J.J. Snack Foods

I love to snack. I love to try chips from other countries. Particularly when they come in flavors not standard in the US.  Which brought me to J.J. Snacks, that I discovered in Sydney.

I tried one product only, and I'm honestly not sure what other products are made by this brand, as I found it hard to find much info online.  So, short and simple review on this one.

Chicken.

"A light 'n' crispy chicken flavoured snack. Great snack for the lunch box or a light and crispy treat for the kids."

Do these taste like anything I'd identify as chicken?  No, not at all.  Do I care?  No, not at all.

What are they?  A base of wheat flour and corn starch, spicing including onion, salt, pepper, sugar, and, uh, "chicken seasoning".  

These were shockingly easy to devour.  So light and airy and crispy.  Savory and salty.  The flavor isn't intense, but it is fairly robust.  And the form factor is just delightful.

Gone in moments, and <100 calories per bag, so, nicely guilt free too!  ****.

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Mister Dips, NYC

Ice cream.  One of my essential food groups.  I have it most days.  When I have ice cream at home, it is usually hard serve, used as a paring with a warm dessert (pie, crisp, crumble, pastry, etc).  But when I go out to ice cream, it is often soft serve ice cream.  I adore soft serve ice cream, and I live somewhere that doesn't have that much of it.

So this year, when I was in New York for a month of the summer, let's just say, I sought out my precious soft serve ice cream, as NY has plenty of quality options (as they do for pretty much anything).  One of my destinations was Mister Dips, a place I've been following on social media for years.  I dragged a very willing friend with me.

Mister Dips features, well, dipped ice cream cones, but also griddle burgers, "chixy dips" (fried chicken sandwiches or fingers), and waffle fries.  We stuck just to the ice cream, but the burgers really did look great too.  While our cones looked amazing, sadly, they didn't quite deliver in the taste.

Setting

Mister Dips has two locations, one in NY (seaport area) and one, randomly, in Michigan.  They used to have a location in Brooklyn, but alas, it never reopened after the pandemic.  It was the Manhattan location I visited, which took effort, as it wasn't in an area I'd naturally wind up in.

Outside Seating.

There is abundant seating outside, and plenty of area to stroll around with your ice cream should you choose.

Interior.

Inside has slight diner vibes, with booths for eating.

You order at the register in front, and orders are called out (by your name) when ready, for both savory food and soft serve.

Ice Cream

While you *could* get a plain cone, a "skinny dip", that isn't really what they are known for.  Mister Dips is all about their handful of curated cones, plus a monthly special.  The cones are, well, dipped, but also generally include other elements.  

Buttermint Crunch. $7.29.

"Thin-mint custard, fudge drizzle, grasshopper cookie."

Like all cones at Mister Dips, this curated cone not only has a special flavor of soft serve (mint), it also has a special dip (white chocolate, I think possibly mint flavored too), and THEN a drizzle (fudge), and crumble coating (bits of chocolate mint cookie) ... oh, and whipped cream all around the base (not all the cones have that).  It looked pretty amazing, and I was eager to dive in (and knew I had to, fast, due to melting nature), taking just a moment to snap the photo.  

It proved as difficult to eat on the hot day as I had sorta feared, and I quickly turned into an amusing sticky mess.  I ate frantically, and tried to control it, but I was no match for 90* weather.  Melting soft serve, inside dip, in hot weather, is just never going to go well ... you simply cannot lick it fast enough to control it.  My companion fared better, as her cone didn't have the whipped cream ring around the base, so the base was able to serve as a catcher for some of her drips.

Anyway, stressful eating logistics aside, how was it?

Sadly, it looked better than it was.  The mint soft serve was very mildly flavored, not nearly as minty as I wanted (not even in the same league as my favorite mint soft serve, from King Kone).  But, moreover, it wasn't really very creamy.  It wasn't icy exactly, but, really not a rich, creamy style.  It seemed more like froyo than ice cream, just lacking that creamy mouthfeel.  So the base ice cream itself, definitely left something to be desired.

The white chocolate dip/shell was sweet and fine, but I still don't know if it was actually mint flavored (or just light green), as it just tasted like white chocolate, e.g. sweet, to me.  The dip solidified well, and didn't all break off as sometimes happens, and wasn't too waxy, but, again, the flavor was very muted.  It also seemed like a missed opportunity not to go more in the Thin Mint / Andes Mint / Peppermint Patty direction with a dark chocolate dip.  If I were to get this again, I'd ask for the chocolate dip instead.

The chocolate elements that were there were the chocolate fudge drizzle and grasshopper cookie bits.  These were both gone in the first moments of consumption.  The chocolate drizzle really seemed more like sauce than fudge, and, yeah, was gone after two bites.  I didn't even notice nor taste the few crumbs of cookie.  The whipped cream around the base was a nice touch, I can't say I've ever had whipped cream on a cone before, but I always have it with my ice cream when it is in a dish, so, this was novel and enjoyable.

So, overall, it looked great, but, flavors too muted, ice cream not creamy, and fairly stressful to eat.  Oh, and the cone itself, by the time I got there, was a soggy disaster, as the melted ice cream had entirely soaked it.  At least it was inside the cone catcher, otherwise it would have broken apart way too early in the eating experience.

My companion had the Berry Gibbs, with all entirely different components, and she said hers too wasn't particularly flavorful, and that the ice cream wasn't creamy, so, it wasn't just my poor choice of cone.

I likely would not return here, as NY has too much incredible other soft serve.  **+.

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Paris Baguette

Paris Baguette is a large international chain bakery-cafe, founded in 1988, with more than 3500 franchises worldwide.  They bake breads, pastries, and cakes at each location daily, and also sell sandwiches and salads.  Each location is allowed to tweak the menus to adapt to their customer bases.

Update Review, March 2024

About 5 years ago, I attended an event catered by Paris Baguette (see original review below), and was impressed by the baked goods quality.  So when an e-mail went out in my office recently that a group had lots of leftover Paris Baguette goodies, of *course* I went running.

I'm so glad I did - I was again very, very impressed: definitely the best mochi donuts I've ever had, and one of the top croissant donuts of all time.  I may actually seek out these goodies myself sometime (and, they now have an SF location not far from me, so, it would be pretty easy).

Fruit Pastry. $6.79.

"Wheat Flour, Choux Cream, Orange, Kiwi, Strawberry, Blackberry."

I am not generally drawn to fruit tarts, although I have a friend who loves them, and thus, I sometimes try them, in her honor.  For me, a tart shell is the least interesting type of dessert base, and although I love fresh fruit and cream, the fillings are never all that compelling either.  But take a fruit tart concept, and put it on top of a pastry? That sounded far more interesting.

The result was successful, mostly due to the high quality components.  The pastry itself was remarkably crispy, flaky, and buttery.  Top notch danish style base.  I do often like to lightly warm up a pastry, which isn’t possible with this one due to the toppings.  It definitely made me interested to try their other pastries.   **** pastry base.

The fruit on top was all vibrant and ripe.  The kiwi hunk was fairly thick and huge, but, it was tasty, and I didn't mind how it dominated.  I'm not normally one for oranges, but the citrus was very juicy and light, and worked well here.  Good fresh fruit topping.  ***+.

Fruit Pastry: Cross Section.

I was surprised when I cut into it to find it had not just the cream I had seen on top, but another layer of another style of cream under it.  The menu just says "choux cream", which I think refers to the one on top that was fairly standard thick bavarian cream or maybe crème pâtissière, and the one below was more custard like, and had a slight tang, perhaps some lemon notes?  I wasn't sure it needed both, as they both were quite rich and made it feel pretty heavy, particularly against the very butter forward pastry.  But both creams were well executed.  ***+ creams.

Overall, a very good item, showcasing different aspects of the pastry kitchen's skills.  Still not the style of treat I'd naturally pick, but I was not upset with it. ***+ overall.

I was slightly surprised to see this listed as only 310 cal, given the pastry and cream components.  At $6.79, the pricing seemed appropriate given the many components.

Coffee Croissant Donut. $6.79.

"Flaky Croissant Donut filled with Coffee Custard and topped with coffee icing"

I know, I know, croissant donuts, cronuts, cro-doughs, whatever you want to call them.  The big trend of N years ago, yadda yadda yadda.  But, the thing is, a good croissant donut really is pretty glorious.  And spoiler: this is one of them.  

The pastry was perfectly laminated, such amazing layers, and then fried, crispy and greasy in the right ways.  This is an example of why a croissant donut, done right, can be such an amazing thing.

And then, the filling and topping.  Yes, this one was a bit of a mess since someone got to it before me, but the inside was filled with thick, rich coffee flavored cream.  The flavor was strong, the consistency was great.  I’d gladly consume that cream as a standalone pudding, or inside a bun, and it worked well here too of course.  The glaze on top was crisp and messy and sweet and just pulled it all together.

Was this over the top?  Yes.  Decadent in a specific way?  Yes.  But absolutely delicious, no modifications needed at all.  Yes, me, the girl who adds whipped cream or ice cream or sprinkles to everything felt no need to do anything to this but just enjoy it in its glory, ripping of layers of pastry, dunking in the cream, and licking my messy fingers in complete glee at the end.    420 calories of glee.

They also carry a Nutella filled version which is less interesting sounding to me, and a classic bavarian cream filled one as well. 

This is definitely in the top 3 croissant donuts I’ve ever had.  I’d get it again in a heartbeat.  *****.

Coconut Mochi Donut. $5.99.

"Coconut puree, coconut flakes, and powdered sugar."

I know mochi donuts are trendy and most people love them, but I am lukewarm on them.  At room temperature, as they are generally served, I’m really quite ‘meh’ about them (at least, all that I have tried before).  I do think they are dramatically better when warmed up, but, a mochi donut is just not what I tend to get excited about.

I skipped trying the mochi donuts from Paris Baguette all morning and early afternoon, but when there was still a pile left, I finally gave in and tried one.  I went for the coconut and was impressed with the very flavorful coconut coating.

I was also impressed with the mochi donut base.  It was softer than others I have tried, nice and pliable, good chew, strong mochi rice flavor.  One of the most enjoyable mochi donuts I've had at room temperature. ****.

At $5.99, these really are quite pricey, more than other places, and I don't think worth that premium when their pastries are just so good.

St. Paddy's Day Mochi Donut. $5.99.
(Seasonal Special).

"Chewy mochi donut topped with vanilla icing, drizzled with white chocolate and St. Patty's sprinkles."

 Next, I went for the St. Patty’s Day special.

Same base as the previous, soft, good mochi flavor and texture.  The icing on this was less flavorful than the coconut puree and coconut flakes, so it was more one dimensional, but it was still good, not a cloying sweet.  ***+.  I preferred the very flavorful coconut one though.

Strawberry Mochi Donut. $5.

I didn't try the strawberry one.

Matcha Latte (Oat Milk). $6.55 + $0.95.

I paired all my treats with a matcha latte, oat milk based.

It was good - very strong matcha flavor, and I do always like the oat and matcha combination.  Price a bit hight though for a non-specialty item.  ***+.

Original Review, February 2019

Paris Baguette has locations all over the Bay Area, but none are in San Francisco, so I've never visited myself.  They also have no locations in the North East of the US where I was raised, so again, no encounters.  But from looking at their website, I think I'd like it - the array of pastries, particularly asian inspired, many items that I'd really quite like.

My encounter with Paris Baguette was at a brunch event, with catering by Paris Baguette.  I tried several pastries, the fresh fruit, and the coffee, and honestly was impressed with it all.

I didn't take photos of the coffee nor fruit, but I had both regular and decaf coffee, and quite enjoyed both.  No funk, no staleness, no bitterness.  The strawberries were large and juicy, although not particularly flavorful, as it was February, but the blueberries were shockingly nice.  I didn't try any of the mini sandwiches, but people really seemed to be enjoying them.

Baked Goods

I tried several assorted pastries, and was quite impressed.  Not Parisian actual cafe quality, but, all above average, particularly for a chain.

ASSORTED PASTRIES. (30 PCS).

$64.00.

"Almond Pastry, Apple Pastry, Blueberry cream cheese, Chocolate Chip Twist, Chocolate croissant, Choux cream Pastry, Croissant, Green Pea Pastry, Sweet Potato Pastry, Pain Au Chocolat, Pain Aux Raisins, Raspberry Cream Cheese, Pineapple Pastry."

For catering, Paris Baguette offers two sizes of pastry boxes, a mixed box of 15, or a double decker with 30.  We had the 30 piece box, with a large assortment of items, but nothing was labelled, so I was guessing as I made my selections.  I do not think the catering description from the website was quite accurate.

I did see the croissant, chocolate croissant, pain au chocolat, chocolate chip twist, pain aux raisins, pineapple pastry, apple pastry, and at least one of the raspberry cream cheese or blueberry cream cheese.  I didn't identify the almond pastry (nothing had visible sliced almonds on top), the choux cream pastry (although there could have been something cream filled that just wasn't obvious), the green pea pastry (this should have had some green visible), nor the sweet potato pastry, which, honestly would have been my top 4 choices!  And I did find a savory item that I wasn't entirely positive what it was, but enjoyed.

I may have consumed more of these than I expected, as they really were quite good!

 Potato & Mushroom Petite Pastry?

. $1.70.

I started with a little mini stuffed pastry.  I went small, not expecting the pastries to be very good.  And I selected this as it had something spilling out the edges, that I thought might be almond paste.  I wanted a almond marzipan filled item.

I was quite surprised when I realized this was savory!  From menu and photo research online, I've determined it was the "potato & mushroom petite pastry", although I didn't identify it at the time.  That said, I couldn't identify it at all.  Ham and cheese was my thought given that it was savory, and it tasted slightly cheesy, but not quite, with a mushy savory filling, which must have been the seasoned mashed potato!  It also had a slight earthiness and little bits with bite, again that I thought might be ham as that is more common, but that certainly didn't seem right, and must have been bits of mushroom!

I really did enjoy the flavors and textures of the filling, and the pastry itself was quite good too, flaky, well laminated.

Not what I was expecting, but I enjoyed this, my second favorite item I tried.  $1.70 if purchased separately.  ****.

Pain Au Chocolate. $2.25.

I was ready for sweets though, and tried again.  I did not know what item I was selecting when I grabbed this, but it looked like a filled croissant to me, so I was willing to take a gamble.

It turned out to be filled with chocolate, two bars of dark chocolate.  I wasn't expecting it to be chocolate given that the box also had chocolate croissants (e.g. standard crescent croissant shape, with visible chocolate drizzled all over on top), but Paris Baguette makes both chocolate croissants and pain au chocolate (and chocolate chip twists, which our box also had).  It was quite good.

The pastry was flaky on top, well laminated, nice buttery layers, not spongy nor oily.  Really, decent.  And the dark chocolate inside was high quality.

I was pleased with this, and I'd gladly have another.  My top choice of what I tried.  Normally $2.25 if purchased not as part of a catering order. ****.

Mango Heaven. $1.75.

My final selection was something entirely different, I decided to go for an completely different style of item, e.g. not croissant dough, to evaluate the bakery further, given that I was impressed with the others.  I had no idea what it was, but it looked like a hand pie, with pearl sugar on top, and some kind of fruit coming out the ends.  

I assumed it was apple, but one bite in I realized it wasn't, which, honestly, I was happy to see.  It tasted vaguely like apricot, but that didn't seem quite right either.

More research reveals ... it was mango!  And this was the "mango heaven", a special item.

The filling was sweet and fruity, gloopy but not in an off putting way.  The pastry crust was sorta a hybrid between a pie and a croissant - it was flaky like a croissant, but crispier, the texture and flavor more like pie crust.  I liked it.  The pearl sugar and slight glaze on top was nice too.

This was my least favorite of the items I think, but I still enjoyed it. ***+.

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