Proper Crisps, New Zealand

I like snacks.  I liks chips in particular.  I also like to travel, and try new products while traveling.  And thus ... this review.  Proper Chips, from New Zealand, served on board an Air New Zealand flight.

Update Review, 2024

I haven't really liked the more interesting flavors of Proper Crisps before, but, I've been on a bit of a chips/crisps kick lately, so I decided to give their basic chips a try.

Marlborough Sea Salt.

"What is it that makes our Crisps so delicious, you ask? Each batch of our New Zealand grown spuds are sliced to perfection, then hand-cooked in small batches by our talented Proper Chefs using High Oleic Sunflower Oil, topped off with a Proper touch of Marlborough Sea Salt. That's all! This is a 100% NZ Made bag, with Oil from Canterbury, Salt from Marlborough, and Potatoes from our local farmers. Choice!"

And ... yeah,  not my thing.  Just thin and crispy sorta kettle style. I don't really like this style.  Very greasy.  Light salt is a very boring flavor.  **+.

Original Review, 2018

Proper Chips is a fairly new company, started only in 2010, with founders on a mission to less processed and less artificial chips, sorry, crisps.  They use high quality high oleic sunflower oil to fry, sea salt from Marlborough, etc, etc.  And of course, everything is non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, etc.  For me, the interesting part was the unique flavors.

I was only able to try potato chips, but I'd gladly try more, but more specifically, I'd love to try some of their other Proper Crisps: parsnip, beetroot, carrot, and more!

Sweet Smoked Paprika.

" Olé! Sizzling with Sweet smoked Spanish seasoning, these Proper Crisps are flavoured with mature sweet bell peppers that have been naturally dried over hot smoked oak chips and ground to perfection."

"Sweet and Smokey – The finest matured Spanish bell peppers dried on oak for 18 days – our 100% natural take on the BBQ flavour."

These were fine crisps, I guess.  Thin sliced, not skin on, generic crisps, but, uh, crispy?  No complaints on the base but it wasn't particularly exciting.

The spicing was certainly odd.  I have paprika on other things, but it isn't what I've ever had on my crisps.  It was somewhat BBQ-eque I suppose, but far more subtle, not as complex.  Which, makes sense, as the only ingredients, besides the potatoes and oil, are salt and paprika.  So, they tasted, well, like paprika, and little more.

Not the most interesting chips for me, but, if you really like paprika, perhaps you'd like these.  **+.

Rosemary & Thyme.

"We practically raided the garden – sprinkled dried and rubbed herbs on the freshly kettle cooked Agria making a delicious herbaceous take on the traditional Sunday Roast."

The Rosemary & Thyme variety fared the same way.  The chips were fine, crispy, nicely cooked, and the ingredients were simple, just the potatoes, oil, and herbs.

The spicing was strong, very very obvious that they were rosemary and thyme.  Indeed, they did seem like a Sunday Roast in a chip.  Which ... for me, was a bit much.  Rosemary and thyme are things I don't mind, but, as the dominant, primary flavor of something, I wasn't quite into it.  **.

Cider Vinegar & Sea Salt.

"Our Award winning moreish apple cider vinegar crisp – has the perfect balance of sweet and zing, we make ours with real vinegar!!"

Certainly a more classic flavor, just named a bit more interestingly than the standard "salt and vinegar" name we have in the US.

The chips though ... eh.  Just fried thin crispy chips.  Very tangy.  Salty.  Eh.  **.

Onion with Green Chives.

"We thought why not make a classic Onion flavour using only simple, real ingredients? This delicate balance of Gourmet Onions, Chives and Marlborough Sea Salt will definitely tantalise your taste buds.  Let your cravings begin!"

Another simple flavor, onion and chive.  Nothing too strong, but a bit more interesting than a plain chip.  Works in a pinch if you want chips and onion dip, and don't have any dip I guess.

Again, not much interesting to say about the chips themselves, just thin fried crispy chips.  Not really my thing. **.

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John & Jill's Cheesecake

Update Review, 2023-2024

Another year, a few more cheesecakes from John & Jill's.  The bigger sizes do continue to be considerably better than the itty bitty ones.

Chocolate Raspberry.

"A chocolate cheesecake with raspberry flavoring throughout and finished with a smooth chocolate glaze on a chocolate cookie crust."

I'd had this twice before, years ago.  Once, I really liked it.  And then, I really didn't.  Thus, I had no idea what to expect this valentine's day, when my cafe served it.  The answer?  This year, I seemed to love it!  

The chocolate cookie crust gave a deep chocolate flavor and nice texture balance with the creamy cheesecake.  I don't really tend to like cookie crusts, but this one worked, and wasn't too crumbly.  The cheesecake was rich, creamy, chocolately, and had a lovely raspberry flavor to the finish.  Really high quality cheesecake, and although not very heavy in the cream cheese flavor, it made it basically like a thicker, richer chocolate pudding, which was a very good thing.  Chocolate and raspberry are always a winning combo.

I truly enjoyed this, even more when I added some whipped cream and fresh raspberries to balance it out.  A far above average cheesecake.  ****.

Lemon Biscotti.

"Lemon cheesecake topped with our tart lemon curd on a lemon cookie crust."

If you've read my blog a while, you know how I feel about lemon desserts, and in particular, curd.  As in, really not a fan, although I've gained more tolerance in the past few years.  I approached this with an open mind, because John and Jill's really does make quality cheesecake, but, still made my doubts.

It was a mixed bag for me.  The cheesecake itself was quite good - remarkably creamy, rich in all the right ways, lightly sweet, and very very subtle lemon flavor.  Far above average, again, at least ****.

The base was also above average - not a graham cracker base, not a throwaway crumble, but rather, a compressed cookie (they say lemon, but I didn't really taste more lemon there).  It was soft, sweet, and better than most cheesecake bases, but not remarkable otherwise.  *** base.

And then there was the top layer, the curd.  It was intensely tart, lemon-y, and, well, strong curd flavor.  I disliked it immensely.  Luckily, it was easy to scrape off.  * to that curd, but if you like curd, I'm sure this was great.  My co-workers raved about it.

I truly enjoyed my curd-less cheesecake, particularly when I paired it with strawberries, blueberries, and some whipped cream, but I think it was delicious enough to be a standalone item too.  Again, above average, ***+ for me due to the lemon nature though.

Johnny's Citrus Assortment:
Raspberry swirl, lemon blueberry, key lime.

Raspberry Swirl: "Our Raspberry Swirl is a delight of light, creamy vanilla cheesecake with gorgeous swirls of tart raspberry."

Lemon Blueberry: "Our Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake is the classic pairing of sweet blueberries and tart lemon. Blueberries swirled throughout the creamy cheesecake, with lemon highlights and hints of vanilla make this a favorite."

Key Lime: "Our Key Lime Cheesecake is a delicious take on the classic key lime pie. Refreshing lime and vanilla cheesecake is topped with sour cream and lime curd. Tangy and creamy, in every bite."

I knew from past experiences that I never like the Johnny's, but after enjoying several flavors of the bigger ones, I gave the tiny Johnny's another try.  After all, same company, just smaller size ... how different could they be?  I tried all 3 flavors, and disliked them all.

These aren't good.

Crust is soft and mushy and throwaway.  Texture of cheesecake is not great, and only light cream cheese flavor.  Not rich and creamy.  The lemon blueberry and raspberry swirl flavors had just a tiny tiny tiny bit of flavor, not enough to really taste or elevate them.  The key lime flavor I hated even the little bit of swirl that was there.

DO NOT LIKE. *. I still don't understand how these are the same company!

Update Review, April 2022

As you may remember from my original review, John & Jill's offers a zillion (ok, 50), kinds of cheesecake, in a wide variety of sizes, including multiple "individual" sizes: Jewels, Gems, and Johnny's.  While I think their cheesecakes are better in full size, sliced form, the smaller ones are well suited  for catering events, which is where I encountered them recently.

Gems: Amaretto Almond, Chocolate Chip, Lemon,
Raspberry, Vanilla, Silk Tuxedo, Cappuccino.

Our lineup was a selection of the Gems, the mid-size individual portions, slightly bigger than the laughable bite size crustless Johnny's, but much smaller than the Jewels.  Some of these have "crusts" that are just layer in the base, no side or back crusts.

I tried several, of course.

Lemon.

You don't often see me go for lemon desserts, as I don't tend to care for them, but I was drawn in by the garnish on this one, a lemon gelée.  I liked the topping (sweet, fruity, good chew), and thus, dug in.

It was a decent little bite of cheesecake.  The lemon flavor was certainly there, but it was a lovely undertone to the cheesecake.  The cheesecake was smooth and creamy, good texture, although it didn't taste particularly strongly of cream cheese.

The only aspect I really didn't care for was the base crust, just mush, that I suppose was likely graham cracker?  The texture was pretty bad, and, it wasn't sweetened or anything.  I left the base behind, but otherwise, a nice enough bite.

***.

Amaretto Almond.

"Amaretto flavored cheesecake topped with sliced almonds."

Next up, amaretto almond. This one I had before in full size form, but this was my first time having it as a mini.  

The amaretto flavor was lovely, and there was a subtle sweetness to it.  Same decent smooth texture as the previous.  I liked that the sliced almonds on top added crunch, but actually, I wish they weren't there, as they left a kinda gritty taste in my mouth.

This had the same awful mush base, which I avoided.

Another good enough bite, ***.

Raspberry.

For my final non-chocolate selection, I went for the raspberry, just to try something different.  I can't say that the little dab of whatever it was on top was particularly inviting looking.

The raspberry goo on top was just kinda generic sweetness.  The cheesecake was strongly fruity, in a way I didn't quite care for.  It didn't taste fake exactly, I just really wasn't into the fruity nature.  It had the same awful mush base.

A smooth cheesecake, but, not one I enjoyed.  *+.

Silk Tuxedo.

Next I moved on to chocolate selections, starting with the "Silk Tuxedo".

The "tuxedo" aspect of this is the two layers, one brown (chocolate), one white, plus, the chocolate "button" on top.  And "silk" for ... chocolate?  I'm not sure.

Sadly I did not like any of it, although the chocolate button on top was fine.  The plain cheesecake was mushy, and the chocolate cheesecake had no cream cheese flavor, and was just like a strangely mushy brownie (granted, I rarely like chocolate cheesecake).

It had no crust at least.  I ... was not a fan.

**.

Cappuccino.

Next I tried the cappuccino.

One point for the chocolate espresso bean on top.  But otherwise, the body of this was much like the chocolate layer from the tuxedo version - just strangely mushy, and no real flavor. I tasted nothing cappuccino-like.

This did have a bit of a crust in the bottom, just some chocolate crumbles, soft and mushy.

Eh.

**.

Original Review, April 2020

John & Jill's is a fairly local (to San Francisco) cheesecake maker, located in Sonoma.  The owners, John & Jill, a brother and sister, have a pretty cute story.

Jill started working at Sonoma Valley Cheesecake when she was 16, in assorted roles.  John worked there too, while in college.  They both did other things, but eventually started their own company in 1994.  They later acquired Sonoma Valley Cheesecake, and now supply under both brand names.  It really is a nice success story!

They make over 40 flavors of cheesecake (!) in a slew of different sizes (8!).  The cheesecakes range from individual sizes like the tiny 3/4 ounce "Johnny's", to slightly larger 3 ounce "gems", to bigger still 5.5 ounce "jewels", to larger full size cheesecakes for retail, including taller styles.  The full size cheesecakes include more elaborate toppings.

I've been eyeing John & Jill's cheesecakes for a while, but, they don't actually have a bakery storefront (well, they have a place at the factory where you can purchase items, including seconds), as their primary distribution is wholesale.  I was very excited when I saw them offered through our catering department, and when I hosted a recent event, easily picked John & Jill's over the larger mass produced products from the other side of the country.  Just a few weeks later, I attended another event, and was thrilled to see they too had picked John & Jill's!  From there, John & Jill's became a regular order for me, so I've tried a large variety of their offerings.

9" Cheesecake

For my first event, I needed a classic New York cheesecake, so I wasn't able to check out any of the really fascinating flavors (seriously, they have every flavor you can imagine, like strawberry margarita cheesecake with a lime/tequila/triple sec base, strawberry swirl filling, and a sweet sour cream topping, or a crazy decadent turtle cheesecake on a chocolate cookie crust with pecans, chocolate chips, and caramel.

From there I moved on to those with toppings.

9" New York Cheesecake.

"The classic cheesecake with just a hint of lemon. No Crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"The classic baked cheesecake with a hint of lemon and vanilla." -- John & Jills

We had probably the most simple cheesecake: New York.  No fancy toppings, not even a crust.

It came pre-sliced and portioned by wrappers.

New York Cheesecake: Side View.

This was an entirely crustless cheesecake, no bottom crust, nor back crust.

The cheesecake was good.  Simple, but, good.  Thick and creamy, sweet but not too sweet, decent cream cheese flavor.

Overall, a winner, but obviously just a plain one.

***+.

Turtle.

"Pecans, caramel and chocolate chips are piled high on our New York style cheesecake." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"One of our all time favorites, vanilla cheesecake on a chocolate cookie crust and topped with pecans, chocolate chips and caramel." -- John & Jill's, Distributor

This cheesecake too was fine, but, a bit boring.

The New York cheesecake base is a good one.  Good texture, great cream cheese flavor.  But plain, compared to some of the others.  The chocolate cookie crust was soft and forgettable.

The toppings were good, crunchy pecans, a bit of caramel, some little chocolate chips.  But it needed more.  I wanted more caramel, more ... something.

So, overall, a fine cheesecake, good base, good toppings, slightly interesting crust, but, I wanted more to it.

***+.

Strawberry Margarita.

"Lime cheesecake with strawberries, Tequila, and Triple Sec and topped with sour cream." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Lime cheesecake flavored with Tequila and Triple Sec, strawberry filling hand swirled throughout and topped with sweetened sour cream topping on a vanilla cookie crust." -- John & Jill's

This cheesecake was missing something.  The little puffs of garnish that the other cheesecakes had, and, all the photos of it online have.  I think someone actually just forgot a step in finishing the cheesecake.

In this case, I think that is where the "sweetened sour cream topping" was supposed to be.

Strawberry Margarita: Side View.

It was still a fine cheesecake.

The crust was fairly standard compressed graham cracker cookie crust, not particularly exciting.

The cheesecake was very smooth, creamy, good quality cheesecake.  It had a mild lime flavor, but I didn't taste the promised tequila or triple sec.  Calling it "Margarita" was certainly a stretch.

The strawberry swirled in was good, juicy, fruity, and a nice compliment to the mild lime.

Overall, solid, but certainly not amazing, and certainly not margarita.  ***+.

Update Review:
We had it again, and again, no whipped cream garnish. So, maybe this one just doesn't have it?

But it was still a good solid cheesecake, smooth and creamy slight lime flavor, although, still no real booze to it.  I again really liked the strawberry goo swirl. 

***+.

Caramel Apple Crunch Cheesecake.

"Rich and creamy caramel apple cheesecake topped with Heath Toffee Chips on a vanilla cookie crust." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Was once a fall favorite, now offered year round. A caramel cheesecake with apples throughout and topped with a toffee almond streusel." -- John & Jill's.

This was one of the better cheesecakes!

The texture seemed softer, fluffier than some others, and I liked the caramel sweetness to the base cheesecake.  The apple bits throughout weren't necessarily something I'd go for normally, but, I liked the texture they added too.

The crust was a bit 'meh', mushy, almost stale tasting, not exactly "cookie", but not a standard crumb crust either.

The topping was fabulous.  Toffee almond streusel?  Yes.  Crispy, sweet, flavorful.

Overall, one of my favorites, but in surprising ways.  I did expect it to have more actual caramel, it only had a little drizzle on top, but, that was fine, actually.

***+.

Cherry Almond.

"Vanilla and Almond cheesecake decorated with cherry filling and whipped cream rosette on each slice." -- GourmetXpress

"Our almond cheesecake with a cherry topping, sits on a chocolate cookie crust." -- John & Jill's

This cheesecake was indeed very almond flavored, the most flavored of any variety I think I've tried. It was creamy, but, a bit too smooth and mushy for me.  I wasn't really into the base cheesecake, although I see its merits.

The cherry topping was not as goop-y or sweet as what you get as cherry pie filling in a can, but it also wasn't particularly notable.  Certainly not "fresh".

The little whipped cream rosette was actually great - super fluffy, super sweet, flavorful.  The highlight, no question.

***+.

Kahlua Almond.

"Flavored with real coffee, almond and vanilla extract on a chocolate cookie crust. Topped with almonds and semi-sweet chocolate." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Coffee and almond flavored cheesecake topped with sliced almonds and chocolate, on a chocolate cookie crust." -- John & Jill's

This was a fine cheesecake.  But just fine.  Not particularly great.

I disliked the crust, a fairly soggy, gritty, chocolate crumble.  Throwaway.

The cheesecake itself was a great texture, very smooth.  And it clearly had a flavor to it, sweet with some depth, some almond to it, but the flavor certainly didn't scream out coffee nor kahlua nor almond.  So, just fine.  Not great at all.

***.

Amaretto.

"Amaretto flavored cheesecake topped with sliced almonds."

This was a decent cheesecake.  The best of the almond varieties.

Again, creamy smooth texture, not as "rich" tasting as most cheesecake, so crazy smooth.  Lovely almond flavor.  Eh to the sliced almonds on top, but, overall, good.

***+.

Seasonal

Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake.

"The flavors of the season! Pumpkin spice cheesecake decorated with caramel pecan pieces, Heath Toffee candy and a dollop of whipped cream sits on a vanilla cookie crust."

This was excellent cheesecake.  But more like a very rich pumpkin pie, with great toppings.

It was perfectly creamy, like all of John & Jill's cheesecakes.  The pumpkin flavor was strong, and it wasn't very tangy, so certainly more like a pumpkin pie than a cheesecake, just, much, much richer.  Nicely spiced with "pumpkin spices".

Pumpkin Praline: Side View.

On top, I liked the bits of pecan for crunch and texture, and the pop of sweetness from the caramel.  I didn't find many Heath bar bits though.  I'd gladly take more of all of these things.

The whipped cream was good, sweet and fluffy, but I kinda wanted more, more like I have my pumpkin pie rather than cheesecake.

Overall, very good, one of my favorites.  John & Jill's also makes a marbled pumpkin cheesecake, with swirled layers of regular cheesecake and pumpkin pie that I have yet to try.

****.

Update Review (2019): I've ordered this several more times, and now, even with high expectations, it still delivers.  Just think of it as "even better pumpkin pie" ... richer, creamier, just, better pumpkin pie.  Not much cream cheese flavor, but I like it that way.  Continues to be a hit with everyone. ****.

Egg Nog Cheesecake.

"NY cheesecake with fresh Egg Nog, topped with whipped cream decoration & nutmeg."

Don't mind the smooshed top of this, I wasn't at the event where it was served, but, a co-worker kindly saved me a piece.  I have some great co-workers!

But ... I didn't like it.

The cheesecake was smooth, but, the eggnog flavor didn't do it for me, and there was too much nutmeg to it.  I also missed having a crust.

The whipped cream topping though was tasty, fluffy and light.

**+.

Egg Nog Cheesecake (Dec 2019).

The egg nog cheesecake came back, not when I ordered it, but when my catering team substituted it in place of a dessert that did not come in.   I was not pleased, but still gave it a try.

Same result ... meh.  In particular, it just really didn't deliver in the egg nog flavor at all. **+.

White Chocolate Peppermint.

"White chocolate peppermint cheesecake with a chocolate crumb crust, topped with white chocolate glaze."

This was almost a good cheesecake.

I didn't care for the crust, chocolate, but, mostly just dry and hard.

The cheesecake itself had a good flavor to it, clearly white chocolate and peppermint, but it was too creamy.  If that makes any sense.  It was creamy in a way that resulted in a really strange mouthfeel.  Too smooth.  It also didn't actually taste like cream cheese in any way.  So, good mint and white chocolate sweetness, but, not actually cheesecake I wanted to eat.

The top was the best part, not a "white chocolate glaze" exactly as described, but, rather, a thick solid white chocolate layer, very sweet.  A little nondescript whipped cream and drizzle of something red finished it off.

***+.

Chocolate Snowflake (Winter Seasonal Special).

"Chocolate cheesecake with white chocolate chips, topped with chocolate ganache and a white chocolate snowflake decorations."

I don't generally like chocolate cheesecakes (I'm really not sure why), but I was drawn in by the thick layer of chocolate ganache on top.

As I kinda expected, the cheesecake wasn't for me.  Sure it was creamy, but chocolate cheesecake just truly isn't my thing.  I didn't care for the vaguely chocolately crust either, and the ganache was fairly boring.  The chocolate frosting was good though, and I LOVED the white chocolate snowflake.  I think I was just in the mood for ... not chocolate?

***.

9" Tall Cheesecake

9" Tall New York.

"This N. Y. cheesecake is baked on a shortbread crust & is made to sky-scraper heights." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"The classic baked cheesecake with a hint of lemon, orange rind and vanilla on a vanilla cookie crust." -- John & Jill's

I also had a chance to try the tall version of the basic New York.  This one does come with a crust.  The slices are colossal normally, but, my cafe cut them into thirds.  Thirds!

Ok, maybe that was wise.  A cheesecake this tall and rich does need some restraint.

It was creamy, mild cheesecake, slight lemon flavor.  Basically, the same as the not tall version, except, with a crust.  I liked the crust, shortbread-ish, not too dry, good compliment to the cheesecake.

****.

Jewels

Jewels are one of the two choices of "individual" sized cheesecakes, weighing in at 5.5 ounces (vs the 3 ounce crustless "Gems").  They are 3" round, 1 ¾" tall.

These are the most extensive product line, with a whopping 22 options!  They follow the same format as full size cheesecakes, with different types of crust, and often toppings.

Raspberry Almond.

"One of our signature cakes, our classic almond cheesecake topped with a sweet red raspberry sauce on an almond crust."

This was a good cheesecake.  Creamy and rich.  I loved the subtle almond flavor to it.

The raspberry sauce on top was sweet and a nice compliment to the almond.  The crust didn't seem particularly almond-forward, but was more interesting texture, more crunchy, than a standard graham cracker crust.

Easily the best John & Jill's cheesecake I've had.

****.

Mocha Hazelnut.

"Coffee cheesecake topped with hazelnuts and chocolate chips on a chocolate cookie crust."

Eh.  This was fine.  But not actually good.  I think I just don't really like John & Jill's cheesecake nearly as much as other vendors (I'm looking at you Eli's!).  It was sorta coffee flavored, and I liked the crunch from nuts on top and the little chips.  Chocolate cookie crust was dry.

And still too large to really be an "individual" portion.

***.

Rocky Road.

"Chocolate cheesecake topped with marshmallows, chocolate fudge and walnuts on a chocolate cookie crust."

These were great looking cheesecakes.  Seriously, that topping!

But, I didn't actually care for it at all.  The crust was just a boring chocolate base, like many of their others.  The cheesecake was chocolate flavored, but I really just don't care for the chocolate and cream cheese combo.  Personal preference, I know.  It was a good texture though.

The chocolate fudge on top was my favorite part, thick, rich.  The nuts were nice for a bit of crunch, and I always find basic mini marshmallows forgettable.

Clearly not the cheesecake for me.  **+.

Chocolate Raspberry.

"A chocolate cheesecake with raspberry flavoring throughout and finished with a smooth chocolate glaze on a chocolate cookie crust."

I'm not normally one for chocolate cheesecakes, but, this really was a decent cheesecake.

The cheesecake itself was smooth, rich, creamy, classic John & Jill's texture.  The raspberry was a lovely compliment to the chocolate.

The chocolate cookie crust was rather eh, I wanted more grit or something, like Carvel crunchies, and it had a strange taste to it.  But who needs crust, really?

And on top, thick, rich, chocolately ganache.  Another winning element.

Overall, quite tasty, and one I'd gladly have again, when in the mood for a chocolate dessert. ***.

Update: I had another, and this time, REALLY didn't like it.  I didn't like the raspberry.  I didn't like the chocolate.  Yes, it was creamy, but the combination didn't do it for me at all, and I didn't even want a second bite.  Why ... why do my tastes change so dramatically sometimes?! **.

Gems

Gems are what I'd consider the actual individual size cheesecakes.  These are 2 ¾” x 2 ½”, 3 oz, so certainly as large as, or slightly larger than, one really needs (but not as big as the 5.5 ounce Jewels which seem far too big for one, but the 3/4 ounce Johnnys are really just a single bite).

However, they are crustless, and don't have toppings, and come in only 5 flavors besides classic New York, so, they are far less successful options.

Mango Raspberry Gem.

"Mango flavored cheesecake with raspberry puree swirled in." -- John & Jill's

"Raspberry puree swirled atop a Mango cheesecake." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

This was again a decent cheesecake.  The texture was great, firm, creamy.

The mango flavor was pretty subtle, although the cake had a lovely orange hue.  I also didn't really taste the raspberry very clearly, although again, you could see it.

Crustless as well, so, no crust to evaluate.

Overall, it was fine, they have nailed the consistency of the cheesecake in particular, but I didn't find the flavors very compelling.  ***.

Update: I had it again.  I again didn't really care for it.  The mango was kinda nice, the texture creamy, but, eh.  Nothing spectacular. **+.

Matcha Green Tea.

"Imported Green Tea powder is blended with our cheesecake."

This was the same format as the other Gems, a crustless cheesecake.

This one I didn't like.  The texture was chalky, likely from the matcha powder.  It was not smooth and creamy.  It didn't taste like cream cheese.  It was slightly bitter, which I expect from matcha, but it was like a burnt green tea flavor.

Not a hit, and I saw many people throw these out. *+.

Update: We had these again, so I tried one, again.  The verdict? No different.  These just aren't good cheesecakes. *+.

Chocolate Swirl.

"A classic New York cheesecake swirled with Chocolate." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Our vanilla cheesecake marbled with our rich chocolate cheesecake." -- John & Jill's

Technically, there was a chocolate swirl.  But, I think it barely counts.

This was mostly just a regular plain cheesecake, with a hint of chocolate.

Standard John & Jill's, good texture, decent but not special, and I felt it over promised on the "chocolate" front. ***.

Johnny's

Johnny's are ... a bite.  Not a dessert.  A bite.  They are only 3/4 ounce.  I'm not sure who considers a single bite a dessert, I guess, Johnny?

Drunken Pumpkin.

"Classic pumpkin cheesecake infused with Kentucky Bourbon whiskey."

A seasonal offering, loaded up with seasonal spices (you probably know these as "pumpkin spice", or "fall spice" as I've been seeing this year).

I didn't care for this.  The texture was strangely gummy, not rich cheesecake.  The crust was boring and dry.  I didn't taste the promised bourbon.  But the worst offender was the spices, just, too much pumpkin spice.

*+.

Grasshopper.

Another seasonal specialty, the Grasshopper.

The crust this time was chocolate, but equally dry and boring.

The cake was again strangely gummy, not rich thick cheesecake.  I did like the mint flavor to it though.

On top looked like a chocolate disk, but was actually a touch of thick chocolate ganache.  That I liked.

But overall?  Not good.  **.

Limoncello.

"Lemony bites on a vanilla cookie crumb crust makes for perfect pairing with chocolates and fresh berries."

There was nothing to like about this one.

Mushy crust.  Mushy texture to the cheesecake.  Lemon flavor in the center that I didn't care for.  Definitely not for me. *.

Ricotta.

"Our Italian Ricotta Cheesecake is a slightly lighter take on the traditional cheesecake since we use ricotta as the primary base. Still traditionally creamy and with notes of vanilla and lemon, this cheesecake is accented with a sour cream topping. Crusted sizes have a vanilla cookie crumb crust with a buttery finish." 

This was slightly better, in that it didn't have the lemon component that I disliked, but the crust was still mush, and the cheesecake itself didn't have the quite the same decent creamy texture of the full size cheesecakes.  I also did not taste ricotta nor sour cream. **.

Raspberry Almond.

"Our Raspberry Almond Cheesecake is our classic cheesecake infused with almond richness. Topped with raspberry jam, it is a feast for the eyes and a perfect dessert. Crusted sizes have a delicious vanilla cookie crust."

The best of the Johnny's, and not a horrible representation of the full size one.  The crust was still just mush in the mini size, but the cheesecake had a nice almond flavor, and I liked the bit of jam and sliced almonds on top.  **+.

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Padre, Krakow

Wow, what a great find in Krakow.  Padre, an unassuming restaurant located right off the main square of old town.   Given the location so close to touristville, and the name, I wrote it off when my co-workers said they were going there.  I assumed it was going to be a mediocre Mexican restaurant.  Why on earth go there when in Krakow?

"We invite you to embark on a culinary journey in the heart of Krakow! Our renowned restaurant is a place full of history and exquisite flavors. You’ll find us right by the Planty Park, hidden in the undergrounds of Krakow’s Main Square.

We place great importance on continuous development and keep up with the latest culinary trends while never forgetting Polish tradition. We’ll introduce you to a world of previously unknown flavors and experiences. Our dishes blend European cuisine with accents of Polish cuisine. In addition to modern dishes, you’ll find outstanding żurek (sour rye soup), traditional pork cutlet, and a true artisan cheesecake. You can also try interesting wine from a Polish vineyard or excellent beer from a Krakow brewery."

I went to get dinner elsewhere near my hotel, but then idly pulled up the menu for Padre, saw foie gras, and rushed to join them, for a post-dinner foie, while they had their full dinenrs.

We were seated outside in the garden as they had no space for the group of 9, and although it was a bit chilly for me, it was nice to have a private garden.  Service was ... minimal.

I'd love to go back for a full meal, as they all gave it rave reviews, and I loved what I did have.

Foie Gras Terrine. 67 PLN.

"Mango / passion fruit / apricot / kumquat / brioche."

I was there for the foie gras.  I was impressed the moment it hit the table.  It was shockingly good.  Beautiful plating and unique pairings too.

Smooth creamy foie.  Well seasoned.  Great flavor.  **** foie.

The kumquat, passion fruit, apricot, and mango elements were unlike any other pairing I've had with foie gras, but it totally worked.  Tart, acidic, sweet, fruity.  Check, check, check, check.  ****.

Even the very lightly toasted brioche was nicely done, the perfect vessel for it, and not just a generic throwaway base.  ****.

**** all around, maybe even ****+.  Truly a stunning dish. 

Buffalo Mozzarella Salad. 45 PLN.

"Romaine lettuce / guacamole / radish / balsamic / chives."

Others opted for salads to start.  I had a bite of the mozzarella, it was average.  I'm allergic to avocado, so the guac in here that people mixed in made it a no-go for me.  But people loved this and the other salads. 

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United Polaris Lounge, SFO

Update Review, May 2024

I haven't taken the time to sit and eat at the Polaris dining room in many years (usually because the waits are ~1 hour when I visit in the evening), but I finally did this recent visit, my first mid-day visit perhaps ever.  I skipped the buffet entirely.

I was quoted a 30 minute wait to be seated at 11:10am, and it took closer to 40 minutes.  You are not allowed to place your order prior to being seated.  I ordered everything at once: two small plates, one dessert.  It was ready within 10 minutes.

Overall, this was one of the better meals I've had in a Polaris lounge.  The crab cake was good, the dessert stunning (looking, sadly, didn't taste as good as it looked).  It made me glad I decided to actually sit for a meal, rather than lounge hop between the buffets as I normally do.

Dining Room Menu.

There have been many visits where the Polaris dining room menu didn't really appeal, but this was not one of them.  I adored the sound of the breakfast menu (ube pancakes!) but even the lunch/dinner menu had some highlights, including several fresh spring dishes featuring asparagus, and even crab cakes.

Spring Goat Cheese Salad (dressing on the side).

"Asparagus, Red Radish, Green Peas, Grilled Leeks, Baby Gem Lettuce, Goat Cheese, Lemon Mint  Dressing."

I loved the sound of this salad.  I like everything in it, well, besides the goat cheese.  I meant to ask to have that left off, but I forgot, which didn't turn out to be a problem.  Although this was listed as the "goat cheese salad", as you can see, very little goat cheese was actually involved.  Just two tiny bits that were easily pushed aside.  If you ordered this for its namesake ingredient, I am sure you would sad.  But for me, that was a win.  I did ask to have the dressing on the side.

The salad was fine.  Some fresh enough baby gem lettuce pieces, a few slices of radish, a sprinkle of peas, and two pieces of asparagus.  I wanted more asparagus, more peas!  And where were the grilled leeks?  I had no leeks.  I snuck out to the buffet salad bar to add more greens, carrot, and tomato to really round it out into a real salad offering.  I wasn't into the dressing, but I expected that, given my dislike of vinaigrettes.

So, yay for getting some asparagus and peas I guess, but the buffet salad bar really would have sufficed.  Low ***.

Crab Cake.

"Pico de gallo, remoulade sauce."

The crab cake is from the "small plates" section of the menu, and I actually like small portion sizes, but this was a bit funny.  Singular crab cake, and a quite tiny one at that.

That said, it was actually pretty good.  Shredded crab, some filler, lightly crisp, served appropriately warm.  The flavor was good, the texture was good.  Not lump crab meat, not amazingly crisp, but, it was good.

The pico de gallo I just dumped into my salad, and the "remoulade sauce" was kinda just generic mayo based sauce, but, it was fine, and I used it on the salad too.  Basically, the salad + salad bar additions + pico and remoulade from here, with a tiny crab cake on top, was a pretty nice light meal before having my multi course meal on board, so, it worked.

***+.

Mango Lime Cheesecake.

"Berries, Chantille Cream."

Wow, ok, so this looked great.  United gets major points for the presentation of this.  It looked legit restaurant quality.  

However, it wasn't actually that good.  The cheesecake was smooth and creamy, perhaps a bit too airy, but it didn't taste like cheesecake at all.  No cream cheese flavor whatsoever.  It also didn't really taste like mango nor lime, but it had a bit of a strange aftertaste to it.  So, good texture, but not really good taste, and not really cheesecake.  **.

The chantilly cream on top was good, as was the fresh fruit.  ***.

The base was a very thick compressed cookie style.  Better than a crumbly graham style, very sweet, but not really worth a mention otherwise.  ***.

Overall, **.

I was tempted by the strawberry cream puff too, just for the filling, if nothing else.

Update Review, January 2024

Another not-so-great United flight, another visit to the SFO Polaris Lounge.

Wine Lineup.

I haven't actually tried the wine in the Polaris lounge in many years.  I generally just wait until I am on board, but, I had a considerable amount of time this visit, so I decided to give it a go.  Plus, these seemed to be slightly higher quality than what is available on board.

Iconoclast Cabernet Sauvignon.

I randomly picked the cab.

This was as boring and inoffensive as it gets.  Not really any complexity to it, but, no acid nor tanin neither.  A very drinkable, boring, table wine.  I was hoping for something better than the on board wines, but this one at least seemed pretty banal.  Low ***.

Seafood Adobo.

The particular "seafood" wasn't labelled, but it seemed to be some kind of white fish (rock cod?) and shrimp.  I searched around looking for more, but, it was just those.

I tried both types of seafood.  The white fish was as expected, not particularly moist or flaky or interesting, but at least not mushy or fishy.  **+.

The shrimp though ... wow.  I can honestly say this is the worst shrimp I've ever had in my entire life.  It looked fairly normal, but, once I cut into it ... it literally disintegrated!  It was like sawdust.  So far past just mush.  It was wild, and truly unlike anything I've ever  experienced.  I have no idea how they pulled this off, but, wow, United.  This was impressive shrimp shaped sawdust. 0 stars.

Hainan Chicken with rice, garlic chile oil, scallion oil.

The other hot dish was Hainan chicken, with rice and condiments on the side.  I was relatively impressed with the garlic chile oil and scallion sauce.  Both were useful to jazz up other things.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar base was pretty limp and wimpy.  The pre-made one was even worse, drowned in dressing and super soggy. **.

Salad Bar.

The marinated mushrooms were decent, as was the cubes of butternut squash.  ***.

Sandwiches: roast turkey, veggie wrap.

Roasted turkey on sourdough:

I was bored, so I tried it.  Well, not the turkey.  But I did kinda like the cranberry mayo and soggy bread filling.  ***.

Charcuterie.

I didn't have the meats, but I do like some of the crackers.  Always a nice assortment, far fancier ones than the UA Club. ***.

Pound Cake / Donuts.

Even though I like donuts, I learned my lesson in the past and skipped these.

"Mini Egg Pie"

I was amused by the name of the "mini egg pies", as, well, weren't they just tarts?  They had a persimmon compote on top.

The tart shells were pretty blah, no real flavor to them.  Throwaway crust.  The filling didn't necessarily taste like an Asian egg tart, and it wasn't as well set as I expected.  It was more of an eggy custard.  Not particularly good.

Overall, on theme with just pretty blah desserts in the Polaris lounge, even when they sound like they might be ok.  **.

Chocolate Mousse.

The puddings at the Polaris lounge have never been good.  And I avoid caffeine at night.  But ... I was bored!  

The mousse was actually very light and fluffy.  But not much chocolate flavor.  Soil on top was ok.  Low ***.

Update Review, November 2023

It had been a few months since I last visited the SFO Polaris lounge.  For the most part, the experience was unchanged - the main dining area and bar was insanely crowded, the sit down dining room had a wait > 1 hour for a table, and the back room and downstairs were peaceful and fairly empty.

The food lineup actually looked much better than previous visits, in terms of being fairly fresh and frequently replenished, and being things that I actually kinda wanted.  Sadly, the quality was low, and everything tasted remarkably ... well, basic.

Snack Jars.

When I arrived, I made a beeline for the back "secret" area, where I knew they kept jars of snacks and candy.  The lineup changes frequently, but always includes savory things and sweets, and generally is reasonable quality.

The lineup this visit was gummy bears, apricots, wasabi peas, and chocolate covered animal crackers.  I was sad to see no decadent drizzled popcorn this time.

The gummy bears were average, I didn't try the apricots.  Wasabi peas were decent, nice level of coating on them, good crunch, not stale.  The chocolate covered animal crackers were fine I guess, but I'm never that excited for animal crackers.  I would have greatly preferred the chocolate drizzled caramel corn they had my last visit, or even chocolate covered pretzels.  ***+ all around.

More snacks.

They also had gummy peach rings and watermelon, both coated in sugar.  Both had a good chew, weren't dried out or hard.  Regular candy store quality.  ***+.  

Chips & Salsa.

This area also had a fairly sad looking chips & salsa station, more limited than even the regular United Club version.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

And some token chocolate chip cookies.

Shrimp & Cod Ciopinno

I made my way out to the main hot bar next, and was pleasantly surprised to see a seafood option.  A very SF option, ciopinno.   Now, I don't really care for tomato based seafood dishes, but, I like shrimp and cod, so I gave it a try.

The shrimp were a good size, fairly juicy, properly cleaned.  The fish was very firm and dried out.  But I really didn't care for the extremely basic tomato based sauce, it truly tasted like it came from a can. **+.

"Chicken Pie".

"Mushroom, leek, potato, parsley."

Even though I don't care for chicken, I was very excited to see the fresh pot pie brought out.  Even if I didn't want the chicken, I surely wanted the pastry, the cream sauce, and the other things inside.

But ... this was really not good.  The pastry top was soft and soggy.  The chicken was dark meat, fatty, and scrawny.  The menu mentioned the mushroom, which was minimal, and mentioned leek that I never found.  The bits of potato were tiny cubes, and there was also peas that weren't listed.  Not sure about the listed parsley either, seems like probably they were supposed to sprinkle that on top as a garnish?  As for the cream sauce I was hoping for, alas, it was thin, greasy, and watery.

Sadly, nothing about this was decent.  *.

Roasted Fall Squash.

"Cinnamon, honey, pepitas."

I also was fairly drawn in by the roasted fall squash.  It was a fresh batch too, and looked quite vibrant, a variety of winter squashes.  But ... it was lukewarm, too soft, and just not very good.  I didn't taste the honey or cinnamon listed, but I didn't mind that fact.  The pepitas added some crunch at least.  **.

Farro Mushroom Pilaf.

I did not try the farro pilaf.

Ramen Station.

Nor the ramen station.

Salad bar.

The salad bar was fine, with mixed greens or spinach for a base, and a variety of toppings, including more pepitas.

Salad bar.

I tried the premade salad too, which was a kale ceasar with pretty out of season poor quality tomatoes. It was nicely dressed though, crisp, and otherwise good.  The squash here was equally not very good, like the hot version.  I did like the mushrooms.

Overall, you could make a decent salad, and I enjoyed the kale ceasar with added mushrooms.  ***.

Sandwiches.

I did not try either of the sandwiches, hoisin ginger chicken or vegetarian roasted zucchini.

Olives, Pickles, Charcuterie.

The cheese platter was never refilled, and just had some dried fruit left behind on it.  No fresh fruit, which I was hoping for, because I knew I wouldn't be able to eat the fruit on the flight, and hoped to snag some here.  They usually at least have grapes.

I did have a pickle spear, it was generic and fine.  I skipped the pepperoni and salami meats.  I did really like the savory crackers, they have a nice seasoning and salt level.  There was also graham crackers, which seemed a bit odd.

Desserts.

And finally, the desserts, something I always try, even though they are generally never any good.  

Apple Oatmeal Crisp:

Ok, so, this looked mildly promising.  It had whipped cream after all, right?  It actually was reasonably ok.  Small cubes of slightly too soft apples, raisins, light spicing.  Some kinda mushy oatmeal crisp topping.  Overall, not offensive, although it was very sweet.  The whipped cream was good. ***.

Donuts:

I'd seen the donuts on previous visits, but never tried them.  Two varieties, both cake style, one with white icing, one with chocolate.  I didn't try last time, but this time, I grabbed one to have alongside my breakfast, as I knew my United flight breakfast would let me down.

I really, really did not like it.  Yes, it was kinda a cake style donut, but, well, it just didn't taste like a donut?  I don't think they were fried.  Certainly not fresh.  The white glaze was just cloying sweet.  Did not like. *.

Chocolate Pudding:

Ok, so years ago I swore off the puddings in the Polaris lounge because they were always so bad, but, I really love pudding, and they didn't have them for several years, so I hoped there would be an improvement.  Well, there wasn't.  The consistency was fine, but, it tasted like generic packaged plastic-y pudding.  At least it had a little whipped cream on top, and a small wafer cookie that was better suited for banana pudding.  This was so remarkably elementary school lunch or hospital cafeteria quality it was surprising really.  **.

When these ran out, they were replaced with pound cake later on.

Update Review, Feb 2023

I recently flew to Sydney, and had nearly 2.5 hours before my flight at SFO (traffic was light, bag drop had no lines, TSA Pre-check was fast, etc).  I was planning to have enough time to actually dine at the sit-down full service dining room within the lounge, and have a less stressful dash to the airport.  This plan worked until I arrived in the lounge.  It was packed, and without a seat anywhere, even in the main buffet area.  And the wait for the dining room was, well, ridiculous.

Dining Room Menu.

The Polaris lounge is always crowded these days.  Everyone seems to know that.  The dining room is woefully understaffed.  Everyone seems to know that too.  But I still tried.  I arrived at 5:20pm and was told it was a 1.5 hour wait to be seated, and they required 45 minutes before boarding time to dine.  I still put my name down, since I was there that ridiculously early, and they texted me about an hour later when a table was ready.

I was still around, with plenty of time, so I went to be seated.  I was seated after a few minutes of waiting for anyone to notice me at the stand.  And then ... I waited.  And waited.  It took nearly 15 minutes before a server acknowledged me.  There seemed to be one server only for the whole dining room.  She came over, took out a notepad, and asked what I'd like.  I ordered the spring roll, and was told ... they were out of it.  It was the only thing I actually wanted, sigh, so I left.

Seared Pork Loin.

The hot buffet had several protein options, the pork loin didn't look that bad actually, but I didn't try it.

Dakjjim Chicken.

Token chicken dish.

Aloo Gobi.

Vegetarian main was aloo gobi.  The aloo gobi seemed to be 95% cauliflower.

Corn Chowder.

I did try the corn chowder, and it wasn't bad.  Cubes of potatoes, other small veg, corn.  Very creamy, reasonably well seasoned.  Sered at a good temperature, actually warm.  Not amazing, but not bad.  ***.

Salad Bar.

Same salad bar bases as previous visits.

Salad Bar.

I did try the roast "winter squash" and it was fine, not particularly interesting.

This area also had two kinds of pre-made sandwiches, that I failed to get a photo of.

Cheese, Dried Fruit, Pickles, Olives.

I liked the herb crackers (not pictured) to go with the cheeses.  I didn't try the cheeses.  These were a touch nicer than the versions in the regular United Club.

The pickle was a fairly boring generic grocery store quality spear (sorry, I grew up in a pickling family, so these things are just ... well, not my thing).

Salami, Pepperoni.

Only sliced hard salami and pepperoni were available for cold cuts.

Pound Cake & Sauces.

The boring pound cake was not interesting to me, but I did appreciate that they had a trio of sauces to jazz it up: caramel, chocolate, or berry compote.

Donuts, Cannoli, Lemon Squares.

The rest of the dessert lineup was donuts, cannoli, and lemon squares.  No cookies nor brownies here, those seem to be just on offer in the United Club instead.

I tried the cannoli.  The shell was soft and not crisp, and it was poorly filled.  The filling was not particularly good.  Not a good cannoli.  **.

SNACKS!

The real excitement for me was ... the snack and candy jars were back!  Way in the back quiet room, jars and jars of goodies.  Dried fruit (apricots, pineapple rings, mango slices), candy (Swedish fish, M&Ms), savory snacks (flavored chickpeas, Gardettos), and ... CHOCOLATE COVERED CARAMEL CORN!

I was pretty thrilled.

The Garnettos mix was pretty average, mostly pretzels (twists and sticks), with a few rye chips and breadstick things.  The lemon pepper chickpeas were nicely crunchy, and something different from nuts, and a nice protein choice. M&Ms were M&Ms.  The Swedish fish were sadly rock hard ... which I could tell as soon as I tried to use the tongs to pick them up.  They were like Jolly Ranchers.

And then, the popcorn!  If you've read my blog on a Friday ever, you know how much I love popcorn of all kinds.  I was beyond thrilled to see this.  It was not particularly amazing, but it was still sweet caramel corn with chocolate drizzle, and that made me a happy girl.

Overall, nothing actually high quality or amazing, but this assortment did make me pretty happy.  ***.

Scone.

Two kinds of scones (cinnamon, blueberry) were also randomly in the area with the snacks.

I tried a cinnamon scone.  It was fine.  A sorta soft style, but good amount of cinnamon and kinda crumbly, did not taste stale.  Probably much better warm, and/or with whipped cream. ***.

Update Reviews - 2022

In May 2022, I cruised through the Polaris lounge for the first time post-pandemic, while en route to Munich, and although I was glad to see it open again, it was a big let down.  Gone were the candy jars, the snack mixes, and really anything I wanted from the dining room menu.  The space was still nice, but, otherwise, it offered me nothing (hmm, does this sum up United Polaris entirely?).

I thought the lineup would be the same just a few months later in August, but much was different - the buffet had entirely new hot dishes, the dining room menu had a few updates, and at least one snack mix came back.  I didn't find anything to actually be good though, and definitely don't recommend planning on this to be a tasty meal (eat at home, or on your flight, or out in the terminal, and you'll be happier).

Salad Bar Bases.

I planned to eat a salad in the lounge, but the greens were very wilted and sad.  

Salad Bar Veggies.

The veggies to add to salads looked more interesting than average, but, the shredded carrots were dried out, the tomatoes were mealy, and the roast mushrooms, a nice mix of assorted wild mushrooms, didn't really have any flavor.

Salad, sadly, **.

Sandwiches.

I didn't try a pre-made sandwich, but they did look slightly more premium than those found in the United Club.

Cheese / Crackers / Charcuterie.

The cheese/charcuterie/fruit/crackers station is also a touch nicer than in the United Club, with slices of each instead of little cubes, but nothing was particularly high quality.

I tried the grapes, they were refreshing, and I appreciated having them.  The strawberries were extremely sour and under ripe.  The pickle spears were generic and fine.

This section also had 4 kinds of crackers, wasabi peas, and Chex mix.

Snacks!

I made my own custom snack mix with wasabi peas and the Chex mix.  Both were fairly average quality, but, I love snack mixes, so I appreciated that these were back (earlier in post-Covid reopening they did away with all the snacks).  I still wish the snack jars would come back though, with honey mustard pretzels, and tons of candy!

***.

Desserts: Chocolate Olive Oil Cake / Pound Cake with Berries.

On the dessert front, the awful little pudding pots are gone, but, in their place is just pound cakes.  I didn't try either.  I'll give them a point for the berry sauce drizzled on the pound cake, although really I wished there was some on the side I could use with other things.

Lobster Corn Bisque.

From the hot buffet, the bisque actually called out to me.  I've had some pretty decent clam chowder in airline lounges, and somehow, I hoped the lobster bisque would be decent.

I should have known better.

This was very thick, rich, but not particularly tasty.  No seasoning.  Not really sure where the corn was, and I didn't really taste seafood either.

Basically ... thick and rich, but no real flavor to it.  **.

Lemon Garlic Pork Tenderloin.

I didn't try the pork.

Asian chicken stew - lemongrass, turmeric, coconut.

But did take a sample of the chicken stew.

The flavor of this wasn't bad, basically a Thai curry, but, I don't like chicken, so I only took the sauce. **+.

Cavatappi Pasta.

I tried a bite of pasta.  It had a cream sauce, artichoke, peas.

It was not particularly flavorful.  The previous tubes with garlic sauce were better. **.

Rice / Green Beans.

The green beans were labelled as bok choy.  The rice looked dried out.  I avoid both.

Dining Room Menu.

The dining room menu finally changed!  

Since the Polaris lounge re-opened after Covid, they have had the same menu.  No changes from reopening through Aug 1.  

I was tempted to get the shrimp cake, but my memory of the previous, greasy, oily version kept me away.  The pea soup also sounded interesting, with creme fraiche and crispy shallots, but, the lobster bisque in the buffet was so meh I decided to pass.

I did however want a dessert.  The warm skillet cookie was out (sadly, chocolate chip and this was a late departure so I was avoiding caffeine), and the budino was still citrus (lemon now, but not my thing), but I was eager to order the final choice: egg custard.

However, the dining room was full (or, full of dirty tables not being bussed), the wait list was long, and they let me know they wouldn't be able to seat me before they closed in an hour.  The space was definitely short staffed.  When I mentioned "Oh, I just wanted dessert", the host actually took pity on me, asked what I wanted, and put in my order.  He told me to stick around, so he could hand it off to me, and said it really wasn't allowed.  Thank you, kind sir!

Egg custard / whipped cream, coconut shavings.

I wish I could say it was worth his trouble.

The egg custard turned out to be a tart.  I was expecting something more like a pudding, a creme brulee, or something, given the dish title "egg custard".  Ok, that is fine ... but, the tart shell was burnt, definitely very over cooked.  The custard was kinda curdled, the texture horrible.  The whipped cream was from a can and was fine I guess?  I scraped it off and ate it with the sour strawberries from the buffet.

Such a letdown.  *.

Update Reviews - January, October, November 2019 Visits

I've reviewed it before.  You know how I feel about it.  The space is lovely.  It is spacious.  It is not over crowded.  It is well designed.  It really is a fantastic space.

But "Julie's Space Club" this is not, and the food ... yeah, that is not where the United Polaris SFO lounge shines.  In any way.

January 2019 Visit

Yeah, lovely place to hang out, but the actual dining, from snacks to buffets to a la carte, and even the drinks, just really do not do it for me.

It really is a lovely space though.

Chardonnay.

Since I found the cocktails quite unbalanced last time, this time I went simple, opting for wine.  I have randomly been kinda into chardonnay, particularly buttery chardonnay, so I selected this.

I didn't like it.  Harsh, acidic.  

Since I knew I'd be drinking on my upcoming Air New Zealand flight, and I do actually like their wines usually, I didn't bother trying something else.

Snacks: Jelly Beans, M&M, Honey Mustard Pretzels, Pretzel Sticks
Dried Fruit/Nuts/Seeds (lower floor). 

The downstairs snack station had a selection of jars of snacks, both sweet and savory.

I had no interest in the plain pretzel sticks or M&Ms, but tried the others.

The honey mustard pretzels were ok, I liked the coating, but, they are thin style pretzel twists, not particularly thrilling.

The gummy bears, also ok, but a chewer style than I like.   

The dried fruit/nut/seed mix had ... everything in it.  I appreciated the brazil nuts, but everything else was fairly standard, and there were far too many raisins, cranberries, and sunflower seeds for my taste.

Sweet Snacks: Jelly Beans / Skittles / Hard Candies
(upper floor - Studio).

Upstairs, in the far back room (The Studio), was more snack jars.  Here the candy selection included Jelly Belly jelly beans in assorted varieties, Skittles, and assorted hard candies.

Savory Snacks: Mixed Nuts, Dried Fruit & Nuts, Pub Mix,
 Honey Mustard Pretzels, Pretzel Sticks. (upper floor - Studio)

This section had savories as well, including the same pretzels and mixed nuts/fruit/seeds as downstairs, plus an additional nut mix (just salted mixed nuts) and a pub mix with all sorts of goodies, including rice crackers and sesame sticks.

Roasted Vegetable Salad / English pea and ham salad.

"Butternut squash, pepita seeds, frisee, cranberry-Champagne vinaigrette."

Composed salads are actually my favorite part of salad bars, and they had some that looked decent.  Key word: "looked".

The "roasted vegetable salad" included exactly one type of roast vegetable: butternut squash, which I love, except, it was severely under cooked.  Hard still.  The dressing was sweet, and the entire thing was over dressed and soggy.  Too bad, as it sounded quite good, I like frisee, and the pepita seeds should add a nice crunch.

I disliked the pea salad last time, but I liked the pearl onions, so I snagged some of them again.  Alas, this time they were flavorless, not well roasted.

Orzo Salad / Panzanella Salad.

"Wild mushrooms, herb dressing."

I tried the orzo salad, mostly because I like wild mushrooms, but they were lost among the way, way, way overcooked mushy orzo.  Not good.

Cheese Platter?

This area is supposed to have cheese, and it even had a sign advertising the cheeses of the day (brie, etc), but alas, it had crackers, pickled onions and spreads, and some salami and pepperoni instead.  The lounge really did not do a good job of keeping things stocked.

Bistro Turkey Sandwich / Provolone, Cranberry Aioli, Rosemary Loaf.

I call it boredom, or perhaps sight of flavored aioli (which I love!), that made me try this.

Soggy stale bread.  Aioli that literally tasted like mayo and nothing else.  Why oh why did I bother try this?  Not sure what was "bistro" about it.

Mediterranean Spinach Wrap.

At least I had enough sense not to try the wrap too.

Penne / Garlic Bread.

Moving on to the hot foods.

The pasta looked horrible, dried out, and just penne in a beef tomato sauce.  I'll give them points for the grated parmesan, herbs, and peppers on the side.

I did not try this.

The other entree choice, usually fried chicken I think, was missing, the sign flipped over, and it was never replenished during my hour stay.

Roasted Vegetables.

"Parsnips, potato, carrot, eggplant, squash, zucchini, fennel."

The hot side dishes were cous cous and roasted veggies.  Neither looked good.

Egg Drop Soup.

The noodle bar that was there on my previous visit was replaced with just egg drop soup, never a favorite of mine, but I tried a bite, mostly because I wanted to add toppings.  It was ... egg drop soup.

Soup Toppings: Straw mushrooms / Cabbage.

At least soup toppings were still available.  This station also had chives and crispy wontons, which were missing when I took the photo, but were replenished.

I tried the toppings, they were fine, but without a soup base I wanted, not particularly useful.

Turtle Brownie Bites / Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The dessert lineup had changed from my prior visit. 

I skipped the brownies and cookies.  I believe both plates of brownies were the same, even though one was labelled as blueberry triffle, which it clearly was not.

Puddings.

I love puddings, but since I was not thrilled with the coconut rice pudding last time I was in the lounge, I approached these with a bit of apprehension.  Still, I was glad to see two options, and either were repeats from before.

I tried both, and hated, really, truly hated, them both.

Tapioca Pudding.

First, the tapioca pudding, topped with completely unripe, unappealing strawberries.  Minus one point.

The pudding had a strange flavor, bland yet offensive at the same time.  I guess it was creamy, but the tapioca were kinda too soft and mushy.

Moving on.

Deconstructed Vanilla Cheesecake / Berry compote, graham cracker crust.

This. Was. Horrible.

I honestly didn't understand how they made this taste so bad.  Every. Single.  Element. Horrible.  Truly, horrible.

The base was just a huge, huge pile of graham cracker crumb.  Way too thick . It tasted like cardboard, just, sand like.  Horrible.

But the cheesecake itself was the worst part.  Thick, gloopy.  It tasted like cream cheese ... and nothing else.  Horrible texture, and who wants to eat a mouth full of cream cheese>

The berry compote did not help anything, as it somehow too was no good, seemingly frozen berries, just brought back to room temp.

I tried a few bites of this, not really believing that it could possibly taste as bad as it did, but, alas, it was awful.

October 2019 Visit

After many months, I returned to the Polaris lounge.  I'd like to say that my opinion has changed, but ... it hasn't.

The space really is fabulous.  It is huge, and never crowded.  The bathrooms clean, spacious, and stocked with quality products.

The menus for both the buffet and the a la carte, and the snacks, changed since my previous visits, but ... again, opinion remains the same: the buffet food is fairly awful, the restaurant food *looks* good but is mediocre, and the desserts and drinks are horrible.

Snacks.

The snack stations are in the same place, the back, totally deserted rooms on both floors.

Trail mix, wasabi peas, and a snack mix with rice crackers/nuts/sesame sticks, along with plain pretzels, were all the lower floor had to offer.  Upstairs, the same trail mix, wasabi peas, and snack mix, but at least the pretzels there were honey mustard.  No candy as before.

I took some nuts and dried fruit from the snack mix to add to my ice cream sundae on board.  None were very good though, even though as I always I was drawn in by what looked like a good line up: brazil nuts! Papaya!  Oh well.

The snack mix was my favorite of the items, decent stuff, lots of goodies in it, lots of textures.  Nothing I'd ever purchase, but it wasn't awful.  

The honey mustard pretzels were rather stale and ... sticky?

Hot and Cold Buffets.

On one side of the buffet is the cold lineup: still the same basic salad bar (*very* basic, even the United Club has more to offer for ingredients), cheese, salami, and crackers, pre-made sandwiches, and a trio of salads.

I tried two of the salads, a flavorless Asian style one with way too much edamame, and a broccoli bacon slaw that was mediocre, at least it had mayo and bacon.

I tried all three cheeses - swiss, gouda, and what I imagine was cheddar.  All were fairly flavorless.

Nothing interesting here.

On the hot side, all new items, and ... they certainly didn't look good.

"Garden vegetable penne pasta" that honestly looked worse than elementary school cafeteria food, short rib beef bourguignon swimming in oil, unlabeled roasted chunks of what looked like carrots and potatoes, breaded sesame teriyaki chicken that looked actually decent, but the veggies were soft and the sauce flavorless, and unlabeled wild rice.  The soup was onion.

Dessert: Tangerine Cheesecake Cups.

And finally, the desserts, now only one item to offer, another deconstructed cheesecake, this time dubbed "Tangerine cheesecake cups".  Not that I liked the cannoli, rice pudding, cookies, or anything else they ever had, but a single offering was kinda lame.

Um .... yeah.  These were as bad as all the previous desserts.  And the ratio was totally out of whack, the little cup was >50% graham cracker crumb!

The graham cracker crumb layer was just very fine crumb.  No binder, no chunks, not a crumble, just, pulverized graham cracker, and tons of it.  I used it as a topping on ice cream later, which was fine, but really, this was a lot of crumb.

And the cheesecake?  Just a thick layer of ... slightly sweetened cream cheese.  Definitely not cheesecake.  No consistency of note.  Bo-ring.  It had no tangerine flavor either, the "tangerine" seemed to just the slice on top.  Meh.

Dining Room Menu.

And with that, I went into the main dining room to try my luck there, where they had a all new menu, launched Oct 1 (my visit was just 8 days into the menu being offered, so the staff were fairly unfamiliar with it).

Besides the burger, everything seemed different from previous menus.

I usually go for the small plates, but nothing there called out: chicken wings (I don't like chicken), shrimp skewers (meh, shrimp is so often rubbery or poorly cleaned), polenta cakes (yay! oh, but goat cheese - boo), and caprese bruschetta (on sourdough, another thing I loath).  Really, not the menu for me.

Luckily the mains fared better.  I've still never had the signature Polaris burger and fries, and was tempted by the pesto cheese tortellini (with asparagus!), but the entree salad is where my attention fairly quickly gravitated: Cobb salad, with blue crab!  I love crab! {LINK}.

The dessert lineup sounded *fabulous* ... if I wanted caffeine.  Both non-cheese options were chocolate.  Doh.  But I did love the sound of the dark and white chocolate mousse trifle, and the chocolate chip skillet cookie, served warm, with ice cream ... swoon.

Blue Crab Cobb Salad (no avocado, dressing on the side, add side aioli).

Since I'm allergic to avocado, and I assumed the Cobb salad would have it, I asked to have that left off, which was accommodated.  I also asked for the dressing on the side in case it was not my style, or, over dressed.  And since the dressing was an herb vinaigrette, and I'm all about creamy dressing, I asked to have some aioli from the burger on the side.  My server definitely questioned this, but it was done with no problem.

The other toppings were crumbled bacon, sliced of hard boiled egg, and halves of little tomatoes.  The bacon was good, not greasy really, and a size much bigger than bits, but smaller than chopped up pieces.  I wasn't in the mood for bacon really, but, this was good bacon.  I didn't try the hard boiled egg.  The tomato was not good, not flavorful, not really ripe.

The salad base was just shredded iceberg, but, I like iceberg, it was juicy and fresh enough, and a fine base, although I'd prefer larger chunks.

And finally, the crab.  This was the SFO lounge, so I was surprised to see blue crab, rather than Dungeness offered.  The portion was reasonable, and it was decent.  Not fishy, no shells, nothing negative about it.  Not amazing or anything, but not bad.

The dressing, as I expected, wasn't particularly interesting.  Just an herb vinaigrette.  But the aioli?  It was fantastic!  I wasn't expecting it to be garlic aioli, but it was, and the garlic was quite strong.  I loved it.  I bet it would be a great dip for fries too, even if I didn't get the burger, I'm sure I could get the fries and aioli only.

I composed my perfect little salad out of this - the iceberg base, some bacon (but not all of it), all the crab, some wasabi peas and sesame sticks from the snack mix for more crunch, and a mix of herb viniagrette and garlic aioli, and truly enjoyed my salad.  I'd do this again, but I think that Napa Farms Market out in the terminal likely has some better options (see reviews).

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream / Orange Blossom White Chocolate Sauce.

For dessert, I didn't get the warm skillet cookie, since it was double chocolate, and that would have caffeine, but, I still wanted something other than the awful "cheesecake" from the buffet.  So I asked just for the ice cream and sauce, which was delivered with no problem.

The ice cream was ... fine?  It was just vanilla ice cream, not special really.  Slightly melty.  It was fine.  That is about all there is to say about it.

But the little ramekin of orange blossom white chocolate sauce?  Highlight of the meal!  Really.  It was thick, not really a "sauce", but I think that with the warm skillet cookie it likely melts in?  And I didn't care that it was thick, it was delicious.  I didn't taste orange blossom necessarily, but it was creamy, had a lovely sweet white chocolate flavor, and a subtlety to it that enhanced it greatly.  It was wonderful, really.

I made my own ice cream creation out of the vanilla ice cream, the white chocolate sauce, and the graham crumble from the buffet "cheesecake cups", plus the rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream I came prepared with, and really did enjoy it ...

November 2019 Visit

Just a month later, I was back, this time before a Singapore Airlines flight.

A few things actually *had* changed, but overall?  My impression was still the same.  Great space, horrible food, yay jars of goodies.

New Candy Lineup.

Many of the jars now had new items.  Gone was the snack mix.  Gone was ... anything healthy, really.  

The wasabi peas were not a style I liked, too harsh.  The yogurt pretzels were fine but boring.  I didn't try the M&Ms, Skittles, or what looked like chocolate covered raisins.

The star though?  Gummy raspberries and blackberries!  I love these things, and although these were a bit dried out, a bit hard, I still loved them.

Boston Cream Pie Puddings.

The pudding cup of the day was Boston Cream Pie.

I had a tiny bit of hope, but I'm not sure why.  They never make good puddings.

And this was the same.  Soft soggy crumble top.  Gloopy, really not tasty, "cream" layer that tasted like it came from a can.  Thick chocolate pudding base, that somehow had no flavor.

I don't understand why all the pudding cups are just not ... good.

Mini Cheesecakes.

A new addition to the menu, little mini cheesecakes, assorted flavors.

 

Toppings included one with a white topping (I think it was supposed to be some kind of cream top? But it had no distinct flavor), one with chocolate chips, one with a chocolate blob, one with almonds, and one with ... dried fruit?

I tried a few, and they were actually fine.  Not amazing or anything, but creamy and rich enough.  Better than any other desserts offered.

Macaroons.

Also a new addition, that I didn't try, mini macaroons, assorted flavors.  I hate macaroons though, so I didn't bother try.

Baklava.

And the final new offering, baklava.

This I had real hope for, as baklava has a good self life, and I figured this really might be ok, likely purchased frozen.

It was fairly meh though, the walnuts inside quite bitter.  It would do if I really needed something, but it certainly wasn't very good.

Original Review, August 2018

I don't fly United.  Full stop.

But I do fly with their partner, Air New Zealand.  Which gave me the chance to check out the brand new United Polaris Lounge at SFO. It was quite the upgrade from the United Club, but that is not a very high bar.

It Looked Good at Least?

This is the flagship, premium product from United.  And ... well, it matches my feels on United in general.  The staff do seem to care, and try, but, I don't really have anything else positive to say, besides that the space is lovely.

The Space

The lounge is huge.  2 floors.  Gorgeous.  Tranquil.  Well designed.  Oddly empty.

They really restrict access, and that is nice, I guess, but it felt really desolate and quite strange.

My visit was on a Tuesday evening, 6:45pm-9pm.

Entrance.

The lounge is easy to find, right past security, inviting sign to come in.

Ground Floor: Library.

You enter in the bottom floor, which was quite literally entirely empty when I arrived.

This section had a lovely library, with book shelves and pretty chairs.

Ground Floor: Arm Desks.

The next section had these individual cubby desks, each with power (yes, USB too), and little lamps.  This seating style is also available upstairs.

Ground Floor: Window Seats.

More seating is alongside the windows, another style, more lamps, more power.

Ground Floor: Drinks.

At the back of this area was a small drink station, with coffee and hot water for tea, plus water.  Given the level of non-occupancy, I can guess this was not particularly fresh.

Ground Floor: Snack Station.

Self-serve basic soft drinks, oranges, and wasabi mix rounded out the food and drink offerings for this floor.

Shower suites and bathrooms are also on this floor, I failed to take photos, but they were large and looked nice.

Upper Floor: Hallway.

The escalator leads to the upper floor, where most of the interesting space is.  This area at least had some people.

First up though?  A long hallway, with nothing really in it.  It added to the cavernous desolate felling quite a bit.

Upper Floor: Seating.

I ventured down that hall, but it was clear no one else did.  It had more seating similar to downstairs.  And no people.  Literally.  No people.

Upper Floor: Snack Station.

At the very back was another sad looking snack station, again with wasabi peas and water, and this time, honey mustard pretzels.  None of this was labelled, but I could tell the pretzels had a powder on them, and tried one just to see.  The salty coating was nice.

Upper Floor: Seating towards Bar & Dining.

In the other direction, the hallway eventually leads to a bar, buffet, and dining room, with various types of seating found along the way.

Upper Floor: Bar.

The bar was easy to spot, illuminated by blue, and clearly a focal point.  It had bar seating with high stools, and yes, power.  And a special cocktail menu.  No food or snacks.

Upper Floor: Buffet Dining Tables.

Next comes tables for eating at, if you choose to dine at the buffet.  More on that soon.

The Food: Buffet

The simple option for dining is the buffet.  The ... very sad buffet.  Particularly for vegetarians, who had no hot main, no sandwich, and seemingly only a few salad choices.

Bulgogi Style Beef and Rice.

First up, "hot" foods.  I say "hot" because they are certainly items one would expect hot, but they weren't on warmers, or under heat lamps, or replenished often as no one was there, so, I doubt they were?

But to be fair, I didn't try this horrible looking beef, with some clearly neglected rice on the side.

Lemon chicken scallopini. 

The other hot option?  Chicken, coated in some kind of crust.  It said "lemon chicken scallopini".  I most certainly did not try this.

Warning vegetarians: No vegetarian hot main available.

Noodle Bar.

Things get slightly more interesting with a DIY Noodle Bar.  Bowls of noodles were available for you to add toppings and broth to.  I did not try the noodles.

Noodle Bar: Toppings.

The toppings were at least interesting: crispy wontons, green onion, kimchee, tea leaf eggs, cilantro, and fried garlic.  These were even labelled!  On the side, asian sauces and sesame seeds.

I tried the crispy wontons and crispy garlic, along with sambal.  They were standard, fine.  Something to munch on.

Noodle Bar: Broth.

The final step for DIY noodles is to add the broth.  I didn't try it.

And that ended the warm offerings.

Salads.

The other side of the buffet is the cold items, starting with pre-made salads.

Only one of these items was labelled, and it just said "pasta salad" anyway.

The others seemed to be a grain based salad, a mayo based pea salad, and tomato and mozzarella.

I tried the pasta salad.  It was mushy.  It was oily.  The veggies were nothing special inside.

I also tried the pea salad.  It had bits of ham, egg, and roasted pearl onions.  And obviously mayo.  The peas were cooked fine, and I did like the pearl onion, but this was nothing special.

Nothing worth eating here.  And to be fair, I do like deli salads quite a bit, and often find them the highlight of lounges, like the Qantas Business lounge in Sydney .

Green Salad.

And then, the salad bar, to assemble your own.

One type of base (mixed greens), and only 6 toppings: carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, croutons, and red peppers.  How ... extensive.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches.

Next up? Sandwiches.

The sign said "chicken salad sandwiches", so I think these were all the same.  On croissants.  I didn't try.

Salami and Cheese (?) Sandwiches.

The second sandwiches were not labelled, but, I could see salami, cheese, and a creamy spread.

Warning vegetarians: no vegetarian sandwich available.

I skipped all this originally, but after a disappointing snack in the a la carte Dining Room, I came back and grabbed one, hoping the spread, cheese, and charcuterie inside would be good.

They weren't.

The bread was hard and stale, the spread flavorless, and the salami and cheese quite generic.

Desserts.

Ok, now we were talking!  Dessert time! 

This section had a pudding, cookies, two types of brownies, and cannoli.  The cookies, and second type of brownies, were not labelled.

Coconut rice pudding and pineapple brulee.

Ok, I was excited for this.  So excited I failed to take a reasonable photo it appears.  Blame the lighting?

I love pudding!

This .. wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but, it wasn't actually good either.

Fairly creamy rice pudding, but quite flavorless.  The caramelized pineapple on top was ... fine?  Again, not that great.  And then, coconut.  Fine.

So, all fine, but nothing particularly good.

Matcha Green Tea Cannoli.

I don't eat caffeine in the evening, and this had both matcha and chocolate chips, but, I still wanted to try it.  I wasn't thrilled with the other options.

The cannoli shell was horrible.  It was soft and kinda soggy.

The filling, also not good.  Gritty and strange.

I moved on to a cookie.  I didn't take a photo.  Because really, when do I like cookies?

I wouldn't say I *liked* this cookie, but it was the best of the trio of desserts.  It was ... a fig cookie?  It had exactly one tiny bit of fig in it.  Otherwise, just a sugar cookie.  It had tons of sugar on top.  It was sweet and buttery.  Like I said, best of the bunch, but, that wasn't a high bar.

The Food: The Dining Room

The dining room is a full service, a la carte restaurant.  I've been to several similar concepts, like the Qantas First lounge in Sydney (which, is incredible, and honestly features some of the best food I've had in Sydney).  The Qantas First lounge in Los Angeles (good, but not quite the same level as Sydney).  The Cathay Pacific Wing in Hong Kong.  A bunch of British Airways lounges in London, like the Galleries First Lounge, and of course, the Concorde Room (for breakfast, for lunch - eh, nicely plated but mediocre).

Those dining rooms impress.  This one ... did not.

Dining Room Entrance.

"Wait to be seated" sums it up.  I waited.  And waited.  The staff acknowledged me, but, they seemed kinda overwhelmed with basic service, like, clearing empty tables and seating new guests.  Or, um, providing silverware and napkins to seated diners who repeatedly asked for them (my neighbor).  Or, dealing with loud obnoxious people screaming at their kids across the dining room (??)

Menu.

The menu lists both the lunch and breakfast options, so I got a preview of it all.  I wished I was there for breakfast - mango pudding! Hot cinnamon rolls! Brulee oats!  Although, chances any of it would be good?

The breakfast menu:

LIGHT BITES

• Tropical mango pudding with fruit and coconut granola
• Fresh hot cinnamon roll with pecan streusel and berries
• Steel-cut brulee oats with a caramelized layer and fresh berries
• Deconstructed lox and bagel with cream cheese. smoked salmon, capers, red onions and cucumbers

ENTREES

• Traditional Chinese congee with tea egg. dried shrimp, green onions, cilantro, wonton, soy sauce and sambal
• Three-egg omelet with choice of tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, onions, peppers, ham, bacon, cheddar and Swiss
• Silver dollar pancakes Plain or blueberry – served with Vermont maple syrup

But I was there for dinner, which is the same menu as lunch:

SMALL PLATES

• Crispy shrimp cake with sweet’n sour sauce
• Wedge Cobb salad with bacon, blue cheese and herbed dressing
• Chef’s daily soup seasonally inspired, classically prepared

ENTREES

• Chicken katsu bento box vegetable egg roll, jasmine rice and a sunomono salad
• Hand-cut pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragout and shaved Parmesan cheese
• Cioppino with traditional seafood
• United Polaris Burger with cheddar. lettuce. tomato, pickled vegetables, garlic aioli, bacon. fried egg and house-made chips

DESSERT

• Tiramisu espresso cup made with illy coffee
• Cheese plate with grapes and crackers
• Profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and Ghirardelli Chocolate sauce

I went for just a small plate, since I wanted to also check out the buffet, and would be having a full meal on the flight anyway. Nothing from the entrees particularly called out at me anyway (meh, chicken, eh pasta, and how good would their cioppino or burger really be?).  I'm glad I skipped all this after seeing the quality of everything else.

The desserts all had caffeine, which I avoid in the evenings, so I also skipped those, and opted for buffet selections for dessert.

Sparkling Water and Smoky Negroni.

"Smokey Negroni, Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Carnpari house made vermouth and orange bitters with a dehydrated orange garnish."

There were many cocktails on the menu that sounded great (the Polaris Old Fashioned, the Paper Plane, and the Cloud Cover were all top contenders!), but I went for the negroni.  It is my kinda standard pre-flight drink.

I didn't like it.

It was decently smoky.  But ... besides that, not balanced at all.  Harsh.  Meh.  I heard others complaining about the bloody mary, asking for more tabasco, and finding out nothing could be adjusted as it was a mix.

The full cocktail menu, for the curious:

Signatures of the Sky

• United Polaris Star: Star anise-infused vodka, Dolin Blanc and Dolin Dry garnished with a single star anise
• The Paper Plane: Oolong-steeped bourbon, jasmine honey Amaro Nonino Quintessentia, Aperol, chamomile honey arid lemon garnished with a paper plane
• Cloud Cover: Aviation Gin, grapefruit liqueur and fresh lime juice with lemon twist
• United Polaris Old Fashioned: Rieger’ss Kansas City Whiskey, house simple syrup. San Francisco Bitters, Company Reception Bitters with a fresh orange wheel and Luxardo cherry

Traveler's Favorites

• High Altitude Bloody Mary: Star anise-infused and house made bloody mary mix with fresh pepper, sea salt, olive and celery garnish
• Ginger Scotsman: This playful version of the classic Penicillin combines Balvenie DoubleWood, ginger beer, chamomile honey, lemon and a mist of Ardbeg 10 Year
• Lavender Lift: Riondo Blu Prosecco, Belvedere Vodka, lavender and lemon essence with a lavender garnish
• Smokey Negroni: Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal, Carnpari house made vermouth and orange bitters with a dehydrated orange garnish
• Mai Tai: Cana White Rum. Crusoe Spiced Rum, fresh orange and pineapple juice, and Amaro Nonino with a dehydrated orange wheel and a cherry
• Pisco Punch: Pisco Porton, pineapple juice and lime garnished with a pineapple spear.

Migration by Duckhorn, Pinot Noir, Russian River, California 2014.

"Complex aromas of rich earth and rose petals with abundant cherry pie, strawberry and a touch of sweet oak."

I moved on to wine.  I asked for just a taste to start.  I'm glad I did.

This I did not like.  I'm glad I asked for a small small glass.  Very very tannic.  Not for me.  I decided to just wait until I boarded my flight, as Air New Zealand usually has decent wine.

Small Plate: Crispy shrimp cake with sweet’n sour sauce.

 I was blown away when I saw the dish.  It looked great!  The table next to me even commented on it.

Sadly, it didn't live up to the looks.

The shrimp cake was oily, soggy, not crisp.  The texture was really quite firm.  Not because it had large chunks of shrimp though.  It was just ... firm.  It had bits of onion and pepper inside.  It wasn't anything special, and again, kinda oily and soggy.

On top was a ton of slightly pickled cucumber and carrot.  Meh.

The sauce, while nicely plated, was not great either.  It looked like sweet chili sauce somewhat, and said sweet and sour, but, it wasn't any distinguishable flavor besides sweet.  Meh.

Overall, it certainly looked good, but I didn't enjoy it.

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