Cape Cod Potato Chips

Update Review, 2023

Since rediscovering Cape Cod chips a few years ago, every time I visit the East Coast now, I make it a point to have at least one bag of Cape Cod Chips.  They really are quite good.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We channeled our days grilling on the beaches of Cape Cod to craft a blend of tomatoes, onions and spices into a barbeque seasoning perfect for our chips."

When I think of a great bbq chip, these are essentially what I think of.  Super crispy.  Blistered.  Very clearly not a "light" style of chip.  True kettle chips.  Very zesty coating, deep mesquite flavor, tangy and smoky and sweet.

Maybe it is because I grew up with these, but, they really are a gold standard for me for a very good bbq chip.  ****.

Original Review, 2020

Over the years, I've reviewed many snack foods, and many bags of chips, in particular.  By now, you probably realize that while I love taro chips, and other more exotic veggie chips, I pretty rarely get excited by plain old potato chips.  I see them as a vessel for dip, and little else.  Maybe sometimes I get drawn in by unique flavors in other countries, but besides that, chips? MEH!

But I recently re-discovered Cape Cod potato chips, and that all changed.

"We transform simple ingredients – hand-selected potatoes, oil and salt – into delicious, satisfying kettle cooked potato chips. Cape Cod Potato Chips are always made one batch at a time in our custom kettles to give them their distinctive crunch and unique flavor."

I remember Cape Cod chips from growing up in New England.  They were not the standard chip offering, usually we had Ruffles in our household, or Lays were common at sandwich shops or parties, but when we got to splurge for a fancy bag of chips at the convenience store, or perhaps at a friend's house, I remember getting Cape Cod chips, and being very happy with them.  They were always crispier, greasier, than others.

In my memories that is.  I didn't really trust my memories, but it turns out, this is one area where my memories lived up, basically, entirely matching accurate to my experience today.

Cape Cod chips are still based in Massachusetts, although they have expanded dramatically since when I knew them.  The classic chips come in different flavors.  They have reduced fat offerings.  Waffle cut or wavy style.  Um, "infused" chips.  Limited Edition flavors with partners like Samuel Adams Brewery.  But I can't tell you about any of those, as I had eyes only for the originals.

Classic Potato Chips

"Hand selected potatoes. Pure vegetable oil. Salt. How do you transform the simplest ingredients into such a satisfying kettle cooked chip? For us, it’s done one small batch at a time, using select potatoes, sliced thick and cooked at precisely the right temperature in custom kettles to a golden amber hue. No two chips are the same. Except that they all share a hearty potato flavor and that wonderful Cape Cod crunch."

The classic potato chips are what I always knew, and I didn't even know they came in multiple flavors (maybe they didn't before?).  But now they do, with flavors like Sweet & Spicy Jalepeno, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, plus more standards like Sea Salt & Vinegar and Sweet Mesquite Barbeque, among others.

But I went for the originals.

Original Chips.

These are no frills chips, they really are just potatoes and vegetable oil and salt.

But somehow ... they are just really damn good.  Is it the small batch cooking?  Is it the oil they use? The potatoes?  I have no idea.  But they are really good.

The crispy factor is sky high.  Perfectly crunchy and crisp.  Salt level is high, but not over the top. Most are folded over in unique ways, making eating a bag an adventure in "what shape will come up next?".

They are highly greasy, leaving your fingers coated instantly.  You know they aren't trying to be healthier.  The bags are smaller than other brands, and that is ok, because, well, they are heavy chips.

I don't know how to describe these beyond just ... perfect crispy chips?  I honestly am just happy with a bag of these, alongside a salad (or ideally, a lobster roll, right?).  They are awesome tucked into a sandwich, particularly a BLT.  Sometimes I think about making onion dip, or something else to dunk them in, but really, they don't need anything.  Just perfect as is.

I'll devour a bag any day.

****.

Less Fat

The Less Fat lineup comes in Original, Sea Salt & Vinegar, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, and Sweet Mesquite Barbecue, the later of which I immediately went for.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We may have tossed our 40% Less Fat Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips one more time in the kettle, but we seasoned them with the same delicious blend of spices so they taste just like our classic Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips. 40% less fat than the leading brand of potato chip."

I didn't intentionally seek out Less Fat chips, but my office had them, and they were still Cape Cod chips, and were still barbeque, which I was definitely going through a thing for, so I gladly grabbed a bag.  I wish I'd grabbed a second (2 bags is just ... 120% fat right?).

They were perfectly crispy, I loved the bent over pieces, and they were oily, but in the right way, not the gross way.   Form factor: A+, and I think I liked the lower fat version more than the classics, actually.

The barbeque flavor was good, I prefer a less sweet version (these had sugar and molasses), but the flavor was complex with tomato, onion, garlic, paprika, and more.

A very solid chip, one I'd gladly get again.

****.

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Donuts from Les Croissants

Les Croissants is a very nondescript small cafe in Japantown.  Mostly known for the relatively cheap bahn mi and mediocre bubble tea.  In the morning, they also ofter coffee and pastries, including donuts.  They certainly don't make their own donuts, but I'm not sure where they source them from, they may be from Rolling Pin?  I have several co-workers who live nearby, and have been treating us to the donuts fairly regularly, and thus, I've gotten to try a bunch.  If the name sounds familiar, they also used to have a location in the Fidi, but it closed during the pandemic, and never re-opened.

Les Croissants has all your basic donuts, and nothing more.  No wild fillings or flavors, no decadent toppings.  Just your basic raised (glazed, chocolate, sugar), old fashioned (plain, glazed, chocolate, maple), and cake (plain, chocolate, maple, crumble) donuts, and a few specialty donuts like fritters, cinnamon rolls, twists, and bars (custard or plain).

I've tried a number of donuts at this point.  The old fashioned and fritters are definitely the highlights for me.

Pink Boxes.

The donuts come in pink boxes, like many donut shops, but not the iconic solid pink boxes, rather, these are striped, and have a friendly "Enjoy" message on them.  Still, pink box = donut, and pink boxes make me happy.

Raised Glazed, Raised Chocolate Glazed.

The first time I tried donuts from Les Croissants, a co-worker had brought them in, and reserved me 1.5 donuts of his choice, which turned out to be a raised glazed, and raised chocolate glazed.

The first thing that stood out about the donuts is how light and fluffy they were.  Remarkably lofty, fluffy, and not at all greasy.  They tasted quite fresh.  Beyond that, they were fairly standard donuts, nothing particularly remarkable about them.  The chocolate glaze was very mild.  Both were well glazed.  ***+.

Variety of Donuts!

A few weeks later, another co-worker brought in a variety of donuts, ranging from old fashioned, to raised glazed/sugared/chocolate dipped, to little donut holes for those who wanted just a bite, to the king of donuts, the massive fritter, and everything in-between.  I gleefully tried several.

I tried a hunk of the fritter, and immediately went back to claim the rest.  It was excellent, although it was a flatter style that made it not necessarily look as appealing.  Greasy in a good way, fried in a good way, flavorful, not dried out.  Top notch fritter.  I'd gladly have another.  ****.

Maple Old Fashioned.

Then I tried a hunk of the maple old fashioned.  Also excellent.  Crispy in the right ways, light buttermilk tang, lovely maple flavor.  ****.

Update Review:
Another day, another hunk of another maple glazed old fashioned, and loved it just as much as before.  Such a heavy layer of glaze, but a really lovely maple flavor, and the base old fashioned is just so moist, great crispy edges, and like tang.  ****.

Cinnamon Roll.

Next, it was time for the other massive donut in the lineup, the specialty cinnamon roll.  I'm not sure if you can tell, but, this is really a large donut.

Like the regular raised donuts, this was very light and fluffy.  It tasted so fresh.  Not at all greasy.  The dough seemed slightly sweeter than the regular raised donuts, which I liked more.  The cinnamon between the rolls was fairly subtle, but enough to taste.  It was well glazed.  

This donut was a delight to eat by just ripping off hunks alongside my afternoon coffee, and equally great when I brought the rest home, heated it up, and topped it with Smitten ice cream Cinnamon Toast ice cream and whipped cream.  I'd get this again too.  ****.

Side note: I learned recently that these are known as pershings, or persian rolls. Wikipedia described them as "fried sweet roll or doughnut with a spiral shape similar to a cinnamon bun. It may be covered with a sugar glaze, iced or frosted, or sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon sugar."  How did I live this long, and blog regularly about donuts, and never hear that term before!

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Sushi Seki, NYC

In New York, there is no shortage of sushi options, spanning all price points.  It takes a lot for a place to stand out, but somehow, Sushi Seki did for me as I was browsing menus for delivery options on Door Dash.

Sushi Seki drew me in with the extremely large range of nigiri/sashimi options, with an entire section just for different tuna pieces (9 options, your standard chu toro, o toro, maguro, etc, plus a seared option, one topped with uni, and more), the same with salmon (5 options, inlcuding belly or king salmon, or seared, etc), same with yellowtail (7 options), shellfish (another 7), and so on.  The choices were extensive, and, key for me, I appreciated that you could order singles.  They also do offer a variety of of hot and cold appetizers, soups and salads, cooked entrees (such as miso cod, different teriyakis, katsu, tempura), a slew of rolls, and even carry Lady M crepe cakes (which I've reviewed before in Seattle) for dessert (along with others they make).

"Chef Seki along with his family of NYC’s finest sommeliers and sushi chefs are committed to the “never stop learning” attitude by creating and balancing the flavor of the fish with simple ingredients, a classic style, and expansive sake and wines, paired perfectly to each meal."

Chef Seki has a great story, starting in the industry as a dishwasher, and working his way up to cook, kitchen chef, and eventually, sushi chef, all in Tokyo.  He moved to NY city to further his craft.  He really does seem to embrace his mantra of "never stop learning".

Sushi Seki's first location opened in 2002 on the Upper East Side.  12 years later, the chef opened the second location in Chelsea, which is where I ordered from.  A year later, his third branch opened, which includes a 6-seat counter for omakase only dining.  

I ordered on Door Dash for delivery, and was quite impressed with the quality (and speedy service).  I'd love to try more of the lineup, and to visit in person sometime.

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 ]

Hijiki Salad. $10.

"Cooked brown sea vegetable, watercress, tomato, cucumber, bean curd, carrot, daikon, and onion dressing."

There is a Japanese deli near me in San Francisco (Delica) that has a hijiki salad I adore.  I rarely see hijiki on menus elsewhere though, so I was excited to try Sushi Seki's version of the salad.  They also have a more traditional seaweed salad on the menu, along with a basic green salad and a snow pea salad, all with different dressings.  Salad didn't seem to be an afterthought here, which I took as a good sign.

I asked in the notes for the dressing on the side, I'm not sure if they normally do that for takeout or not.  The base of the salad was watercress, fresh, crisp, peppery.  Mixed in was a bit of shredded carrot, a few thin bits of bean curd, and of course, the hijiki.  All sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Mine didn't seem to have any tomato or cucumber, but I didn't mind.  I also didn't really find diakon, and I'm not sure about the cooked brown sea vegetable ... maybe that was lost in the mix?

It initially didn't look like it would be very hijiki forward, but the hijiki flavor was strong, and I enjoyed it.  I didn't find it needed the dressing (which was really quite thick, somewhat sour, and sorta an odd consistency, but did taste of onion as said it would), and just drizzled a little soy sauce over it.  Overall, very tasty, and I'd get again.  ****. 

Uni ($15), Lobster ($8), Anago ($10).

Uni:

Although this piece fell over in transit, it still stayed well put together, the nori wrapper holding it together tightly.  The uni portion was good, I think 4 lobes.  It tasted quite fresh, no funk to it, and was all an even color.  Sushi rice was an appropriate portion (not dominating), well seasoned, lightly sticky.  Overall, a very nice uni nigiri, and $15 price seemed appropriate.  ****.

Lobster (steamed): 

The lobster is the only piece that let me down.  The flavor was actually quite nice, and it was a big chunk, but, it was extremely chewy.  It was steamed, so fully cooked.  Great flavor, but hard to get past the chew.  **+.

Anago: "Wild seawater eel."

Sushi Seki offers 3 different types of eel sushi, the more common unagi (barbecued with sweet sauce), a chopped version with tempura crunchies, and this, anago.

It had been a long time since I had anago!  I've gotten sushi a dozen or so times this past year, but everywhere always has unagi, and not anago.  Sometimes I love unagi, but sometimes, I just am not in the mood for the heavy unagi sauce.  I was thrilled to see anago on the menu, and even more thrilled when I tasted it.  Great flavor, great texture, not slimy, just, really nice anago.  Sushi rice good, as with the other pieces.  I'd get this again in a heartbeat.  *****.

I appreciated the generous portion of nice pickled ginger (not the pink kind!), and plenty of wasabi, no skipping on those.  ****+.

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United Airlines, EWR - SFO, Business Class

Flight Details 

Flight: United Airlines Flight 2046
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Departure: 3:30pm (scheduled) 7:48pm (actual)
Arrival: San Francisco SFO 6:34pm (scheduled) ~11pm (actual)
Seat: 11A

This is not a flight that went smoothly.  It is a flight that got caught up in a ground stop due to dramatic storms, with new departure delays issued every 30 minutes, for several hours.  It is a flight that let people voluntarily deplane to go wander around, and then called folks back after not too long.  It is a flight that optimistically pushed back, only to have the ground stop extended for hours.  Yes, I boarded this flight around 2:40pm, pushed back from the gate more than 2.5 hours later at 5:20pm, and didn't take off for another 2.5 hours.  My transcon flight duration rivaled that of a flight to SYD instead.  

United however is not to blame in any way.  This truly was weather related, and every airport in the northeast had full ground stops in effect, for both inbound and outbound aircraft.  The airline kept us reasonably updated, and did their best to get us out before the crew timed out, so, although a bit of a nightmare, and a lot of stress, I don't have negative things to say about United through it all.

Service 

Our crew handled all of the drama remarkably well.  Our pilot updated us as often as possible, and was as transparent as he could be.  He even used phrases like "to prepare your mindset, here is what we are looking at", as he explained how things needed to progress for us to make actual forward motion.  

I learned all about how ground crews weren't allowed outside when there was active lightening in the area, and every time there was a new strike, a 10 minute counter had to reset.  I learned that even once the weather cleared around us, the storm had built up a lot of badness that hung over us to the west, and so even though it was safe for the ground crew to be out and about, and ATC was not opening up any "departure lanes".  I learned a ton about the pecking order that comes once a window does open for takeoff, and why pushing back from the gate mattered so much (besides the cynical part of "gaming" the stats, the crew getting paid, etc).  I learned about how long it takes to spin up the engines, and why sitting parked with them off was a reasonable thing to be doing.  I learned my patience for rowdy toddlers throwing hard dinosaur toys around and hitting me in the head with them repeatedly wears thin after a few hours (er, minutes really), and really laud the crew for their patience as they attempted to deliver meal while tripping over said toddler and his plethora of toys all over the aisles. 

The crew was definitely following some standard protocols as we hit certain time milestones: 2 hours sitting there? Offer to let people off.  3 hours?  Bring them drinks and Biscoff cookies.  4 hours?  Issue $20 meal vouchers (not that we could use them ... as we were on board, detached from the gate, and wouldn't get to SFO until after everything closed, and they expired that night).  It was all appreciated though, and the crew stayed upbeat throughout, even welcoming people back on in a joyous way when they came back after deplaning, "Glad you came back to join us!" "Nice to see you again!", etc.

Seat.

Before all that though, the flight started with standard service.  Waiting at our seats was the nice Polaris Saks Fifth Avenue blankets and pillows.  Not entirely necessary for a mid-day (or, supposed to be mid-day) transcon, but really quite nice, particularly once it did get so very delayed.

Amenity Kit.

The amenity kit really didn't offer much of interest: a thin eye mask, low end ear plugs, a bamboo toothbrush, and a few toiletries.  But again, not really needed for this flight.

Food & Drink

Even though this is considered a "premium" transcontinental route, from a hub to a hub, United does not offer pre-order for the meal service, and, even more ridiculous, is that there are only two options: chicken or pasta.  This has been the case, in both directions, for years.  You either get chicken/polenta/broccoli or chicken curry, or cheese ravioli in red sauce or butternut squash ravioli, depending on which direction you are flying.  Literally, the same options, for at least the past two years.  No changes.

There are no menus provided, but the FA walked through the cabin, taking orders starting with elites, then front to back, offering up chicken or ravioli, with no description of them (e.g. is there a sauce with the chicken? A side?).  There was no mention of it, but I knew all meals are served with a salad and bread roll, all at once.   The dessert cart has resumed, so there is a dessert option (usually a tart or cheesecake), or custom ice cream sundae, or cheese.

Drinks

Water bottles were waiting at our seats.

Pre-departure choice of water or sparkling wine was offered.  I asked for a sparkling water, but was told that could not be honored.  Once we were very delayed, another round of water and this time, orange juice, came around.  I again asked for sparkling water, and that time, it was honored.  

Red Wine, Sparkling Aha, Nuts.

Drink orders were taken prior to pushback along with our meals.  There was no drink menu provided, but I knew they had flavored sparkling Aha as a standard offering, which I always enjoy.  I asked about wines, and was told "white, red, or sparkling", with no details on the varietal, let alone the wine maker or country.  This seems pretty standard on United.  I opted for a sparkling Aha (they have two flavors available, I rotated between both throughout), and "the red wine".  

Once under way, our drinks were delivered relatively quickly, along with a warm ramekin of cashews and almonds, lightly salted.  The wine really wasn't bad, not too boring, not too much acid nor tannin.  I'd gladly get it again, and I do adore the Aha.  ***+ wine, **** Aha, ***+ nuts.

Main Meal

Meal.

Meals were delivered one by one on a tray with napkin, cutlery, salad, bread and butter, main dish we had ordered on the ground, and salt and pepper shakers.  

The service element was a bit lacking.  I appreciated that they didn't make us pull out our tray tables way in advance so they could set down a placemat like some airlines, but, they also just suddenly appeared with trays in hand and you could see every person scramble to pull out their tray table.  (Also, no placemat is a bit gross on a plane, as I don't think they sanitize the tables between flights?)

Salad.

The salad was very basic: a small handful of mixed greens, two mealy tomatoes, and three slices of cucumbers.  At least it didn't feature any odd combos of ingredients, and was greens instead of grains base, but, definitely left something to be desired.  The cucumbers were reasonably fresh.  The same packaged sesame ginger dressing that came with the old Asian slaw salad was provided, which I didn't use.  **+.

Light Wheat Roll.

United serves a number of different breads on their flights (never a choice, no bread basket).  The garlic bread has many loyal fans, as does the pretzel bun, but for me, I don't care for either of those (nor the crusty white roll), yet I strangely do enjoy the hearty wheat roll.  

This wasn't the hearty, seeded wheat roll that I really like, but it was a mild white-wheat, which I hadn't had before.  It wasn't warm, but I think that is just our service being a bit slow, as my main meal wasn't particularly warm either, and my nuts were cold even though the ramekin was still a bit warm.  It was soft, didn't taste stale, didn't taste too processed, was lightly hearty.  I wouldn't go out of my way for this roll, but, I don't know of any other airline bread/roll that I like more (besides the aforementioned more hearty wheat one).  ***.

"The Chicken".

For my main dish, I went for the chicken.  Yes, amusing as I don't eat chicken, but I've had the ravioli before, and didn't care for it, so I went for the chicken, even though I don't like chicken at all.  I got this for the polenta basically, and, hopefully, for the sauce.  I had my own meal with me, as I knew my choices were going to be those two items.  

The food was lightly lukewarm, definitely not hot.  The broccolini turned out to be broccoli, which I like more in general, but this was the type of broccoli that makes kids turn up their nose and not want to eat their vegetables.  Kinda mushy, waterlogged, flavorless. *+.

I didn't try the chicken, it had extremely fake looking grill marks on it.  Portion seemed reasonable.

I did try the sauce, which I was looking forward to, both for my polenta and for dunking the bread.  The FA described it as a "mushroom sauce" when I asked about it, but it didn't contain any mushrooms, nor taste like mushrooms to me.  It did taste a bit like a marsala sauce, but, one that didn't have mushrooms, and didn't the alcohol properly cooked out.  It was quite harsh, and also sorta tasted like beef, which was odd to pair with chicken.  It seemed like it would go better with Sunday roast, mash, and carrots than this.  It also lacked any seasoning.  I added salt, but, I still didn't care for the base taste.  Shame.  *.

And finally, the polenta, the part I was most interested in.  It was a round cake, I think likely the same as they use for the vegetarian chili and polenta meal, which I've had on several other flights (IAH-SFO, where I thought it was decent, and SFO-SYD where I didn't care for it at all).  It was fine.  Soft, fairly creamy inside, lightly cheesy.  But also essentially zero seasoning, and, not very warm.  I had my own sauces with me, and frustratingly shook that tiny shaker over and over to get some salt and pepper out, and enjoyed it well enough.  ***.

Dessert

The dessert is definitely the part of this flight (besides the private seat) that I was most looking forward to, since the return of the sundae cart.  I know the ice cream isn't amazing quality or anything, but, I do genuinely usually enjoy some of the toppings (and of course, came prepared with my own additional toppings too).

Dessert service is done via the trolley, which comes through after the main meal is done and cleared for everyone.  They use one trolley for both cabins, so it starts in the front business cabin, and then slowly makes its way to the back cabin where I was.  The delay between my entree and dessert was a full hour, which seemed a bit long.

Finally, it came my way.  The lineup included United's signature made to order ice cream sundaes, standard simple cheese plate, and an additional dessert of the day, which for us was an apple tart.  The ice cream is always just generic vanilla, but the toppings are where the glory is.  On today's flight, the toppings available were hot fudge or warm caramel, sliced almonds, tiny chocolate chips, whipped cream, and cherries.  Nearly everyone, young and old alike, was opting for the sundae.  The FA told me that sometimes she gets to see the true joy and glee in the eyes of very formal looking business people, or old men, as they craft their sundae, and it brings her actual joy too.  It turns out, ice cream in the sky really does delight many people.

I was kinda curious about the other dessert too, so I did ask if I could have both, and the FA looked up, saw how many were left and how few seats were remaining to serve (benefit of being in the back cabin I guess), and said sure.  She had at least a dozen left, and only two rows behind me.  

Apple Tart.

Starting with the apple tart, which, honestly, I got mostly out of boredom / very confused state of hunger due to the delays and very odd eating schedule.  That said, I know that for the "pie in the sky", or "pie cookies" as I dubbed them long ago, that United serves on non-premium domestic routes, or the cheesecake, if you are lucky enough to get that, is always Eli's, which really does make both tasty cheesecake, and tasty other desserts (many of which I've reviewed before), so I had reasonable hope that this would be good too, if it came from Eli's.  It did look quite a bit like Eli's Apple Bavarian Torte, which I've had before, just with extra caramel drizzled over the top?

Anyway, it was reasonable enough.  The crust was like a soft, buttery shortbread cookie.  Not too crumbly, not too dry, not card-board like.  Better than most commercial products of its kind.  The layer above that was sorta like cheesecake, just a touch more mild.  And then, the apples of course, lightly spiced, no aggressive nutmeg or anything.  I liked that they were a bit al dente.  It had a fairly generous drizzle of caramel all over the top, which I think was the same caramel from the sundaes, which I do truly enjoy. 

Overall, not bad, better than average airline dessert, and if you really don't want ice cream, a quite reasonable option.  Bonus points if you ask for whipped cream from the sundae cart, or, do as I did, and pair with ice cream too!  ***+.

Ice Cream Sundae: caramel, slivered almonds, whipped cream.

For the sundae, I went with caramel (the hot fudge is great too, but, I was avoiding caffeine at night), slivered almonds for some crunch (and a touch of protein), and of course, whipped cream.  I learned long ago that I don't care for their cherries, and the mini chocolate chips I'd happily get, but, again, caffeine.  I had my own fresh strawberries, blueberries, and sprinkles to add to it.  The FA added a considerable amount of caramel, three big spoonfuls, then she paused to hand something to the other FA who interrupted her, and she added two more.  I almost think she forgot how many she had already added?  It was a bit excessive, but, I do like the caramel.

I took my first bite eagerly and was, frankly confused.  Sure, I'm used to airline ice cream being served at totally wrong consistencies, often rock solid and requiring an excruciating wait before you can eat it, or fairy soupy, but this was ... well, calling it "melted" is an understatement.  Melted ice cream is generally still at least ... cold?  This was not even lightly chilled.  It was warm.  Warmer perhaps than even my main meal.  

Once I got over the surprise of not having actual ice cream, I was somewhat fascinated by it.  It was remarkably fluffy and frothy.  Sorta like a sabayon or zabaione, just, clearly it had some dairy in there.  The caramel mixed in to make the flavor sweet and actually quite enjoyable.  It truly wasn't *bad*, but it certainly wasn't ice cream, not even soupy, too melted ice cream.  It was warm frothy light sweet custard.  The slivered almonds added a nice crunch.  The whipped cream wasn't necessary up against the frothy base, and it was actually colder and more solid than the "ice cream".  It floated nicely on top.  I added my own fresh strawberries and blueberries, and truly enjoyed this creation, but, definitely not what they intended to serve, and I'm a bit shocked that they served it without any seeming concern.  Surely, the FA must have noticed as she spooned on the toppings?

As "ice cream", this needs to get 0 stars, but, given my enjoyment of the overall thing (which my own berries definitely were essential to), I give it ****.

Pre-arrival Snack

I was a bit surprised when at the 1 hour mark before landing, a FA came through offering either hummus or cheese plates.  I couldn't see them, as cabin lights were off, so didn't quite know what I was opting for, but blurted out "hummus", which is totally odd on my part, as I don't actually like hummus.  I think I hoped for yummy crackers or veggie dippers for it?  Really, I was not expecting a "snack" like that, as most of the competition on this route simply offers a pass of a snack basket (which, to be fair, I'd actually prefer, I'd love a bag of salty popcorn, something chocolate, etc).

Hummus Platter.

The hummus platter perplexed me slightly.  Yes, it had hummus, as expected, but it had nothing to dip in it.  Not crackers, not pita, not veggies.  Instead, it came with tabbouli, a wedge of lemon, and three grapes.  Sure, hummus and tabbouli go together well, and a little acid from lemon elevates most things, but ... it was an odd snack with nothing to spread the hummus on, nor dip into it.  

The tabbouli had an abundance of very harsh raw red onion.  It blew my palette out nearly immediately.  The lemon was nice to have, would have been nice with the main meal too.  Grapes were fine, not too mushy.  And the hummus?  Yeah, it was generic hummus.  Overall, very meh, and hard to eat in a cohesive way.  ***.

I later saw the "cheese plate", which actually turned out to be a cheese and charcuterie plate (surprise, vegetarians!), with what looked to be a wedge of very bright orange cheddar, a hunk of swiss, two slices of salami, and a slice of turkey, served with a packet of water crackers.  If I were to fly this route again, I'd opt for that for sure, as I do kinda like those crackers, cheese is usually fairly reliably ok, and, well, I do like salami from time to time.

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BBQ Catering by Back Forty Texas BBQ

I have no idea if the origin story of Back Forty Texas BBQ is true, but, its quite the tale.  Founder was playing poker, his opponent bet half his BBQ joint, founder won, and got half the BBQ joint.  Opponent gave him the back room of the restaurant, rather than the expected half-ownership, so founder set up his own competing bbq restaurant in that space.  It sat 40 people, and customers started requesting to be seated there, in the "back forty".  And so the tale goes.  But anyway, Back Forty Texas BBQ is a Texas style BBQ joint in Pleasanton, CA now.

"When you visit our BBQ Restaurant in Pleasant Hill, we’ll treat you like a guest invited to our home. Your food will always be prepared fresh-from-scratch, using the freshest and finest ingredients for our authentic Austin, Texas recipes."

I didn't visit the restaurant (er, "roadhouse & saloon"), but rather, got to sample their food at a catered company bbq.  They seem to specialize in large format dining, both through their catering, and banquet facilities.

Our hosts opted for the $24 per person basic menu, which included choice of 3 proteins (options were ribs, hot links, pulled pork, beef brisket, bbq chicken), and 3 "Fixin's" (choices of tossed green salad, caesar salad, garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, beans, coleslaw, potato salad, fresh vegetables, corn on the cob), along with dinner rolls, pickles, red onions (?), and extra bbq sauce.  Tables, cutlery, etc, included.

The catering seemed well run, but the food was very mediocre.  Perhaps I am just ruined now, after visiting Truth BBQ in Houston several times last year?

Rolls.

I didn't try the rolls, as they looked fairly generic, and online reviews of even the dine-in experience mention how lackluster they are.

The decor was cute though, including in the serving baskets, very picnic vibes.

Creamy Potato Salad / Mixed Greens Salad / Pickles & Onion.

For sides, our hosts picked the baked beans (served warm), mixed greens salad, and potato salad.  Reasonable diversity, but I would have preferred macaroni salad, slaw, and mashed potatoes (or corn on the cob, if it was in season).

Mixed Greens Salad: 

This looked mushy and watery and way over dressed, so I didn't try it.  It seemed to really be just greens, nothing else.

Creamy Potato Salad:

This was a fairly mushy style of potato salad, or as they call it, "creamy".  Not really hunks of potato, very soft mush.  It had a acidic flavor to it that I didn’t care for, and a weird aftertaste.  **.

The random slices of red onions were fresh and crisp.  Pickles were tasty, generic, but tasty.  ***+.

Hot Foods: bbq baked beans, bbq chicken, pork ribs, hot links.

For proteins, the hosts picked ribs, bbq chicken, and hot links.  I was reasonably happy with their picks, although would have preferred pulled pork over the chicken, I know white meat chicken is the general crowd pleaser.  All were served over grill pans to keep warm.

Baked Beans:

The baked beans were fine.  Fairly soupy, and just small white beans, seemingly no different from what you'd get in a can, but the flavor was pretty decent.  I certainly would have preferred some onions in here, some bits of bbq meat, or a smoky flavor, but, they were fine.  Average for canned beans, below average for a bbq joint.  ***.

Sampler Platter.

In addition to the beans, went for some of nearly everything, skipping only the soggy salad and chicken as I don't eat chicken.

Hot Link Sausage: "Spiced pork link sausage with a mild kick."

The hot links were served already sliced, which was helpful for the outdoor picnic setting.  The casing was thicker than I like, was kinda tough to bite through.  Inside was unremarkable ... dense, compact sausage meat, slightly more akin to a thicker hotdog than a quality sausage.  A bit gristly.  Very mildly spicy.  Very average, no different from what you can get at a grocery store.  **+.

Pork Ribs: "National Award Winners! Slow-smoked and lightly basted with sauce."

And finally, the national award winning ribs.  They were the best part of the meal, but, only in that they were on the higher end of average, and certainly not anything that I'd expect to be award winning even at the local level, and certainly not nationwide.  The ribs had a relatively flavorful dry rub, a hint of smoke, and had a reasonable amount of meat on them.  Not too tough.  Again, just, slightly above average, what you'd expect from a mediocre restaurant, not on par with what you'd want from a place specializing in bbq.  ***.

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