From boba to bingsu: Greatest Asian desserts of the Bay

Amid the sweltering fall quarter warmth, we’re all on the lookout for enjoyable, new and refreshing dessert spots to chill down at. Possibly it’s a totally different comfortable serve place out of your standard. Possibly you might be within the temper to attempt one thing completely totally different. No matter your craving is for, beneath is an inventory of the seven finest Asian dessert spots across the Bay Space, organized by growing distance from the Stanford campus.

Wanpo Tea Store

Key options:

• 2.6 miles away — Stanford Procuring Heart
• $6-$8 per cup of bubble tea, relying on dimension

⚠️Tip: For toppings, “boba” refers back to the typical boba, however “pearls” refers to mini boba.

General, Wanpo’s teas are flavorful and never overly candy. There may be at all times an abundance of boba and toppings, and the boba is the right texture — good and chewy. 

The favored Wanpo milk tea was flavorful at 50% sweetness, the standard degree I go for. It was a bit of bit on the sweeter facet, however nonetheless not overly candy. In comparison with Boba Guys, whose bubble tea at all times appears watered-down to me, and T4, whose bubble tea is overly candy, the Wanpo milk tea hit the suitable spot. 

The store’s facilities, together with a progress display, had been considerate however unhelpful. The display was additionally inaccurate — the wait time for our drinks was not so long as it prompt. 

Somi Somi

Key options:

• 2.9 miles away — College Ave
• $7 per Ah-Boong

⚠️ Tip: Order the upside-down Ah-Boong, in order that the comfortable serve doesn’t drip over your fingers.

Somi Somi serves the Korean dessert Ah-Boong, a fish-shaped waffle cone (taiyaki) on comfortable serve ice cream. The comfortable serve ice cream is obtainable in six to eight flavors, and you may usually select two swirls from the choice. The swirl combos change often, with two new pairs of soppy serve flavors supplied every week. Prospects also can select a filling for the taiyaki, with choices that vary from the usual custard, to nutella, pink bean, taro and even cream cheese.

The matcha/oreo swirl with nutella taiyaki, topped with matcha powder, was an ideal stability of creamy and crunchy. The comfortable serve was easy and complemented the flaky, crunchy and doughy taiyaki very effectively. The matcha powder accentuated the bitterness of the matcha comfortable serve ice cream, making that taste pop.

The service is quick for comfortable serve ice cream or Ah-Boong (about 5 minutes), however slower for taiyaki (as much as quarter-hour).

Satura Patisserie

Key options:

• 5.7 miles away — Downtown Los Altos
• Japanese Cake Store

⚠️ Tip: On-line order and in-store. You’ll be able to solely purchase slices of desserts in-store.

Muffins from Satura Patisserie are mild and fluffy. The Satura Shortcake (strawberry shortcake) is their signature cake. The vanilla cake base and cream weren’t dense or heavy, and it was not overwhelmingly candy. I may style the strawberries in each chew. 

The Mango & Coco cake was equally scrumptious and flavorful. The mix of the mousses, cake and kiwi gave the cake a easy texture with the occasional crunch of fruit. My solely critique is that I want there was extra fruit on prime of the cake. 

Hong Kong Chinese language Bakery

Key options:

• 7.7 miles away — Castro Road
• Mother-and-pop store
• No preservatives

⚠️ Tip: Money solely!

Hong Kong Chinese language Bakery sells all forms of Chinese language baked items. The favored char siu bao — a candy and salty bun with a creamy pork filling inside — was each scrumptious and large. The bun was mild and fluffy. In the meantime, its pork filling had an almost-creamy consistency with little bits of char siu for texture. 

The paper chiffon cake was barely candy, although a bit of dry on the surface. The cake’s redeeming qualities, nevertheless, included its lightness, fluffiness and moistness on the within.

On an loafer day, the wait is roughly 5 minutes. On busier days, the wait time will increase to fifteen minutes. The worth is sort of cheap for the scale and high quality of the baked items.

Sulbing

Key options:

• 15 miles away — Santa Clara
• Excellent place for group dessert!

Sulbing was a really good place to flee the warmth. The bingsu, although a bit of bit on the expensive facet, was scrumptious. Each desserts that I sampled weren’t overly candy. 

The pink bean injeolmi sulbing (the shop’s signature) was a flavorful deal with that was each candy and savory. The injeolmi powder supplied a nutty style harking back to cashew, whereas the pink bean was candy. Lower-up almonds added a pleasant crunch and the mushiness of the candy pink bean added to the feel of the dessert.

The strawberry sulbing was a very good stability of candy and bitter. This dessert was topped with a candy and tangy strawberry-like jam, with pink bean within the heart of this dessert.

As someone that enjoys many toppings on desserts, I felt that Sulbing supplied simply sufficient, if not too little toppings on each bingsu. Sulbing has TV screens to provide you with a warning that your order is prepared — simply pay attention for a comfortable dinging sound.

Hui Lau Shan

Key options:

• 16 miles away — Cupertino
• One-of-a-kind: Hong Kong mango desserts
• Excellent place for group dessert!

Calling all mango-lovers: Hui Lau Shan is your subsequent go-to dessert spot. The Mango Chewy Ball dessert has a mango base (barely thicker than a slushie-like consistency) with chewy tapioca balls, mango slices and mango ice cream. Although the mango base was candy, the chewy tapioca balls (which had no taste) balanced out the sweetness of the mango slush and supplied a pleasant texture. The mango ice cream (on prime of the dessert) was easy, agency and never overly candy.

Consuming the mango pudding felt like consuming an actual mango — as the feel was chunky and agency, much like that of an precise mango. Hui Lau Shan additionally supplied milk to accompany the pudding, however there wasn’t a big change after pouring the milk on prime. Regardless, the style was on-point.

There might be a protracted line, although it goes rapidly. Additionally, huge cups (situated on the counter) for sharing desserts value $1.

Uncle Tetsu | Japanese Cheesecake

Key options:

• 18 miles away — Hillsdale Procuring Heart
• One-of-a-kind: Japanese souffle cheesecake
• Excellent place for group dessert!

⚠️ Tip: In case you are aiming to get a selected taste of cheesecake, go earlier within the day, so that there’s a much less possible likelihood of that taste being offered out.

In case you are within the temper for Japanese souffle cheesecake, Uncle Tetsu is the place to go. The cheesecakes are scrumptious when chilled; they’re comfortable, moist, spongy and soften in your mouth — an enormous distinguishing issue from common cheesecake. The unique cheesecake was a lighter, fluffier model of a typical cheesecake; nevertheless, it was not as candy.

Uncle Tetsu cheesecakes are smaller than a 10-inch cheesecake (the everyday dimension of a cheesecake at Cheesecake Manufacturing facility). Nonetheless, they’re nonetheless massive sufficient to share.

Editor’s Be aware: This text is a overview and incorporates subjective opinions, ideas and critiques.