Stella Popcorn

Another day, another new popcorn brand to review!  Such is life, when you are ... addicted to popcorn.  And snacks and munchies in general like I am.

Stella is a bit of a departure from my regular popcorn brands, in that ... it is from Thailand.  I discovered it in Singapore.

"The first taste of Stella Popcorn came about one day as Stella was popping popcorn over the flame and her mama pulled out a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from her hometown on the island of Sicily, a Mediterranean haven for plump and decadent olives. A good bottle of olive oil is multi-dimensional: vibrant, crisp, and distinctive. Real olive oil speaks highly of its provenance."

Stella Popcorn is different from most popcorn, as it uses olive oil, with a focus on quality extra virgin olive oil (and of course is non-GMO, gluten-free, etc).  This goes for all flavors produced.

And speaking of those flavors, the lineup is pretty unique: the most "normal" would be the simple mediterranean sea salt, or perhaps the sour cream & chives or parmesan cheese, but the range is generally savory and herby.  Think roasted garlic, rosemary 'n herb, tomato 'n basil, and the like.  And then there is ... calamari.  Or, the one I was able to try: honey mustard.  They make no products besides the popcorn.

I'd like to try more flavors, you know, next time I'm able to get popcorn from Thailand ...

Honey Mustard Popcorn

"With a well-balanced of sweetness from the popcorns and a tinge of spiciness from the honey mustard, this snack is well loved by everyone."
I really couldn't wrap my head around this popcorn.

I love honey mustard.  I love popcorn.  I adore honey mustard snacks (like Snyder's, my total goto weakness or Harvey's Pretzels, which were even better!).  So you'd think this would be perfect for me.  I wanted it to be!

But these didn't combine as magically as I wanted.  It was ... odd.  Not bad, but not clearly good.

The popcorn was very well popped.  Big kernels, fluffy.  Great popcorn, really.

The flavor was intense honey mustard, definitely on the sweet side.  Along with the mustard and honey were thyme and parsley for a slight herbaciousness, and even nonfat milk, which I think gave it a somewhat ... "creamy" feel, if that can make any sense.  Oh, and sugar.  There was sugar in addition to the honey (powder).  It was almost too intense though.

I liked the popcorn considerably more frozen - more crunchy, a bit more mellow - but when I got a particularly strong one, it was still just a bit much.  I think it would go *fabulous* in a mix, or perhaps served alongside the right thing (like, uh, pickles and bologna?), but as an individual snack food, it was always just slightly too strong for me ...

Read More...

Grilling Leftovers: Sushi Burritos

By now, you know that I throw ... basically everything into my waffle iron, particularly leftovers, when the item has degraded.  And I'm willing to put basically anything into the waffle iron.

It was only a matter of time before sushi went in, right?

Encounter #1: June 2020 

The first time, it was a sushi burrito to be exact.  Not something that holds up well.

Grilled Leftover Sushi Burrito -> Poke Bowl?

What is a girl to do when her partner has leftover sushi burrito, and ... the grill is hot?  Yeah, I didn't waffle it, as the grill plates were in, but I certainly had fun, and completely transformed it.

Leftover Sushi(burrito): Will it Waffle? Well, I don't know about waffle technically, but it sure did work well on the grill.  No reason to believe it wouldn't work in waffle iron.

I used my grilled slices on top of a poke-ish bowl, which was kinda awesome for crunch!

The Original:  Geisha's Kiss. $15.

"Yellowfin Tuna (raw) | Tamago | Piquillo Peppers | Taro Chips | Pickled Cucumbers | Green Leaf Lettuce | Sesame White Soya."

The original?  The second half of my partner's Sushirrito order (which I've reviewed several times, I'm a fan!), several hours later.

It was still good (really a well composed creation), but, it was getting soggy (the taro chips in particular!) and I don't actually like raw tuna, so, I had other ideas ...

Leftover Sushirrito: Grilling.

So yes, I cut off a slice and stuck it into the grill.   I think it was at 350*?  Whatever it had been set on previously, to be honest.

It was basically just a big piece of a sushi roll, on a grill, yes.

After a few minutes, it had stuck to the top (doh!) but looked like the concept was working.

I think it likely was done at this point, in terms of the rice being kinda sticky-crunchy, but, I listed to my common words of "if it gets stuck, just go longer!" and let it go longer.

Grilled Leftover Sushi Burrito -> Sushi Chip?

I set about making my other food, and, I admit, let it go a bit too long.

But, it really wasn't as bad as it looked - the dark was mostly seaweed wrapper, not burnt, as it looked at first.

I cut off a chunk.  Ok, it was actually kind of awesome.  The flavors were all still there.  I tasted seaweed, I tasted the peppers.  And the fish?  Nicely grilled!  Much better for me.

Super crispy, obviously.  Less time would have been more like a onigiri (e.g. a grilled rice ball), and this was definitely very crisp, but, hey, I like crispy things.  I am not sure I'd want to eat it an entire roll as basically .... "sushi chips" though.  (Hmm, maybe with wasabi aioli dipping sauce?)

So I sliced it further, and added it on top of a poke inspired bowl.  Heh.  It totally worked.

"Poke" Bowl! With Grilled Leftover Sushirrito Geisha's Kiss Burrito.

"Romaine / Kale / Daikon
Leftover Grilled Sushirrito Geisha's Kiss Burrito / Trader Joe's Breaded Fish Sticks
Spicy Poke Sauce / Wasabi Aioli
Furikake / Minced Onion / Dried Nori Strips / Wonton Chips"

Yeah, ok, I did like this!  I basically made a poke bowl with it on top.  And many other random things.

I'm a greens type of poke girl (not rice), so my base was a nice mix of romaine and curly kale.  Nice crunch, nice mix.  Glad I had it on hand.  Quickly threw in chunks of daikon for more crunch and juicy freshness, absolutely perfect.  Glad I had that in my fridge too.

I added wonton strips too for additional crunch, but really didn't need them with the crispy sushi "chips" at all, I'm just used to tossing those on.  I left out my usual wasabi peas out of laziness, but they would have been great.

There may or may not have been chunks of Trader Joe's Breaded Fish sticks tossed on as well more after the photo, for more protein - its what I had in my freezer, and honestly, I really do like them! Crispy, nice quality fish.

And I added strips of dried nori, but as the sushi roll had plenty of seaweed flavor in it from the wrapper, and I also added tons of furikake with more nori in it too, I likely didn't really need this.

I sauced it with spice poke sauce and wasabi aioli.  Great mix.  A much more than "generous" amount of furikake and minced onion rounded it off.

Overall, this was, well, a satisfying, totally random, creation.  Crispy base, appropriate poke style dressing, LOTS of crunch, and sushi flavors galore.

Encounter #2: July 2020

A few weeks later, I did it again, this time with just leftover, mediocre, grocery store sushi.

The original: Krab Crunch Roll.

The original was a "krab crunch" roll, or something like that, with crab stick, carrots, and cucumber inside (usually avocado, but I'm allergic so I had them prep it fresh and leave out), covered in crunchy bits, and drizzled with tons of sriracha aioli.

It was fine, better than I expected for sushi from a grocery store in NH, and likely helped along by the crispy coating and generous sauce.  I didn't finish it though, and the leftovers ... well, without all the sauce and crunch (gulp, I used them all on the portion I did have), it was a bit lackluster.

So, into the grill I put a slice.

The original: bits of sushi roll broken up.

I also ripped apart several slices, extracting the fillings to toss onto the poke bowl I was attempting to build, and just grilled the pieces of rice (now hard, and bo-oring).

Grilled leftover sushi roll!

I grilled them all up, not too hot and not too long this time, and got lovely grill marks.

I chopped up the rice ones a bit more once cooked, and used as a topping on my poke bowl.  It actually worked great - crispy, glutinous, little chunks.  Wonderful chew and texture.  Definitely improved my bowl.

The full slice was fine, but, I think just the rice was better suited, and keeping the other ingredients just to toss in "fresh".

I really do recommend this, if you have leftover sushi you'll just throw out otherwise ...

Read More...

Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic, SFO-LHR

Update Review, Nov 2017 travel 

Flight: VS 42, SFO-LHR

Departure Time: 8pm

Aircraft: 787

Seat: 9A

Our flight was slightly delayed in boarding, then more delayed as we hung out on the tarmac, but in the end, we only took off 30 minutes late.

Since I've reviewed the aircraft and experience before, I'll only highlight any changes here.  The seat, amenity kit, pajamas, etc were unchanged from my flight a year ago.

Service was great, very efficient.

Starters & Bread Menu.

The first page of the food menu was the starters, a soup and two salads:

• Parsnip & parmesan soup
• Grilled prawn papaya salad
• Greek feta salad 

Warm breads:

Served with your choice of warm artisan breads: Dark pumpernickel, Sourdough pistol, Mini brioche.

Credit to them for a Thai salad, and not just mixed greens.

Light Meal.

I went for two starters (and dessert), to compose a light meal, since I had eaten in the lounge already.

Mains Menu.

Next was mains:

• Fillet of beef
• Duck confit and red cabbage
• Vegetable Thai green curry
• Tuna nicoise salad

I give them credit for not having chicken, and a veggie main that wasn't a pasta, and formed a coherent meal with the papaya salad starter.

I skipped the mains, since I ate in the *excellent clubhouse* (the lounge), but and I wasn't particularly inspired by these choices (although I did like the sound of the mustard mashed potatoes and creamy wild mushroom sauce with the beef!).

Pudding Menu

And finally, a sad selection of dessert:

• Toffee ginger pudding 
• Blueberry cheesecake

These were nearly identical to my previous flight, with cherry cheesecake and sticky toffee pudding.

Cheese & Port.

The last page of the food menu encouraged us be sure to save room for cheese and biscuits after the pudding, and listed out the items available at the bar.

The cheeses for our flight were as follows, each with an extensive description.

• San Geronimo
• Californian Blue Cave Aged
• Rouge Affine

Crisps and wine.

My previous flight began with an offer of a hot towel, but none were given on this flight.  Our drink orders were taken as soon as the FAs were able to get up, and delivered one by one promptly. 

I selected one of the red wines, Côtes du Rhône.  I asked for a small pour, but got a very generous one.  It was fine, not particularly interesting.

I also opted for sparkling water, and I was thrilled that throughout the flight, whenever the FAs passed through offering water, they always offered both still and sparkling to everyone, carrying bottles of each with them.  I drink a lot of sparkling water, and appreciated it being treated as prevalent as the still.

Our drinks came with an offer of "crisps", plain salted Route 11 chips.  They were classic kettle style, basic chips. Fine, not interesting.  I preferred the seasoned ones last time.

Parsnip and parmesan soup.

"A winter warming soup, creamy and tasty, topped with parmesan croutons."

My first dish was the soup.

It was actually pretty good, served piping hot.

Creamy, comforting, a bit cheesy, good texture.  It tasted ... well, like parsnips.  Perhaps not for everyone, but, good enough.

Grilled prawn papaya salad.

"A Thai inspired vibrant green papaya salad served with spicy grilled prawns - looks good but tastes even better!"

My second dish, also a starter, was the papaya salad.

This was quite decent.

Fresh, crisp green papaya.  Really refreshing on the flight.  There were two slices of very spicy hot peppers as well, and some kinda soggy cashews.  Overall not much flavor though, I'm not sure it had any dressing?

The serving included 3 chilled prawns, decently cooked.  Not rubbery, not fishy, well spiced.  Way better than I expected.

Garnish included a lime to squeeze over it all, and a spring of parsley.

It was nice to have a light dish like this on the flight.

Toffee Ginger Pudding.

"Its hard to resist this enticing combination of spicy ginger pudding with a warm, sticky toffee sauce served with a generous spoonful of cream."

Since I didn't love the cheesecake last time, I opted for the toffee ginger pudding, even though I'm not a huge fan of the spices that usually go along with ginger.

Um, this was delicious.

It was served warm, smothered in sweet sauce, and topped with a large spoonful of cream.

The pudding itself was slightly gingery, with little bits of chewy ginger studded throughout.  It was spiced, but pleasantly.  It was crazy moist, mostly from the sauce.

Now, that sauce.  It wasn't "sticky toffee" really, more like a thin caramel, but it was sweet, and it was plentiful.  I thought I wouldn't finish it all, particularly because I didn't actually want to be on a sugar high as I was intending to sleep soon, but ... the pudding, dragged through the sauce, was just too good.  It complimented the ginger flavors so well.

The very generous dollop of cream was needed to counterbalance all the sweet.

Overall, I really found this enjoyable.  Warm dessert, good flavors, sweet, creamy.  Sure, not a dessert I'd go out of my way for, but for something served on a flight, it was far better than expected.

Breakfast Card.

Breakfast orders are taken by filling out a card, collected once underway.

The menu was nearly identical to my previous flight: Kellogg's cereals, muesli, porridge, fruit salad, and yogurt to start, two baked goods (this time a croissant or chocolate croissant), and a customizable English breakfast, bacon butty, or peach crepes for the main.

I was a bit sad, as I was hoping for something different, at least with the main dish options.

Breakfast.

Once I was visibly awake, my mug of coffee was brought over, and the rest of my order confirmed.  My tray arrived a few minutes later with my full line up on it.

I appreciated the full hefty mug, but, the coffee itself was pretty horrible and acidic.

I moved on to decaf next, and while clearly instant, it was better.

Muesli.

I forgot my own tip to ask for the milk on the side, and thus my muesli was basically the same as last time: a pile of mush, in lukewarm milk.  

The muesli was good though, loaded up with sooo many things: bits of chocolate, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, raisins, bits of apple, bits of dates, and other dried fruits I couldn't quite identify.  If only it wasn't a pile of mushy oats and rice puffs.

Next time, seriously, milk on the side!

Peach Crepes, Chocolate Croissant.

Peach Crepes

I didn't care for the crepes last time, but I selected them again, to give them another chance.  Plus, I liked the cream last time.

This time they were even worse.

The crepes were gummy and dried out on the edges.  The peaches were way too seasoned with cinnamon and other spices I didn't like.  No dollop of cream.

Absolutely nothing good about these.

Chocolate croissant

I also opted for a chocolate croissant, and it was plated with the crepes.  This was less than ideal, because the horrible flavor sauce got onto the croissant and it was all soggy from that liquid.

The croissant itself was decent though, it did have a flaky exterior from being baked/warmed up, and the chocolate inside was warm and melty.  Not a great baked good, but at least served warm.

Sausage.

I asked for sausage from the full breakfast lineup, I'm not really sure why.  I guess I wanted something in case everything else wasn't very good.

I was served two really decent sausages.  Browned on one side, crispy casings, juicy flavorful inside.  Definitely "mystery meat", but, isn't most breakfast sausage?

In particular though I was impressed with how crispy and juicy it was.

Chocolates!

Still not quite satisfied, I asked if they had any chocolate.

A few minutes later, a FA came over with a tray with three types of mini Ghirardelli chocolate (milk chocolate with sea salt almond, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate caramel and one larger bar of dark chocolate with himalayan salt.  He said I could have them all.

This hit the spot quite nicely!

Original Review,  Sept 2016 travel (published, July 2018)

Flight Details: VS 42, SFO-LHR, 9:10pm departure.

This was my first time flying with Virgin Atlantic.

My journey started in the Clubhouse, where I had a lovely meal, and then we proceeded to the gate.  As I noted, the Clubhouse is landslide, so we had to leave the lounge with ample time to deal with security, which turned out to be frustratingly slow, even though we had Priority.  We wound up with no extra time on the other side, and boarded immediately.

Upper Class Cabin.

This was also my first time, finally, on a Dreamliner!  I was impressed with how spacious the cabin was, the ceiling so high, even though I've been on many huge aircraft before.

Amenities

Amenity Kit.

Boarding was relatively quick and easy.  Waiting at my seat was an amenity kit, with standard crappy earplugs and eye mask, pen, toothbrush and paste, socks, and some lotions.  As I settled in, pre-takeoff drinks were offered (orange juice, sparkling, water).  The seat had a little tray that pulled out for drinks, very convenient.

Soon after, I was offered a “sleeping suit”, pants and long sleeve shirt.  The long sleeve shirt was a pretty standard t-shirt, cotton, slight v-neck.  The pants were … interesting.  Drawstring waist, pocked on one side only, and, uh, drawstrings at the ankles.  Mine ended up being way too short, but I imagine that actually being kinda nice, so your pant legs don’t ride up?

Bathroom.

The bathroom was fairly standard, nothing was particularly interesting about it.  It wasn’t strangely large, it had the basics and nothing more.  Paper towels were paper, not cloth.

Bar.

One flagship feature of the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class brand is the bar.  Yes, they devote a fair amount of floor space to a bar, where you can wander up and order a drink or grab a snack, or just socialize with other guests.  It has bar stools.

I was amused when I looked up and saw that a few people choose to actually have their dinners there.  I mean, why not?  It was likely more comfortable than our seats, and then you had no risk of making a mess at your seat.  Hmm.  Next time.

At some point, very late in the night as they weren’t there the first few times I checked, a snack basket and fruit basket appeared.  Fruit was apples, pears, bananas, grapes, and a few other things.

Snacks included assorted chocolate bars, crisps, caramel corn, shortbread biscuits, granola bars, olives, and assorted lollies.  No nuts.

The Seat

Seat 7A.

The cabin layout is ridiculously spacious, single seats along the windows, with a single row down the center.  All seats thus have aisle access and feel extremely private.  I was in seat 7A, on the even more private side of the cabin, since the middle row faced away from me, so the wall that was the back of their seats is all that I could see.

The seat was a little narrow, not a problem for me while sitting, but I could imagine it feeling claustrophobic if I were bigger.  

USB and regular power ports were available, the seat had a little cubby for water/glasses/whatever, a slot of magazines, and general nice touches around.  The lighting however was awful.  Maybe I just didn’t find another lighting control, but the single light above really failed to illuminate.

At the foot of the seat is an ottoman, and we were allowed to stow bags under it, a fact I appreciated.  Overhead storage bins were huge and spacious.  Seriously, we could have brought all our bags on board if allowed!

The ottoman doubled as a seat for a dining companion, if you wanted to do that.

For dining, a large tray table pulled out, and it slid forward and back far enough that you could push it back to get in and out of your seat while it was still down. One point for that.

The seat wasn’t particularly comfortable to eat at.  Sitting upright at a a table was bit awkward.  I wondered if it would actually be better to sit on the ottoman.

It also wasn’t particularly comfortable for lounging, as it didn’t really recline nicely.

For sleep … also not great.  It did convert to a fully flat bed, like those on Air New Zealand (which I've reviewed many different times).  As a bed, it was sturdy, but, it was really, really hard.  And still very narrow.  On the plus side, the little tray for drinks doubled as a perfect bedside table for my glasses, and the other cubbies were all within reach.  Water bottles were provided.

For bedding, we had a very thin mattress pad, a blanket, and a single pillow.  As always I asked for extra, and was able to get a very small thin extra pillow.

Overall, having pajamas, a full blanket, a big pillow, and a real bed in business class is obviously great, but this wasn’t the most comfortable.

Entertainment Center.

The entertainment center featured movies, music, tv, games, and more.  It was easy to use and I had no problems navigating it or interacting with it, which, I can’t say is normal.

Next to that you can see my drink table, very handy throughout the flight.

There was wifi on the plane, at least, there was supposed to be.  And, i could connect to the access point.  I was never able to login however, as I got an error page every single time I tried.  I’m not sure if it was the fault of some corporate setting on my laptop blocking everything.

Fancy Windows.

Another feature of the Dreamliner is the fancy windows.  Rather than shades you lower and raise, they dim.

The Drinks

Drink?

The menu is two sided.  From one side, it opens up to show the drink menu, cutely labelled “Drink?”.

For wine options, there is a single sparkling, 3 red, and 3 white.  As in the Clubhouse, I was drawn to the cocktail menu, although all the cocktails were quite fruity.  They even had a non-alcoholic mango/lime/lemonade/cranberry selection.  There were also standard bar selections, soft drinks, juices, tea, and coffee.

Our drink order was quickly taken once underway (oh, pre-takeoff we were offered water, orange juice, and sparkling, as standard.

Creole Sour Smash, Sparkling Water.

“Made with Gentleman Jack, a taste of Tennessee meets the tropics in this sour blend.”

I was pretty surprised by how sweet and fruity this was.  I guess it did say “meets the tropics”, but, this was really just fruit juice, mango I think, mixed with some alcohol that was way too strong.  I just really didn’t like it at all.  I kept accidentally trying to drink out of the pretty purple swizzle stick.

The sparkling water was fine.  We were also provided water bottle in a little cubby in the seat.

2013 Cotes de Beaune Villages, Domaine Joseph Drouin, Burgundy, France.

“Light in color but certainly not in flavor, this Pinot Noir is crafted by family owned house of Joseph Drouin from sixteen different vineyard sites around the city of Beaune.  Delicate violet-like red fruits combine with a wonderful harmony of flavors on the palate.  An all time food favorite.”

Since I hated the cocktail, I moved on to wine, and asked for a small pour.  It was fine, inoffensive red wine, not too tannic, very drinkable.

The Food

Dinner

Hello you.

Flipping the menu over to the “Hello you” side I found the food menu.

Since I ate a full meal in the lounge, I didn’t want a second full dinner, but, I knew I’d get puckish before breakfast.  I opted for just a starter and dessert, since I skipped dessert in the lounge.

Options for starters were a soup, a salad, and a timbale.  “What’s a timbale?”, my companion asked.  I laughed, as the only place I ever see these is on flights.  A selection of 3 warm breads was offered next.

Had I wanted a main, choice were beef fillet, chicken, vegetarian ravioli, or a salmon salad.

I had my eyes on dessert, er, pudding, of course, and both options sounded good, a complete contrast to the lounge.  I had him order me the second one.

Finally, a selection of cheeses, that all did sound pretty good, but, I skipped.

Seasoned Chips.

After drink orders were taken, we were offered hot, scented towels.

Alongside our drinks, some “crisps” were offered.  They were seasoned, I think sour cream and onion.  I really enjoyed them, flavorful, and nice and crispy.

Table Setting.

After a short lull, a FA came through to prepare our tables, setting them with a tablecloth.  Soon after, a trolly came down the aisle offering additional beverages and hot rolls.  At this time, my table was set with silverware and little airplane salt and pepper shakers.  Our side was served last.

Starter: Crab Timbale.

“Timbale of crab with soba seaweed noodles and caviar - a light and indulgent treat”.

Starters were delivered one by one as they were ready.

Presentation-wise, this was lovely.  A tower of crab, topped with a little seaweed salad, and the tiniest little mound of soba noodles.  On the side was a couple pieces of frisee, a tiny bit more seaweed, and a tiny bit more soba, along with two little piles of bright green “caviar”.  The base of the timbale was a yellow pickled daikon.

The seaweed salad was good.  The soba was fine.  I liked the crunchy daikon.  But … the crab was fishy and I didn’t like it at all.  Good thing I wasn’t really hungry.

Main: Four Cheese Ravioli.

“Fresh pasta pockets packed with a four cheese filling and sautéed spinach, topped with a roasted tomato sauce and shavings of Italian cheese.”

My companion ordered the ravioli, and I of course got the first bite.  He offered!

It was … fine.  The pasta was a bit al dente in the “baked too long in the oven” sort of way, and it was kinda slimy.  Not awful, but, clearly not freshly cooked pasta.  The spinach was a mound on top, actually pretty good, nice flavorful, tender spinach.  It was all coated in the light red roasted tomato sauce, a kinda salty tomato sauce, with a slightly roasted flavor I guess.  The cheese on top was good.

Overall, fine, but, I didn’t feel like I missed out.

Pudding: Cherry Cheesecake.

“Luxurious, decadent cheesecake with a lovely cherry tang.  New York style cheesecake at it’s best”.

I ordered my dessert back when I ordered the starter an drinks.  As others around me finished their entrees, I assumed my dessert would come.  I watched tables get cleared, and person after person get dessert or cheese.  No dessert was coming my way.  My companion had also ordered dessert when main orders were taken, and after his tray was cleared, he was asked if he wanted dessert.  He repeated his order of the cheesecake.  Moments later, it was delivered.  I interrupted, asking for the sticky toffy pudding.  Around me, everyone else got dessert.  Still none for me.

Luckily, he ordered the cheesecake for me anyway, since I wanted both desserts.  He took one bite, and handed it over.

Cherry Cheesecake: Side View.

It was not quite what I expected, I think I thought the cherry component would be 1) red and 2) perhaps on top.  Instead, the cherry bits were actually located throughout the cheesecake and were mostly yellow cherries, although the cheesecake had a pink hue, which may have also been cherry?  There was subtle cherry flavor throughout.  The cherries were kinda mushy.

It had a somewhat strange consistency, not bad exactly, but not thick and luxurious.  The base wasn’t a graham cracker crust, instead it was a thin layer of sponge, I think lemon flavored?  Mushy, and not what I’d expect as a crust.  Not, uh, “New York style”.

On the side was a tiny bit of whipped cream, from a can.

This, like the ravioli, was fine.  Not good, not bad, but, fine.

Pudding: Sticky Toffee Pudding.

“A wonderful simple pudding, gloriously sweet and sticky perfectly paired with a spoonful of cream. Go on. No one’s watching.”

I waited a very long time for that sticky toffee pudding.  At some point, I decided that it must be served warm, so that is why it was taking so much longer.  Around me, everyone was having their seats converted into beds.  I was still waiting.  Finally, finally, it came.

It was indeed served warm, well, warmish.  Not exactly hot.

I took one bite.  WOAH.  Sweet.

Let’s rewind.  I’ve only had sticky toffee pudding a handful of times in my life.  Never in the UK.  And I’ve never liked it.  I wasn’t really prepared for this level of sweetness.  It took a few tentative bites before I really got into it.  At first, it was just too much.

The cake was not particularly interesting, molasses based I think.  The very, very center wasn’t covered in the sticky sauce, and it was kinda dry.  But the rest?  Absolutely soaked in sweet, sweet, sweet, sauce.  Thus, crazy moist.  Did I mention, sweet?  On top was also one single nut, I think a pecan, but it was gone before I knew it.

The base of the bowl was a pudding of cream, and, more sweet sauce.

I think I liked this in the end, but, it was about 100x sweeter than even I wanted.  I needed to alternate bites with the cheesecake.  It would have been glorious with some vanilla ice cream, and, if it was actually hot.

At this point, overindulgence + sugar coma + wine/cocktails coma set in.  I guess that meant it was time for bed?

[ Side note: I recently learned that the Sticky Toffee Pudding Company makes these puddings!  If that name looks familiar to you, it is because you can buy them in Whole Foods.  Which you should.  And serve them warm.  With ice cream.  You are welcome.  I've since had them *many* more times, and I adore them.  Reviews coming soon of course.  They also make a fabulous ginger version! ]

Breakfast

Breakfast Card.

Located inside our dinner menu was a breakfast card, to fill out in advance.  Options here were fairly extensive, starting with “Cereals/Fruit: A Good Start” with cereals (classic Kellogg’s, plus hot oatmeal, plus muesli), yogurt and fruit.  Next was the “Bakery” with croissants and hazelnut chocolate twists), and hot options of “The full works”, a full english breakfast, the “Smaller appetite? Why not try:”  bacon butty, or “Something lite”, aka, crepes.  You could pick and choose any individual components, which I thought was a nice touch.

Breakfast was delivered one by one, starting from the front of the cabin, as the crew worked to turn the beds back into seats.  They started about 2 hours out from London, which, given the short flight length, was a little sad.  Dinner finished 2 hours 45 minutes into the just over 9 hour flight, so, that left only 4 hours for sleep.  Oooh.  We were all done eating with more than an hour to go.

Breakfast: Muesli, Hazelnut Chocolate Twist Croissant, Peach Creepes, Coffee.

A little round doily was set on my tray first, and all my items arrived at once.  My order wasn’t quite accurate.  My crepes came with bacon on the side, which I didn’t order, and my coffee cake with milk, which I didn’t order.

Muesli

Muesli is something that I sometimes love.  This … I did not love.  It was regular cereal style muesli, not bircher.  On the plus side, it had a mix of all sorts of things, oats, rice puffs, a ton of different seeds, bits of nuts, dried apples, dried raisins. But, it was just a pile of mush.  I have no idea when the milk was added, but it was clearly in advance.  I did not like.

My companion opted for the porridge, which arrived well after his meal.  I didn’t get a photo, but took a bite.  It was actually pretty good, not standard oatmeal, short grains, nicely cooked, not too mushy, and with plenty of brown sugar mixed in.

Hazelnut chocolate twist croissant

My bakery item was served slightly warm, so it had that going for it.  But the pastry was not buttery, it was not flaky, and it was spongy and pretty gross.  You know me and baked goods, but still, this wasn't good.

The warm chocolate hazelnut filling however was tasty, and I extracted as much as I could.

Peach crepes

Interestingly, the crepes had a second option, “With streaky bacon”.  I thought it odd to have that explicit as a side, when you could opt for bacon or sausage from the English breakfast above.  Anyway.  I didn’t opt for the bacon, but I got it anyway.  It was almost crispy, but mostly just greasy.

The crepes were not very good.  Lukewarm.  The edges dried out and crispy.  I’m not sure who thinks crepes would be successful reheated on a plane?

The peaches were slightly spiced with cinnamon I think (and maybe nutmeg?)  I would have preferred without the spices, but, I imagine most folks would want this.  They were not fresh peaches, more like canned, but at least they weren’t in a sickly sweet compote.

On the plus side, there was a scoop of clotted cream not mentioned on the menu, and that was tasty.

So, overall, not so good.  I salvaged the peaches, cream, and chocolate hazelnut filling, and some nuts and pumpkin seeds from the muesli, but good thing it was 5am in my world and I wasn’t actually hungry.  

Coffee

My coffee was rather cold and light brown.  Hmm.  I ordered it black.  I inquired, “does this have milk in it?”  My FA said yes.  I asked for black.  He came back with a black coffee, this one piping hot, and much better.  Good coffee?  Nah.  But it was drinkable.

Later on I opted for a decaf, and it was clearly instant, but again, not bad.

I liked the large size mug.

Bacon Butty with Brown Sauce.

My companion went for the Bacon Butty.  He has had some great breakfast sandwiches on flights before, so I was eager to try it.  The roll was spongy and soggy and greasy, the bacon was flabby style, and I don’t like brown sauce.  Glad I didn’t get this, and, he was probably glad I didn’t want to steal it.

Read More...

Sushirrito

Another Update Review, July 2020

Another day, another takeout meal from Sushiritto, our quarantine regular haunt it seemed.  This time I visited with my partner, so we were able to split a sushi burrito AND get the amazing tempura.  I mostly just wanted tempura, so I had him pick the sushi burrito, which gave me a chance to try a new one.

"Teriyaki-Baked Salmon | Tempura Asparagus | Pickled Cucumbers | Green Leaf Lettuce | Pumpkin Seeds | Japanese 7-Spice."

This was my partner's order, but I still tried it.

I liked it far more than I expected, since, well, it is cooked salmon, not ever what I'd choose (I like salmon raw, or mid-rare, but rarely, rarely cooked).

I obviously didn't care for the pickled cucumbers, as I didn't like them before, and I think he had some avocado in there?  Is that the ginger guac?  Those I clearly would have left out, but, his order.

The lettuce sounded odd when I read it, but, it actually worked really well, adding some lightness and freshness, almost making it like a salmon burger/sando.  I liked that.

The same with the pumpkin seeds.  Sounded really odd, but, worked, adding some crunch.

Speaking of crunch, the tempura asparagus was great, super oily, but yay for crunch.

The salmon was actually shockingly good - really tasty teriyaki sauce, sweet, and accented the fish well.  And the fish was not fishy, was extremely moist, just, well, good.  Well, huh.  There was a decent portion, but, its not a particularly "salmon forward" item.

There definitely seemed to be a creamy component in here, and I know the menu doesn't list an aioli or anything, but there sure seemed to be some.

Overall, I was actually far more pleased with this than I expected.  It had the magic Sushiritto combo of great flavors and crunch, that they just nail.  I planned to take a bite and move on, but went back for a second, and a third, and then, even later, a 4th bite ...

And *then* I moved on to the tempura shrimp, always, just, well, the best.  I still like those best with wasabi mayo rather than the sriracha aioli they come with.

Update Review June 2020 Visit

Yup, more Sushiritto.  This is just a quick review, when my partner came home with extra Sushiritto since he ordered both a burrito AND shrimp tempura for himself, and wasn't sharing with anyone.  Unfortunately, he didn't pick a sushi burrito that I normally go for, and he *didn't* bring home any tempura (!), but of course I still tried it.

Half a Sushiritto.

As always, the sushi burrito came nicely wrapped up, add sliced in half.  Very easy to share, or save a half, as my partner did.

This came home with him.

Geisha's Kiss. $15.

"Yellowfin Tuna (raw) | Tamago | Piquillo Peppers | Taro Chips | Pickled Cucumbers | Green Leaf Lettuce | Sesame White Soya."


I would never order this, as 1) I don't care for raw tuna, 2) I don't care for piquillo peppers, and 3) um, just a light sauce? Where is the aioli?

Yeah, not my style at all, besides the chips, heh.  But still, I wanted to try it, so I sliced off a chunk.

It still had all the good elements of Sushiritto: crispy things! crunchy things! Balanced textures!  But yes, I wasn't into the piquillo peppers, although I know they were good quality ones, nice flavor to them.  And I wanted some aioli (which, uh, I added wasabi aioli to my bite, heh).  The tamago was pretty standard, and honestly I didn't think went great with the tuna, but, I do like tamago.  Tuna was ... yeah, it was fresh enough, nothing fishy, nothing strange, but, not my top choice of protein.

I did like the pickled cucumbers, chunks rather than slices, and definitely more fun (and more my style) than fresh cucumbers.  I really like pickles, dislike raw cucumbers.

This is usually made with lotus chips, but they are currently subbing with taro chips due to availability.  I of course loved those.

Overall, a balanced nicely designed product, just, not the one I'd ever order.  I was still glad to try!

Update Review March 2020 Visit

Week one of shelter in place in SF due to Covid-19.  Doing my part to support local establishments, and, of course, to feed myself delicious things.

First up on my list?  Sushiritto! While I do enjoy their sushi burritos, and I am eager to try the new bowls sometime, I had one thing on my mind: the tempura shrimp that we adored on our last visit.  Since I couldn't dine in, I got takeout, so it would be hot and fresh - delivery didn't seem like the best option for this one.

I placed my order via mobile (DoorDash, although they are on Caviar and Ritual as well, plus have their own online ordering), and it was ready as I arrived, piping hot.

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 ...

• 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 ]

The shrimp was even better than I remembered, and I can't wait to return.

Shrimp tempura / sriracha aioli. $8.

I'll cut right to the chase.  This was fantastic.  I can safely say it is my favorite tempura in the city. Yup, from the sushi burrito place.

It was piping hot, freshly fried to order.  It wasn't greasy nor oily, didn't leave an oil slick behind, and didn't taste of oil.  The shrimp were extremely well coated in flavorful batter, crispy beyond belief.  And inside?  Juicy succulent shrimp.  I loved them so much I even ate the entire crispy fried tails.

So.  good.  

On the side was sriracha aioli, which took me a bit by surprise, as last time it came with gochujang agave sauce, which I liked, but not with these shrimp.  I came prepared this time with my own dipping sauce, intending to save the one that came with it and use it later, but that didn't turn out to be necessary.  The sriracha aioli was good, creamy, spicy mayo.  I think actually I'd like a lighter tempura sauce with these more, unless I was serving them on top of a real salad (like in the sumo crunch bowl), as just dunking large fried shrimp into mayo feels a bit, uh, heavy after a few.

As before, it came served over a tiny portion of cabbage and yellow/red bell peppers.  I loved the cabbage for a bit of crunch, and actually would love more, but pushed aside the peppers, just not my thing, although they added a nice pop of color.

The order now comes with 6 shrimp (it was only 4 before), which definitely makes it far too substantial to add on to a sushi burrito order as a "side", but it also makes for a perfect item to share alongside a burrito that you split.  Or to pair with lava nachos as a meal?

Update Review July 2019

As you know from my previous reviews, I like Sushiritto, home of the original (at least the in Bay Area) sushi burrito fad.  However, I've been stuck in a serious rut when I go to Sushiritto, as I love one of their creations so much (the Sumo Crunch), and I've just found it impossible to consider ordering anything else.

So I was thrilled on my recent trip when I went with a group of 3, and they agreed to share things, which doesn't normally make sense with a burrito, but, we (er, I), also really wanted to try some newer items on the Sushiritto menu that were more shareable.

Our visit was on a Saturday afternoon, around noon, to the Kearny Street location.  Ordering was quick and easy, and we were able to get one of the few seats inside.

Feast for 3.

We opted to split just one sushi burrito (regular size, although I considered ordering 2 minis, another newer item on the Sushiritto menu), plus two other dishes, from the "Side Kicks" menu, although, it is a bit hard to consider these as sides, I can't imagine ordering one alongside a full size sushi burrito.

We enjoyed trying new items, and, I do have a new, or maybe additional, favorite item.

Side Kicks

The "Side Kicks" menu at Sushiritto is a bit funny.  It contains 2 sauces (not really sides ...), simple edamame, a fusion nacho dish that is as big as an entree, and, the new shrimp tempura standalone side.  The later two are what grabbed our attention.

Crispy Shrimp Tempura / Gochujang agave sauce. $5.97.

Sushiritto has long had shrimp tempura ... but only as a component in the Sumo Crunch, not as something you could order separately.  But if you recall my reviews of the Sumo Crunch, I always *adored* the shrimp tempura, so I was thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to see these now as an option I could order separately.

The shrimp tempura were the first item ready, and we dug in immediately.  They were hot and fresh, clearly made to order.

The shrimp tempura were fabulous.  Super crispy, flavorful batter, well coated, not too greasy.  Everyone really enjoyed these, and all wanted the extra one (as we had 3 people, and 4 tempura).  I claimed it, but the others, after finishing everything else, declared the shrimp tempura so good that they decided we needed another batch, and ordered more.

The dipping sauce was gochujang agave sauce, which I found interesting, as I expected they'd re-use a sauce from one of the burritos, but this is offered just with the tempura.  It was slightly sweet and slightly spicy, kinda fascinating.  I liked it, although I’m usually more into aioli or creamy sauces, but this was good, more like a more complex, interesting sweet chili sauce.  I gladly saved the extra.

I also ordered a side of the wasabi mayo, to have a creamy option too.  It had decent kick, but didn’t work as well for dipping tempura because of the wasabi flavor for some reason.  It was good, but, I used it later on other things, but I wouldn't recommend for the tempura.

This was a major hit, and I'd gladly get it again, although clearly one you need to consume immediately, not really as good for delivery.

Lava Nachos. $8.68.

"Tuna picante, brown rice chips, melted pepper jack cheese, ginger guac, green onions, nori strips, and sriracha aioli. Contains raw fish. Nut-free."

The lava nachos have been on the menu for a while, I was pretty skeptical of them, but they get such great reviews that I wanted to try.  I still didn't really expect I'd like them, as I am not really into raw tuna, I don't like jack cheese, and brown rice chips sounded boring.  Plus, I'm allergic to avocado, but I knew the ginger guac would be on the side.

The nachos took longer than our other food, but when they arrived, they didn't seem as fresh, which was confusing.

The nachos are an interesting concept, but cheese was rather congealed (and we ate it right away, it came this way), I wasn’t into the brown rice chips as expected, the spicy tuna was just mush, and the aioli was kinda lost amongst everything else.

Basically ... just not my thing.  The others said it was interesting to try, but wouldn’t get again either.

“We don’t have to finish it, and can just get more tempura instead” was uttered, and, the plan that we executed on.  I would not get this again, but I'd love to see an option with taro chips as the base, and option to turn any burrito filling into the toppings instead ... e.g. taro chip base with the Sumo Crunch crab, aioli, cucumbers, crunchies, etc instead?  That sounds fabulous!

Sushi Burritos

For our burrito, we were determined to branch out.  I *always* get the crab and shrimp tempura based Sumo Crunch.  The other local had tried, and enjoyed, all the raw fish options (Geisha's Kiss, Satori, and Latin Ninja), and would gladly get any of those again.  The other guest, who was visiting from out of town, had the cooked beef Cowboy last time we took him to Sushiritto.  If we wanted something new for all of us, that gave us only two options: the Fiery Chicken, or, the vegetarian Buddah Belly.   Given my loathing of chicken, that meant ... vegetarian?  An odd decision, but, we had a friend who got it once before and raved, so, we went for it.

Buddah Belly. $11.

"Japanese eggplant, mochiko mushrooms, julienne carrots, shaved cabbage, kale, ginger guac, and roasted garlic tofu sauce. Dairy-free and nut-free."

To be fair, this isn't a boring vegetarian option.  It includes crispy battered and fried mushrooms (which was a big draw for me), an interesting sounding sauce (roasted garlic tofu?), and other veggies.

I ... really didn't like it.  I had a bite, and didn't want another.  I took another, just for research purposes.  But I really didn't care for it.

No flavors popped, the crispy looking elements weren't crunchy, it was just .... eh.  We all agreed it was boring, not as flavorful as any other Sushiritto burritos, and somehow just quite uninteresting.  We wouldn't get again.

Now I know: stick with my Sumo Crunch!

Update Review, Kearny Street Location, Delivery 2018

I've long liked Sushiritto, and have reviewed it several times before.  But I've always visited in person.

This time, I ordered online, via Caviar, for delivery.  Everything about the experience was, well, flawless.

(L-R, Clockwise): Caballero / Satori / Sumo Crunch. $14.65 / $16.50 / $11.94.

My group of three ordered in advance earlier in the day online on Caviar, with a set delivery time between 5-5:30pm, earlier than we actually wanted to eat, but, we assumed if we set it early, it would have more of a chance of actually reaching us when we wanted it.  We didn't set it too early though, because we didn't want it made hours and hours in advance, and thus soggy.

Caviar does a wonderful job of keeping you informed throughout the process, if you wish.  You can opt in to notifications of when the restaurant receives the order, when the courier arrives to pick it up, and when they are on their way.  You can track the delivery in real-ish time.

We were a few blocks away when I got the message that our courier was on the way.  He pulled up literally as we were walking in, and we were able to just get the food from him before he even got off his bike.  Perfect timing.  And, at 5:09pm, right in our delivery window.  Excellent.

I also made modifications, via special notes in Caviar, asking for a few things, even though it pretty clearly said "no modifications", and, they were accommodated.  Yes!

My companions ordered and split the Caballero (beef) and Satori (yellowtail), but since they had guacamole (like all Sushiritto creations), I didn't try them, as I'm allergic.  They enjoyed them, but the diner who has experienced Sushiritto many times before said he liked them less than his standbys, the tuna based Geisha's Kiss or crab Sumo Crunch.

Sumo Crunch. $11.94.

"Shrimp Tempura, Surimi Crab, Cucumber, Ginger Guac, Red Tempura Flakes, Sriracha Aioli."

I went for the one I always do, the "Sumo Crunch".  There are a few others I want to try (salmon belly!), and I tried to get someone else to split with me (sans guac), but, they preferred to split with each other so they could have the creations unmodified (literally every one comes with it normally).

This one is supposed to have shrimp tempura and surimi crab, which I kept as fillings, but also cucumber and the signature ginger guac.

Sushiritto is pretty clear that they don't do modifications, besides no guac (thank goodness) and "light sauce", but I also tried to have some other changes.  And, they did them!   I was able to eliminate the cucumber (just because I don't really like it), and add additional crunch.

I wanted even more crunch, as it is the "Sumo Crunch" after all, so I asked for lotus chips or Okinawan chips or plantain chips inside, knowing they had these for use in other creations.  I had no idea if they would do this or not, since we ordered online, and I was thrilled that mine showed up with both lotus chips and Okinawan chips inside.  Thank you!

Unlike the ones the others had with the traditional seaweed wrapper on the outside, then rice, and then fillings, mine had the seaweed wrapper on the inside adjacent to the fillings, then rice, and then it was rolled in red tempura flakes for extra crunch and flavor.   Very unique, and it looks a bit like a roll that is coated in roe, except, with tempura bits, which I'm sure is no accident.  The roll was well assembled, didn't fall apart, well cooked sushi rice.

So, my creation was filled with TONS of crab meat, big huge tempura prawns, and fried chips, plus very flavorful spicy sriracha aioli for extra creaminess.

The tempura coating on the prawns was a bit soggy, but I liked the extra crunch from all my extra crispies.  The Okinawan chips were a big oily though, I't stick with just lotus next time.  The sriracha aioli was tasty and flavorful, but there wasn't enough for my tastes.  This was not a problem though, as I ordered more sauces.

I liked this, but I didn't love it nearly as much as past visits.

Diablo Sauce / Teri-Mayonesa / Wasabi Mayo. $1.00 / $0.50. / $0.50.

Sushiritto has two sauces available as sides: Diablo Sauce and the Sriracha Aioli.  I don't know why they don't offer the other sauces as sides, as they clearly have them.  And I wanted to try more sauces!

So, again, not knowing if they would honor it, I put in a request to get two other sauces instead of sriracha aioli, since I already had that in my sushiritto: teri-mayonesa and wasabi mayo.

The top one is "Diablo Sauce", "Sushirrito’s Secret Hot Salsa".  This sauce actually isn't used in any of their creations, but I wanted to try it.   It didn't go with mine, but one diner used it with the beef one.  Very spicy, beware!

On the right is "Teri-Mayonesa", e.g. teriyaki mayonaise.  I loved this one, flavorful and creamy.  I extracted my tempura prawns and dunked them in it for even more mayo goodness.  I'd certainly get a side of this again.

The wasabi mayo was basically what it sounded like.  Fine but very wasabi flavored, which didn't quite go with my ingredients as well.

Update Review, Kearny Street Location, August 2017

It has been years since I last visited Sushirito.  The concept, as a refresher, is simple: sushi, in burrito form.  Perfectly trendy:

"We infuse multi-cultural flavors into every sushi burrito. By blending the premium flavors and healthiness of sushi with the form factor and convenience of burritos, we serve fresh, convenient, large, hand-held sushi burritos."

Since then, Sushirito has flourished.  They have 4 locations in San Francisco now, plus down in Palo Alto and San Jose, but have also recently expanded to New York.  The San Francisco locations are still primarily mid-week lunch places, and the lunchtime lines are still crazy long.

Our visit this time was to the newer (but still several years old) location on Kearny St near Union Square, the only location open on Saturdays, and, at dinner.  We arrived at 6:30pm on a Saturday.  There were only a few other customers dining, and a few who came while we were there, but otherwise it was fairly quiet.

No issues with ordering, staff were pleasant enough, and our sushiritos were quickly assembled to order.

And they were excellent.  Better than I remembered.  I'll gladly return, hopefully, without waiting several years ago next time.

Limited Seating.

There is very little seating at the Kearny Location.  4 small tables with high seating are pushed together (seating for 8 total, we broke them apart into two tables for 4), and a couple small low tables around the perimeter of the room.  Most people get their food to go.

The rolls all come boxed to go, even if you are dining in.  There is no option for a plate.  The boxes do unfold into kinda cool "plates" though, but I failed to get a photo.

Cold Fillings: Veggies, Tamago, Raw Seafood, Herbs, Sauces.

Sushiritos are made to order, Subway/Chipotle style, with a cold well set up with all the pre-cut veggies, raw fish, herbs, dry crunchy ingredients, and sauces.

Hot Fillings: Crispy Chicken Katsu| Oven-baked agave-soy salmon (covered) | Tempura Asparagus | Shrimp Tempura.

Hot items come from a steam tray, which somehow manages to keep the tempura items and fried items crispy.

Sumo Crunch (no guac). $11.

"Shrimp tempura, surimi crab, shaved cabbage, cucumber, ginger guac, red tempura flakes, and sriracha aioli."

I have a confession.  I haven't really been into sushi lately.  Raw fish just hasn't done it for me, for years now.  I wish it did.  I really wish it did.  And I don't understand why I stopped liking sushi.  But, sometime in the past few years, I stopped liking sushi.  So, all the raw seafood rolls featuring yellowtail, tuna, or salmon belly, just weren't appealing.  I also quickly ruled out the beef and crispy chicken katsu options.  Which left me with 4 options, all radically different: Salmon Samba (with oven-baked soy glazed salmon and tempura asparagus), Porkivore (pork belly and chicharrons!), Buddha Belly (vegetarian, with eggplant and mushroom fries), and the Sumo Crunch (tempura shrimp and crab).  I opted for the later, a play on a California roll.

Like all rolls, it was served wrapped in paper, sliced in half.  This form factor, as silly as it sounds, really is remarkably easy to eat.  Like a burrito.  Like a sandwich.  It makes sense, really.

The rolls are also huge.  I guess, like a San Francisco burrito in that way.  And not because they load them up with tons of rice.  Because they are stuffed full of quality ingredients.

Most (maybe all other?) sushirito rolls come with the seaweed on the outside, rice inside, but this one is inside out, with rice on the outside, seaweed under that.  It was coated in red tempura flakes, which I loved.  They were crispy, salty, and looked like roe at first, until I realized what they were.  They made the roll a bit more fun, and I appreciated the crunch.

The insides were even better.  The roll was absolutely stuffed with shredded "crab" (yes, it was surimi).  Soooo much "crab".  It was not seasoned itself, but when combined with the sriracha aioli it was very satisfying, although of course I would prefer real crab.  I did wish my roll had more aioli though, I wanted a bit more creamy goodness.

The tempura shrimp was even better.  The batter was very flavorful, it wasn't oily, the shrimp well coated, and it was somehow still crisp.  Remarkable, really.  Each roll had 3 large tempura shrimp in it, an incredibly generous portion.  I also liked the shrimp with the aioli, again, wishing there was a bit more aioli.  I loved the crunchy texture from the tempura shell, and the chew from the shrimp, they added to the satisfaction of eating the roll.

The cabbage provided a bit of freshness, and, like everything else, went great with the aioli, basically forming slaw.  If Sushirito wanted to carry side dishes, I think a slaw like this would be fantastic.

The only thing I didn't like in my roll was the slices of cucumber.  They were fine, thin slices, but, I don't really care for cucumber.

I had to leave the guacamole out, because I'm allergic to avocado.  Perhaps it would have added the additional creaminess, such that more aioli isn't normally needed?  Luckily for me, this is one of their very few allowed changes.  The menu is very clear: "No substitutions, additions, or modifications other than the listed options allowed."  They mean it.  I couldn't have the guac on the side to give to someone else.  I couldn't add anything in its place.  You certainly couldn't try to make up a roll mixing items from other rolls.  I know they have good reason for this, but, some flexibility would be nice.

Overall, this was wonderful.  The crab, tempura shrimp, cabbage, and aioli combined together beautifully.  The roll was full of textures and flavors.  It was extremely satisfying to eat.  As another dinner put it, "That was just a really complete package".  I agree.

The $11 price was also extremely reasonable for such a large roll (we actually split one, and were both satisfied), even if it has crab stick rather than real crab.

Original Review, March 2013

I have a list of places that I want to check out for lunch, but they are only open M-F, and only during lunch time, so they I rarely get the chance to go, as I'm a spoiled employee who gets served delicious meals at work, and it is hard to justify the time and cost of leaving the office.  However, today there were a bunch of extra people in the office, making for long lines in the cafe, so we decided to venture away and (gasp!) pay for lunch.

We went to Sushirrito, a place that I've had on my radar for quite a while.  Described as the lovechild of sushi and a burrito.  So perfectly San Franciscan!  This sounds gimmicky, for sure, but reviews were decent, and the website claimed they used quality ingredients.  So, we decided to take our chances.

We rounded the corner and immediately saw the line, even though we tried to go slightly off peak, at 1pm.  Uh-oh.  The line was sizable.  And really slow.  It gave us plenty of time to consider our options: two rolls with raw fish (hiramasa or yellowfin tuna), one with cooked salmon, one with cooked crab, or the more ridiculous ones with pork and bacon, chicken kastsu, or soy puffs.  All of the rolls also contained rice, assorted veggies, and fun things like fried cream cheese, lotus chips, or tempura veggies.  And they all had crazy custom sauces, usually creamy.  Wrapped in rice and nori, rolled up like a burrito, and served sliced in half. These things were massive.  They looked like burritos for sure, but, with sushi ingredients.  Exactly as promised.

A lot of Yelpers complained about the prices, $8.50 - 11.50.  I guess compared to a burrito this is pricey, but I thought the price was completely justified.  The rolls, as I mentioned, were huge, and had substantial amounts of fish in them.  If you were to just extract the raw fish, you'd easily have a $10 sashimi platter, so I really don't understand the price complaints.  It isn't a burrito folks, it is sushi!

The rolls were made to order, sorta Subway style, with the workers going assembly line style, starting with one person who prepared the outer nori wrapper and rice, the next who added the protein layer, the next who added the veggies, then next wrapped and sliced, and then finally the cashier rang you up.  Very efficient, with the bottleneck definitely being the cashier.  The ingredients were being sliced up in back and very quickly replenished, so even though the fish and veggies were not sliced immediately to order, they really hadn't been sitting long at all.

Overall, it beat expectations.  It was by no means fantastic sushi.  And it probably wasn't worth the 30 minute wait.  But, the fish was certainly reasonable quality and the flavor combinations were pretty interesting.  And, more amazingly, the concept did work.  While I appreciate the simplicity of sashimi or nigiri, and really enjoy tasting raw, unmodified fish in those forms, I also do love sushi rolls.  I like a simple salmon and scallion roll, but I also love a spicy tuna with mango slices covered in macadamia nuts roll.  These aren't the same thing, and they serve totally different purposes, and this falls into the same category.  If you want to really taste the fish, and you want super high quality fish, this isn't it.  But if you want something fun, portable, easy to eat, and pretty tasty, this isn't a bad choice!

The biggest thing I missed out on from traditional sushi was the soy and wasabi.  There were many flavors built into the rolls given their plethora of ingredients, and particularly with the sauces, but I did want some soy sauce and wasabi to add on.  They also suffered from the same issues that all but the very best burritos have: distribution of ingredients.  Anyone who eats with me regularly knows how obsessed I am with "the perfect bite".  I love nothing more than finding that bite that contains all the right ingredients, in the right balance, to just achieve perfection.  And with most food, you can make these perfect bites.  But burritos/sandwiches/etc are special, and you have to just consume things as presented, which, if the maker is rushed/doesn't care, leads to inconsistent bites.  And these definitely had that issue.

Anyway, I'd go back regularly if it were closer, open better hours, and didn't have such long lines.  But for now, I'll be putting it back on the list, to try again some other day, but I'm not in any rush to do so.

Geisha’s Kiss: Yellowfin Tuna (Hand-Caught), Tamago, Piquillo Peppers, Yuzu Tobiko, Lotus Chips, Cucumber, Avocado, Green Onions, Sesame Seeds, White Soya Sauce.  $10.50.

There was a very generous amount of tuna in the roll.  I was somewhat shocked at how much there was, particularly given all the Yelp complaints on pricing.  And it was all pretty decent.  No strange textures, no stringy fatty bits, just decent cuts of decent fish.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The rice was pretty standard sushi rice, nothing notable, and the nori was crispy and slightly salty.  I absolutely loved the crunch from the lotus chips, but I felt that there weren't enough in the roll.  In the future, I'd ask for more!  The avocado and the sauce added a delightful creaminess and richness.  Sadly, there was barely any tamago, which was a big part of why I chose the roll, as I love tamago (although, I'm not quite sure how good that would have been with the tuna anyway).  The bits that were there were tiny little chunks.  Again, I'd ask for more in the future.  I know, I'm crazy, wanting more of the cheap ingredients and less of the tuna :)  There was also barely any of the other ingredients, which was dissapointing, since I was looking forward to a spicy kick from the piquillo peppers.  It was really quite fun to eat, certainly the easiest sushi I've ever had!

I also had a bite of "The Yakuza": Hiramasa Sashimi (Australian White Fish), Spicy Jicama, Cucumber, Lola Rosa Lettuce, Red Tobiko, Avocado, Green Onions, with Citrus Mojo sauce.  I thought it was a lot better.  The fish wasn't as flavorful as it was just a simple white fish rather than a more intense tuna, but the rest of the flavors, and particularly the sauce, were much more pronounced.  And it tasted a lot fresher and lighter due to the higher percentage of refreshing veggies, like the lettuce, cucumber, and jicama.  I loved the kick from the spicy jicama!

Read More...