Saga Bakery / Andy Bowdy Cakes

Update Review, August 2022 Visit

When I visit Sydney, there are a few things on my list of "musts".  One of them is always ordering a cake from Andy Bowdy, for a party at my office.  This visit was no different.  As soon as I had my travel dates locked in, I made sure we had an occasion to celebrate, and ordered a big cake, and some bread pudding, for my group.  We expected anywhere between 50-120 people, and thus we ordered plenty (plus, I knew I could take extra if there was any!).   See my previous reviews, and details on the baker below, here.

The cake, as always, was a ridiculous site to behold, and everyone immediately pulled out their cameras to take photos.  If you want a cake that makes an impression, these really are that.  Many people asked where the cake was from, and I was happy to spread the word about this marvelous bakery.

Bread & Butter Pudding (Large).

"Custard soaked brioche, mixed fruit and peel, walnut."

I wanted to get something else besides just the cake, so I could try more marvelous desserts from Andy Bowdy.  One that jumped out, as it was available in large format, was the bread & butter pudding.  I love a good bread pudding.  That said, I like a specific style of bread pudding, with chunks of distinct bread, super moist, but crispy top.  None of that homogeneous bread pudding for me.  I didn't know what style this would be, but I was thrilled when I saw it.

Good bread pudding it was.  It was remarkably moist, really, crazy moist.  The hunks of bread were huge, and clearly had soaked up so so much custard.  The top and edges though were nicely caramelized and crispy.  Yes, this was totally, completely, the style of bread pudding I prefer.

Along with the custard, the bread hunks were interspersed with assorted boozy fruit, candied citrus peel, and walnuts.  A different style of fruit than I am used to with bread pudding (usually fresh fruits), but it worked.  I liked the additional crunch the nuts added too.  It was well spiced, the spicing matching the winter flavors from the bread pudding itself.

Served warm, with a little ice cream to balance it out, it was, in a word, comfort.  It ate like a warm embrace.  I suspect custard would pair nicely as well.

There was nothing earth shattering about this bread pudding, but it was exactly the style I like, and I quite enjoyed it.  I'm not sure I'd get it again, just because there is so much more to explore on the menu, but, I liked it.  ****.

Individual sized ones are available at the bakery for $8.50 each.

Sir Jason James.  26cm. $410.

"White chocolate mousse, vanilla butter cake, hazelnut praline, raspberry jam, blood orange custard, salted caramel, milk cookie crumb, torched meringue."

For the cake, I picked a new one on the menu, the Sir Jason James.  Who is Sir Jason James?  I have no idea, but, apparently the inspiration for this cake.

Like all Andy Bowdy cakes we've had, this one had a lot going on, and was ridiculous to serve.  I tried to cut it so people got as many of the components as possible, but, it was certainly a struggle, as a top to bottom slice would be far too big no matter how thin you sliced it, but, without a full slice like that, you didn't get to taste all the components.

The base was a sturdy, crisp, caramelized layer.  It was hard to cut through, but I loved the crunchy element it added.  I believe it was likely made from hazelnut, like the praline in other sections of the cake?  I really loved it, sweet for sure, but, tasty.  I think it would be great with some fresh fruit and whipped cream or custard, just on its own really.  Or as a cookie.  So the base, definitely a winner, even if hard to serve.  **** for that component.

Above that was layers of the vanilla butter cake and thick layers of white chocolate mousse, several of each.  The cake was fairly average cake, moist enough, but not particularly compelling on its own, but, it didn't need to be, given how much else was in here.  ***.  The mousse was rich, thick, and creamy, almost like a really fluffy cheesecake ... but without the tang.  It didn't really taste like white chocolate to me, but, as a lover of mousse in general, I liked it. ***+.  Great with a bit of the crispy base layer and fruit too.

Between some of those cake and mousse layers was a thinner layer of fruity raspberry jam, that certainly made the whole thing quite sweet, but, it was nice to have the fruity element.  The raspberry continued to the freeze dried raspberries on top as part of the decoration.  I think fresh fruit would help balance it out better, but the jam and the freeze dried raspberries did give it some fruity component.  ***.

Also between the layers was a touch of blood orange custard, but, honestly, I didn't really distinguish it from everything else going on.  I suspect it was a bit thicker than the mousse? And should have added some acidity, but, it really did all get jumbled together.  On top was a drizzle of salted caramel, more sweet, that tied the caramelized notes from the base and the praline together.  Speaking of the praline, I did love that.  Candied hazelnuts ... what isn't to love?  They added crunch throughout as well, and went great with the mousse.  ****.

Somewhere there was milk cookie crumb, but, uh, I didn't quite find that either.  I think it was some of the decoration on top?  Also piled on top was hunks of actual cake, and more praline, and the aforementioned freeze dried raspberries.  And edible flours.  And of course, the torched meringue.  The meringue always makes the cakes look over the top, and this was no different.  It too was sweetened, but light, and a fun component.  I had many people ask if they could get more of that on their slices, so, clearly, it drew people in.  ***+.

Overall, I'd call this a successful cake.  It certainly was sweet, and certainly made it hard to really distinguish every element, but, it was enjoyable, and a crowd pleaser as always.  I took a little home with me, and enjoyed it more when I paired it with ice cream ... which I know sounds crazy given how much it already had going on, but I think it actually helped balance it a bit.  I wouldn't get this cake again, but, I do enjoy ordering these for a crowd.

***+ overall, **** for looks and reception alone.

Update Review, October 2019 Visits

Another visit to Sydney, another launch to celebrate, another reason to order a stunning, stunning cake from Saga.  My group continues to be seriously impressed with these cakes and other goodies.   See my previous reviews, and details on the baker, here.

Cake

The first thing I ever ordered from Saga / Andy Bowdy was a cake, and although last time I tried a trifle, I wanted to stun people again with the looks, and so a cake was in order.

Beautiful Cake Top.

As always, I was seriously impressed just opening the box up.  I mean, really.  It was stunning.

Every element just expertly perched, every freeze dried cherry, morello cherry, edible flower, and chunk of chocolate biscuit was in a deliberate location, nothing out of place.

Pat (sub vanilla cake for chocolate fudge cake). 18 cm. $220. 

"Vanilla cake, smoked almonds, morello cherries, vanilla mousse, chocolate crumb, Fresh cherry* (Fresh Cherry is used to decorate the cake when in season, if not in season Freeze dried cherries will be used)."

I went for the Pat, but modified it to use vanilla cake instead of chocolate.  It sounded like a black forest inspired cake, e.g. cherries and chocolate.

The cake was cake.  Simple vanilla cake.  Not particularly moist nor particularly dry.  Just, cake.  The least interesting layer to me, but, it is the foundation after all.

Ok, the real foundation, the base, was chocolate crumb, compressed like a cookie.  I'm sure this base made a bit more sense with the chocolate cake that Pat is intended to have, but it was fine here too.  The same biscuit was also on top, in chunks.  I liked that it added a touch of bitterness to the overall creation, and some crunchy texture.  I wonder if this is the same cocoa nib cookies they sell separately?

The other main layer was the vanilla mousse, which was far denser than I was expecting for a mousse, and was almost like a Japanese cheesecake in texture, although the flavor was more like a custard.  Kinda a hybrid Japanese cheesecake custard?  Just pretend that makes sense.  Once I was ready to accept that it wasn't a light fluffy mousse, I liked it, the flavor in particular.

Between the larger layers was an entirely unexpected layer: chocolate fudge and cocoa nibs.  Neither were mentioned in the description, so I was caught off guard by the chocolate components, and the crunch of the nibs.  That said, the chocolate fudge went very nicely with the custard-like mousse.

Now, the reason I opted for this cake is that I was excited for the cherries.  The cake was decorated with freeze dried cherries (darn, fresh weren't in season), which were a fun texture, somehow crunchy and spongy at the same time, but they didn't provide much cherry flavor.  I think this cake would be really different, and much better, when cherries are in season and fresh cherries are used.  The morello cherries on the other hand were sweet, soft, sticky, impossible to miss.  If you aren't familiar, these are the kind used in cocktails, like the classy version of maraschino cherries, made from sour cherries, and are intense sugar hits.  I think there also was some cherry component between the layers, but since I didn't get a chance to inspect a perfect slice, I cannot be sure.

But wait, there is more.  The meringue of course, a stunning cascade of sweet torched meringue - very sweet torched meringue, that I pretty much adored, although it made it very hard to cut and serve this cake, just like the other one I had previously.  Excellent, albeit very sweet, meringue.

And finally, the smoked almonds.  Which turned out to be my favorite component.  Very random, but I really loved them.  Slightly smoky, yet slightly sweet (caramelized?), and yay for crunch.

Finally, the edible flowers, I'm not sure what kind they were, but they were shockingly bitter.  A number of my guests were asking, "Can we eat these?"  I thought they actually were just a bit too bitter.

Overall, this was another stunning cake, well received by the group, but, I wouldn't get this one again - I wanted more creamy components and fresh fruit.

Victory.

The carnage after we carve up a Saga cake is always fairly amusing, and this was no exception.

I took the photo before we really did finish though ... I assure you, we got very last bite, there were several more bites left here!

Cookie S'mores

I've had my eyes on the cookie s'mores since the first time I saw them on the menu.

"Signature Cookies Stuffed with Filling and Torched Meringue."

Now, I might not be a cookie girl, but, I sure love fillings and meringue ...

Saga carries two different cookies on the regular menu, peanut butter or salted chocolate cocoa nib, but Cookie S'mores are only available for catering, minimum order of 6.  They come in 3 varieties, two of which use the chocolate cocoa nib cookies as the base, the other peanut butter.  They are all filled with fascinating fillings (mint fondant & chocolate ganache, or amarena cherries/smoked almonds/chocolate ganache, or baked cheesecake & honeycomb), in addition to the torched meringue.

I mean, really, classiest s'mores ever.  I had to try them.

Peanut Butter. $7 / each.

"Peanut Butter Cookie, Baked Cheesecake, Honeycomb, Torched Meringue."

I opted for the peanut butter version.

They looked just as good as I had hoped, the torched meringue really perfectly jutting out around the edges, and expertly torched.  S'mores, kicked up *many* notches.

The peanut butter cookies were good - very thick, very dense, and I loved that they contained whole peanuts.  Tons of peanut butter flavor, sweetened, but peanut was the dominate taste.  They were slightly crumbly, in the right way.  A single one of these cookies was a pretty substantial treat, but of course, there was much more here.

The meringue was the same as in the cakes, lovely, fluffy, extremely sweet, meringue.  When I was growing up, I used to eat spoonfuls of peanut butter and sweet marshmallow Fluff from a jar (together, I was the worst, but I'd dip into the peanut butter, get that in the back of the spoon, and then dip into the Fluff, and have that on the front ... such a magic bite), and this was the same flavor profile, and sensation.  I can only take this as a sign that I'm not the only one who did such things.

I forgot to get a photo of the inside, so you could see the filling, but, inside, in the center was a mix of cheesecake and honeycomb, also very sweet, and the honeycomb was a really nice touch.  Honey roasted peanuts?  Those exist for a reason.  Honey and peanut butter are a wonderful combo.

Overall, these were quite the treat. Every component was good on its own, but combined extremely well.

I'm a massive sweet tooth, and have a pretty big dessert stomach, but I did find it hard to polish one off on my own in a single sitting (although I came shockingly close).  I think splitting one is advisable, or, saving half for later ...

I really enjoyed this, and would get another if I was in the mood for a cookie type treat.

Note: I also discovered that they freeze beautifully.  Just pop one out of the freezer 30 minutes or so before you want it, and nearly as good as new, even the meringue somehow remains in tact.  Why do I tell you this? Because you have to order 6 at a time, so, you might as well fill your freezer.  You'll thank me later, I promise.

Original Review, March 2019

Saga is a bakery located in Enmore, a bit further afield than my normal stomping ground in Sydney.

I haven't actually been there, but it has been on my radar for a while, for both the incredible pastries, but also, their signature cakes.  Now, cakes aren't normally something I go for, but these ... these are special.  More on that soon.

Saga is relatively new, opened only in 2017, by the pastry chef, Andy Bowden (Bowdy), and his partner, Maddison, after he left his famed post at Hartsyard, which is when I first heard of him.

As I said, I haven't actually visited Saga in person, but I was able to order from them, twice, for parties, including a signature cake.  I've also been able to try a few individual pastries.

Ordering large format items was extremely easy, with Maddison quite responsive over e-mail, friendly, and fun to work with.  They even accommodated my orders that were under the cut-off time, and recommended a local courier to use for delivery.  Payment was done through their online portal.  All really remarkably easy.

I highly, highly recommend, either for a casual visit to the bakery (they have breakfast and lunch items too!), or if you ever have need to arrange for a extremely memorable cake.

Individual Pastries

The range of treats for an individual runs from mini pies and cakes, to pastries like apple turnovers, paris brest, and croissant "snails", to cookies, savory biscuits, and focaccia.  As a lover of all baked goods, this lineup was quite appealing.

While my orders were mostly larger items for a big group, I also was able to try a few individual items, picking from their Instagram feed, and giving Maddison a list of things I was excited to try, and letting her pick based on availability, since not everything is available every day.

I found that I loved some of these, but also really didn't care much for others.  I was surprised by how varied my experiences were.  I think this was largely based on personal preference, as the items do seem well made.  I'd gladly try more (and, have my eyes on a few in particular ...).

Strawberry & Custard Tart. $8.50.

"Pie crust, strawberry jam, vanilla custard, hazelnut praline, sour cream, fresh strawberry."

Saga always has a seasonal (weekly?) tart, along with mini banana cream pie.  I was pretty excited when I saw the description of the brand new version: strawberry and custard!  And I loved the idea that they use pie crust instead of tart shells, as I never love tart shells, and find pie crust just so much more enjoyable.

I was so excited to try this, but I was pretty underwhelmed, to be honest.  It made me sad, as there was so much promise.

The toppings were slices of fresh strawberry, which were fine, ripe enough, and hazelnut praline, also fine, but just some mildly candied nuts.

But those were just the toppings, not where I'd expect it to shine anyway.

Strawberry & Custard Tart: Inside.

The part that made me the most disappointed was the crust.  It seemed ... burnt?  It was crisp, too hard, and too dark.  It didn't actually seem like pie crust.  I'm used to not liking tart shells, but this still made me sad as I expected something flakier.

Inside was the vanilla custard and the strawberry jam.  The custard was fine, not all that vanilla forward, but a good consistency, not runny.  The jam though was very very sweet.  The custard and nuts didn't help balance it out for me.  Just, too sweet for me.

So overall, I was not thrilled with this.  Custard, fruit, nuts were fine, the jam too sweet, and the crust pretty bad.

Choux Bun. $8.

"Choux Pastry, Pecan Pie Filling, Salted Caramel Chantilly."

Saga has long had a larger paris brest on the menu, but this is a smaller version, a new item.

That said, it isn't a mini treat by any means, certainly the largest choux puff I've ever seen.

You may recall that I don't actually like choux pastry generally, but I loved the sound of these fillings, so I tried it anyway.  Plus, I'm always willing to believe that I can learn to like something if I have a good version!

But ... I still just don't care for choux pastry ... the eggy nature isn't for me.  I can acknowledge that this was well made, crispy top, generously coated in powdered sugar, light yet custardy inside.

Speaking of inside, I was in this for the fillings.

Choux Bun: Side View.

Here you can see the side view.

Adjacent to the bottom bun was the "pecan pie filling", a thick, sweet layer.  It didn't have noticeable pecans in it, but it was really thick, and I'm still not sure what it was.  It might have had ground nuts in it?  It was very sweet.

Above that was a nicely piped salted caramel chantilly.  The chantilly was rich, thick, and certainly sweet as well, I tasted the caramel very strongly, but not much salt.  It was good chantilly, much like I had in the cakes and triffles (more on those soon).

And finally, both regular and candied pecans perched on top.  The candied pecans were tasty, but very candied, so very sweet, and I was glad to have a few that weren't candied to offset that.

These fillings, much like the namesake pecan pie, were, as you might expect, very sweet.  Every element was sweet.  The pecan pie filling layer was certainly the sweetest.

Overall, this wasn't the item for me, just because the choux pastry isn't something I like, and the filling was too sweet overall.  That said, I added some whipped cream to mellow it out, and enjoyed it as a caramel mousse with whipped cream and crunchy nuts.

I wouldn't get this again though.

Sticky Buns. $6.50.

"Brioche rolled with cinnamon bourbon butter and baked cheesecake, salted caramel and cream cheese icing."

I actually really wanted to try the "Sticky Fingers", described as "croissant dough, peanut butter cookie, banana custard, salted caramel, peanut butter crunch", but, alas, they weren't available the day I ordered from Saga.

I pouted a little internally, and selected my second choice, the sticky bun.  My frown quickly turned upside down as I took my first bite.

O.M.G.

What a sticky bun this was.  Wowzer.  Seriously, a phenomenal sticky bun, unlike anything I've had before.  At first glace, it didn't even look that special, just a large, well glazed sticky bun, right?

But wow.  What a sticky bun.

The brioche dough was rich, moist, fluffy almost.  An amazing light yet rich bread, certainly not dense.  Wonderful brioche, really.  One of the best sticky bun bases I've ever had.

The icing too was fabulous, although it looked like something that had melted off and wasn't generous.  It was sweet, slightly cream cheese flavored, slightly caramel-y.  The caramel nature mirrored what you see in a traditional sticky bun with caramelized edges, the cream cheese was like that normally found on an icing topped cinnamon roll.  I love how it married the cinnamon roll and sticky bun toppings into a new creation, caramel cream cheese icing.  Really a wonderful glaze, and there actually was plenty of it.  It accented the brioche wonderfully.

The cinnamon aspect of the bun wasn't just some cinnamon/sugar filling between the layers, rather, the entire thing was infused with cinnamon bourbon butter.  There was more between the layers, but the top, sides, everywhere had fabulous cinnamon flavor ... and richness.  And yes, there was some bourbon aspect to it as well.

The cheesecake I wasn't sure about, when I read the description this sounded odd ... would there be ... chunks of cheesecake in here?  It confused me when I read it, and, as I dug in, it still confused me.  I never really found anything that was distinct cheesecake, although I tasted cream cheese, and just assumed that was the icing.

So, overall, this was a lovely sticky bun.  Large, decadent, and non-traditional.  I think it would be fantastic warm and alongside a coffee.  Large and easily shareable, particularly if you want to try another treat too.

Signature Cakes

The reason most people have heard of Andy Bowdy is for his signature cakes.  These cakes are, simply put, incredible works of art.  Available in 3 sizes (18 cm to feed ~20, 22 cm to feed ~35, and 26 cm to feed ~50), all layer cakes, many levels high, and filled with a huge variety of fillings, and then ... topped with torched meringue and a cascade of edible flowers.  They are stunning, the flavors are creative, and, well, they are delicious.

They come in 15 pre-designed flavors, all with given names, such as Jasper or Izzy or Karl, and are available as special order only, with a full week advance notice required.  Every "season", 4 are offered as mini 1-2 person cakes as well, which you can pick up at the bakery.  But really, you should come up with an excuse to get one of these full size.

Grace. 18cm. $200.

"Carrot cake, caramel mousse, baked cheesecake chunks, mandarin, walnut, ginger cookie base, salted caramel drizzle."

Um, wow.  Serious, wow.

This cake looked even more impressive in person than I expected.  I had seen online photos, but still, I wasn't really expecting that the garnish would be this elaborate.  Or, that it would survive transport so well!  Thank you, thank you courier for treating this with great care.

Yes, those are chunks of carrot cake perched deliberately alongside, there is salted caramel dripping  precisely down the sides, and there is a topping of crushed walnuts, mandarin segments, candied nuts, and I think some ginger cookie crumb.  Oh, and the meringue of course.  And, um, flowers.  Wowzer.

I cater many events, but I've never seen soooo many people react so strongly (positively!) to anything I've arranged like they did for this.  The number of people who lined up ... to take *photos* was impressive.  Everyone was blown away by the looks.

But looks are one thing.  We wanted it to taste good too.  One co-worker cautioned it might be a "stunt cake", made for Instagram, but not for consumption.  I too was skeptical.

The good news?  It was very, very good.  It turns out, that much insanity can be delicious too.

Grace: Layers!

It was, however, ridiculously hard to slice, particularly as the layers were not all the same, and so just giving someone a "top half" slice was very different from a "bottom half" slice.  I had no choice but to attempt to cut tall thin slices.  It also lost its structural integrity as we neared the final 30%.

But none of that matters.  It was worth the slicing difficulty.  Because it was delicious.  Every single component of it.  It turns out, every single element had its place, and was most welcome.  I was not expecting that, either.

Let me try to break it down.

The very base layer was a thicker, harder layer, I believe the ginger cookie.  I think it had coconut in it as well.  It was sweet, a good texture, and nice to have a more solid ingredient in the mix.  I'm not a cookie fan, but I liked this.  Now I'm curious to try their cookies (particularly the "Cookie S'mores", cookies stuffed with fillings and torched meringue.  ZOMG.  Available for catering only.).

Above that came layers of what looked like just carrot cake and caramel mousse from the outside, but actually had chunks of cheesecake, more salted caramel, crushed walnuts, and unexpected blood orange gel.  The blood orange added an intense hit of citrus, the combined really pleasantly with the salted caramel, and set your palette up for wanting the fresh mandarins on top.  What an unexpected, but totally successful, add-in.

The cake itself was good, moist enough, well spiced, pretty good carrot cake.  I'd be happy with it as a regular cake.

The cheesecake, which at first made me think, "What? Why cheesecake?" made complete sense when I encountered it in the mix, as it provided the elements of cream cheese frosting you normally find on carrot cake, just in a richer, honestly more fun, way.  Like the carrot cake, and the cookie base, it was a well executed version of cheesecake, rich, creamy, good consistency.  I'd be happy with it on its own too.

The nuts throughout I loved, as I am definitely the type who wants nuts in her carrot cake, and I loved the crunch they added.  There seemed to be regular small chunks of walnut within, but then on top was the candied walnuts, which of course I adored.  And of course perfectly caramelized, not too hard of a caramel, no hint of burnt.  I gladly took more than my share of the candied nuts.

Also on top were mandarins, which I wasn't particularly excited by when I saw them, as I don't tend to go for citrus, but they too had their place, providing a juicy freshness, and what I normally get from pineapple in my carrot cake.  A totally different approach to a similar concept, and it totally worked.

The caramel mousse was creamy, fluffy, sweet.  It was the one element I didn't necessarily want combined with the carrot cake, but it was still delicious fluffy pudding, and it was great with the nuts, with the cookie base, with the meringue.  It was fine with the cake, but I felt both were better without each other.

The salted caramel drizzle was sweet and I loved it with the cheesecake in particular.  It might have been the only component that didn't seem truly necessarily, but I still liked it and welcomed it.

And then, the rest of the topping.  The meringue was, simply put, meringue perfection.  I'm still impressed at how well it transported and stayed in place.  Sweet, airy, fluffy, delicious.  Many people specifically requested pieces with meringue, so as I sliced, I tried to give it out fairly ... while still saving plenty for myself of course!  It was awesome with basically anything else.  Or alone.  It was perhaps the best meringue I've ever had?

And finally, the element that took me the longest to figure out: the crumb on top.  It was softer than the ginger cookie base.  It wasn't spiced like the carrot cake, it seemed more buttery.  It didn't seem to be ground nuts.  "Cookie crumble" is what I kept thinking, but that didn't seem quite right.  So I asked the bakery.  The answer? Milk crumb (vanilla cookie and a shortbread hybrid).  Well, of course :)  I know milk crumbs well, introduced to them by Christina Tosi years years years before Milk Bar was an empire, long before she was on TV, long before they were commonplace.  She gave a really small talk in San Francisco way back, and she brought samples of all her different crumbs with her, just to share with us and introduce the concept.  I remember adoring them, and thinking that I didn't even need her cookies and cakes, I just wanted tins of those milk crumbs.  They were oh-so-snackable.  I have no idea if that was the inspiration for the milk crumbs here, or if Andy Bowdy independently came up with these, but they were a wonderful component, sweet, crumbly, and yes, just as addicting as those from Milk Bar.

My words don't really do this cake justice.  Every part of it was really nicely done, and I'd gladly get this cake, or any other variety, again.  I highly recommend.

Grace: Success.

It is safe to say that my group felt the same.

I assure you, not a single bite went to waste.  Yes I licked the serving utensils clean.

Trifles

"Want a hassle free, easily transportable, super tasty and overly impressive on the eye dessert for your feasting table? Look no further. "

For catering, Saga makes large format trifles, definitely less show stopper, but far earlier to serve.

For my second event ordering from Saga, I opted for a trifle, just for ease.  However, trifles are only available in 4 flavors.  And sadly, they do not feature the torched meringue from the cakes.  But ... they serve 20+ people easily, and you get to keep the beautiful trifle bowl!

Nicely Boxed.

Just like the cake, I was impressed the moment I opened the box, both in the visual appeal, and in the fact that it was transported with no harm, elaborate as it was.  

Ok, I take it back, there was one element that went awry - a single brown sugar pecan, which I eagerly snatched up.

"Philly". $195.

"Vanilla Sponge / Maple Custard / Peach and Bourbon Jelly / Brown Sugar Pecans / Vanilla Chantilly / Anzac Crumb / Peach and Rosemary Compote / Fresh Peaches and Raspberries."

The topping of the trifle, while not as beautiful as the cake with its toasted meringue flowing off the edges and intricate edible flowers perched throughout, was no less elaborate.  Every single slice of fresh peach, every single raspberry, every brown sugar candied pecan, every torn chunk of vanilla sponge, every crumble of anzac biscuit, was placed in a deliberate fashion.

I bought this expecting it to be easier to serve than the cake, but, it proved pretty difficult as well.  Getting started without spilling toppings everywhere, and then actually getting scoops that had everything was a challenge.  The first few servings inevitably were just the cake, fruit, crumble, and a little chantilly.  The servings that came mostly from the base were crumble, chantilly and custard, and compotes, but no cake.

Still,we all enjoyed.  It disappeared very fast.

Philly: Toppings.

The fruit was all fresh, good quality berries and peaches, all of which were sliced nearly identically.  Since it was early autumn, the peaches weren't quite as juicy and ripe as I'd want for just eating as a fruit on its own, but in the trifle this was fine.

The vanilla sponge was fairly standard vanilla cake, moist, good crumb, not much interesting to say about it.  It added the non-cream substance to the trifle.

The anzac crumb on top impressed me, just how well placed it was, as at first it looked like just the edges of the cake.  It added a bit of texture, but not much more.

The brown sugar pecans were highly caramelized, I think in the pan a moment longer than ideal, as they were just on that edge of almost bitter and too far.  I still loved having candied nuts for crunch though, and when mixed with the sweeter compotes this slight burnt flavor almost helped balance it.  There was also a salty element I loved in here somewhere, and I think it might have been on the nuts? I'm not sure.

Philly: Layers.

Now, diving in to the layers.

The base was more anzac crumb, then a layer of the peach and rosemary compote and more fresh fruit, then maple custard and vanilla chantilly.  Next came a cake layer, above which was more compote and fruit, more chantilly and custard ... oh, and peach and bourbon jelly cubes in there too.

The peach and rosemary compote I was slightly skeptical of, as I wasn't so sure about the rosemary, but it actually was wonderful.  Not a compote with broken down fruit really, rather, huge chunks of stewed fruit, really juicy and flavorful, and the rosemary, even though in sizeable big pieces, gave it a savory touch I appreciated.  I really liked the compote.  It ... might have been my favorite element?

The vanilla chantilly was just good rich fluffy whipped cream, much needed to complement all the sweeter flavors and break them up a bit.  I failed to really get any distinct bites of the maple custard, which made me a bit sad, as I love custard and maple.  I should have given myself a more ideal portion!

The peach and bourbon jelly cubes were very noticeable when you found one.  There weren't many, but they were a fairly large size, and, quite different from everything else, rather firm cubes of jelly, slightly boozy.  I'm not sure if I liked them or not.  I think I did, but wasn't crazy about them inside the trifle.

And finally, the anzac crumb base, which I expected to just be kinda throwaway (I'm not much into anzac biscuits), but I ended up really liking the crunch and buttery quality to it.

Overall, this was quite enjoyable.  There were some bites I really, really enjoyed, composed of a big chunk of the peach with rosemary compote, some creamy chantilly, crunchy biscuit and candied nuts ... truly great.

I'd definitely get another trifle, although I'd like to try another flavor, and yes, it was moderately easier to serve than the cake, but, only slightly.

Cotogna, SF

10 years.  It had been 10 years since I last dined at Cotogna.  How did I let it be that long?  I honestly have no idea.  I enjoyed it so much my first visit  (particularly, swoon, the tagliolini with dungeness crab & meyer lemon), that I returned as soon as I could get another reservation, just a month later (where the gnocchi with “four lilies,” vin santo & snap peas stole my heart).  I declared the place a gem, totally understood why they book up a month in advance, and certainly intended to return, just, seemingly, I never did.

10 years passed.  Cotogna seems to still be going strong - when I went to make reservations a couple months ago, when I had visitors in town, for a slot about 2 weeks out, there were no bookings available.  When they came back, and I had enough advance notice, I acted fast.  This reservation I secured by booking it literally the moment reservations opened up 1 month in advance.  10 years later, and Cotogna is still always full booked.

Setting

What else has changed at Cotogna?  Well, there was this whole pandemic thing, and Cotogna, like many other restaurants, installed parklets to have outdoor dining options.  My group was seated at a large parklet table.

Parklet.

The parklet setup at Cotogna is made as comfortable as possible, with solid wood walls to block wind and provide privacy, ample greenery, and of course, lots of heat lamps, both above the tables, and along the sides.  Each seat is also provided with an extremely cozy warm blanket.  Besides the temperature, it really doesn't feel like you are eating on a sidewalk, although it does lack some of the charm of dining inside at Cotogna, with the open kitchen and lovely wood burning oven taking center stage.

Our visit was in July, which, if you've been in SF this past month, you'll know was a bit, uh, unseasonably cold.  The wind was legit.  Even with the heat lamps, even with the barricades, even wearing a jacket, it was cold.  I appreciated that blanket immensely.  As the evening wore on, eventually the wind died down, the wine kicked in, and I was plenty warm, but, it was a bit unpleasant at first.

Cuisine

The cuisine at Cotogna remains largely unchanged, although prices have gone up accordingly.

Menu.

The menu is still broken down in antipasti, pizza e pane, pasta, secondi, and of course, dolci, although the later is not listed on the main menu.  The only real difference from prior menus is that bread used to be available free of charge if you asked for it, now it does incur a fee.  This is on trend with most SF restaurants over the past few years.

Feast.

My visit was with a group of four, and we dined family style, with one vegetarian in the group.  We focused primarily on the elements I remembered being the best at Cotogna, namely, the pasta.

We had a nice meal, although I wasn't quite as wowed as I had been on previous visits.

Antipasti / Pizze E Pane

The Cotogna menu begins with some antipasti to share, such as oysters, a gazpacho that sounded great ... if it had been warm weather, and a few other light dishes.  We selected one for our group, a signature dish, that I saw nearly every table order.  If you weren't familiar with the menu though, it would be easy to pass by, just listed as prosciutto with some garnishes. 

Next up is the pizza and bread lineup.  We entirely skipped getting pizza (both myself and the other diner who visits regularly agreed it is fine, but, the pasta is better) but did get the house made focaccia, intending it to be used to soak up our pasta sauces.

Our dishes arrived after not too much delay, once we had nicely settled in, and were enjoying our wine.

Antipasti: Prosciutto.  $22.

"Prosciutto with gnocco fritto & Lambrusco pickled onions."

I selected the antipasti for the group, but everyone was interested once I shared the details.  I knew what to expect - not only would there be the prosciutto obviously, but strangely, not even listed on the menu, is the fact that it comes with gorgonzola dolce, which made it suitable for our vegetarian diner to have part of as well.  Plus, if you don't know what gnocco fritto are, it could be easy to pass up the little pillows of crispy goodness.

The idea behind this dish is you crack open the gnocco fritto, and stuff it as you please - as much prosciutto, cheese, onions as you see fit, to craft your perfect bite.  I'll admit I didn't do a great job - to much of the red onion that was just too flavorful and overpowered.  Of course, you could also just opt to eat the prosciutto as is, and is what we needed to do once we ran out of our single gnocco fritto pocket each.

I enjoyed having something "to do" to put together a nice bite, and the prosciutto and gorgonzola dolce were good quality, but I don't think I'd get this again.  A slightly novel way to enjoy a classic starter, but not one that really popped for me as much as I hoped.  ***+.

Pizza E Pane: Focaccia della casa. $10.

Our other dish to arrive at this time was the wood fire baked focaccia.  I actually intended it to go alongside our pasta, to lap up the sauces, but I realize now I should have specified that, as the pizza and bread are generally served as a course before the pasta.  In the end, our pasta dishes didn't have that much extra sauce anyway, so it was fine to get it earlier, and we had plenty remaining to use with the pasta if we wanted.

I opted not to try it, as focaccia isn't really my thing, I really had wanted it only for the sauce purposes, and I just used part of a gnocco fritto for that instead.

Pasta

The main attraction for us, like many, at Cotogna was the pasta. We entirely skipped the secondi, even though I'd seem some Instagram glamour shots of pretty lovely squash blossom wrapped salmon.  We where there for what Cotogna always shines at: the pasta.

Our group of four picked four to share from the 7 available, including 3 vegetarian items (as we had one vegetarian with us), and one with pork sausage.  We skipped the other vegetarian option (minestrone, eh), the signature agnolotti del plin (I hadn't been wowed by it before and the other regular had just had it the week before), and the final option, which I would have picked over the one meat dish we got, a garganelli with porcini mushrooms and prosciutto, but I was happy to go along with the group order.  The two items I wanted most were on everyone's list, so, I didn't care as much about the rest.

Three of our pastas arrived at once, but the signature, show stopping, raviolo did not.  I'm still not sure if the kitchen forgot it, or if it was deliberate to bring it so much later.  I suspect the former, as we were only provided serving utensils for three dishes, and I did inquire about it after about 5-10 minutes of not being mentioned.

Corn triangoli. $26.

"with chives & their blossoms."

This was the dish I was most excited for.  Yes, I knew the raviolo was the food porn showstopper, but this one sounded the most to my liking, plus, it sure gets great reviews, even better than the aforementioned raviolo.  Plus, I absolutely love corn, and it was peak corn season.

It did not disappoint.

The pasta was perfect - it was thin, delicate, and expertly cooked.  No mushy pasta here, and nothing clumped together.  The pockets were filled with corn goodness, along with all the visible corn in the simple butter sauce.  I wanted corn, and I got corn, every bite just burst with incredible corn flavor.  The chives were a nice match.

The sauce was a touch boring, part of me wanted a cream sauce, something with more to it, but I think that would have detracted from the wonderful corn flavors throughout, so I suspect the kitchen made the right call here.

Really, a lovely, corn forward, seasonal dish, perfectly prepared, and a great way to start the meal.  I'm still not sure if I preferred this or the raviolo, both were nailed.  ****.

Tortelli di Norma. $27.

"with ricotta salata, tomato & basil."

The group opted for this vegetarian pasta to round out our menu, to have a third option that was available to all, and, well, wasn't minestrone (we all agreed that was boring).

The tortelli were arranged lovingly, and just barely sauced - enough for each bite to have the sauce, but, certainly not much extra.  This was a dish about the beauty of the pasta, accented by the sauce and ricotta salata grated on top, but certainly not dominated by it.  It was a not a dish that you'd use your extra bread to soak up all the sauce, although I actually did do that to taste a little.

The sauce was a very simple tomato sauce, but quite vibrant, and rather buttery.  It certainly did NOT taste like it came out of a jar.  I decided not to try a tortelli, as I loved the corn triangoli so much, and wanted to save space for the hopefully incoming raviolo.  I also just wasn't really in the mood for red sauce, even though this was a nice sauce.

Mezzi Paccheri. $24.

"with pork sausage sugo & broccoli di ciccio."

The sole meat option we picked was the mezzi paccheri.  While I would have opted for the prosciutto pasta, my preference wasn't that strong, as I do like good sausage, and one diner was very interested in having sausage. 

This dish was considerably more sauced than the tortelli, as the sugo was a main component, although it certainly wasn't swimming in sauce either.  I was surprised at how minimal the tomato component was in it, while there was some mild tomato in the base, the primary ingredient was the ground pork sausage, basically in a meat enriched broth.  Roasted red onions and some lightly cooked cherry tomatoes rounded it out, along with the broccoli di ciccio for a touch of green.  I found it notable that the salt level was perfect for me - our tables came with no salt nor pepper to add, and, we didn't need anything adjusted, the kitchen nailed the seasoning.

The pasta, mezzi paccheri, was a great shape as it had a bit of bite to it, and held up well against the meat.  Like the other dishes, the pasta was perfectly cooked, al dente.

This dish was another fairly simple seeming dish, just tube pasta and a meat sauce, but, it was well executed.  My least favorite of the pastas, just because it was a bit boring.  ***+.

Raviolo di ricotta. $28.

Behold.  The raviolo.

Yes, I know this is one of those dishes that people go nuts over on Instagram.  Ok, in its served form it is a touch ugly, but the beauty comes when you cut into it.  Yes, I know that egg yolk food porn has kinda had its moment.  But, I also know how much skill goes in to making this dish, and, simple put, when done well, the results are stunning.

For the unfamiliar, this is "just" a simple, single giant ravioli patty, as big as a plate.  A ricotta filled ravioli.  In brown butter sauce.  With ... a giant egg yolk right in the center, hopefully ready to ooze out everywhere.  Nailing the execution of it - cooking the pasta fully, not actually cooking the yolk, etc is where the skill comes in.

But let's start with the pasta part.  Like all our other dishes, the pasta was clearly fresh, the right thickness, as in, fairly thin.  And, yes, perfectly cooked - not mushy, not underdone, lightly al dente.  The pasta was about as good as simple fresh pasta can get.

Same with the sauce.  Just brown butter, and plenty of it.  Definitely our most sauced dish, and by far the most delicious of the sauces, the one that I absolutely wanted bread to use to soak up all the goodness.  The nutty notes to it were lovely.

I suspect that just fresh pasta, with this brown butter, and a shaving of parmesan over it would be a fairly stunning, albeit very simple, dish.  But this one had much more to give, as that raviolo was ready to be cut into.

Raviolo: Inside.

And here you have it.

The pasta was well stuffed with creamy, seasoned ricotta, and of course, lots of bright orange egg yolk that did indeed come bursting out as I cut in, and mixed together with everything else to create the "perfect bite".  The result was a luxurious mouthfeel, that, even though there was plenty of butter, cheese, and egg yolk involved, didn't feel too rich.

Like the previous dishes, I noted how well seasoned the dish was, again, no additional accents were needed (although I could imagine a more heavy hand with black pepper, or perhaps fresh black pepper cracked on top, could accent it further, or perhaps some fresh sage?).

It might seem crazy to pay $28 for "just a cheese ravioli", but, the skill level was apparent, and it was tied for first place for me for the top dish. ****.

Dolci

After our mains were finished, the group pondered ordering more pasta, but I was certain to save room for dessert.  Of course, I always love dessert, but in this case, I'd looked at the menu online just an hour before to ensure they still had the items I'd been drooling about on Instagram for the past few weeks.  I looked forward to the glorious warm and decadent pan dulcis with rum caramel & vanilla bean gelato and the panna cotta with fresh figs.  

Our resident wine expert picked us a fairly incredible bottle of dessert wine, that we all quite enjoyed.  It actually wasn't on the wine list, but the sommelier found it and recommended it to us, after a lengthy conversation with my guest who certainly knew his wines.  It really was a treat.

Dessert Menu.

My heart sank when we received the menu.  Not only were the two items I was so excited for gone from the menu, but ... there was literally no dessert I even really was interested in.  The lineup was sorbet with fruit (I never think of sorbet as a "real dessert", plus, it wasn't exactly warm outside dining), a pine nut and lemon tart (since having pine nut syndrome about 10 years ago I've not gone near a pine nut, plus I don't generally care for lemon desserts), chocolate bomboloni (ok, possibly good, but I avoid caffeine, even chocolate at night), and gelato (a great component to a dessert, but, not a full dessert in my mind, and again, it wasn't warm out).

I quickly thought through other neighborhood options, but, nothing really came to mind, plus, we'd just ordered an excellent bottle of dessert wine.  And thus, with zero enthusiasm, I ordered the two "real" desserts for the group, a long with a scoop of gelato to pair with them.

The good news?  I survived not getting pine nut syndrome again, and perhaps can move forward in life without avoiding it quite so much.  And the desserts were "fine", but not particularly my style, and I really was sad not to get what I had been eyeing ... the woes of scoping a place out in advance!  Had I never known what desserts they were serving just a day prior, I'd feel much less disappointment most likely.

Sicilian Pine Nut & Meyer Lemon Tart. $12.

Behold.  A tart.  A lemon tart.  A PINE nut lemon tart.  For those who read my blog regularly, you know I don't tend to give tarts very high accolades (their crust is just so often a letdown, and I'd rather have a pie most days), and I also don't tend to go for lemon desserts.  And, um, I haven't had ANYTHING with pine nuts in it for at least 10 years since I had pine nut syndrome.  To say this was outside my comfort zone is an understatement, and, if there was any other dessert I wanted, I certainly would have just skipped it entirely.  But ... the menu was so limited, and I was ready to take a small bite, and hope for the best.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only did I survive my pine nut experience unscathed, I did actually enjoy the tart.  The shortcrust was soft, sweet, and buttery, really nicely done.  For once, a tart that doesn't have a "throwaway" shell.  The meyer lemon was lightly sweet and tart, and really a nice flavor to compliment the pine nuts.  It was a quite balanced dish, in both flavor and texture, with soft crust, gooey filling, and crunchy nuts.  It ate well, if you know what I mean.  The simple garnish of a small dollop of cream and lightly candied lemon worked well, but, you know me, I'd love more cream (and, the gelato I ordered also worked great with it).

I actually enjoyed this, and would consider getting it again.  One of the better tarts I've had, even if not flavors and ingredients I normally go for.  ****.

Chocolate & Praline Bomboloni. $14.

The bomboloni weren't quite what I was expecting.  I did expect large filled donuts of course, but I thought they'd all be filled with chocolate of some form, and that there might be praline (like, candied nuts) on the plate.  Instead, our order included two of the donuts stuffed with chocolate filling and one stuffed with "praline".  This was actually a good thing for me, as it meant I could mostly skip the chocolate (caffeine), although there was chocolate sauce on the plate as well, it was minimal.

There was also just a small dollop of cream, and a few cocoa nibs, to finish off the plating.  As no one else went for it, I quickly snatched up the cream, which was needed to balance the filling of the bomboloni (as was the gelato, keep reading).  I felt the dish lacked any crunchy textural element, and was surprised there was no praline on the plate.

I did not try the chocolate filled ones, but I did taste a little of the chocolate from the plate, which I think was the same.  It was ... chocolate?

Praline Bomboloni: Inside.

I opted just for a praline bomboloni.

The donut was mildly warm, and coated in sugar.  Nothing remarkable, on par with any donut shop really.  Sometimes restaurant donuts can be fairly mind blowing as they are freshly made, but these didn't seem particularly noteworthy.

Inside was generous filling, in this case, "praline", which to me tasted like hazelnut.  It was very sweet, and very strong, and entirely overpowered the donut.  It, like the donut shell, was mildly warm.  I found it fairly cloying, and didn't really enjoy it.  I needed to use equal parts gelato to attempt to balance it out, which really just meant I missed out on the subtuitlties of the lovely flavor of the gelato.  I wonder if the chocolate filling was better, or, if you needed to use a little of each to make a nice bite?  That doesn't seem particularly practical though, as they were seperate.

I didn't care for anything about this dish, and wouldn't recommend. *+.  The $14 price also felt a bit high, I know it was restaurant dessert prices, but, these sort of donuts would be <$3 each at a donut shop.

Jenn's Gelato: Vanilla & Honeycomb. $8.

Gelato was available in 4 flavors, 3 of which were caffeinated: mint stracciatella, vanilla & honeycomb, espresso & fudge, and cioccolato.  Since I was avoiding caffeine as much as possible, if I wanted gelato to pair with our desserts, I had one choice: vanilla & honeycomb. 

The gelato is served by the scoop for $8, and comes with a crispy wafer cookie.  The wafer cookie was not anything special, just basically a sugar cone but in round cookie form.  No one else wanted t, so I used it to scoop up some of the bomboloni filling and ice cream.

Honeycomb!

The gelato was good.  It melted nicely, and had quite large hunks of honeycomb inside.  It complemented the desserts perfectly - the sweet honeycomb went very well with the pine nut tart, and the neutral base helped balance out the very sweet and very overwhelming praline filling from the bomboloni.  I was quite glad to have the gelato, and even though we had only one fairly small scoop, the others didn't really seem interested in it, so I got nearly the entire thing, which was the right amount to pair with my portions of the other items.  

I definitely recommend adding gelato to pair with desserts, if that is your thing of course.  ***+.

Dunkin' Donuts - The Drinks

Update Review, 2021/2022

Another year, another couple visits to the east coast, and thus, more Dunkin' beverages.

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Small.
(Seasonal).

"For the ultimate pumpkin experience, Dunkin’s new premium pumpkin pick, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, offers Dunkin’s Cold Brew – coffee steeped in cold water for 12 hours for an incredibly rich, ultra-smooth, full-bodied beverage – made with pumpkin flavor swirl, topped with the new Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar topping. Dunkin’s new Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam is light orange in color and has sweet notes of pumpkin and hints of warm spices such as cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. The drink is served with a special sip lid so fall fanatics can enjoy the layers of velvety Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam and delicious bold Cold Brew to the fullest."

So ... this is not quite what I wanted.  I had ordered a small cold brew, no ice, black, when I saw the pumpkin cold foam behind the bar.  I asked about the pumpkin cold brew item listed on the menu, and was told it was the same as what I got, just with the pumpkin cold foam on top.  I changed my order, asking for that instead, so I could get to try the topping.  I still expected my black coffee, and no ice ...

And ... this is what I was given.  I couldn't be bothered to complain, but, it had ice, and it had pumpkin swirl syrup, with sugar and cream, mixed in as well.  Sigh.  Kinda the opposite of a simple black no ice coffee!

The topping however, the part I was after, was great.  It really did taste like pumpkin spice, and the cinnamon sugar on top took it over the top.  The entire drink was super sweet and tasted like pumpkin pie, again, not what I was going for, but, it was good ... for dessert.

***, and probably **** if it was what I had wanted.

Cold Brew. Large. No Ice.

"100% Arabica beans steeped overnight in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract the flavor, making it an ultra-smooth, full bodied cold coffee with a sweeter, rich chocolatey taste. Craft-brewed in small batches. Limited quantities available daily."

Some Dunkin locations have a full tap setup, with cold brew, nitro cold brew, and other items.  It looks, almost ... classy? (If you consider a tap system classy, heh).

Anyway, the cold brew I've had on tap at Dunkin' has always seemed slightly weaker than the cold brew I've gotten at locations that don't have the tap system, but it is always fine.  Not remarkable, but smooth enough, drinkable enough.  Fine, average cold brew, better than iced coffee or hot coffee usually. ***.

[ No Photo ]

Nitro Cold Brew

I finally found a location that had nitro on tap.  The nitro I did find fairly notable, super smooth, deep, rich, complex flavor.  I really enjoyed my nitro, and when I didn't finish it (its a lot of caffeine), I threw it in the fridge and enjoyed the next day with no problem (besides of course not having any fizz).   It was still good, just, not nitro'ed at that point.

Definitely something I'll get again.  It is available only in small size, per Dunkin' rules due to caffeine content.

****.

Update Review, 2020

I spent the summer of 2020 on the east coast, and was able to visit Dunkin' Donuts far more times than I have since ... well, living there.  It was always "fine", and I wouldn't have necessarily sought it out, but they were giving free coffee every Wednesday, and, well, it gave me somewhere to "go" outside the house.  The majority of my visits in 2020 I just ordered iced coffee, hazelnut.  

One time though, I splurged to finally give the cold brew a chance.

Large Cold Brew, No Ice.  $3.55.

"An ultra-smooth, full-bodied coffee like no other. We’ve steeped 100% Arabica beans in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract all the flavor into this velvety brew."

I can't say this was actually very good, nor better than the iced coffee.  It was just ... dark coffee.  

I usually find cold brew to be stronger, more smooth, etc, but this was pretty flat.

Not bad, but nothing really good about it.  ***.

Side of Whipped Cream.

Because this was my birthday freebie drink, I could do additions without an upcharge ... I didn't want whipped cream on my cold brew, as I wanted to actually get a chance to evaluate it in its pure form.  But I wanted some whipped cream to dunk my donut pieces into ...

So I ordered it "on the side", and was kinda impressed that no one seemed to bat an eye.  My serving of whipped cream was provided in its own cup, and the person delivering my order to the counter said, "cold brew, and here is your side of whipped cream", like it was tbd.  Nice.

It was a generous portion, considerably more than I'd get on an actual coffee.

Light, fluffy, standard sweetened Dunkin' Donuts whipped cream.  ***.

Whipped cream + French Cruller.

And here is my hack: a donut, with a side of whip!

It was my first time trying the french cruller (as I reviewed last week), so I didn't realize how sweet it would be - it is glazed.  It didn't need to be dunked in sweetened whipped cream.  But I think the concept is great, and look forward to doing it with a more plain donut.

Update Review, August 2019

Another year, another east coast visit, another couple lackluster visits to Dunkin' Donuts for highly mediocre coffee.

Dunkin' Decaf, Hazelnut, Medium. $2.65.

Dunkin' Donuts coffee really isn't that great.  I know this.  But, sometimes, you just need to go with tradition, and get it anyway.  As I did, several times during my July trip to the east coast.

I went for hazelnut each time, knowing the flavoring would at least help give it a bit of ooph.

The coffee the first day was ... ok.  Not good, but not the worst ever.  I think I still liked having the hazelnut.  I liked it better chilled over ice.

Why anyone would pay $2.65 for this is beyond me though.

Grounds!

The next day, it was ... horrible?  Bitter.  Acidic.  Harsh.  Just, really quite awful.

I took a couple sips, and then ... accidentally spilled it all over myself.  Literally, all over myself.  Which revealed the bottom of the cup.  Filled with course grounds.  No wonder it was so awful.

I had only taken, literally, 5 steps outside the door, so I went back, and asked if they'd take pity on someone who just dumped it all over herself.  They said yes (thank you!), and also noticed the grounds everywhere.  The supervisor (I think?) rinsed out the vat of coffee, and brewed a fresh one, before giving me more.

To say it was better is an understatement.  I wouldn't call it *good*, not by any stretch of the imagination, but, but was far far better fresh.

Still, um, $2.85 for this coffee just makes no sense.  I do it when I'm on the east coast, once or twice, but, I'd never visit regularly for this coffee.

Update Review, December 2018

Cold Brew, No Ice, Large.

"An ultra-smooth, full-bodied coffee like no other. We’ve steeped 100% Arabica beans in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract all the flavor into this velvety brew."

Yes, Dunkin' jumped on board the cold brew wagon.  And ... they did a decent job.

Smooth, full bodied, not harsh nor acidic ... actually a decent cold brew.  Better than the brewed coffee, and actually enjoyable black (even though that order was met with surprise, "just black? No cream or sugar?").

So it was a rewards drink, I got the biggest size, no ice, and used it for my morning coffee for a few days (kept in the fridge of course).  #proMove.

Update Review August 2018

Yeah ... I'm pretty much over Dunkin' Donuts.  It is expensive for what it is, the coffee just isn't anything special, and the baked goods lost their appeal long ago.  It is reliable, particularly for a simple coffee (hot or iced), but beyond that, meh.

Update Review December 2016

A crazy thing happened to me on my holiday visit to the east coast in December.  I decided, perhaps long overdue, that I don't really like Dunkin Donuts.  At least, not the coffee.  It just isn't very good.  I'm sorry, I know I'm upsetting a lot of people right now.  And really, for what it is, it is expensive.  I had my years of loving the place, but I think I was into it in my younger years because of all the cream and sugar, and, well, I didn't really appreciate coffee itself.

During that visit, I still went a few times, got coffee, and didn't really care for it.  On my last day, I realized that I had a birthday freebie reward about to expire.  I didn't want another mediocre coffee.  I knew that way back in the day I loved Coolattas, except, I didn't want caffeine (although, it turns out, Coffee Coolattas have *very* little caffeine content, barely more than decaf!)  I thought I could perhaps try a fruity Coolatta for the first time, assuming it was basically just a slushie drink, but then I saw just how much sugar was in it (88 grams!), and thought better of it.  Instead I opted to go totally off menu, and make up my own icy beverage, somewhat inspired by exploring off-menu Frappuccinos at Starbucks.  Did you know you can do that at Dunkin' Donuts?  I didn't, until I tried.

Original Reviews, 2013 - 2015

I've shared my thoughts on the west coast coffee chain darling, Peet's, and the nationwide Starbucks, so it seems only appropriate to post about the place I grew up with: Dunkin' Donuts.  Or Dunks, as I knew it.

Dunks is where I learned to drink coffee.  Now, granted, what I thought was coffee then and what I think is coffee now are two very different things.  But it still holds a very special place in my heart.

As a kid, no birthday party was complete without a giant box of munchkins.  Once I could drive, no road trip was complete without several stops at Dunks to get a hot coffee and a muffin.  And no summer day was complete without a refreshing Coolatta or an iced coffee.  They seemed to have a product to fit whatever stage of life I was in.

But then I moved to the west coast, where there are no Dunkin' Donuts.  And I started drinking my coffee black, and then even just drinking espressos, and started caring which single origin coffee I was drinking, and what extraction method was used to prepare it. My days of Dunks were behind me.

On my last few visits to the east coast however, I've tried it out again.  While still satisfying in the nostalgic sense, it actually isn't very good.  I claim it has changed.  For example, my coffee of choice, the french vanilla, used to be actual french vanilla coffee, and now it is just the regular coffee, with a squirt of flavored syrup in it.  They only brew basic regular and decaf now, and just use syrups for the rest.  The donuts and muffins are no longer baked fresh daily on site, but rather in big distribution centers and shipped in.  And ... they sell bagels?  And breakfast burritos?  And ... tuna salad sandwiches?  And my precious Coffee Coolatta is now called "Frozen Coffee Drink".  Whaaat?

Anyway.  I've tried out a bunch of their products again, and my notes on the drinks are below (to read about the baked goods, and donuts, visit that review).  The only thing that I used to love that I haven't tried recently is the muffins, particularly, the corn muffins.  They had a big sign on them boasting "new recipe!" so I shied away.  I'll let them stay in my memory as the amazing thing they once were.

Notes below include both standard, and seasonal special, offerings, compiled over the course of 2013 - 2015.

Hot Coffee

I found a lot of variety in the hot coffee.  I think the biggest difference was likely how fresh the coffee is, particularly the decaf.  Unlike Peet's, they don't have any policies regarding freshness.  Several times I asked how fresh the decaf was, and the worker told me it was from that morning (when it was late in the afternoon).  Yikes!

Back in the day, when you ordered a coffee at Dunks, it came with cream and sugar, by default.  If you didn't specify anything, that is what you got.  And not just a little bit of each, they'd load it up with a giant scoop of sugar and a generous glug of cream.  Not half and half, cream.  It was sweet, it was creamy, and I guess there was coffee in there somewhere.

Times have changed a little.  Now, if you just order a coffee, they ask, "cream and sugar?"  And if you say yes, you still get the massive amounts of it.  I tried some black a few times, and must say, it wasn't very good at all.  But load it up with cream and sugar, and it is still pretty much what I remember.

Standard Flavors

Other things that have changed?  How the flavor is added.  I used to always love the french vanilla and hazelnut coffees.  Back in the good old days, these were actually flavored coffees.  Now all flavors are added as syrups.  Most are just sweetened syrup with some flavors, although the "flavor swirls" also include sweetened condensed milk, so you have to be careful if you get one of those and also ask for cream and sugar ... it gets crazy sweet and creamy fast!

For the shots that are just flavor, options are blueberry, raspberry, coconut, mocha, and toasted almond, plus  caramel, hazelnut, french vanilla.  The later options are also available as the aforementioned "swirls", with sweetend condensed milk already added in.

Small Hot Coffee, Hazelnut.

Hazelnut is my current favorite.  I used to love the old brewed French Vanilla flavor, but the new syrup I do not like as much.  Hazelnut adds a nice aroma and flavor, although the standard number of pumps of syrup tends to be too sweet for me.  I prefer one fewer pump than standard.

Other Flavors:

• Blueberry: I tried this really just out of curiosity.  Blueberry coffee?  Wat? Well, it was exactly what it said it was.  Blueberry flavored coffee.  No reason to get this again, but it was decent blueberry flavor.  
• Caramel: The aroma on this was lovely, but the taste ... awful.  I'm not sure if it was the caramel, or the stale, rancid old coffee it was added to, but, it was undrinkable, and I haven't been brave enough to try it again since!
• Cinnamon: Not bad, but obviously just cinnamon flavor syrup.
• French Vanilla: A tiny bit sweet, a tiny bit vanilla-y, and a bit "fake" tasting.  I still like having the flavor, but its not what it used to be.
• Toasted Almond: A bit burnt tasting perhaps, not good.

Seasonal Specials

Throughout the year, Dunkin' Donuts introduces seasonal specials, usually inspired by holidays, or recent partnerships (like when they merged with Baskin' Robbins, and started offering all sorts of ice cream inspired flavors).  These flavors come for a few months, and then go, although sometimes they repeat again the next year.

• Peppermint Mocha (Seasonal, Winter 2014): Slightly pepperminty, but not very strong.  Didn't taste any chocolate or "mocha"ness.  Least sweet of all the flavor swirls.
• Pumpkin Swirl: Very pumpkiny, spiced, and insanely sweet.  This is one of the "swirl" flavors, so it has sweetened condensed milk, very sweet, very creamy. 
• Red Velvet Swirl: Another "swirl" flavor, very sweet and creamy, actually kinda tasty!  [ Very sweet, very creamy, enjoyable. ] [ A single pump isn't enough for a medium to really give it the richer red velvet flavor.  But standard order (2 pumps?) is a bit too much for me, the cream left a nasty mouthfeel and coated my throat. ]
• Sugar Cookie (Seasonal, Winter 2014): This was a flavor swirl, so, again loaded with sweetened condensed milk and sugar.  I got a small, and I think the amount of syrup added would have been sufficient for a large.  Way, way too sweet. I'm not sure what I was expecting from "sugar cookie" flavor, but all this tasted like was sweetness.  Would not get again.

Other Hot Drinks

Dunkin' Donuts sells a number of other hot drinks, including tea, chai, hot chocolate, lattes, cappuccinos, and the "Dunkaccino®".  I can't imagine ordering these beverages, but, some people must.

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Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.

"Now you can enjoy the doubly tasty sensation of sweet and salted caramel in your cup of hot chocolate."

My sister ordered a hot chocolate since she doesn't like coffee.  And ... I stole a sip.  It was crazy sweet.  Like way, way too sweet.  And not very chocolately at all.  It did have a nice froth on top, but I think it came from a machine, not a skilled barista.  Certainly not my thing.

Iced Coffee

My old standard summer drink was always iced coffee.  Like the hot coffee, the flavors now come as a flavor syrup, rather than brewed flavored coffee.  And like the hot coffee, once loaded up with Dunk's signature amounts of cream and sugar, it was pretty much exactly as I remembered.  Sweet, creamy, refreshing, exactly what I wanted on a hot summer day.

Standard Flavors

The standard flavors available for iced coffee are the same as for hot coffee.

Medium Hazelnut Decaf Iced Coffee, Splash of Milk. $2.59.

This is my classic summer drink.  Warm weather and iced coffee just go hand in hand.  My favorite flavor for iced coffee at Dunks is hazelnut.

I never like my iced coffee black, so I always sweeten it, and add milk rather than cream.  I'm not cream-adverse, but for some reason in iced coffee it always tastes cloying to me, and coats my mouth in an uncomfortable way.  So, milk it is.

I loved this, on a hot day, it was oh-so-satisfying.

Dark Roast Iced Coffee, Splash of Milk, Hazelnut (3 pumps).

For National Coffee Day, Dunkin' Donuts gave out free medium sized coffee (hot or iced) of their relatively new Dark Roast only.  I'm usually a decaf drinker, and don't actually like dark roasts, but, I can't resist a freebee.

I added milk and hazelnut as I always do.  And ... it tasted exactly like the decaf I had the day before.  It certainly didn't seem particularly dark.  And I guess that means that the decaf doesn't taste particularly funky?  I really enjoyed it, and the associated caffeine high that came from sucking it down in all of 3 minutes flat.  Whoops.

Decaf Iced Coffee, Coconut, Large (July 2017).

I had a free beverage on my account, and it was valid for anything, any size.  While iced coffee is certainly not the way to maximize free $$ (Coolattas, etc are more expensive), it is what I wanted.  I did opt for large, which I'm pretty sure I've never done before.  I felt ridiculous holding it, but, some fraction of it was ice, right?

It was fine, standard iced coffee.


I decided to be crazy and try a new flavor: coconut.  I ... kinda liked it.  Very refreshing, and a bit fun.  I'd love to combine it with another flavor, but I'm not really sure what would work best.

Decaf Iced Coffee, 2 Pumps Hazelnut, Large (August 2018).

Another year, another birthday freebie.  And like last year, I decided to just get the thing I wanted, and not bother optimize the $$$ amount.

I went back to my classic order, decaf iced coffee, hazelnut.  A large normally has 4 pumps, I opted for 2, which gave it just a slight hazelnut flavor, but didn't overwhelm with sweetness.  Next time, I'd try 3.

It was fine.  Standard, good iced coffee.  Perfect for the weather.  But not remarkable in any way.

Other Flavors:

• French Vanilla: Not much flavor, meh. Somehow "fake" tasting.
• Coconut Caramel Swirl: Crazy sweet since it is a "swirl" flavor with sweetened condensed milk already in it, so don't get sweetener with this flavor.  Coconuty, caramely, and quite tasty!
• French Vanilla + Coconut + 1 Cream, small: Decent, but still too much cream for me, and I wanted to add sweetener anyway.

Seasonal Specials

Just like with hot coffee, Dunkin' Donuts offers seasonal and special flavors that can be mixed into iced coffee (or really, any drink you want, if you go for lattes, cappuccinos, or even hot chocolate).

Medium Decaf Cookie Dough Iced Coffee.  $2.39.

It turns out, that in the years since I've left the east coast, the classic Dunkin' Donuts order of cream and sugar is no longer sufficient: the new flavor "swirls" available already have dairy and sweetener mixed in!  The flavor shot includes sweetened condensed milk, cream, light cream, and milk, plus high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and brown sugar.  Seriously?  ALL THE CREAMS AND SUGARS!  Were people starting to get healthy and order skim milk and splenda instead of cream and sugar, so they had to up the ante and hide the crazy?  Anyway, this was crazy sweet.  It did taste kinda like cookie dough though, and I liked it more than I expected too.

Other flavors:

• Mint Chocolate Chip: Not nearly as creamy, nor as sweet, as the cookie dough, although it still obviously had both dairy and sweetener in it.  I wish I'd taken a photo, because it looked so different, and it makes no sense to me, given that the Dunkin' Donuts website has the same nutritional and ingredient information for the two varieties.  Given that the first one seemed way too creamy sweet, perhaps they added the correct amount to this one?  (Although, I'd expect the number of squirts they do must be standard, so I'm not sure why there is so much variance).  Like the cookie dough flavor, it did taste remarkably like mint chocolate chip.  Which, it turns out ... is not what I want from my coffee.  I wouldn't get this again.
• Butter Pecan: Again sweet and creamy, but I didn't care for the flavor.  It tasted a bit burnt.

Frozen Beverages

Ah, Coolattas.  For the times where you want to splurge.  Or for when you are younger, and have no clue how horrible these things are.

Coolattas are frozen, slushy, iced concoctions, sorta like Starbucks Frappuccinos, except made from a mix, not freshly brewed coffee to order.  Back in the day, I'm pretty sure they were all coffee based, but now there are fruity options as well.  All are loaded up with tons of sugar and random chemicals.  They are not available with decaf coffee, since the base is "Frozen Coffee Base", which already includes "Frozen Coffee Concentrate", made with coffee extract, not even real espresso.  The Vanilla Bean flavor uses "Frozen Neutral Base", a terrifying mix of chemicals, sugars, and cream, yielding a 850 calorie treat, complete with a whopping 174 grams of sugar.  The fruit flavors are marketed more at kids, and, as you can imagine, are just sugar bombs.

They also generally come topped with whipped cream.

I did used to love these, perfect for a hot summer day, for an indulgent treat.  I've tried them again as an adult, but, alas, the magic has been lost.

Oreo Vanilla Bean Coolatta, Child Size, Whip.

Oreo was a featured flavor of the month, not one that I had before.  It looked delicious in the picture displayed all over the store.  I couldn't resist, but I opted for the off-menu child size, to keep my sugar intake in check.

It was very sweet, like a liquid Oreo.  It had tons of Oreo crumbles in it.  It was nicely icy, well blended,  and actually, quite enjoyable.  Basically a milkshake.  The whipped cream on top really helped balance it out.  This size was perfect though, anything more would have been way, way too much.

Previous notes: The first time I tried it, I just had a small sample, and it was too sweet and not well blended.  The whipped cream on top was necessary to help balance it out.

Coffee Coolatta, Coconut, Medium, Whip.

I decided to try a new flavor.  I've been on a bit of a coconut kick lately, so I went for coconut.  It was ... ok.  I did like having some coconuty goodness in it.

The base had some slight coffee flavor, but not much.  It was blended decently, although it quickly separated, leaving a watery layer at the bottom and a icy layer on top.  Overall, it was also very sweet.

Standard whipped cream on top, Garelick Farms brand, from a can.

I didn't love this; the flavor just wasn't intense, it was kinda icy and separated ... meh.

Vanilla Bean Coolatta + Blueberry + Whip (Large).

"Rich and creamy, our Vanilla Bean Coolatta® is a refreshingly divine treat at any time of day."

I don't think Dunkin' Donuts is known for custom, off-menu drinks.  But I wanted an icy beverage, that wasn't caffeinated, and wasn't just sugar.  This left me with exactly one option: a Vanilla Bean Coolatta.  But I've had it before, and remembered that it was basically just sweet, and I didn't like it either.  So, I decided to try adding in a flavor shot, normally for the coffee obviously, but, I figured they could add it to a Coolatta too, and come up with a custom, sorta fruity, creamy, blended beverage.

The person taking my order clearly hadn't ever had someone order like this, but was really into it.  I think he was more excited than I was, particularly when he saw it was my birthday creation.  I think he wished me a happy birthday about 10 times.

Flavor shots are available in french vanilla, hazelnut, toasted almond, coconut, blueberry, and raspberry.  I opted for blueberry, but I think coconut or raspberry would be delicious too.

It sorta worked.  I did like the creamy blueberry flavor, and with just one shot in the large drink, it wasn't too much.  But the drink wasn't really as icy as I hoped, it was very thin and liquidy for the most part.  I wanted it to be thicker, more like a milkshake.  I think this is me just not really liking Coolattas, not a failing of my creation.

The man who prepared my beverage also went a bit crazy with the whipped cream, which I didn't mind at all, but, as you can see above, it looked rather insane.  So much whipped cream, but honestly, that *was* the best part.

This thing was perhaps the worst thing, nutritionally, that I possibly could have ordered, which is saying something given that I was surrounded by donuts.  Not counting the whipped cream, it turned out to be even worse sugar-wise than the fruity Coolattas, which I didn't realize until far too late.  174 grams of sugar (!!!).  How is that even possible?  A whopping 850 calories too, again, not including the very, very generous amount of whipped cream.  "Neutral Base", with its cream and every form of sugar imaginable, really did add up!


I can't say I'd get this again, as even I can't justify that much sugar, but, I'd consider a kid's size one, and try coconut next time ...

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Vanilla Coffee Coolatta.

This was my old standby, during the summer, when I wanted a treat.

It was very, very sweet, with a slight vanilla flavor, and a slight coffee flavor.  I remember why I liked these, but ZOMG serious sweet.

Update:  I had another, the next summer  It had that classic Dunkin' Donuts french vanilla flavor that I recalled from my youth.  It was nicely blended, with no icy chunks.  The whipped cream on top was good.  It was definitely too sweet for my general taste these days, but really was fun to try again because it really was exactly what I remember!

Update: And the next year? Way too sweet.  I didn't want more than a few sips of this.

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Vanilla Bean Coolatta.

This was an ordering mistake.  I thought I was getting my Vanilla Coffee Coolatta, but instead I seemed to have ordered a Vanilla Bean Coolatta.  Oops.

This was just sweet overload.  It did not have a good vanilla flavor.  It was not very slushy.  It was just sweet, sweet, sweet.  But the whipped cream was awesome.  Did I mention it was sweet?  ZOMG.  Not including the whip, this thing had ... 130 grams of sugar in it!  The perfect thing to pair with a donut, right?