Galaxy Desserts

Galaxy Desserts is yet another wholesale bakery, that I've been able to order from over the years for my group at work.  The company is a bit interesting, as it is based in France ... and Richmond, CA.  It actually started as a small boulangerie in France in 1936, and has clearly expanded into a worldwide presence.  They are also known as Brioche Pasquier, the operating name in France.  Like most wholesale bakeries however, you are unlikely familiar with either brand name, as they distribute primarily to foodservice operators, and you just find the anonymous goodies at cafes or buffets.

Galaxy Desserts bakes three categories of goods: brioche, croissants, and frozen desserts, although I've only had the later.

Tarts

"Our French-inspired tarts with American flavors are the perfect dessert solution. Made with only the finest ingredients: 100% butter shortcrust and flavor-bursting fillings."

Tarts are available in 4 varieties: pecan, lemon, key lime, and creme filled, all of which use the same shortcrust pastry and are hand-piped with white chocolate decoration.  All are distributed frozen, and simply need to be thawed before serving.

As I am not really into tarts (why tart when you can pie?), I've only tried one.

Lemon Tart.

"Our luscious signature lemon curd filling showcase this delightful classic in out signature shortbread crust."

This was not good.  Granted, I don't like lemon desserts usually, but this was particularly bad.

Shortbread crust can be good.  If it is sweet, buttery, decadent, interesting in any way.  This was just hard and flavorless.

The filling was lemon-y, which of course I didn't like, with a strange layer of goo on top (glaze?).  The only decent component was the white chocolate swirl, and that is only because it was not offensive, not because it was actually good.

**.

Duos

"Created to make you desperate for every last delectable bite, our Duos combine two indulgent mousses in one easy-to-serve dessert. Inspired by the best in French cuisine. Why should restaurants and bakeries have all the fun?"

While tarts may not be my thing, the Duos certainly are.  Mini pudding cups, each featuring a duo of puddings.  You know how much I love pudding!

These are also distributed frozen and just need to be defrosted to serve.  They come in little cups already, mini portions, only 100-250 calories each, perfect for trying a few, or serving as part of a big dessert buffet.

Duos are available in 4 classic combinations (double chocolate, creme caramel, cappuccino chocolate, and raspberry lemon), plus seasonal specialities like pumpkin mouse and egg nog.

Creme Caramel.

"A classic European custard on luscious caramel sauce." 

I started with the Creme Caramel.  This was shockingly good, particularly for an item I knew had been frozen and then just thawed for service.

The primary layer was a very creamy slightly thick custard.  Perhaps slightly vanilla flavored, but mostly, it tasted like, uh, "custard".  The bottom of the plastic container contained a runny sweet syrup, like the top of a flan but very liquidy.  It was intensely sweet, too sweet really, just corn syrup.  Just a touch mixed in was good, but, it was way too much, even the small portion provided.

This duo was not as good as a flan, and not as good as a creme brûlée, but, for a frozen thawed easy-serve item, it was very good.

***+.

Update: I had another, the next time it was served.  And liked it much less.  The custard was a nice texture, but really had no flavor.  And the syrup at the bottom is just way too sweet, even if you mix in only a little.  I didn't care for it much at all this time.  **+.

Cappuccino Chocolate.

"A delicate truffle mousse layered with a cappuccino mousse."

The cappuccino chocolate mousse was even better.  It really was a true mousse, the mousse layers were light and fluffy, so very creamy.  The layers didn't necessarily have a strongly distinct flavor, but, the texture was so great that I didn't care that it wasn't screaming "cappuccino" at me.

The dusting of cocoa powder and adorable chocolate covered espresso bean on top were nice garnishes.

This was only 120 calories, and yes, it wasn't huge, but it really shocked me at how reasonable it was.

****.

Updates:
I've since had this many times, and genuinely enjoy it every time.  While the top layer never seems to have much flavor, the texture of both layers is just perfect, so light and fluffy.  And the chocolate covered espresso bean on top is always a nice crunchy sweet treat.  I continue to want more of these, and absolutely cannot stop with just one.

****+, sustained awesomeness.

Double Chocolate.

"Decadent dark and milk chocolate mousse, topped with white chocolate shavings."

Next up, double chocolate.

I expected great things from the double chocolate after the success of the cappuccino chocolate, but, alas, it let me down.

Neither the dark nor light layers really tasted like much.  Texture was good, but flavor was meh.  The white chocolate shavings on top tasted waxy and plastic-like.  Not nearly as successful as the others.

**+.

Raspberry Lemon.

"Tangy raspberry mousse delicately layered with lemon mousse."

And the final regular flavor: raspberry lemon.

I tried this one mostly out of completeness, I wanted to try all 4 varieties offered.  I don't like lemon desserts generally, but, the others were so promising it inspired, me.

And ... yup, the mousse was lemon mousse.  Fluffy, light, airy, but, it tasted like lemon.  Which I did not like.

I tried hard to avoid it to reach the raspberry layer, but it was hard to get only raspberry.  That layer was very sweet, very fruity, and I'm sure if you like lemon, it would combine nicely.

Clearly not the product for me.

**.

Mousse Collection

Moving on, we have the Mousse Collection, 6 different layered individual desserts, again all just defrost and serve.  They also have a "New Mousse Collection", which features some innovative new flavors, and more complicated layers (think: the Crunchy Hazelnut Mousse Cake, with hazelnut mouse, vanilla chantilly cream, almond sponge cake, and a crunchy milk chocolate and hazelnut layer).  The regular Mousse Collection is more classic, like the Tiramisu Mousse Cake, with a base of coffee sponge cake, a layer of mascarpone mousse, and cocoa powder dusting.

I was able to try several from the original mousse collection.

Triple Chocolate Mousse.
(2018)

"A decadent dark, milk and white chocolate mousse."

The triple chocolate mousse featured a base of chocolate sponge cake, three layers of chocolate mousse, and white chocolate shavings on top.

These were basically larger forms of the Duos.  It was the dark and milk layers from the Double Chocolate Duo, just extended to Triple Chocolate with the addition of a White Chocolate layer on top, and a very thin chocolate cake layer on the bottom.

It seemed slightly more set, thicker, which I liked a bit less, and somehow this form factor was less satisfying to eat from than the cups.  Then again, I never really liked the Chocolate Duo in the first place.

**+.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake.
(April 2023)

"A triple chocolate delight with layers of decadent dark, milk and white chocolate mousse topped with white chocolate shavings."

"Our Triple Mousse cake is an unforgettable and elegant chocolate triple threat and a triple treat! The Triple Mousse cake crafts three layers of European dark, milk and white chocolates. The top layer of white chocolate mousse atop a milk chocolate mousse and dark chocolate mousse sitting on a luscious dark chocolate cake, then elegantly topped with delicate white chocolate shavings!"

I last had this item in 2018.   I didn't really care for it then, but, after 5 years, I figured it was worth another try.

I started with the top layer, white chocolate mousse.  It had an odd flavor, which I guess was the white chocolate, and tasted like the inside of a freezer.  I will try to give Galaxy Desserts some credit here and blame the cafe I got it from for poor storage and freezer burn? 0 stars for this layer.

The milk and dark chocolate mousses were better - nicely creamy, reasonably rich chocolate flavor.  Not outstanding, but not bad. *** for those layers

The base was a thin layer of chocolate cake, that had an odd texture.  Hard to describe, but it was cake-like, and yet kinda like compressed sand at the same time.  It tasted gluten-free, or something like that.  0 stars for this layer too.

So, if you discard the odd cake base and the awful tasting white chocolate mousse top, you could salvage a decent chocolate mousse out of this, but, overall, definitely **.

Four Seasons.

"The new Four Seasons combines a light and refreshing raspberry mousse atop a sweet tart lemon mousse sitting on a lemon zest butter sponge cake. A perfect symphony of flavors." 

The Four Seasons Mousse Cake had a lemon sponge cake base, a layer each of lemon and raspberry mousse, and a raspberry glaze on top.

Again, basically a duo, made into a cake.  Given how much I didn't like the raspberry lemon duo just because of the particular flavors, this was no different.

The raspberry and lemon mousses were both fine, fluffy, fruity, but not flavors I like.  And I really dislike pound cake, the lemon just made it worse for me.

**.

French Classics

Finally, the french classics: molten chocolate lava cake,  New York cheesecake, and crème brûlée.  Um, yes, New York cheesecake is a "french classic" to them ...  

The lava cake and crème brûlée both take some prep to serve.

Crème Brûlée.

"A velvety rich custard laced with Madagascar vanilla bean is ready for a light coating of sugar
and torch to finish off this classic dessert." 

Since I enjoyed the duos, I was really excited when I saw that Galaxy Desserts makes a crème brûlée, one of my favorite desserts.  I ordered it the first chance I got!

I was a bit sad though when I saw them.  Um.  Our catering department did not add the sugar and torch it!  Doh.

I call this, "vanilla pudding in a ramekin", not, crème brûlée as intended.  In this form, it was fairly awful, honestly.  Not thick in the way a nice pudding would be, just kinda firm, vanilla-ish custard.

I didn't have a blow torch, nor did I have proper pearl sugar, but I had Sugar in the Raw, so I tried to make actual crème brûlée.  I searched online and found two techniques to try: the broiler, or, a crazy hot spoon.

Broiled Top?

First, I did a trial with the broiler.

The broiler method didn't work.  I had my toaster oven broiler set to 500 degrees, but that cooked the custard way too much in order to get the sugar to melt.  I wound up with cooked eggs basically.  Not tasty.

Hot Spoon "Brûlée"?

Next, I did the hot spoon method, where you heat up a metal spoon as hot as possible, and use *that* to actually burn the top.  It worked slightly better I guess, it didn't cause the entire pudding to heat up, but it also didn't really create a nice layer.  I would not consider this a success either

Sigh.

**+, but hard to evaluate fairly.

Read More...

Amtrak Acela Dining

I travel a lot.  Or, at least, I did pre-covid.  About 120 nights a year on the road (for work primarily).  And yet, I have been on a "real train" exactly once before.  Yes, once.  You see, I grew up in a state that literally has no trains (besides the scenic cog railway up in the mountains).  Years ago, the government made the decision to turn all the rails into trails instead - for cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling in the winter, running, horseback riding, etc in the summer.  I'll admit, it is a pretty cool program, and having a state filled with extensive trails for public use is great.  But ... it also meant that I had no exposure to trains growing up.

Once I moved to the Bay Area, I spent my first year gawking at the light rail as it went by, while everyone else was annoyed to be stuck at the crossing.  That novelty wore off quickly, and those trains no longer interest me.  But, "real trains", not just local rail, still remained elusive to me.  I took an Amtrak train between New York and Boston about 10 years ago, and remember being pretty much overjoyed at the novel experience, but I also was with seasoned travelers, and sorta just followed along.

Which brings us to present day.  Yes, I am 42 years old, travel a ton, and yet have been on a "real train" exactly once, and this was my first time doing it alone.  I was both excited, and slightly anxious at the same time.  My journey was New York to Washington, DC, and of course I choose the Acela.  

Route: 2263, Acela
Departure: Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station 12:21 PM EDT (scheduled) 1:05pm (actual)
Arrival: Washington Union Station 3:10 PM EDT (scheduled) 4:212 PM (actual)

I started my trip in the new Metropolitan Lounge, which was a very calm and fairly empty space, with snacks, drinks, and some small food items.  I spent far more time there intended, given that the inbound train was delayed due to mechanical issues.  We were also later delayed due to track construction, and the need to use a single track, and thus, go slow-slow-slow.  But besides the delays, it was overall a pleasant experience.  I used the Red Cap service to help me with my bags, since Acela has no bag check, and I had, gulp, 2 roller bags, a back pack, and a duffle with me, and that was a fantastic experience.  They fetched me from the lounge, lead me straight to my train, and I was able to pre-board.  No drama scrambling to find my track, or navigate the escalators with too much stuff.  Highly recommend if you have extra baggage, or limited mobility in any way.  

Onboard, the crew was friendly, and ride relatively smooth, although I did need to adjust a little to seeing the world whirl by, and not get carsick feeling.  The overall experiences was considerably less stress than flying, particularly as getting to New York area airports can be such drama with traffic.  I'd do it again if I ever needed to go a similar distance - even though the train took 3 hours compared to a flight's single hour, it really was so much more chill. 

Drink Lineup.

My ticket included drinks, with a reasonable list of liquor, a few beers, one each of a sparkling, white, red, and rose wine, a seltzer, and even a few cocktails, plus non-alcoholic options of tea, coffee, soft drinks, juices, and even cold brew.  Good name brand products all around.

As we settled in to our seats, we were provided with still water bottles.

Our additional drink orders were taken nearly immediately after we departed the station.  They were served once we stopped at the next, fairly close, stop, Newark.

On the Rocks Old Fashioned.

Yes, it was only 1:30pm, but, hey, they had an old fashioned on the menu, how could I not get it?  Plus, I was ON A REAL TRAIN!  Time to live it up!

I've had other cocktails from On the Rocks before, and this was as good as others.  Very strong booze, but balanced.  Bonus points to Amtrak for serving attractively with a lime garnish and stirrer.  Better than what you'd get freshly made at many bars.  You can buy these at most grocery/liquor stores for $10+. ***+.

Decaf Coffee.

Later in my journey, to go along with dessert, I got a decaf coffee.  The Amtrak staff member serving our car told me they only had instant for decaf, and asked if that was ok.  I said yes.  She then came back to say she'd need to get it from the cafe car, so it would be in a paper cup.  Also ok.  If I had gotten regular, it would have been in a real mug.

I really enjoyed the coffee.  It was served piping hot, and was really quite strong.  No decaf funk, no high acid.  I'm not entirely sure it was decaf in the end, but, it was really really good, and went perfectly with my dessert. ****.

I also had sparkling water, which was S. Pellegrino brand.  Not much to say besides I appreciated having sparkling water as an option, included in my ticket price.

Spring / Summer 2023 Menu.

My menu featured a signature dish from Starr Restaurant group, along with standard Amtrak items.  The lineup was very everyone-friendly, with a fruit & cheese plate for those who just wanted a snack, a actually quite good sounding burrata salad that was very lunch appropriate, a comforting butter chicken, and the heavier Starr dish, black pepper beef.  

Orders were taken once we went through one more stop, and arrived within 10 minutes.  

Since it was lunchtime, the salad was certainly most appropriate, and I do quite like burrata, but the black pepper beef gets rather rave reviews from other travelers, and is their special collaboration with Buddakan, so I went for it, even though kinda heavy for lunch (for me anyway).  Around me, many passengers opted for no meal, one actually ordered from the breakfast menu (I didn't know you could do that!), and the rest all got this dish.  I clearly wasn't the only one who had heard good things about it!  I didn't see any of the other entrees ordered in the entire car.

There are two other menus on the spring/summer rotation, which of course I knew from my research.  One features dishes from The Continental Mid-town (another well reviewed dish, chilled sesame noodles) and Pizzeria Stella (lasagna) instead of the Buddakan collab, along with the fruit & cheese plate or a baked salmon lattice that I was really interested in, as it comes wrapped in puff pastry and served with bearnaise, and the other menu has a flagship dish from Adrian restaurant (baked manicotti), along with kofta kebabs, chilled shrimp, or the fruit & cheese plate again.  The last menu wasn't interesting to me, but I would have been happy with the other one too, but I was happy enough with the menu we wound up with.

Meal Tray.

Our trays all included a wam roll with butter (although the breakfast guy had a croissant instead!), salt (no pepper?), our entree choice, and the "rotating dessert", which was a crème brûlée like pot, plus a cloth napkin with cutlery.  

Buddakan Restaurant: Black Pepper Beef

"Wok tossed tenderloin, Chinese crullers, and finger chilis in a black pepper sauce."

I'll start by saying this isn't what I'd normally order.  For lunch, and for playing it "safe" in terms of subpar food on a flight/train, I'd get the burrata salad, no question.  And I do like beef, but, if I'm at a restaurant, chances are much higher that I get seafood.  I probably eat beef only a few times a month.  

This dish comes from their Buddakan collaboration.  At the restaurant, this dish is on the menu featuring rib eye rather than tenderloin, and comes with a crispy bird's nest instead of crullers, and costs $40.  I knew not to expect something at that restaurant level, but I was incredibly impressed when I tasted it, even with the knowledge that many people praise it and high expectations.

The dish was relatively attractively presented, with 9 cubes of steak, 3 hunks of the cruller, onions and peppers in the middle.  It was heavily sauced, but not drowning, no excess in the plate, but every piece well saturated.

I took my first bite of the beef.  Well, huh.  It was tender.  Not chewy.  Well trimmed, no fatty bits.  Restaurant quality.  How ... how did they heat up beef so well on a train?  I was very pleased with the preparation, and seeming quality, of the beef.  ***+.

The sauce was quite flavorful and savory.  It went very well with the beef.  While I found it odd that my tray only came with salt and no pepper, I truly didn't need any, as the beef was crusted in it.  ***+.

The onions and pepper were soft and well cooked.  I would have loved even more onion, as I just really like beef and onions together.  

And finally, the crullers.  They were a bit soft from being warmed up and coated with sauce, but still had a light crunch, and helped soak up the rest of the dish.  I think it would be nicer to have them come on the side, so they would be really crisp, and I could dunk myself, but perhaps that wouldn't work as well with the Amtrak heating mechanism.  I was very pleased to see the crullers rather than standard rice filler, but I can imagine some people finding this dish lacking in a substantial carb and heft.  For me though, this was perfect.

Overall, this was quite good, far better than airline meals, and set a high bar for me for future train travel!  ***+, maybe **** particularly given that it was train food.

Roll, Dessert.

The roll was a simple white dinner roll.  Not sourdough.  Pleasantly warm.  Not really restaurant or fresh bakery quality, but far better than what I normally get on flights.  ***.

And then, dessert!  I'll admit that I was a bit let down to see a pudding, not because I don't like pudding, as I actually adore it, but, because I'd had a ridiculous amount of pudding that week.  My office in New York has 3 daily housemade puddings (they are so lucky!), and I couldn't not have the decadent chocolate tartufo at least every other day, plus they had a lovely lemon yogurt mousse and a truly stunning apple pie cobbler triffle, that I kept rotating between for my dinner desserts.  Oh, and a different office cafe had coconut rice pudding one day, our team dinner at Golden Diner two days prior also featured coconut rice pudding (pistachio and orange version) , and when I got takeout from Thai Diner the night before I opted for banana rum pudding  ... let's just say, I was starting to be a little sick of pudding.

This pudding pot appeared to sorta be crème brûlée, but, with a top that was never bruleed.  I recognized these, as I've had something similar from the grocery store in Paris.  But you really are supposed to torch the top of these, so it was a fairly odd choice on Amtrak's part.  At least they did seem to freshly sprinkle it with the caramelized pearl sugar.  

The pudding was ok - a thick set pudding, fairly creamy, but a slightly separated consistency.  Not very sweet in the base, but obviously plenty sweet with the sugar on top.  It didn't have any particular flavor, no strong vanilla or anything.  The sugar on top was a bit crunchy.

So, overall, fine, but really only **+.   If it had been torched, and more like crème brûlée, it certainly would have gotten at least another half star, or if they had just accepted it as pudding, and put a dollop of whipped cream and a little fresh fruit or compote on it, it too would have gotten a higher score, but as served, it was just a pudding.  

Read More...

Thai Diner, NYC

New York has no shortage of great options for dining, no matter what cuisine you are interested in.  When I visited this past summer, I was craving good thai food, as we just don't really have great thai in San Francisco.  I had numerous options of course My first thai craving lead me to order from the well regarded Fish Cheeks, which I did enjoy, and would gladly get again, but, I wanted to try something different.  Somehow my searched lead me to Thai Diner, a concept that sounded great to me - thai food, served all day (including breakfast), in a diner-like setting. The menu sounded fairly authentic, had some great sounding dishes, and used proteins I enjoy like octopus, liver, and skate.  It has a Michelin bib gourmand too, so, some credibility.

Packaging.

I ordered for delivery on DoorDash, so I didn't get to see the diner decor, but, reviews I read all really do laud the decorations and vibe.  

My items all came nicely labeled with the contents, and a vibrant Thai Diner sticker was used to seal for both security and practicality.  My items came in a variety of containers: this cardboard box for the salad, an aluminum tray with plastic lid for another, and a cardboard bowl for another.  All disposable, no re-usable.

Food

So, the menu.   I wanted much of it.  If I was there at breakfast or brunch, I'd certainly be tempted by the thai tea babka french toast (think: thai tea butter, salty condensed milk, babka base!!!) or even the well lauded breakfast sandwiches (wrapped in roti of course).  But I wanted dinner food, and was alone, so, I couldn't order too much.  I went for a salad, a "snack", and a dessert, so I skipped the main dishes entirely, including the sandwiches & platters section (diner inspired here, but, thai), the "House specilaities" (everything from curries to lobster omelettes to one of my favorites, khao soi), and the "From our woks" (noodle dishes, which can be made with standard tofu, chicken, or vegetarian, but also fried chicken (!), beef shortrib, or large prawns).  I also skipped the sides and the raw bar, so I could order two dishes (salad and snack) and not have too much leftover.

They also have an extensive drink menu, with tons of teas, espresso drinks, wine, and fun sounding cocktails or herbal elixir shots.

Soup & Salad

Soup & Salad Menu.

To start, I got a salad.  Not what I'd ever normally order from a Thai restaurant, but I read so many rave reviews of their baan salad (and also, I have had some fantastic crispy rice salads in the past).  They also had a standard papaya salad.  To the salads you can add a variety of proteins: a fried egg ($2), fried tofu ($5), chicken ($7), fried chicken ($8), beef ($9), prawns ($10), snow crab claw ($13), or even a half chilled lobster ($15).

Baan Salad (No Avocado). $15.

"House salad with Crispy Red Curry Rice, Romaine, Watercress, Avocado, Red Onion & Thai Herbs.  Served with Sweet Chili Dressing."

I was ordering it as a light side salad, so I did not add any protein, although I did ask to have the avocado omitted as I'm allergic. Luckily, it was a built-in option when ordering online to have no avocado (same with red onion).

I was fairly underwhelmed by the salad.  The base was as promised, romaine and watercress, both quite fresh and crisp, along with some herbs mixed in.  There were also some slices of watermelon radish, which along with the thinly sliced red onion, added a pop of color.  But besides the crispy rice, there wasn't anything else to this.  The crispy rice added great texture, but it was more like the crispy rice topping from Sweetgreen (which I do adore), than the mind blowing creation that was the crispy rice salad at Mumu in Sydney.  Just individual bits of dry crispy rice.  A garnish, not a focal point.  I had to leave off the avocado that is normally included due to my allergy.

So, a kinda boring salad.  That said, my salad was also missing the dressing.  They had an option to have the dressing on the side, rather than pre-dressed, which I selected.  However, my dressing was nowhere to be found.  The sweet chili dressing sounded unique, but, alas, I had none.  And thus, no dressing, and no avocado (that part was my choice), and an interesting salad it was not.  *** as it was all fresh. 

This also happens to be vegan.

Snacks

Snack Menu

The next dish I got was from the "Snacks" portion of the menu, essentially the appetizers.   This section had so many heavy hitters, like spicy stuffed clams, octopus with seafood nam prik that people rave about (and I do love octopus!), betal leaf wraps (always something I enjoy), Thai "disco fries" with massaman curry and other toppings, and so on.  Picking just one was very, very hard.  If I were to return, I'd love to try more from here.

Snack: Spicy Chopped Chicken Liver. $16.

"with Pineapple, Thai Herbs & 2 Rotis."

I settled on just one, the spicy chicken liver, as it definitely sounded the most unique, and is one of the most well regarded items on the menu.  Plus, I love chicken liver!

It was just as fascinating, and delicious, as people had said it would be.  It hit all the notes of great Thai cuisine: spicy, sour, sweet, salty, bitter.  The chopped chicken liver mix was well seasoned, and properly funky.  It reminded me a bit of some fermented pork Thai dishes I've had, with all that umami in it.  Very good chicken liver.  The crispy fried onion bits on top added crunch and salt, the cubes of pineapple added a balancing sweetness, the thin sliced red onion and lime to squeeze over provided the acid and sour notes, and the fresh herbs brightened it all up.  They really nailed the balance of all the things, in a very unexpected dish.  I've had various types of liver or pate with a fruit component many times, but this was hands down the most unique prep I've had in years.  ****, unique, and very well thought out.

It came with 2 fresh roti, each packaged in a metallic bag to keep warm.  The roti was very good - flaky, buttery/oily, lightly decadent.  As good of roti as I've had, particularly as I wasn't having it quite fresh.  ****.  Additional roti can be added to any order for $3.

Making wraps with the liver and other ingredients made for really quite taste bites, particularly when I drizzled the spicy sauce in as well.  Speaking of that sauce, it was definitely spicy, and full of unique flavor.  Again, properly funky, nice umami and spice, just, everything.   **** sauce too.

So, overall, a unique dish, very tasty, and fun to eat as well.  **** all around, and I highly recommend.

Roasted Chili Nam Jim / Spicy Seafood Nam Prik. $1.75 each.

I couldn't resist adding extra sauces to my order, as I'm a sauce girl through and through.

First up was the roasted chili nam jim. It was fairly similar to the sauce that came with the liver, capturing all the classic Thai goodness of sweet, sour, spicy, and pungent.  Funky yet balanced, and would be fabulous on just about anythin.  ****.

And lastly, the spicy seafood nam prik, which normally comes with the octopus appetizer, and gets rave reviews.  This truly was spicy as advertised, and overall very flavorful.  I detected lime juice and fish sauce, which both gave it a balanced complexity.  I absolutely see how it would make for a great dip for grilled octopus or calamari, or really, any seafood.  Or even something like yucca fries.  ****.

Dessert

Dessert Menu.

And then of course, dessert.  The entire dessert lineup was tempting too, with a "thai coffee monster" (a monster shaped thai coffee cake with condensed milk frosting) that I would have ordered if it was earlier in the day for caffeine, or a play on the signature New York black & white cookie with a "green & white", featuring pandan and salty coconut (!), and, for dine-in, an epic sundae.  But, if I had to pick one, the banana rum pudding it was, as I adore puddings.   

Banana Rum Pudding. $10.

"Banana Pudding with Uncle Boons Rum topped with Whipped Cream, Caramelized Bananas & Thai Lotus Sesame Tuile. "

I love all pudding, but I really love banana pudding, and I certainly bought in to the idea of adding both rum and a tuile on top.  I was so excited for this.

When you dine-in, the tuile is a topper on the big pudding bowl.  I asked to have it on the side so it would stay crispy.  I'm not sure if they normally stuff it in with the pudding.

The pudding base was ... fine.  It had a strong banana flavor.  This wasn't just vanilla pudding layered with sliced bananas, it was actually banana pudding.  I did not taste any rum.  It was however really quite sweet, and a fairly thin style, not a rich and creamy pudding.  ***.

On top was whipped cream, thicker.  It helped balanced the sweet pudding a bit.  ***.

Then, the caramelized bananas, which were a notch above standard just plain sliced bananas for sure.  They were lightly bruleed on the top.

And finally, the beautiful crispy sesame tuile.  This was not only awesome to eat (so crunchy!), it was loaded with sesame flavor.  Such intense sesame.  Sweet too, as it was glazed in some way.  Delightful.  You could definitely just eat these as a snack and be quite happy.  ****+.

Overall, this was good, but not amazing.  The pudding a bit too thin and too sweet, but the other elements somewhat made up for it.  In a city of such great banana pudding though (I'm looking at you Magnolia!), this didn't really measure up.  ***+.

Read More...

Felix, Sydney

I've long been a fan of the Merivale restaurant group in Sydney.  They have well thought out unique curated concepts, and they aren't afraid to pivot and move on to newer trends.  Two of my top 10 restaurants in Sydney are Merivale establishments: Mumu for innovative Southeast Asian street food, and Ms. G's for truly wonderful ridiculous Asian fusion.  I've visited others over the years, e.g. Mr. Wong, Sushi E, and others that have since closed, and generally enjoyed them all.  I generally gravitate towards the Asian cuisine, because that is what is so much better in Sydney than SF, but I've heard great things about their Italian concepts too.

During my recent visit to Sydney, we needed a location for a small leadership dinner of 7 people.  Somewhere quiet enough to chat (so not as much of a scene as many Merivale places provide ambiance-wise), but also somewhere not too adventurous in menu, as we had some folks that are pretty classic "meat and potatoes" folks, and also, one vegetarian.  We also had a fairly limited budget.  So, all my top choices were out, as they were deemed too "scary" for the guests.  I went back to the drawing board, and came up with a somewhat boring, but safe, cuisine: French.

Overall, it was a "fine" experience, but not one I'd repeat, nor really recommend.  Service was average for Sydney, not particularly attentive, but it was generally possible to flag someone down when we needed something.  No real checkbacks done, nor interest or concern in if we enjoyed our meals, minimal acknowledgement of one dish that was served improperly raw.

Setting

We partially picked Felix for the location, right in the CBD, so easy access to hotels and public transit for the locals.

Outdoor Seating.

The entrance to Felix is down a lovely side street, lined with restaurants that spill out into the street.  Felix is no different, with plenty of tables outside in a sheltered area.  The outdoor space was fairly vibrant and lively.

Indoor Seating & Wine Room.

Inside was a more subdued environment, very traditional dining room with white tablecloths and napkins, wooden chairs with matching salt & pepper grinders and little lamps.  The back wall had all the wine in illuminated shelving.  It wasn't a stuffy, silent dining room, but it certainly wasn't as lively as outside.  It worked well for our group as we were easily able to hear each other throughout the meal.

Open Kitchen.

I enjoyed watching some of the action in the kitchen, clearly formal French brigades style.  The separate pastry area was also open on the other side from here, where I watched soufflés going in and out of the oven, and the blow torch come out over and over again for crème brûlée.  It made me eager for our closing round.

Food & Drink

Menu.

Felix has an unsurprising menu.  No real innovative cuisine here, just, French classics.  

The menu is broken down into Fruits de Mer (which we actually entirely skipped) and Début to start, Plats de résistance, Les Steaks, Plats à partager, and Garnitures for the main round, and Desserts to finish.

Wine

2018 Hickinbotham ‘Trueman’ Cabernet Sauvignon. $29.

I forgot to take notes on my wine, but, I was quite pleased with it.  A fairly big and bold wine, not too high acid, not too much tannin, but real structure to it.  I recommended it to others when they moved on to wine.  I'd get it again.  ****.

Début

Rolls.

Once we had ordered, our server came back with a giant bread basket.  "White or brown?", she asked, which didn't seem particularly descriptive, given that the white bread clearly had seeds.

Sadly, neither kind was served warm.  Cold butter provided on the table for the group.

"Brown" Roll.

I went for the brown roll, and it seemed to be lightly sourdough, so not really my thing.  It had a decent enough crust to it. But room temp, sourdough-ish bread, not interesting.  No one else commented on the rolls, so I don't think anyone was particularly impressed.  *+.

Pâté de foie de volaille. $26.

"Chicken liver pate, spiced pear chutney, brioche."

To get started, I had my eyes solidly on the pate.  I had a great pate the week before (in the Sheraton Grand executive club of all places), and couldn’t wait for more.  I had seen photos of it on Instagram, and I knew it would be delightfully smooth and creamy.  The rest of the group chatted through some shared apps for the table, including the charcuterie board, that would come with some pate, but I wanted my own portion (which I would share of course if it was a huge hit with others).  The server warned us that the charcuterie platter would have it, but I still pushed forward.  I’d eat it all, gladly.

Or … so I thought.  It did look absolutely fabulous.  It was remarkably smooth and creamy.  But the flavor wasn’t particularly good.  Strong bitter notes, and although it had some liver taste, the bitterness really overwhelmed.  It lacked seasoning, and really needed a sprinkle of salt to make it pop.  ** pate.  The Sheraton Grand pate was just better in all regards.

Spiced pear chutney wouldn’t be my first choice for a pairing, particularly in the summer when stone fruit or berries are in season and I think go even better with liver, but, it actually was fine.  The pears were nicely cooked, lightly al dente, and the spicing was interesting.  ***.  The cornichons were average, and the little pearl onions were delightfully tart, my favorite element of the entire meal actually (yes, really.  **** onions).  

Toasted Brioche.

To go with the pate, fluffy toasted brioche slices were served.  They were not warm when they arrived.  But otherwise good, and a great vessel for the pate.  ***.  Considerably better than the dinner rolls.

Assiette de charcuterie (Large). $45.

"Cured meats, cornichons, baguette."

The rest of the group was excited for the charcuterie board.  It had the same pate (with the chutney and cornichons, but no more of the tasty onions), a rillette of some sort that was decent (none of us could figure out what it was, I thought maybe duck confit?), a slice of the terrine that is also available standalone (the others finished this before I had a chance to snag a bite), and two kinds of thinly sliced meats (the proschuitto like one was great, I didn't try the other).   Overall a nice selection.  ***+.

This came with crostini on the side rather than brioche.  I didn't try them, but no one seemed to care for the crostini, commenting that it was too hard and hurt their mouths.

This was the large platter for $45.  A smaller $32 version is also available.

Salade de tomates et prunes. $24.

"Heirloom tomatoes, blood plum, green herb dressing."

The vegetarians went for their only two options to start, starting with the tomato salad.

Tomatoes are very much in season right now, so I was expecting something great from this dish, but alas, the tomatoes were pretty average.  My office had considerably better tomatoes every day.  I didn't get a slice of plum.  The dressing was not very flavorful. ***.

Poireaux grillés et sauce piperade. $24.

"Grilled leeks, roasted peppers, hazelnuts, sherry vinaigrette."

The other vegetarian option I was also excited for, grilled leeks, but, alas, there was only 5 pieces, and by the time I looked up from the meats, it was gone.

Plats de résistance / Les Steaks

Our mains came about 30 minutes after our starters.  We had a variety of dishes from the Plats de résistance and Les Steaks sections, but none of the higher end sharing Plats à partager.

Poulpe grillé. $27.

"Grilled octopus, kipfler potato, rocket, fennel pollen and Espelette vinaigrette."

For my main dish, I actually ordered an appetizer, as I wanted a smaller portion, fully intending to go all in on the dessert round, and because I had really wanted two appetizers: the pate and the octopus.  The server asked if I’d like a larger portion if I wanted it as a main, which I declined, but thought was a nice touch.  I frequently order appetizers as mains, and haven’t ever been asked that before.

I was not very thrilled with my dish.  The potatoes were really quite boring, just ... disks of potatoes.  Not seemingly roasted nor seared, just boiled and sliced.  Soft.  There was segments of extremely bitter citrus throughout, that I’m not sure what it was, as it wasn’t listed on the menu as a component.  The octopus, which should be the star, was the most lackluster part.  It wasn’t rubbery at least, but it wasn’t charred or smoky or interesting in any way.  It was cut into small pieces, and there wasn’t much of it.  

The entire dish was covered in the espelette vinaigrette, which, despite its color and name, really lacked spice or dimension.  It was just oily.  So, overall, boring potatoes, nothing cooked particularly well, covered in oil, and no interesting flavors besides the too bitter citrus that I didn’t care for.  **.

I salvaged the octopus by dunking it in the aioli that came with my tablemate's frites, but even that made it just passable.

Poisson de Jour (Big Eye). $52.

"Pan roasted market fish, fennel, lemon confit, tomato vinaigrette."

Two co-workers both got the fish of the day, which was big eye tevally.  If I had gotten a proper main, this is what I would have gotten.

One came out cooked properly, the other was quite underdone, raw in the center.  At first I thought perhaps she was mistaken, but, it really was rare, and really shouldn't be.  She was able to get the server's attention quickly, and it was replaced with an entirely new piece (totally different shape, rather than thin and long it was wide and short) but it took a very, very long time.  Everyone else had finished eating, even though we were trying to be polite and eat slowly, before she finally got the re-fire.  No real apology was given by the staff.  The skin looked nicely crisp at least?

Minute Steak.  $65.

"220g pasture fed scotch fillet, Bordelaise butter, witlof, watercress, pickled shallots."

One colleague got the minute steak, served the recommended medium-rare.  He said it was good.  (Another got the steak frites, which was a slightly bigger cut (250g compared to 220g), wagyu, and came with fries and jus instead of the veg and butter garnish (and was $15 more).  He seemed to think it was fine, but not particularly great).

Pithivier de Canard. $45.

"Pie of confit duck leg, pomme purée, thyme jus."

I encouraged another colleague to get the duck pie, because I really wanted to try it, but I don't love duck enough to really commit to it.  I knew it was going to at least visually be a showstopper (and it was!).

I'm fairly certain this was the best dish of the meal.  The pastry was very, very good.  Perfectly crispy exterior, ridiculous rich and decadent.  Likely lard heavy, and that is not a bad thing.  It made me very hopeful for the dessert round.  **** pastry.

The duck confit was good, tender, flavorful.  I didn't try the other components.  But, yes, definitely the best dish at the table.

Gnocchis aux herbs. $42.

"Sauteed herb gnocchi, corn, pickled mushroom, tomato, green herbs."

The vegetarian had only one option: gnocchi.  It actually looked good, nice sear on the gnocchi, but I didn't hear her review in any way.

Garnitures

We mostly skipped the side dishes, but the vegetarian throw on an order of fries, er, frites, to round out their meal, which they shared with table.

Pommes Frites. $14.

"French fries, tarragon mayonnaise."

Since these were sitting on the table, I tried one.  They were thin, crispy enough, but pretty boring, and lukewarm even when first served.  Nothing special about these. ***.

The aioli was good, creamy, lightly herby.  It helped my octopus out considerably. ***+.

Dessert

In general, it doesn't matter how lackluster a meal is, I'm always excited for dessert.  In Felix's case though I was more excited than usual, as I wanted many of the options, and I'd seen good reviews for all.

Dessert.

The dessert lineup was, well, very french.  Soufflé.  Profiteroles.  Crème brûlée.  Tart tatin.  A token light fruit tart.  No chocolate mousse, or actually, no chocolate dessert of any kind (some had chocolate elements, but nothing dominant), a slight surprise.  Also interesting is that every dessert included a ice cream/sorbet component, e.g. the soufflé, which was Grand Marnier flavored, came with milk chocolate ice cream, the profiteroles with vanilla ice cream, the fruit tart with coconut sorbet, even the crème brûlée came with a sorbet.  You could also order these on their own of course.

I truly would have been happy to try all of them, but my stack ranking was the epic tart tatin first (designed to serve 2+), the crème brûlée second, and souffle a close third (only slightly deterred by the choice of Grand Marnier, sight).  Our group of 7 had two people who didn't want dessert, two more who only wanted a bite or two, and two more who each really wanted their own crème brûlée.  And thus, I had to narrow my choices down considerably.

Crème Brûlée. $20.

"Vanilla crème brûlée, oat crumble, strawberry pomegranate sorbet."

Regular readers of my blog know that I have a thing for crème brûlée.  For all pudding, really.  There is a reason they both have labels on my blog.  This also means of course that I have, um, strong opinions on my crème brûlée.

This one wins for uniqueness, I can't say I've had it served with a fruit sorbet before.  I'm all about pairing cold scoops with most desserts, but it did seem a bit odd here.  The menu also said there was an oat crumble, but neither of ours seemed to have that.  

I gleefully dug in first (yes, to the one belonging to someone else - no shame!).  First up, the tap test.  It was underwhelming.  It was torched, clearly, but it was a thin layer, and didn't impart any real caramelization flavor.  The base flavor was equally underwhelming - no vanilla bean, no real flavor besides cream and sugar.  But it was perfectly set, very creamy, no grainy consistency.  Great execution on the pudding itself, but, just not very flavorful.  ***.

Tart Tatin (for two). $42.

"Apple tart, calvados cream, cinnamon ice cream."

I was so excited for this.  For many reasons.  First, I love a warm dessert with cold ice cream pairing.  Second, while I don't generally get excited for tart tatin (or apple pie), I had strangely been craving it for about two weeks.  And third, well, I'd seen all the photos of it, and knew what a signature dessert it was.  Intended for two (or more), and served in a big skillet.  OMG.

The giant skillet was put into the center of our table.  I wish I had something for scale so you understood how big it was.  But, yes, massive.  A scoop of calvados cream was added tableside.  We were each given our own scoops of cinnamon ice cream.  I was ready.

But ... it let each and every one of us down, even those without expectations.  There was no real caramelization.  It was very runny.  Some of the pastry underneath was raw.  The pastry that was at least cooked was soggy, and nothing like the glorious pastry from the duck pie.  The apples were at least ok, not too mushy.  Spicing reasonable.  But really, it just wasn't very good.  5 of us split it, and much went unfinished.  I wished I hadn't taken such a big slice originally.  *.

The cinnamon ice cream was very good though, perfectly creamy, very smooth.  It paired well.  **** for the ice cream only.

A fitting letdown of a dessert, for a letdown of a meal.

Read More...