Pop! Gourmet Foods

Update Review 2020

Sriracha is generally a polarizing condiment.  Some people slather it on everything.  Others kinda hate it.  I'm somewhere in the middle, I find it useful sometimes, but I certainly don't get excited about it.

But I do get excited about new favors of popcorn, so when I saw Pop! had a sriracha flavor, of course I had to try it, as I've enjoyed their popcorn before.  I just assumed the very mixed reviews were the haters vs the lovers.

Sriracha.

 "Through a unique process, Sriracha’s intensely flavorful and wildly loved blend of sun ripened chili peppers and garlic adds the perfect hot and spicy seasoning to POP’s premium golden popcorn. Every kernel is infused with the “most amazing condiment on the planet”."

It ... um ... underdelivered to say the least.

Yes, it is made with Huy Fong Foods Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce.  But the heat level?  Basically not there.  At all.  I saw a little red coating on it, yes, but it really, really as not spicy.

Sadness, as this turned out to just be a boring plain popcorn with the tiniest bit of heat.

Update Review, September 2019

I got to try more Pop! Gourmet flavors of popcorn, and found more I like.  I really need to get my hands on some of the more crazy flavours though ... Tajin, Huy Fong Sriracha, Black Truffle ... um, Kale Ceasar ...

Almond Roca.

"Artisinal butter toffee popcorn made with Almond Roca Buttercrunch and roasted almonds. Truly a delight and a flavor created exclusively for POP! Gourmet. It's hard to pinpoint why ALMOND ROCA Buttercrunch is so popular. It could be the attractive pink tin, or the fancy gold foil that surrounds each confection. Chances are, though, it's Almond Roca's rich flavor, a combination of ingredients that blend together so well it's like they were made for each other. They start with a buttercrunch center made with real vanilla and butter created especially for Brown & Haley. Since they don't add salt or water to their buttercrunch, the texture is crunchy, but with a soft bite. Next, the center is coated with the rich flavor of chocolate made with cocoa beans from around the world, then topped with fresh almonds - not roasted - for a softer, more delicate flavor. The result A creamy, crunchy confection that almost melts in your mouth!"

Take the most decadent caramel corn you can imagine and then ... make it even more decadent.  That is what steps lead you to this creation, "Almond Roca" popcorn.

Perfectly coated, very rich, very sweet, very buttery, popcorn.  Quite crisp, due to the generous coating.

I really would never have identified this as almond roca though.  Sweet, caramely, buttery, sure, but, almond roca?  Nope.  If they wanted this to be more almond roca obvious, they should include little chunks of the candy?  I certainly didn't detect any of the chocolate.  It did have some bitterness though, perhaps from almond?

It was ok, but crazy intense.  I have a serious sweet tooth, and even I could only handle a few bites at a time of this.  I didn't find myself ever craving it, and of course I tried freezing it too to see if that increased the appeal (it did not).

As you may expect, this is not a light item.  Even I was shocked at its nutrition panel though.  The bag looks like a single serving, not even half full, however, it is listed at ... 3.5 servings!  Of 320 calories each!  Yes, this little bag of popcorn, easily finished in a sitting, clocks in at ~1000 calories. Ooph. Tread lightly.

Cascade Mix.

I've had this one before, and enjoyed it.

And ... I still enjoy it.  I particularly liked the mild white cheddar popcorn, and it seemed to have more powder this time.  My fingers wound up extremely coated in white powder.  I was not upset.

I mostly find myself separating out the popcorn, eating all the white cheddar when I'm in the mood for savory, and then the caramel when I want sweet.  I like this though, just like I like digging through Chex mix for the bits I want at that particular moment.  And yes, sometimes I like a bite of both, but usually ... I really do prefer one or the other.

Hidden Valley Ranch.

"Hidden Valley® Ranch seasoned popcorn by Pop! Gourmet brings the classic blend of buttermilk flavor, garlic, onion, herbs, and spices to this delicious popcorn recipe. Feed the fun on your next outdoor adventure or family gathering. Every bite of this delicious popcorn is seasoned with the Hidden Valley® Ranch flavor you love. Enjoy! Make sure to try Hidden Valley® Ranch Seasoning found in the Dressing aisle!"

I have a strange relationship with ranch.

I liked it at some point in my life, as a dressing, on salad.  And then my little sister got very obsessed with it, and put it on ... everything.  Chicken nuggets, dunked in ranch.  Pizza, dunked in ranch.  Every vegetable ... dunked in ranch.  I ended up hating the mere smell of it as a result.  I can't really explain it, but when I moved out for college, I think I avoided ranch for like 15 years.  

I've since moved on from my trauma, and found that I enjoy some ranch dressings again.  But I still approached this one with apprehension.  

Luckily, it was awesome.  The kernels were well coated, zesty, and actually, kinda tasted ... cheesy?  I wouldn't necessarily call it "ranch" but it was zesty and herby.  The garlic and onion were at least identifiable.  I think the "cheesy" nature came from buttermilk and sour cream?

I liked this one enough at room temperature, that I didn't even find the need to freeze it (gasp!)  I way too quickly devoured the single serving bag ... 240 calories of it, so not the lightest popcorn out there ... gulp.

Original Review, March 2018

I love snacks. I love popcorn.  I love crazy flavors of popcorn.

So, I was excited to discover Pop!, as, well, they make crazy flavors of popcorn (and chips). They love to Sriracha and Tajin all the things.

Sadly, the varieties I tried were a bit more pedestrian.

White Cheddar Jalapeno Fire Corn.

"A fiery mix of popcorn and crispy jalapeno slices tossed with white cheddar cheese."

Um, wow.

"Fire Corn" is actually a fitting name for this product.

I took my first bite as a handful.  I kinda regretted it.  Seriously spicy.

I did like the spice, once I was ready for it, but, it stuck with you, and it burned.  This is a product for serious heat lovers.

The white cheddar coating helped temper it a bit, but only a bit.  The kernels were well coated in the white cheddar powder.

This was also not a light popcorn.  The bag contained only an ounce of popcorn, and it was 200 calories.  For barely more than a handful.

White Cheddar Jalapeno (Update 2018).

I tried it again a year or so later, forgetting that I had tried it before.

It wasn't nearly as spicy this time.  This time, the dominant flavor was the cheddar cheese, and also, seemingly way too much butter?  They just felt heavy, coated in too much stuff.  And not really firey.

Hmm.  Not sure what changed, me, or the batch?

Cascade Mix.

"A delicious blend of tender Northwest white cheddar cheese popcorn and premium caramel corn. A mouthwatering twist on a classic."

The cheese and caramel popcorn combo is still one that I'm learning to appreciate.  Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it totally doesn't.

This one worked, but mostly because the cheddar popcorn was very, very mild.  It was white cheddar, so no scary fake orange color, no cheesy colored fingers after eating it, and subtle cheese flavor.  I liked it, but I did wish for more.

The caramel was very sweet, as expected.  It reminded me more of toffee than caramel, but, I liked it, particularly when frozen.  It got a great crunch to it.  The kernels were well coated.

Overall, a decent popcorn, but another heavy hitter, 200 calories in a very small portion.

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Arizmendi Bakery

Arizmendi is a different sort of a bakery, a co-op, owned by the bakers.  They have several locations in San Francisco, along with their sister operation, the Cheeseboard Collective, in Berkeley.

I attended a number of event with treats provided by Arizmendi Bakery.  They are a common source of pastries with my friends living in the Mission, not only because of the location, but also, because they offer decent vegan and gluten-free items, so they are a good option for serving groups with dietary constraints.

I didn't find the cookies very remarkable, but their muffins and scones are some of the better ones I've had.

Cookies / Shortbreads

I'm not generally a cookie person, but my friends love these.  I didn't find them remarkable.

Spicy Chocolate Shortbread.

Wow, this packed some heat!  I know it said spicy chocolate, but I didn't expect it to have SOOO much intensity.

Anyway, it was a classic shortbread, with crunchy chocolate bits, and uh, something spicy.  Like Mexican chocolate, but in a shortbread.  I really enjoyed it paired with my coffee.

Cinnamon Anise Shortbread.

This is the one I expected to have the more intense flavor, as it featured both cinnamon and anise.  The top was brushed with cinnamon, and there were little bites of anise in it.  The flavors were subtle though, which was fine, just not what I expected.  Or maybe my taste buds were just blown from the spicy chocolate!  I appreciated the crunch from the anise bits.

Lemon Rosemary / Espresso Shortbreads.

I'm guessing the flavors here, as a friend brought these to a party.

The darker colored one most certainly had espresso in it, super strong coffee flavor, bit of texture from the grounds.  Once I realized it was caffeinated however I didn't have more, as I was avoiding caffeine late in the day.

The other was perhaps lemon rosemary?  It certainly had herbs and a strong citrus flavor.  A decent enough basic shortbread.

Chocolate Chocolate Cookie.  $2.

A hard style cookie, fudgy chocolate base, with chocolate chips.  Pretty intense chocolate flavor.  Not really my style of cookie, as I prefer soft ones.  A bit small for a $2 cookie, but I didn't actually want it to be any bigger.

Ginger Cookie.  $2.

Again, hard style which I don't care for, but good ginger flavor.  Not particularly complex.  Fairly small for $2.  Unremarkable.

Rolls / Loafs

Arizmendi has quite the lineup of assorted bread rolls and loafs, both sweet and savory.  I've tried many.

Sweet

Double Chocolate Tea Cake.  $5.50 per loaf.

This was probably my least favorite item. It was dry, and somehow didn't have any flavor.   Even though it had chocolate chips in it, and it was chocolate bread, it wasn't chocolatey.  I had a single slice out of a small loaf, normally $5.50, which seems pricy for the size.

Gingerbread Tea Loaf.

Tea loafs are not ever that exciting to me, but I still tried a slice.  For what it was, it was good.  Very moist, amazing ginger flavor.  But still, just a slice of gingerbread, and not particularly interesting to me.

Chocolate Thing. $3.25.

"Sweet broiche with chocolate chunks".

"Our popular brioche dough studded with dark chocolate chunks."

Yes, "chocolate thing" is its real name.

It was a moist, good sweet bread, with dark chocolate chunks.  Yum!!!  (Note: It did not freeze and reheat well at all.)

Update review: Good quality dark chocolate, in large chunks, but it was otherwise dry and uninteresting.  We speculated that it would be better warm.

Update 2019: I again really did sorta like this.  The dark chocolate is such high quality, and the chunks large.  I like the sweet brioche base, but it always trends a bit dry for me.  I really need to take the time to warm it sometime ...

Pecan Roll. $3.

"A roll topped with pecans and gooey brown sugar."

This was very lackluster.  Not moist, not gooey.  Very disappointing.

Cinnamon Roll.

"Another classic swirled with cinnamon sugar, raisins, with a sweet icing."

Some friends brought these to a party, and dubbed them cinnamon rolls.  This doesn't really match what I thought Arizmendi's cinnamon rolls are like though, so I'm not really sure what these were.  They also sorta sound like the brioche knots, just, not shaped as knots.

I tried a chunk of one, but didn't really care for it. It was very dry, more like a scone than a roll.  It wasn't very cinnamon-y, but I'm not sure if it was supposed to be?  It had tons of raisins, both golden and regular (meh!).  It had no glaze or icing on top, but did have a little bit of sticky something.  I liked the sticky bits, but there wasn't much of that.

I'm really not sure what this was trying to be, but, it wasn't for me.

Cinnamon Roll (2019).

And then, another party, another box of treats, and I failed to read my notes.  Of course I grabbed the cinnamon roll looking thing, although my joy depleted a little as I saw the raisins, but I already had my hand on it.

It was better than my notes above imply, but still not great, a fairly dry item, the dough was like a brioche sorta, and there wasn't much cinnamon flavor, and only a slight glaze.  And of course, meh to those raisins.

It was ok for a lighter item, likely best warm, but not really my thing at all.

Brioche Knot.

"A classic sweet brioche dough twisted with cinnamon sugar and raisins."

Ok, *this* was the brioche knot, so my earlier guess about the other item is clearly incorrect.  I still don't entirely know what that one was, then.

Blueberry Snail (2019).

"Blueberries and butter cream rolled up and dusted with powdered sugar."
I finally got my hands on a blueberry snail, a limited Fri and Sat only item.

I liked it a lot more than the cinnamon roll, although it looked fairly similar.  The bread was again brioche like, the more dense style, and it was loaded with blueberry filling between the rolls.  Slightly glazed.

It was really a nice item for something not very decadent, but I bet would be even better warmed and topped with whipped cream.  A nice alternative to a blueberry muffin.

[ Not Pictured ]

• Wolverine: "Sourdough roll loaded with pecans, cherries, raisins, apricots."  $2.50.  Tasting notes:  This was ok, but I don't love sourdough.   Best toasted with butter.
• Sweet Brioche, filled with cinnamon and raisins.  $2.50. Tasting notes: Very moist, nice cinnamon flavor, juicy and plump raisins added a nice moisture.  But it dried out pretty fast, better once re-warmed. [ Really delicious, even when frozen and re-heated.  Moist, cinnamon flavor, juicy raisins, sweet, nice dough. ]

Savory

Cheese Roll. $2.75. (2019)

"Asiago and swiss cheese rolled up in our classic whole wheat sourdough." 

I rarely go for the savory pastries, but, it was later in the day, and I was planning to finish off a lovely crab salad and a grilled asparagus and kale salad from Trailblazer Tavern , and thought that a savory carb would perfectly complete my meal.

So, cheese roll it was.

I was a bit surprised as I tried to cut into it with a metal butter knife.  Impossible!  I needed something serrated, as it was sooo dense and loaded with cheese that the butter knife just literally didn't cut it (see what I did there? I'm lol'ing, anyway).

The cheese was awesome (gruyere?) and yes, tons of it.  But the bread under it all ... was ... chewy ... SOURDOUGH.  Those who read my blog regularly know how I feel about sourdough.  

The cheese was so intense that I didn't spit this out immediately, but ... I very quickly passed it on.  I just can't sourdough!

It turns out, I should have just read my previous review, which said ...

"Tasting notes (2014): Very cheesy! But sourdough, which I don't like."

Scones

Over the years, I've tried several different scones from Arizmendi.  The Corn Cherry Scone remains one of the best scones I've ever had.  

Daily Fruit Scone. $3.50 (2014)

Some friends brought these to my house for a party, and they didn't know what kind they were, just, the daily fruit scone.  They seemed to be ... blueberry pear perhaps?

I didn't care for them.  The scones were very dry and crumbly, with no interesting flavor in the base.  No tang at all.  The fruit was there, but, overall, these were just dry and flavorless.

Scone of the Day: Blackberry. $3.50. (2014)

Another day, a co-worker brought some scones in to the office.

I didn't manage to get a photo before people cut them into chunks.  This was the scone of the day, featuring one of my least favorite fruits: blackberry (well, most of the time.  If blackberries have little seeds, I can love them, but most blackberries drive me crazy, I just can't stand the seeds).

The scone itself was great, soft, doughy, nice flavor in the base.  I liked how it was slightly crumbly, and the sugar coating on top.  It was moist, and the fruit added even more moistness.  So, all good.  Except, well, except for that whole blackberry thing.  The seeds were gritty and awful, in the way blackberry seeds are to me.

I wanted to love this scone, and if it had any other fruit, I would have.  It also would make a nice biscuit base for shortcake, with some whipped cream.

Update (2019): This time the scone of the day featured mango, and I enjoyed it much more.  Decent crumbly base, and the dried/cooked mango was certainly a fruit I prefer.

Daily Fruit Scone: Strawberry. $3. (May 2019)

Someone else got to this first, but, I was thrilled to see a berry looking daily fruit scone, as I enjoyed them in the past.

I liked this one again - great crumble, good texture with the crispy top, decent flavor to the base with a slight tang, bits of strawberry inside.

I'd gladly have again.  Also works well as a fruit shortcake biscuit base, warmed up and topped with assorted berries and whipped cream!

Daily Scone: Banana Blackberry? $3. (May 3029)

I eagerly grabbed the other full size scone, thinking it was another fruit scone, but ... I took one bite and was a bit confused.

Banana!  I was tasting banana bread.  Not my favorite.  This scone was also much softer inside, likely due to that banana?  The banana flavor was quite strong.

There was also visible dark purple, or blue, bits, but I could really find any whole fruit.  I think it was blackberry?

This scone had a decent crumb to it as well, but, the banana flavor, the softer texture, just not for me.

Currant Scone. $3.25.  (2014)

"A traditional and mildly sweet buttery scone."

I also tried the currant scone, again, I failed to get a photo before it was broken into.  I don't normally go for currant scones, but, since I liked the base of the other, I figured it was worth the gamble.  I broke off just a small chunk, and immediately returned for the rest.

I really liked this scone.  It was soft, moist, and crumbly in all the right ways.  I loved the buttermilk tang to it.  It had lots of little currants, which, granted, aren't the most interesting dried fruit, but, they weren't bad.

On top was cinnamon sugar rather than just sugar like the fruit scone.  Currant and cinnamon aren't a natural pairing to me, but, I liked the sweet top, so, I went with it.

I liked this, and would gladly have another.

Currant Scone. $2.75. (May 2019).

Currant isn't ever my favorite scone as I don't generally care for currants, but I've had this before and always liked it.

It was again good, boosted by the pearl sugar on top, great crumble, and slight tang.

But still, it was a currant scone, not exactly high on my list.

Corn Cherry Scone.  $2.75. 

"Our popular cornmeal scone with sweet, tart cherries."

This was really freaking good.  Bursting with flavor from the dried cherries. I love corn muffins/corn bread, and this took the wonderful flavors of corn and put them into a scone … genius!

Seriously, tasty.  One of the best scones I've ever had.
Update (2019): I had another, and I again loved it.  The gritty nature of the cornmeal, the pleasant tang to the base, and the large chunks of dried cherry made it a total winner.  Hands down favorite item.

Muffins

Arizmendi makes a variety of muffins, including gluten-free and vegan varieties.

Gluten-Free Carrot Walnut. $3.

"A hearty muffin stuffed with shredded carrot, raisins, and walnuts based in brown rice flour."

This was a decent muffin.  Certainly a hearty, healthy tasting style though, absolutely loaded up with shredded carrots, plentiful plump juicy raisins, and bits of walnut for crunch.  It was well spiced.

Not really the type of muffin I like (unless I added lots of cream cheese frosting!)

I didn't know this was gluten-free when I tried it, and I wouldn't have known.

Update 2019: I had this again, and again enjoyed it, really loaded up with goodies, an excellent loaded carrot muffin.

Blueberry Millet Muffin.  $2.

More flavorful than the cranberry muffin since it has millet to add a nice earthiness.   Again, moist inside and out.  I really liked this, it reminded me a corn muffin and a blueberry muffin crossed into one.  Good quantity of blueberries and nice crunch from the millet.  A great price for a large muffin too.

Corn Blueberry Muffin. $2.75. (May 2019).

I've had the blueberry muffin before, and enjoyed it, but it used to have millet as the base, not cornmeal.

Like the millet though, I thought the corn flavor and texture were a good compliment to the berries, but lamented that it wasn't very blueberry forward, just a few small, not very juicy berries.

That said, I did like it more as a corn muffin, just not a blueberry muffin.

[ Not Pictured ]

• Cranberry & Apricot Muffin. $2. Tasting notes: Very moist on the inside and outside. All flavor comes from the cranberries and apricots as the batter itself pretty boring and plain. This froze and reheated fine too. 
• GF Blackberry Muffin. Tasting Notes: really quite moist, tons of flavor and moisture from the big juicy berries.

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Mrs. Sullivan's ® Pecan Pie

I Love Pie.

That is the slogan of Mrs. Sullivan's, a Tennessee based snack pie business.  You know how much I love dessert, and pies in particular, so, trying these was a no brainer.

But first, quick company history: Mrs. Sullivan made pies at home in Tennessee during the 1930's, they smelt good, neighbors liked them, one neighbor asked to distribute them, she bought a bigger oven and installed it on her pack porch, yadda yadda, eventually opened a pie business.

Now distributed nationwide, 10,000+ stores, packaged little pies.

Ok, not little pies.  Mini pies.  Truly, mini pies.  Real single servings.  That is what these are.  The pies come as singles (sold on their website for $1, I'm sure you can snag them for less), or packs of 4 or 12.

Mrs. Sullivan makes a somewhat random selection of pies: pecan, coconut, chocolate, apple crumb, and cherry crumb.  All classics at some level of course, but the inclusion of coconut when only 5 pies are offered seemed unique.  The chocolate is not a chocolate cream pie obviously, since these are packaged shelf-stable pies, rather, more like a brownie in a pie crust.  But I digress.

Mrs. Sullivan also makes turnovers, distributed under the "Armstrong's" brand: apple, cherry, peach, chocolate, coconut, bavarian cream, lemon, raspberry.  I'm not sure why a different brand name.  These are sold as singles, $1.

I only got a chance to try one pie.

Boxed Pie.

Yes, it came in a box.  With a bar code, an advertisement for their website, nutrition stats.  Not exactly high end packaging, no real appeal to it.  Very generic.  No indication of expiration date.

The box *was* adorable though.  You can't see scale here, but since it was a single serve pie, only 3 ounces, the box was sized appropriately.

Cellophane Wrapped.

Inside?  Cellophane wrapped pie.

In a little pie tin.  Again, fancy packaging?  Nah.  Adorable?  Absolutely!

Still, no indication of expiration date, which, was a bit confusing to be honest.  I guess I had to eat it right then.

Pecan Pie.

"Our delicious Mrs. Sullivan's ® Pecan pie!" -- Mrs. Sullivan's

"Life's too short to wait for pie to bake! Mrs. Sullivan brings pecan pie that's so tasty you'd swear it's fresh out of the oven! Each pie has a perfectly crisp crust, sweet pecan filling, and is perfectly sized for the pie fiend on the go!" -- Distributor

I'll admit that I did not expect to want more than a bite of my mini pie, hence cutting out my little slice (plus, isn't it fun to cut tiny slices?).  I planned to give it to someone else, and didn't mangle it, intentionally.

I tried my bite, room temp, no topping.  My expectations were so low that I didn't bother heat it up as I often do with pecan pie, nor even pull out some whipped cream or ice cream, which is basically unheard of for me.  I had backup dessert ready.

But ... I didn't mind it. I wanted more, in fact.

Now, this was clearly not a homemade pie.  Nothing like my mom's, nothing like you'd get from a bakery, a diner, a restaurant.  It *is* a packaged product with a long shelf life.  Set your expectations accordingly.

The crust was not a flaky buttery pie dough, instead it was a crumbly style, not really pie crust at all, but hard to describe, not really a tart shell either, not a cookie.  It was rich though, sweet, and the crumble to it worked.  Made with shortening, of course.  The weakest element of the pie, but, not a deterrent.  I finished even the little crusts.

Resting above that crust was a layer of sweet filling, and then a layer of chopped nuts.

The filling was sweet, not super gooey but not too thick.  It tasted like corn syrup, because, well, it was made from corn syrup.  Like most pecan pie, and again, not something I shy away from (the classic Karo syrup pecan pie has a special place in my heart!).

The topping was the least traditional element, chopped up nuts, no bits bigger than a few specs.  The ingredient list curiously said "pecan and/or walnut", so they certainly seem to sneak some cheaper nuts in there ... at least sometimes?  But it didn't matter, it tasted like fairly standard chopped nuts to me, too small to really taste much, probably not roasted to bring more flavor, etc.  Just little nuts for texture, and a compliment to the sweet layer.  It worked.  Just go with it.

So yes, no element was stunning, no flaky pie crust, no ooey gooey complex sweet filling, no depth of flavor from luxury nuts.  It was what it was.  Shortening, corn syrup, and some questionable nuts.

But you know what?  I liked it.  I liked it at room temperature.  I never bothered heat any of it up.  I added whipped cream for completeness sake, but, it really was fine without it.  A great quick dessert item, really, just as easy as a cookie.  And much, much better ...

I'd have another.  I'd try my flavors.  If I could find them, that is.

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House of Thai

As you may recall, I've never been thrilled with the Thai food options in San Francisco, particularly after spending significant time in Sydney, where the Thai food is amazing, but ... the Shelter in Place due to Covid-19 changed many things.  And one of them was my willingness to get takeout.

House of Thai has been on my list for a while, as Yelp reviews are strong, and they have two locations (one on Haight, one on Larkin), so they must be doing something right.

I only had one dish, but, I was not particularly pleased, and will not return.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of pickup 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 ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]

I ordered pickup via delivery.com, and that part of the experience was fine - my order was ready right after I arrived, no issues acknowledging the order quickly, and a fork was provided in the bag.  House of Thai is listed on several of the other platforms as well.

Larkin Location.

I visited the Larkin Street location, right on the corner of Larkin & Geary, deep in the Tenderloin.  

Clearly not the best neighborhood, but in the area of many Thai restaurants (including Lapats which I actually liked - fried taro! durian sticky rice!, and Modern Thai, which I tried many times and never really liked,  and SF darling Lers Ros Thai where I had a mediocre experience).

Shelter In Plate Times: Takeout only!

Since my visit was during the shelter in place, the only option was takeout (or delivery), and orders were being taken/picked up at a makeshift little window on the sidewalk, no customers were allowed inside the restaurant (which had all the tables totally removed).

Pickup was easy, I just approached, rang the bell as instructed, and my order was handed over soon after.

I went to House of Thai with one goal: to get a fried catfish salad.  Yup, not a curry, and ... catfish?  This was a super random craving on my part, but House of Thai gets great reviews for their fried catfish salads, and their larb in general.  I've actually never had larb before (!), given that it is usually chicken or minced pork, and just not my thing, but House of Thai offered both a duck and catfish version.  For some reason, this just sounded great to me.  

I was also tempted by the "Crispy Catfish Salad", with the same crispy fried minced catfish, with ice berg, green apple, cashews, onion, and spicy lime cilantro dressing, but the larb really called out.

Crispy Catfish Larb. $15. "Spicy"

"Prepared with lime dressing, chili flakes, onion, parched rice powder and mints.  Choice of minced chicken, pork, roasted duck or crystal."

Even though I've never had larb before (or at least, not from a real Thai restaurant), I still knew what to expect: minced meat, a huge wedge of cabbage or lettuce to wrap the meat in, and a complex flavor profile of salty, sour, spicy and sweet.

The dish *looked* pretty much as expected (although the portion much smaller!), but ... it certainly didn't taste how I expected.

I'll cut right to the chase: it was sweet.  *Really* sweet.  It wasn't just not Thai spicy, it was sweet.  Just sweet.  Way too sweet.  I tasted zero heat, again, not just not the expected Thai spicy heat, but, none.  I saw no chilis nor the mentioned chili flakes.  There was nothing to balance the sweet.  Not only the missing spice, but also, no sourness - where was the lime dressing?  Where was the balance that Thai cuisine is all about?  Sadness.

More sad because the fried catfish was actually quite good.  Coated in cornmeal, fried, crispy, all different size chunks, not murky or fishy.  I liked it quite a bit.  But ... super sweet catfish with nothing to balance it was just not great - I wanted spice, or I even wanted some aioli or something.  Just ... something.

I tried desperately to get some good flavors going on, and sought out the red onion hoping for some acidity, harshness, and bite, but even the red onion was mild.  I dislike red bell peppers, so they offered nothing, and also, um, they were sweet bells.  The sliced green onion at least had a bit of flavor to it, and I guess the parsley tasted like parsley (and there was tons of it), but neither were enough to really save this.  I found no mint either.

The larb was on top of a leaf of green lettuce that soaked up all the sweet juices, and a fairly small wedge of green cabbage was on the side.  The cabbage was crisp and fresh, but still wasn't enough to balance the sweet.

Overall, this just ... well, wasn't good.  Unbalanced sweetness, and fairly difficult to eat given how cloying that sweetness was.  It honestly seemed like they forgot to add the lime juice, and certainly didn't add chilis.  I ordered it spicy (choices were mild, medium, spicy, very spicy).  Sad, as that catfish really had potential.

I saved some, since I really just couldn't stomach it, and used it the next day - I grilled up the catfish in my Griddler, served it on top of a cabbage based salad, and added, well, SPICE, and soy, and lime aioli.  The result was actually quite delicious - again, that catfish had potential, but I needed to transform it entirely.

The basic proteins (chicken/pork/beef) versions of the larb are $13, premium ingredients like roasted duck or catfish ('crystal?') were $2 more, $15.  Taste aside, the portion was really quite meager for the price, and not worth it at all (the takeout container was quite shallow, and not particularly full).

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