Noosa Yoghurt

Update Review

Blended Yoghurt

Noosa continues to expand their product line of yoghurts, now offering a "blended" range.

The ingredients and nutrition stats seem essentially identical to the classic yogurts, they just really are ... blended.  Was the step of mixing them really too much effort for people?  I actually *like* to mix them, as I often like to eat a little of the top, and a little of the goo separate.

Still, of course I tried these.

Blended Packaging.

The blended yogurts are packaged just like all other varieties, in convenient single servings.   They are available in 6 flavors: coffee, key lime, mixed berry, raspberry, strawberry, and simple vanilla bean.

Vanilla Bean.

I went for vanilla bean.  The verdict?

Bo-ring.  Really, really bo-ring.  Nothing unique here, just, like any other decent yogurt on the market.  Not particularly sweet nor tart, not particularly creamy nor not, just ... fine.

I won't get this again. ***.

Update Reviews, 2017 & 2018

More Noosa reviews, my old favorite yogurt brand in the US.  Including their more recent product line: Noosa Mates!

For previous reviews, see my original here, or last updates here.

Another month, another new Noosa flavor!  That is what it seems like sometimes.  Every time I check in on Noosa, they seem to have another new flavor.  And I like to try them all.

Strawberry.

"You’ve had the rest, now try the berry best. our take on this quintessential yoghurt flavor is made with real strawberries, whole milk and a touch of pure wildflower honey for bushels of flavor."

I somehow never tried one of Noosa's most simple flavors before: strawberry.  I tried, but didn't care for, the strawberry rhubarb, but never just plain strawberry.  Not sure how I missed this one.

It was fine.  The yogurt the same rich creamy Noosa like the others.  The strawberry layer, as always, in the bottom, was sweet, fruity, and flavorful.  Not just mush, not like generic "pie filling in a can", but it actually closely resembled my mom's own homemade jam.  I liked it.  

This flavor was great with some crumbled peanuts on top too, a la PB&J! ***+.

Apple.

"Apple pie à la yoghurt.  We slowly cook crisp Granny Smith apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a large kettle until they magically meld into what can only be described as granny’s apple pie without the crust. It’s then fittingly topped with our rich, creamy honey yoghurt."

There are many Noosa flavors that scream out "dessert!" to me, like lemon and salted caramel, and, given how creamy and rich Noosa yogurt is, they really can almost pass as dessert, and those are my favorites.  So, even though I don't really like apple pie, this one sounded like dessert, so I had to try it.

And ... it was great!  Same fantastic Noosa base yogurt, rich, creamy, slightly sweet.  The apple component was little cubes of apple in spiced puree.  The spicing was strong, but not in a bad way.  It did, indeed, taste like apple pie ... if your apples in your pie were cubed rather than sliced.  The apple wasn't mushy, not too firm.  For apple compote, it really wasn't bad.  And like I said, apple isn't really one of my favorites.

Overall, this was very good, and I enjoyed it.  If you like apple pie in particular, go for this one. ***+.

Honey.

"It’s easy to comb through a tub of the lightly-sweetened deliciousness that is honey noosa. our tart and creamy yoghurt, paired with a touch of the golden stuff, is the tasty foundation to all of our fruit flavors and will make anyone a bee-liever."

Noosa tricked me.  They have two flavors with the same color lid!  I was rushing around the grocery store, and grabbed the yellow lid, assuming it was lemon, my favorite, and one I've reviewed many times.  And ... it wasn't.  It was honey.

I didn't realize this however until I opened it the next morning, and went to look for the lemon layer.  It was missing.  In fact, there was no layer of any kind.  Homogenous yogurt.  What?  That isn't how Noosa makes yogurt ...

I was confused, and actually, assumed manufacturing error.  Did they forget the lemon layer?  And then I re-read the label.  Honey.  Doh.

But still, it is Noosa, so I swallowed my disappointment, and got ready to be excited about trying a new flavor.

As I said, there was no separate layer.  Unlike every other Noosa flavor (besides probably vanilla and plain?  I've never had those).  The yogurt was creamy and thick as always, slightly tart, slightly sweet.  I can't say I tasted honey exactly, but, it certainly was sweeter than plain yogurt.

I wasn't a big fan of this, besides the consistency of the yogurt. ***.

Noosa Mates

Well, Noosa got more fun.  They created "mates", flavored yogurt paired with toppings to mix in.  Some of the flavors sound awesome, like caramel chocolate pecan (caramel yogurt, toasted pecans, Guittard chocolate, and pretzel bits to mix in), or coffee chocolate almond (coffee yogurt made with cold brew, with almonds, Guittard chocolate, and coffee crunch).

Noosa Mates: Packaging.

The portions are individual servings, larger than their regular single serves though, with a separate top clear container showing off the mix-ins.

Honey Cranberry Almond.

"Breakfast isn’t just the most important meal of the day, it’s also our favorite. A combination of granola, cranberries, roasted almonds and pepitas plucked straight from the breakfast bowl and placed on top our creamy honey noosa you can enjoy anytime of the day." 

Each compartment is individually sealed.

I would have picked one of the more fun flavors, but, these were being given out for free on the street, so, I had no choice, and I was still excited to try it.

Noosa Mates: Honey Yogurt.

The yogurt was standard, rich, thick, creamy Noosa, with a pleasant sweetness of honey.

Cranberry Almond Granola Topping.

The topping sounded pretty boring, but I actually really liked it.

Sweet crispy bits of granola with oats, sunflower seeds, amaranth, millet, quinoa, and chia hiding in there.  Nice cinnamon flavor to the granola too.  Flakes of toasted almonds.  Crunchy pepitas.  I wasn't into the cranberries, a bit too hard, but I rarely like dried cranberries.

The topping ingredients all combined together nicely, complimentary flavors, and they were indeed nice to mix in with the yogurt.  I opted to just make "perfect bites" rather than mixing in directly, so I would take a spoonful of yogurt and then load it up with granola.  I was sadden by the portion of topping though, not nearly sufficient for this style of eating.

Overall though, quite tasty and satisfying.  ****.

Noosa Mates: Coconut Almond Chocolate.

"No shirt. No shoes. Only a spoon is required to enjoy this tropical island treat. Toasted coconut, almond slivers and Guittard Chocolate chips are set adrift upon our creamy coconut yoghurt. So kick back and lose yourself in our tub."

The base for this one was the coconut yogurt, which I've reviewed before.

Coconut Almond Chocolate Topping.

The topping to this sounded slightly better - sliced almonds like the previous one, but I'll take toasted coconut and chocolate over granola and cranberries any day.

And, much like the previous flavor, I loved this topping too, even though it sounded pretty simple.

The chocolate chips were Guittard chocolate, dark, high quality, plentiful.  An excuse to eat chocolate? Works for me.

The coconut was my favorite though, not just toasted, but somewhat candied almost.  Sweet and crunchy.  I really enjoyed it.

I liked the composed yogurt + toppings, and I like Noosa yogurt in general, but honestly, I like the toppings enough as munchies that I'd buy those individually too!  Or, I wish they gave more  - what is provided is exactly the right amount for a serving, uh, I just want more extra! ****.

Update Reviews, November 2016

Noosa.  My favorite store brand yogurt, as I've reviewed before, because it is basically dessert.  While not all flavors are amazing, the salted caramel and lemon have long been my favorites.  But Noosa continues to introduce new flavors, and I continue to try them all, no matter how strange they sound.  This batch of flavors were all interesting, and the yogurt was still the same creamy, rich noosa I love, but, none of the new flavors did it for me.  I'm glad I've tried more, but, I'm going back to my old faves.

Pumpkin.

“The crisp days of fall call for the smooth taste of noosa, with our own spin on traditional pumpkin pie. This seasonal noosa will carve out a place in your heart with the warm, rich spices in our pumpkin puree."

I was hoping that this would be like pumpkin pie.  With creamy noosa on top.  Creamy pumpkin pie.  Mmmm.

It ... wasn't.  Sure, the yogurt was standard creamy, rich noosa and I liked the yogurt itself.  But the pumpkin puree layer was ... just orange pudding?  It didn't taste like pumpkin, and it certainly didn't have the spices of pumpkin pie (not that it claimed to).  It was very bland.

Overall, the yogurt was fine, but, the pumpkin was a disappointment.  ***.

Coconut.

"Sometimes we like contrast, and other times we crave a single intensity. Smooth, creamy coconut mixed with smooth, creamy noosa yoghurt is perfect for those times. Every luxurious spoonful of real shredded coconut is yum in every way."

As always, the yogurt was creamy and rather decadent, but fairly plain (although sweet) on its own.  Unlike most other Noosa flavors with very visible fruit puree layers though, this one was almost entirely white.  Because, well, coconut.

The coconut layer was, as always, located on the bottom/side of the container, available for me to mix in as I desired.  It was a bit hard to find though, since the colors were so similar.  The coconut layer was a puree of sorts, made from coconut, coconut cream, sweetened condensed milk, and lots of sugar.  It was basically just tons of shredded coconut, in a thickish sweet sauce.  It reminded me of German chocolate cake filling, just, sans any chocolate.  It was quite sweet since it was considerably sweetened, which was just a bit odd with the coconut flavor.  It also didn't taste *that* coconuty, although it was clearly made of shredded coconut.  The texture of all the shredded coconut was a bit off putting.

Overall, this was ok, but, you certainly have to like shredded coconut and sweet.  I wanted to add cocoa powder, or chocolate sauce, or chocolate chips, or something and turn it into a German chocolate cake.  ***.

Bhakti Chai.

"Close your eyes and visualize your favorite spoon. Now, picture yourself digging into a creamy yoghurt blend of chai tea and masala spices from our favorite local chai company: Bhakti. There’s only one way to describe it. Namastasty."

Well, hmm.  This isn't a combination I would have thought of, or, honestly, picked out on the street.  But Ojan brought it to me to try out, as he knows I love trying new Noosa flavors.

It was ... interesting.  The yogurt was thick, rich, creamy, delightful Noosa yogurt as always.  And the chai?  Well ... it was kinda watery, sweet, spiced syrup that I don't entirely want with my yogurt.  Unlike most Noosa, there seemed to be some on top too, not just on the bottom as is standard.  I wonder if that is because it is more watery than other flavors, so it seeped up the sides?

Anyway, it was Chai, for sure.  And it was well spiced.  Just not really my thing.  **+.

[ no photo ]

Blackberry Serrano.

"Rob (our co-founder) has a new favorite flavor: this one. Go ahead. Dip your spoon into our marionberry blackberry and serrano chili noosa. It’s sweet, then spicy, then creamy, then gone."

Ojan picked this one up for himself.  I didn't take a photo, as it was his yogurt.  But I did steal a bite.

It was too crazy for me not to review.  Blackberry.  Serrano.  Yes, chili pepper.  In yogurt.  The spice made it incredibly savory, even though the blackberry component was sweet.  It was spicy.  Serious kick.  So strange.  So very strange.

I don't like blackberry really, so, I didn't like this, but the serrano was beyond fascinating.  It made me really curious to try the other "Sweet Heat" flavors, like pineapple jalapeno or raspberry habanero ... **+.

Original Review, June 2016

Let's talk about yoghurt.  Or yogurt.  Obviously, not a subject I've really reviewed before (except when mentioning it in hotel breakfast buffets or when chains like Starbucks or Pinkberry introduced new versions).  And to be honest, I'm not generally a yogurt eater ... unless it is froyo of course.

The fact that I'm not into yogurt isn't really consistent with what you'd expect, given my love of puddings, panna cotta, and other creamy, rich, dairy based desserts.  Which perhaps is the problem.  I always want yogurt to really be dessert.  And generally, it just falls short of that line.

Enter Noosa.  They sum it up pretty well: "We’re noosa, and we make yoghurt. But not just any yoghurt. Ours is thick and velvety. Sweet and tart."

It really is quite different from other yogurt.  The texture really is thicker, yet creamier, than other yogurt.  I'm not sure how they do it.  Besides the plain, all flavors have a compote you mix in.

Noosa was started by an Australian ex-pat who lives in Colorado.  In Australia, this sort of yogurt is common - a big container of rich, creamy, full fat, delicious yogurt, generally topped with something like passion fruit.  Every corner market has it.  Yogurt is big there.  So when the founder of Noosa moved to the US and couldn't find it, she decided to fix that.

Enter Noosa.  She puts the fruit compote on the bottom, but, besides that, it really does remind me of the yogurt in Australia.  The flavor variety is fairly extensive at this point, mostly fruit based, but, recently they have gotten a bit trendy with a pumpkin and salted caramel flavors.

Noosa is still yogurt, don't get me wrong, but, some flavors in particular are close enough to crossing into dessert territory that if you are looking for a guilt free tree it really might satisfy, particularly with a crumble of some sort sprinkled on top.

(For the record, there does exist yogurt that IS entirely like dessert.  You can find it at Tres restaurant at the SLS Hotel in Beverley Hills.  It is ... amazing.  Basically panna cotta, but made from Fage yogurt, whipped with vanilla bean, and with some more magic done to it.  If you ever find yourself in the area, seriously, make a beeline for it!)

Blueberry Yoghurt.

"Sure, you’ve tried blueberry yoghurt, but blueberry noosa is in a league of its own. Off-the-charts in yum, our best-selling flavor inspires cravings like no other with sweet, juicy blueberries hidden beneath our creamy yoghurt."

This was the first flavor I ever tried.

The yogurt was almost a cross between what I know as Greek yogurt and American yogurt.  It was clearly thicker than traditional yogurt, but creamier than Greek yogurt.  Australian style?

Anyway, I liked the fact that it was creamy and thick.  I certainly see why people love this yogurt, texture-wise.  But in terms of flavor, this variety didn't do it for me.  The base yogurt was pretty flavorless, which is fine, as you are supposed to mix in the blueberry.  The blueberry was a compote in the bottom that I could mix in as desired.  It wasn't too sweet, which I appreciated.  There seemed to be just the right amount of fruit vs yogurt, which I also appreciated.  There were whole little blueberries, also appreciated.

Everything about this spelt success, yet it didn't do it for me.  I clearly just needed to try another flavor, since, it was *almost* amazing. ***.

Raspberry yoghurt.

"Raspberries picked at plump perfection are bonza all on their own, but taste even more yum when mixed with our luscious and velvety yoghurt. A little bit tart, a little bit sweet, and a whole lot delicious, raspberry noosa is a dazzling experience."

The next flavor I tried was raspberry, as Ojan said raspberry is one of his favorite yoghurt flavors.

Like the blueberry, the consistency of the yogurt was great, thicker than standard American yogurt, but creamier than most Greek.  Because it is full fat, it had a luxurious feel to it.

Again, like the blueberry, the raspberry came as a compote on the bottom.  I tried the yogurt plain at first and it was boring, I tried the compote plain and it was just sweet, but once I mixed it all together completely, a nice raspberry flavor came out.  Not quite as flavorful as I'd like, but I appreciated that it wasn't too sweet.  I didn't love the compote though, perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for raspberry flavor.

The mouthfeel is really where this yogurt it wins though.  It almost feels like you are eating a dessert.  Topped with fresh fruit and granola crumbles, it was even better.  I probably wouldn't get this flavor again, but I'm now convinced that I just need to find MY flavor!  ***+.

Lemon Yoghurt.

"When life gave us lemons, we mixed them with our unique, velvety yoghurt. The smooth, silky, and perfectly tart lemon curd is a ray of sunshine at the bottom of every lemon noosa tub."

And the winner is ... lemon!

This shocked me, as I don't really like lemon flavored dessert-y things.  Lemon squeezed over salmon?  Yes.  Lemon has its place.  But in my desserts, for some reason, no!  Nothing disappoints me more than finding out that dessert is going to be a lemon cream pie or lemon bar.

So I didn't expect to like this at all.  At first glance, it was just like the others.  Creamy but thick base, lemon fruit puree on the bottom.  I tentatively tried the fruit puree, ready to recoil.  But instead ... I just dug back in.

It was tangy.  It was sweet.  If I thought the raspberry flavor was almost dessert, this one certainly was.  Even better with granola crumbles on top.

I could eat this for breakfast and feel like I was getting away with quite the treat.  Or eat it for dessert and feel like I was having such restraint.  I even think you could top it with whipped cream and it wouldn't be weird.  (I didn't get that experiment as it was gone, literally, in two seconds.)

Next time, I'm getting a bigger container.  And trust me, there WILL be a next time! ****.

Strawberry Rhubarb.

"Strawberry whaaaa? We put our own spin on the classic flavor of sweet, succulent strawberries and added tangy, tart rhubarb. No matter what hemisphere you hail from, you can’t resist this tempting combo."

I feel like a broken record at this point.  The yogurt base was the same creamy yet thick consistency that I liked.  The fruit wasn't too sweet.

Is this my first choice of flavor? No.  But, like the raspberry and blueberry, it had all the right things going on, just, strawberry rhubarb isn't my flavor.  ***.

Mango.

"The satiny tropical flavor of a sweet and tangy mango takes us back to those lazy days at Noosa beach. Enjoying it during a lounge in the sand has been known to enhance the yum-factor of the exotic fruit."

Like all the Noosa yogurts, the yogurt and fruit are separate, with a layer of the mango purée on the bottom, off to one side, so you can mix it in.  You can guess how I felt about the mango.  Still not for me.  ***.

Tart Cherry Noosa.

"Imagine a slice of tart cherry pie served with a side of creamy, lightly-sweetened yoghurt. "

Since I always think the lemon noosa tastes like dessert, this sounded promising.  Cherry pie ...

It didn't wow me.  As always, the yogurt was fairly creamy, and a great thick consistency.  The tart cherry was in the bottom, a compote with pieces of cherry in it, slightly tart.  It was fine, but, not one I'd go for again.  I wanted more cherry, and larger pieces of cherry.  Really, I guess I just wanted cherry pie.  ***+.

Salted Caramel.

"Some things in life are too good to be true. Thankfully, the combination of salty, sweet, melt-in-your-mouth caramel and our thick, velvety yoghurt isn’t one of them."

And this ... this is what all my noosa dreams are made of.  When I saw this flavor, let's just say, I was excited.  I love the base noosa yogurt, but, most of the fruit compotes haven't *quite* don't it for me.  But salted caramel? Um, yes!

And, it delivered.  The same signature, thick, creamy noosa yogurt.  Decadent enough on its own.  But this time, instead of a fruit compote or puree, there is a caramel.  Sweet, flavorful.  For all the times I've thought that noosa yogurt was basically dessert ... this one really went a step further in that direction.

It wasn't as full fledged sweet or desserty as would actually satisfy me for dessert, but, for a mid-afternoon snack, it was truly delightful.  My favorite, although, the lemon remains a close second. ****.

Carvel Ice Cream

Oh Carvel.  A brand that had such importance during my childhood, when we had a Carvel store in my hometown, and for our birthdays, we always got custom Carvel ice cream cakes.  I remember pouring through the pages and pages of glossy images of the different designs available, and after agonizing (for a child) decision making, picked my choice for my party.  Of course I liked the cakes, but, selecting the design was is what I remember most.  I don't remember ever going to the Carvel shop for anything else, although I guess they actually had a regular ice cream shop, and were not just a place for cakes.

Then at some point the Carvel store closed.  We still got Carvel cakes for parties, but they were just the standard grocery store ones (which I've reviewed before).  They *aren't* nearly as good as freshly made cakes, and obviously come in only one flavor.

This past year, I re-discovered Carvel ice cream shops, when I visited New York, and they had several locations.  It happened to be my birthday month as well, which was double great, because they give a free cone for your birthday reward (with sign-up).  I love a good freebie.

"Each of Carvel's handmade items starts with The Original Soft Serve™, created in 1934. Today, our delicious treats and classic ice cream cakes are a staple at birthdays, holiday parties, or any occasion worth celebrating."

Although they carry hard ice cream, I had eyes only for the soft serve.  Yes, I like all ice cream, but I'm a soft serve ice cream girl to the core.  

Carvel (inside Macy's)

I had no idea that Carvel has so many flavors of soft serve at Carve!  I thought they just had vanilla and chocolate.  But they actually have a slew more, depending on your location of course, including seasonal specials (like birthday cake, pumpkin, etc), and basics like strawberry, cold brew coffee, and chocolate hazelnut, along wtih coconut, pistachio, mint.  This is in addition to some "Carvelite" flavors and Oatly non-dairy flavors.

In Manhattan, the location inside Macy's (pictured here) had only 4 flavors, but the standalone store just a few blocks away had 6 (or 8? I forget).  The Financial District store had only vanilla/chocolate though, so, plan accordingly.

Mint.  Small.

"No matter the weather, it's always a good time for refreshing, creamy mint. Try it with fudge on top. A-maz-ing."

I went for the mint without trying to first.  I know, such a rookie move.  Now, it was good.  Don't get me wrong.  It was rich, creamy, great quality Carvel soft serve.  I really do like their soft serve.  But the mint flavor wasn't quite as strong as I was hoping it would be.  It was a good mint flavor, not medicinal or anything, and the sweetness level was nice, but, just slightly lacking in powerful mint flavor.  I suspect it would be great with chocolate sprinkles or chips . ***+

Birthday Cake. Small.

"A rainbow sprinkled cake-flavored take on The Original Soft Serve™ made in honor of our 90th birthday."

It was my birthday when I visited, so the birthday cake flavor seemed most fitting, right? Available in hard scoops or soft serve.  I asked the staff how sweet the soft serve was, and he immediately just handed me a sample cup.  It wasn't cloying sweet as I feared, and the taste was instantly recognizable: Carvel blue frosting!  It tasted *exactly* like their blue frosting, although it was a off-white color (missed opportunity!).  I do quite like that frosting, but, I don't think I'd want a full cone of this.  In the small sample size though it was enjoyable, and the consistency was excellent, very rich, smooth, creamy. ***+.

Update Review: 

Well, I returned and DID get a full cone of it.

This wasn't the prettiest cone, and it started falling over nearly immediately, but I quite enjoyed it. The birthday cake flavor tastes instantly recognizable if you are familiar with Carvel ice cream cakes. It takes exactly like their blue frosting, which I absolutely love and is my favorite part of Carvel cake (besides the crunchies of course).  Very rich, high fat content for soft serve, and shockingly not cloying sweet.  Best with sprinkles of course, which I added on my own.  Fresh tasting cone.  It turned out to be my favorite flavor. ****. 

Horchata.  Small.

"Traditional horchata flavoring (a mix of sugar & cinnamon with notes of rice flour) blended with vanilla soft serve."

This was really, really good.  Super creamy and rich, proper sweetness level (not too sweet), lovely cinnamon notes, hint of vanilla, hint of rice ... yeah, it was pretty perfect.  I wish I had gotten a full cone of it, but I was too tempted by other flavors.  ****+.

Update Review:

I tried this as a sample on my first visit, but got excited about the mint flavor and got that instead. But I kept thinking back on how good the horchata was so I returned a few days later to get it. It was again quite good- very, very creamy and rich soft serve, some light rice flavor, and mild spicing. I thought I remembered the spicing being stronger, more cinnamon, but it was still good and more interesting than your basic vanilla. ***+.

[ No Photos - Samples Only ]

Pumpkin Cheesecake: 

"A flavor-fall take on The Original Soft Serve™."

It was mid-august, and Carvel launched pumpkin cheesecake flavor, definitely a bit too early for pumpkin spice season if you ask me. But I couldn't resist trying a sample, even though I'm not generally one to love pumpkin spice things as I'm not really into nutmeg, and way too many pumpkin spice items are just far too heavy in the nutmeg. This however, was not too spiced.  It had nice warming spices, but it certainly wasn't aggressive. There was also a light pumpkin in the flavor. I can't say I really tasted any cheesecake though, I expected a different tang or something from that component, and I just didn't detect any of it. So I'd consider this a very mildly flavored pumpkin with a little bit of spices, fairly muted flavors overall. ***.

Chocolate Oatly:

"The Original Soft Serve™ you know and love, made with Oatly. Non-dairy deliciousness. Will be able to get in a variety of flavors based on your shoppe's availability."

I visited one Carvel location when they had the machines offline for cleaning, and only had their Oatly flavors available.  The staff member offered a sample, so I tried it, opting for the chocolate flavor.  It was actually very good - rich and creamy texture, nicely melty, good milk chocolate flavor.  There was a slight oat milk taste to it, but I like oat milk, so this didn't bother me.  Considerably better than expected, and a wonderful offering for those who want/need to be dairy free.  ****.

Fish Cheeks, NYC

Update Review, August 2024 Visit

Another August visit to NY, and another chance to get to eat some great Thai food.  First on my agenda was Fish Cheeks, which I had enjoyed previously.  Sadly, this order was not a success.

Grilled Cuttlefish. $23.

"Marinated grilled cuttlefish sliced with hand crush nam jim seafood. Extra spicy."

This ... was just not very good.  It made me extremely sad, as I read good reviews of it, I was really craving something like this, and I had liked Fish Cheeks previously.  But alas.

The cuttlefish pieces lacked any actual grill marks or char.  I really was hoping for some of that great grill flavor.  The pieces were also fairly chewy, in a spongy way.  The texture just wasn't enjoyable.  The pieces were also marinated in some kind of spicing that I mostly didn't care for.  I'm not quite sure what aspect of the marinade I didn't care for was, as I couldn't identify the flavors exactly.  So really, quite a letdown.  * maybe ...

The sauce on the side though, now THAT was something.  When they say "extra spicy", yes, they mean it.  It stuff had some serious heat.  It also just had great depth of flavor, acidity, heat, everything.  A tiny bit went a loooong way, but really a powerhouse that I enjoyed experiencing.  **** sauce.

Original Review, September 2023

I wasn't particularly craving, nor seeking out, Thai food, when I learned about Fish Cheeks, a Thai restaurant in New York.  I was actually drooling over epic pastries, eying more sushi, and pondering classic NY pizza, but, Fish Cheeks kept leaping to the top of my list in Door Dash one day when I was looking for an easy delivery option near my office where I was working late.  The menu *did* sound appealing, and, wow, the online reviews are all pretty glowing.

Fish Cheeks is not a generic Thai restaurant, and that much was clear the moment I started looking at the menu.  It is higher end, seafood focused, modern, innovative Thai food.  If you are looking for papaya salad, pad thai, and mango sticky rice, look elsewhere.  But if you can stand a little heat, enjoy a variety of seafoods, and want to try something different, this really is a gem.

And thus, fairly randomly, I deemed it Thai food night, and ordered from Fish Cheeks.  My order was prepared quickly, but didn't get assigned a Dasher for a long time, and then my Dasher went to the wrong place, etc, etc, so it took quite a while to reach me, and the food was certainly no longer the appropriate temperature.

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I haven't visited in person, so I can't comment on the restaurant itself.

Food

Fish Cheeks specializes in seafood (no wonder the menu kept jumping out!), and is all served family style, or, as their menu says "We recommend sharing for a better dining experience."  The menu is broken down into 3 areas: "plates to snack", "plates to share", and sides.  All are marked with the appropriate number of chili peppers to indicate spice.

Since I was alone, and getting takeout, I opted for just the snacks and sides, although the larger plates to share make up the majority of the menu.  If I was ordering with others, I likely would have gotten the well regarded coconut crab curry, and if I was dining in, any of the whole seafood preparations, or the skate wing, definitely would have been my top choice.  

Kiin Len - Plates to Snack

The "Plates to Snack" are mostly dishes that would traditionally be called appetizers, some chilled dishes, salads, and others.  Setting Fish Cheeks apart from your standard Thai restaurant is the fact that the first item on the menu is oysters.  The rest of the lineup continues mostly down the seafood route, although wings and pork cheeks round out the menu.

Corn Salad. $12.

"Steamed corn, cherry tomato, long beans, fish sauce, garlic, lime, Thai bird's eye chili. Moderately spicy."

My first pick was a corn salad.  Yes, a corn salad.  Because, summer corn is amazing at its peak, and at its peak it was that week in August.

I was thrilled to see this on the menu.  Even more thrilled when I opened my box to see how fresh and vibrant the corn was, and the unique preparation of served cut off the cob in big pieces.  

The corn was very good.  Fresh, seasonal corn, allowed to shine.  The long beans were lightly crisp, and fairly tasty too.  The tomato however was a letdown.  While they were bright red and juicy, they weren't particularly flavorful, and were a touch mealy.  Very average cherry tomatoes, like you'd find in any garden salad in the middle of winter.  

Then, the dressing, a key element.  I appreciated that it came on the side, so as not to soggy the salad, but also, so one could add as much or little spice as they wanted.  It was moderately spicy as advertised, and so full of complex flavors.  Funkiness from the fish sauce, acid and sour notes from the lime, spice (obviously) from the Thai bird's eye chilis.  All balanced by the natural sweetness in the fresh corn.  Definitely a skilled culinary team behind this seemingly simple dish.

This was very good, and, save the mediocre tomatoes, ****.

Crispy Rice Salad. $15.

"Crushed crispy rice tossed with shredded coconut meat, sour pork, mint, chili, saw leaves, lime and ginger. Served with peanuts. Moderately spicy."

Last year, at Mumu in Sydney, I had my first crispy rice salad.  I really loved it, and have been wanting something similar ever since.  Now, that version was considerably different, with jellyfish rather than pork, and served entirely cold, and without anything like the wedge of cabbage, but, still, it inspired me to order this (as did all the rave reviews).

Because of the snafu with my delivery, when this finally made its way to me, it was cold, or, I guess, room temperature.  It is served hot at the restaurant (besides the cabbage), so, clearly not ideal.  Luckily, I had a toaster oven, and could heat it up, and crisp it back up a bit.  But it definitely didn't have quite the crispy element it likely does in the restaurant.

Anyway, it was very good.  The base is clumps of fried rice, loaded with lots of herbs, with a very flavorful sauce that was really infused throughout.  It was complex in all the right ways - sweet, sour, spicy ... very authentic Thai.  I'm not usually a rice girl, but, this was really good rice (particularly when crispy!).

The pork was little bits of Thai pork sausage.  Flavorful on its own, but it added an additional flavorful element to the overall dish.  Great crunch from all the peanuts too.  Lightly spicy, although it did have full red chilis in it, so, if you accidentally bit into one of those, it was very spicy.  The wedge of cabbage added more crunch, freshness, and a cooling element.  

Basically, great textures, incredible flavor, and fun to eat.  Overall, very good, although I think to really evaluate it, I'd want to try it fresh in the restaurant.  Not a great choice for takeout, but, I still am glad I had it.  ***+.

Sides

The sides portion of the menu is only 4 items: rice, sauteed cabbage, fried morning glory, or shrimp chips.  I got the chips so I'd have a snack to nibble on later that evening.

Shrimp Chips. $5.

"Fried shrimp chips served with chili paste."

The shrimp chips were pretty standard, several colors, fresh, airy, crunchy, some fishy flavor to them.  Not too greasy.  They were a fairly big size, and none came crushed, which made them excellent for scooping some of the rice salad into as well.  Would be great to much on before a meal while waiting for your food too.  ****.

The chile paste was thick, essentially like sambal, and nicely spicy and funky.  Certainly good to spread a little on the chips, but my meal had so much other flavor, it wasn't needed.  I gladly saved it for future use.  ****.

Overall, a nice starter/side, reasonable portion for the price.

Mac's Maple, New Hampshire

Update Review, September 2024

It had been several years since I last visited Mac's Maple, but I follow them on social media, and I know that they've really expanded their baked goods selections inside the gift shop.  I finally got a chance to visit this year in early fall, when I was in New Hampshire visiting my family.

Homemade Waffle Cone.

I (shockingly) actually wasn't at Mac's Maple for a maple creamie myself as I had just had dessert at home and it wasn't "ice cream weather" for me, but I did snag a few spoonfuls of my mother's, and it was as good as I remember. Very rich, creamy, full fat, nice quality soft serve. Lovely maple flavor, although for me, I wouldn't want a full cone / cup of it, as it really is quite sweet. They now offer vanilla (or a twist), which we didn't try, but I think would be good to help temper the sweet. It mostly made me want to have a slice of blueberry or apple pie (which they sell!), to have warm and topped with the maple soft serve.

I also had my mom get her waffle cone on the side, so I could use it myself at home later.  I remembered really liking their homemade waffle cones.

It was definitely a fresh cone, thicker style, and tasted more like an actual waffle than any packaged cone.  Slight maple tones to it perhaps?  But it also tasted slightly ... eggy?  (which, um, I suppose waffles are, that is why Eggos are called Eggos after all ...) ***.

Apple Pie.
(Small). $16.

As I mentioned, Mac's Maple has really expanded their bakery offerings in the past few years.  The day I visited, they had both blueberry and apple pies, plus apple peach crisp and chocolate cream pie, along with 3 kinds of donuts and donut holes, 8 kinds of cookies (some were massive!), stuffed cupcakes, several kinds of cakes, brownies, and more.

Since it was nearly fall, but I wasn't quite ready for the pumpkin offerings (the pumpkin chocolate chip brownies, the frosted pumpkin cake, etc), I opted for the apple pie, but I was really torn between it, the blueberry pie, the fruit crisp, and the chocolate cream pie.  I still have remorse over not getting the chocolate cream pie.

It was a very attractive homemade pie, with maple leaf cutouts on top.  The ingredient list for the pie was pretty simple and as expected: apples, sugar (both white and brown), cornstarch, cinnamon for the filling, flour, salt, butter, ACV, eggs, cinnamon for the crust (the egg may have just been for an egg wash?).  No additional fall spices, no nutmeg, etc.  That said, it was pretty heavily spiced with the cinnamon, bordering on a bit overboard really for me.  I also sorta wished for a touch of salt to make it pop more. 

The apples were good size hunks, still a bit al dente as I like, not too soft.  No skin.  The sweetness level was good, not too sweet.  Overall a good filling, but not remarkable.  

The crust was decent, a soft style, not flaky and buttery.  I would prefer a flakier crust.  

Overall, it was good, but not better than a decent home baker or bakery can make. Nothing memorable about it, and not something I'd return for.  I had no problem finishing off the pie though, particularly when warmed and served with vanilla soft serve on top.  Higher ***.

The small apple pie was $16, they also had a larger size available.

Pumpkin Spice Shortbreads.

My mother impulse grabbed a bag of shortbreads at the checkout.  There were several flavors available, including some iced, and some with berries, but she went for the pumpkin spice.  'Tis the season.

They were very thick cookies, and a softer style than most shortbreads.  But the taste was very clearly shortbread, high butter, moderate sugar.  Fairly strong classic pumpkin spices with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, along with vanilla and a touch of salt.  I wasn't wild about the spices, as I'm just not wild about pumpkin spices in general (the nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in particular), but if you like pumpkin spice, and you like softer style shortbreads, I think these were nicely baked.

*** for me.

Maple Kettle Corn.

I of course was there also for the kettle corn.  The maple kettle corn that is.  While I need to be in the right mood for sweet maple kettle corn, Mac's definitely makes the best out there.

This batch really let me down however.  I remember it being really quite maple forward, and sweet.  This was not very sweet at all, and extremely salty.  It was almost as if someone used double salt instead of salt and maple sugar.  I barely detected any maple really.  It also tasted fairly buttery?  The popcorn was fresh and well popped though.

So overall, fine popcorn, but, far too salty (even for a salt lover like me) and not actually maple nor kettle.  I really do think perhaps this was a mistake batch.  **.

Update Review, July 2019

I was only in town for 4 days this summer, and Mac's Maple was only open and serving their maple creamees 2 of those days, but, I made it a priority to visit.  I'm so glad I did.

Ice Cream Window.

It was fun to see the slight evolution of the place, with ice cream taking even more of a center stage (as it should!).

One new change is the ice cream window, where the creamees are served.  Not ordered, but served.  People were fairly confused that you had to go inside the store to order and pay, and then come back to the window to get your ice cream (and tell that person what you had ordered too), but there wasn't really enough space for the machine inside the small store space, so this makes sense.

Maple Kettle Corn - vacuumed sealed and ready to freeze!

Oh, and of course, I stocked up on the amazing maple kettle corn again.  I brought it straight to my parent's house and vacuumed sealed it, and popped it in the freezer to best keep it fresh.  I know now from experience that sealed this way, and frozen, it will last all year, without really degrading in quality.

Maple Creamee, Waffle Cone. $5.

The other new change from last year?  House made waffle cones!

I normally get the kid's cone, regular cone, but ... how do you resist the house made waffle cone?

Now, recall the menu: soft serve made with their own maple syrup (it is a maple farm after all) and milk from McNamara dairy, only maple flavor available.  Only one adult size, very large, for $3.  Kid's size for $2.  Add $0.50 for maple candies (great, but way too sweet for me with the soft serve).  Cup or cake cone.

And now, waffle cones.  $2 more, but also ... HUGE.  This isn't just a cone upgrade, it is a portion upgrade too.  The regular size cone is too big for me (kids size is great), but this was ... even more massive.  Honestly, it was a pint of ice cream.

The ice cream was again lovely.  Very creamy, perfect texture, melted nicely, sweet but not cloying, very real maple flavor.  Quality, quality soft serve, no question.  Go for this alone.  You won't find better maple creamees anywhere around.

The cone though took it up another notch.  Ridiculously good.  I can't say I've had *that* many fresh waffle cones, but wow, this was certainly the best I've ever had.  It shockingly never leaked either.  It was thick, thicker than most waffle cones, crispy and almost caramelized yet softened nicely with the ice cream, and the waffle and maple combination was, well, very breakfast inspired.  I loved it.

This much waffle cone, and this much ice cream though, was way too much.  I came prepared with a travel mug (Timolino brand, they are amazing!), and saved half the ice cream to have after dinner.  It stayed the perfect texture (I did put the mug into the freezer, and it was only about 4 hours, but my mom didn't believe that it would be nearly identical, and I proved her wrong!).

I'd gladly get this again, I'd just be sure to have a smaller lunch next time!

Update Review, Farm Visit, August 2018

I discovered the existence of Mac's Maple soft serve creamees last summer when I visited my family in New Hampshire.  I adored it, but was only able to get in one visit, as I was in town a short time, and the available hours are quite limited.  The farm has a little shop open only on weekends that sells the creamees, or you can find the creamee trailer around town at events (like fairs, and ball games, which is where I sought it out last time, yes, actually going to a ball game not to see the game at all).

When I returned to visit this year, I was determined to get it again, but it was late August, the sports season had ended, leaving weekends only, at the farm, as the only place to get creamees.  I was there for one weekend.  My mom had a big family bbq planned for one day.  Yes, I had exactly one day when they were open, and, even though it was not ice cream weather (cool and stormy), I sought it out.

Charming Sugar Shack!

I'm glad I did.

My visit was to the farm, where I was able to check out the cute shop with assorted other maple inspired and local items for sale, plus, well, get my creamee.

And this time I went prepared, with my own toppings, since I knew they only offered sprinkles.  It was a great success.

The Farm Store.

Located right on the farm, they have a small storefront, mostly a retail location for their maple syrup (as Mac's Maple is a syrup business after all!).

It is quite cute, farm style obviously, a few small tables outside at which to eat your goodies.

Goodies for Sale.

They sell much more than just syrup inside, although, of course, you can get that.

Maple Sugar.

The maple sugar had this before (Santa clearly shopped here when doing stocking stuffers one year).  Basically just maple-y sugar, a bit more fun to use than brown sugar as a topping on oatmeal and the like.  You can also buy larger quantities for use in baking.

Bourbon Maple Syrup.

"100% pure wood fired maple syrup aged in a Bourbon Barrel."

In addition to regular maple syrup, they also make a bourbon maple syrup (aged in a bourbon barrel, it isn't actually made with bourbon).  The packaging, displays, everything about this was adorable.

Bourbon Maple Syrup Samples.

They also had samples of the bourbon maple syrup, and I tried it.  I didn't really taste anything particularly special, but it was sweet and tasty, and my mom enjoyed pouring it over her creamee for even more maple flavor.

Gift Basket.

They also had a large selection of gift baskets, filled with syrups, sugars, t-shirts, and even house made maple cotton candy (which is also for sale separately).

Maple Kettle Corn.

And of course, bags of their maple kettle corn in assorted sizes, which I had picked up from the trailer at the ballgame last time too.  And of course I grabbed a bag of that to take back to my parent's house, vacuum seal, and bring back West with me.

Local Dairy Items.

If you don't recall, Mac's Maple is the sugarhouse associated with the McNamara Dairy, a local dairy farm, so of course they had the milk, chocolate milk, butter, maple butter, and cream available to purchase, along with farm fresh eggs and bottles of water.

I know their milk well, as we sometimes got it as a splurge when I was growing up, particularly the chocolate milk, or, seasonal eggnog.  It is sold at most of the grocery stores in town.

Frozen Products.

The freezer cooler had other cow products ... yup, ground beef, steaks, and kabobs, plus their own smoked applewood maple bacon.

And ... ice cream.  Quarts of vanilla and chocolate hard serve from the McNamara Dairy, but also, packaged creamee pints, although of course the texture would change considerably for soft serve that is packaged and frozen.  Still, better than nothing!

And their incredible sounding Maple Creamee Pie, with waffle cone crust, and optional maple candy topping.  I was a bit sad that they had them, actually, because I had wanted to surprise my mom with one of these some day for Mother's Day (I thought they were a Mother's Day only thing, and had tried to get one to her last year, but couldn't find someone to pick it up for me, as the location isn't exactly convenient, way out on the farm).

Creamee Station.

But we were there for one main reason: creamees!

The creamee machine is located behind the register, with a chalkboard sign listing the offerings.

The options are extremely limited.  

Creamees come in one size only, no option for a kiddie size.  It is a generous serve, so I'm not sure what you'd really do for a child.

You can get it in a cup, a regular cake cone (Joy brand, gluten-free available), or waffle cone ($2 extra).  With maple candy or rainbow sprinkles ($0.50).  And that's it.

I'm surprised Mac's Maple doesn't offer the maple syrup drizzle as a topping option, who wouldn't want more maple flavor?

I came prepared with my own toppings, but was glad to see they had rainbow sprinkles here (the trailer had only the maple candies when I visited before, which were good, but just too sweet for me on the ice cream).

Maple Creamee Dish. $3.

My mother went simple.  A creamee, in a dish.

Of course, she knew I brought toppings to add, and opted for some of the crushed walnuts I brought along, and drizzled hers with her bourbon maple syrup sample, creating quite a nice little sundae for herself.  She enjoyed it very much, saying it really just was the best maple soft serve she's ever had, the best soft serve in general in town, but not somewhere she can easily stop by, so, Dairy Twirl remains her regular place.

The $3 price is entirely reasonable for a large serve, of ice cream made with quality dairy from their own creamery, and real maple syrup, when everywhere else in town carries "maple" flavored soft serve, made with fake syrups and powders, not the real thing, and generic dairy base.

Maple Creamee Cone, with Rainbow Sprinkles. $3.50.

I opted for cone (soft serve is all about the licking experience for me!), with rainbow sprinkles, even though I had more toppings to add.  I love my rainbow sprinkles for color and texture.

The soft serve was very good, a tiny bit softer than you'd necessarily want, but given that it wasn't hot, this was fine, and it did not melt too quickly.  Very creamy, clearly quality rich base, and more maple flavored than any other soft serve maple I've ever had, because, well, it uses real syrup rather than sugar and artificial flavors.  The difference is very obvious.  This is very good soft serve.

The sprinkle application left something to be desired, I thought because it was a bit soft they were worried to roll it in the sprinkles, and just spooned it on, kinda sorta covering some of the cone.  I was pleased with the sprinkle quality, they weren't waxy as I've been finding Dairy Twirl's lately, but they weren't particularly special.

But I had more toppings to add.

Maple Creamee with chopped walnuts, fake bacon bits, rainbow sprinkles.

When I had Mac's Maple the first time, I wrote in my notes that I'd love to try it with crushed walnuts as a coating rather than the maple candies, and so I came prepared, with my own crushed toasted walnuts and candied walnuts.  Oh, and fake bacon bits.  Maple pecan, maple bacon, these are things others go for right?

The walnuts were a nice touch, adding the texture I wanted, and even better on my mom's sundae with her drizzle of syrup.  I suggested to Mac's Maple that they add walnuts to the topping lineup, but they didn't really want to go near nut allergies, which I can understand.  If you like maple walnut, bring your own nuts!

I also added bacon bits.  Fake bacon bits.  Because, well, I'm silly?  Maple bacon, sure, that is a thing, but I didn't think real bacon bits would work well, as they are soft.  I wanted the crunch of those fake bacon bits.  They too were a fun topping, and I appreciated the salt level they added, and definitely the crunch.  The texture, and salt level, were perfect.  The flavor was ... fine, but not really something I'd do again, although I more blame the brand of "bacon" bits I had than the concept.

So altogether, I had fun adding my toppings, appreciated the crunchy things, but the rainbow sprinkles really would have been fine.  I'm glad they carry those now.

Original Review, Creamee Truck, 2017

Bear with me for some story time.

I grew up in New Hampshire, in a fairly rural area.  There was a dairy in town, that still sold milk in glass bottles at the supermarkets.  But it was far more expensive than the regular milk, so it was something we only splurged on from time to time.  Like when my mom REALLY wanted the chocolate milk, or eggnog, both which are amazing.  And then we had to deal with bottle returns, which always seemed complicated.  Those are my memories from childhood of the dairy.

Anyway, that dairy, McNamara Dairy, is a place I've been aware of most of my life, really.  It is located on the outskirts of town, down the street from the farm where we always went strawberry picking.  I've mentioned it before, like when I had eggnog whipped cream on my bread pudding at Lou's one time and it was made with McNamara Dairy eggnog, or when I reviewed my amazing experience at Home Hill Inn, which was located right down the street as well, and sourced all their dairy there as well.  But it wasn't a staple of my life.

Associated with the dairy is a sugarhouse, Mac's Maple.  My godfather makes his own syrup, so, we never got maple syrup from elsewhere, although I tried the syrup from Mac's Maple when I went to brunch at Home Hill Inn as well.  They also make maple sugar candy, so I'm pretty sure some of that must have shown up in my Christmas stocking at some point, I just don't recall.

So where is this all going?  To a great discovery I made in July 2017.  The maple creamee.

I'll back up a bit to admit that I did not know what a creamee was.  Urban Dictionary tells me this is what Vermonters call their soft serve ice cream.  I grew up in New Hampshire, not Vermont, but we are *right* on the state line.  I spent a lot of time in Vermont.  I've eaten an insane amount of soft serve ice cream.  I had never heard this term until about a year or so ago.

A maple creamee, then, is a soft serve ice cream, made with maple syrup instead of sugar.  And during the summer, McNamara Dairy and Mac's Maple combine forces to make it.  Yes, soft serve, made with local premium dairy and maple syrup.

Maple Creamee Experience!

As a soft serve lover, this sounded, well, amazing.  I honestly do not understand how it had not crossed my radar before.

The soft serve is sold at the dairy farm on weekends only, at a little stand they run, from 10am-5pm on Saturday, 12pm-5pm on Sunday.  My mother, who loves ice cream perhaps even more than me, did not know this.  She says they really have not publicized it at all.  I have no idea how long they have been offering it.  The stand also offers many other maple products, including the syrup of course.

Once I discovered the existence of this amazing creation, I had to seek it out.  The only problem?  I couldn't go during those limited hours on weekends.  I reached out to Mac's Maple on Facebook (not *really* expecting a response), to find out that they also have a mobile ice cream trailer that they bring to local baseball games.  And there was one that night.  Bingo.

I immediately told my mom we needed to go.  To White River Junction Vermont, to, uh, go see our local baseball team play.  It would cost $5 to get in, but, maybe we could tell them we were just there for ice cream?

We ate a rushed dinner, hoped in the car, and headed to the game.  We didn't regret a thing.

Side of the Ice Cream Trailer.

I spotted the ice cream trailer the moment we pulled into the parking lot.  It was adorable.  It looked like a mini maple sugar shack!  It had signs for both Mac's Maple and McNamara Dairy painted on, and beautiful artwork on the back side.

They even had little trees set up around the trailer hitch.

Ice Cream Trailer!

The front side featured the ordering window and pick-up window.

Seriously, how cute is this thing?  Look at the roof!  It has a smokestack!

The menu is pretty simple: all the maple products!  The only variety of soft serve ice cream, er, creamee, that they sell is maple.  They also sell maple candy, maple kettle corn (!), and maple cotton candy, plus that aforementioned amazing chocolate milk.

Maple Creamee + Maple Candy "Sprinkles".  $3.00 + $0.50.

Soft serve is available in a cup, cone, or sugar cone.  I went for regular cone, as I have a very strong belief that soft serve should basically only be eaten from a cone.  My mom choose a dish.

The ice cream comes in one size only.  It was ... really quite generous.  It was more than I wanted actually, I would have loved a half-size, kiddie cone, whatever you want to call it, but, alas, no choices.  It was large, but very well twirled.  There was absolutely no hollow part in the center.

The soft serve was great.  Very creamy, very smooth.  It melted perfectly in the setting sun.  The maple flavor was intense, certainly sweet, but not too overpowering.  Far better than any other maple flavor ice cream I've ever had, which makes sense, as this was real syrup, and normally they use flavored stuff.

You can add what they dub "maple sugar sprinkles" to your creamee, which I did, mostly out of curiosity.  I love sprinkles, so, why not maple sugar ones?  I didn't quite know what to expect.

The answer was little bits of maple sugar candy.  Now, these were good.  Intensely sweet maple candy.  And this is a fun idea.  But ... it was way too sweet for me with the maple ice cream.  I sadly ended up knocking them off my cone.  I think these would be incredible with vanilla ice cream.

Overall, this was wonderful.  High quality soft serve, perfectly creamy and melty, great flavor, generous size.  It was fine without the maple candy sprinkles, but I think it would have been awesome with bits of walnuts instead (hello, Maple Walnut is a popular flavor for a reason!)

I'd gladly get it again, although I'd like to split with someone, and, uh, bring my own nuts?

(Suggestions to business owner: offer walnuts as a topping! And maybe vanilla, I really think it would be amazing with the maple candy sprinkles, or for those who want something a bit less sweet and want a swirl ...)

Maple Kettle Corn (small).

"Beautiful maple kettle corn, made fresh for you!"

It is no secret that I'm obsessed with popcorn.  There is a reason, just like ice cream, I have a whole label on my blog devoted to it.  I eat more of this than ice cream, probably.  Some kind of popcorn, sweet or savory, is part of my daily snack line up.  I have opinions on popcorn.

I couldn't resist grabbing a bag of the maple kettle corn alongside my ice cream.  I *did* manage to make it all the way home before opening the (sealed) bag, which is probably a good thing, because I would have turned right back around and grabbed the family size bag too.

This was very good popcorn.

The popcorn itself was light, airy, well popped.  No duds in the bag (although, to be honest, I do like the duds too!).  The kernels were well coated.  There was some variation in the coating levels, just enough to make it impossible to stop eating, in the "oh, i just want one more perfectly coated one" sense, but all had plenty of coating.

That coating was maple flavored, sweet, beautiful flavor.  Such an extra dimension over regular kettle corn made with white sugar.  I imagine they make this with their maple sugar.  There was a slight saltiness to offset it.  Personally, I prefer a bit more salt, but, still, this was great.

Overall, wonderful, and one of very few popcorns I enjoyed just eating out of the bag at room temperature ... normally I freeze my popcorn to make it extra crunchy, and that was not needed here at all.

I'll clearly gladly consume more of this!