Doisy & Dam

Update Review

After the non very successful maca dark chocolate Doisy & Dam bar, I'm not really sure why I tried another, except that I think it was likely again on an airplane to/from the UK, and thus, a captive audiance.

Date & Himalayan Sea Salt.

"Think salted caramel… but healthier….. and more delicious. Our Deglet Noir dates are combined with Himalayan pink salt (the most badass salt on the planet), and mixed with our smoothest organic Dominican 39% milk chocolate."

This bar wasn't any better than the previous one I had tried, although it was very different, milk chocolate base this time, with, uh dates blended in.  Side note: If I had realized this bar had dates, I likely would not have tried it, as I generally really dislike them (they ruin so many snack bars!), but, I didn't see that part until after I tasted it.

Anyway, the chocolate did not remind me of salted caramel as they proclaimed.  It wasn't smooth, sweet, buttery, caramel-y.  It just had a strange taste to it, an odd sweetness, which I suspect was the dates.  I didn't taste salt either, the other promised signature aspect of this bar.

It was a smooth chocolate at least, but for me, definitely not a winner. **.

Original Review, October 2017

Doisy & Dam is a UK based chocolate maker.  Their tag line is that they make "superdelish" chocolate, that is, chocolate that is healthy, with minimum 8% superfoods, but also tasty.  The company is named after two scientists who won a Nobel prize in 1943 and studied health and nutrition.  The bars are all organic, gluten-free, soy free, etc.

I believe I discovered their goods on a flight, perhaps Virgin Atlantic?  I didn't seek them out, but, once I had a new chocolate in front of me, I obviously had to try it.

The list of chocolate bars Doisy & Dam makes does not read like any other chocolate selections.  Goji & orange.  Mulberries, black sesame, & spirulina. Quinoa, smoked tea, & vanilla. Coconut & lucuma.  The list goes on and on, with hemp seed, poppy seeds, sprouted buckwheat, dates and many other healthy foods in the mix.  Some are 74% dark (and vegan), others 39% milk, and one is white chocolate.

The bar I picked was the least crazy sounding of all their varieties though - maca, vanilla, & cocoa nib.  Maca obviously isn't standard, but, the others seemed fitting for a chocolate bar.

Maca, vanilla, & cocoa nibs.

"This vegan chocolate perfectly balances the bitter chocolatey crunch of cacao nibs with the sweet vanilla, finished off with a kick of maca root to give you an extra boost! Doisy and Dam are taking the yawn out of the phrase ‘healthy chocolate’, creating indulgent vegan chocolate bars which will more than satisfy your cravings."

The packaging was a bit different, a bar-shaped box that you needed to open, and then the bar itself was wrapped in foil.  Once unpackaged, I found a shiny dark chocolate bar made of 8 distinct chunks.

I broke one chunk off.  It did not have a nice snap to it.  I tasted it.  The texture was rather chalky.  The flavor was ok, very ... fudgey, like a rich brownie perhaps.  I did like the crunch from nibs.  But for me, the texture ruined it.  ***.

I shared some with co-workers to hear their reports.  The verdicts?

• "It was chocolate, it was good."
• "Not smooth."
• "Thumbs in the middle, it is fine."

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Friendly's Ice Cream

Update Review, July 2022

As you may recall from prior reviews, I grew up in a household that always had ice cream cake for birthdays.  Not because my mother didn't want to make our cakes herself (she *really* did, and often made a cake in addition to the ice cream cake), but because we demanded ice cream cake.  And not just any ice cream cake, we *needed* Carvel.  To me, Carvel was the gold standard.  Granted, we had a Carvel store in our hometown, so we had custom made fresh ice cream cakes, and part of the joy of the whole thing was going to the Carvel store and pouring through photos of all the different cakes to pick from (and, getting ice cream while we were there of course).  Eventually the store closed, but we still kept the Carvel tradition alive, albeit with store bought cakes, which I've reviewed before.

So even though I clearly moved on from Carvel cake, and, was basically disappointed by it every time I've had it in the past few years, sometimes when I visit my family, and we are having a party, my past self comes out and demands Carvel cake.

And such was the case in July 2022, when I was visiting my family, and my mom hosted a 4th of July party.  Yup, she wanted to make desserts (and still did), but my sister and I demanded Carvel cake.  But this was the summer of continued supply chain issues, and she went to literally every grocery store in town, and came up short.  No Carvel cakes.  So she got a Friendly's cake instead (which, of course, we let her know was NOT the same, and she did end up getting my cousin to pick up a Carvel cake from 40 minutes away, etc).  So then we had two cakes.  I did a side by side comparison.

Here's the truth.  Well, Friendly's is just better (which I almost had concluded last time I had it too, see prior review).  Gulp.  Sorry mom ...

Celebration Cake.

"Every big (and little) celebration deserves ice cream cake! Lovingly handmade layers of premium chocolate and vanilla ice cream, separated by chocolaty crunchies, are topped with freshly whipped ice cream and decorations. Find one in the frozen or bakery section of your local grocery store!"

The construction of the Friendly's cake is much like that of the classic Carvel cake: vanilla and chocolate layers, separated by chocolate crunchies, whipped icing topping.  

But the Friendly's ice cream is just clearly higher quality.  The chocolate ice cream has more flavor,  creamy milk chocolate.  Both the vanilla and chocolate from Friendly's melt better, are creamier, are just, well, better.  The frosting is about the same, sweet, light, fluffy.  I always like the blue stuff the best, and yes, both have the blue stuff to leave your mouth corners blue.

And then those crunchies.  Those are the signature thing from Carvel, the thing I remember always loving the most (I was a center piece type, to maximize crunchies!).  I did always think Carvel won on this dimension, but, the past few years the Carvel ones haven't been anything like I remembered.  The Friendly's ones really just taste like Oreo crumble, which to me is a bit boring.  Carvel still takes a slight edge here.

So, put that all together, and the Friendly's cake is the clear winner, as the ice cream is actually good, and the rest just adds to the classic ice cream cake experience.  When I want ice cream cake in the future, this is clearly the one I need to get.

***+.

Update Review, December 2019

As I mentioned in my previous review, Friendly's is known for signature ice cream sundaes.  Many diners visit Friendly's just as a dessert destination, particularly as most of their sundaes clock in at 1200+ calories.  Don't even look at the Caramel Fudge Brownie Sundae (1910 calories!).  We rarely went for just ice cream, but sundaes were always a requisite part of a meal there for me growing up, particularly because they offer not only the ridiculous jumbo sizes, but also, a "Happy Ending" smaller size (which, to be fair, is still multiple scoops with toppings, it isn't exactly tiny).

Friendly's has long produced retail versions of its signature ice cream sundaes, individual packaged Sundae Cups, you can find in your grocery store freezer section, which I've reviewed before.  They still catch my eye every time I walk by when I visit my parents, the nostalgia for those sundaes is strong (and we don't have Friendly's on West Coast).

During my recent visit, something else caught my eye however.  Not just ice cream sundae cups, but dessert cups.

Dessert Cups

Dessert cups are a newer offering from Friendly's, retail only.  I was intrigued when I saw the varieties offered, 6 different options, and none seemed based on Friendly's ice cream sundaes.  Rather than just a base of ice cream topped with sauces, candy toppings, and sometimes whipped cream like the Sundae Cups, these are layered creations featuring classic dessert components like pie crust, crumble, and cake.  Think Red Velvet Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, and Pecan Praline.  

I *really* wanted the Blackberry Peach Pie (pie crust pieces, peach pie filling,vanilla ice cream, blackberry sauce, whipped topping, streusel crumble), as this sounded like exactly my sort of thing (except that I'd want the pie components warm ...), but alas, my grocery store had all varieties but that one.  Deciding between the remaining 5 was hard enough. 

Dessert Cup Packaging.

The packaging certainly drew me in, with a clear domed lid with visible whipped cream and toppings underneath.   While the sundae cups often contain a dollop of whipped cream on top, these clearly made whipped cream a primary element.  There was tons.

Banana Cream Pie.

"Layers of vanilla wafer crumbles, banana cream pie filling and french vanilla ice cream topped with marshmallow sauce, whipped topping, and more vanilla wafer crumbles."

I finally decided on the Banana Cream Pie, wondering what banana cream pie filling would be like, and definitely curious about the marshmallow sauce.

On top was vanilla wafer crumble, which only appeared here, not layered throughout, as the description said.  The crumble was fine, basically just like Nilla wafers traditionally used in Banana Cream Pudding.  I appreciated the crunch, and variety of crumb sizes, but the wafers are the least interesting part of banana cream pudding, and I like it better when just made in pie crust anyway ... which the name "banana cream pie" sorta implied ... not "banana cream pudding" ...

Below the crumble was sweet, fluffy, topping.  The description indicated that there would be both marshmallow sauce and whipped topping, but this seemed to be neither, and there was only one layer above the ice cream.  Instead, it was more like a marshmallow whipped topping.  It was very, very, very sweet, but certainly not a "sauce".  I loved the fluffy texture, and at first I loved the sweetness, but after a few spoonfuls, even when integrated in with the other ingredients, it was just too much.  Speaking of too much, there was a lot of that topping, as much topping as ice cream.

Banana Cream Pie: Layers.

Here you can see a bit more of the layers, it took digging to reach the ice cream.  The ice cream was simple vanilla ice cream, fine quality, and necessary to balance out the sweet topping.  That topping really was just too much.

So what about the "banana" element?  That was at the very bottom, the thin layer you can kinda see, "banana cream pie filling".  To me, a banana cream pie is filled with banana pudding and layers of fresh banana, so I expected basically a pudding, perhaps some chunks of banana.  This "filling" was not pudding-like, which I guess is understandable given that it is frozen, and also did not contain any chunks of banana.  Rather, it was more like a ... banana sauce, but not a syrup style, a consistency more like thick caramel.  It is made from banana puree, no bits, not even a touch of texture, from bananas.  It did taste like bananas, no question, and like sugar, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Together this layered creation was a fun idea, and I liked the sounds of it, but it suffered from just being far too sweet - with more than half the creation crazy sweet, there was no balance.  How many grams of sugar did it have?  61 grams!  In the fairly reasonable size portion.  Yeah.  No wonder I tasted way too much sweet.

Original Review, December 2017

I grew up in a town with few restaurants, but we had a Friendly's.  We didn't go out to eat that often, but when we did, and particularly when we were going for a treat, Friendly's was on the list.

Why?  For the ice cream sundaes.  I honestly don't remember the food at all.  I know we got meals, but, I have zero recollection of what I ever had there.  What I do remember?  The peg games on the table, and, the ice cream sundaes.  While many of my friends always talked about the Fribbles (milkshakes), I had eyes only for the sundaes.  But not the one that all the other kids went for, the signature "Cone Head" sundae with a sugar cone upside down on top like a hat and a face, no, I went for the Reese's® Peanut Butter Cup Sundae.  Every single time.  It just used vanilla ice cream as a base (although I often swapped that out), but it was smothered in warm peanut butter sauce and hot fudge, topped with a mount of whipped cream, and garnished with sprinkles, a cherry, and of course, a peanut butter cup.  On really rare occasions I'd mix it up and get the Reese's Pieces version instead, with, well, pieces instead of pb cups, but this was my constant goto.  I just loved the chocolate and peanut butter.  The sundaes are huge, but, you could add a reasonably size "Happy Ending" one on to any meal, which was always my move.

Friendly's has long been in the ice cream business, a featured part of their menu for 80+ years.  Sadly for me, the restaurant shut down in the town long ago, and no where I have lived since has one.  Since then I know they expanded, offering soft serve, Friend-z (mix-in versions),   But they do make ice cream (gallons and novelties) sold in grocery stores everywhere, so, I finally got inspired to try them out, and see if they measured up.

Sundae Cups

I see this in grocery stores everywhere in New England.  The stores sell them 10 for $10, as in, literally, $1 each, which is a bit mind blowing to me.

"Our Sundae Cups come in a perfect personal size for when you just need a sundae all to yourself."

Friendy's individual sized sundae cups come in basically every variety of sundae they serve at the restaurants, and then some.  Which means, they do have a peanut butter cup sundae.  One really unique offering they make is an ice cream cake sundae cup, literally the layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream they use in the ice cream cakes, layered with the same chocolate crunchies, and topped with the whipped topping and confetti sprinkles.  If you like their ice cream cake, but don't have an occasion to celebrate, just get the sundae!

But back to the peanut butter cup sundae.  The sundae cup version uses peanut butter ice cream, and the fudge and peanut butter sauces on top are obviously not warm.  And no whipped cream.  Same with the Reese's pieces version.  This just didn't feel right to me, so I went for something different.

Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup.

 "Enjoy an ice cream masterpiece of green vanilla flavored ice cream topped with a layer of yellow vanilla flavored ice cream, topped with blue marshmallow, whipped topping and primary colored sprinkles—all in a perfectly personal size sundae cup!"

So yeah.  I went for the ridiculous Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup, clearly designed for kids.  The reason was fairly simple, I was having it in the evening, and so I had to rule out all the chocolate based ones.  Every single option, besides a strawberry one, had chocolate, either in the fudge sauce on top, or chips in the ice cream.  So, this was it.  It sounded a lot like the ice cream cake, just minus the chocolate layers.

I did laugh when I opened the lid.  They weren't joking about the colors.

Bright blue marshmallow topping.  Colorful sprinkles.  Yellow ice cream poking out.

I dug in.

The whipped cream was pretty standard, as were the sprinkles.  The blue marshmallow topping was sweet and fluffy, just like on their ice cream cakes.  I liked it.

Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup: Inside.

Under that all was, well, yellow and green ice cream.

It was a bit confusing to the brain to eat yellow and green ice cream, and have them taste like vanilla.  They didn't taste distinct.  They really were vanilla.  They just looked like Playdoh.

Overall, this was clearly fairly simple, but, I liked it.  The ice cream was decent, the marshmallow topping and whipped cream exactly what I remembered from their ice cream cakes.

I don't think I'd get this again, as it was a bit too simple, but, I enjoyed it.  Next time, I'd get the ice cream cake one, or maybe try the peanut butter one, knowing it is nothing like the beloved version served in restaurants.

Ice Cream Cake.

"Bring this Friendly’s favorite anywhere! Our Ice Cream Cake Sundae Cup is made with premium vanilla ice cream layered with chocolaty crunchies, chocolate ice cream, whipped topping & confetti."

When I was visiting my parents one time, I ... really started craving Carvel cake.  Clearly a result of being conditioned than when I'm at their house, there should be ice cream cake in the freezer.  And there wasn't.  Given that my mom hates it in principle (she's a firm believer in home made cake for birthdays!), and my dad hates it for ... other reasons (he doesn't like crispies or frosting?!), I couldn't quite justify going to buy an entire ice cream cake just for me.

So when we were at the grocery store, I made a swift impulse purchase: the Friendly's ice cream cake sundae cup.  Basically, a "single serving" of ice cream cake ... I hoped?

I opened it up to reveal more decoration that I expected.  Confetti sprinkles!  And the entire top was coated evenly in fluffy, sweet, whipped topping.  I was quite pleased.

Ice Cream Cake: Inside.

I dug in, and was further pleased.  

The only real surprise here was the ordering of the elements - the crunchies, rather than being in the middle of the two ice cream layers as is traditional with a real cake, were in the base.  But there was tons of crunchies, and although they weren't quite as good as Carvel, slightly softer, slightly less chocolatey, I liked them.  Both the vanilla and chocolate ice cream were fine, decent quality, creamy, not icy.

Put it all together and ... yup, basically, the same as an ice cream cake, but with more reliable distribution of all the components.  I liked the sweet fluffy topping, I appreciated the decent ice cream,, and loved digging for the crunchies.  It was also an item that ate well, like a good sundae.

I'd get this again if craving ice cream cake!

****.

Original Fudge Sundae.

"Vanilla ice cream topped with fudge, whipped topping & chocolate chips."

This is a classic ice cream sundae, just as promised.  Decent enough vanilla ice cream, lots of thick, rich fudge, fluffy sweet whipped topping, and a few chocolate chunks.

For a packaged pre-made sundae, this was very good.  Sure, the fudge would be better hot, and I wanted fresh strawberries or at least a cherry on top, but, overall, good.  Maybe some nuts?

***+.

Ice Cream Cake

I grew up in an ice cream cake family.  Every birthday.  Every year.  Without fail.  However, Friendly's was not our ice cream cake maker.  It was Carvel.  Always.

When I was younger, Carvel had a store in the town, and we had custom made cakes.  It closed when I was probably 8 or 10 years old, forever ago, but luckily, grocery stores still carry Carvel cakes.  Until one year, when my Mom couldn't find them anywhere.  I think she looked in nearly every store to no avail.  She sent my dad on a last minute job to try a final store, and he came back with something that sure looked like a Carvel cake, except ... it was Friendly's.

It wasn't the same.  But, that doesn't mean it was bad.

Celebration Ice Cream Cake.

"Friendly's ice cream cakes are lovingly handmade to transform any occasion into a happy occasion!"

Friendly's ice cream cakes are much like the Carvel ones - layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, chocolate crunchies in-between, fluffier whipped forsting on the outside. Available in different shapes and sizes.with the classic one having blue frosting border and some confetti sprinkles. They also make a Oreo version (Oreo ice cream layers, crushed Oreos in the center, fudge and Oreo topping), a Reese's version (peanut butter ice cream layers, chopped pb cups in the center, chocolate truffle frosting), and now, a trendy Salted Caramel Truffle one (salted caramel ice cream, caramel chocolate truffles, caramel sauce, fudge, etc).

But we had the classic.

Leftover Celebration Cake.

"Every big (and little) celebration deserves ice cream cake! Lovingly handmade layers of premium chocolate and vanilla ice cream, separated by chocolaty crunchies, are topped with freshly whipped ice cream and decorations. "

Of course, we all immediately compared this to Carvel.  Most of the family refused to even consider that it might be better in some ways.  But it was.

The ice cream was higher quality.  Sorry, Carvel.  Friendly's was creamier, less icy.  Just, better.  The ice cream was in reverse order from Carvel: chocolate on top, vanilla on bottom.

The crispies weren't as good though, they were softer, not as crunchy, not quite the same magic.

The whipped topping was sweet, fluffy, and good.

Overall, it was a fine replacement for a Carvel cake, and, if you actually care about the ice cream, a better choice.

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Cafe Paci, Sydney

Newtown.  Not an area of Sydney I necessarily venture to often (although, I do think the Cuckoo Callay there is better than the Surry Hills one for brunch).  Finnish food.  Definitely not a cuisine I seek out often (um, ever?  Not that I'm opposed but, it just hasn't ever really come up ...).  And yet, for one of the more significant dates of the year, my birthday, I did just that.  I ventured to Newtown, for Finnish cuisine at Cafe Paci.

Intrigued?  You should be.  Intriguing basically sums up every element of dining there.  The decor, the menu, the dishes themselves, are all, well, interesting.  This is not a place to be bored.  

Birthday Dinner.

I visited Cafe Paci on my birthday, with one other guest.  He had visited twice before, and highly recommended it.  Reservations are required a bit in advance, for basically all nights, all times, all party sizes, so, plan accordingly.

We had a nice meal - it was certainly some of the most unique food I've had in a long time, and was quite good.  Definitely a place for foodies, as much as I hate that term, because the food is, well, interesting.

Service was also good, which is not something I say often about Sydney.  Water glasses were kept reasonably full (house sparkling water is free!), new beverages offered when wine glasses/cocktails ran low, serving utensils brought for each share plate, new dishes provided between courses, and the staff were friendly but not invasive.  The meal was well paced out.

I think the menu changes fairly frequently, and I'd be happy to return to try more of this gem.

Setting

Cafe Paci is located right on the main strip in Newtown, in a busy, bustling area.

Street Front.

Cafe Paci looks like pretty much every other establishment of this section of Newtown: bright, fairly generic sign, no outdoor seating, just an entrance and a few windows to the street.

Bar.

But once you step inside, the charm is immediate.  Exposed brick, real wood furniture, quirky art.

A long bar surrounds the mostly open kitchen, with plentiful seating all along.  For a group of two, I think the bar seating would likely be nice, particularly if you want to watch the action in the kitchen.

Table Seating.

Tables are along the other side of the fairly narrow room, all tables for 2 that can be joined together to create configurations of different group sizes easily.

I liked the comfortable bench seating along the wall, and the esthetic of the lamps.

Place Setting.

I found the place setting a bit simple, given the slightly quirky interior and the menu.  Basic white plate, basic cutlery, basic water glasses.  With so many other interesting focal points, this felt a bit like a lost opportunity.

Food & Drink

Don't be afraid!

The wine list has very reasonably priced wines (by the glass or bottle), featuring a large number of orange and rose wines, in addition to standard white/reds.  The list draws from all over - Italian, French, Spanish, Australian, really, a large variety.

I thought this note in the wine menu was cute, as it made the somewhat eclectic wine list more approachable.  And I'll admit, I took a look, and felt pretty lost, not recognizing much of anything.

I had a decent red from Italy later in the meal, 2019 Alice Bonaccorsi Diecidiciletri, a varietal I had never heard of before, nerello mascalese.  It wasn't the most complex wine out there, but it was an easy drinker, nothing offensive about it, and priced quite reasonably at $17/glass.

Old Fashioned. $20.

"Scotch, honey, caraway."

To get started though, I went for a cocktail, perhaps a bit boring, particularly as their cocktail menu is fairly limited, but, I still had a bit of a sore throat, and scotch really is what I wanted.  Hence, an old fashioned.

It was a fine old fashioned, served in a pleasingly heavy glass. Not much to say about it. My companion had a similarly boring negroni.  

Menu

I didn't need the drinks to be interesting though, as the food offerings more than make up for it.

The food menu, much like the wine list, is kinda all over the place.  Pinpointing exactly what the style of cuisine is is quite difficult.  After all, there are items like deviled eggs (hmm, where do those come from?  I think they are British?), and calzones (Italian?), and basics like oysters, but then ... well, it is just so hard to describe.  For example, there is a taco ... but its a rye taco and has ox tongue and sauerkraut.  That certainly isn't Mexican.  There is gnocchi ... but, with an XO sauce, making it, uh, Asian-Italian?  And classic steak frites with sauce Diane for those intimidated by the rest of the menu, bringing in a touch of France and England.  It is a hard menu to really reason about, but it all sounded very, very interesting.  And I guess, uh, Finnish?

In addition to the printed menu, there were a handful of specials, including a few raw seafood options, a salad, market fish of the day, and a couple truffle pasta specials.

The dishes are intended to be shared, except for the first few items that are priced per piece.  We were encouraged to order about 5 different dishes and share them all, but as my companion is vegetarian, and I was drawn in by many of the seafood options, we opted to share a few as starters, and have our own mains.  Our selection of 3 starters and 2 mains (plus 2 desserts!) was just right, but definitely a filling meal, and we easily could have done a bit less.

I appreciated that the dessert menu was included on the main menu, so I could plan accordingly.

Potato and molasses bread with butter. $4.50/each.

Ok, so, if you know me, you know that I generally don't bother eat much bread with meals.  I'm definitely not carb adverse (believe me, put a bread pudding in front of me, or any breakfast carbs, or pile of mashed potatoes, etc, and you'll see), but, bread isn't that exciting to me, and I usually want so many other things.  And I definitely do not go out of my way to order bread at a place that charges for it.

And yet, I gladly ordered the bread here.  I had seen photos, and read reviews, plus had my dining companion's glowing recommendation of it, and, well, yup, I was interested in the bread.  The bread!

My interest was rewarded with some pretty awesome bread.  It was super moist and fluffy due to the potato base, really a unique texture, and had a fairly strong malty flavor from the molasses, and, swoon, the crust.  The crust was sticky, sticky, sticky, and basically, well, candy.  It was impossible to tear this bread with your fingers and not get sticky fingers, but, a bite or two in, you quickly stop caring.  The butter I think may have also had some molasses in it, and it was whipped and fluffy, and the type of butter that you spread on way too thick because its just downright delicious and who cares.

This dish, the simple bread and butter, the optional, paid, bread and butter, set the tone for the rest of the meal.  If it could be that unique and special, well, I knew I was in for a treat.

****+, really, some of the best bread I've probably ever had.  My second favorite dish I think, and it was great to save a little to soak up sauces later on.  I'd certainly get this again.

Mushroom Salad Special. $26.

Next up we opted for the salad special, a fascinating mushroom and comte cheese based dish.  We were told there would be raw mushrooms, crispy fried mushrooms, comte custard, and more.  Given my love of mushrooms, of crispy things, of comte, and of custards, this was a no brainer.

It was a fascinating dish.  The base was crazy thin sliced raw baby mushrooms.  Shockingly thin slices.  Think sorta like mushroom carpacchio I guess.  They were earthy and slimy, and you definitely have to like legit mushrooms (e.g. not plain white or brown table mushrooms) to like this.  On top was tons of the crispy fried little mushrooms.  Sooo much texture.  I liked them the best.  There was also shaved comte that kinda got lost amongst the strong mushrooms flavors, and I guess some comte custard in there, but I can't say I really found that.  

This was kinda fun to eat, and I liked the textures and strong flavors, but, I didn't particularly want more than a few spoonfuls of it.  Interesting to try, but not really the sort of dish you return to.  We didn't finish it, not because it was bad really, it just wasn't that good.  My least favorite dish.

***.

Radicchio, gorgonzola, anchovy, blackberry. $24.
(Anchovy on the side).

Next up, another salad.  Now, this one I was excited for, because I quite like radicchio and love anchovies.  Not quite sure when I last had anchovies, and they sounded perfect.  As my dining companion is vegetarian, the staff offered to put them on the side, which worked great.

I really enjoyed this dish.  The radicchio was served as full leaves, dressed well with at least olive oil (and I think some balsamic?).  Yes, it was a pain to eat as you needed to cut it up yourself, but, it was crisp as could be.  Under the radicchio was a few blackberries, gorgonzola cream and gorgonzola hunks, more olive oil (and again, I think balsamic?).  The gorgonzola cream, blackberries, and radicchio were a killer combination in my book, with the bitter base, the sweet and acidic fruit, and the creamy and funky cheese, really a fantastic play of flavors and quite balanced.  And then of course, my precious anchovies.  Yes, just anchovies, but, I love their funk, and they went quite well with the other ingredients.  I think the salad would be "fine" without them, but I suspect they added quite a bit.  They were soaked in high quality olive oil too.

Overall, well, I loved this.  Yup, a salad.  With essentially only 4 components.  But such beautiful balance.  I used extra bread to lap up the olive oil/balsamic/gorgonzola cream after my salad components were gone, and was pretty thrilled.

****+, my favorite of the dishes.

Potato dumpling with XO trout. $28.

I actually was fairly satisfied with the meal at this point, and would have gladly polished off the rest of the bread, dunking it in any remaining sauces, and moved on to dessert.  But ... we had more substantial dishes ahead, ordered individually as I wasn't interested in the vegetarian pasta.

I could have opted for a seafood forward dish, my standard, but, instead I went for the fascinating sounding potato dumplings.  I had seen photos so I knew this would be gnocchi, but with an Asian style XO sauce.  Fascinating.

It was a good dish.  The dumplings were soft pillows, not gummy, nicely done.  I do sometimes like gnocchi with a bit of sear, or bit of chew to it, and these were just a very soft style, but, they were good.

The XO sauce of course was where the interesting bits were here.  I didn't really taste, nor see, trout, but, there was definitely fermented funk to it, a bit of spice, and well, it was just unlike any other gnocchi I've had before, for sure.  Asian gnocchi ... it works.

I liked this, and I was glad to try something so unique, but I found that I got sick of it after a few bites.  Maybe I was just full and so pleased with the previous dishes?  I probably wouldn't get it again.  My third pick.  ***+.

Sourdough pasta with pear and pecorino. $26.

For his more substantial dish, my companion opted for the vegetarian pasta (the other option was an eggplant dish, which actually sounded pretty good).

As this featured sourdough prominently, I didn't ask to try it.  He did say it was sour.  In retrospect, I do kinda wish I had asked to try it.  I would love to discover some kind of sourdough item I can tolerate, or even, gasp, enjoy ...

Carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice. $15.

And then, it was time for dessert.  The menu had three options, in addition to a cheese course, and all sounded pretty fascinating.  Any other day, I probably would have gone for the passionfruit pain perdu with salted caramel and ice cream, as I love warm, carby desserts, sweet sauces, and cool ice cream pairings, but, I had been feasting on epic bread pudding from Saga Bakery for two days straight, and, well, I actually wasn't craving that style of dessert.  And I really am not normally into sorbet but ... this sounded fascinating, and I adore licorice.

My companion had visited before and had this then, and wanted it again.  And he didn't want to share.  Thus, two of the same it was.  Because he had told them it was my birthday, mine came with a candle, and luckily, no singing or embarrassing attention, which I appreciated.  And, I'm not going to lie, it was nice to blow out a candle on my birthday, as silly as it is. 

This was easily the most unique and memorable dessert I have had in years.  It also was quite good.

The base was a licorice cake.  Real licorice, like, black licorice, not the red candy stuff that is popular in the US.  It was incredibly light, and the licorice flavor was fairly intense.  I think my mother would hate this, but, I adore this style of licorice, so I was quite pleased.

Above that, a scoop of carrot sorbet.  Perfectly soft, refreshing, lightly sweet, and yes, it tasted somewhat like carrot.  Before you think that is weird though, um, think about carrot cake?  Carrots have a natural sweetness and are used in dessert applications all the time.  It worked, really.

And then then, the yoghurt, which was sooooooo light and fluffy, definitely aerated, mousse.  It too was lightly sweet, but still plenty tangy, and the texture was fantastic.

I'm honestly not sure which component I liked the best.  They were all very nicely executed, and together, the flavors and textures truly worked well.  This isn't a very sweet dessert, if you want sweet, likely the passionfruit pain perdu is for you, but it was refreshing, and a fantastic end to the meal.

I'd certainly consider getting this again, but also would like to try others.  The creativity level here is off the charts, and it makes you just want to explore more, even if you like a dish.  If I were to try to refine this dish more, I'd like to see some kind of crunchy element added and perhaps a salty element.  Part of what I love about black licorice is the salt, and I think that could work here in moderation, perhaps as part of the yogurt element?

Anyway, a very unique, interesting, and tasty dessert, very in-theme with the whole meal.  ****.

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