Siyi Lin (Kristy)

This place is so good! All their pastries are affordable especially given their hefty weights. The taste is really good as well, the bread is fluffy and the top covered in this flaky crust and the filling ratio is also sufficient. My favorite is the taro bun, I think it's the best taro bun I've ever had and I've had a lot in my life.

Really cool experience! The lady working there (the owner?) was super nice and gentle and we sat around her as she carefully made our matcha drinks for us. She also taught us about the different types of matcha and the type we were drinking that day. I ordered the hot matcha medium-strength, and it tasted really good. Nothing beats freshly whisked matcha. The space is really small on the inside, so the number of people who can be in the room is extremely limited. Maybe 4-5 people can sit at the counter where the drinks are made. And there's this sitting space for people waiting or have already received their drinks. There wasn't much of a wait when I went. Right now, they're doing takeout-only, so everything is served in single-use cups, and people don't stay very long after getting their drinks. The decor of the place is really authentic as well!

(No-frills, cash only) Delicious cheap eats! I ordered 3 things and my meal was only 11 dollars and I ended up being super full, so can definitely have a meal w just single digits. The food came out fresh and very very hot (burned my tongue quite a bit) and quite quickly as well. I ordered the pan-fried dumplings, which was 10 (rather large) dumplings for only 4 dollars. The price has risen through the years but it's still insanely cheap. These dumplings have a thicker skin and I personally prefer thinner-skinned dumplings but the thickness provides a nice chew. They're filled substantially with a pork&chives fjlljng. Also ordered the fuzhou style wonton soup (扁肉）, which is much thinner and less meat than your typical wontons (they have normal wonton soup too). And then I also got a sesame sandwich with roast duck. (Which was only 3.50!!). They have a variety of sesame sandwiches for all around that price range. Anyways good, solid food. Nothing spectacular of course but for its price point, they're very good. One thing to note is that everything is quite oily, which might be a turnoff for some.

I can't say anything about service/atmosphere since I ordered takeout, but the lamb hui mei (a type of noodle soup) I got was amazing! Honestly I didn't have very high hopes for it because it looked very plain visually, but the more I ate, the more I liked it. The broth is this beautiful creamy color with a rich lamb flavor but not too gamey. The noodles paired so well with it, and the vegetables added the necessary crunch. All the dry ingredients are simple, but that broth really ties everything together. Would definitely order again!

Got my hair bleached and dyed there (hairstylist is Earnie). It took around ~5 hours or so, but everyone there was super friendly :) I'm really satisfied with the way my hair turned out so would recommend!