Nando's Peri Peri Chips

Nando's is a casual chain with more than 1,000 locations worldwide, but very few in the United States.  Thus, it was not until I traveled to London, and later, Sydney, that I became aware of the brand.  The company actually was founed in South Africa, and the signature dish is ... Portuguese piri piri chicken.

"Our signature dish, Nando’s PERi-PERi world-famous, all-natural PERi-PERi chicken. Marinated for 24 hours, flame grilled to succulent perfection and basted to your liking."

With me so far?  So, South African chain of casual restaurants known for the spicy Portuguese chicken ... and yet this is a snack food review.  Yup.

Along with the restaurant, which features the chicken, along with a full lineup of appetizers, salads, desserts, etc, Nando's also produces a popular line of sauces (all peri peri based), which you see frequently on condiment shelves throughout the UK and Australia.  They also make chips.

You know me, I may not like chicken, but snack foods and chips are definitely my thing, particularly when in interesting flavors ... like chicken.  The chips are available in three flavours: Smokey BBQ, Spicy Chicken and Sizzling Hot, all in a "Grooves" wavy cut.

I tried spicy chicken.

Peri Peri Grooves Spicy Chicken.

"Delicious look. Chilli rating - medium. Flavoured with genuine African bird's eye chillies (Peri-Peri). Suitable for vegetarians. Hand-fried groove cut chips with Peri-Peri chicken flavour. These are our Peri-Peri Chicken groove cut chips. Those of your who know us already will know that we're somewhat fanatical about Peri-Peri Chicken. So we've sweated our Peri-Peri socks off to create the Nando's Chicken Peri-Peri experience right here in this bag. Incredible. We've given them a medium heat, so roll up your sleeves, loosen your tie and tuck in. "
Did these taste like chicken?  Uh, no.

But were they really tasty?  Absolutely.

I liked the form factor too, really crispy, slightly thicker cut, wavy chips.  Quite munchable.

The flavor is really hard to describe.  The chips were intense though.  Savory, spiced, kinda like ... uh ... stuffing?  But with some kick.  Like spicy Thanksgiving stuffing ... in a chip.  The coating is actually onion, garlic, paprika, African Bird's Eye chillis, cayenne, "herbs", capsicum, yeast, and sugar, so, the savory and heat elements are understandable.  They don't combine to "chicken", but that is absolutely fine with me.

I enjoyed these and would gladly eat another bag, or try another flavor.

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CREAM Ice Cream Sandwiches

Update Review: December 2018

A few years ago, when CREAM first opened in San Francisco, I reviewed the venture into the artisinal ice cream sandwich world to mediocre success.  I wasn't quite into the ice cream sandwich, but I thought the cookies were shockingly good, which is a surprise given how much I don't really generally care for cookies.

I didn't seek CREAM back out, but, then I attended an event with catering by CREAM.  Well, delivery by CREAM, and the resultant fairly melted ice cream sandwiches.

Wrapped up Sandwich.

At the shop, for the base, you can pick cookies, brownies, waffles, "tacos", and Do'Sants (yup, a donut croissant).  But for this event, we had exclusively cookies.  And normally you can choose 2 different cookies to make up one ice cream sandwich, but, our hosts selected to have the same kind of cookie on both sides of the sandwich.  They also opted to have no toppings (!), sono sprinkles, nuts, candy, cookies, etc on the outside.

Still, I had to try one, right?  Even if a fairly boring basic style.

We had an assortment, and none were labelled.  This made it a bit difficult to pick.  Luckily, I was able to share and try several.

Snickerdoodle Cookies + ??. $6. 

I fairly randomly picked this one, not really sure what it was.  I was sad when I realized I had picked snickerdoodle cookies.  I'm just not that into snickerdoodles.  I like sugar, I like cinnamon, but, snickerdoodle cookies never satisfy. 

The cookies were, well, snickerdoodles.  Soft, good texture cookies, nicely sweet, but, all cinnamon-y.  Which I just didn't want.  

Inside was *very* sweet ice cream.  Very, very sweet.  I think it might have been Royal Caramel Swirl or Salted Caramel.  Either way, it was just overwhelmingly sweet, and the flavor really didn't combine well with cinnamon.

This was not a winner.

Butter Sugar Cookies + Very Berry Strawberry Ice Cream. $6.

So I tried another, although it looked like a more boring flavor.

And yes, simple, classic, boring this flavor was, simple sugar cookies and strawberry ice cream.  I don't like strawberry ice cream, but, when I do like cookies, sugar cookies are usually my choice.

The ice cream, as I expected, I didn't really care for.  I really can't explain why I don't like strawberry ice cream, but I never have.  I think it was good strawberry ice cream though, it had decent chunks of strawberry inside.

The cookies though ... they were great!!!!  Super soft.  Super sweet.  Super buttery.  Everything I want in a sugar cookie.  I truly enjoyed the cookies, mostly wiping off the melted strawberry ice cream.

Vegan Fudging Awesome Cookies + Vegan Soy Mint Chip Ice Cream. $6.

I moved on to an all vegan offering, a vegan "Fudging Awesome" cookie with soy milk mint chip ice cream.  Perhaps an odd move, as I'm not vegan, but, I actually had a CREAM vegan cookie before, and liked it, so, I wasn't worried about the cookie. And I really do like soy milk, and soy flavor, so I was interested in the ice cream too.

This one was quite melty, but still actually delicious.

First, the ice cream.  Vegan Soy Mint Chip ice cream.  It was decent, lots of minty flavor, good distribution of chips for crunch, although not much soy flavor, which I actually would have liked.

Then, the cookies.  The cookies were pretty awesome, indeed.  Deep, rich chocolate cookies.  Chunks of chocolate.  Soft, slightly chewy, great texture.  Nothing odd about these cookies that indicated veganess.  Just, good cookies.

So, vegans, you have a nice option here.

Gluten-Free Snickerdoodle + Very Berry Strawberry Ice Cream.

Yes, things I don't like.  Snickerdoodles.  Strawberry ice cream. And gluten-free baked goods?

Ha, right?  I only tried a bite, this one went to a friend.  And I only tried a bite of the cookie, not the ice cream, since I assume it was the same as the other Very Berry Strawberry ice cream I didn't care for.

The cookie was everything I hated.  Strange texture.  Strange gluten-free flavor to it.  Sawdust.  Except, cinnamon coated sawdust.  I truly hated this.  Glad I just asked for a tiny bite!

Gluten-Free White Chocolate Fudge Cookie + French Vanilla Ice Cream.

Given how good so many of the cookies are though, I wanted to give the gluten-free cookie offering a chance, with a flavor I might like, chocolate base, with white chocolate chunks.  This one was paired with simple vanilla ice cream (er, French Vanilla, that is).

The ice cream was fine, creamy, vanilla.  Nothing special, nothing bad.

The cookie though ... still a strange texture, and, the chocolate masked the sawdust flavor a bit, but, not enough.  I liked the white chocolate chunks?

Original Review: June 2015

New trend alert: ice cream sandwiches!  As you may recall from my review of Over the Moon, the other relatively new ice cream and cookie place in SF, this isn't a trend I'm really embracing.

Yes, I love ice cream.  But cookies aren't high on my list of desserts, although I could make an exception for an exceptionally good ice cream sandwich, or even, just a cookie for that matter.  And if anywhere is going to do it well, it will be somewhere that specializes in exactly those things, right?

So although I didn't really seek it out, one day when Ojan and I were in the Mission, we finally swung by CREAM.  I'll be honest, we were partially inspired because they had a PayPal promotion, where if you paid using the PayPal app on your phone, you got something like $5 off your order, which, given their amazing prices, made it totally free.  I'm a sucker for free things!

Just like Over the Moon, CREAM makes two things: cookies and ice cream.  While you can get either separately, the main idea is that you create a custom ice cream sandwich, from your choice of cookies, ice cream, and optional toppings.  CREAM started in Berkeley, but their success has been amazing, with nearly 30 franchises now, since starting only in 2010.

Talk about an overwhelming experience.  But not in the same way as Over the Moon, where it just wasn't that fancy, the ice cream was clearly old and icy, and the options fairly limited.

I like to have choice, but, wow, CREAM is choice overload.  I think I'd actually be happier with fewer options, as crazy as that sounds.

To start, you pick your cookie.  There are 10 varieties to chose from: chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, white chocolate macadamia nut, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, butter sugar, turtle, snickerdoodle, carnival, and lemon heaven.  Oh, and 4 types of vegan cookies, and 4 types of gluten-free cookies too.  18 total, compared to Over the Moon's 5.  Choices for everyone.  Oh, and did I mention, you can mix and match when you make your ice cream sandwich, so you can pick two totally different cookies, one for each side.  If I remember my basic math, that is ... 153 combinations!

The cookies are baked fresh continuously in a large array of ovens behind the counter, and left in warming areas, so they are served warm, a nice touch.  Of course, you could stop here, and just get a cookie.

But, most people then add ice cream, to make an ice cream sandwich.  Here the choices are even more extensive: more than 20 flavors of ice cream, including some seasonal options, plus of course a handful of soy based ice creams for the vegans.  All are on display behind a glass counter where you order.  And yes, you can sample flavors before you choose.

And then, optional toppings, like sprinkles, gummy bears, chocolate chips, assorted nuts, M&Ms, etc, that they roll the edges of the sandwich in.  That is, if you go for a sandwich.

You could also choose to get an ice cream sundae, with standard caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and cherries as well.  Oh, and brownies to as a base for your sundae.  Oh, did I mention, they also make milkshakes and float.  And, randomly, cupcakes?

So yes, choices.  Totally overwhelming.  At least you aren't bored in line.

Half Sandwich: Peanut Butter Swirl Ice Cream, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie, Rolled Walnuts.  $1.50.

Even with so many choices, I went for an off-menu item: a half sandwich.  I read about it on Yelp, and I'm glad I did, as it was not listed anywhere on the menu.  A regular sandwich is two large cookies with two large scoops of ice cream.  I love desserts, but that seemed like a bit much, even for me.  So glad the Yelpers taught me something!

Of course, in getting a half size, you only use a one cookie, so I had to narrow down my choices to a single cookie.  I went for white chocolate macadamia nut, mostly because I just made a spur of the moment decision.  I am just not a big fan of cookies, and didn't have real opinions on this.  I appreciated that it was warm, but, it was just a cookie.  Ojan seemed to enjoy his choice of the carnival cookie (with M&Ms in it) in his creation, but, he likes cookies.

I sampled the seasonal pumpkin ice cream, but the nutmeg was too strong, a bit soapy tasting.  I settled on the peanut butter swirl, since I love peanut butter ice cream.  It was a peanut butter base with chocolate chips in it, and perhaps something else?  It had good peanut butter flavor, but was otherwise unremarkable.  Not really fancy artisanal ice cream or anything, like the other ice cream shops in the Mission.

I decided to get a topping just for fun. I went for nuts so I could have some protein with my sweets.  I was being healthy! (Or, so I told myself).  They were ... nuts.  I appreciated the crunch.

Overall, it really was just the sum of its parts.  No more, no less.  Novel I guess, but not particularly something I want.

The price however is remarkable.  A full size sandwich is only $2.99, which includes 2 cookies and 2 scoops of ice cream.  Toppings are additional $0.75.  The secret half-size is only $1.50, and totally sufficient.  Major kudos for creating a gourmet, fancy concept, and not charging accordingly.

Vegan Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip. $1.99.

On my next visit, I opted to just get a cookie, a very odd choice for me.  Even more ridiculously, I very strangely picked a vegan cookie.  I tried a few flavors of ice cream, and found them really unremarkable (soy blueberry didn't taste like much, the pumpkin was again too strong in the nutmeg).  I think their ice cream just isn't great, and I didn't want it.

But I wanted ... something.  Somehow, not a single one of the 10 varieties of regular cookie looked appealing to me.  They all just looked like basic, somewhat crisp, cookies.  But one of the vegan ones looked much bigger.  Softer.  Loaded with goodies.  So ... I got it.  Yes, I ordered a vegan cookie.

I was asked if I'd like it warmed up, which obviously I did.  It was handed over a few minutes later, moderately warm.  Not nearly as hot as I'd like though.

But the cookie was good.  It had a nice chew to it.  It was soft.  Almost gooey.  It tasted really buttery, although I know it was vegan.  I loved the crunch from the very generous amount of walnuts.  The little vegan chocolate chips got a bit melty.  Certainly one of the better cookies I've had, and shocking that it was vegan.

Single gluten-free or vegan cookies are $1.99, considerably more than standard cookies which are only $0.79 as singles (or $1.50/2, $2.20/3).

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Beverages from Panera

Update Review, 2018

It has been a while since my original review of Panera's beverages.

This is a review of a very non-traditional beverage, as only I would attempt to create. A chocolate-free hot chocolate.  With extra goodies.  Including ... chocolate chip marshmallows ... on the side.

Hot Chocolate with Chocolate Chip Marshmallows. No bittersweet chocolate sauce, 1 pump vanilla syrup, skim milk, extra foam, extra caramel, extra marshmallows, on the side. Large. $5.59.

"Hot chocolate made with our new bittersweet chocolate flavored sauce, steamed milk and topped with whipped cream, chocolate chip marshmallows and drizzled with a new salted caramel sauce."

The regular recipe for this is milk (steamed) + bittersweet chocolate syrup (5 pumps!) + whipped cream (from a can) + salted caramel drizzle (just a drizzle) + chocolate chip marshmallows (perched on top).  With this basic recipe, the drink clocks in a 630 calories.  You might want to consider this your dessert, not a casual beverage.

I however, didn't really want a hot chocolate.  I wanted a sweet warm drink though, and I really wanted to try the chocolate chip marshmallows.  So ... I made some modifications, all quite easy to do through the app, since each ingredient was listed separately, with a toggle for quantities/type.

First, I didn't actually want hot chocolate, so I clicked the button for "with No Bittersweet Chocolate Syrup."  Then, because I didn't just want a glass of warm steamed milk, I added flavor, but not so much it would be cloying sweet "with Vanilla Syrup (1 pump)."  And I didn't just want warm milk, I wanted it frothy (and, ideally, soy for flavor, but alas, only regular, skim, almond are options): "with Extra Foam Skim Milk".  But of course I wanted it to be dessert, so, also, "with Extra Salted Caramel Drizzle, with Extra Chocolate Chip Marshmallows."  But I didn't want the marshmallows to sink in, I wanted to really get to try them, so I asked for them on the side.

This takes the regular $4.49 price and jacks it up to $5.59, with the extra marshmallows costing $1.10.

I arrived at Panera just as my order was prepared, and I was thrilled to see the bag of marshmallows on the side.  I pulled off the lid, saw tons of caramel, and was pleased that they figured out my silly order.

And then I took a sip.  It was ... a hot chocolate.  A *VERY SWEET* hot chocolate.  I looked under my layer of whipped cream and it was brown.  This was definitely hot chocolate.

I looked at the tag on it, and sure enough, it listed some of my modifications, including the extra marshmallows, on the side, the caramel, the vanilla, but ... not the extra foam, not the lack of chocolate.  Confused, I looked at my e-mail order confirmation.  It was all there.  Clearly, this is an issue with their system.

I was glad I hadn't gotten far, and thus went to join the line and mention the incorrect order, showing my phone with e-mail on it.  It was quickly replaced, with something ... closer to what I ordered, but, not quite.

But to evaluate the thing I did get, since I tried it ... generic whipped cream from a can, plenty of it.  Incredibly sweet caramel, that was not only on top, but quickly mixed in to the hot chocolate, making it crazy sweet, and not chocolately at all.  I did not taste the "salted" aspected of the salted caramel.  I think the vanilla was also added, so this was just a sweet overload.

So, um, warm very sweet caramel chocolate milk with whipped cream (technically, warm steamed milk, regular + 5 pumps bittersweet chocolate syrup + 5? pumps vanilla + whipped cream + extra caramel drizzle).

Another Attempt.

What I got the next time was ... perhaps closer?  No chocolate syrup this time, but, instead of the single pump of vanilla syrup, to just give it a little flavor, it came with all 5 that are normally added.  So, very, very sweet, again.  Sigh.

The foam part was also missed, so it was just warm steamed milk, again, sweet steamed milk.  Somehow the caramel drizzle was left off this time, but I didn't mind.  Since my marshmallows were already on the side, those weren't re-added.

So this time, I had ... warm steamed milk, regular + 5 pumps vanilla syrup + whipped cream.  It was boring, very sweet, and not interesting at all.

Chocolate Chip Marshmallows (included, plus $1.10 for "extra").

But, to be fair, I was excited about this drink for one thing: the chocolate chip marshmallows!  My order, specified as "extra" included 6, so I think a normal drink comes with 3?

They were fun.  Soft, fluffy, slightly chocolate marshmallows, although, I say that generously, as they were basically just brown, not really chocolately at all.

I did like the chocolate chips embedded in one side though, great crunch, and chocolate flavor was evident there.

Fun to munch on, probably fun to dunk into a drink, if I ever let them hang around that long.

I wish you could just order these as a side, for the $1.10 upcharge, but I don't see any way to order just them, or even add to anything other than this one beverage.

Original Review, 2014

I'm sure you know Panera, so I'll skip all the general details.  Panera is a "bakery cafe", a casual place, where you order at a register.  While waiting to order, you can drool over the big displays of pastries, admire the bagels, and decide if you want a sandwich or salad made to order.  If you get anything requiring prep time, you'll be given a pager, that will buzz when your order is ready.  Most (all?) locations have wifi.

Panera is a chain, seemingly everywhere, even in my hometown in New Hampshire now.  I don't have much to say about the place in general, as I've reviewed them before.  Certainly never my top pick for baked goods, even if they claim to be a bakery, although I admit it, the bagels that aren't awful.  But this time, I am here to tell you about something different: the drinks.

Frozen Caramel, decaf.  $3.99.

Although this was described as "creamy caramel & icy espresso, topped with whipped cream & caramel syrup", the frozen drinks are actually produced from a pre-made frozen mix, which already contains the espresso and the cream-based components.  The pre-made mix is only available caffeinated.  Since I ordered decaf, this was all explained to me, and I was told that instead, she'd make it from scratch.  This did not bother me, as it is what I expected originally.

The result is much more like a Frappuccino from Starbucks or Freddo from Peet's, as they pull a fresh shot of espresso, add the dairy and the caramel sauce, and blend it with ice.  Except, that unlike Peet's or Starbucks where they would default to using whole milk, and offer non-fat, soy, etc as options, at Panera they make it with half and half instead.  My eyes went a little wide as I watched her pour at least a cup of half and half into the blender.  And a very generous amount of caramel sauce, not just flavored corn syrup, definitely cream based as well.  When she asked if I wanted it topped with whipped cream I almost laughed ... that seemed like the least offensive part of this ordeal.  (I of course said yes!)

Anyway, it was a lot tastier than the Peet's or Starbucks versions.  The coffee flavor was rather mediocre, but the whole thing was far more creamy, more like a milkshake.   Which I guess you'd expect, given all the cream.  I wonder if you asked for a Frappuccino made with cream if it would be delicious?

It also wasn't very icy, which is something I always dislike about Freddos or Frappucinos, but it seemed a little under-iced in this case.  I wanted it a bit more frozen.

The cup was swirled with decorative additional caramel as well, a nice touch in making it look pretty. The whipped cream on top was pretty standard, but good.  The drink was overall quite sweet from the caramel of course, but it was balanced out by being so creamy.

I'd get one again if I was craving a coffee-caramel milkshake, er, frozen drink.  The price was right in line with similar drinks at other establishments.

Iced Chai Tea Latte: after!

It was a hot summer day when I wound up at Panera.  Of course, this means I wasn't in San Francisco, as "hot" and "summer" do not belong in the same sentence there, unless being used ironically.  I was visiting my family in New Hampshire, and wanted something refreshing while I was out running errands.

Last summer when I was in town, I discovered that Panera makes a decent decaf iced coffee, so I went in expecting to get that, but alas, they only had regular iced.  Since I didn't want too much caffeine, I had to settle for plan B.  I was about to get an iced tea or lemonade, when I learned that my MyPanera account had a surprise reward waiting for me, about to expire in a few days: a free espresso drink or smoothie!  Since it was so hot out, I didn't want a hot drink.  And, after my months of forced liquid diet, I kinda despise smoothies.  My choices were easily narrowed down.  But I also didn't really just want an iced latte, and while the whipped cream covered frozen caramel drink was pretty good before, I wasn't looking for something so heavy.  So I went for an Iced Chai Latte.

I can probably count the number of iced chais I've had on one hand.  They just aren't usually something I go for, but my Mom loves them.  Since I was in NH visiting, I was surrounded by iced chai daily.  I think she inspired me to try it!

Described as "brewed black tea, honey, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger & steamed milk, served over ice."

I was also given the option to add cinnamon and nutmeg, both of which I said yes to.  More spicing?  Sounds good to me!

I'm not sure why their description says they use steamed milk, as she clearly just poured chai concentrate and regular cold milk right out of the jug into a cup, over ice.

It was a good chai, although, like I said, I don't have a lot of comparisons.  Nice spicing, sweet but not too sweet, refreshing.  The extra cinnamon and nutmeg on top definitely added additional flavor, but particularly additional aroma, which enhanced my drinking experience.

Was it earth shattering?  No.  But certainly good if I was craving that sort of thing.

Iced drinks are available in only one size, 16 ounces, which looked big at first, but given how much ice was in it, turned out to be just the right size.

Decaf Coffee.

The coffee is pre-brewed, available self-service in carafes labelled with the brew time.  They have a light roast, a dark roast, and hazelnut, plus decaf.

I had the decaf, with a little hazelnut on top for some extra flavor.  It wasn't bad at all.

[ Not pictured ]

Decaf Iced Coffee

Their iced decaf is surprisingly good.  Unlike hot coffee, iced coffee is something I enjoy with added milk, which probably goes a long way in masking the decaf taste.  Their decaf iced has always been refreshing and enjoyable.

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