Airport Dining: Takeout from Yankee Pier @ SFO

Update Reviews, 2019 Visits

March 2019

As I cruised through SFO, ready to board an international flight, I decided to swing back by Yankee Pier, intending to either get another Caesar salad, since I had liked it before, or to see what they had for "seasonal" dessert this time, to bring on board in lieu of the on board meal (or, at least, to supplement it).

When I arrived I had quite a wait just to be able to place my takeout order, and I occupied myself checking out the food I saw going by. I kept getting drawn in to the cole slaw I saw on the side of the fish & chips, just a tiny little serving, but it looked good. The menu didn't have it listed as a side, but I figured it was possible to order, so I decided, at total last minute, to get that rather than the Caesar, to go with my dessert.

I ordered eventually at the bar, and, once I was able, the food was ready within just a few minutes, the dessert fetched by the bartender herself, and the slaw quickly handed over by the salad station.

Cole Slaw (Side).

I was expecting a side of cole slaw the same as what came with the fish and chips ... just a little ramekin, but instead, I received a big takeout box full. It ... was a lot of slaw!

It was decent slaw, a mix of mostly green cabbage, with a little purple cabbage, and a little carrot, in a fairly classic mayo based dressing. It was well dressed, but not over dressed, and the slaw was fairly crispy and fresh. I appreciated the different cuts of cabbage. It was well seasoned too, lots of pepper on top.

Overall, not bad. Not something I'd rave about, or go out of my way for, but, a fine cole slaw.

Seasonal Dessert: Cheesecake.

At this point, I'm fairly convinced that they never have a seasonal dessert.  I ask every single time what the seasonal desserts are, and every single time, it is cheesecake or chocolate mousse.  I finally decided to try the cheesecake, just to bring on board with me in case I didn't like the dessert options on the flight.

It came garnished with a little berry sauce, clearly applied once it was in the box, so, kudos to my bartender/server for this.

It was ... ok cheesecake.  A bit of an unnatural yellow, and not particularly creamy nor rich, but it was identifiable as cheesecake.  I think if I really liked cheesecake, and really was looking for the richness, the strong cream cheese flavor, that I would have been disappointed, but, it was fine.

The crust however I really liked.  Which surprised me. It was a compressed graham cracker base I think, but it was sweet and buttery, and I really liked it.  I couldn't quite finish the whole cheesecake, but I assure you, no bite of crust went left behind.

Overall, I suppose this was fine, not offensive, but not particularly good cheesecake.  I might get it again if I really wanted dessert, as it was certainly better than the ice cream, and the options are limited after all.

I really wanted some caramel sauce or whipped cream with it, just, something to enhance it.

April 2019

Ceasar Salad / Popcorn Shrimp / Lobster Roll. $55.

Oh airport pricing.  I know I had a lobster roll in here, but, yeah, $55 worth of food?

Kale Caesar. $8.

"Romaine, baby kale, parmesan, croutons."

I was pleased with this caesar previously, so added it to my order to ensure I at least had something I could count on.  This time, it actually did come with a mix of baby kale and romaine, where last time the menu said kale caesar, but my salad was only romaine.

Otherwise, it was the same, I again really, really liked the dressing (tasted like real anchovy base, lots of parmesan cheese in it, etc), the greens were reasonably fresh and crisp, and there was plenty of thinly shredded parmesan.  A good medium sized salad, and decently priced at $8.

The best part for me is that the salad was medium sized, but the dressing was enough for ... much much more salad.  Which meant I could keep it and use it on future salads, a fantastic thing as I adore this Caesar.

Popcorn Shrimp. $14.

A fairly random order, I know, but sometimes you get off a plane and want fried food!  And I just didn't want fries or onion rings.  So, popcorn shrimp it was.  Plus, this makes me responsible for having protein right?  And people seem to really like it.

The plating made me laugh though, with a few random chunks of cabbage, 2 lime wedges, and crispy shrimp just kinda thrown into a box, that, like many of their boxes, didn't want to stay shut.

I liked it though.  The coating was crispy, it all tasted oh so fried, there was a nice salt level, and the shrimp had a good texture, not rubbery.  The random cabbage was actual welcome to offset the heavy fried food.

I was sad to see that it came with cocktail sauce as the dipping sauce.  Photos and reviews I had read included both cocktail and tartar, and if I had realized the tartar was missing sooner, I certainly would have gone back for it.  The cocktail sauce was fine, but, bo-ring.  Tartar would be a better match, or really, I wanted something like sweet chili or sweet and sour.

Still, I was decently pleased with my crispy fried goodies, and would get this again.

Fresh Maine Lobster Roll. $27.

I know, I know, who gets a lobster roll in an airport? On the wrong side of the country? Probably the same girl who gets octopus in an airport? No plating awards go to this one either.

This at least fared better than the octopus, but I can't say it was a huge success.

The roll, split open, but not toasted, not buttered. Just ... a roll. Slight brioche-like shine to it. Meh.

The lobster filling was decently generous, and was a mix of all different parts of the lobster. Reasonably well cooked, not chewy, not rubbery, but it didn't taste particularly fresh. It was heavily dressed in mayo dressing (which I do like!), with tons of herbs, which I enjoyed the flavor of and made it a bit unique. Nestled under the lobster salad was a single piece of lettuce, saturated in mayo too. I really did like the mayo and herbs quite a bit.

On the side was kettle chips, perhaps house made? Crispy, assorted shapes and sizes. Mine also contained ... 2 pieces of french fry. Score? Fries are usually a $2 upgrade from the fries (and mini salads $3). The fries were fine too.

Overall, not bad, but not great, probably not worth the $27. Next time, I'll try the crab roll?

dessert

.  Thus Yankee Pier was my destination.

Soup, Salad, Dessert. $30?!

I settled on the clam chowder, a caesar salad, and ice cream sundae, all for takeout.  Not exciting, but simple, and what I was craving off my flight.

One of these items was amazing.  The others ... beyond mediocre.

Interior.

The restaurant is a full service restaurant, although it also has walk-in bar seating, and offers takeout.  Since I didn't want to sit in the restaurant and have a longer meal, I opted for takeout, intending to take leftovers home easily, and just go to the nearby foodcourt to eat more quickly.

Signage.

I wanted a dessert, and the menu listed three options: a simple sundae, scoops of ice cream, or  "Seasonal dessert: Please ask your server."  I asked what desserts were available, and I was told, "Do you want to see a menu?  Here, here is a menu," and the menu was thrust at me.  "It says to ask you?"

 I said.  The bartender, who you order takeout from, glared at me.  "I think we have cheesecake", is all she said.  Hmm.  Not such a "seasonal" dessert.  So I asked what kind of ice cream they had.  "Vanilla."  Well, ok then.  I guess I'd get the sundae?

It was easy to place my order at the bar, and my food arrived quickly.  But the packaging was horrible, nearly every box/bowl making a mess.

New England Clam Chowder (Cup). $7.95.

I have many things to say about this clam chowder.

First, I'm going to start with the portion.  Because it was ... striking.  What you see is what I got.  Yes, a reasonable size little bowl, but not even half full.  Um.  Ok.  The portion size was laughable, which might be ok given that this was the "cup" and they do sell a "bowl" as well, but for $7.95, I expected more than 3 spoonfuls of chowder.  The "bowl" is $11, and even filling this would be less than I expect for that price.

Moving on. Next, packaging.  The lid didn't really fit tight, and, even walking with it to the food court nearby, it spilt everywhere.  Horrible mess.  For takeout intended to be brought on flights, and an item I'm sure is a top takeout item, this made no sense.

Now that I'm done being grumpy about my tiny messy portion, I'll review the actual chowder.

It was fine.  Served hot enough.  Creamy.  Not too watery.  Chunks of skin-on red potatoes and celery rounded out the chowder, plus ... I guess a few clams?  Pretty sure I had ... 3? clams total.  And maybe 10 little pieces of potato and 5 chunks of celery.  I'm not joking.  This portion was tiny, and not exactly loaded up.  But the potatoes were well cooked, not too soggy.

It lacked seasoning though, I wished I at least had cracked pepper to add.

For $7.95 this was just ... not really acceptable.

Classic Caesar Salad. $6.95.

"Parmesan, Croutons."

The Caesar also failed in the packaging department.  As I was handed my bag, the bartender even said, "oh, watch out, the salad box opened up, they don't really shut well."  Awesome.  Luckily, I wasn't going far.

And luckily, it was an awesome Caesar.

Yes, it was just a classic Caesar.  But ... it was a really, truly good Caesar.  One of the best I've had in years, actually.  Juicy, fresh, hearts of romaine.  No brown spots in sight.  Huge shreds of decently aged parmesan.  Really quite a good foundation.

The croutons were the shocker, really well seasoned, garlicky, herby.  I truly enjoyed the croutons.  Far, far better than the croutons from the Giants Clubhouse restaurant around the corner.

And then, the critical component, the dressing.  Super thick, great flavor (yes, I tasted anchovy!), texture from grated parmesan, properly seasoned with pepper.  Fantastic Caesar dressing, and I'm pretty picky about my Caesar.  I truly loved this dressing.

For me, this was a perfect Caesar.  Every element was exactly the style I like.  The portion was fine for the price.  I'd get this again in an instant.  In fact, I want more now.

Funday Sundae. $7.95.

"Vanilla ice cream, fudge & caramel sauce, whipped cream."

I also wanted dessert.  Since my options were cheesecake, plain vanilla ice cream, or a sundae (see above), I went for the sundae, as it seemed to hold the most promise, and I do love ice cream.

Let's just say ... this was not a premium sundae.   I regretting getting it fairly instantly.

The ice cream was simple vanilla ice cream, a bit icy, and freezer burned.  No idea what brand.  Not particularly creamy, no vanilla bean flavor.  The Giants Clubhouse at least uses Strauss vanilla ice cream, and I wished I had gotten my sundae there instead.

The "fudge" was actually just chocolate sauce, thin, watery chocolate sauce, from a bottle.  There was a tiny bit of watery thin caramel as well.  The whipped cream came from a can, generic brand.  They threw a cherry on top, but, coated it in chocolate sauce, so no pop of red here.

Overall, this was as lackluster of a sundae as you can possibly get.  Low end ice cream, whip cream, and sauces, all quite generic, no nuts, no other toppings, and $7.95 for two tiny scoops?

Not worth the price, not very good, and really a shame.  Next time I'll try the Giants Clubhouse one.

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Brenda's Meat & Three

Ask a San Franciscan where to get good southern food, and chances are high that Brenda's name will come up.  Particularly if you are asking about southern brunch.  Brenda's is notorious in the long-lines-at-brunch scene, even given the less than ideal location in the Tenderloin.  But the masses still line up, and although I never lined up myself, I finally got to try it.

Brenda's original restaurant was so successful they are now a mini-chain in the Bay Area, with three locations: the original Brenda's French Soul Food, an outpost in Oakland, and a slightly different second concept also in San Francisco, Brenda's Meat & Three.  It is the later that I tried.

The name is a bit perplexing if you are unfamiliar with the meat & three southern concept.  Yes, the tie in to the well known Brenda's French Soul Food is clear, but, what about the "Meat & Three" part?  The answer, per their website:

"A southern culinary tradition, meat & three diners are popular with locals who choose one meat (or entrée) and three side dishes from a daily selection of down-home favorites."

This is a fairly standard concept at southern style restaurants, which I recently discovered when I went to Atlanta (although, maybe this is the economy, or more awareness of health consequences, but "meat and two" seemed more prevalent).  

The menu at Brenda's for every meal period is fairly large, at all locations.  While they differ slightly, for the most part, they offer similar items.

For lunch and dinner, you can pick from a number of comfort food sandwiches, like pulled pork, classic muffuletta, several kinds of po'boys, a signature fried bologna, and of course a fried chicken sandwich, but they also have unique items like a vegan sloppy joe or fried veggie po'boy to really cater to a larger audience.  If you prefer more substantial entrees, you can pick from everything from shrimp & grits to an interesting pasta creation loaded with seafood.  And of course, there are platters of fried chicken, fried catfish or shrimp, ribs, pulled pork, and more.  Appetizers include hush puppies, gumbo, salads, and shrimp in a cayenne butter sauce.  And then there are beignets, both sweet and savory, offered at every location, every meal.

The breakfast/brunch menu adds in specials like biscuits & gravy, a slew of egg options (benedicts - with their southern style biscuits rather than english muffins and creole hollandaise!, omelettes, etc), french toast, hash, and breakfast meats.

I ordered for delivery, so I can't comment on the restaurant experience, but my delivery experience was reasonable - well packaged, timely arrival.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
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• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Beignets

Beignets at Brenda's are signature items.  Available at brunch, lunch, and dinner, and in a variety of flavors, mostly sweet (chocolate or granny smith filled are their classics, but they now also have a trendy ube version!), or plain.  The sweet options definitely appeal to me, but, I actually was looking for something savory, and the idea of the savory beignet intrigued me. 

Beignet Bag.

I was a little surprised when I opened my large takeout bag to find my beignet in a smaller paper bag (but still quite sizable), with a "crawfish" stamp on it.  I suspect if you order more than one kind, this makes sense, and the bag was absolutely fine for packaging in a way that didn't make it get soggy (although it didn't really keep it warm).  It looked a little silly to have the single beignet in the big bag though.

Crawfish Beignet. $4.50.

"Spiced with cayenne, scallions & cheddar."

The beignet was covered in a messy coating (cayenne and other blackening spices I think?), much like you'd find powdered sugar coating a sweet beignet.  This is the kind of item you eat with your hands, but, yes, you'll get messy fingers, in a Cheetos kind of way (just, not quite as artificially orange).  I actually didn't care for the coating, as it made the beignet eat a bit dry.  I did appreciate the flavor, but, I'd actually prefer it without.

The beignet itself was crispy on the outside, and fluffy inside.  It didn't taste oily nor fried.  Good dough.  It was fairly dense, and ate pretty heavy.  And, as I mentioned, a bit dry.

The beignet was quite sizable, and if you want one a an appetizer before a more substantial meal, I recommend sharing.  Beignets are mostly available only in sets of 3 (of a kind), or as a flight (of all kinds), but the crawfish beignet is also available on its own at diner time for a reasonable $4.50.

Crawfish Beignet: Inside.

The beignet was very, very generously stuffed with crawfish filling.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect besides bits of crawfish, and the answer seemed to be a creamy sauce, likely much like the roux used as the base of their étouffée.  It was really well seasoned, full of classic southern flavors.  The creamy filling helped balance out the more dry exterior.  It was rich and screamed southern comfort, but didn't over power the beignet.  The crawfish were perfectly cooked, with a slight chew.  The menu mentions cheddar, which I didn't actually detect, but perhaps it was in there adding to the creaminess.

The filling really was quite tasty, and it worked amazingly well with the beignet dough.  I did end up stuffing some cole slaw and pickles into mine to make what I considered pretty perfect bites (slightly less dry this way), but it was quite enjoyable on its own too.

This was a unique and tasty dish, and I recommend it if you are up for trying something different (and aren't crawfish nor carb averse).

***+.

Sides

Given the concept, it is no surprise that Brenda's Meat & Three offers a slew of sides (at least 20 of them!), mostly all your traditional southern sides: cole slaw, potato salad, grits, cheesy grits, mashed potatoes, collard greens, red beans & rice, mac & cheese, corn succotash, okra & tomato maque choux, fries, etc, etc.  Many vegan, most vegetarian, some gluten-free.  These are available a la carte as well. 

Cole Slaw. $3.50.

To go with my beignet I got the slaw.

Ok, this looks like just any old cole slaw.  Shredded cabbage, mostly green, a little carrot, dressed in mayo based dressing.  It didn't look particularly interesting, no extra special ingredients, no interesting size chunks, not even any noticeable seasoning.

But this was excellent cole slaw.  At least, totally the kind of slaw that I like.  It was fairly fresh and crisp, although certainly a bit soft, likely was made that morning.  It was well dressed, every piece covered in dressing, but not over dressed nor soggy.  The dressing I suspect is what made it for me, besides mayo, I'm not entirely sure what was in it, but, it was creamy and flavorful.

It is hard to really pinpoint what made this so good, as there isn't anything obvious, but I really enjoyed it.  The portion was quite large (that was a large container!), and for $3.50 it was a great value.  Definitely the best cole slaw I've had in recent years, and I'd get it again in a heartbeat.

****+.

Retail Items

Brenda's offers a line of retail packaged jams, pickles, and sauces, including pepper jelly and the jams they serve at breakfast (peach cobbler or spiced strawberry), along with several kinds of pickles, and even a tomato bacon relish.

I come from a family of canners, and grew up eating homemade pickled things of all kinds, and of course, always homemade jams, so I was thrilled to see this lineup.  Grocery store pickles, even fancier ones, just don't compare.

Pepper Jelly. $1.25.

Pepper jelly is normally served with the cornbread, or chicken meals, but you can also add it on to your order for $1.25 (or get a full size retail jar if you really want to stock up).

The pepper jelly was a different style than I've had other places, no chunks, just a smooth sauce.  It was slightly sweet, not particularly spicy, and nicely pepper flavored.  I found it went well with my crawfish beignet, it went well with the slaw, and I'm sure it would go great with the cornbread or biscuit too.  Very versatile and a nice add-on.  I'd get it again.

****. 

Bread & Butter Pickles. $10.50.

First up, I opted for the bread & butter pickles, always a classic in my house.  

The top few slices were slightly mushy, but they got a bit more firm as I dug deeper.  All were a touch softer than I prefer.  Moderately thinly sliced, so less bite to them than a thicker slice.  Good level of acid.  Considerably more tart than most bread and butter pickles, which can trend overly sweet.  I had hoped for slices of onions and/or peppers in the mix, as my family has always included those in bread and butter pickles, but these were cucumber only.

Overall, good pickles, better than your average store brand, but I wanted a bit more from them.  ***+.

The pickles went really well with the slaw and savory beignet, and are a great compliment to any southern meal.

Pickled Okra. $10.50.

I couldn't resist trying a jar of the pickled okra as well.  My family pickled many things other than just cucumbers, and in particular, the dilly beans and asparagus were always favorites of mine, but I can safely say we never had pickled okra.  However, just like green beans and asparagus, it seemed like a totally reasonable crunchy green vegetable to pickle to me, so I couldn't wait to try it.  I hoped it would be crisp and not slimy though ...

I really, really, really did not like this product.  The okra sliminess was not the issue (although that was kinda there).  The issue was the taste.  It was bitter.  It was sour.  It just tasted bad.  Like, potentially unsafe to eat, not properly sealed and pickled bad.  I wonder if I got a bad batch? Yikes.

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Fresh Express Salads

If you thought it was strange that I reviewed Sambazon smoothies last week , then I can only imagine what you are thinking now.  Salads?  Really?

Like I said, I get to sample random things sometimes because of this blog.  And in this case, it was salads.  Fresh Express sent me coupons to try whatever I wanted.  I could have stuck with basic lettuce blends, but I mostly went for the kits, because those are far more exciting.

For the most part, the greens, which is their primary product, were fine, but, not particularly remarkable.  I don't normally buy bagged, pre-washed greens at the grocery store (I'm a farmer's market kind of girl), so I'm not their target demographic.  But ... the dressings included in the some of the kits turned out to be totally delicious.

It was actually really fun to try these salads and add more greens into our daily life.  Ojan of course got to play along with me, and he also ate far more salad for a few weeks than I think he wanted, but, he was good sport.  If you are looking for pre-washed greens, available anywhere, with easy kits to make a meal, Fresh Express could be for you.

Kits

As I mentioned, the kits were the most exciting products.  They all include base greens, plus dressing, and a few other mix-ins.  Each one is packaged in a outer bag, with individual bags for the dressing and additions.

Fresh Express makes four different caesar salad kits (one with bacon, one enhanced with better cheese, and a lite version), two mexican style salads (one chopped, one not), two asian style salads (one chopped, one not), and a pear gorgonzola and a cole slaw.  I tried some from all categories except the asian ones.  While the greens and add-ins didn't impress me, the dressings really did, and luckily, they always provided far more dressing than you needed for the quantity of greens, so you could use it again another time.  If only they sold just the dressing!

Pear Gorgonzola Kit.

"Tender baby lettuces and sweet dried pears, frosted almonds and an amazing pear gorgonzola vinaigrette".

The very first Fresh Express salad I picked was the Pear Gorgonzola.  It sounded most like something I'd actually order in a restaurant.

I was confused when I opened the bag ... where were the pears?

The outer bag contained baby lettuces, a blend of romaine, green and red leaf, lolla rosa, green tango, green and red oak leaf, arugula, mizuna, tatsoi, baby spinach, and radicchio.  The assortment was varied and the lettuces were decently fresh.  I particularly liked the mix of colors, and the bitter radicchio.  I was impressed that they included so many more rare baby greens in a regular supermarket item.  But no pears.

The dressing bag contained the "amazing pear gorgonzola vinaigrette".  I didn't necessarily taste pear, but it was sweet, and reasonably well seasoned.  It had very tiny chunks of gorgonzola in it that helped balance against the sweetness, but I definitely overdressed my salad, and regretted how sweet it was.  The ingredients listed brown sugar, which explains the sweetness ... why?  Pear juice already provided plenty of sweetness.  The quantity of dressing was more than sufficient, and we had plenty left over to use on later salads.

The final bag initially looked like it was just the frosted almonds, but, it was the answer to "where is the pear?"  Along with the chopped almonds, were tiny, tiny chunks of dried pear.  They were completely lost once added to the salad.  Bigger chunks were definitely needed.  I did appreciate having both the almonds and pears for additional crunch.

I also added grape tomatoes, bacon, and gorgonzola crumbles once I saw how little was in the dressing.  My additions all complimented the salad well.

Overall, I was impressed with this; the greens were good, the dressing interesting, and the pear and almonds decent toppings.  I do wish the sweetness was dialed down a bit, and wanted something more, like real chunks of gorgonzola or bigger pears, but it was decent, and I'd eat it again.

Salsa! Ensalada Kit.

"A sensational combination of iceberg and romaine lettuces topped with Mexican seasoned cheeses, tortilla strips and spicy ranch dressing."

Next, I moved on to one of the Mexican offerings, the Salsa! Ensalada (the other choice was the Southwest Chopped salad, which sounded similar, but with chopped lettuces and cabbage).

The greens here were a bit boring, more standard, and mostly iceberg.  Fresh and crisp, but seriously, who eats iceberg these days?

The "Mexican seasoned cheeses" were a mix of finely shredded cheddar, colby, and jack with nacho seasoning.  The cheese wasn't remarkable, but added some zing and complimented the rest of the kit.

For tortilla strips, there were two varieties, yellow and blue, crunchy, but fairly unremarkable, and there weren't nearly enough for the amount of lettuce provided.  But again, complimented the kit well.

And finally, the spicy ranch dressing.  This stuff was very tasty.  I didn't quite get the "ranch" aspect to it, but it was creamy, and zesty, and tasted remarkably like the tacos I ate growing up.  Again, there was far more dressing provided than we needed, so we gladly used the rest up on later salads.

This all came together quite well, and I enjoyed it.  It would make for a very easy taco salad dinner with some seasoned beef or chicken thrown on top.  I also think it could have used carrots and tomatoes.  I'd certainly consider getting this one again, and jazzing it up a bit.

Salsa! Ensalada Kit ... as a taco salad!

A few weeks later, I decided to try out my taco salad idea.  I used the Salsa! Ensalada kit as the base for my salad, providing the lettuce, Mexican cheese, tortilla strips, and of course, the dressing.

As I said last time, it clearly needed tomatoes, so I added diced tomatoes.  I also thought the amount of crispy tortilla strips, while perhaps sufficient for a side salad, was not adequate for a full entree sized taco salad.  So I also added some Way Better Snacks Multigrain Tortilla Chips (remember those?), which I crumbled up.  I don't love them as tortilla chips on their own, but crumbled up in the salad they worked well.  What is unique about the chips is that they are made with sprouted seeds, and boost an impressive nutritional panel, are full of good things like Omega-3s. These particular ones are made with sprouted brown rice, quinoa, stone ground corn, flax seed, chia seed, broccoli seeds, and daikon radish seeds, all organic.  So, for tortilla chips, quite healthy, and they added whole grains and omega-3s to our otherwise not exactly nutritious meal.

Finally, I topped the whole thing with seasoned ground beef and onions, and a little cilantro.

It worked just as I hoped, and made for a ridiculously easy, satisfying, dinner.  Hands down the most successful salad we had.

CaesarLite® Kit.

"Our CaesarLite® dressing delivers all the authentic Caesar flavor you love with fewer calories and less fat than our regular Caesar dressing. Super crisp romaine is topped with our tasty, crunchy garlic croutons."

Fresh Express makes 4 different caesar kits: the "caesar kit", the "bacon caesar", the "caesar supreme", and the "caesar lite".  Ojan likes caesar salad, so we were interested in trying these out, particularly after the success of the dressings from the other kits.

We started with the light option, because, well, if it was good, why not pick the lightest option?

I was of course curious to see what was different between the kits, besides just a lower-fat dressing. The first thing I noticed is that the CaesarLite does not contain an additional packet of parmesan cheese to sprinkle on, like the regular caesar.  Obviously, the bacon one contains "real bacon pieces", in addition to the extra parmesan cheese.  And the supreme?  Rather than simple grated parmesan, it has "Italian artisan cheeses".  Oh my.  And rather than the "classic caesar dressing" of the others, it has "creamy caesar dressing".  We'll see how they all compare.

Nutrition-wise, the regular caesar clocks in at 150 calories per serving, 12 grams of fat. The supreme version adds a few calories and more fat (160 calories per serving, 14 grams of fat).  The Caesar Lite is indeed lighter, at only 90 calories and 6 grams of fat.

But back to the Caesar Lite.

The lettuce was all classic romaine, and I was pleasantly surprised by how crisp and crunchy it was.  Not a single bit of brown on it either.  They do earn the "Fresh" part of their name.  The bag contained a variety of types of leaves, but was generous with the hearts of romaine, my favorite part.  This was certainly the best of the lettuces we tried so far.

The garlic croutons were also a surprise.  They didn't look like much, and I expected them to be dry and flavorless, but instead they were really crunchy, buttery, and indeed garlicky.  I loved the flavor and the crunch they added to the salad.

The weakest part was the CaesarLite® dressing however.  It was very clearly a light dressing, more vinaigrette-y than creamy.  It didn't have any real anchovy flavor to it either, although anchovy is listed as an ingredient (albeit the second to last one).  Like the other kits, there was far more dressing than we needed, although in this case, we had no desire to keep it.

Overall, I was impressed by the lettuce and croutons, but I really didn't care for the dressing, no matter how much better for me it was.  And I wanted parmesan to add to it.  This was the first kit we tried where the dressing wasn't the star.  It did however make me curious to try the regular caesar, and the very fancy "supreme" version!

Bacon Caesar Kit.

So we moved on to the most exciting of the caesar kits: the bacon caesar.  The contents sound identical to the regular caesar, just with bacon pieces added:  "romaine lettuce, real bacon pieces, garlic butter croutons, aged parmesan, classic Caesar dressing."

The lettuce was pretty much identical to the other caesars, fresh and crisp, romaine.  The croutons seemed exactly the same too, even though described as "garlic butter croutons" in the Caesar and Bacon Caesar and just "garlic croutons" in the Lite version.  I'm pretty sure they were all the same, as they looked and tasted the same, and the ingredient lists were identical.  The croutons again didn't look like anything special, but the garlic flavor was crazy intense, and I loved the crunch they provided.

Unlike the Lite version, the regular Caesar and the Bacon Caesar provide a packet of grated parmesan cheese. It was completely unremarkable, not even a step above what you find in packets at a generic pizza joint, or in the green shakers at the grocery store.  Not exactly real parmesan!

Since I wasn't impressed with the Caesar Lite dressing, I was anxious to try the regular Caesar dressing, since I had been quite happy with the dressings from the other kits.  As I expected, this dressing was much better.  It was creamy rather than vinegary, it had some grit from parmesan cheese throughout, it had a bit of tang, and you could even taste a little anchovy.  A very classic, decent, caesar dressing.  I'd never go out of my way for it, but it tasted like a caesar dressing should, and was a totally different league from the Lite version.  Turns out, fat tastes good!  And like the other kits, plenty of extra dressing, which we gladly used later.

The differentiating component of this salad should have been the bacon.  Because, seriously, doesn't bacon always make things better?  I wasn't sure what to expect from the bacon, I pretty much expected tiny little bacon bit crumbles.  Maybe fakin' bacon.  I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package to find a packet of, well, real bacon pieces, as promised.  Far bigger than bacon bits, or even crumbles really, and yes, they looked to be actual bacon.  But, once I invested further, my satisfaction with them disappeared.  I only like crisp bacon, and this was floppy and slimy.  I guess that is what happens when you put bacon in a little bag?  It also was really, really fatty.  Obviously, it is bacon, bacon is fatty, but this seemed to be either really poor cuts of bacon, or just not cooked such that the fat rendered out.  Either way, it was a disappointment, I didn't want flimsy, soggy, chewy, fatty bits of bacon in my salad.  Although, once mixed into the salad, the fact that it wasn't crisp was much less noticeable.

If I were craving a Caesar salad again, I liked the dressing from this enough that I'd get it again, but I'd go for the regular one, and skip the bacon.  And, I'd provide my own cheese.  Or really, I'd try to find somewhere that carries the Supreme version, as it is supposed to have higher quality cheese.

Cole Slaw Kit.

"Contains the freshest green cabbage and red cabbage, plus carrots, along with our signature sweet, creamy dressing."

Fresh Express makes a range of cole slaw products, starting with basic "Angel Hair Cole Slaw", which is just finely shredded green cabbage.  Next up is "Old Fashioned Cole Slaw", which adds shredded carrots to the cabbage mix.  To kick up the color another notch, you can go for the "3-color Deli Cole Slaw", which adds red cabbage as well.  But those all just contain the veggies, no dressing.

But of course, they make a Cole Slaw Kit as well, containing a mix of green and red cabbage and carrots, all shredded and ready to go, and a packet of "classic" coleslaw dressing.  At this point, I'd like to note that they spell it "cole slaw", two words, in all of the product names, but for the dressing?  "coleslaw", one word.  No judgement about which is correct (although, I think coleslaw is), but come on folks, consistency?

Anyway, the greens in this were the least impressive looking of the products I tried.  The cabbage looked dried out.  There was technically a scattering of red cabbage and carrots, but their representation was pretty minimal, my bag was essentially just green cabbage.

The dressing also didn't look quite right, as I expected something that was white and thick, mayo based, as that is what "classic" coleslaw dressing is to me.  But I realize vinegar slaw is also a thing.  This dressing seemed to live somewhere in the middle of the two styles, creamier than a vinegar based dressing, but not as creamy as a mayo one.  It was quite tangy from the vinegar, but too sweet.  It had both sugar and high fructose corn syrup in it, really unnecessary in these amounts.  It also lacked any zing, and I needed to add fresh cracked pepper to the mix.  However, for the first time with any kit, I found the amount of dressing provided actually matched the amount needed for the rest of the salad, and we didn't have any extra.

Overall, this just wasn't a classic cole slaw for me, I wanted creamier dressing, a peppery zing, and far more carrot.  But perhaps this is classic to someone, and it wasn't bad exactly, just not my style.  I do think the sweeter style would have benefited from the addition of some nuts to give a bit of bitterness, like pecans perhaps, or maybe just sliced apples or dried cranberries to just go with the sweet style more.

Amusingly, when I asked Ojan what he thought of it, his first comment was, "did you add pepper?"  I responded that I had, and he said, "why?  I want more, but without the pepper".  I said that coleslaw always has pepper, and he disagreed, saying that it should have had horseradish.  I've never had horseradish in my coleslaw.  So clearly, "classic" in regards to coleslaw is a highly individual thing!

Veggie Medleys

I still wasn't ready to try just basic greens, so I checked out the Veggie Medley's line.  These were all lettuce bases, with additional vegetables, like carrots, cabbage, radishes, pea pods, tomatoes.  But, not full kits, so no dressing provided.

Veggie Lover's.

"The perfect combination of lettuce and veggies you love!"

After success with the kits, we went for the most interesting sounding of the non-kits, the Veggie Lover's, as it had the most veggies other than just lettuce.  The bag said it had iceberg and romaine lettuce, carrots, pea pods, red cabbage, and radishes.

This was a very week attempt at a mixed salad.  The lettuce was mostly iceberg, flavorless, but fresh and juicy.  But there is so little value in iceberg.  I found very little romaine in the mix.

The cabbage and carrots were shredded and since they were heavier than the lettuce sunk to the bottom of the bag.  It was a bit annoying to get enough mixed in to add a little color and crunch.

The radish was a bit of a joke, perhaps three crinkle slices in the entire bag.  But more of a joke?  The pea pods.  I searched high and low, but didn't find a single one.

So sure, this was fresh, and it had some other veggies, but it was still mostly just a bag of iceberg, and I really didn't care for it.  Would not get again.

Tender Leaf Mixes

Ok, now for just some greens.  I skipped all the standard greens, the "Tasty Greens" products, and the fairly banal looking "Refreshing Mixes", and went straight for the higher end looking "Tender Leaf Mixes", which were mostly spinach based.

Baby Kale Mix.

"A perfect blend of kale and chard that makes any salad delicious."

I went for the "Baby Kale Mix", as it was the most interesting sounding.  It contained spinach and chard in addition to the namesake baby kale.  In fact, it contained more spinach than anything else.

The greens were all fine, fresh enough, tender, baby greens.  A fun mix, a bit peppery.  We enjoyed it raw as a caesar salad with leftover dressing from the caesar kit, and then simply sautéed it with salt and pepper the next night.  I liked it both ways, but slightly more when cooked down.

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Cathead's BBQ

I'm not really one for BBQ, since I don't really like pork or chicken, and they are usually the focus at BBQ joints.  Yet, I went to Cathead's BBQ.  Why?  Well, not for the actual meat, obviously.  But there is a part of BBQ that I absolutely love: the sides!  Cornbread or biscuits, potato salad and cole slaw, baked beans, mac and cheese ... I love them all.  I'll always eagerly tag along to get BBQ, even though I never intend to really eat the main attraction.

A friend has recommended Cathead BBQ a number of times, and their menu, while it features all main dishes I wasn't interested in, also includes a ton of amazing sounding sides.  All the classics, but amped up a bit.  The biscuits come either in mini form, or "as big as a cat’s head", served with honey butter and pepper jelly.  The potato salad has dandelion greens added.  The mac and cheese has pimento for a bit of kick.  People rave about the collard greens, and they are just greens!  And Cathead has not one, but two types of coleslaw, something I'd been really into, since trying out the versions from Fresh Express, of all things.

For my first visit, I swung by just to get a side of slaw to bring home to have with a picnic themed dinner I was planning.  I didn't spend much time inside, but it was a very casual, comfortable feeling place.  Everyone orders at the register in the front, seats themselves, and orders came up on the counter when ready, your named called out.  There were a variety of tables options inside, and a few picnic tables outside as well.  Super casual, so my ordering takeout was totally acceptable, I wasn't sure how showing up just to get some slaw would go over, but it was no problem.

Service was incredibly friendly.  On my first visit, when I asked about the difference in the two slaws, one called "mustard" and one called "habanaro", I was immediately told that one was mayo based, and the other vinegar, but that I should just try them both.  Moments later, little cups of each were held out to me.  The person ordering after me asked if the pimento mac and cheese was spicy, and again, in moments, a sample was provided.  Wonderful service!

I returned several more times to pick up sides to take home to complete other meals I was planning, and was fairly impressed, but I don't really think I'll return further.  That said, I fully recognize that I didn't actually have their BBQ, which is sorta the whole point, so I can't really judge..

Mustard Slaw.  $4.

As I mentioned, on the first visit, I tried both the habanero and the mustard slaws before deciding which to order.  The habanaro was vinegar based, super fresh, the cabbage incredibly crispy, and it had a bit of heat from the habanaro.  I really liked it, but I am much more of a fan of creamy coleslaw, so I went for the mustard slaw instead.

I was intrigued by the idea of mustard slaw.  I don't think I've really had mustard in slaw before, but Cathead is known for their sauces, vinegars, and mustards, so, it makes sense that they would feature it in the slaw (you can buy their sauces in bulk too, more on them later).  The dressing for this slaw was thus both mustard and mayo based, although not super creamy.

Like the habanaro slaw, the cabbage was incredibly crisp, all green cabbage.  There was also shredded carrot and red pepper in the mix.  All fresh and crisp, the slaw clearly hadn't been sitting around for ages and was freshly made.  Points for this, as soggy slaw is sad slaw.

The mustard slaw is the less spicy choice between the slaws, but it still packed a punch.  Without something like mac and cheese, or I guess ribs, to go alongside, it was actually a bit too spicy for me.

The mustard did add a zing, but I think I prefer standard mayo based coleslaw.  The slaw was all perfectly executed, but just not my style.

All sides are $4 for a side portion, which is quite a bit of coleslaw, it easily could be 3 small servings alongside a meal.  I'm glad I tried mustard slaw, but I wouldn't get again.

Habanero Slaw.  $4.

On my next visit, I decided to get the Habanero Slaw, since I didn't care for the mustard one very much.  It was made with red cabbage rather than green, but had the same shredded carrot and red pepper.  It was the vinegar based option, rather than mayonnaise.

The veggies were crisp, and it had some serious heat, but I really am just not a vinegar slaw type.  I brought it home to Ojan who was also sad that it wasn't mayo based, so we added our own mayo to it.  Problem solved, except, it was still too spicy for Ojan.

If you like spicy vinegar slaw though, go for it, it was clearly a good product, just not for me.

Pimento Mac & Cheese.  $4.

On my next visit, I again wanted to just pick up a side dish, this time to go along with the sausages I had ready to grill from Rosamunde.  I thought potato salad would be a good fit, so I asked about the  Dandelion Green Potato Salad.  I was told that it was German style (boo), but that it did contain mayo (yay).  A sample was immediately presented the moment I inquired about it, without my asking specifically to try it.  I'm glad it was, because I didn't end up liking it.  I certainly prefer even more creamy, mayo-laden, American styles.  This was tangy German style, with harsh red onion, and mushy potatoes.  I prefer my potatoes a bit al dente in my potato salad.  I did like the mustard greens in it though, a fun southern twist.  But not my style of potato salad overall.

So I took things an entirely different route, and picked the mac and cheese.  I didn't ask to try the mac and cheese, or ask about how spicy it was, but just went for it.  I'm sure I could have asked for a taste, but I decided not to, not wanting to be extra work when I was just picking up a single side.  I wish I had.

The mac and cheese, like all of the sides, is pre-made, sitting hot in a steam table behind the counter.  It wasn't very creamy.  Nor very cheesy really.  The pasta was a bit mushy.  Just overall, quite unremarkable.  The pimento did add a fun kick though.

$4 for a reasonable sized size was fine, but I wouldn't get this again.

BBQ Baked Beans.  $4.

And finally, I had to try the BBQ baked beans.  They were served warm, out of the steam table like the mac.

The beans were loaded up with lots of caramelized onion.  The sauce had a deep molasses flavor, and the right ratio of sauce to beans, not too dry, not to runny.  The beans were tiny bit mushy but not too bad.  I don't really like beans in general, and got these mostly for Ojan, but I did appreciate the flavor of the sauce.

Very good for baked beans, due to the excellent sauce and plentiful onions.

Condiments!

So, speaking of sauces.

Cathead's BBQ is known for their sauces, and on one visit, a set was included in my bag, when I mentioned I was pairing the mac and cheese with some sausages.  How thoughtful!  I was excited to try them, since I knew they are part of Cathead's fame.

My containers were (from left to right): mustard, BBQ sauce, pickled veggies, and habanero hot sauce.

The mustard, which I had in the mustard slaw, is described as "a blend of mustard, black pepper, and cider vinegar."

This was a thin style mustard, far thinner than any mustard I've had before, not really appropriate for spreading on things like hot dogs or sausages, but makes sense for use with bbq.  The pepper was particularly strong.

The BBQ sauce is described as "ketchup based sauce, mixed with brown sugar, molasses, and cider vinegar. This sauce is your 'put it anything you want bbq sauce on' sauce."

The brown sugar and molasses were quite obvious in it, certainly a sweet style bbq sauce.  It did have some good additional spicing however, a bit smokey even?  Not just sweet.  I enjoyed it with some cornbread, and if I liked chicken, I actually think it would be perfect for chicken.

The pickled veggies included carrots, cauliflower, red peppers, and onions.  Basic vinegar pickle style, crunchy, and tangy.  I'm sure they go great with bbq.

The habanero hot sauce was in the other slaw I tried, described as "a well balanced spicy and flavorful hot sauce".  When I had it in the slaw, it was obviously in a small quantity.  When I generously dipped a pretzel into this, I had no idea what I was getting into.

Holy crap it was spicy.  Punch-you-in-the-face spicy, but, once I got over the initial shock, I actually kinda liked it.  It didn't linger in a horrible way, just in a pleasantly spicy way.

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Roostertail

Roostertail is a casual American food joint in Lower Pac Heights, serving up primarily rotisserie chicken and sides.  As you likely know by now, I don't like chicken, but I do love the sides that go along with bbq, so I was eager to check it out not only for my staple side dish of slaw, but also, for the cornbread I had read good things about.

I planned to return again to take photos of the interior to show you better, but, alas, when I saw Roostertail "is" a restaurant in Pac Heights, I need to correct that, as they just closed this past weekend (June 14).  So sadly, I won't get a chance to return to take photos of the stunning patio space hidden out back, and, you won't get a chance to try the food.

But I'll still tell you about it.

Like I said, the rotisserie chicken is the star dish (organic, free-range of course).  Along with basic roast chicken, they also had wings and chicken sandwiches, plus some other bbq classics like pulled pork and brisket.  The only thing I ever had eyes for were the sides, which included all the basics: fries, onion strings, baked beans, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese, plus some token vegetables like broccoli and cheese, braised kale, and brussels and bacon.  Desserts sounded great too, like seasonal fruit crisp and Staus soft serve ice cream.  We need more legit soft serve ice cream in this town!

Jalapeño Cornbread, side, $4.

I started with the dish I read many great things about, the cornbread!

A side order of cornbread comes with 3 pieces, not traditional chunks of cornbread.  Instead, each piece is like a little madeline, shaped like an ear of corn.  Served warm, with honey butter on the side.

It was indeed good cornbread, with a pleasant grittiness to it, and a nice kick from the jalapeño.  And the best part?  The side of honey butter, always the right thing to pair with your cornbread.  The honey butter is whipped and fluffy, although, it did have less honey flavor than I'd prefer.

Update (several months later): I returned a second time to pick up some cornbread, as I had chili waiting for me at home, and I always love cornbread alongside my chili.  I of course had a bite when it was hot and fresh.  This time, I still really appreciated the jalapeño, but it seemed a bit more dried out, not quite as fresh tasting.  Slathering it in honey butter of course helped fix this, as did dunking it in my chili, so not a big deal, but the texture difference was notable.

Second Update (a few MORE months later): I went back again, with fond memories of the cornbread from that first time, but needing a third visit as a tie breaker.  And ... sadly, it seemed really dried out again.  And this time it wasn't even served warm.  Boo.  I'm done trying it.

Original Cole Slaw, side, $4.

As you know, I like to try out coleslaw all over town, from restaurants, delis, and fast food joints alike, like the duo of slaws from Cathead's BBQ, the inconsistent slaw from Prime Dip, the poppyseed dressing version from Deli &, the one with far too many red peppers from Cedar Hill, and the decent basic deli version at Bayside Market.  When I saw a photo of Roostertail's slaw, I had to try it.

I loved the look of the slaw, so colorful and vibrant, with both purple and green cabbage, and bright orange carrot shreds.  Reviewers also all commented on how it wasn't overly mayo-y or heavy.

I disagree.  It was way over-dressed for my taste.  The cabbage was very fresh and crisp however, and the flavor was good, but, too heavy for my liking.  There was also a fair amount of red onion, which was too harsh and made for some very strong bites.

I passed it off to Ojan, who gladly finished it, so again, I still can't figure out his type of ideal cole slaw, but it certainly seems to be whatever slaw I dislike, which is quite convenient!

$4 for a side dish was a reasonable price, although I think a similar quantity would be less at a deli.

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Takeout from Legal Seafood

Legal Seafood.  An institution in Boston.  But ... as ... takeout?  Yup.

If you are unfamiliar with Legal Seafood, you might want to start with my reviews before from actually dining at a regular location, or getting takeout from a Legal location in an airport, or visiting a concept locations, Legal Crossing.

Update Review, Harborside Location, July 2020

Although I didn't love Legal Seafood takeout the last time I got it (see original review), the summer of 2020 called for ... different times.  I was in Boston for just one day, in transit to my parent's house in NH (escaping from lockdown SF!), and decided to get my takeout from Legal, just a couple blocks from the hotel I was staying at.

Easy Takeout Meal: Fish & chips, grilled shrimp, sauces, and rolls.  ~$20.

From past experience, I ordered from the kid's menu, to get a more appropriate portion, and added on grilled shrimp to round my meal out.  Oh, and all the sauces I could order, of course.

The portions and value were decent, but, for the most part, the food was very lackluster.  Except the rolls.  And the lemon butter.  Those I'd go back for, any time.

Setting

Legal Seafood's Harborside location is located, well, uh, harbor ... side? 

Curb Appeal.

A huge, 3 story establishment, a flagship location.  Of course, this was July 2020, so it was mostly closed down, no indoor dining.

Outdoor Dining.

They did have outdoor dining available, but I still took my food to go.

Food

Reduced Menu.

This was a unique menu for Legal Harborside.  They usually have a menu that is distinct from the other Legal establishments, but, again, because #covid they were simplifying things, and offered a reduced menu, of Legal Seafood classics only.

Fish & Chips - Spicy. Kid's. $10.95.

From the kid's menu, I ordered the fish & chips, after confirming that it was literally the same as the adult's version, just, smaller portion, 2 full pieces rather than 4 (e.g. not something like processed fish sticks, etc as sometimes happens for kid's versions).  The only difference was that the adult's version comes with fries and slaw, and the kid's version comes with fries and fruit.  Yay for promoting healthy kids?

I had my choice of regular or spicy fish, and went for spicy, because, why not?  I asked to sub slaw for the fruit, and that was done with no problem.  It came with packaged Legal Seafood branded tartar sauce.

The portion was plenty for me, and I was glad I ordered the kid's version, particularly because, um, it wasn't good.

The fish was soggy.  The crust fell off.  It was fresh, but, soggy, and just not well executed.  The fries were also quite fresh, literally fresh out of the fryer, but they were also not very good.  Very very very greasy.

Overall, so very lackluster, and I really didn't like much of anything here.

The adult version is $19.95, the kid version is $10.95.

Cole Slaw.

The slaw portion was laughably small, I'm not sure if it is a bigger portion when served in the restaurant, but this was literally a little dressing container only.

I wasn't that upset, it was fine, but. nothing special.  I needed to add pepper.

Add grilled shrimp skewer. $6.95.

"Add a skewer to any grilled dish"

The menu states that you can add a skewer of shrimp or scallops to any grilled dish, but I know you can add them to any order.  I've gone for the scallops many times, but this time I decided to get the shrimp, to do it kinda like shrimp cocktail.  I wanted *something* not fried with my meal.

The grilled shrimp were ... fine.

Seasoned.  Cleaned.  Not rubbery.

But not great either, not much grill taste, just average.  I wanted more grilled flavor, more smoke on it.

For $6.95 for 4 shrimp it was ... fine.  I wouldn't get them again.

Red Onion Jam / Lemon Butter.

Add on protein skewers come with a choice of "flavor", kung pao sauce, red onion jam, lemon butter sauce, cajun spice.  I've tried all but the red onion jam before, with the scallops. 

I knew I loved the lemon butter (review), which was great with scallops, and I knew it didn't really go with anything I had ordered, but, I wanted it, just to take home and use with, well, anything later.  I also wanted to try something new, so went for red onion jam.

The lemon butter was still totally delicious.  I enjoyed dunking bread it right then, and later used it with lobster ravioli (from Trader Joe's - recommended!), and it was great then too.  I'll continue to get this.  Mmm, lemon butter sauce.

The red onion jam was decent.  Sweet, savory, could be a good spread for something, used in a sandwich perhaps?  I probably wouldn't get it again, as I just don't have a need for it.

Ketchup / Red Onion Jam / Cocktail Sauce.

I also asked for the cocktail sauce to dunk my shrimp in, and it, like the tartar, was pre-packaged Legal Seafood brand.

Dinner Rolls.

Legal Seafood always serves dinner rolls with butter when you dine in, but doesn't include them for takeout.  I knew this however, and asked for them to be included when I placed my order.

Amusingly, these are what held up my order, making me wait for a little while past my pickup time.  Everything else was ready, but these somehow took much longer, as they were being baked off still.

It was worth the wait.  I adore these rolls.  Perfectly crusty.  Moist inside.  Complex flavor.  Just, stellar, stellar rolls, which is rarely something I ever even care about.  I dunked one in the lemon butter then, and brought the other two home to dunk in clam chowder later, and that was even more amazing.  These are *perfect* chowder dunking material!

Best part of my meal, no question.  I was provided with 3 with my takeout order.  Will continue to ask for these every time.

Original Review, Copley Place Location, October 2018

Takeout: Kid's fish sticks, grilled scallops, sauces.

My recent visit to Legal Seafood was a bit different from most.  Takeout, which I'd never recommend for seafood, but I had my reasons.  I was staying at the Westin Copley Place *right* there, and had a salad I had brought from home that I wanted to finish, that just needed some protein to add on.  A skewer of grilled scallops sounded perfect.

My travel companion just wanted some fish & chips, but not a full dinner, so I picked up a kid's meal for him too.  

It met our needs, but certainly was out of the norm for us.  It met Legal Seafood expectations: decent, not remarkable, but reliable.  And easy.

Legal Seafood Copley Place.

This Legal Seafood is inside the mall, on the second floor, so no exterior entrance to the street.  Instead it is at the end of a hall accessed from inside the mall only.  I didn't go into the full restaurant, so I can't tell you anything about it.

Takeout Counter.

On the side, before you even enter the restaurant, is a takeout counter.  The phone was constantly ringing with takeout orders, so this is clearly heavily used, likely by hotel guests?

It was easy and fairly convenient, although needing to walk through a mall and up and down escalators made a quick pickup take longer than I expected.

Kid's Meal: Fresh Cod Fish Sticks / fries / cole slaw / tartar sauce. $9.95. 

"All children’s meals are served with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and a choice of rice, mashed potatoes or french fries. "

What we really wanted was just a smaller portion of the fish & chips dinner, normally a big pile of fried fish served with fries, slaw, and tartar sauce.  The closest thing on the menu was the kid's fish sticks, so went for it, modifying slightly to better be what we wanted.

For the side, we picked fries, because, fish & chips.  We asked for cole slaw instead of the "fresh vegetables", which happened to be corn that day, and that was no problem.  Same with adding on some tartar sauce.

The fish sticks were ... ok.  Decently crispy crust, but, just kinda overcooked mushy fish inside.  Certainly not the same as the fried fish that is part of the adult meal.

The tartar sauce was unremarkable, just as I remembered from when I had it before.  Just kinda flavorless, although it had bits of pickle in it.

The fries were pretty bad.  Soggy, limp, thin, not salted, just very very very mediocre, the worst fries I've had in a long time.

The slaw was fine, crisp, nicely dressed, decently seasoned.  Nothing special, no different from grocery store slaw, but, definitely the highlight of the kid's meal.  Available a la carte for $1.95, or normally served with fried meals, easily subbed for corn in the kid's meal.

The "fresh fruit" was a little container, same size as the slaw and sauce, with red grapes in it.  They were fine.

For <$10, this really was a reasonable meal, so if you ever need to get takeout fish sticks, fries, and slaw for your kid, consider Legal!

Add a skewer of scallops. $9.95.

I also just wanted some grilled scallops to add to a salad I had waiting for me, as I needed protein to complete the meal.

As always, I could have opted for the full fried scallops dinner (with fries and slaw), or the grilled scallops entree (with any two sides and my choice of flavors), but I really just wanted a few scallops to throw on top my salad, not a full meal.  So I ordered, as I have before, just the add-on skewer of grilled scallops, on the menu (along with shrimp) as something you can add to other entrees.  It was no problem to order this way.

Last time I ordered the scallop skewer I opted for the cajun spice rub, but this time I kept it simple, just grilled, and ordered sauces on the side instead.  I figured no spice on the scallops would make them more versatile.

The scallops were decent. This time my portion was 4 large scallops, rather than the 7 smaller ones that I got last time.  Nice grill marks, good grilled flavor.  Fully cooked, but not rubbery.  Properly cleaned, not gritty.  I prefer mid-rare scallops, but these certainly weren't overcooked.  Three of the four had a nice sweetness.

Overall, good, not earth shattering, but reliable, and a good price at <$10 for the "skewer".

Sauces: Lemon Butter / Kung Pao.

To go with my scallops, I ordered a trio of sauces: kung pao, shandong, and lemon butter sauce.  When I opened my bag to eat though, I found only two.  Doh.

The lemon butter sauce was perfect for the scallops.  I was intending them as a topping for my salad, but I ended up liking the lemon butter sauce so much that I just dunked my scallops in it, and then ate my salad afterwards.  It was just a cream butter sauce, slight lemon flavor, but, the right compliment to the scallops.

The other sauce I believe was the king pao.  I didn't like it.  Not with the scallops.  Not with the fish sticks.  Not with the fries.  It was just sweet, not spicy, too strong on something (soy?).  Maybe it was right for, uh, chicken, but certainly not for anything we had, and I can't imagine anything from the grilled seafood menu that would pair well with it.

I'd gladly get the lemon butter sauce again, with any white fish or crustacean.  I could imagine it going well with the halibut, grilled haddock, shrimp, or maybe even swordfish.  I'd skip the kung pao, and try for the shandong again ...

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Fish Chowder. $9.95 (bowl).

Legal makes three different chowders, the signature famous New England Clam Chowder, a lite version, or a fish chowder.  All are available as a cup, bowl, quart, or gallon.  What we ordered was the clam chowder.  What we got?  The fish chowder.  Oops.

It came with a bag of 3 dinner rolls, quite crusty but actually tasty dunked in chowder, 2 packages of oyster crackers, and butter.

It was ... fine?  Chowder.  Chunks of potato, carrot, fish.  Decently seasoned.  The portion seemed small for $9.95 though.

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