Finally returned after the new management took over. It doesn't have the same feeling because the…read moreseating was designed in the past to make you feel like you were dining on the streets of HK. Now, it feels more like a restaurant, which is still okay. The food, for the most part, remains consistent with what was offered before, along with some new additions to the menu. Depending on the time, the wait for a seat can be long. But in San Mateo, this is still my go-to place for HK-style dessert.

My two other friends and I had dinner nearby and wanted to find a dessert place where we could…read morecontinue catching up, and this was the closest place to our restaurant. There were two other parties when we were seated. The three of us ordered five items to share. I ordered the walnut and sesame paste dessert, which was okay. One thing I liked about all the items was that they weren't too sweet. The ginger steamed egg was bad. It wasn't silky; instead, it looked like overcooked steamed egg, and the flavor just wasn't there. The egg puff didn't look tempting, but we all still gave it a try, and that was bad too. It wasn't crispy or flavorful at all. Overall, the three of us were not satisfied with anything we ordered. We were mainly there to have a place where we could continue catching up, so we didn't really mind that the desserts weren't good at all. I normally don't like to leave bad reviews, but the items just didn't meet my expectations. I might not come back unless there are improvements. The parking lot is very close by, so parking is not an issue. Since there aren't many other dessert places that offer so many options, from cold and hot desserts to rice plates and other appetizers, this is pretty much the only spot. The place is decorated to make you feel like you're in Hong Kong. It has iconic Hong Kong district street names painted on the walls, which makes it very welcoming for those who are familiar with Hong Kong.

Delicious! 1. egg…read morepuff, $8.25. I usually see these called bubble waffles. This was good. They warn you that it takes 10-15 minutes to serve this. 2. creamy snowflake bowl, $10.95. Bowl of finely shaved/crushed ice (like snow, hence the name!) in a creamy sauce (kind of like melted ice cream), one fruit, and one topping included. We chose strawberries and tapioca pearls. We shared this between four of us. This was very good! I wanted to get red bean, but my daughter wanted tapioca, so we got that. The strawberries were sweet and tasty. For some reason, they took about half an hour to get this to me. I think they forgot to make it.

Too thick! Fruits are too big to fit through straw for drinking. Boba is too firm…read more Service was a kiosk. Staff just shouts out number. Lots of customers. Hot inside. There is seating but most people are ordering to go.

Came here for some soft serve and WOW (anything ice cream will catch my eye). The soft serve was…read moresuper creamy and had the perfect texture. The cones were crispy and paired so well with the ice cream mmmm! Got the black sesame soft serve topped with a generous amount of cookie crumble (rich, nutty, and not overly sweet). Definitely a must-try if you love black sesame! Also got the Ghiradhelli chocolate ice cream swirl, as per usual, you can't go wrong with chocolate ice cream if you're indecisive heh! Cute spot, great presentation, and the perfect place to satisfy your sweet tooth. Would definitely come back to try more flavors!

Delicious Treat!…read more Absolutely loved Buena's Soft Serve! The Black Sesame soft serve was SO good--creamy, delicious, and full of flavor. Definitely a must-try! And here's an added bonus: follow them on Instagram and you can get a Buy One, Get One Free deal! Such a great excuse to grab one for yourself and one for a friend. I'll definitely be back!

SomiSomi is a taiyaki soft serve chain that's been making its way through California. Since Uji…read moreTime closed I've been really happy to have a new taiyaki place in the area. I've been a few times now and can say the quality of the soft serve and taiyakis are very consistently good. The texture of the soft serve is perfectly smooth and creamy. The taiyaki has a light crisp on the outside and is light and fluffy on the inside. It's served warm which adds great contrast to the ice cream. I always get mine filled with Nutella though you can get it filled with red bean, matcha or custard as well. I especially like coming in to try their new seasonal soft serve. Last time I was there it was pistachio. They always offer a swirl with their seasonal flavor and this time it was with their classic milk flavor. I love pistachio so this flavor may have been my favorite they've done so far. I saw the other day that their new flavor is Banana Milk which I'll definitely be trying very soon The workers are always friendly and efficient though they seem sometimes understaffed for the amount of demand that comes it. You can tell they're doing the best they can but they sometimes look a bit overwhelmed. A couple more hands on deck would serve them well but that's more up to the management. The workers themselves do a great job every time. Like I said it gets pretty busy in there so don't be surprised if there's not a ton of open space inside of there. Overall SomiSomi is a great addition to downtown San Mateo and I'm looking forward to more trips there in the future

Was in the mood to have some Taiyaki, so I came to Somisomi in San Mateo. I believe they are a…read morechain. Since I really enjoyed the one in Cupertino, I had expected to receive the same quality from this establishment. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The service was good, the floor and tables were neat and clean. What was disappointing was the lack of filling in the Taiyaki's. Usually, one bite into the pastry and you'll taste the filling. I had to eat half the pastry before I got to any filling. Just a mouth full of mocha. I guess not all franchise locations are the same.

This is our favorite for crepe cakes. Love the variety of flavors they have though I am partial to…read morethe passion fruit and durian ones. The green tea and black sesame are delightful too.

Stumbled across this place after work one day and decided to get a couple of slices for my…read moreboyfriend and I. Small hole in the wall store, ordered on a screen so I didn't have much communication with the employee working but it was quick, and clean. The cakes were good, super light and airy. Enjoyed it so much I had my boyfriend grab me different flavor slices for my birthday instead of a traditional cake. Really good, just kinda expensive

Cookies are really pretty and delicious! Service is fast and…read morenice. Store is clean and neat.

I'm usually such a big Crumbl fan but the cookies that I got last week (9/12/26) left me kind of…read moredisappointed. I purchased the box of 4 cookies for $19.49 - 1 pink sugar cookie, 1 strawberry shortcake roll cookie, 1 oatmeal crème pie cookie, and 1 cosmic brownie cookie. They were sold out of the chocolate cupcake cookie which was a bummer. The service was great. I placed a curbside order, clicked "here" in the app, and a friendly employee brought the cookies right out to my car! In terms of cookie flavors though, I overall wasn't impressed. The pink sugar cookie is always good. Never disappoints me. Warning though it is very sweet. I'm so happy it's a classic flavor now because I used to patiently wait for it to come back in rotation. My second favorite cookie from this order was the oatmeal crème pie cookie. The oatmeal cookies were chewy and I liked the crème in the center. I guess it's kind of hard to mess up an oatmeal cookie but props to Crumbl for another good flavor. Now I move on to the bad news. The strawberry shortcake roll cookie lacked flavor. There was barely any strawberry taste. I could see the strawberry jelly on the top of the cookie but it just tasted sweet and not really like strawberry to me. If I'm being honest, the cookie just tasted like a regular sugar cookie. Nothing special unfortunately. The worst cookie of the batch had to have been the cosmic brownie cookie. It was bad. Like it had such a strong baking soda flavor? And it didn't really taste like a cosmic brownie! I tried to pawn the cookie off to both my mom and dad and after trying it they both didn't want it. I didn't want to waste it but the taste was so bad we ended up tossing it :( I think this was just a rough week of flavors. I do appreciate how they rotate flavors weekly though so these flavors are already gone.

I had this place totally pegged as a late night teenage medium quality vanity spot, but came here…read morefor the first time and was blown away by what a great crêpe they made. I mean, it's basically everything in a crêpe, but the crêpes are delicious with a crispy outside and bready interior. I had a breakfast crêpe with eggs and bacon and sour cream - you can add anything you want so I added tri-tip - which made it just incredible. So good. Sat outside on the patio in a beautiful California day. They brought us our food and couldn't have been better.

Good ones - the house special with turkey: best…read more- the salmon with cream cheese and spinach: also good - sweet : love at first bite and simply amazing Not so good - the beef ones. I don't think the combination worked for us. There is only one guy making crepes for both delivery and eat-in customers; so prepare for some wait time.

This time we got some fruit teas and they were so good not overly sweet, and you can actually taste…read morethe tea (which I love). My friend got a fruit tea, and I tried the Toffee Matcha... omg, so thick, creamy, and just really satisfying. Service was also super sweet, the cashier guy was really friendly and helpful, which made the whole experience even better. Simple, solid, and always hits. Will definitely keep coming back

Came in here for some caffeine and was happy with the Hong Kong Milk Tea with drinkable mochi that…read moreI ordered. They didn't have their seasonal options displayed very well so I had to scramble and check their Instagram for descriptions/pictures but ultimately I'm happy I just went with a classic drink instead. The shop is super small and a little bit dark, could use some livening up! This location is a little hard to get to if you wanted to just pop in to pick up a drink but there is a parking garage about a block away. But otherwise loved my drink and haven't been disappointed with any visit to Urban Ritual.

Super great atmosphere, awesome spot to study! Employees very welcoming, and food was delicious.read more

Fresh coconut drinks! Amazing seasonal flavors. Recommend the puddings as well as the drinks!read more

Overall: 5 stars One…read moreof my favorite chains from the bqy, so of course had to hit this up. They are innovators of drinks, and this summer they cooked up a new POG special featuring a deliciously fruity blend of passionfruit, orange, and guava that is light, refreshing, and brimming with sweetness. Food: +2 Presentation: E Price: E Atmosphere: E Service: E Menu: +2 Insta/Yelp/Beli: @amei_eats Insta/TikTok: @ameizing.race

I believe the San Mateo Teaspoon location was the first one to open in the Bay Area. It is located…read morein a prime location on 3rd Ave in Downtown San Mateo. The shop is small and has minimal seating but is more of a takeout spot. I ordered ahead on the Teaspoon app on a weekday after dinner and was quoted a 25 minute wait. When I arrived the shop close to the promised time it was completely empty and a single worker was moving in the kitchen area without watching the front. After a few minutes, the worker still didn't come out and there was no bell at the counter to ask for assistance so I yelled out a few times and he still didn't come out. He finally came out a couple minutes later and didn't acknowledge me until I said "excuse me" for the third time, only to tell me my drink was not ready yet. He then started making my drink and I got it five minutes later. I ordered the seasonal Summer Stardust which is said to be a cotton candy-inspired smoothie with coconut, vanilla, and blue raspberry, blended with strawberry foam and Cosmic Burst topping. The ads for this drink were appealing with its unique bright blue and pink combination but my drink was a dull pink and white. I asked if the drink provided to me was the Summer Stardust because I didn't see any blue and the worker said yes and that "syrups make different shades of blue" in a snappy tone. The drink itself was okay and did somewhat resemble cotton candy but mostly tasted like sugar and the Cosmic Burst topping reminded me of pop rocks candy. I haven't shopped from this Teaspoon location for a while but I didn't expect its customer service to be this bad. The drink itself was also not memorable and overall the menu prices are higher than many of its competitors nearby. After this experience I know I will not be returning.