Seed Stacked Flapjacks

On a recent business trip to Europe, I not only experienced plenty of food at restaurants, I also partook in the local snack foods, because, you know me and my love of trying new things!

Seed Stacked is a company in the UK, that makes two product lines focused around seeds, one is packets of seasoned seeds, called "Sprinkles", which I did not try, and the other are bars, or, as they are known there, flapjacks.  While I still don't usually like bars that I try in the US, I was fascinated by my only other experience with flapjacks (part of my Graze box, yes, a company that started in the UK as well), so I was eager to try them out.

When I had my first flapjacks from my Graze box, I thought they seemed less like a granola bar, and more like a healthy oatmeal cookie.  I wasn't quite sure when in my daily eating schedule they made sense - were they ok for breakfast?  Just a snack?  They weren't quite a dessert ...

Luckily, Seed Stacked cleared it up for me: "great for breakfast, lunchboxes or a snack in the afternoon".  Aha, yes, basically acceptable whenever.

Their flapjacks are available in three varieties: original, or topped with yogurt or carob.  Their marketing line is "indulge yourself in health", which sounds a bit silly, but, I actually understood this phrase.  The bars are pretty healthy, as they really just are made of oats (22%) and seeds (47%), plus honey (29%) for sweetness, yet they do feel indulgent.  I can't really explain it, as I'm not one to generally get into healthy bars.

I enjoyed the flavors I tried, and wish I'd snagged some for my trip home.  Oh, they are also gluten-free.

Original Flapjack.

"Handmade pure oat bar with seeds and honey".

I started with the original, literally a bar of oats, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds, lightly sweetened with honey.  Or if you prefer their marketing: "Our deliciously healthy Seed Stacked Flapjacks are a mouthwatering combination of gluten free rolled oats and Mother Nature’s wonderful sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and flax seeds all bound in a perfect soft, sweet package with natural honey and no added sugar."

I was skeptical.  I don't care for flax seeds as they are generally too bitter for my taste.  I doubted how a simple bar of seeds and oats could possibly be worth eating.

Yet ... it was truly satisfying.

The texture was similar to the other flapjacks that I've tried, soft, almost like an oatmeal cookie, rather than a granola bar.  Slightly crumbly, but not messy.

All of the seeds were incredibly flavorful.  The level of sweetness from the honey was perfect.  I was shocked, but I quite liked this, and would gladly eat more of these.  I also think they'd make great little snack size nuggets too!

Carob Topped Flapjack.

"A delicious, gluten-free, pure oat bar with seeds, honey and a smooth carob topping."

Next I moved on to the one with the carob topping.

The texture was about the same as the original, soft, yet crunchy.

I loved the crunch for the assorted seeds, and, surprisingly, the bitterness they added.  The flavor was balanced by the sweetness of the honey, which was as strong as you'd expect given that it made up more than 25% of the bar.  It really was all in balance.  I normally dislike flax seeds, but I didn't really taste them in here.

On top was a layer of carob, which did taste a bit like chocolate, making this feel even more like an indulgent cookie rather than a fairly healthy choice.  The thickness of the carob layer was just right too, enough to taste it, not overwhelming.  The balance of everything in this bar was done really well.

I liked this much more than I anticipated, particularly the texture.  I'd gladly eat another, anytime of day.

Luques Restaurant and Bar

Have you ever heard of, or even noticed, Luques Restaurant and Bar in San Francisco?  Probably not, as I certainly hadn't.

Luques Restaurant and Bar is the restaurant inside of the Chancellor Hotel near Union Square.  I had zero expectations about it being any good, but they had a whopping $5 credit on LevelUp, so I went to check it out, for breakfast one day, back when I was using LevelUp as an inspiration to try new places.

Luques looks like pretty much any generic hotel restaurant, with fairly shabby furniture and clientele.  It was filled with tourists having breakfast while chatting excitedly about their plans to go to Fisherman's Wharf.  The menu contains farro porridge, and literally every table around me asked the server what farro was.  Clearly not a place that that locals go.

Yet ... it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.  I returned several other times, and on all visits, service was very friendly, efficient, and polite.  And the food ... really not bad.

Luques is certainly is not a destination restaurant, but if you are in the neighborhood and want a simple breakfast, it really isn't bad, and I'd return.

2 Eggs Over Medium.  $4.

On my first visit to Luques, I was on my way to a chocolate tasting, so I figured I should get some protein in my system before gorging on chocolate.  But I also didn't want to fill up on breakfast food.  So, I went for the most simple protein source: eggs.  Eggs are available any way, and I went for my favorite preparation, over-medium.

Now ... over-medium is a hard ask, I know this.  When I order over-medium, I usually get eggs that are basically over-easy and far runnier than I want, or else they are cooked all the way through, resulting in hard nasty eggs.  I want something right in the middle, with the yolks set but perhaps a little bit runny, and the whites not tough but actually cooked.  At IHOP, the last place I ordered eggs this way, one set came out way under cooked, and another came out way over cooked.  No where has ever really gotten this right in recent memory.

But ... Luques delivered!  The eggs were cooked pretty much exactly as I'd like.  One yolk was slightly runny, the other just barely firm.  The whites were fully cooked, had some nice crispness going on, but weren't tough.  Probably the best execution of over-medium eggs I've ever had.

They also weren't oily, like the IHOP ones.

Amusing, the eggs were served with a random little garnish of an orange slice.  I used it to end my meal on a sweet note, but I'm not really sure if I was intended to eat it or not.  Ketchup and hot sauce were offered on the side.

The eggs were served piping hot, clearly delivered to me within moments of coming off the grill, points for the staff.

Clearly, these were just eggs, but they were done pretty much perfectly, and I'd gladly get them again.  $4 was a fine price.

Short Stack of Buttermilk Pancakes.  $5.25.

On my next visit, I decided to go for a full meal, since they impressed me with the eggs.  I picked a classic: pancakes.

They were decent pancakes.  Very large size, slightly fluffy, crispy on the outside.  They had a decent tang from buttermilk, and were dusted with powdered sugar.  Fairly generic, but clearly freshly made to order, and like the eggs, delivered to my table hot and fresh.  The kitchen and serving staff really do get food out quickly.

Also like the eggs, they came with a slice of orange on the side.  I didn't eat it this time, it didn't look all that fresh.  There were also two foil wrapped packets of butter on the plate.  This was striking to me, as I haven't been anywhere where my butter came in packets in a long time.  I appreciated that the butter was not on the pancakes already, so I could add as much as I wanted, unlike IHOP, where my pancakes came swimming in scoops of butter.

The pitcher of syrup was the only disappointment.  It was clearly not real, and tasted like nothing but corn syrup.  You may recall that I am from New Hampshire, and that my godfather makes his own maple syrup, so I was raised on the real stuff, and generally don't care for fake syrup, but this was worse than usual.  Since I didn't want the syrup, but still wanted something to enhance the pancakes, I tried out the jams on the table.  There was an assortment of standard Smuckers: strawberry, grape, orange marmalade, again in little packets.  I haven't had any of those in ages either, since my mom makes her own jams, and we never had namebrand stuff.  As you can imagine, I didn't like them at all either.

Overall, the pancakes were a good execution of a standard pancake, but they needed better accompaniments   Luques does offer a pancake special that had nuts (I think walnuts? pecans?) and bananas, which looked much better, but was not available as a short stack, and I didn't want a full stack.

I wouldn't get these again, but $5.25 was a fine price.

Homefries.  $4.

So this is random.  One day, I was craving potatoes, particularly, something like homefries or hashbrowns.  It was morning, I was near Union Square running errands, and since everything else I'd tried from Luques had been fairly successful, I decided to try out their homefries.

I got them togo since I literally just wanted the homefries and felt silly ordering them to sit down in the restaurant.  They came boxed up, garnished with a mint leaf, and yet another slice of orange, buried under the potatoes.  They really have to get over these garnishes!  They also included ketchup packets in the box.

The homefries were totally and completely unremarkable.  Chunks of potato, skin on, decently cooked (not too mushy, not undercooked).  There was some seasoning, but not very pronounced.  A few bits of onion mixed in.  Not anything special, and they didn't satisfy my craving.

$4 for side of homefries seemed about right, but I wouldn't get these again.

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Decaf Coffee.  $1.90.

On the visits where I dined in, I also ordered coffee, decaf.  It was not bad.  It wasn't amazing, but it was very inoffensive and better than most random restaurant coffee.

Interestingly, on the tables in the restaurant, they only have sugar, Equal, and Sweet'N Low available as sweeteners, but in the lobby, where they have coffee for hotel guests, they have Splenda too.  I watched a server come replenish the sugars in the restaurant, and the basket she was filling from had Splenda, but she didn't add it to any of the tables.  So strange.  I prefer Splenda.

In the lobby area, they also have milk, half and half, and soy milk to add to the coffee.  I was really impressed with that setup, particularly because even a lot of cafes don't have soy milk readily available.  They also had a large variety of quality teas, and both togo cups and real mugs.  And .... they also had assorted cookies!  Being a cookie monster and coffee lover, if I needed a hotel in San Francisco, these little perks would go a long way for me.  I did think it was interesting that the coffee/tea were complimentary in the lobby, but not in the restaurant.  I wonder how hotel guests dining in the restaurant feel about that, given that they could walk outside the restaurant door and get coffee for free.

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Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie

A staff member saw me eyeing the cookies (I was just doing research, while waiting for my togo order, honestly!), and told me I was welcome to one.  Score!  It was fairly generic, but a nice soft style with a buttery taste.  It was loaded up with dried cranberries, slightly tart.  A nice hotel perk for sure.

Oaxacan Kitchen Mobile Food Truck

I don't exactly seek out food trucks.  But, my blog has an entire label devoted to reviews of them, so, it turns out, I do encounter them a fair amount.

Recently, one of the cafes at Google's Mountain View campus was undergoing renovations, and to handle the displaced diners, they brought in food trucks from the surrounding towns.  I'm not in Mountain View very often, but when I was, this seemed like a great opportunity to try out some different local cuisine!  Who knows, if I found a truck that was awesome, maybe I would seek it out.

The first one I encountered was Oaxacan Kitchen Mobile, based out of Palo Alto.   I'd never heard of them, but they have been around the South Bay in several forms, starting as a stall at local farmer's markets, and then operating a full service restaurant, Oaxacan Kitchen, in Palo Alto.  It has since closed, and the food truck is the only remaining business.  They serve the South Bay and are also available for catering, cooking classes, and team building events.

Their featured product is their Oaxacan Mole Negro, which you can also buy online, and is what started the business at the farmer's markets.  It wasn't available on the menu the day I visited however.

Grilled Wild Salmon with Mixe Glaze, Oaxacan Black Beans, Mexican Rice.

I eagerly ordered the Grilled Wild Salmon, as I love seafood, particularly glazed seafood.

"Fresh Wild Salmon grilled, served on a bed of organic vegetables and a fragrant house made glaze."
I opened my box, and was immediately confused.  I expected a large salmon filet and a generous portion of veggies.  Instead, my box contained more Oaxacan black beans and Mexican rice than anything else, and these items were not even mentioned in the description.  I don't like beans, or rice, so I didn't even try these, and wouldn't have ordered them.  Describe them as "Our famous black beans and Mexican Rice".  So, uh, I guess they are famous?

The "bed of organic vegetables" was a scoop of kale, butternut squash, and sweet potato.  The squash and sweet potato were in small cubes, the kale a bit nonexistent.  The veggies were unremarkable, the only thing to note was that they were barely lukewarm, and thus, not very tasty.

But I ordered this for the main dish anyway, the salmon.  It was a really thin strip, with some skin on.  Like the veggies, it was also barely warm.  It was very fishy.  Covered in albumin (that white layer that you sometimes get on poorly cooked salmon).  And the glaze?  To be fair, I don't know what mixe glaze is supposed to taste like, but I did not like this.  It seemed to have soy sauce, tomato, cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, mace, and star anise ... a very strange combination for my palette.  I was hoping it would taste more like teriyaki.

I didn't like anything in this.  The biggest flaw was the fact that it wasn't hot, but even so, it really wasn't my thing.

See's Chocolates

See's is a mid-sized California based candy and chocolate maker.  They have a huge assortment of truffles, with pretty much every sort of filling you could want.  They also always have fun seasonal varieties.  And they always give you a sample while you browse.  While they aren't amazing, they are certainly better than Godiva or Lindt.

Milk Chocolate

Milk Peanut.

"Roasted and salted peanuts covered in smooth milk chocolate."

Milk Peanut: Inside.

The peanuts, just like the almonds in the previous one, were left whole, which I liked for so much crunch.  Although the description says they were salted, I didn't taste any salt, and it was really missing from this.

Overall, very bland, as it was just mediocre milk chocolate and plain peanuts.  Salt or some other complexity needed.

Almond Square.

"Roasted California almonds held together with buttery caramel and dipped half way in smooth milk chocolate to show off the delicious center."

Almond Square: Inside.

I like everything in this, but I didn't actually like it.  The caramel was too thick and chewy.  Nuts usually add great crunch, but since the whole thing was too chewy, they seemed like too much work too. Meh.

Milk Patty.

"Buttery caramel covered in smooth milk chocolate."

Creamy milk chocolate, much better than standard candy.  The caramel was somewhere in-between chewy and gooey, rather perfect actually.

Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Almond.

"Roasted California almonds smothered in rich dark chocolate."

Dark Almond: Inside.

The almonds were left whole, decently roasted.  Dark chocolate unremarkable.  This was just fairly standard, nothing wrong with it, but not very exciting.

Previous tasting notes: the almonds have nice flavor, and there were tons of almonds.  The chocolate was pretty standard though.

Scotchmallow® 

"A layer of caramel with a layer of honey marshmallow covered in rich, dark chocolate."

Scotchmallow®: Inside.

This was the item I was most excited for.  I love marshmallows!

Sadly, it wasn't awesome.  Same mediocre dark chocolate, caramel that was too chewy.  The marshmallow was lost amongst everything else, and didn't really seem very fluffy.

Dark Nougat.

"Chewy nougat with honey, roasted California almonds, angel flake coconut and vanilla covered in rich dark chocolate."

Dark Nougat: Inside.

Quality dark chocolate, smooth but with a slight bitterness.  Very chewy nougat that reminded me more of a caramel due to its sweetness and chew factor.  A bit too chewy for my liking.  Whole almonds for good crunch.  I didn't taste the vanilla, and maybe saw a few flakes of coconut, but did not taste them.

Overall, it seemed just like a fancier version of a dark chocolate almond snickers.  The chocolate was the best part.

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Dark Chocolate Butterchew

"Buttery brown sugar caramel with vanilla covered in rich dark chocolate."

The caramel is smooth and very buttery, really nice consistency.  Very sweet overall, but pretty delicious when paired with bitter coffee.

Subsequent tasting notes: Too much sweet, not enough interesting flavor.  Decent caramel, decent dark chocolate, goes well with bitter coffee.

White Chocolate

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Divinity Puff

"Fluffy white chocolate center with English walnuts covered in white chocolate."

Very, very sweet.  Nuts and white chocolate do go together well, but they are lost in the sweetness.

Truffles

"Delicious masterpieces featuring luxurious, rich flavor. See's Truffles are made with only the finest ingredients of dairy-fresh butter, heavy cream, real fruit, and of course, our famous chocolate."

• Pecan Pie Truffle: "Our Pecan Pie Truffles start with a rich buttercream filling with only the freshest pecan pieces folded in, then they're surrounded by See's white chocolate and topped with an extra large pecan half."  Tasting notes: too much white chocolate, just sweet.
• Egg Nog Truffle: "White chocolate covered eggnog flavored buttercream."  Tasting notes:  just sweet, not good, not even that eggnoggy.
• Apple Pie Truffle: "Rich, creamy truffle center of white chocolate, Granny Smith Apples and a touch of cinnamon covered in white chocolate and decorated with white chocolate lace."  Tasting notes: apple pie center is very, very flavorful.  White chocolate is meh.
• Cranberry Orange Truffle: "The center, a fusion of airy white chocolate, citrusy orange and real cranberry pieces is enrobed in See's rich, luscious dark chocolate and finished with delicate striping".  Tasting notes: Like the others, very flavorful center, chocolate meh.  Center does have a very strong orange flavor though that is nice, dark chocolate is kinda lost and meh, not much cranberry flavor.
• White Mint Truffle: "Truffle center of white chocolate, cream and peppermint covered in white chocolate and decorated with white chocolate lace."  Tasting notes: sweet white chocolate, mint ganache inside is too subtle, really flavorless overall.
• Orange Cream Truffle: "Creamy soft center with oranges, covered in smooth milk chocolate." Tasting notes:  Very nice creamy milk chocolate, intensely orange flavored center.  Too bad I don’t like orange.
• Pumpkin Pie Truffle: "Truffle center of white chocolate, pumpkin, allspice and cinnamon covered in milk chocolate.".  Tasting notes: Decent spices and creamy inside.
• Mocha Truffle: "Creamy center flavored with coffee and cream covered in smooth milk chocolate and decorated with chocolate rice." Tasting notes: better than Godiva truffles but not really amazing.