If you enjoy cute character desserts, delicious drinks, and an overall cozy cafe experience, I…read morehighly recommend that you stop by Always Yours Bakery Cafe! Not only are you able to purchase from their bakery case, you can also request to have desserts made for special events! (In advance of course.) I very much enjoy their macarons and fresh fruit tarts. They also added Banana Matcha to their menu when it became a craze, and I 10/10 would recommend it. They use high quality matcha powder (Marukyu Koyamaen) for their drinks. This is one of the few things that drew me into their cafe. The baristas are extremely friendly and have a wonderful sense of humor, AND they support small businesses! While you wait for your order, you can browse their shelf full of crystal candies, matcha sets, candles, and they may also have Natsume matcha tins available! (This is not the matcha they use in their drinks, but it's nice to have other options available to buy.) ^^ So if you're in the East Bay and are looking for a business to support, go to Always Yours Bakery Cafe (they're also available on the Too Good To Go app)! They have beautiful outdoor seating available, as well as cutesy seating indoors. Not sponsored or anything, I just wanted to review one of my favourite cafes in Castro Valley. ^^

Over the years, I've been a loyal supporter of Always Yours, dating back to the early days. When…read moreNatalie opened up right here in Castro Valley, I was ecstatic to finally have a high-end macaron and drink spot in town. For the first few months, it completely lived up to the hype. The character macarons were incredibly intricate, and the drinks easily rivaled the top-tier boba shops in the area. However, as the shop has scaled and commercialized, there has been a noticeable shift in consistency. With quicker turnarounds and the typical high turnover of part-time staff, the execution just hasn't been the same. While Natalie has mentioned investing heavily in upgraded ingredients behind the scenes like scratch-made syrups and ceremonial grade matcha, those drinks often lack consistency in sweetness, in toppings, or overall execution. The macaron flavors feel much more muted than they used to be, and the character designs look a bit more rushed compared to the incredible creativity of the early days. I have immense respect for the incredible amount of solo grind and dedication it takes to run a local business for five years, which is why I've supported them for so long. But as a longtime fan, it's just disappointing to see the final execution drift from the incredible standard they originally set. I genuinely hope the team can find their rhythm again and bring back those nostalgic memories.

I ordered 6 dozen macarons for my niece's first bithday which was ONE-der Woman Themed. We got the…read morefruity pebble, Ube, and cookies and cream, and they were SO DELICIOUS! The guests loved them as well. I had to put them on the bottom because they were going faster than the rest of the desserts! LOL Karen is super nice and professional, always keeping great communication. She is a pleasure to work with and her macarons are so yummy!! Will definitely use her again for future events.

I ordered green and yellow macarons for my sisters Baby Shower and they. looked. STUNNING!!…read moreEveryone loved them and they tasted amazing as well. Definitely will be coming back for future events.

Quick service. Tempting treats…read more The store is clean and delicious looking. We bought two treats. Chocolate covered gummy bears and a dark chocolate rice treat. Both were yummy. The chocolate was smooth and sweet.

I've tried a few Dubai chocolates from Hanna's and honestly they're the best I've had. For me it…read morereally comes down to keeping the chocolate layer thin, not making it overly sweet, and being generous with the filling. I've tried other Dubai chocolates too, from Fix all the way to the ones at Costco, but I always pander back to Hanna's. The store itself is beautiful. It is a bit on the pricey side so I usually go for the smaller bars. That said, the price makes sense since, as I understand, the bars are handmade and poured. You pay for what you get!

I'm usually not a fan of cupcake frosting but these were light right amount of sweetness and all…read morearound delicious. I tried the cookies & cream and chocolate, both were good. The cookies & cream frosting was my favorite compared to the chocolate one. All in all solid place cupcake place.

Ordered a Too Good to Go bag last week and got a container of banana pudding and a slice of…read morechocolate cake. The shop is super cute and small, displaying a variety of baked goods. The person who helped me out was nice as well. The banana pudding was heavenly. Super creamy and just like the filling of a banana cream pie, with the addition of the vanilla wafers. A couple of bites and it was gone! Definitely will be back for that. The chocolate cake was super chocolatey and I loved the cake to icing ratio as it was just the right amount. The cake was moist as well, and not dry at all. What a great deal overall. I even spied a tres leches cupcake when I did my pickup but held off since I was already picking up sweets. Hope they'll have it when I go back!

Amazing, beautiful, creative macarons! The baker (I didn't catch his name, but he's really nice and…read morefriendly!) makes all of these fun, seasonal flavor combinations that you would never think of, but work well! Each one was so flavorful and perfectly crafted. We tried Harry's Berries & Miso, Rose Rhubarb, Golden Hummingbird, and Earl Grey Lavender. My personal favorite was the Berries & Miso, the strawberry really came through with a nice hint of miso for some depth. They were all delicious though!

Date: 02/04/2023 Time: 3:15 PM 52° Rain…read more Shades of Sugar Bakeshop was one of the vendors at a cultural event at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. Eric Szeto is the founder of the business. This event was a blend of two of the oldest culture - African and Asian - which is something I am proud of, and it showed the common ground between the two. Macarons were $3.00 each; $18.00 for 1/2 dozen. The flavors available were toasted watermelon seed, hawthorn berry, ginger pear, kumquat, vanilla bourbon and chocolate passion fruit. The first four mentioned flavors are for the Lunar New Year. Mr. Szeto assisting me was informative when I asked about the hawthorn berry macaron. The mere response from him brought back my childhood memory of the shan jah wafers that I had eaten plenty of as a snack. My parents sold rolls of those wafers in the Chinese grocery store that we had over 65 years ago. Eats: 2 hawthorn berry macarons and 1 ginger pear macaron. The hawthorn berry one was tart and almost had a cranberry taste. The ginger pear one was a nice balance of ginger and pear, and delicious. Between the two macarons, I enjoyed the ginger pear over the hawthorn berry. The flavors were unique.

Tous Les Jours is so well made! They have a lot of buns, savory, sweet breads, drinks and desserts…read moreto pick from. Today, I got the bacon and cheese breakfast item, almond croissant and red bean bun. Yum ~ The interior is so cute too!

Decided to stop for a break after a hectic day. A sip of warm coffee, and a bite of cake, and the…read moreworld starts slowing down.. I came with a couple friends! We got the buttercream bread, sweet rice donut, chocolate cloud cake, milk cornet, and the strawberry milk bread. For drinks we got the red velvet hot cocoa and the caramel macchiato. The buttercream bread was my absolute favorite out of the bunch. The butter cream wasn't too sweet and the bread was sooo soft. The ratio of cream to bread was just right, so each bite of bread had a sweet balance of the fluffy cream. The sweet rice donut was okay. To be, it could have been more softer, but it was expected for it to go stale a little bit since it's been out lying for a while. Some things are just unavoidable. The chocolate cloud cake was really good, but there was so much cream. Unlike the buttercream bread, there was imbalance here, but I adored the giant strawberries sandwiched between the cream. The consistency of the actual cake was perfect though, because sometimes I know it can get really soggy from the cream. Next time I would give another cake a try instead. The milk cornet was great! Tried it out because it seemed really popular; there was only one left. This pastry like a croissant stuffed with milky cream. The cornet was perfectly crunchy and the milk cream wasn't too sweet. Next time, I want to give the blueberry version a try. The strawberry milk bread impressed me. It was super soft, and I like how there was a really small amount of cream. Like, I understood what the cream was trying to do there. One bite of just bread would be pretty dry, but a little bit of cream can help smooth things out but still keep the spotlight on the bread. The red velvet hot cocoa drink was what surprised me the most. I suppose this drink is Valentines day edition, so it's not always here. I was so surprised when I opened the lid and saw hot pink foam! Like, DANG! Tous les jours really went out of their way to give us a sip of Valentines day! This drink is on the sweeter end, though. A friend said that the caramel macchiato was just okay, nothing surprising or impressive about it. I guess it was a safe order. The baristas were really efficient with our drinks; both drinks took five minutes or less! I love the interior of this bakery. So cute yet so easygoing. Perfect ambiance for catching up with some girlfriends!

I was in the area, and I am beyond happy to have found this place! I came in on a Saturday…read moreafternoon and it was slightly busy but I honestly wanted to try everything haha! My family and I ended up trying the Cookies & Cream Croffle, Toscino Spam Pandesal, Strawberry Muddy Mix, and the Buko Pandan Latte. Everything tasted delicious but I especially loved the strawberry muddy mix since it was super flavorful and easy to share! I also would heavily recommend the Buko Pandan Latte. It has homemade pandan syrup and was exactly what I needed. I would definitely recommend supporting this small business! The vibe in here is super cute! All the walls are decorated and I think this would be a great place to chat with friends!

I kept hearing really good reviews and i wanted to try it! I got the iced ube thai tea and the iced…read moreturon latte and honestly... it was so buns... i was really bummed out. The ube thai tea sounded hella good and wanted to try it besides the iced turon latte and i was disappointed not gonna lie. This drink was separated from the actual main menu so it was their specialty. I did not taste the ube, it tasted hella watered down, not sweet at all, just straight sadness. The turon latte was okay, i didn't taste the turon, it tasted just like an iced latte. I also got the ube cookie and the cookie was better than the drinks. I would love to try this place again for a redemption if i were to come back to the area. But kind of iffy since 2 drinks kind of got me bummed out. Tungtungtungsahur rates 2/5

I was introduced to this place through my job, someone brings back their famous MONKEY BREAD and i…read moregot hooked. Very sweet owners, always polite and helpful, huge selection, but I'm here for that monkey break and its very reasonably priced for what you get. its a small bakery, don't remember if there was eating in the but, its in a little strip mall and plenty of parking so its very easy to get in and out. Monkey bread runs out quick so get there early!

Bit of Ireland was the only place my mom would go to buy Portuguese sweet bread for my dad (and us…read morekids) for the best toast in the world. It was also the only place she would go to get Irish soda bread for St. Patrick's Day. They continue to be my go-to place for those two breads. My only complaint is, while I there to pick up those breads, I can't resist all those other melt-in-your-mouth bakery goods they have there so I always go home with way more than I intended. I consider them sort of the secret gifts in San Leandro. Not likely to discover on your own unless you drive up and down Davis and look around to notice them in a small strip mall. But a wonderful discovery if you do find them. You can order in advance for special occasions, or just drop by. Specialty breads like sweet bread or soda bread are usually only available at appropriate holidays (like Easter and St. Patrick's Day), but there are always delicious options.

So cute! I got my boyfriend a small birthday cake from here and the baker was very communicative! I…read morecontacted her through Instagram dms (@mitaibakery) and we were able to set up a meeting time during the weekend. Such a cute home-based bakery located in Fremont! I got the 4 inch bento cake with vanilla cake and chocolate frosting. I sent her a reference photo of what I wanted the cake to look like, and it came out just as I wanted! (if not better!!!) The frosting on the exterior of the cake was SO GOOD. Tasted very buttery and not too sweet. It was really addicting and the two of us finished the cake easily in one sitting. I also got a set of 5 Pure Milk Macarons, which were chewy and the filling was so creamy and chilled! Very much tasted like ice cream in the center. Overall, not too sweet and very delicious! She also gave us very thorough instructions on how to eat and store the macrons. Super helpful.

If you're looking for those cute, bento sized, Korean aesthetic cake-- Mitai Bakery is the place!…read more My friends and I wanted to order a custom cake, but needed it within a few days... Katie was quick to respond & was able to accommodate our request! The matcha flavor was SO YUMMY, I think I cried and the frosting was SOOOO creamy! Not too bitter, not too sweet. Just perfect! Only complaint is that we wish it was bigger so we can have more Thanks again, Katie!! Definitely would recommend!!!

Ordered Harry Potter themed cake pops for baby shower and they were the cutest! Vy really captures…read moreevery detail. She's also super easy to coordinate with. Will definitely be ordering from her again!

Such cute cakepops! I had a great experience ordering custom cake pops from Vy for my daughter's…read morebirthday. I sent her some pictures of the design I was looking for (pusheen cats), and the end results couldn't be better. Adults and children were equally impressed at the birthday party. Success!