Hayden Valley

Hayden Valley is an actual place.  In Yosemite.  But it is also the namesake of Hayden Valley Foods, a snack foods maker focused around making snack mixes, gummy candies, yogurt or chocolate covered confections, and as I focused, covered pretzels.  And no, they aren't located in Hayden Valley, they are based in Ohio, so I'm not sure why the name is what it is.

"Quality: Experience the difference with Hayden Valley Foods. We pride ourselves on delivering covered pretzels that stand out in taste and quality. Dive into a snack experience where excellence is a constant, and every bite is a testament to our commitment to quality.  Indulge in pretzels that celebrate the purity of ingredients. With no artificial preservatives, colors, or high-fructose corn syrup, Hayden Valley Foods pretzels represent a commitment to clean and wholesome snacking. Every bite is a step away from artificiality, welcoming you to a realm of natural goodness."

I don't generally get excited by eating plain pretzels, but, add seasoning and make them part of a snack mix, or coat them in sweet flavored coatings, and I'm all in.  But at the same time, I'm really opinionated on the base pretzel.  I care less about the shape (rods, nuggets, twists, all good), but more about the pretzel taste, although it is hard for me to pinpoint.  I hate Rold Gold, if that helps, and often really like gluten-free pretzels.

But anyway, this is about Hayden Valley Foods, and their lineup.  They pretzels in a variety of sizes (mini, twists, etc) and coatings (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry or plain yogurt, milk or dark chocolate, all sorts of seasonal specials like pumpkin spice or red/green holiday drizzles), and packaging (mini cups, bags, bulk).  They have also done collaborations with well known brands like Cinnabon.  I had the regular retail bags, purchased on Amazon.  I tried 3 different flavors and enjoyed them all, although every single flavor arrived melted.

Salted Caramel

"Savor the delightful interplay of savory salt and sweet caramel, making each pretzel a masterpiece of taste."

I started with the salted caramel.  So trendy a few years back.  And so often poorly done.

But, wow, they *nailed* the salt level on these.  I'm always annoyed by "salted caramel" items that are just caramel, minimal salt.  These brought the salt, aggressively, in a way that made the overall flavor just really pop.  The caramel was also good, very sweet, perhaps a bit too sweet if you ate more than a few at a time (which, isn't necessarily a bad thing!).  They really delivered on the salted caramel aspects of these.

The pieces were well coated, although you can see that they did arrive melted from Amazon.com, so that slightly detracted from the eating experience as I had to pry them apart, and I did want even more coating.  Fairly standard crunchy fresh enough pretzels inside.  I can't pinpoint anything wrong with them, but they weren't the type of pretzel that really draws me in (I still don't quite know what it is about some packaged pretzels that I like, because some I really do, but most I don't).

Overall, good, salty and sweet, and I gleefully finished off my bag.  3.5/5.

Milk Chocolate.

"Indulge in the classic elegance with our Milk Chocolate covered pretzels. Experience the smooth and creamy milk chocolate that lovingly envelops each pretzel, delivering a timeless taste of indulgence in every bite."

Next up, milk chocolate.

The milk chocolate fared even worse in the mail (note to self: don't order coated products from Amazon in the summer?), the entire bag was melted into a single big glob.  But that issue aside, they were decent pretzels.  Again, well coated, fresh pretzel within, and the milk chocolate had good chocolate flavor and was reasonably creamy.

Not remarkable, but, good.  Higher 3/5.

Pumpkin Spice (Seasonal).

My final flavor was the seasonal pumpkin spice.  Another trendy flavor, another one that can often be poorly done.  And for me, one that I frequently really dislike, as the "pumpkin spices" are usually too strong for my liking, given that I dislike nutmeg and clove.

They were another mass of melted together pretzels.  But again, decent pretzel base, well coated, creamy coating.  The spicing was distinctly "pumpkin spice" and it wasn't subtle.  I didn't hate it, but I certainly didn't like it much.  Just too strong overall for my taste, although it wasn't necessarily too much nutmeg or clove, just, very strong pumpkin spices.  I still finished my bag, but I wouldn't get another. 3/5, due to preferences.

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Tarts de Feybesse

Ooph.

That about sums up how I feel about Tarts de Feybesse.  And I feel bad about it, but ... wow, this place let me down.  I went in with fairly low expectations, given just how mixed online reviews were, but even so, ooph.  This just isn't going to be a positive review.

But let's back up.  Tarts de Feybesse is a newish bakery in Oakland, with a great pedigree - the pastry chef was a James Beard semifinalist of Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.  She was on Top Chef.  Some of their creations went viral pretty quickly on Instagram due to the quasi-realistic nature of the fruit entremets.  And yet reviews ... paint a very mixed picture, particularly for the price.  Still, I love baked goods, so I was excited to try them nonetheless.

I didn't actually venture to Oakland myself to seek these potentially mediocre items out, but instead was treated to a popup event at my office.  They brought 8 items with them (3 pastries, 4 entremet, 1 other).  I used restraint and selected only 4 items, which still felt a bit greedy, but truly I would have liked to try any and all of them ... or so I thought.  But one by one, I was let down.

Viennoiseries

The lineup starts with some classic viennoiseries.  These don't seem particularly noteworthy, just the basics, besides the savory ham and cheese "escargot", which sadly they didn't have with them at the popup.  People on Yelp/Google reviews do seem slightly more positive on these items than the more elaborate pastries, so I did select one to try.

Pain au Chocolat. $6.50.

"Laminated pastry with dark chocolate batons."

I went for a pain au chocolat, despite it looking a bit over baked and quite dark. The outside shattered nicely, which was a good sign, but it did taste burnt on the outside.

Pain au Chocolat: Inside.

I was let down pretty much immediately though when I cut it in half.  The single baton of chocolate was a meager filling.  The lamination was mediocre. The flavor of the pastry was average, not particularly rich nor buttery.  The chocolate seemed to be fine quality at least?

A very average pastry, as in, hotel buffet quality, but not what I'd expect from a French style bakery, even one in the US. Low 3/5.

Apple Chausson. $6.50.

"Apple compote baked in puff pastry."

I feel regret that I didn't try the apple chausson, but I was trying to be reasonable and only take one item from each category, and this was my second choice of viennoiseries, so I moved on.

Pistachio Eclair. $8.50.

"Choux puffs filled with pastry cream."

I also skipped the pistachio eclair, despite loving pistachio, as I don't generally care for choux pastry, and again, was trying to be reasonable and not take everything.  I'm still so curious about that pistachio filling though ...

Trompe L'oeil

The main attraction, or at least what gets all the Instagram and media buzz, is their signature lineup of Trompe L'oeil, basically quasi-realistic fruit shaped entremet.  Since these were the most appealing and interesting, I selected two to try.

Mango. $15.

"Almond financier base, Manila mango compote, white chocolate mousse and chocolate shell."

This looked stunning.  Not quite realistic, but, stunning nonetheless.  I was worried about style over substance, but I had hope, just given how nice it really did look.  This is their best selling and most popular dessert, for a reason.  It did indeed draw me in.

But I was let down the moment I dug in.

Mango: Inside.

Where to start.

I guess, the shell.  The shell was painted white chocolate.  I read reviews that commented on how waxy it was, and how it just tasted like candymelts, but I didn't quite believe them.  I assumed they were white chocolate snobs.  I love white chocolate, and don't have particularly high standards for it.  But ... indeed, this was really waxy, fake sweet, and not enjoyable.  It is rare that dislike white chocolate this much.  This was exactly the kind of white chocolate that makes people think they don't like white chocolate.

Then, the base.  A dense, wet, possible almond or coconut joconde? (A: almond financier). It was the type of cake that you take a bite and think, "Eww, this must be gluten-free".  But I don't think it was.  It just wasn't pleasant, like soggy dense sawdust compressed together.

Above that was the mango layer.  Surely it would be ok?  Sadly, no.  The mango was sour, not ripe, again, just not enjoyable.  The surrounding white part seemed to a fairly flavorless panna cotta.

I was shocked by how much I disliked all these elements, even though I knew reviews warned me, I still didn't really expect it to be this not tasty.  I'll give a generous 2/5, because it was pretty, and the cream was fine?

Raspberry. $12.

I wanted to try the raspberry too, but that was my third pick out of the trompe l'oeil, and I only went with two.

Lemon. 

"Lemon curd, lemon mousse, white chocolate."

The lemon was the most realistic looking of the bunch.

Vanilla Bean.

The vanilla bean item was hands down the least attractive item in the lineup.  And perhaps the most boring, after all, people literally call things "vanilla" to mean plain or boring.  I think it was supposed to resemble a vanilla bean.  Maybe?  This was my second pick of items though because I know how stunning a really good vanilla bean item can be, and know how easy to overlook it can be.  I dug in to my, uh, log.

Vanilla Bean: Inside.

It had the same very low quality waxy white chocolate shell as the mango.  And it had cream filling.  And ... that was it?  Where was the vanilla bean?  I didn't taste any vanilla bean, I simply tasted crappy white chocolate/wax.  This was perhaps even worse than the mango, as it was hard to extract even just the cream to eat. 1.5/5.

Other

The bakery also has a few other assorted items, like a basque cheesecake, classic Opera cake, and breads.  They only brought one other item with them, which I gleefully snatched up.

Riz au Lait. $10. 

"Creamy Tahitian vanilla bean rice pudding, French style."

Although it really didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the menu, as a pudding lover, I was thrilled to see the kinda random riz au lait on the menu.  It came in fairly average jar, a bit of a surprise given the visual appeal of other items.

The pudding was ... ok.  It did have ok vanilla bean flavor, unlike, well, the vanilla bean pastry itself.  I'm not sure what French style means exactly.  It wasn't too sweet.  The rice though was ... pulverized.  Tiny bits of rice, and very soft ones at that.  So it ate more like a mush than a rice pudding.  Is that French style?  I have no idea, but it is not a style I like it turns out.

I didn't particularly like this, but it was the best of the 4 items I tried by far in that I didn't actively find it to be poorly made, just I guess a different style. Or maybe it was poorly executed and not supposed to be mush. Id unno.  Low 2/5 and I struggled to want to finish it.

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Sterns Bakery, NYC

Sterns is a kosher bakery in the New York City area.  It is a family run bakery, started in Hungary, but moved to the United States in 1949.

The bakery makes sliced breads and challah, buns, bagels, and pita, plus tons of cakes (roll cakes, bundts, layer cakes, babka cakes), all the pastries (donuts, danishes, muffins, cupcakes, cookies, rugelach), and cheesecakes.

In addition to the bakery fresh items, they have several more stable product lines: Pastry To Go is boxed family sized individually wrapped smaller (1 ounce) snack cakes (akin to Little Debbie/Drake's, etc), Munchbreak is individually wrapped convenience store style boxes of slightly bigger (3 ounce) items, and Fresh To Go is the larger (5-6 ounce), clamshell packaged pastries.  It is one of the Fresh To Go items that I tried.

Fresh To Go Packaging.

"In 2012, Stern's unveiled the Pastry to Go product line, a revolutionary moment in the cake industry. Individually wrapped for convenience, these pastries became a clean and delicious go-to snack, bringing taste and tradition into the hands of consumers."

I tried a Fresh To Go item, which is the style of something you'd find in a convenience store that is sorta trying to look like it has fresh bakery items.  This product line has muffins, danishes, turnovers, and a few desserts (classic black and white cookies, napoleon)

They make all your standard muffins: chocolate chip, corn, blueberry, plus some very dessert-like ones such as cappuccino, chocolate cream cheese, or cappuccino cream cheese.  All are 4", 5 ounce muffins, although they make minis too.

Blueberry Muffin.

"A 4” vanilla-based blueberry muffin that is crisp on the outside and moist on the inside."

The blueberry muffin is definitely a cake masquerading as a breakfast item style, sweet, vanilla cake base.  It was fairly moist, didn't taste overly full of chemicals or processing.  Fairly average.  It had some big blueberries in it, well distributed and not clumped together, but not nearly as many as I'd hope to see.  A tiny bit of streusel on top that I liked, but again, not as much as I'd want.  It was "fine".  3/5

They consider this 2.5 servings, and like many muffins, it was ~600 calories if you ate the whole thing.

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The Golden Duck Co

Update Review, 2025

A few years ago I reviewed the Singapore salted egg crab seaweed tempura (zomg, <3) and the chilli crab version of the same (strangely, not as great), and the salted egg yolk potato ridges chips (good, but not as good as the seaweed tempura) from Golden Duck.  I somehow got my hands on another bag of my favorites.  And yes, ZOMG is still my review.  Adore these things!

Singapore Salted Egg Crab Seaweed Tempura.

"Dangerously Addictive Seaweed Snack. Spiked with bits of crabmeat, crab stick, chilli flakes and dried coriander."

It had been several years since I last had these.

I forgot just how delicious they are.  I mean, I like seaweed, I like tempura, I adore salted egg, I adore crab, and yeah, I adore Singapore, so it makes sense that I'd really enjoy these, but, yeah, wow, they are pretty much perfect.  And they really are made from just what you'd expect: fried seaweed, salted egg yolk, salted egg powder, and crab meat (yes, real crab meat), then all the stuff that makes them even more delicious: margarine, sugar, MSG, chilli, and curry leaves.  Yup, all the good stuff, and it adds up to awesomeness.

Incredible crunch factor.  Slightly different size pieces, some folded over in a way that makes them even more crunchy and enjoyable.  All very well coated on one side with the salted egg and crab.  Umami notes super strong.  

Nothing I'd change about these.  4.5/5.

Original Review, June 2021

Snacks.  Chips.  Some of my favorite things, as, well, I'm a bit of a snack-o-holic, a condition that developed late in my adulthood (really, I wasn't snacker growing up, nor in college, nor grad school ... I'm really not sure when it happened), and has gotten more extreme during 15 months of pandemic living at home.  I mean, what else is there to do but eat interesting snacks?

Particularly when the snacks come from aboard, bringing a glimpse into my past life of frequent traveling.  I visited Singapore twice, the last time right as the pandemic was breaking out, and absolutely adored it.  The cleanliness, the ridiculously hot weather, and, the food.  Oh the food.  Singapore is such an ultimate foodie city, for all budgets.  I adored it.  And yet, I didn't really write reviews for any of the glorious treats I had there.  I actually was doing an experiment, made a conscious decision NOT to take photos, not to take notes, not to blog, and just really, truly, enjoy my experience there.

It was Singapore that I really developed a love for salted egg yolk products, although I'd had them before in Sydney (like the salted egg yolk pork floss bun at Begong Black).  But salted egg was practically everywhere in Singapore, on chips, fries, or fish skins as the common bar snack of choice, or on popcorn (like Pop-Smile sweet egg yolk popcorn although that is from Taiwan).   But it is on potato chips that I most love it, particularly when spicy (like the glorious Shi Le Po spicy salted egg potato chips I reviewed before).

Which leads me to another salted egg product manufacturer: The Golden Duck.

"Asia's best flavours : packed, sealed, delivered."

Now this is a motto I can get behind, particularly as, well, they did indeed deliver to me, in New Hampshire of all places, while I was sadly not traveling due to the pandemic.

The Golden Duck is based in Singapore, and only sells salted egg products: fish skins, seaweed tempura, or chips.

Seaweed Tempura

The product line I was most excited for: seaweed tempura.  I like seaweed, I like tempura, and this sounded about 1000x better than a potato chip.  Seaweed tempura chips are available in several varieties, I tried two.

Single Serve Bag.

"Dangerously Addictive Seaweed Snacks."

Um, yeah.  "Dangerously addictive" does not even begin to describe these.  This single serve bag is barely a single serve.  You can scarf this down in ... 5 seconds.  Literally.  It took all I could to do not to devour the bag in under a minute, lick it clean, and grab another.

To be fair though, these bags really aren't very full ...

While I loved the sound of the Chilli Crab version, I couldn't resist starting classic with salted egg.

 Singapore Salted Egg Crab Seaweed Tempura

"The pleasing graininess of our famous salted-egg yolks balances perfectly with  light, tempura-battered roasted seaweed, created and prepared with all the magic of our kitchens.

This journey is an ocean of flavours – the sweetness of real crab (yes, real crab meat), slightly smoky seaweed, and the rich umami of a salted Egg finish. Mmm.."

So what do you get when you coat seaweed in tempura batter made with salted egg yolk and crabmeat (yes, real crab meat), add in curry leaves and dried chilli, and fry it?  DELICIOUSNESS.

Seriously, ZOMG SO GOOD.  It is hard to calm down enough to write this review.

The manufacturer says they have the following "flavor notes":

• Rich and creamy - an umami bomb
• Underlying notes of the sea
• Roasted seaweed
• A hint of spice

The pieces were so, so crispy.  Greasy, so greasy, but in all the right ways.  The crunch factor, the "this is horrible for me factor", both sky high.  Flavor through the roof.  Yes, umami bombs, as promised.  Yes, "underlying notes of the sea" from the seaweed.

I also loved the assortment of (all large) pieces, some folded over for even more goodness.

<3.  Just a pure delight to eat.  No more needs to be said.  Incredible.  

4/5.

Singapore Chili Crab Seaweed Tempura.

"Chilli Crab on Seaweed Tempura Crisps."

"It’s all a question of balance – between the sweetness of crab meat, the warm spiciness of the chilli and the smokiness of roast seaweed. 

Crunch through the crisp tempura coating and an incredible mix of flavour explodes on your tongue."

Next up, the chili crab version.  Here the manufacturer promises:

• Sweet, salty, mildly spicy - like a girl you once knew
• Underlying notes of the sea - real crab meat!
• Roasted seaweed
• Mellow tomato base notes

I thought that I would adore these, but, it turned out, they had too much "funk" for me.  Or something.  Maybe I didn't like the tomato base?  There was just something actually off putting in the aftertaste in particular that didn't do it for me.  I never found myself wanting a handful.

I used them crushed up on top of salads for a little seasoning/crunch, and they worked fine like that, but I wouldn't get again.

2.5/5.

Potato Chips

"How do you get to potato chip heaven?

Start with real ingredients, naturally. We use salted-egg yolks cured to the hue of a golden sunset. We then systematically slice each potato to get the perfect ridged cut - the rhythmic rise and fall of every groove holding on to the richest bits of the taste you love.

Each crunch is a satisfying explosion of flavours - the graininess of real salted eggs, a hint of curry leaves, and a dab of spice. Truly divine."

If seaweed isn't your thing, you can go for the less "scary" potato chip option.  

Salted Egg Yolk Potato Ridges.

"We use salted-egg yolks cured to the hue of a golden sunset. We then systematically slice each potato to get the perfect ridged cut - the rhythmic rise and fall of every groove holding on to the richest bits of the taste you love.

Each crunch is a satisfying explosion of flavours - the graininess of real salted eggs, a hint of curry leaves and a dab of spice."

The chips certainly didn't really look like your average potato chip however.  I'm sure they still a bit intimidating to some.  Good sized chips, nice ridges, and very well coated in seasoning.  Not too greasy. Little bits of curry leaves found mixed throughout.

The manufacturer promised the following "flavor notes":

• Rich, yet light - like Prince William as a baby
• Fragrant curry leaves
• Medium saltiness, lightly sweet
• A hint of spice!

Um.  I don't know about the Price William part.  I can agree that they were medium salty and lightly sweet, and just a hint of spicing/heat when you got a curry leaf.  But mostly, they were just a really decent strong salted egg flavor.  

If you like potato chips, particularly ridged chips, and you like salted egg yolk, these are a solid choice.  Nothing particularly remarkable, but well coated, no question.

3/5.

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Sheng Kee Bakery

Sheng Kee Bakery is a small (11 stores) chain of Asian bakeries in the San Francisco bay area.

"Sheng Kee Bakery strives to create meaningful, multigenerational, memories with our community while carrying on an Asian baking legacy by linking together traditional and nostalgic flavors with modern techniques to bring you a piece of home wherever you go."

They sell a variety of baked goods including bread, cakes, mooncakes, and pastries.  I'd love to try some of their sweet buns (taro, pineapple, etc) sometime or any of the savories (mmm, pork sung!), but I haven't actually visited nor ordered from Sheng Kee Bakery myself.  Instead, their signature mooncakes were featured at a Lunar New Year party I attended.

Red Bean & Green Tea.

They make the mooncakes in a fairly large variety of flavors: the expected red bean, lotus, and date, plus oolong, tea & chestnut, and longan. The mooncakes all have the same pattern on top, so you can't tell which flavor one is from the looks alone.

Yes, they have lard.

Mixed Nut & Lotus Salted Egg Mooncakes. (Small).

The ones we had were their smallest size mooncakes, about 2 ounces.  

Lotus & Salted Egg.

This was a very standard, good enough, moon cake.

The pastry itself was soft and fresh tasting.  I liked the amount of lotus wrapping the egg yolk, and it was very lightly and pleasantly sweetened.  It was smooth and soft.  The yolk had a strong cured flavor, intense yolk, as you'd expect.

Basically, all pretty decent quality, good ratios, as expected.  It didn't blow me away as unique or particularly special, but it was a well made moon cake.  I enjoyed a second one with my breakfast another morning, and liked it even more then, lightly warmed up.  3.5/5.

Mixed Nut.

"Golden-brown crust densely filled with an assortment of mixed nuts."

Next up, mixed nuts. Mixed nuts in this case means walnuts and almonds, plus sesame seeds and what turned out to be melon seeds(!!!!).  I'm terribly allergic to melons, and started having a reaction to this immediately.  As you can see, it was absolutely loaded up with nuts and seeds.  They  were lightly soft but still crunchy, and fairly savory.  Not much sweetness added, which for some reason I had expected, more akin to an American style nut pie I think is what I envisioned.  I ended up drizzling Thai gula melaka over it, and quite enjoyed the result, but without that, this really wasn't much of a dessert.

The pastry was less soft, and seemed less flavorful compared to the previous variety, but also, it was just fairly insignificant compared to the nuts.  I barely noticed the pastry.  This was all about the nuts/seeds.

So overall, fine, but not quite what I found myself really seeking out.  3/5.

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Martha's Country Bakery

Martha's Country Bakery has been on my radar since the first time I stayed in Brooklyn (Williamsburg) for a month one summer a few years back.  They had several locations within a few minutes walk of where I was staying, and, well, it is a bakery, and I love baked goods, and seemed pretty busy, so of course I was interested.  However, I also discovered Mia's Brooklyn Bakery during that visit, and I became a repeat customer there instead, and thus, never branched out after the rave success of their lobster roll.  So somehow, despite walking by it daily to get to the subway to/from the office, I never actually got anything (I did step inside to scope it out, and honestly, the vastness of their selections was another factor in me not getting anything, as I was overwhelmed every time).

Anyway, Martha's Country Bakery is a small chain of bakery-cafes in Brooklyn and Queens.  5 locations, none in Manhattan.  They first opened in 1969.  I still haven't actually gone there myself to order, but recently a friend did, and got a whole pie, so I finally got to try it.

Setting

Walking into Martha's is a bit ... overwhelming.  Well, if you approach the display cases that is.  You could choose to be seated and order from a menu, as they offer full table service.  But you can also approach the display cases and order there, and ... well, let's just say, I've walked in a few times, and been met with total decision paralysis.  The array of goodies is beyond massive.  A glimpse:

Cupcakes.

The lineup starts chill, with cupcakes (or, as chill as a lineup with 18 choices for cupcakes alone can be ....). 

Bars / Pudding / Cake Pops / Slices.

Then some bars, cake pops (3 kinds), puddings (5 kinds), and slices ...

Cookies.

But don't forget to look on TOP of the cases, where there are cookies.

More cookies & slices.

In fact, there are 18 different kinds of cookies too, some of which are vegan.

Cheesecakes.

Then we get into the cheesecake slices, 14 kinds of those.

More Slices.

And different styles of cake slices, a whopping 17 of those.

More Slices / Tarts.

The slices continue, along with fruit tarts (3 kinds).

Slices / Bread Pudding.

More and more slices, but don't forget to look down, where the bread puddings are hiding (with or without chocolate), and flan, and rice pudding.

Pie Slices.

And then it is time for slices of pie.

More Pie Slices.

12 kinds of pie, by the slice.

Pies.

But of course you can get whole pies too.

Whole Pies.

All are readily available whole too, no pre-orders required.

Cakes.

Same with the whole cakes (7 or 8 inch, 30 kinds!!!!).

Pies

For pies, Martha's has quite the lineup: all the fruit pies (apple crumb, sour cream apple, old fashioned apple, or apple strudel, blueberry or triple berry, cherry), cream/custard pies (banana cream, pumpkin, key lime), nuts (pecan), and decadent chocolate (mississippi mud).  Slices are available for $10.25 each, whole pies for $40-45 depending on the variety.

Cherry Pie. $41.50.

This was my third cherry pie in as many weeks - the first was sour cherry from Bubby's (average, their crust isn't that great, 3/5), and then another sour cherry from Petee's (much better crust, much better filling, didn't blow my mind, but very good classic cherry pie 4/5).

The Martha's version was crumb topped, not sour cherry pie, regular cherry.  It came very generously covered (normally I'd say "dusted" but that doesn't seem appropriate for the quantity) with powdered sugar.  It also had a trio of maraschino cherries perched on top that actually made it look kinda cheap (at least to me.  Fresh cherries, cocktail cherries, those would look classier ...).

Under the abundance of powdered sugar was a thick crumble topping.  It required force to cut into, almost like a cookie layer.  It was sweet and crumbly, and I really liked it except ... it had a spicing to it that I didn't care for, perhaps nutmeg, that was fairly aggressive and really clashed with the cherry filling.  I almost loved that topping, it's a shame on the spicing.

Cherry Pie: Inside.

The pie crust base was good, thick, nice buttery flavor (although not super flaky).

And then, the cherry filling.  To me, it tasted a bit cheap and was just fairly sweet (not cloying, but definitely just sweet).  In short, it matched the vibe of those maraschino cherries perched on top.  I definitely prefer either a sour cherry pie, or one that is made with fresh cherries, this one just felt kinda like pie-from-a-can (although less goopy that those can be).

I liked the pie considerably more once I warmed it up and served it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, but overall it was a letdown.  Good crust, almost awesome topping, mediocre filling.  Low 3/5.

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MUKGLAM Go-chips

As you frequently hear me say on this blog, I'm an avid snacker.  I love all kinds of snacks, particularly ones that are not flavors or styles that I grew up with.  Which means that when I travel, I always stock up on local products.  I'm not sure where I discovered Mukglam products, a Korean brand, as I haven't visited Korea, but must have picked them up in Sydney or Singapore perhaps?

"MUKGLAM is a modern K-snack brand that blends clean ingredients with bold flavor and cultural flair.  We take pride in transforming Korea’s finest agricultural produce into innovative, healthy, and sustainable snacks and beverages. From vegan-certified snacks to upcycled fruit-based treats, our products reflect a perfect balance of taste, nutrition, and eco-conscious practices. "

The company is fairly new, founded only in 2020.  The products are all relatively healthy and vegan.  They mostly use upcycled fruits or vegetables for the bases, and modern technology to minimize their eco footprint.

Go-Chips

"Go-chips are perfect for on-the-go snacking. You can top Go-chips on your salad, oatmeal, or yogurt. Make Go-chips a part of your everyday healthy adventure!"

The product line I tried was the Go-Chips.  They are a fascinating product, that look more like crackers than traditional chips, yet the flavor is more akin to a chip.  But they are thick and shaped like crackers.  I mostly just ate them as a snack on their own, but I do see how their recommendations of using on salad/oatmeal/yogurt would work well too.  

I tried the "Original" flavor with is sweet potato and almond.  They also make a "Nuts" version with sweet potatoes, powdered almonds, fried cashews, and macadamia nuts.

Original: Sweet Potato + Almond.

"Go-chips Original is a delicious crispy oven baked sweet potato snack with Almond."

"Oven baked sweet potato and almond snack great for both kids and adults. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, hiking, at the office, before a workout, or on the go. "

The Go-Chips looked a lot like crackers to me, thicker than any usual chips, and basically rectangular.  I took one, and definitely expected to taste something cracker-adjacent.  But my brain was instantly confused when they tasted basically like sweet potato chips, e.g. Terra chips or the like.  Yet ... they were also loaded up with slivered almonds, which made them exceptionally crunchy too.  The texture was fascinating, the flavor was fascinating, they really were unique.  Quite a savory snack, although there was some inherent sweetness from the sweet potato.  The sweet potato was really quite strong too.

Due to all the nuts, they have 7g protein in the bag, which is pretty good for a munchy-style snack, rather than protein bar.  They went really, really well topped with warmed up bake brie en croute with some cranberry preserves at the holidays.

I enjoyed these, and would get them again, or try other flavors.  4/5.

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