Although they don't serve variations of buttercups, A Buttercup is one of the few dessert houses…read moreoffering Taiwanese-style treats like Bingsoo, Milk Bread Toast, and other Asian fusion creations. I'm always hunting for spots like this because I have a weakness for those over-the-top, Instagram-worthy desserts that look like diabetes in a dish. Like most places in this genre, A Buttercup is small, modern, and minimalist with limited seating. If you plan to go, aim for off-hours unless you enjoy waiting in line for sugar. The decor is cute and trendy, perfect for photos if that's part of your dessert ritual. As they say, "you eat with your eyes first," and when it comes to presentation, this place definitely gets an A+. The desserts look stunning and set high expectations. Unfortunately, that's where things started to crumble. It's like going to see your favorite artist live. You've watched the videos, memorized the songs, and paid for the experience. But instead of the electric performance you imagined, you get someone lip-syncing and barely connecting with the crowd. That was this place in dessert form. We ordered the Mango Bingsoo on our first visit, and when it arrived, we were surprised by how small the portion was. The guy next to us even looked over and said, "Whatever that is, I'm getting that next time." He shouldn't have. The Bingsoo looked great but was bland, and the "snow" was more chunky ice than soft shave. The Thai Tea Roti was also not what I expected. It came with Thai tea ice cream and sauce alongside a roti that was fried to a crunch. Interesting idea, just not the best execution. The sauce and ice cream needed a stronger Thai tea flavor to balance the crispy roti, and the flavors never quite came together. Overall, A Buttercup nails the aesthetics but misses the flavor. If you're here for the photos, you'll be happy. If you're here for the taste, you'll leave with a full camera roll and an unsatisfied sweet tooth.

We got the pandan roti, which was fantastic! The roti itself was super flaky and crispy, and I…read moreloved the combo of the roti + spoonful of ice cream with a bit of the pandan drizzle. The coconut strips were also the perfect addition. Super decadent and overall the perfect sweet treat I agree with the other reviews that portions + presentation are a bit disappointing, but it was still undeniably tasty food

Ordered ube sandwich with Thai Thea and caramellow ice cream and ube sauce topping. Our friend got…read morethe toasted marshmallow topping which looked oh so pretty. Net net really good flavors for both the ice cream and sandwich. Definitely a special treat. It's a small window only doing Togo.

Pretty expensive for essentially what is an ice cream sandwich. While they do have a lot of unique…read moreand cool flavors, unfortunately they do not let you do any taste tests. We came during opening but a lot of the breads were sold out already. We ordered the ube ice cream and the chocolate caramel ice cream with the ube pandesal. While the ice cream flavors we chose were delicious, I felt like the bread to ice cream ratios were a bit off and the bread to me felt a little stale and I would much rather eat the bread fresh and warm.

Been wanting to try this FOREVER and finally got a chance to. I heard lots about the mango tango…read moreand honestly thought the mango would be the main part of the dish that I'd like but WOW that ice was top tier did not know it can be so good. Also did not expect to like the sticky rice but that too was a hit. They said they were out of the big size so they gave us the smaller one which is good for two people. Definitely coming back and honestly will try other stuff here too next time.

Naya Cafe has some of the best shaved ice I've had in the city! I swung by with friends after…read moregrabbing lunch. The shop is small and cute, and we were able to quickly find seating. Service was nice and prompt. We ordered one of their new items. The salted duck egg bingsoo, as well as a Thai tea lava cake. The Thai tea lava cake was rich and cocoa-y, pairing so well with the Thai tea ice cream. The star of the show, however, was definitely the shaved ice. The portion size was nice and large, and the mochi on top was so soft and chewy. The salted duck egg topping tasted like the filling in the lava egg yolk buns from dim sum, so earthy and rich and sweet with a perfect umami hit. It paired perfectly with the milky, not too sweet shaved ice. I love salted duck yolk everything and this is yet another item to add to that list! Naya is a bit pricy but so worth it for that bingsoo.

Got a smore while walking by and it was freshly toasted. It was a decent price too. With plenty of…read moresamples of chocolate around the store. They had a lot of delicious looking drinks I wish I got a drinking chocolate but I will have to next time. So good!

If you're planning to visit Dandelion Chocolate, my biggest piece of advice is to double-check…read morewhich location you're heading to. We originally went to the location near Union Square, thinking we'd be able to grab pastries and hot chocolate, only to realize it's primarily a retail shop with chocolate bars and merchandise. We ended up making our way to the Valencia Street location, and I'm so glad we did. We learned that it used to be the original factory before they outgrew the space. Production has since moved a few blocks away, and now this location offers classes, a café, and plenty of chocolate treats. While we were there, a chocolate-making class was in session, and it was fun to watch part of it. The instructor even came over to chat with us and answer a few questions, which was such a nice personal touch. We ordered the brownie bite flight along with a hot chocolate, and both were fantastic. The brownie flight was rich, flavorful, and a fun way to sample different chocolates. The hot chocolate came with a tiny cookie that was absolutely delicious. At first, we were a little disappointed because we thought our hot chocolate was supposed to come with a marshmallow and didn't see one. When we mentioned it, the instructor smiled and showed us a toppings station we had completely missed. There were homemade marshmallows, flavored sugar cubes, and other little extras you could add yourself. He even encouraged us to take a few extra marshmallows, and they were some of the best I've ever had. One thing to know before you go is that Dandelion Chocolate focuses on high-quality chocolate that isn't overly sweet. If you're expecting the sugary milk chocolate flavor of a candy bar, this is a different experience. The chocolate has a richer, more complex flavor, and we really enjoyed trying something different. Between the friendly staff, delicious treats, and unique experience, I'd definitely recommend adding it to your itinerary--just make sure you head to the café location if you're looking for food and drinks!

Love the vibe of this place! Reminds me of NYC where all the people get in line for some great…read morequality ice cream. I love that their flavors are special and different. My favorite has to be the vanilla lilikoi with the tarty passion fruit puree on top. Then my second favorite would be hojicha. These two were solid. I tried the sea salt kaya and it was also veryyy good but a bit salty for my preference. I got Japanese milk coffee which reminds me of instant packet coffee. Good but not amazing imo. Wait was pretty long, around 30-35 min on a Saturday night at 10pm. But still worth it to try!!

YAY asian inspired flavors! Definitely one of my favorite if not my favorite ice cream spot in the…read morebay. My all time favorite is their hojicha. The flavor is so strong and I love the nuttiness to it. I think their matcha is from stonemill matcha! The thai jasmine green tea latte was also surprisingly really good. It was unique, and I liked how I could taste both the thai tea and the jasmine tea, they were both present and strong. I especially liked the jasmine aftertaste that lingered. Super floral! The japanese milk coffee was less bitter/strong compared to typical coffee ice cream, probably hence the milk. I think I would've enjoyed a stronger aroma of coffee flavor more, but it was still yum! The genmaicha is like a green tea with toasted rice, so it had a nutty flavor to it. I really don't think you're going to go wrong with any flavor because they all tasted so amazing to me. Workers are patient, I like how they let you sample the flavors! They usually have a line out the door especially on weekends, but it moves pretty quickly!

Was in Japan town and needed matcha. Was in the mall and saw this place decided to try it out. I…read moresaw they had an ube Matcha so we ordered two of them. One with the snow top and max ube. Both came out to around $9 each. These were both so delicious! Perfectly sweet and great Ube flavor. Matcha was strong and well balanced. Definitely one of the best Matchas in the area!

I'd been hearing about Maruwu Seicha for a while, so I was really excited to finally try it in SF!…read moreThe shop is located inside the Japan Center Malls in Japantown, with plenty of food court seating nearby. I ordered the strawberry matcha latte ($7.90). Unfortunately, I wasn't super impressed with it. The strawberry puree tasted really fresh, and I loved the natural creaminess from the Hokkaido milk, but the drink was quite milky overall. While it was still enjoyable, I was disappointed that I couldn't taste much matcha. I'm hoping I just caught them on an off day, since I've heard the Palo Alto location is more consistent. I might give Maruwu another chance there! Overall, the strawberry matcha was okay, but it didn't quite live up to the hype for me.

WOW ... pow ... whoa with the massive punch of flava coming out of an extremely tiny shop. Kiss of…read moreMatcha on Clement Street is sort of made even tinier and cramped, with the number of customers going and entering and ordering. Tight quarters means everyone here, maybe kissing da matcha. But if you can overcome the claustrophobic ambiance, you may find enjoyment of the goodies on the menu. Got some of their matcha soft serve for me and my Elite pal. He isn't into or familiar with matcha, but that is okay. Trying new different things is what life's about. The green tea flavour was very intense, assertive and good. High quality. The vanilla base tastes rich and dense. It was all inside a crunchy yummy waffle cone. Well worth the price of admission. Excellent customer service by the gal who helped me with the stuff because I'm clueless and hopeless on apps and kiosks most of the time. I did mention I am on their e-mail list though. But she was kind, kool and patient. An extra star for her service. Nice dessert and nice staff. Kiss of Matcha is kissy kissy Kool.

The Kaiser Matcha spot is really good. I really like their Matcha taste very clean fresh service…read more Here is really fast and reliable, and the ambience feels like I just walked into Japan because the smell of the green tea aroma's from the restaurant. Yes highly recommend coming here

My friend and I walked 20 min from Haight to Powder since we were craving a sweet treat! She got…read morethe earl grey with misugaru, and I got the honeydew with mochi and misugaru (a type of Korean roasted grain powder). The mochi topping was a bit hard, and the misugaru started blowing away in the wind and getting all over our clothes! Definitely consider the weather in SF and how this might affect your plans, because I wouldn't have gone with this topping had we thought ahead. The honeydew was so light and perfect- we had such a hard time deciding which flavor to get, but this nailed it for me. I'm a big fan of the personal sizes they offer. There's very few places to get shaved ice in the Bay in the first place, and many are meant to be shared with friends. This way, you can mix and match with your party and try different options!

like eh. the flavors and toppings were good and it tasted good, but for what it was, the shave ice…read morewas mainly air and barely any flavor payoff for the price. you only get like one or 2 toppings before one tiny shave ice starts hitting double digits which i feel like is crazy considering that if you condensed it down to liquid the entire thing would be just like maximum 1 tablespoon of milky liquid. the good thing was that compared to other shave ice, it was less watery icey and more like milky. recommend: thai tea, sesame, and guava