Gotta B' Sweet

Gotta B' Sweet.  Yes, that is the brand name.  No I don't understand the ' after the B, but I do know the founder had a previous company, Gotta B' Urban (a cosmetics company), so clearly this is part of her intentional branding.

The majority of Gotta B' Sweet products are, well, candy.  Cotton candy, gummy candy, freeze dried candy, etc.  In addition to regular retail sales on Amazon, they also do corporate branded gifts and wholesale orders.  I didn't actually have any of their candy, and focused instead on snack mix.  You know how much I love my snacks.

Yum Yum Mix: Sweet & Salty.

"Don't settle for boring candy! By choosing Gotta B' Sweet, you make both your taste buds and eyes happy."

The packaging is a core part of the product offerings.  I can't say it made my eyes happy.  But it did indeed make my taste buds happy.   The quality of the components was evident at first bite.  While the blend looked fairly generic, and the packaging honestly a bit garish, I actually loved everything in it.

"Introducing our delicious Yum Yum Mix, the perfect snack for any occasion! The crunchy texture of the pretzels is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the chocolate and yogurt. "

Gotta B Sweets makes the Sweet & Salty Yum Yum Mix in two varieties, one with chocolate coated pretzels, and one with yogurt coated.  Everything else is the same.  I tried just the chocolatey version.

The bag said 15 servings, and I assure you, having this be more than 2-3 servings would take great restraint.  

Mix Contents.

"Composed of butter toffee peanuts, pretzels, chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookie gems, and milk chocolate gems, each ingredient is carefully chosen for its quality, ensuring a top-tier snacking experience."

Here you can see the types of pieces in my mix.  There are 5 different components, although clearly some of the dark chocolate melted off the pretzels and created mega clumps with other items fused on to pretzels, which I designated as a 6th type of piece.  The distribution of ingredients was well done, no item dominated (my piles here are not reflective of the original distribution).

From top left, clockwise:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Gems: 

These were the only things I didn't care for.  Just crisp little tiny chocolate chip cookies.  Yes, they added a different texture to the mix, and they were not bad, but, I just didn't really want them there.  I have not ever had Cookie Crisp cereal, but that is what I picture.  Low ***.  My little niece loved these however.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels w/ nonpareils: 

What's not to like about a chocolate coated pretzel?  Sweet and salty.  Dark chocolate to make it more classy.  And definitely bonus points for the nonpareils that added a tiny bit of extra crunch, and pop of color.  My second favorite piece in the mix.  Clearly quality pretzels and chocolate were used.  ****+.

Pretzels:

Just pretzel twists, but they picked a good brand.  Good salt level, nice butteriness, and tasted very fresh.  Better than average pretzels.  Nice to have a purely savory/salty component in the mix, which also kept the addiction level high, as I didn't get sick of it being too sweet.  Fifth favorite piece in the mix. ***+.

Mixed Pieces:

These are the pile on the bottom left, where the dark chocolate likely melted in transit, and caused other items to get stuck on to the pretzels, creating mega clumps.  I didn't mind, and liked these as special prizes, as I thought of them.  Third pick.  ****.

Milk Chocolate Gems:

Generic M&Ms, but again, a good quality brand was picked (better than actual M&Ms).  Nice snap to the shell, vibrant colors, good color distribution in the bag, creamy milk chocolate center.  They were what you'd expect.  Forth favorite, and I liked having the pure hit of chocolate.  ****.

Butter Toffee Peanuts (not pictured):

You might notice that there are no butter toffee peanuts shown here, but that is NOT because the bag didn't contain any.  It did.  It contained plenty actually, but, um, I ate all of them before stopping to take a photo.  Yes, all of them.  Yes, even those stuck on to the pretzels by melted chocolate.  All of them.  They were that delicious.  Crispy sugary buttery toffee coating on salty roasted peanuts?  Um, yes.  Loved them.  My favorite component, and nothing I'd change about them.  ****+.

Overall, a very addicting mix, definitely better than the sum of its parts, although I did wish the little cookies weren't included.  ****.

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Mikado Sushi, NYC

Sometimes, a girl really gets a craving for uni, even when she has a fridge full of food.  Sometimes this happens when in another city, such as New York.  And thus, sometimes she seeks out said uni, even though not very practical.

This uni craving lead me to Mikado Sushi. They have several locations in NY, including one in Queens and one in Brooklyn, along with a couple in Manhattan.

The menu has a decent range of starters, besides the expected miso soup and edamame, there are more interesting creations like caviar dumplings, tuna toasts, sushi tacos, and more.  Entrees cover a slew of types of donburi, teriyaki, etc, but also some interesting dishes like truffle mushroom bacon fried rice, abalone noodles, and of course, the ever trend miso black cod.  I was there for the sushi however, which includes full line up of nigiri or sashimi, hand rolls, and make rolls. I appreciate that they do not have a slew of over the top rolls with sauces galore.  The nigiri/sashimi lineup isn't huge, and mostly isn't innovative, however they do have a wagyu topped with seared foie gras, and uni with truffle pate, and thus, you can likely guess why the restaurant hit my radar.

I ordered delivery on DoorDash, and it arrived quickly.  I can't comment on the restaurants themselves, as I didn't visit any.  I'll gladly order again.

Packaging.

My order definitely was a bit worse for the wear given however my Dasher transported it, but I appreciated that Mikado included soy sauce (not just a packet), a little condiment tray, and chopsticks on the side, along with generous amount of good quality wasabi and ginger in with the sushi.

Uni w/ Truffle Pate (sashimi). $26.

I had the choice of regular sushi, brown rice sushi, or sashimi for $1 more, which I opted for.  This seemed to mean it came in cucumber cups, although in my case, one of the pieces had been jostled around such that the cup was empty.

It was good uni.  Very creamy.  No funk.  Looked vibrant.  Very large portion, each cup had 3 big, in-tact pieces.  The truffle pate was just a dot on top, but it did have strong truffle flavor, and was a little something unique.

I really enjoyed this, although I took the uni and put it on top of truffle brioche toasts instead of the cucumber cups, and made it into a fantastic appetizer.  ****.

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