RXBAR

Update Review, 2020 Tastings

Oh, RXBAR.  So nearly very tasty.  I've now tried much better flavors since my original review, but the texture of the bars just doesn't do it for me.

But ... I have now discovered their nut butter, RX Butter, and that ... that is magic.

Bars

"RXBARs are protein bars made with a few simple ingredients that are perfect for breakfast on the go, as protein-packed snack bars, or as a pre/post-workout fuel."

Mixed Berry.

"Mixed Berry combines the juicy taste of cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. This bar's rich flavor mix bursts through with every bite."

Is this what I crave?  No way.  Was it a strange texture?  Absolutely.  But did it almost taste good?  Yes.

The berry flavor was very pronounced, a mix of cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries.  The berry flavor was not overshadowed by the dates or cashews, and I really liked the big chunks of almonds inside for crunch.

Much better than expected, and a nice play on "pb&j" in a way. **+.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.

"This one is so good. Peanut Butter Chocolate mixes the irresistibly creamy taste of peanut butter with the decadent taste of 100% chocolate. Two great flavors come together to make something even better."

I was really excited to discover this one.  I adore chocolate and peanut butter, and have most certainly been known to include a peanut butter cup in my breakfast lineup (you know, for the "protein" in the peanut butter ...).  Add in *actual* protein from the egg whites (12 grams in the bar!), and then I could legit feel good about this.

Like the others, the texture and look were not appealing, shiny, strangely chewy and dense.  But, it was almost awesome.

Inside were pockets of creamy peanut butter (along with some chunks of peanuts).  The little pockets of peanut butter were glorious!  The chocolate flavor wasn't the strongest, but it was present, and most welcome.

So what was wrong?  For me ... the dates.  I can look past the texture, and I really did like the other flavors, but I truly dislike dates, and it was just too date forward (they *are* the first ingredient after all).

So close to being great, but alas, not.  ***.

Maple Sea Salt.

"We don't make waffles, but if we did they'd taste like this. Our Maple Sea Salt protein bars are made with a touch of maple water and a few other simple ingredients - egg whites for protein, dates to bind and nuts for texture. All topped with a sprinkle of crunchy sea salt, it's the gold bar standard. Literally."

The most notable thing about this one was the aroma!  It was amazing.  I opened up the package and ... "mmm, maple!" is all I could think.  The maple was just amazing to smell.

But of course, it looked like all RXBARS ... a big solid shiny strange mass.  And it ate like all others too.  The texture was kinda mushy, chewy, and not really pleasant.  The flavor did have a beautiful maple flavor, and it actually tasted like maple walnut to me, but it is is made with pecans and cashews (and of course the date and egg white standard base, and maple and sea salt).

I again *wanted* to like the product, I could almost get past the date flavor, but the texture ... just not for me.  I can imagine chopping it up and integrating it into an ice cream sundae, perhaps with some roasted bananas and a drizzle of maple syrup ...

***.

RX Butter

"RX Nut Butter is a high-quality, protein-packed spread made from real ingredients like egg whites, dates and nuts that provides valuable nutrition and comes in a variety of great tasting flavors."

RX has expanded beyond bars, and they now make ... nut butters.  Nut butters that of course have some goodies added, to amp up the protein (e.g. the same egg whites, dates, and of course, "no b.s." as their bars).

The nut butters are available in both almond and peanut versions, in a bunch of varieties: honey cinnamon, vanilla, maple, chocolate ...

I didn't quite expect to like these, but I'm so glad I was given a sample to try at a fitness event.  I loved it, and now want to try the whole product line.

Individual Packet (Opened).

"You can buy almond butter or peanut butter in both single serve packs and full-sized jars. It’s the squeezable, spreadable snack that tastes good and is good for you."

Nut butters come packaged as individual grab-n-go packets, or jars.  I had just an individual portion, in a packet, easy to knead and uh, devour right from the package (honestly, it was so good you could just squeeze it direct to mouth!)

Honey Cinnamon Peanut Butter.

"It's sweet like cinnamon, smooth like honey, and as addicting as your favorite spread. If not more. By adding egg whites for protein we made your go-to protein-filled snack better. And portable. Keep out of reach of bears and hungry friends."

Seriously.  This stuff.  I took a tiny squeeze right from the pack and never looked back.  I see why they say to keep it out of reach of friends - I was *not* sharing this!

Yes, it is great direct package to mouth.  No shame.  I eventually got civil and pulled out a knife, and did spread it on something, but ... not until another bite went straight into my mouth on the knife.  

So what is in it?  Yup, peanuts, of course, and honey and cinnamon, but also the egg whites (which I didn't taste, nor notice any strange effect from) and dates (which again, usually I'd taste and not care for, but, I didn't taste them at all, it just had a nice sweetness), and sea salt (yes!).  The single serve is 32g, about 2 tablespoons, and has 180 calories, including 9 grams of protein and 3 grams sugar, compared to regular plain peanut butter that would have slighty less protein, and slightly more calories.

It is seriously good peanut butter.  Think creamy, rich, peanut forward peanut butter, with a hint of extra sweetness, almost like made from honey roasted peanuts, and a tiny tiny touch of cinnamon on the finish.  A slightly crispy texture which I liked, but mostly a smoother style (I *do* prefer chunky nut butters).  It would be great on toast, I'm sure.  It was *insane* on top of a white chocolate pretzel (white chocolate and peanut butter is such a favorite combo for me, inspired by the White Chocolate Wonderful flavor made by Peanut Butter & Co, which cemented this as an epic combo for me).

****.

Original Review, June 2017

"Whole Food Protein Bars with Real Ingredients."

Yup, another day, another type of snack bar to review.  RXBAR is a line of high protein bars made with real ingredients, gluten-free, soy free, yadda, yadda, yadda.  I often roll my eyes at these sorts of things, but these truly are made with real ingredients, or, as they say, "like eating 3 egg whites, 2 dates, and 6 almonds. With no B.S."

RXBAR currently comes in 8 varieties, all with egg whites, different nuts, and dates as the base.  The flavors sound pretty good, like peanut butter, coconut chocolate, maple sea salt, mint chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, and more.

Coffee Chocolate.

"Our Coffee Chocolate protein bar brings two favorites together in one delicious bar. Four core whole food ingredients, infused with 100% real chocolate and the perfect balance of coffee make this bar an instant favorite of both coffee and chocolate lovers. With no added sweeteners and only a hint of caffeine (5mg.), this is your anytime, chocolate and coffee break."

I tried the (now discontinued) coffee chocolate flavor.

The ingredients in this bar really are real ingredients, as promised: egg whites, almonds, and cashews for protein, dates for sweetener, cacao and coffee for the flavor, and a hint of salt.  That is it.  No random protein isolates, no scary ingredients.

But, as you can imagine, what do you get when you combine just those things?  Yup, you get a very strange texture and flavor, like the original Clif bars (or, at least how I remember them).  Dense, gummy, just ... odd.

There was a bit of crunch from bits of nuts, and some decent flavor from the coffee and chocolate, but, yeah, this was not for me.

On the plus side, it did have 12 grams of protein with no crazy ingredients, and was a decent 210 calories, but I didn't want another.

**.

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Villa Dolce Gelato & Sorbet

Ice Cream.  Gelato.  Froyo.  Some of my favorite things.  I have *some* form of frozen dairy delight 99.99% of the days of my life.  No I'm not exaggerating.  Sometimes it is just the pairing with my fruit crisp, cobbler, pie, or crumble ... and other times, it is the feature.  Let's just say, I have eaten a lot of brands.

Villa Dolce is not one that you can generally pick up in stores, primarily a wholesale distributor, which is how I discovered them, working with my catering team to order 5L pans.  Gotta always have it in stock ...

"Villa Dolce is proud to be an Italian family owned company that produces artisan gelato and sorbetto for clients across the country."

They make Italian style products, both gelato and sorbet.  Established in the LA area in 2001 by some brothers from Italy who wanted to bring their favorite thing to the US, they established their base making gelato for hotels and restaurants.  They make a decent variety of flavors, mostly large form factor, along with a few grab-n-go sizes.

I've tried several.  All are "fine", good enough, although obviously not fresh gelato, and gelato ... well, it needs to be gelato.  And sorbet?  Never my thing.  That said, it is decent quality.  And nice to have on hand for "emergencies".

Gelato

"Villa Dolce Gelato is described as “heaven on earth” – true perfection in a cup or cone. Villa Dolce Gelato brings the delicious flavors of Italian Gelato to the U.S. offering elegant and sophisticated flavors which are 100% handcrafted with 100% natural ingredients. At Villa Dolce, we only use Fresh Fruit – never syrups, artificial flavorings, or fruit preserves. Our authentic Italian recipes feature Pure Cane Sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, and Fresh Pasteurized Cream free of growth hormones. "

Villa Dolce makes about 25-30 flavors, including some that sound fairly amazing (bourbon vanilla apple crisp, cookie butter, and swoon, ube!), but we had mostly basics.

Argentine Sea Salt Caramel.

"Buttery, sweet caramel gelato made with imported Argentine Dulce de Leche becomes even more irresistible with an infusion of French sea salt and chocolate dipped salted caramel truffles. A perfectly balanced sweet and savory delight!"

This was ok gelato.  The base product was smooth, creamy, clearly a decent quality product.

That said, I didn't taste much salt (ok, I didn't taste any), and the caramel flavor was very light.  Strong preference to Three Twins Sea Salted Caramel flavor (review soon!)

Roasted Banana Dulce De Leche.

"Bananas roasted in brandy and brown sugar are combined with delectable swirls of Argentine Dulce to create this richly complex dessert."

Great texture. Creamy.  Loved the dulce de leche swirl.

But.  Banana is soooo not my flavor of choice.  For anything, really.

Pure Sicilian Pistachio.

"The taste of Italian tradition! The secret to this Villa Dolce signature is our proprietary blend of 100% pure pistachio butter imported from Italy.  An extraordinary flavor inspired by the tradition and romance of gelato crafting."

This was a decent gelato.

Smooth, creamy.  I prefer pistachio gelato with chunks of pistachio inside, and more intense flavor, but, overall this was good, and did have a unique taste.

Caribbean Coconut.

"A tropical treat featuring sweet, fresh coconut shavings blended with creamy Madagascar vanilla."

The coconut too was decent gelato.  I'm a broken record, I know.

Creamy, great coconut flavor, a bit of texture from coconut.  I found it a bit too sweet, but overall still quite good.

Piemonte Hazelnut Chocolate Crunch.

"Our artisan blend of Belgian chocolate and Piemonte hazelnut gelato is enhanced by a delicious infusion of crunchy Valrhona Caramelia pearls and a chocolate hazelnut ribbon. This delicate balance of bold flavors creates a seductive Italian treat."

Well, this was better than "decent".  It was good.  Very good.

And I say this as one who isn't normally all that excited about everyone's favorite Nutella.

The gelato base was smooth and creamy, with a mild milk chocolate flavor, that had a backdrop of hazelnut to it.  The real reason this was great though was that, in addition to the chocolate drizzle you see on top, there were ribbons of chocolate throughout.  It was fabulous.  The little chocolate hazelnut crispy pearls on top sealed the deal.

Definitely the best Vila Dolce flavor I have tried.

Sorbetto

"For those that avoid milk or want a similar indulgence in a lower calorie format, Villa Dolce makes Sorbetto crafted from fresh fruit juice and pulp and made primarily with water, so it’s non-dairy and fat-free. Villa Dolce Sorbetto is tangy and refreshing and the fruit flavors burst in your mouth. With each taste, you can shut your eyes and just savor the intense flavors and aromas of the ripest mango, strawberry, lemon, raspberry, or passion fruit. "

Villa Dolce makes about 8 sorbettos, for those who want a lighter, more refreshing option.  Which, uh, is never me?  I have still tried a few.

Rosanna Raspberry.

"Hand picked ripe raspberries mixed with sweet cane sugar create an intense flavor that is pleasantly tart and sweet."

This was fruity sorbet.  I guess all berry sorbet is, but, well, it was very, uh, fruit forward?

Very sweet.  Very fruity, with visible raspberry seeds, and lots of raspberry goo (as if the sorbet had somewhat defrosted and refrozen, which, is entirely possible of course).  Icy in the way that sorbet is.

Pretty standard sorbet to me, no better nor worse than others, and just not my thing.

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Alfonso Mango

"Harvested in the remote Ratnagiri district on the west coast of India, Alphonso is considered the best mango in the world because of its superb flavor and smooth texture. Like biting into a ripe mango, this exotic flavor is sublimely rich and silky."

The mango was a bit better.  Less intense sweetness, I think because mango is just less sweet than raspberry.

But still, just simple fruit sorbet, not something I ever gravitate towards.

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Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant

“Vegetarian meets Chinese cuisine”. 

This is the premise of Enjoy Vegetarian Restaurant, an entirely vegetarian restaurant with two locations in San Francisco (Chinatown, Sunset).  It is family owned and operated, and has won a number of awards in the vegetarian and vegan dining realm.

"From our menu, you will see dish names like Mongolian Beef, Kung Pao Chicken, Eggplant & Sea Bass. However, they are all made with soy products. We use the substitutions of soy products, yam and mushroom in many of our dishes. We also have a lot of dishes made with natural soy protein. We do our handmade Bean Curd Rolls, Soy Bean Sheet, Wheat Gluten, Golden Knoll and many more"

I remember visiting once or twice many, many years ago, with vegetarian friends, but don't remember much about it.  But I recently rediscovered it, during COVID-19 days, and the desire to get flavorful takeout, something different, and, well, living with a newfound vegan.  I'll admit that Chinese cuisine is never the top of my list, and I'm certainly not vegetarian (or vegan).

Lunch!

My first encounter however was quite positive.  The food was above average, hot and fresh, and my fellow dinner loved it too.  We quickly planned to order again.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout 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 quite smooth - my order was ready right after I arrived, no issues acknowledging the order quickly, everything was nicely packaged, etc.  Enjoy Vegetarian is listed on (quite literally) every delivery service.

Setting

I visited the location closest to me, but they have a location in the Sunset as well.

Curb Appeal?

I visited the Kearny Street location, right on the edge of Chinatown, a block off Columbus.  Very easy to find, with a bright green sign.

The "Dining" Experience.

As my visit was during COVID-19, the restaurant was closed for dine-in, and operating as takeout only.

They had the most impressive setup of anywhere I visited during this time, with separate, clearly labelled, tables for each delivery service.  Entirely contactless.

It was amusing to see so many delivery services, they clearly are listed on ... all of them.

I intentionally arrived a bit early, to ensure hot fresh food, and, as I expected, it was literally just being finished off as I entered, the rice scooped into my container, condiments added, etc.  Quick and easy.

Bag of goodies.

They also scored points with me for the bag of goodies included, which they had pre-bagged, and threw in to every order: a fork (no spoon, no knife), chopsticks, napkins (2! thank you!), soy sauce, and hot sauce.  I didn't need to ask for these things, and, I would have.

Food

"With over 125 dishes to choose from, each visit to our Chinese restaurant can be a new experience!"

Yeah, they aren't messing around.  The menu is *extremely* expansive, with 15 appetizers, 8 soups, 7 "Chef's Special", 19 "House Special", 10 Tofu and Bean Curd based dishes, 10 "Spicy", 7 Chow Mein, 5 Noodle Soup, 7 Rice ... and an additional 46 item menu for lunch.  Seriously.

And yes, everything is vegetarian.  Almost all is vegan (it is noted when not, e.g. dishes like Walnut Prawns w/ Mayonnaise Sauce), and anything gluten-free (or gluten-free option) is designated with ***s.

Lunch Specials 特價精選 

My visit was for lunch, to try a special, served Monday – Friday 11am – 2:00pm (except holidays).  Lunch specials are served with Spring Roll & Steamed Rice or Brown Rice, unlike the main menu (also available at lunch) that is a large portion but no rice, no appetizer, and higher price.

Specials are $11.99 from the restaurant directly, marked up to $13.50 through delivery.com ($12.99 on DoorDash, and regular $11.99 price on Caviar.  Boo hiss, I picked wrong!).

The lunch special lineup is 46 dishes, all numbered for easy ordering, a selection of rice, chow mein, noodle soup, spicy, and standard dishes from the full menu.

Appetizer: Fried Spring Roll (part of lunch special).

The first thing I pulled from my bag was the spring roll, packaged in a paper bag.  It was visibly quite greasy, but strangely, it didn't seem much oil came off on the paper towel I set it on.  

It did taste more of oil/grease than I'd like, but it wasn't a stale or bad oil taste, just, well, a lot of oil.  It was hot (kudos), crisp (double kudos!), and filled with shredded veggies.

Nothing particularly remarkable about it, it was a standard fried vegetarian Chinese spring roll, but I appreciated that it was not soggy.  I planned to use the provided soy sauce/hot sauce, but my main dish was so saucy, I ended up just dunking it in there, to avoid needing to open a soy sauce packet and figure out how to drizzle/dunk without a container.

Spring rolls are also available as a regular appetizer, 3 to an order, for $3.99.  I wouldn't order them intentionally, but I appreciated having an included appetizer with lunch.

L28: Braised Spareribs w/ Daikon & Cooked Lettuce 蘿蔔素腩. Brown Rice. $13.50.

When I opened my container, I'll admit I was a bit disappointed.  It looked like a ton of brown rice, and really not much of the main dish.  Which, granted, is common for lunch specials rather than a la carte.  But it turned out looks were deceiving - that entire side was not just rice, it was actually filled with the main dish under the rice too, the rice was just packed in on top.  

I selected brown rice at the request of my co-dinner, as I'm not really one for rice in general, and I expected most of it to go to him.  I did end up eating some, as the saucy nature of the dish required it, and it was really good rice, at least, to me.  Again, not a rice girl, but I liked the texture (slightly crunchy), the flavor (slightly nutty), and it certainly wasn't clumpy or mushy.

As for the main dish, I selected it because I read good things about the vegan spare ribs, and the option of daikon and lettuce sounded far more exciting than the other choice, broccoli.  I like cooked lettuce in general (I love to grill it too!), and had been on a daikon kick at the time.

The daikon ended up being kinda meh to me - it was fine, juicy, and soaked up lots of sauce, but, for some reason, I just wasn't into it.  There was plenty of it.  The dish also included a few chunks of carrot (major meh, I'm not a cooked carrot girl, basically just braised carrots like in a stew).

It was very, very saucy overall, in a sauce that was fairly sweet, thick, and had some, uh, "Chinese flavor" to it.  I found it a bit too one note, but I added plenty of the provided Chinese hot sauce, and it was good that way.  I wouldn't want this sauce again though.

On the a la carte menu, this dish is a "House Special", for $13.99 (or $15.50 with delivery.com), the broccoli version is a "Chef's Special" for $14.99/$16.50, for lunch it was "L28", $11.99/$13.50.  The portion was good, and included the appetizer, but the delivery.com markup did make it feel overpriced.

Lettuce.

It didn't look initially like there was much lettuce included, but again, looks were deceiving.  Once I dug in, I found the entire base of the container, both sides, under the rice as well, was covered in the cooked lettuce.  It was absolutely drenched in the sauce, so very very very sweet, but again, I added hot sauce (and some fried shallots I brought), and enjoyed it.  It needed some rice to balance the sauce though, hence, my unplanned rice eating.

Mushroom!

As I dug around, I found ... mushrooms!  There were only a few (I think 4?), and all were hiding under the rice, but they were my favorite part: meaty mushrooms, with a nice chew to them.

Veggie Spare Ribs.

And finally, of course, the main attraction: the spare ribs.  Vegan.  This was the part I was most ... interested in of course.  I am not vegan, I am not vegetarian, and I enjoy meat and seafood and duck ... yeah, all the things (except chicken!).  But people really do find the vegetarian proteins at Enjoy compelling, and in particular, I heard great things about the spare ribs.

Now, I ... really dislike tofu (especially firm tofu), I *loathe* tempeh, but, these I believe were made from seitan.  Unlike tofu and tempeh (made from soy), seitan is derived from wheat gluten.  It has more chew to it, more meatiness.  I am not positive this was seitan though (it might have been mushroom based? Who knows, really?).

Anyway.  It was ... actually kinda good.  Definitely fascinating, and not an immediate 'no way!'.  It was chewy, it was meaty, it was ... a bit spongy.  The taste was hard to distinguish given all the sauce, but, it wasn't bad.  Basically, just quite interesting, not unpleasant, and, well, fun to try.  I certainly could have believed it was some form of highly processed meat, but it was more like a meatball than a spare rib.  

I was glad to try this, but I want to try other proteins next.

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Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, LHR-SFO

Flight #1: 2016 Travel

For my return from London, I flew on flight 41, again, in Upper Class, on a Dreamliner.  Since I reviewed the aircraft and amenities already on my ongoing journey, I'll skip most of that this time around,

Our journey began by experiencing the glory of using the Upper Class Wing for private check-in and security, continued to spa treatments and a meal in the Clubhouse, and eventually, we boarded the flight.  Serious, and incredible experience, which you can read all about.

Flight Info:

Flight: VS 41, LHR-SFO
Departure Time: 3:40pm
Aircraft: 787

Service and Amenities

Our flight was scheduled for 3:40pm departure, but left about 25 minutes late.

Overall, the flight was unremarkable.  A 10+ hour daytime flight, that extends into what should be the middle of the night for you, is rough.  There is no avoiding that.  But, I had wifi and was able to work for much of the flight, and when I got too sleepy to do that I worked on my blog, so, I wasn't ever bored.

The seat, as I mentioned in my review of the overnight flight, isn't very comfortable for sitting, which was far more of an issue on this flight, since I was sitting upright the entire time.  It also was awkward to eat at, as I noted before.

The staff on this flight were incredible.  They were extremely attentive, stopping by constantly to ask everyone if they wanted anything.  They also went above and beyond, doing things like giving me an entire huge bottle of sparkling water when they saw how much I was drinking, offering me a second bonus dessert when they saw I was clearly a dessert girl, and letting me order just parts of some of the dishes, creating my own perfect meal.

Amenity Kit.

At my seat was an amenity kit, with standard lotion, toothbrush, socks, eye masks, etc. Since it was a day flight, no pajamas were provided.

Food & Drink

Chips.

Meal service began with drink service with chips.  I loved the chips on my outgoing flight, spiced chips, but this time, they were just plain salted, with red skins.  They were fine, but, I didn't really care for them.

Cocktails and Hot Drinks.

The drink portion of the menu was the same as my previous flight: cocktails, coffee, tea, and soft drinks.

Since I didn't like the cocktails on the previous flight, and since I was drinking in the lounge, I opted to skip the cocktail service, offered soon after takeoff.

Wines.

The wine list was also the same as my previous flight, 1 champagne, 3 white, and 3 red.

Starters Menu.

After drinks were delivered to the entire cabin, meal orders were taken.  The first page of the menu was starters:

• Tomato, mozzarella, and micro basil salad: Pieces of buffalo mozzarella and ripe tomatoes with olive oil, balsamic dressing, and sweet pepper berries.
• Chicken satay with cashew nut dipping sauce: Tender chicken, served street food style with a deliciously rich cashew nut dipping sauce with fresh chilli, coriander, and lime.
• Spicy butternut soup: Hearty, rich, and spicy butternut squash soup.

Warm Breads: White baby loaf, wholemeal kaiser roll, red bell pepper ciabatta.

I skipped the starters, as they didn't seem all that interesting, and I had dined extensively in the lounge, but I'll admit the plating of my neighbor's tomato and mozzarella salad was pretty stunning.

Main Dishes.

Next was a selection of mains:

• Lemon and thyme chicken: Tender breast of chicken served on a potato cake with spinach, girolle mushrooms, and vegetable pearls
• Seafood linguine: Indulgently delicious seared salmon, scallops, and king prawns with linguine pasta.  Served with roasted cherry tomatoes and fresh pea shoots.
• Keralan curry (v): A classic, creamy coconut milk vegetarian curry served with coriander rice and tadka dhal.
• Weeping tiger beef salad: Thai food at its best - chilled strips of tender beef fillet served on mixed crisp leaves, sweet mango salsa with corriander, red chilli, and weeping tiger dressing.

I wasn't at all hungry.  It was only 4:30pm, and I ate a ton in the Clubhouse from 1-3pm.  But I figured I should eat something (besides just dessert of course).

For the main, I debated between the veggie curry and the tiger beef salad.  I didn't want the beef necessarily, but, it had "sweet mango salsa with coriander, red chilli, and weeping tiger dressing", which, sounded interesting at least.  And given that I wasn't hungry, salad seemed like a good pick.  But in the end, I went for the curry, as I was still craving indian food, and lamented that I didn't order the curry in the lounge.  I also got a glimspe of the seafood linguine, and actually had some envy.  I figured the salmon was fishy and the prawns rubbery, but, the pasta was coated in a cream sauce and looked pretty incredible.

Place Setting.

Once meal service was ready to get underway, my table was set with a white tablecloth, silverware was brought out, cute airplane salt and pepper shakers were laid out, wine and water were offered, and, a bread basket was presented with the three choices.

I asked for a second glass of sparkling water, which puzzled the server. I told her that I just drink a lot of sparkling water, and it was easier this way, so I wouldn't need to ask for a refill so soon.  She said that a refill was no problem, but offered me an entire, huge, bottle instead, to just keep at my seat.  Even better!  What service.

Red bell pepper ciabatta, butter.

From the bread basket, I selected the red bell pepper ciabatta a bit randomly.   I never eat bread on flights as it is always awful, but, I thought I might want it to dunk in my curry.  It was served warm, with butter, on a cute little tray.

It met my expectations of being horrible.  I didn't taste red pepper, but really, it was just stale and soggy.  I did not like this at all.

The butter was tasty though.

2014/2015 Alana Estate Sauvignon, Martinborough, New Zealand.

With my meal, I also opted for a glass of white wine, and randomly picked the sauvignon blanc, lured in by the description of "fresh grapefruit and bright citrus aromas".

It was fine, slightly sweet, not dry, and very drinkable.

Keralan curry (v).

"A classic, creamy coconut milk vegetarian curry served with coriander rice and tadka dhal.  A curry to warm up the coldest day."

This was actually really quite good.

As I know from my own experience, rice reheats really well in microwaves, as it kinda steams itself.  This rice fared really well, moist, fluffy, seasoned with coriander.  I don't really like rice, and would have preferred naan or something instead, but, really, it wasn't bad.

I tried a bite of the dhal just for completeness, I don't like lentils.  It was, well, lentils.  Luckily, there wasn't much of it.

The main attraction, and the reason I ordered the dish, was for the curry.  If I could have gotten just just the curry, I would have.  It was good!

In the mix were several cubes of soft butternut squash, one giant baton of carrot, a bunch of squeaky green beans, and one big chunk of soft cauliflower.  It was garnished with fresh spicy red chiles.  The veggies were decently cooked, not too mushy, but the carrot and cauliflower were certainly softer than I'd prefer.  The red chiles were actually quite spicy, and, they seemed fresh.  They added some excellent heat to the dish.

The curry sauce itself was creamy and well spiced, coconut milk based.  The garnish of coriander on top was a bit much though, too big of a sprig.

Overall though, tasty, and I wished I was more hungry.  The portion was quite reasonable, and all in balance.

The only flaw, is that my silverware only had a fork, knife, and butter knife, no spoon, which is what I wanted to scoop up all the yummy curry sauce!  That was easily fixed with a press of the call button.

Pudding Menu.

And of course, desserts.

• Warm chocolate salted caramel pudding:  Warm and gooey chocolate and salted caramel pudding with double cream.
• Apple blackberry crisp: A fantastic autumnal dessert of tart, sweet, and juicy blackberries and apples with an extra crunchy topping served with creme Anglaise and berry compote

I wanted both desserts.  I mean really, pudding with double cream and fruit crisp with creme anglaise?  These are both things I *adore*.  I hesitated, and put in the order for the chocolate salted caramel pudding.  I immediately wondered, in my head of course, if I could convince the FA to give me both ... sadly, our cabin was entirely full, so I knew my chances were limited.  But after I finished my dessert, the FA did tell me that she was keeping an eye out to see if there were any of the other left, so I could try both.  She volunteered this to me, just based on watching me have a hard time picking.  Such incredible service.

Warm chocolate salted caramel pudding / double cream.

"So indulgent. Warm and gooey chocolate and salted caramel pudding with double cream."

I really had a hard time deciding which dessert to get, between the fruit crumble and this, but, I'm very glad I picked the one I did, even though it wasn't at all what I was expecting.  I picked it because it had chocolate, and I knew I'd appreciate the caffeine in my quest to stay awake for way too many more hours.

This was pretty incredible.

It was served warm, as promised.  I expected a "pudding" as I know it, as in, a custard-like thing that I would eat with a spoon, and I thought it would be chocolate and caramel flavored.  Of course, I was on a British airline, where "pudding" means something else entirely.  What this was was a warm molten chocolate cake, smothered in caramel sauce, with a pitcher of double cream on the side.  Oh my.

The cake was fairly moist, decent chocolate cake.  Boring on its own, but, the caramel sauce was ridiculously sweet and plentiful.  I loved the caramel.

I really wanted some whipped cream, as the double cream didn't quite do it for me, but, it was nice to have a creamy, rich element to combat the sweetness.  I also appreciated that I had my own little pitcher, to pour on as I saw fit.

Pudding: Inside.

I'll admit, that I wasn't strongly in love it the cake after the first couple bites.  The caramel, yes, but the cake itself wasn't that exciting.  And then I got to the inside, and realized it had a molten chocolate center.  Oh, wow.

The center was liquid chocolate, totally delicious.  The liquid chocolate and caramel combined into amazingness.

I really enjoyed this.  It was warm, it was comforting, it was sweet.  I wasn't really hungry when it arrived, but, I scarfed it.

Virgin Atlantic does a nice job with desserts!

Apple blackberry crisp / creme anglaise / berry compote.

"A fantastic autumnal dessert of tart, sweet, and juicy blackberries and apples with an extra crunchy topping served with creme anglaise and berry compote."

I didn't actually take my FA up on her offer for a second dessert ... at that time.  I was stuffed and really enjoyed the chocolate pudding.  But a few hours later, I was peckish, and, a fruit crisp sounded far more exciting than the other options.  So, I politely asked if they still had any of the crisps, and, sure enough, they did, and were more than happy to bring it to me, although with an apology that it might not be as good since it was sitting in the chiller.

So ... uh, a crisp?  Not really.  And, well, not that good.

The base was a sponge cake, very soggy at this point.  I'm not sure if it would have been better when it was "fresh".  On top of that was the fruit.  This part is hard to describe.  It did have chunks of apple, and bits of blackberry, but, it was really just like compressed bits of fruit-mush, sorta in a fruity-gel.  Think ... jello mold sorta?  And then on top, the tiniest bit of crisp topping.

This wasn't at all what I thought a crisp would be ... the cake, the strange jello-fruit, just, not expected in any way.  Once I re-set my expectations, I did eat the blackberries and crisp topping, but, the soggy cake and jello-goo just weren't compelling.

On the side was a mixed berry compote and creme anglaise.  The fruit compote made no sense to me.  The crisp was basically mushy fruit compote itself ... why would you have more on the side?  That said, it was sweet, fruity, and pretty tasty.  Better than the crisp itself.

And the creme anglaise?  Well, obviously I loved that.  Sweet, creamy, good vanilla flavor.

Overall, I'm sure I liked this more than the other snack options available at that point in the flight, and I'm glad I was able to try both desserts, but, besides the sweet fruit and yummy creme anglaise, this just wasn't great.

Cheese and Port Menu.

I skipped the cheese service, offered after the desserts, from a cart.  The menu described the three options (brie, aged gouda, cornish blue), and little cheese platters were assembled to order with crackers and chutneys, based on what you wanted.

Decaf Coffee.

With my dessert, I asked for a cup of decaf.  It was a strong, clearly instant coffee, not very good, but necessary to go along with the sweet dessert.

Taylor's LBV Port.

I was trying not to drink much on the flight for my own good, and because I was working, but, I couldn't resist a small pour of the port, offered from the cheese cart.

Like the wines I had aboard Virgin Atlantic, it was fine.  Not particularly notable, but, fine.

Extra Bites Menu.

The flight is 10.5 hours, but, there is not a formal second meal service.  Instead, you can order additional "Extra Bites" when you please.  They used to offer these, plus an afternoon tea service, but that was recently changed.  That said, the afternoon tea service (sandwiches, scones, sweets) is all on the Extra Bites menu, just as individual components.  This made a lot more sense to me, so people could order when they actually wanted, but I know people are sad to lose the fancy afternoon tea service, I guess it used to come with tiered platters and all.

The selections:

• Enjoy our selection of sandwiches: Ham, cheese, and mustard, hot smoked salmon with horseradish and cream cheese with roasted bell pepper
• A trio of cakes: Ginger cake bar, lemon meringue cupcake, and chocolate salted caramel gallette
• Sultana scones: with clotted cream and jam
• Classic gourmet beef burger: with apple, carrot, and red cabbage coleslaw and your choice of Emmental cheese or smoked turkey bacon topping. Served with mini rosti potatoes.
• Soup and salad (v): Organic Tuscan bean soup with a light and fresh pea and bean salad and balsamic dressing
• Mini lamb pie: A mini minted lamb pie with sugar snap peas, red wine sauce, and chips.

Chips, Ketchup.

After a while, I was kinda hungry, or maybe just bored, and knew that I wanted the scones, but, I also wanted ... something.  I didn't want sandwiches or bean soup, I didn't really want a burger, and, while a meat pie sounded great, I don't like lamb.  I almost ordered the pie, just to sorta eat the crust and the chips that came with it, when I realized, I could actually just ask for the chips.  I wanted chips.  British chips that is.

The FA said this was absolutely no problem, and asked if there was something I wanted with them, like ketchup.  Of course, I wanted, uh, garlic aioli or something, but, ketchup was better than nothing.  I asked if there was anything else she had in mind, and she said no, ketchup was it.  So, ketchup it was.

Even though the chips alone are not a standard menu item, they plated it up and served it on a cute little tray with a bowl of ketchup.

The chips were ... fine.  I mean, they tasted like any generic frozen, oven baked chips.  Not really sure what I was expecting.  They were hot and fresh though, so that was nice.  But, clearly not crispy, fried chips, and, well, ketchup is boring.  Still, I appreciated having something besides just the scone, and I really appreciated being able to order just the side dish.

Sultana scone with clotted cream and jam.

The scone was served warm, a decent size, raisin scone, with a slight glaze on the outside.  It was ok, not amazing, more like bread than a scone.  Still, it was warm and simple, which is actually what my very confused body wanted, given that it was now almost midnight for me.

The scone was served with the same jam and clotted cream (Rodda's) that I've had a zillion times on British Airways flights, which I slathered generously all over my scone.

Overall, this was fine and a nice snack, and I likely wouldn't have wanted anything heavier.  It it was much better than the BA version of scones.  Really though, I just wanted ice cream.

Flight #2: 2017 Travel

Flight Info:

Flight: VS 41, LHR-SFO
Departure Time: 2:50pm
Aircraft: 787
Seat: 2A

Blah, blah, another flight in Virgin Atlantic Upper Class, on a Dreamliner.  I won't bother with repeating the details of the aircraft, you can read my posts on previous flights for those.

Food & Drink

Tyrell's Sea Salt & Black Pepper Crisps.

"A crunchy celebration of a time-honoured marriage: sea salt and that most cracking of spices – black pepper."

Once underway, we were offered scented hot towels, and our drink orders were taken.  Soon after, a pot of "crisps" was delivered.  These were much better than the outgoing flight, not just plain salted crisps, instead, they were red skinned, and spiced with pepper.  But I was stuffed, and really didn't want them at the time.

I had been drinking alcohol in the lounge, and knowing I had an 11 hour daytime flight ahead of me, I went for sparkling water.  Boring, but the wise choice.

Supper Menus

The first meal service was a standard offering, 3 choices of starter (all vegetarian), 4 choices of main (chicken, beef, chilled seafood, vegetarian pasta), and 2 choices of dessert.

Orders were taken for all 3 courses as soon as the initial beverages were delivered, so an awkward timing, basically served at 4pm.

Starters:

• Roasted fig, melon, and caramelized pecan
• Mozzarella and tomato gnocchi
• Tomato and basil soup

Warm Breads: Served with your choice of warm artisan breads:

• Mini herb roll
• Kaiser roll
• Mixed seed granary roll

Mains:

• Chicken & tomato vinaigrette
• Fillet steak
• Spinach and ricotta tortellini
• Chilli and garlic prawns salad

Pudding

• Bread and butter pudding
• Chocolate and hazelnut tart

To say I was full was an understatement, but I wasn't that excited about the choices you could order later on for the second meal, so, I still decided to get a starter, and of course, dessert.  Omg, the dessert choices.  I skipped the main, since nothing jumped out, and I was a bit sad that they decided to do a veggie pasta, rather than tasty veggie curry they are known for, and like I had on my previous flight (above).  Every airline does veggie pasta!

Wine and Setup Cart.

Meal service began with the cart, offering wine, still or sparkling water, and the table settings.

2016 Pulenta Estate Chardonnay, Mendoza, Argentina.

To go with my meal, I decided to try a glass of white wine, it seemed fitting for the flight, not what I normally drink, but lighter than red wine somehow.

It was fine, a bit minerally, but fairly buttery.

Bread Plate.

Moments later, a bread basket came through, with 3 types of bread.  I didn't want stale airline bread, but I do give them credit for the adorable little bread plate.  Again, the butter was good.

Starter: Mozzarella and tomato gnocchi.

"A classic Italian dish of gnocchi filled with tomato and mozzarella topped with creamy pesto sauce, fresh rocket leaves, and sundried tomatoes.  The perfect start to your meal."

Starters were delivered as they were ready, one by one.  They actually took quite a long time to arrive, but, that was better for me, given how not hungry I was.  Also, I applaud them for having warm starters, besides just soup.

And warm is generous for describing how my gnocchi was.  Sadly, it just wasn't very warm at all.

It also ... wasn't gnocchi?

The serving was three large balls, in a creamy pesto-ish sauce.  The sauce was herby, it was creamy, I still have no idea what it actually was though, it didn't seem cheesy, and didn't remind me of pesto really.  It wasn't great.

The sundried tomato chunks were flavorful, the rocket garnish was fresh, and the shred of parmesan decent.  It did look nice.

Mozzarella and tomato gnocchi: inside.

The "gnocchi" though ... this was strange.  As the menu said, it was indeed, uh, filled.  Inside was "tomato and mozzarella", which seemed to be a strange tomato paste.  The balls were potato based I guess, but not seared, very dense, gloopy.  I had amazing pillow-like fluffy gnocchi at Frenchie in London just a few days prior (seriously, SUCH an incredible meal!), and I just couldn't really bring myself to consider these even remotely the same dish.

Big meh to this.

Chicken and tomato vinaigrette.

"Lemon and thyme roasted chicken with an aromatic tomato vinaigrette sauce served with tender asparagus, spinach and creamy mashed potato."

My companion opted for just a main dish, the chicken.  One note for the service: they brought him his right after finishing serving the starters, ahead of the other mains.  A nice thought, so he wouldn't need to wait for everyone else to start wanting their mains.

I tried a bite of the mashed potatoes, they weren't actually particularly creamy nor rich, but, better than the ones in the lounge that were too rich, and honestly, likely better than most homemade mashed potatoes.

Dessert: Bread and butter pudding.

"An oldie but a goodie, this one is one of the best and simplest of puds - comfort food at its best!"

Ordering this was a no brainer.  I don't care how full I was, I adore bread and butter pudding, and actually sought it out twice on my trip, both times unsuccessfully (at The English Restaurant, it just wasn't very good, and, at St. John, it was off the menu when I visited).  I was tempted by the chocolate hazelnut tart, mostly for the light caffeine to help keep me awake, but really, this was no contest.

Sadly, it let me down.  Big time.

I'll start with the positive: it was served warm.

But what the menu failed to tell me is that this was cinnamon apple raisin bread and butter pudding.  None of these things are high on my list.

But still I dug in, eager for my warm, comforting dessert.

It was mushy, and eggy, and oily even.  The bottom was all bits of cooked apple, which I never like.  And a bunch of raisins.  In a sweet, cinnamon-y syrup, that had a strange aftertaste.

I really didn't like it.

I tried to pour more and more cream on it (just regular cream, best I could tell, not whipped, not clotted, not spiced), but it didn't help.

I ate more than half of it, but I was pretty sad.

Chocolate and hazelnut tart.

"Served with a sweet berry compote, a delicious decadent treat. Go on give it a try!"

So I asked if they had any of the other dessert available.  Just like my previous flight, I was told no problem, and promptly brought the chocolate hazelnut tart.  I'm double dessert girl.

I rarely go for chocolate desserts, and don't like tarts, but, alas, I wanted something more satisfying.

And this was better, a slice that looked fairly reasonably sized, but this was a very rich, very sweet dessert.

The base was a chocolate crust, not really tart style, as it was soft.  I didn't like it, as it was pretty dry, but, I also never like hard tart shells.

The majority of the slice was a milk chocolate thick pudding, very, very rich, and also quite sweet, which was a bit odd for a chocolate dessert.  It wasn't as intensely chocolately, nor obviously as bitter as I'd like, but the texture was good, it was creamy.  I expected this to actually be chocolate hazelnut, but the best I could tell, it was just chocolate.

Next was a thin layer of chopped hazelnuts, classic pairing with the chocolate, and they added good crunch.

The topping was dark chocolate ganache, thicker, richer even.  It too was good, but still sweet.

On the side was the sweet berry compote.  It was *very* sweet, and I think blueberries in goo?  Way too sweet, and it didn't go well with the chocolate.

Overall, this was fine, but heavy and rich, and really needed something to cut the sweetness.  Whipped cream on the side rather than sweet compote, or even just toning down the sweetness in the tart would do wonders.  Still, a decent dessert for a flight.

Mini Fab - Strawberry.

"Strawberry and vanilla flavour ice lolly with chocolate flavour coating and sugar strands."

After a few hours, the FAs came around with "ice lollies", mini strawberry popsicle things, with a slight chocolate coating at the tip, and sprinkles on the outside.

These were the same things I had in full size just a few days prior, and didn't like then.

Still, I took one, because, I was bored.

And ... yeah, I just didn't care for it.  The chocolate tasted funny, and I'm not one for "ice lollies" anyway.  Still, a fun treat.

Extra Bites Menu.

The second meal on the flight is on-demand, from an assortment of "extra bites", available whenever you want.  This menu was really varied, from sandwiches, to burgers, to sushi, to afternoon scones or dessert.  Uh, something for everyone?

The lineup:

• Enjoy our selection of sandwiches: Seasoned chicken mayonnaise on malted bread and Harrisa houmous with peppers on malted bread
• Continental chocolate cake
• Sultana scones with clotted cream and jam
• Sushi: salmon nigiri, prawn nigiri, omelette nigiri, soy sauce, wasabi dressing, pickled ginger.  Accompanied by Emily's vegetable crisps.
• Classic gourmet beef burger with watercress, gherkin, Emmantal cheese.  Served with Tyrell's crisps.
• Roasted butternut and goats cheese salad

In addition, some snacks are available self-serve at the bar, including olives, crisps, shortbreads, and chocolate bars.  I was a bit let down by our snack basket, as it was lacking popcorn and the beet crisps I liked on my earlier flight, but the premium economy galley, located right where out bathrooms were, had a bunch better selection.  I may have grabbed a few items from there ...

Sushi.

"Salmon nigiri, prawn nigiri, omelette nigiri, soy sauce, wasabi dressing, pickled ginger.  Accompanied by Emily's vegetable crisps."

My travel companion opted for the sushi, which came in a plastic box with standard soy sauce/wasabi/ginger.  Not the highest quality, but a light offering.

Emily's vegetable crisps

The sushi came with "Emily's vegetable crisps", which he didn't want, and I actually did (I was going to try to order just the crisps anyway, I love veggie chips!).

The crisps though were green beans, peas, and edamame.  I was hoping for root veggies, carrots, something besides just green.  Emily's does make a beetroot, carrot, and sweet potato mix as well.

Still, the green beans were fine, crispy, salty.  I didn't care for the edamame, just because I don't like beans.  I didn't really find any peas, and only know the mix was supposed to have them because I looked it up online later.

Sultana scones with clotted cream and jam.

When I got peckish, I went for a scone, even though I knew it would be lackluster.  Still, a warm scone, and clotted cream, can be a nice thing right?

The scone was not good.  It was warm, which was nice, but it was really, really dry.  Much worse than last time, worse than the British Airways ones.  I slathered it in the mediocre jam and the too hard clotted cream, but it didn't really help.  

This just was not good.

Birchall's Great Rift Decaf Tea.

"A decaffeinated black tea bursting with flavour".

Of course I needed tea to pair with my scone.  I opted for decaf black.  

It was fine, good with sugar and milk, and the right thing to have alongside a scone, for sure.

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