Haitai Snacks

As you know, I love snacks.  Even better is snacks from other countries.  And best yet, snacks with interesting flavors.  Which gets us to Haitai, a South Korean brand.

"Established in the year 1945, HAITAI Confectionery & Foods Co., Ltd. is a leading confectionery and food company and one of the largest manufacture of high quality products, with the annual revenue of approximately 700 million US dollars. HAITAI operates 5 plants, R&D center and 18 distribution centers across Korea. Those manufacturers produce chewing gums, biscuits, snacks, candies, chocolates, ice creams, frozen foods and other premium food products."

Yes, Haitai is big huge brand, that makes tons of things I like: snacks, chips, chocolate, ice cream, and more.  Even with their huge product catalogue, I only have tried one item, but it was unique and fascinating enough that I decided it warranted a blog post.

In 2014, Haitai partnered with Calbee to introduce the world to honey butter chips, a product that Calbee had developed in Japan, but didn't find success on the market with.  They poured a ton into the marketing, featuring some k-pop stars, and, well, it paid off.  Apparently, in South Korea, a resulting trend, "Honey-Butter Craze", resulted, with stores selling out constantly.  There were waiting lists to get some.  Rationing.  They came out with follow up limited editions to keep up the craze, with flavors like "Cherry Blossom", "Lavender & Blueberry", and "Wedding Cake", among many others.  Currently, they offer the original honey butter, and a maple syrup honey butter version.

I'd love to try more of their general product catalogue, and certainly more flavors of these unique chips.

Honey Butter Chip.

"Sweet honey & butter flavored potato chip."

"Thin, buttery, and irresistably crispy, the perfect snack for movie night."

"Salty with just a hint of sweetness."

"The perfect snack for when you're craving that mouthwatering combination of salty and sweet. Light and crispy, there's a reason these tasty chips are one of the most popular snacks in Korea."

Um, I really didn't know what I was expecting when I got these.  I like honey.  I like butter.  I definitely like to slather things, particularly corn muffins or cornbread, in honey butter.  And I obviously like chips.  I've had a number of non-generic American chips flavors over the years, so I knew these would be unlike anything I'd had before, but, they still surprised me by just how ... different they were.

The base is a pretty classic thin and crispy potato chip.  I really liked how my bag had assorted sizes, including smaller broken pieces, as odd as that sounds.  I like grabbing the broken ones by the fistful.  Good chip base, they sorta reminded me of classic Lays.

But the coating is what makes these unique.  And well coated they were.  Some of the most well coated chips I can recall ever having really.  And that coating is certainly what kept me going back for more.  It was uncanny in its honey butter taste, but also had a surprising amount of additional complexity to it.  Yes, sweet and salty, and yes sophisticated honey sweet and savory butter, but, there was a lot more going on.

What makes them taste like honey butter?  Well, there is some honey (powder) in them, and there is some butter, but there is also a rather scary list of ingredients that make up the "honey butter taste seasoning", with starts with fructose and sugar, and then salt, so, yes, sweet and salty for sure.  They also have skim milk powder, yeast powder, soybean protein, whey powder, and a slew of chemicals, along with soy sauce and parsley.  It somehow combines into this, well, honey butter-eque taste, with a savory edge to it, that I couldn't quite tell if I loved, or disliked, but made it impossible to stop eating them to figure it out.

This bag was a full size bag, intended to be many servings.  I somewhat shamefully need to admit that I ate 90% of the bag in one sitting, even though I kept saying to myself that I'd have "just one more" and "save enough to have a real second serving".  I couldn't believe these didn't have MSG in them, as I hoped that would explain my total lack of self control around them, but alas, no such easy "excuse".

In the end, I think I really did like them, but, certainly a strange flavor.  ****.

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E&O Kitchen and Bar

E & O Kitchen and Bar is a restaurant I've known about for quite a while.  I hadn't ever visited myself, despite it being located not all that far away near Union Square.  

"E&O Kitchen and Bar is a modern Asian restaurant and lounge in the heart of San Francisco’s vibrant Union Square, and steps away from the Financial District. Executive Chef Sharon Nahm creates exciting and bold flavors in modern Asian dishes."

But I've known of the restaurant, and the chef, Sharon Nahm, for years.  The head chef is pretty active in cooking demos and events around town, and has been with the restaurant for 10 years (which seems like ages in this industry).  I remember being impressed with the bites I tried over the years at different events, so I finally sought it out.

Parklet.

Like many establishments in San Francisco, during the pandemic, they installed a sidewalk parklet for outdoor dining.

That said, I didn't visit in person, opting rather for delivery several times. 

Packaging.

E&O clearly does a lot of takeout, as they had each box nicely labelled with the contents, and the boxes were sealed with their E & O sticker.  The bag it all came in had a tamper seal as well.

That said, my own delivery experience wasn't great.  Ordering online was easy on Door Dash, and I thought my food had a reasonable chance of arriving warm-ish as I live only 5-8 minute drive away, but, both times I ordered, my Dasher went in the other direction from my house when they left, clearly went to pick up another order elsewhere, then stopped somewhere else along the way, and only then finally made it to my house.  My food arrived both times well after the original time estimate, and nearly 40 minutes after leaving the restaurant, that really wasn't far away at all.  This is the only place I've had this happen from, so I'm not sure if its just bad luck, or what, but both times I ordered the same thing happened.  It was agonizing watching my food head away from me.

Anyway, my food was a bit of a mixed bag, I see some real potential, and stuff was good, but, the prices seem high for what it is.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Small Plates

To get your meal started, E&O offers a number of small plates, ranging from steamed pork buns, to spring rolls, to naan, to spare ribs, salt & pepper calamari, etc.  It really is a kinda random bunch of items.  Their signature small plate is the "famous" Indonesian corn fritters.  I didn't opt to get those fritters, although I think I had them once before, ages ago.

There is one dish from the small plates menu that I've had several times before, despite not actually visiting the restaurant: the deviled eggs.  This is the dish E&O frequently serves when they are at food and drink events around town.  A super practical bite for a party like those, where they don't need to deal with serving hot food, and they tend to be crowd pleasers.

Smoked Tea Deviled Egg. $3.50.

"Lapsong souchong tea marinade, togarashi, five spice bacon bacon."

So to round out my order one time, I got a deviled egg, as I had enjoyed these at parties before.  It didn't do great for delivery as it had totally rolled over, but that is to be expected.

I really thought I had liked these before, but, wow, I didn't care for this.  The egg white had an odd flavor, obviously the tea smoking, that I wasn't really into.  But really it was the filling I disliked - it was very, very thick and gloopy, it didn't seem to have much filler, mostly yolk, clearly more yolk that originally came in the egg.  Which seems fine, but the consistency was not good.   The bit of bacon on top was hard and greasy.

So, flavor in the egg white I didn't like, consistency of filling I didn't like, and greasy bacon component.  Not a winner.

The $3.50 price for a single piece, just a half an egg, not even a whole egg, seemed a bit high as well.

*.

Dumplings

E&O has 3 kinds of dumplings on the menu, two of which are vegetarian: shiitake, butternut squash, or shrimp & chicken siu mai.  People do rave about the dumplings, second to the corn fritters of course, and I was really feeling like dumplings one day, and thus, dumplings it was.

Butternut Squash Dumplings. $17.50.

"Thai red curry & lemongrass sauce, basil oil."

I was tempted by the shiitake dumplings with a "butter soy pan sauce", but, the fall feels were upon me, and I decided to go for the butternut instead.  Plus, they just sounded really innovative/fusion, with a Thai curry sauce.  Vegetarians might want to note that there is shellfish is the stock used in these, so perhaps not truly vegetarian.

The dumplings were cold by the time they reached me, so I did have to heat them back up.  

This dish was the pinnacle of "fusion".  The dumplings were shaped like Asian style dumplings, but, they most certainly were not Asian style dumplings.  The skins were very, very thick, thicker even than ravioli, although more like ravioli than dumplings for sure.  They were lightly chewy, slightly al dente, and very ... gummy.  The pasta/wrapper was not at all what I was expecting.  I can't say it was successful, and I don't think that was entirely due to delivery.

Inside the dumplings, the butternut squash filling.  In my head, I thought these would be like my favorite Trader Joe's butternut squash ravioli, with some autumn spicing.  They weren't (which, would have clashed with the curry anyway, more on that soon), but instead it was really just, well, butternut squash.  

Just the dumplings themselves, besides the shape of course, were solidly in the Italian camp, basically, butternut squash ravioli with very think skins and an odd shape.  The dumplings weren't very good, not as ravioli, not as dumplings.

But then there was the sauce.  And suddenly, we were in Thailand.  Yup, this was Thai red curry.  Coconut milk based I think.  It tasted, well, like curry.  Mild curry, not spicy, but, yes, definitely curry.  There was an undertone of fish sauce/stock that I loved, and hints of lemongrass.  The sauce was really fantastic.

The curry sauce and the butternut squash worked well.  Curry and dumpling-ravioli ... now that took some wrapping my head around.  The curry was good, but, I did want a bit of heat to my dish, and added chili crunch to them, quickly bringing back the Asian-fusion flare.

But there was more.  The basil oil drizzled over, again channeling some slight Italian vibes.  It did accent the dish well.

Overall, I enjoyed this dish for the adventure of it.  It wasn't at all what I was expecting, and it did all kinda work, but the dumplings themselves just weren't that well executed.  It was Italian-Asian-Thai, and I didn't dislike it.  That said, it mostly left me wanting for two things, not together: good Thai curry and butternut squash ravioli.

I'm glad I tried this, but I wouldn't get it again.  ***.

Satay

E&O has 4 kinds of satay on the menu: steak, chicken, prawn, and portobello mushroom, each served with a unique sauce.  Each order comes with 3 or 4 skewers, or you can get a platter with 2 of each kind.

Prawn Satay. $22.

"(4 pcs) thai basil & mango sauce."

I wouldn't normally order satay, but, I had seen photos of the shrimp skewers, and they really did look good, nicely grilled, so juicy.  I was also curious about this Thai basil and mango sauce.

The portion was 4 skewers, as I expected, each one containing just a single prawn.  My food had taken soooo long to get to me that they were stone cold, which was kinda ok (we do eat chilled shrimp cocktail after all), but I decided to heat them back up a little.  They were nicely grilled, had good grill marks and slight char, and were quite juicy and as succulent as they looked.  Yes, just grilled prawns on a stick, but, they were as nicely done as I hoped.  Above average, really. ****.

Then, the sauce.  I expected to love it, having loved the sauce in the dumpling dish so much, but, it didn't quite do it for me.  I'm not sure what the flavor was that I wasn't into, but it was a bit tart and had a bit of some kind of spice I wasn't super excited about.   It wasn't bad, but, I just didn't care for it that much.  It was kinda sweet as well, as you'd expect from mango.  I luckily had some leftover peanut sauce from Rasa Rasa, and it worked really well with the satay, as, well, it also matched what I'd expect from a traditional satay.

I wasn't sure what the skewers would come with, as the menu didn't say anything else besides the sauce, but I was pleased to see they came with a pile of pickled vegetables - green beans, carrots, onions, cucumbers.  I really liked the pickles, great acidity and tartness, and an interesting mix.  Also, I found the skewers themselves, once the shrimp were eaten off of them, made for great spears to pick up pickles with.  No utensils required!  **** pickles.

I also decided to make a lettuce wrap with red leaf lettuce, pickles, and one prawn, and dunked it in my peanut sauce, and loved it that way too.

Overall, I did quite enjoy this dish, but the $22 price for 4 skewers seemed pretty high.  ***+.

Sides

E & O has some good sounding veggie sides, like dry-fried green beans, glazed eggplant, and more, but I actually had plenty of leftover sides at home, so I ordered just one thing from here, to save for lunch the next day mostly: the root veggie chips!

Root Vegetable Chips. $7.50.

"Kassava, taro, sweet potato, lotus root."

I couldn't resist getting the root veggie chips.  I love taro, cassava, and lotus chips, and I hoped these would be house made.  I think they were.

My mix was mostly taro chips, which wasn't a bad thing, although I would have liked to see more variety, and I never found any cassava.  There were a few lotus chips and few purple potato.

The chips were fine.  Average.  No better really than packaged root veggie chips, and they seemed unsalted.  I think they serve these with the ceviche normally as well.

So, fine, but not something I'd go out of my way for, and not really worth the $7.50. ***.

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Brookfarm Muesli, Australia

"Whether it’s Ketogenic, Paleo, Vegan, Gluten Free, Grain Free, Fruit free, Sugar free, natural, toasted or granola, or just delicious and healthy – we’ve got a product that will suit you."

Brookfarm is a common brand of muesli, granola, porridge, nuts, and other related products, based in Australia.  Most of their goods involve macadamia nuts, many are gluten free.  

I think I first discovered Brookfarm on a Qantas flight from Sydney, where they served the muesli, and I thought it was ok.  I didn't particularly seek out other products, but the brand seems pretty popular, I saw it in hotel breakfast buffets at various places in Sydney, and my office had some of the muesli bars stocked for easy snacks.  I grew a fondness for it, and came to look forward to it for breakfast.

Muesli

"Kick start your day with our award-winning premium macadamia muesli! Brookfarm muesli is sustainably sourced, non GMO and all preservative free. Shop our range of toasted muesli, gluten free muesli and natural muesli."

Brookfarm has several styles of muesli - natural style muesli, toasted muesli, and, gluten-free.  I think all include macadamias.

Gluten-Free Cranberry & Macadamia.

"This oven baked gluten free muesli combines antioxidant rich cranberries with the crunchy texture of macadamias, protein rich quinoa, Australian gluten free grains and brans. These are lightly toasted with Australian bush honey and just a touch of our premium macadamia oil. We then add nutritious sultanas and natural currants from Australia’s finest fruit growing regions."

I'll cut right to the chase.  I love this muesli.  Yup, one I'd never expect, gluten-free, featuring cranberries ... but, I really like it.  The crispy buckwheat, quinoa, and puffed rice make for a different style of base than traditional oats, I love the touch of sweetness from honey, and of course, the macadamias, which really shine in this one.  The pumpkin seeds are great for more crunch, and then, yes, even the sultanas and cranberries are nice, little pops of flavor and chew.

This one is good just to eat dry, with milk, or with greek yogurt.  Very versatile.  I like this one even more when mixed with their wild berry granola.  ****.

Natural Muesli with Apple, Apricot, & Macadamia.

"Brookfarm Natural Macadamia Muesli with Apricots & Apples is made in the traditional Swiss style, using blended natural ingredients. A gourmet muesli, that doesn’t taste like cardboard and uses the freshest ingredients Australia has to offer. Savour the rich crunchy texture of wholesome Australian grains and brans, natural currants and sultanas from the Barossa, apple from Tasmania, apricots from the Murrumbidgee, together with the magical taste of our own macadamia nuts."

The natural muesli was pretty simple, mainly a base of natural oats and barley, with bits of sultana, currants, and apricots, plus some dried apples and coconut.  Oh, and of course, the macadamias.  Since this was served in my breakfast buffet, I tried it dry, sprinkled on yogurt, and with milk, but none of those preparations really were great for it.  I liked some of the bits, but, it was just really dry and plain.  I think the natural, untoasted style is better suited for an overnight prep, more akin to bircher muesli or overnight oats.  I wasn't ever able to try it that way.

***.

Granola

"Blended with premium, sustainably sourced ingredients, Brookfarm granola is preservative free, non-GMO and produced here in Byron Bay. Shop our range of paleo granola, keto granola and gluten free granola."

Granola comes in a couple forms, including gluten-free and keto varieties.

Wild Berry Granola.

"Awarded a Gold Medal at the Royal Hobart show, our Wild Berry Granola is wildly delicious and rich in Australian grains and flavour. It includes tart cherries and blueberries, oven roasted premium nuts with just a touch of maple and Australian bush honey, and Australia’s native rainforest Superfood, The Davidson Plum. "

I really enjoyed the wild berry granola, a mix with so many goodies, including coconut chips, pumpkin seeds, macadamias, pecans, almonds, and puffed rice, in addition to all the fruity elements: dried blueberries, dates, sour cherries, Davidson plum, orange, and raspberries.  It certainly had a lot going on, but I liked all the different textures, crunchy bits, and chewy fruity bits.  It was honestly pretty good just to eat dry, or drizzled with a little fruit syrup, but absolutely fantastic with some greek yogurt.

Like most of their products, the macadamias were my favorite element, but, altogether it was quite enjoyable.  ****.

Bars

Given how much I ended up liking the breakfast cereals, I was happy to see Brookfarm made these products in bar form too, for easy grab-n-go.  At one time, they seemed to come in the same varieties as the muesli, but that product line looks to be discontinued.  They now only offer a "Prebiotic Wholefood Bar" line, which I did not try.

Gluten Free with Cranberry and Macadamia Bar.

"Brookfarm’s Gluten Free Cranberry & Macadamia Bar is oven-baked, full of flavour and contains 16 delicious natural ingredients.

Based on out award winning Gluten Free Macadamia Muesli, it is packed full of wholegrains, delicious cranberries, nuts and seeds.

Enjoy the light crunchy texture of sun ripened macadamias, delicious cranberries, buckwheat, brown rice and amaranth from central NSW, wholesome sunflower and pumpkin kernels, succulent currants from the Barossa Valley lightly toasted with Australian bush honey to create a bar that will energise you anytime of day."

I did not like this bar.

It was very crunchy.  Too crunchy.  The main components were brown rice, buckwheat, and amaranth crunchies, and puffed rice balls.  There were bits of hard dried cranberries and currants, and a few bits of macadamia. Much like the muesli, but, it just didn't work in this form.

Everything was just too crispy, and I didn't particularly like any of the flavors.

*+.

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Bluestone Lane

If you have ever visited Melbourne (or to a slightly less extent, Sydney), you know what an incredible cafe and coffee culture they have.  High quality and well made coffee ~everywhere, great food to go with, and gasp, unlike San Francisco, not ridiculous waits on weekend mornings for brunch.  Spend even just a few days there, and you'll start to take great coffee for granted.  

"With 55+ cafés and coffee shops across the country, Bluestone Lane is bringing Aussie café culture (and better coffee) to the USA."

To say I was excited when I heard Bluestone Lane was coming to my neighborhood, literally, half a block from my house, is an understatement.  While I don't think the brand is actually based in Australia, they at least bring the intention of Aussie cafes to the whole experience.

Bluestone Lane I believe started in NY, where their roasting operations still are, and where they certainly have the most locations.  They've expanded quickly across the US, with locations in many major cities - I've seen them in Boston, Houston, and San Francisco, but I know they have locations in DC, Philly, and Southern California as well.

Setting

In the US, we tend to use the terms "café" and "coffee shop" fairly interchangeably.  But Bluestone Lane treats them as separate concepts, the former being full service sit down restaurants serving breakfast and lunch, the later, more grab and go style and primarily coffee focused.  In San Francisco, we now have a half dozen Bluestone Lane locations, a mix of both styles.  My visits have always been to the one closest to my house, which is a full service café.

The café is open fairly early, serves breakfast and lunch, and closes by 4pm.  While dine-in service is an option, they also seem to do a pretty significant takeout (and delivery) experience.  My visits have mostly been just for coffee to go, which I've always ordered through their app in advance as I'm leaving my house, and thus, it is ready as I get there, although they have a takeout only ordering counter for those who prefer the "old fashioned" way.  And of course, you can choose to dine in, with full waiter service.

Outside Seating.

"Our newest café is nestled in the bustling metropolis of Downtown San Francisco. Set against the fast-paced corporate cityscape, this Bluestone Lane is a creative and peaceful space that will allow locals to slow down between meetings or during busy days spent shopping. Just a short stroll from Sue Bierman Park, The Embarcadero Centre, The Ferry Building, SFMOMA, Oracle Park, and more, Bluestone Lane will become a regular for locals of all walks of life. Grab a sun-drenched seat and enjoy a premium Flat White and some healthy, Aussie-style café fare."

My nearest location is on Avery Lane, nestled amongst a number of tall residential towers, with a pedestrian lane along one side.  This gives them ample sidewalk space to create a dining area, a rare luxury in San Francisco.

The location opened in May 2021, when San Francisco was sloooowly starting to emerge from Covid lockdown.  We still were not back in offices for the most part, and a new place to gather, get coffee, and interact with other humans was most welcome, particularly given the outdoor seating focus.  While outdoor dining isn't really all that pleasant much of the year in San Francisco, this follows true Aussie style, and on a sunny day, really can be quite a treat (although many days when I walk by, such as this one, the space is vacant).  It did quickly become a neighborhood place, where I regularly ran into neighbors, just as they had hoped.  And once folks got back into offices, yup, business meetings quickly moved there as well.

Drinks

"Our expert coffee team, based at our state-of-the-art roasting facility in New York, produces the signature coffee blends used in all of our Bluestone Lane locations."

"Bringing Melbourne's renowned coffee culture where premium coffee is a way of life."

Coffee is an essential element of the Bluestone Lane brand.  In addition to espresso drinks (and YES they have a real flat white and piccolo on the menu), they also do serve teas and milo, along with other healthy lifestyle drinks like smoothies and cold pressed juices.  Oh, and beer and wine in some locations.

Cold Brew. Large. $4.95.
(May 2021)

"Our signature flagstaff coffee immersed in water for 12 hours to extract and form a rich concentrate."

The first drink I tried at Bluestone Lane was a cold brew, on a warm day.

It was very strong, very legit coffee.

I asked for light ice (the only option besides regular, no ice was not an option), and it still seemed like a lot of ice to me.  Either they missed the modification (which was easily done in the app), or they usually use a ton of ice normally.

Anyway, it was good enough, dark coffee.  It didn't blow me away, but was just a notch above average. ***.

Cold Brew Float (ice cream on the side). Small. $5.50.
(May 2021).

"Our signature flagstaff coffee immersed in water for 12 hours to extract and form a rich concentrate, served with vanilla ice cream."

The next time I visited, I realized they had floats on the menu.  Coffee floats!  I asked for my ice cream on the side, so it wouldn't melt in before I was ready.

The cold brew was the same as before.  The ice cream, a large scoop of vanilla, was quite good.  Above average ice cream, it seemed almost like Häagen-Dazs, but, had no visible specs like their vanilla bean does so I don't think it was.  Anyway, above average ice cream.

*** coffee, ***+ ice cream.

Affogato. Decaf. (Shot on the side).
(May 2021).

My next visit, in the afternoon, again drawn in by the ice cream, I opted for an affagato, again, ice cream on the side so it wouldn't melt in.  Decaf because I avoid caffeine in the afternoon.

Again, quality vanilla ice cream, a generous scoop at that.

The decaf shot was INTENSE. Great aroma, great crema.  Further above average, and better than the regular.

A+ will do again. ****.

Iced Milo (ice cream on the side). Skim. Small. $4.80.
(May 2021).

I got adventurous.

I haven't had Milo since I was in Australia, and I never really cared for it there, but, curiosity got the better of me.  I like chocolate milk, so why not malted chocolate milk?  And a bonus double scoop of ice cream to go with?  Seemed hard to go wrong ...

But, yeah.  I don't really care for the taste of milo.  Oh well.  Not Bluestone Lane's fault at all.  Just not a taste I ever acquired.

Just like the affogato and float, I liked the ice cream, and used the milo milk with cereal the next day, which I liked more than drinking it.

**** ice cream, ** milo.

Iced Long Black (small).  $4.10.
(April 2022).

"Rotating Single-Origin espresso poured over ice and water."

And then I was back in my office, and didn't visit Bluestone Lane again for quite a while.  It was nearly a year later that I went back, even though I walk by literally every day.  Doh.  My office has decent (free) coffee, so I just didn't stop by.

I tried an iced long black for the first time, rather than cold brew.  Well ... this wasn't great.

It had a slight chemical taste to it, and was fairly acidic.  And rather watered down.

**.

Iced Cold Brew (small). $4.85.
(April 2022).

"Our signature flagstaff coffee immersed in water for 12 hours to extract and form a rich concentrate."

After the lackluster iced long black, I went back to the cold brew a week later, as I had enjoyed it back during their opening month.

It was little better than the iced long black, but still has acid/chemical aftertaste.  Definitely not as good as the year before.  Not sure what changed ... I don't think it is me?

**+.

Food

"Enjoy an all-day menu that is health-focused and progressive. Join us for a radiant breakfast, lunch, or an indulgent snack throughout the day. Some of our notable dishes include Gluten Free Banana Bread topped with whipped ricotta, toasted pecans, fresh banana & berries, Avocado Smash paired with heirloom tomatoes, feta and a delicately poached egg, and our house made granola w/ fresh berries and citrus curd." 

Baked Goods

I'm not sure if Bluestone Lane makes their own pastries in-house.  I think they don't?  I say this as they don't seem particularly fresh.  They have the standard lineup of croissants (plain or almond), a turnover, trendy kouign amann, and a basic brownie and chocolate chip cookie.

As a baked goods lover, I was still drawn in, even though they never looked very good, even in their display case.  Spoiler: they weren't.

Apple Turnover. $5.25.

"Fresh apples and cinnamon baked in folded buttery pastry."

I was seriously in the mood for apple pie, and an apple turnover sounded perfect.  So even though it looked dry and kinda soft, I still went for it.

Meh.

It was actually fairly flaky pastry, but it was not very buttery.  It flaked yes ... it just wasn't good pastry.

And then the part I was craving, the filling.  The apple filling was more like applesauce than apple pie, except it was a thick, very sweet applesauce.  There were no chunks of apple.  Even canned apple pie filling is better than this.

I still ate the filling, warmed up, and served on top of a scoop of ice cream, but threw out rest.  At $5.25 it was pricey as well.

**.

Almond Croissant. $5.25.

"Freshly baked almond croissants. Light and airy layers of flaky buttery pastry with toasted slivered almonds."

The almond croissant looked significantly better, but, sadly, was no better than the apple turnover.  

The pastry did taste like butter, unlike the turnover, but it wasn't flaky.  There were a few scattered bits of almond on top, a tiny dusting of powdered sugar.  It was mediocre as a grocery store bakery item.  Inside was very very little almond filling.

It *was* considerably better once I heated it up, which made the top crispy.  And then I also filled it with ice cream and fresh fruit.  I finished it, but wouldn't get another, obviously.

$5.25 price seems crazy for such a lackluster item. **+.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie. $4.50.

"This thin American style cookie is the best of both worlds. Crispy edged with a lightly chewy center. Perfectly indulgent and decadent, lightly salted and full of the finest Belgium milk chocolate! Only the purest ingredients."

A friend got this while we were having coffee outside at Bluestone Lane one day, and of course offered me a bite.  It was memorable only in that I didn't find myself wanting another bite, even as it sat there unfinished.

**.

BREKKIE ALL DAY

"Enjoy a health-focused and progressive all-day brunch menu, featuring the Bluestone Lane signature dishes you love."

Bluestone Lane offers a lunch menu with sandwiches and grain bowls, but it is the "Brekkie All Day" part of the menu that gets the most attention.  And yes, "brekkie" is short for "breakfast", and yes, they really do serve it all day.  The brekkie menu features several types of burritos, fancy toasts, scrambled eggs, egg sandwiches, bowls, granola, and big spreads featuring the whole lineup: poached eggs, bacon, toast, halloumi, roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. 

There are also sides available, like, yes, wedges with sweet chili and sour cream.  I give Bluestone Lane credit for really bringing in the Aussie vibes.

Avocado Toast. $8.95.

"Our classic avocado smash seasoned w/ fresh lemon juice, sea salt & black pepper, chili flakes & olive oil on Multigrain Toast."

Ah, fancy toast.  Avocado toast.  The trendy brunch darling.  Of course it is a signature item at Bluestone Lane.  They also offer a salmon and cream cheese and a peanut butter and berries version.

Since I'm allergic to avocado this wasn't for me, but, it really was plated beautifully with the avocado puree all around, generous sprinkling of chili flakes, and micro greens as garnish.  It was temping enough looking that I nearly tried a bite ... 

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes. $15.25.

"Lemon ricotta pancakes with whipped ricotta, fresh berries, citrus curd, petals, freeze dried raspberries, and maple syrup."

When I think of Australian cafes, one sticks solidly in my mind: Bills.  It was the first place I had ricotta hotcakes, and, well, they were fairly mind blowing.  The fluffy light pancakes, the HONEYCOMB BUTTER on top ... stunning, really.  So when I saw Lemon Ricotta Pancakes on the menu of an Australian cafe ... I *had* to get them.

If I thought the plating of the avocado toast was lovely, this was a level beyond that even.  A stack of pancakes (3) served in a skillet (cute, but, they weren't actually cooked in it right?), topped with dollops of whipped ricotta, a generous amount of citrus curd, fresh strawberries and blueberries, bits of freeze dried raspberries, and flower petals ... with an individual little jug of syrup on the side, all presented on a wooden board?  I mean, really.

I wish it tasted as good as it looked!  The pancakes weren't bad, but the cakes themselves were fairly average.  Dense, regular pancakes, not light and fluffy like ricotta pancakes usually are.  Isn't that what makes them special?  I'm not sure if they had ricotta in them, or just on top?  

The ricotta on top was very savory, making this actually eat fairly healthy, but, uh, you know me, I'd much prefer whipped cream or something sweet.  And the citrus curd, plenty of it, which ... again, you know me, I don't actually care for citrus curd generally.  It was thick, sweet, tangy, and probably quite enjoyable if you like citrus curd.  I did like the fresh fruit, and the textural element from the freeze dried berries.  The syrup I used generously to add the sweetness I was looking for.

So, overall, stunning to look at, but fairly average pancakes, with a bit too healthy toppings for me.  If you want a slightly indulgent healthier brunch, and like citrus curd though, probably great.

***.

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