More After Osha

A few months ago, I visited After Osha to use my GoPago credits to try out their interesting desserts.  I've been meaning to go back ever since, because their dessert selection is downright fascinating, like the Jade (pandan tapioca with kettle corn and coconut cream) I had on my last visit.

I kept forgetting to return, until this past week, when I got a great surprise: a $10 GoPago credit to use just at After Osha!  And, I had to use it within a few days, so I couldn't forget about it.

Since I'm a dessert girl, and I really have not liked their cooked dishes, I mostly stuck with the desserts again.  Plus, I can't get totally unique desserts like these elsewhere!

They were again very strange.  I love trying them mostly for the experience of eating something totally different, although next time, I'm tempted to just get the mango and sticky rice!

Service was again friendly and eager.  GoPago worked flawlessly.

My big complaint is the packaging.  After Osha is designed to be a take out place, and their containers don't stay closed!  Both desserts I got had lids that fell off when I was carrying them home, making a big mess.  And I wasn't being rough with them.  Improvement needed in this area.

Ruby Red: Water chestnut coated in tapioca served with coconut milk.  $3.95.

This one looked and sounded too crazy to not try.  I was debating between a few choices, and the staff member I asked recommended this one, particularly for its uniqueness.  And unique it was!

I got a little hooked while eating this, in a "what on earth am I eating" sort of way.  The bottom was the bright red liquid, filled with little balls.  The balls looked soft, but when you bit into them, they were crunchy.  These were the water chestnut pieces, wrapped in tapioca.  The crunch was nice, the soft coating was a good contrast ... it kinda worked.  I have no idea why it was red.

Then, on top, was the coconut cream, along with some pieces of fresh young coconut.  I loved the coconut cream.  I'm not certain the flavors complimented the water chestnut that well, but I didn't really care, it was coconut after all.

This was just weird.  I still can't tell if I liked it or not, but I kept on eating it, so intrigued by it.  I probably wouldn't get it again, but it really was fun to try.  It reminded me a lot of the Jade, in that it was a crazy color, contained ingredients that I'd never expect in a dessert, and was just fascinating to eat.

Thai Custard.  $3.95.

This was not at all what I was expecting.  I forgot to write down the description, but I thought it said it was a pandan (or maybe coconut) custard, with taro.  It looked a little solid to be what I'd think of as a custard, but I love custards, coconut, and taro, so I still forged ahead.  And it was in the dessert section, so I thought it would be a sweet custard, particularly as Thai food tends to be sweet in the first place, even the main courses.

Imagine my surprise when I took the first bite, and tasted ... onions.  Yes, the fried things on top were onions.  I thought they were fried taro or coconut.  This was a savory dish, barely sweet at all.

It also wasn't really a custard, it was very firm, more like a cake.  It also seemed burnt on the sides and bottom.

It really was not good.  I would not get again.  Of course, after I got over my disappointment with this, I brought some to Emil to try.  You may recall that he does not like desserts, ever (ok, there was one foie gras based dessert I saw him enjoy ...).  He took a bite, exclaimed that it was pretty good, and had some more.  I guess it does appeal to some ...

Vegetarian Crispy Roll: Silver noodles, dried mushroom, cabbage and carrot served with sweet & sour plum sauce. $1.50.

I had a few more credits left after my desserts, so I got a little appetizer to enjoy before my desserts.

It was a letdown.  It was barely warm.  The filling was predominately silver noodles that just really took over the entire thing.  I didn't really get to taste or enjoy any of the vegetables.  There was some decent spicing from salt and pepper, but it was pretty lost with all of the noodles.  It was crispy, and greasy as expected.  Not remarkable in any way.

The dipping sauce was sweet and tasty.

It was a large size, more like the size of 2 standard crispy rolls, which seemed generous for the $1.50 price tag.  I would not get one again.

Thai Iced Tea.  $2.50.

I had done my research in advance, and knew that they had a Yelp check-in offer for a free thai iced tea!  I love thai iced tea, so this was very exciting!

They serve it in a really non-standard way.  They just give you a cup of crushed iced, and then over on the side are the dispensers of thai iced tea, thai iced coffee, american iced tea, etc.  And then there is a dispenser of the sweetened condensed milk.  This allows you to make it as sweet as you want.  I've never seen this setup before, and really appreciated it, although I had absolutely no idea what ratio to start with!

It was sweet, delicious, and I loved it.  I'll even consider buying one next time :)