OHi Wholesome Bars

Energy bars.  Not something high on my list of "exciting" items, but, as someone who is often on the go, I do sometimes need a quick easy snack to throw in my bag, something that I can eat in a few bites, and provide me with the power to get through a few hours.  Even better if it can work equally well as a breakfast supplement, post-workout fix, or get me through a long afternoon.  And thus, even though I don't really love them, bars are a part of my lifestyle.

"Inspired by how important food is to our holistic wellness, the OHi Wholesome Bar was created to help nourish communities by harnessing the power of superfoods. Our mission is to deliver the most delicious and nutritious whole food bar to help elevate your health and well-being. 

Every bar combines high quality whole food ingredients, coconut nectar and cocao butter, cold-pressed to perfection. 100% plant based with no artificial preservatives and free from gluten, grain, refined sugars, and soy, our bars are clean with complex flavor profiles that perfectly balance nutrition, taste and freshness." 

Like many other players in the space, all of the offerings from OHi are vegan, gluten-free, have no refined sugar, non-GMO, etc, etc.  OHi makes only one product line, Wholesome Bars.  They are currently available in only 5 flavors: coconut macadamia, almond crunch, almond dark chocolate, super green, and peanut butter.  Unlike many other brands of bars, they don't try to sound like desserts, or tempt you with indulgent names.  They don't have protein added via strange isolates.  But like Perfect Bars, they are a bit high maintenance, requiring refrigeration for storage (although you can pull them out a few days if you need).

I honestly don't remember why I picked one up to try, but I did.  My experience was a very mixed bag.

Coconut Macadamia.

"Born in Hawaii! Take a bite of aloha with our Coconut Macadamia Bar! A tasty combination of macadamia nuts, coconut shreds, mulberries, a variety of nuts and seeds sweetened with a touch of coconut nectar. "

Ok, a few things to note.  First, this bar is tiny.  The package is smaller than many other bars in general, but then, it only filled about half the wrapper.  It is small.  Second, because it is so loaded with nuts and seeds, that tiny form is very dense, clocking in 280 calories, 22g fat, and 8g protein in something you can easily eat in 2-3 bites.  So, beware, if any of that matters to you.

I really loved the sound of this bar, as I really like macadamia nuts and coconut, hence, why I picked it.  The first bite I took though ... I nearly spit out?  I wondered if it had gone bad.  It was bitter!  Bitter, bitter, bitter.  A quick look at the ingredients let me understand a bit better though - in addition to the almond and macadamia nuts base, there was a seed blend of pumpkin, hemp, chia, and flax seeds.  Aha!  Chia and flax can both be pretty bitter.

With my expectations re-aligned, I tried again a tiny nibble, to decide if I toss it, or try to break it up and use it as a topping on a yogurt parfait perhaps.  I liked it more once I was ready for the bitter, and decided to just eat it as it was.  I really did like the crunch from all the seeds, and the bits of nuts, although the nuts were chopped so finely I didn't get to really taste the macadamia I was after.  Although coconut was in it, I didn't really taste that either.  The cocoa nibs were a nice surprise, again, more crunch, and a bitter component, but, a slight chocolately flavor.  There was some sweetness if you really paid attention, but, it was minimal.

Overall, I certainly wouldn't purchase another, but I was able to enjoy it.  A really clean bar, made up of nuts, seeds, vanilla + salt  + coconut nectar, and little else.

***.

Nick's Swedish Ice Cream

Swedish ice cream.  I didn't know it was a "thing", but given my love of ice cream, I was excited to discover a new brand, Nick's. 

There are two things you might notice when you first look up Nick's ice cream.  It might be the "funny" spelling of things, like "Mint Chokladchip", "Peanöt Butter Cup", or "Birthdäg Cake".  Or it might be the nutrition stats, that hover under 300 calories ... per pint.  At least one of these things is certainly part of what makes the ice cream "Swedish" ... at least in name.  

"Sweet Natural Science. All our sweeteners are carefully crafted from plants selected for their specific flavor. But it'll probably just taste like delicious ice cream to you."

So what makes Nick's so low calorie?  It is the use of interesting sweeteners, in part.  Not just Stevia, but also soluble corn fiber (which makes it creamy, in addition to adding sweetness), and erythritol (which comes from fermented fruit?).  Add this up, and you get a pint for the usual calorie load of a single scoop.  Of course, there are many low-cal ice creams on the market these days, and, well, most really aren't very good. 

Nick's doesn't skimp on interesting flavors, in addition to covering all the basics (Triple Chokläd, Cookies and Kräm, Strawbär Swirl, Vanilj, etc) they also have some more interesting ones like Cherry Choka-Fläka, Peanöt Butter Karamell, and Swedish Lemon Bar.  All flavors are keto friendly, and they also make a vegan line.  In addition to the pints, Nick's also makes a single variety of ice cream novelty item, ice cream sandwiches, with big chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream inside.  240 cal each.  My store did not carry these.

I was eager to try some flavors, and selected a few pints fairly randomly when I saw them at the grocery store, without doing research first.

Swedish Cookie Dough.

"Vanilla ice cream swirled with chocolate and mixed with chunks of sugar cookie dough."

First up I tried the Swedish cookie dough.  I picked this without really reading the description, thinking, "oh, cookie dough - I know this!"  So I was surprised when I opened the pint to see chocolate swirled throughout, and cookie dough hunks that had no chocolate chips.  In fact, no chocolate chips were anywhere in the pint.  Doh!  This is NOT "chocolate chip cookie dough", it is "Swedish cookie dough".  Do Swedish people eat more sugar cookies than chocolate chip?

Anyway, the ice cream was a very good texture straight from freezer, easily scoopable, which I appreciated, but is generally not a good sign (I find higher quality ice cream is usually firmer ...).  It was decently creamy, but did taste a touch "funny", something about the sweetness that wasn't quite right.  Still, decent enough base for the calorie savings, far better than any other light ice cream I've had.

The chocolate swirl was fairly minor, not a thick, dominant element like you find in Ben & Jerry's, but I liked having it.  The cookie dough hunks were standard size for ice cream, good for texture, and tasted fine.  They added sweetness too, but were otherwise plain.

Overall, this was all just fine.  Fairly unremarkable, except the slightly non-standard format of cookie dough that was sugar cookie based rather than chocolate chip.  But for 300 calories per PINT?  Yeah, totally a winner.

***.

Butter Pekan.

"Rich, mapley ice cream with bits of pecans."

Next, totally randomly, I picked Butter Pekan, somewhat inspired by my mother getting Maple Walnut the day before when we went out to ice cream.

The butter pecan had a lovely flavor to it.  Indeed, butter and pecan, both flavors pretty dominant.   But ... it did have that stevia-like taste on the finish.  Almost so very very good.

There were minimal bits of pecan, truly, "bits of pecans" as they say, not larger halves as is more common (and ... of course, a source of higher calories).

Again, overall, fine, and for the 300 calorie pint, great, but, it definitely does have a strange sweetness to it.

***.

Birthdäg Cake.

"Luscious cake batter ice cream filled with tons of rainbow sprinkles."

Well, huh.  I know I was impressed with the previous flavors, but this one, uh, takes the cake?  Tee-hee.

It is as good as any full fat cake batter-birthday cake-funfetti ice cream I've ever had.  Perfectly creamy, it melted beautifully.  Super sweet, but it should be to be a birthday cake flavor.  It tasted like cake and frosting.  It was basically ... a good version of what you'd expect from a funfetti, cake batter style ice cream.   It had no strange aftertaste, the sweetness didn't taste fake, just, nothing wrong with it, nothing to make you think it was a light style.  I was very impressed.

A wonderful choice when you want a sweet ice cream, and yes, it pairs perfectly with cake.

****. 

Mint Chokladchip.

"Cool minty ice cream mixed with flakes of chocolate."

The Mint Chokladchip was the first Nick's flavor to let me down.  It wasn't a total fail, but, I'm glad it wasn't the first flavor I tried, otherwise I would have likely never tried Nick's again.

On the positive side, the texture was great as always, it melted perfectly, and was quite creamy.  There is nothing in the consistency to give away that this is a light ice cream.  It was loaded with chocolate flakes, well distributed, assorted size bits, better than just standard chips.  They didn't skimp.  And it *did* taste minty.

The problem?  It had a fake sweetness to it, a slight medicinal quality to it.  Some of the other flavors had it too, but it was more minimal there.  I just couldn't get past it in this pint.  I think the mint somehow accented it?  Once I added hot fudge, bananas, whipped cream, and sprinkles, and a scoop of regular vanilla ice cream, I was able to balance out the flavor, but, it certainly took effort to enjoy it.

The first flavor I really don't recommend, and certainly wouldn't get again, although, yes, great consistency, awesome flakes.

**+.

AK Subs

AK Subs is one of those gems.  It is the sort of place you want to support, because the people, and product, are so good.  The sort of place you could easily walk past a zillion times without noticing, as it doesn't look particularly interesting.  And if you did, you'd be missing out.

AK Subs is, yes, a sub shop, located on Harrison St at 8th, not exactly where I find myself often, but, from time to time when something like, oh, you know, jury duty, takes me there, I'm glad for the excuse to visit.  AK Subs is open only weekdays, and only breakfast and lunch hours, so, again, my opportunities to visit are a bit limited.  They have been around since 1994, so clearly, I'm not the only one who has discovered the place. 

The clientele is mostly area workers, mostly there to get takeout, many sitting along the curb outside to enjoy.  They seem to have their very loyal regulars, and staff addressed nearly everyone by name, and mentions of "the usual" linger in the air.  I was not one of their regulars, yet the staff were incredible friendly every time I visited.

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 ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I've visited both for breakfast and lunch, and would gladly return to try more of the menu.

Breakfast

AK Subs serves full breakfast, with eggs, bagels, omelettes, breakfast sandwiches, french toast, pancakes, muffins, danishes, etc, and all the standard breakfast meats and potato sides.

When I ordered a build-a-breakfast, I was warned it would take a few minutes, which I expected, but I appreciated the thoughtful warning.  I also appreciated that they asked if I wanted 2 syrups or just one, and packaged everything separately, so items wouldn't get soggy, and hot items were even wrapped in foil to keep the heat in.  

It is the little touches in the service, along with quite reasonable prices, that likely make it such a repeat venue for customers.

Hashbrowns.  $1.61.

For my build-a-breakfast, I started with a side of hashbrowns, always my favorite potato form from a diner.

The hashbrowns were a bit of a disappointment, although they looked decent.  The potato inside was mushy.  It wasn't raw and undercooked, and it wasn't overcooked, so I'm not quite sure what caused the mushy nature.  But it seemed almost like mashed potatoes inside ... although, clearly in shreds, so it wasn't.  

The top side was nicely browned.  There was no seasoning, although I could have added salt and pepper if I thought to grab some.  Ketchup and syrup saved these, but I still wouldn't get them again, unless I were to try to ask for them extra crispy, which is how I'd prefer them.  And I'd definitely add salt.

$1.61 for a generous serve was fine, but **+.

Pancakes.  $1.38 each.

For my main, and the reason I was there, pancakes!

The pancakes were huge!  I was expecting standard little pancakes, so I was shocked when I opened my box and it had two giant pancakes.  I would have only ordered one if I knew the size.  It then also made more sense why she asked if I wanted two syrups, as to eat both of these, and the hashbrowns, with syrup would require more than just one syrup.

The pancakes were fairly standard, no interesting tang from buttermilk, no add-ins available.  They were a bit gummy, which wasn't just a result of the packaging, as I tried a bite right when I got them.  But, they were freshly prepared, not burnt or undercooked, and, as I said, quite large.

On the side, packaged separate, was the butter and syrup.  The butter I really liked, as it was super soft, and melted on the pancakes perfectly.  It wasn't anything special, but, it was exactly what the pancakes needed.  The syrup on the other hand ... was clearly "pancake syrup", not maple syrup.  Not that they claimed otherwise, but a girl can hope, right?  It was very sticky, thick, and, well, pancake syrup.  I was raised on real maple syrup, made by my godfather, so pancake syrup is generally pretty unappealing to me.  That said, every once in a while, I can really like it, particularly when it takes on a buttery quality.  I have a weakness for the pancake syrup at IHOP (and the flavored syrups, and well, the pancakes too.  Shh, don't tell anyone).  But this just tasted like corn syrup.  Not like maple, not like butter.  I didn't like it.

So, overall, disappointing.  

AK Subs offers sandwich specials every week, and I'd love to see them get into breakfast specials too - blueberry pancakes, whole wheat, sprinkle on pecans, etc.  The plain only offer feels a bit weak.

At $1.38 each, these pancakes were a bargain, but I wouldn't get them again.  **+.

Update Review: except ... I did.  I went to AK Subs a second time, intending to get french toast, but, alas, they were sold out.  They were also out of all baked goods besides plain croissants.  So ... I decided to give the pancakes another try.

They were again huge.  Again, a bit gummy.  And the flavor was just strange.  I didn't like the basic taste, although I can't quite pinpoint what it was.  I had forgotten how much I liked the butter last time, and I was again drawn in by the butter.  Why is their butter soooo good?  And the syrup was again was really not good.  Not maply, not buttery, just ... there.  Meh.  At least they, and my opinions, are consistent, even if I wasn't particularly pleased with my breakfast. **+.

Raspberry Twist Pastry. $2.

On my next visit, I again arrived eager to get french toast.  I even brought my own little container of my godfather's homemade maple syrup, since I know I don't care for their pancake syrup.  But, alas, sold out again!

I decided not to go for the pancakes a third time, since I didn't care for them before, and instead eyed the baked goods.  Pickings were fairly slim, and it was only 9:30am.  I think the crowd that frequents AK Subs for breakfast is an early one, which, makes sense, given that they open at 6:30am.  There were a two assorted muffins, a bear claw, a sticky bun, and a twist.  I was certainly eying the decadent pecan sticky bun, but I had just returned from a trip to the East Coast to see my family where I ate far too many sweets, including tons of my mom's homemade sticky buns, and wasn't certain I was up for that.  I asked the friendly woman behind the counter for a recommendation, and she picked out the raspberry twist, so, I went for it.

She also asked if I wanted it heated.  I would have never thought to ask for it heated, but gladly said yes.  I certainly prefer warm pastries!  She put it in the oven before ringing me up, and it was ready just a few minutes later.  Again, these little touches add up!

The outside was perfectly crispy, the dough flaky.  Very good croissant-style pastry.  There wasn't much raspberry filling though, just a little bit in the twisted section.  What was there had a good flavor, but there wasn't nearly enough for me, certainly nothing like a filled croissant.  While I didn't want the sweet bomb of the pecan roll, I did want something more than this.

Overall, a quality pastry, and the freshness was obvious, but, I wouldn't get it again, as it didn't match what I actually wanted.  $2 price was fine.  ***.

Lunch

The lunch menu at AK Subs has no frills, but is pretty large.  It of course features all your basic deli subs made with cold sliced deli meats, but also some curated creations, and hot options like hot pastrami, meatball marinara, tuna melts, and more.  They also offer up a full grill with burgers (including veggie), grilled chicken, philly cheesesteaks, grilled cheese, sausage links, and even fish & chips.  Sides include homemade soups, fries, and homemade deli salads.  

It is the deli sides that I was most interested in.  During the early shelter-in-place phase of the pandemic, I got really into deli salads.  I used to eat tons of potato and macaroni salad when I was in high school and worked at a grocery store, always visiting the deli on my lunch break, and eating them always brings back such nostalgia.  Plus, deli salads keep a few days and are an easy addition to lunches.

Potato Salad.  $1.84.

I was quite pleased with this potato salad.  Given the low price, I expected a tiny container of potato salad when I ordered it.  Not so!  This was a very generous sized container of potato salad.  And ... it was really good!  An absolutely incredible value for the price.

The potato was perfectly cooked, not mushy, not too firm.  There were chunks of egg and pickles.  Lots of fresh herbs.  And it was really well seasoned, with a nice kick of pepper.  I was more than pleasantly surprised, this was clearly freshly made, made with care, and really delicious.  

****, and really, ****+ given the price.

Potato Salad. $2.30

Several years passed since I first had AK Subs potato salad, but I was back for breakfast one day, and decided to pick up potato salad to have for lunch later.

The appearance changed slightly over the years, as the chunks of potato were smaller this time.  Besides that though, it was pretty much exactly as I remembered.  The potato still perfectly cooked, not mushy, not too raw.  And again, I was struck by the seasoning and bold flavors.  So many herbs, including fresh chives, bits of tangy pickles, and generous amount of pepper.  The dressing was creamy without feeling too rich and overboard on the mayo.  I think they manage this by also mashing some of the potato, so you get a smooth creamy texture not entirely based on mayonnaise.  I loved the crunch from the pickles, and of course, potato salad is always best with egg.

I also got to see that they indeed make the potato and pasta salad fresh every single day.  It wasn't ready when I arrived, but, while I was eating my pancake they finished it up.  The potatoes were still hot from being freshly cooked.  Quality product!

Even though several years had passed, it was still very good potato salad.  The price went up to $2.30, but that is still very reasonable for the large serving, and I'd gladly get it again.

****.

Pasta Salad.  $1.84. (now $2.30)

On my second visit, I was tempted to have the incredible potato salad again, but forced myself to try something new, and went for the pasta salad.  It was also only $1.84 and a huge serving.

It seems strange to describe a mayonnaise based pasta salad this way, but it was so fresh tasting.  There were slices of red bell pepper, celery, plenty of fresh herbs, and I think tomato.  The pasta was perfectly al dente.  It was dressed well, not swimming in it, but also not dry.  The dressing was a mix of creamy mayonnaise and tangy sour cream, a really nice combo.

It was good, but not as good as the potato salad.  I'd perhaps get it again if I wanted pasta salad, but I'd pick the potato salad first.  And I still can't get over the serving size and price.  Such an amazing value.

***+.