saturated with oil.  It had a nice amount of funk to it from the chewy bits of whatever mystery protein was in it (was it something seafood? Pork? I'm truly not sure).  Best dipped into a combination of vinegar and soy sauce.

Overall, fine, not remarkable, but good enough.  I wouldn't order again though.  ***.

The portion was large, 3 big slices, for $6.50.  While Yank Sing is known for being pricey, this seemed pretty reasonable.

Pork and Chive Dumpling Soup. $14.55.

"6 pc dumplings with a pork, chive & napa cabbage filling, served with a clear broth and vinegar on the side."

This was a really strange order on my part, not something I've ever had before from Yank Sing, nor something I'd ever heard anything about.  But I was really craving pork (not seafood) dumplings, and I thought they might hold up better in soup form, rather than the pork potstickers or pork/shrimp suimai (sadly, the actual soup dumplings aren't available for takeout).   The dish arrived really well packaged, with the dumplings in a big round ramen style bowl, the vinegar taped on top, and the broth separate on the side in a regular deli container.

The broth was fairly boring, just a light broth, perhaps chicken, perhaps veggie, it didn't have any particularly distinct flavor.  I did like that it wasn't too rich.  Salt level was nice.  Basic comforting clear broth.

The dumplings were decent.  They had a generous mound of pork filling that was flavorful from the addition of the chives and cabbage.  The wrappers were average thickness.  None were burst open.  There was green onion to garnish the dish with as well in the bowl.

And finally, the red vinegar, which I think was the same as came in my condiments bag.  I added a bit to round out the flavor, but also ended up adding some soy sauce too.

Overall, this was all fine, but I think I likely would have liked the regular dumplings better, and, since they weren't actually packaged in the soup, there wouldn't be a difference in how well they held up.  I don't think I'd get this again, but it wasn't bad, just, boring.  ***.

Yank Sing also makes noodle soup, with either shrimp wontons or these same pork and chive dumplings, and a choice of egg or rice noodles.  Those come with only 4 dumplings/wontons, compared to this with 6, but obviously also has the noodles (and additional veggies).  This did seem a bit pricey, as something like the pork and shrimp sui mai are $7 for 4, and it doesn't seem like broth should be as expensive as dumplings?

BBQ Pork Fried Rice. $5.95.

If you've read my blog for a while, you know I don't really eat much rice.  Rice in rice pudding?  Absolutely.  Crispy fried rice crunchies on top of a salad at Sweetgreen?  Sure.  But, a pile of white rice (or brown, or purple, or any for that matter) with a meal?  Nope.  I just generally don't particularly like it, but also, I'd rather fill my stomach space with other things.  Even saucy Thai or Indian curries I don't generally use rice with, I'll use naan to lap up some sauce, or frankly, just lick my plate.  I'm just a rice girl.

But, I fairly recently discovered rice I do actually like: the chicken rice at Rooster & Rice.  Always so fragrant and flavorful, and, if I throw it into my panini press while I make a salad for lunch, it makes for an awesome crispy topping.  That's pretty much the only savory rice I have liked in ... well, many years.  Probably the last time I liked savory rice was in my Rice-A-Roni days.  My recent enjoyment of the Rooster & Rice rice inspired me to throw a fried rice on my order at last minute.  Yank Sing has only one kind of fried rice, BBQ pork, which sounded fine to me.

The rice was ... fairly boring.  It was nicely moist, not clumped together, etc, but, it was just not flavorful at all.  It also was essentially blonde, and didn't really seem to have been fried.  It did have some bits of egg and green onion, but, neither of those elements really added any flavor.  It was desperately under-seasoned.  I definitely expected more from it.

That said, the little bits of bbq pork were very good.  They were flavorful, savory, salty, and nicely chewy.  I really enjoyed the bits of bbq pork.  They made me wish I'd gotten a bbq pork bun instead, even though I've never found Yank Sing's version to be that great.

So, ** boring rice, **** bbq pork, I'll say **+ overall, and not something I'd get again.  Portion was large.

Update Review, November 2022

What ... happened to Yank Sing?

Really, I'm fairly confused.  When I first moved to the Bay Area, going to dim sum at Yank Sing (yes, long wait and all), was a big part of my "experience".  Yes, it was always more expensive than it should be, and yes it was always good but not remarkable, but, it was easy, and a great group activity.  I went frequently.  It was always consistent, reliable, just, pricey.  After a few years, I stopped going as friends scattered around the city and didn't come nearby as much, and I grew sick of the crowds and prices.  I did have catering from Yank Sing a few times in the past few years, and even the catering was actually pretty good.

So one evening, when I was craving dumplings and buns, I decided to order Yank Sing delivery.  And yes, I said "evening", not daytime - Yank Sing is now open for takeout and delivery only, not dine in, in the evenings, something they introduced during Covid lockdown, presumably to get more business.

On the plus side, it was easy to order on Door Dash, and my order was ready quickly, and delivered shockingly fast.  That said, I think they just have it all premade, and thus why they have a takeout only model in the evenings.  I frequently see the menu start depleting with sold out items fairly early in the evening, and it doesn't replenish until the next day.  I think that may explain my less than stellar experience.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
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Takeout.

My items came with no condiments, nor utensils, even though I had requested them on Door Dash (it was an option).  Luckily, I had some dumpling sauce at home left over from Ramenwell.

Snow Pea Shoots Dumpling $7.20.

Back in the day, the snow pea shoot dumplings were always *my* dumplings.  These were my favorite piece, every single time I went to Yank Sing.  No, I'm not vegetarian, and I enjoyed all the seafood and pork dim sum as well, but, the top prize, every time, always went to the snow pea shoot dumplings.  They were also the only dumplings that came as just a pair, rather than 4, and were quite pricey pieces.  And I always insisted on an order just for myself.  I adored these.

I wish I could say I adored them this time.  Or, quite frankly, that I even liked them.  The dumplings were well made, and well stuffed, and the wrappers were fine (although a bit thick), but it was the filling that was just, well, not good at all.  It was chopped mush, entirely unseasoned.  Where was the vibrant, juicy, fresh snow pea shoot filling that I loved so much?  Why was it just a pile of mush?  I'm not sure if these had been made far in advance, if the filling had been left on a stovetop too long, if someone forgot to season them ... I don't know what happened, but the result was something I didn't even want to eat.  I salvaged the wrappers and dunked them in flavorful dipping sauce I had, and tossed the really, truly untasty fillings. *.

Steamed Bbq Pork Bun (2 Pc). $7.

The pork buns fared better.  The bun was soft, fresh enough, nice slight crust on it.  Average really, no better nor worse than what you can get just about anywhere (including hotel breakfast buffets ...).

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun: Inside.

Inside was decent quality chopped bbq pork, and lots of sweet sauce.  These are definitely a saucy style, and definitely sweet.  Again, a decent item, but not anything special.  ***.

Update Review, October 2019

I've reviewed Yank Sing only once before, just for catering, and was amazed that I've never written a formal review.  Yank Sing was formative to my early days in San Francisco, long waits, lazy weekends with friends eating way too much dim sum.  Such fond memories.

So whenever Yank Sing shows up as the caterer for an event I'm at ... I go running.

Catering Feast.

I eagerly loaded up a plate.

Pile of Goodness.

Yes, I took some of everything: chicken chow mein, bbq pork buns, potstickers, spring rolls, spinach dumplings, shrimp dumplings, sesame balls ...   I was famished!  (Ok, ok, and I was sharing my platter with my co-worker).

The shrimp dumpling, spring roll, pot sticker, and sesame balls were definitely the top four, and I'd gladly have any again.   The chicken chow mein was rather mediocre, just not special in any way, although it had generous chunks of chicken.

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun
"A fluffy bread bun stuffed with nuggets of honey-glazed BBQ pork."

The bbq pork buns are usually a highlight for me, but I found this just ... ok.  The dough was soft, the filling juicy and bbq'ed, but ... it was just ok.  Nothing above average.

Chicken Spring Roll
"Cantonese spring rolls filled with a wok-cooked mixture of hand-cut julienned chicken, cabbage, winter bamboo shoot tips and scallions."

I was really pleased with the spring roll though, a surprise to me, but it was soooo crispy, oily in the right ways, and the filling was flavorful.  I couldn't even tell it was chicken (a good thing for me).

Spinach Dumpling (V).

"Fresh vegetable filling of hand-chopped spinach, water chestnuts, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, in a natural chive juice colored dumpling."

I remembered not liking this before, but, I wanted to give it another try.

I again ... hated it.  I honestly don't know what it is, but there is something in the flavor, even of the wrapper, that I just can't stand.

I think it is well made though, generously stuffed, well minced filling, and soft but slightly chewy wrapper.  I just ... hate it.

Pork Potsticker.

"Northern Chinese style dumplings with a minced pork, Napa cabbage, scallions, ginger, and toasted sesame oil filling, steamed in a wok, then shallow-pan-fried." 

The pork potsticker was again quite good.  Not life changing, but a great execution - crispy exterior,  well seasoned juicy moist pork interior.  I enjoyed.

Shrimp Dumpling.

"Succulent shrimp embedded with crunchy sweet winter bamboo shoot tips and fashioned into a bonnet."

I haven't reviewed this one before, but it was a big hit for me this time.

I was shocked by just how chock full of shrimp it was.  No fishy quality, just juicy, well, yes, "succulent" shrimp inside.  Exactly as promised.

My favorite piece this day.

Sesame Ball.

"Light sticky rice-flour balls stuffed with sweet lotus seed puree, rolled in sesame seeds deep-fried until golden brown and crusty. "

The sweet option I usually go for at Yank Sing is the coconut cream roll, or sometimes the soft sweet buns or egg custard tarts, so I don't have the sesame balls often, unless I'm with a group and we can get a bunch of things.  Always something I like, but not my top choice.

I quite enjoyed it though - perfectly crispy fried exterior, delightfully chewy mochi like wrapper, and a small amount of filling inside.

Original Review, September 2018

I don't understand how I've never reviewed Yank Sing before.

For background, Yank Sing is basically *the* place for dim sum in San Francisco if you don't want to venture to the Richmond.  Its also significantly more expensive than dim sum usually is, and always causes me to take a pause when I see the prices.  That said, it is consistent, you can make reservations (!), and, well, they do use quality ingredients, and the seafood offerings in particular are impressive.

Yank Sing is the first place I ever had dim sum, way back when I moved to the Bay Area and my culinary horizons expanded.  We used to go regularly for brunch, always with a group, and always feasted.  I've since had dim sum around the world (like the beautiful unique creations at Lulu and Yum Yum in Sydney, in breakfast buffets at hotels like the Westin in Tokyo or airline lounge buffets like Cathay's in Hong Kong, on flights like Cathay Pacific Business Class flights where it wasn't great, and First Class wasn't much better, and even from food trucks like Let's Do Yum Cha).  I've safely had my share of dim sum by this point.

Anyway, I don't know how I've never reviewed Yank Sing.  I don't go often now, but I still have visited since I started a blog, likely just not taking notes and reviewing since I was with a group.  I usually dine in, always with a group since items come in sharing portions.  It is a standard setup at the restaurant, you order tea from a server, then items come through the room on carts, you gesture if you want something, you feast.

Yank Sing has two locations in San Francisco, both downtown.  They also have a takeout place that I've also ordered from a few times, when I haven't felt like dealing with the crowds, or, when I just want a few items and don't have a group.

But this review is of the group take out experience, catering.  Never a restaurant's place to shine, but, Yank Sing still did pull off a reliable meal.  It made me want to go back in person after a bit of a hiatus!

Pork Potsticker.

"Northern Chinese style dumplings with a minced pork, Napa cabbage, scallions, ginger, and toasted sesame oil filling, steamed in a wok, and then shallow pan fried." 

I went to Yank Sing for years before ever having a potsticker there.  I have no idea why.  We all always weren't interested.

And then one time, I was there with a huge group, and someone ordered them.  I thought they were crazy, but then I had one, and I recall loving it.

So I was thrilled when the catered event had the potstickers!

Pork Potsticker.

Yank Sing gets all the elements of the pot sticker right.

The wrapper is the right thickness, and the sear on one side perfect and crisp.  I love how well they get them crisped up, without feeling oily.  The sear was better on the ones at the otherwise not good Dumpling Depot in Sunnyvale, but these were better overall.

Inside is generously stuffed with a ball of minced pork with good flavor from the cabbage, scallions, and ginger.  The filling is a bit mushy for my taste, but otherwise, is fine, not too porky.

A solid potsticker, not quite as memorable as that first time I had one, but still, good.  My third favorite item.

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mye.

"Diced pork and shrimp filling, hand-wrapped in fresh pasta skin and hand-formed into a fluted 'basket'".

Pretty much every time we go to dim sum, this piece gets ordered. I've never thought it was the best piece, nor the worst piece, but definitely one always worth getting.

Very classic siu mye, with pork/shrimp/chives inside.

Pork and Shrimp Siu Mye.

But I adored the shrimp siu mye this time.

The wrapper was my favorite of the assortment of dim sum I had, a slight chew to it.  The filling was generous, juicy, and just loaded with big chunks of shrimp.  I didn't actually taste any pork, but, I think there was some ground with the other goodies.

My favorite piece from this visit.

Scallop Siu Mye.

I don't think I had ever had this one before!

It was labelled as scallop siu mye, but, certainly not the shape of a siu mye ... it didn't have an open top?

Scallop Siu Mye.

I think it might have been the seafood and chive dumpling instead, as, you can see, it had lots of green inside too!

But really what was inside was a huge juicy scallop.  If I thought the shrimp sui mye was loaded with shrimp, this was even more so.  Tons of protein in this one!  The scallop was fine, not particularly notable, but, fine.  Which was surprising given that the majority of this item *was* scallop, I expected to taste it more.

A decent dumpling, one I'd consider getting again since I do love scallops, but, the scallop didn't really present itself how I'd like.

Spinach Dumpling (Vegetarian).

"Fresh vegetable filling of hand chopped spinach, water chestnuts, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and bamboo shoots in a natural chive juice colored dumpling." 

I had a vague memory of trying this years ago when I dined with vegetarians and we had *all* the vegetarian items, and I remembered not liking it, but, I still tried it again.

And, yup, not my thing.

The shape is more like a large tortellini, and the wrapper a bit thicker than most other offerings, in not a good way, as it dominated.  Green from chive juice, but you don't taste it.  Eh to the wrapper.

The filling I didn't care for either, the crunch from the bits of water chestnut was nice, but otherwise, the flavor of the spinach didn't do it for me.

One of my least favorites, and I don't want to try these again!

Mushroom Dumpling (Vegetarian)

My absolute favorite piece of dim sum from Yank Sing is a vegetarian item.  No question.  I really truly adore their snow pea shoots dumplings.  These at least looked similar, the same shape and size, and I do like mushrooms, so I gave them a try.

The wrapper was good, nicely steamed, not too thick, and it was well formed.

Mushroom Dumpling: Inside.

But the inside wasn't for me.  The texture of the chopped slimy mushrooms, and the overall flavor ... eh.

Probably my second to least favorite piece they serve (after the spinach one!).

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun.

"A fluffy bread bun stuffed with nuggets of honey glazed BBQ pork. "

Yank Sing's steamed BBQ pork buns are always reliable.

Huge, fluffy, slightly sweet bun, chopped up bbq pork inside.  The bbq pork is fine, decent quality pork, decent flavor bbq, not too sweet, nicely coated pieces.  I don't adore it, I've had bbq filling I like better, but this is a decent version.

Solid, reliable, but not, "OMG great".

Egg Custard Tart.

"Velvety smooth and sweet egg custard in a flaky pastry tart shell. "

Yank Sing makes a fine egg custard tart.  Flaky shell, shiny top, well set egg custard, slightly sweet.  Best warm, no question.

It is a fairly standard offering, not remarkable in any way, but reliable if you are in the mood.

I personally adore some of their other desserts though, like the coconut cream rolls, so, the egg custard is always just "ok" to me.

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Sharetea (US and AU)

Update Review, 2024, Sydney, Australia

Sharetea is a global chain of reasonable quality bubble tea and adjacent products.  My previous visits have always been in San Francisco, but this year, when I was in Sydney, I gave it a try, when reviews of other, smaller local places all seemed abysmal in comparison.  People really did seem to like Sharetea, and, the menu in Australia is a bit different from the US.

Frozen

"When the mercury rises, chill out with Smoothie and Crushes from Sharetea’s boba menu. Whether you like it shaken or stirred, refresh your taste buds with fruity ice or milky bubble teas. Create your delicious milky Smoothie or icy Crush with any of these flavours. Ice levels cannot be modified."

Sharetea has two different frozen ranges: crushes and smoothies, the later of which is is milky, the former, fruity.  Crushes are available in 5 flavors (mango, mango passionfruit, strawberry, honeydew, rose) and smoothies, 6 (chocolate, honeydew, taro, watermelon, watermelon lychee).

Sweetness level modifications are allowed (none, half, normal, extra), but not dairy type nor ice.  They have no non-dairy options available.

On a hot (90*!) day in Sydney, rather than getting more ice cream / gelato / froyo, which I had done every day prior, I decided to mix it up and get a smoothie.

Taro Smoothie (Large). No Sweet. $9.10.
Add Cherry Blossom Pearls, Add Cream Top (+$1.10 each)

I went for taro, my standard, not sweet.  For my mix-in, I went for a Valentine's day special, cherry blossom pearls, rather than my standard lychee jellies or popping boba.  They were limited and exclusive, and thus desirable, plus I thought they'd have a similar effect on the drink.

The smoothie was well blended, no hunks of ice, nicely icy with tiny bits of ice crystals, not too much milky liquid.  The flavor was strong in taro, but, in the fake taro powder style, clearly no real taro used here, which was a letdown (that I should have anticipated, I had just forgotten that for the milk tea and smoothies, Sharetea uses powder, rather than real taro used in the fresh milk series).  It was also very very sweet.  I know the powder and creamer they use is sweetened, but I was still surprised by how very sweet it was.  I wonder if my no sweet modifier was missed?  Anyway, nicely blended, nicely creamy, but, just taro powder and creamer, no different than you can get anywhere else generically, and too sweet for my tastes.  *** base in terms of my enjoyment, but **** for blendedness.

As for the cherry blossom pearls, they were large size pearls, with a sweet taste to them.  They didn't seem different to me from crystal or agar pearls though.  I suspect there may have been a subtle flavor to them that was masked by the taro powder and sweetness?  The texture was good, not too mushy, none stuck together.  Not quite as novel as I was hoping for, but, good.  High ***.

Overall, a fairly generic taro smoothie, but well executed. High ***.

Cream Top (on the side). $1.10.

I put in the Door Dash notes to have the cream top on the side if possible, and I was happy to see the note was followed, with a smiley face no less!

The cream top was slightly frothy, and had a nice cream cheese tang.  It wasn't as fluffy as some other brands, and was just the kinda standard "cheese" taste, but, I still really do like it.  ***+.

Yoghurt

"For something more-ish, cool off with our Yoghurt drinks. Superbly balanced between sweet and savoury, enjoy a creamy texture and vibrant, refreshing flavours. Delectable with these deliciously sweet treats. Sweetness and ice levels cannot be modified."

Sharetea yogurt drinks are available in 5 varieties: mango passionfruit, strawberry popping pearls, taro & red bean, purple rice, and purple rice with mango.  You cannot modify the sweetness nor ice levels of these.  You can add standard mix-ins/toppings (20 choices!), but can't customize further, e.g. if you wanted taro and mango, or sticky rice and any other flavor besides mango, that is a no go.

I had never had a yogurt drink from Sharetea, and gave it a try, prepared to be pretty sad that it wasn't just Koomi.

Mango Purple Rice Yogurt. $9.60.

I went for the mango purple sticky rice, which is generally my go-to for yogurt drinks.  They don't allow you to modify the sweetness, so I wasn't able to tone that down as I usually do.  I decided not to add any other mix-ins, so this was entirely unmodified.

Yogurt drinks at bubble tea shops have high variance.  Some are thin and watery, and just use Yakult as the base.  Others are not really drinks, and are thick, rich, and boast house made high quality yogurt.    Sharetea's version was actually even different from those.  It was actually a blended ice drink, so, smoothie style.  The ice blending made it thick, but if allowed to sit a while (I ordered two items at the same time, the actual smoothie that I intended to drink right away, and this for later, as I thought it would be a more normal yogurt drink), it quickly separated out into a watery layer, and a milky layer, and not remotely thick like yogurt.  It was slightly tart, fairly sweet, and decently creamy when blended, so decent yogurt-ish base, but not remarkable.

The mango and purple rice are obviously key elements of this item.  Again, Sharetea takes a slightly different approach.  I expected a lot of actual purple rice for texture and hunks of fresh mango.  Which, at first glance, it looks to have.  But, looks are deceiving. It was highly blended, so besides the rice that was visible lining the cup, there were no other grains of rice within.  I really wanted texture and actual hunks of rice, so alas, this was a miss for me.  The same with the mango.  There was a smear of mango puree lining the cup, but zero hunks of mango within.  It was fairly fruity, but, no real mango evident.

So overall, it wasn't really what I was looking for, and really was much more of a drink, a very blended one, than a yogurt or mango or rice forward item.  It was sweeter than I generally want, so I wish they'd let me modify that.  That all said, I wasn't entirely unhappy with it, once I adjusted my expectations.  Koomi is still my hands down favorite. ***.

Original Review, 2019, San Francisco

Sharetea is a bubble tea chain that originated in Taiwan in the early '90s.  Since then, they have expanded internationally, now with more than 450 stores.  In San Francisco, they have at least 3 locations that I know of (the Metreon, Westfield mall, and Geary).

My visits in person were all in 2017, to the Metreon location, where I tried two taro creations, since, I kinda have a thing for taro.   I liked them.

But I didn't go back, I'm not really sure why.  Then, in February 2018, I  attended an event with a selection of bubble teas catered by Sharetea.  This was exciting (yay, bubble tea!) but also meant that I did not select the items myself.  I've grown sick of standard black tapioca boba and prefer jellies, puddings, etc, and all the choices had boba in them.  And I also usually go for less sweet, and most were full sweet.

That said, of course I was excited to try these too, given the taro drink success.

The Menu

The menu at Sharetea, like most bubble tea shops, is broken down into Milk Tea, Ice Blended, Fresh Milk, Fruit Tea, Creama, and simple Brewed Tea.  They show their top 20 prominently around the space, to help guide you in decision making.

All the standard offerings are available, black, green, and oolong tea for the base, fruity flavors like mango, kiwi, passion fruit, strawberry, and more.  The toppings/mix-ins selection is extensive, with all the classics and then some: pearls (mini, large, mixed), jellies (ice, lychee, rainbow), aloe vera, pudding, taro chunks, red bean, and even ice cream.  They also have a few items more accessible to those who have never had bubble tea, like an Oreo or Coffee blended drink (which, to be fair, I actually really liked my Oreo smoothie at Home Plate Boba).  You can customize your level of sweetness and amount of ice.

My favorite menu item, just from the name, is the "QQ Happy Family Milk Tea", loaded with pearls, grass jelly, pudding, aloe, and red bean.  What is QQ?  Who is the Happy Family?  Don't ask me.

The Space

The Storefront.

The Sharetea I visited is located inside the Metreon, alongside several other establishments.

Every time I've walked by, the place is bustling.  The ordering setup is efficient though, with a clear space to line up, order at the register, pay, get your number, and then wait on the side.  Orders are called out on the far side, by number, with a display showing which order number they are on (just like at the deli!)

Behind the counter is the drink processing station, with staff working quite efficiently.  Everything is laid out and just quickly assembled to order.  The space isn't large, but, they use it well.

Sharetea is also on OrderAhead (or, was, until OrderAhead shut down), so I was able to skip the line and order from the app before I arrived.  However, the soonest "ASAP" option was 25 minutes, not quite what I was hoping for.  For OrderAhead, they call your name rather than number.

There is no seating dedicated to Sharetea, but there is general food court seating, along with plentiful outdoor space in Yerba Buena Gardens just outside the door.

Drinks - 2017

Taro Ice Blended with Pudding. $6.85.

For my first drink, I skipped past standard bubble tea, as it was a crazy hot day out, and I wanted something more like a milkshake.  This desire lead me to the "Ice Blended" section of the menu, where I had a few options.  For me though, the choice was clear: taro!  I'm a huge fan of taro (real and powdered), so this was a no brainer.  I was much like a "Slush" from Quickly, which of course I've had before, or the fantastic taro smoothie from Miss Saigon.

Interestingly, the drink comes pre-defined with pudding as the mix-in.  I could add on another mix-in, or perhaps sub it out (although that wasn't an option anywhere I saw), so, I stuck with that suggestion.  I was leaning towards red bean, but, hey, if they put this on the menu as a standard drink, why not?

I opted for 50% sweetness, knowing how crazy sweet these drinks tend to be.  Besides that, I stuck with the defaults.

I'm not entirely sure what was in this drink.  I assume it was taro powder, and non-dairy creamer, plus ice and the puddings?  Some of the ice blended drinks say they have ice cream in them, this one did not list it, so, I think it did not have ice cream?  But I'm not sure.

Anyway, my drink was good.  It was perfectly blended, no ice chunks, no separation.  The taro flavor was also good, although I'm pretty sure this drink uses the powder.  It was a lovely shade of fake purple.  50% sweet was definitely a good choice, as it was still pretty sweet, and I'd actually lean towards only 30% for next time.  I can't imagine this at 100%!

The puddings were interesting.  Basically, big chunks of ... custard pudding, like flan, crème brûlée, or any other custard pudding.  They added a very smooth texture and additional sweetness.  They sucked up easily in the straw.  You'd think I'd love these, as I love pudding, and I like having texture, but, I got pretty sick of the puddings.  Ojan however loved them.  Next time, I'd try something else, like the red bean I originally wanted ...

So, overall, definitely good and I'd get another.  I'd likely tone down the sweetness more and try a different mix in.  Also, the $6.85 price really does seem kinda high for powder and ice thrown into a blender. ***.

Warm Fresh Taro Milk Tea with Red Bean. $5.00.

Next, I went for a hot beverage.  I've only had a hot beverage once before from a bubble tea place, when I got a hot taro milk tea at Chai-Yo, which wasn't very successful.

It was a cold day, and I wanted a hot drink to warm me up.  In the OrderAhead app, there was a section for "Hot Drinks".  It contained one item: fresh taro milk tea.  Since I love taro, this sounded good to me.

Side note: I later learned that many other drinks, listed in the other sections, are available warm too, that is just one of the customizations you can apply, just like sweetness level, ice level, etc.  For my selection however, I didn't have any customizations available, besides add-ins.  No way to specify sweetness, which concerned me slightly.  I did opt for an add in, and randomly went with red bean, since the others all seemed like they'd be strange in a warm drink and I was sorta trying to be responsible and add some protein instead of just sweet jellies.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what this drink was.  It isn't actually listed anywhere on the menu at Sharetea itself, which I found very strange.  "Taro pearl milk tea" is a drink, available warm or iced, but that is the style where you specify sweetness, and, I believe is made with black tea.  "Handmade taro with fresh milk" is also an option, iced only, but it too lets you specify sweetness, and costs $1 more.

So what was this?  Was it the warm version of the "taro pearl milk tea", sans pearls, and with default sweetness?  I'm really not sure.  It did kinda taste like it had black tea in it (whoops! I didn't want caffeine!), but, I also thought that the taro milk tea used powder, not real taro, and, this sure seemed to be real taro, aka, it wasn't bright purple and had big chunks of taro in it.  More on that soon.  Was it a warm version of the  'handmade taro with fresh milk", just, cheaper and without letting me say how sweet?  Maybe?

My drink came in a opaque paper cup, unlike the cold beverages that come in clear plastic, revealing their color and mix-ins.  And since the top was sealed like a bubble tea, I had no idea what was inside, which added to the mystery of what on earth I was getting.  It was also interesting in temperature.  The cup was sorta hot on top, but, cold on bottom?

Taro and red beans!

So, how was my mystery creation?

A mixed bag.

I think that the milk was warmed up, but, the mix-ins were cold, which cooled the whole thing down.  So, it was lukewarm from the moment I got it, and it got colder quickly, given that the base was cold to the touch.  Doh.  I wanted a hot beverage to warm me up!

Still, it was fascinating, particularly since I couldn't see inside, and I wasn't sure what I had ordered.  I put in a bubble tea straw, and took a big suck.  Up my straw came ... chunks of taro!  Yes!  It wasn't just powder.  And then ... whole little red beans.  The taro was kinda mashed, and was a bit strange to suck up through my straw.

The flavor of the milk itself was sorta taro-y and not too sweet.  Once I opened it up, I could see the color was more brownish-purple than bright purple like drinks made with powder, so, I do think it really was just taro steeped milk.  But, I'm confused why this was $1 less than the "Handmade Taro with Fresh Milk", and, why that one isn't available warm.  And why it sorta tasted like tea.  Hmm.  Again, I still have no idea what I had.  It wasn't too creamy, so, I think it used regular milk, not something heavier.

I also poured off the milk so I could see what else was in there.  As you can see here, little red beans, and, mashed up taro. 

Overall, it was ... ok.  The real issue was the lukewarm/cold nature of it.  **+.

The "warm fresh taro milk tea" is $4.50, I added red bean for $0.50 more, making this a $5 fascination.

Drinks - 2019

My next encounter was at an event, rather than direct at the store.

Matcha Fresh Milk Tea / Less Sweet / Tapioca Pearls. $6.75.

At the event, given my limited selections, I opted for the matcha fresh milk tea, with pearls (eh), and made less sweet.

It was a fairly standard matcha milk.  Creamy from generic milk, decent matcha flavor.  The pearls were made nicely enough, not clumped together, not too soft, not too hard, but, as expected, I wasn't quite into them.  This is easily fixed though - just use a standard straw, and sip from higher up.

I enjoyed it, but this isn't what I'd order, and the $6.75 regular price seems really high for what is just a cup of milk mixed with matcha powder and boba.  ***.

Classic Milk Tea / Black Tea / Normal Sweet / Tapioca Pearls. $6.00.

The event ended with piles of unclaimed, packaged milk teas, so I grabbed a classic milk tea for the next morning.  This one sadly also had tapioca pearls AND was normal sweet, so I was less excited for it, but, hey, can't waste!

It was a pretty standard milk tea.  Strong black tea flavor, sweet and creamy, same decent enough tapioca balls, if you like them.

Not what I'd get myself, since black milk tea is a bit boring to me, and sweeter than I go for, but, it was absolutely fine. ***.

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