DJ & A Snacks

Update Review, 2024

I had previously tried just one product from DJ&A (crispy shiitake mushroom chips), and really quite liked them, as you can read in my original review below.  Thus, when I visited Australia again this past year, I sought out more of their extensive product line of veggie chips.  And by extensive, I mean it - in the crispy veggies category alone, they offer 45 products (!), which includes no fewer than 8 different mushroom chips (they come in different flavors, like smoked chilli & garlic or "gravy", and with different types of mushrooms like oyster or nameko), all your classics like kale chips, green beans, and so many fun sounding ones like several flavors of cassava chips, assorted mixes, and even pickle flavored cucumber chips, although I didn't see those around in stores.

I find myself strangely drawn to these products, and tend to enjoy them quite a bit. Strong flavors, great textures, and I'd love to try more items!

Lightly Cooked & Seasoned Beetroot Slices.

"Lightly cooked and seasoned, it makes a great snack pack for both kids and adults. Made with dried vegetables with no added MSG and no artificial flavours or colours."

The next item I tried was the beetroot slices.  Because, Australia.  They love their beetroot.  

The chips were a vibrant dark red color.  Assorted sizes.  They were slightly thicker than average potato chips, giving them a great crunch level.  More starchy in some ways than potato chips too.  The seasoning was light, but really upped the savory flavors, with a bit of yeast extract along with sea salt and "spices".  

Basically, just quite satisfying to munch on as a snack.  I bet they'd be kinda great on top of a burger (if you are already bought into putting slices of beetroot on your burger, Aussie-style).  I suspect they'd be wonderful dipped in a yogurt based dip. 

I enjoyed these quite a bit, and found them more versatile than the intensely flavorful mushroom crisps.   ****.

Crispy Broccoli Florets.

"We all know that broccoli is great for lunch and dinner, but why not try some during snack time? The DJ&A Crispy Broccoli Florets are lightly cooked using a process called vacuum cooking. This process uses less oil to cook the broccoli at low temperatures in order to preserve its natural taste. They are also lightly seasoned without the use of MSG or preservatives."

The broccoli reminded me a lot of the others - very crispy, amazing crunch factor, all various sizes.  There were some seriously big florets in there, along with some tiny bits.  Really great form factor and eating experience just due to how crispy they were.  And the taste?  Um, yup, that's broccoli.  Super concentrated broccoli flavor, not dull at all.  A bit of savory seasoning (onion/garlic/salt/pepper).

I really did like these, although you very much need to be in the mood for broccoli.  I never tried it, but I think they'd probably work great dipped in ranch, just like you would with fresh raw broccoli, or even in a bean dip or something.  Lower **** due to just really needing to want broccoli to like these, but they were great when I did.

Original Review, May 2019

DJ&A is an Australian snack foods manufacturer, that I discovered while in my favorite city, Sydney.  I'm always eager to try more crunchy snack foods, particularly unique ones, and the DJ&A line is particularly interesting, and quite appealing.

"We love to share our passion for quality food and beverages that the whole family can enjoy."

Unlike most snacks I go for, these are actually healthy offerings, not your standard chips.  They are all natural, have no added MSG, no GMOs, no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives, etc.  And yet, yes they are intersting.

DJ&A has many product lines, based around fruits and vegetables.  On the fruit side, there are dried fruit (far more interesting than it sounds, as they have very unique fruits, like rockmelon!) and crispy fruit options (again, with fun fruits, like dragon fruit, rambutan, mangosteen ...), plus a variety of coconut based products (ranging from coconut water to coconut sugar).  On the veggie side, there are veggie crisps (including interesting mixes like the "Wok Veggie Mix" with a bunch of veggies you normally see in stir fries, like broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, and even whole garlic cloves), an entire product line just for kale chips, crispy legumes and other proteins (branded as "Nature's Protein"), and, the offerings I went for, "Crispy Vegetables".

Shiitake Mushroom Crisps.

The crispy vegetables are not your standard chips.  They aren't fried.  Well, they aren't deep fried.  Instead, they are vacuum cooked, which seems similar to dehydrating (low temperature cooking), but it does use some oil.  They are light and crispy, yet, pack a ton of vegetable into them.

"One 30g portion of DJ&A Shiitake Mushroom Chips is made up of around 85g of raw mushrooms, making them nutrient dense."

Yes, this small bag of mushroom crisps was 85grams of mushrooms!  The bag is designed as a single serving, but it did have a resealable top, good if you didn't just want to feast on a huge quantity of mushrooms.

When I went to look these up, I discovered that they are carried at Costco (you know, the land of glorious muffins), which is where most of their fans come from, but also on Amazon (although $$$), so, easily acquired outside of Australia.

Shiitake Mushroom Crisps.

"DJ&A Shiitake Mushroom Chips is a healthy snack made with mushrooms that are actually crunchy!"

I ... was not expecting the mushroom crisps to look like, well mushrooms?  I thought they'd be sliced.  But no, they were whole mushrooms mostly (some chunks).  Stems, caps, all attached.

They were crazy crispy.  Light and airy ... but not exactly.  They were light, but they had meat behind them, if that makes sense.  The light crispy nature was fascinating, as my brain certainly didn't expect a full size mushroom to eat like that.

The mushrooms themselves didn't taste like much in particular.  They'd be quite bland if they weren't seasoned.  But seasoned they were.  I'm not entirely sure what they were coated in, "spices" is what the label said, but they were certainly salted, I think peppered, and seemed to at least have onion and garlic perhaps?  They were very well coated.  The seasoning, much like the texture, was just quite fascinating.

I enjoyed eating these, at first just out of fascination.  Once the initial novelty wore off I stepped back to think about how they'd best be consumed, as actually eating an entire bag full in a sitting (even if it is listed as one serving) I think would get kinda old fast.  They didn't really seem appropriate for dipping in things either.  I tossed a few into a salad and that was quite successful - just like croutons, so much crunch, but, vegetables!  ****.

I'd get these again, and would love to try more of the product line - I imagine the broccoli florets would be a quite similar, and fascinating, experience.

The Original Cakerie

Another not-quite-fair-to-you bakery to review: The Original Cakerie, bakery located in ... Canada.  Established in 1979, with locations in Delta, British Columbia and London, Ontario.

I say not fair to you, not because you might not go to Canada, but because they are a wholesale bakery, distributing to restaurants, hotels, and the like, not a retail storefront.   I discovered them from my catering distributor, which carries a few of their products.

"We create irresistible desserts, including visually stunning premium layer cakes and bars for customers in the United States, Canada, Asia, Mexico and the Caribbean."

The Original Cakerie makes products that don't normally sound that appealing to me ... cakes and bars.  Bars, much like cookies, live near the bottom of my list of exciting desserts.  Yet, I tried one of theirs, and I loved it.  Cake, same thing ... it can be good, but really, I'm only there for the frosting (and ice cream?) pairing.  But theirs?  Yup, fantastic.

I do actually recommend their baked goods.

Bars

The Original Cakerie makes a slew of dessert bars, although our distributor only carried three, two of which I wasn't interested in (Lemonburst, Triple Berry Crumble), but I wish I had been able to try the buttertar bar, or the "macaroon madness". 

Silk Chocolate Truffle Bar. (2019)

"Chocoholic’s Dream! Layer of silken truffle elevated over a chocolate shortbread crust loaded with chocolate chips with a jersey gyration of white and dark chocolate." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Melt-in-your mouth truffle covering a chocolate shortbread crust and topped with a dark

chocolate ganache and adorned with swirls of white drizzle." -- The Original Cakerie

Ok, so I don't generally get excited about bars.  I don't generally tend towards chocolate desserts.  But this.  This was amazing.

The base was described as chocolate shortbread, but it reminded me of a brownie, albeit a hard one.  Good flavor, good texture, solid base.

But the "truffle", wowzer.  This one is hard to describe, I thought it would be like a mousse, but actually, it was like the center of a molten lava cake, just a cold one.  Underbaked chocolate cake.  Gooey, intense chocolate, amazing.  The flavor and texture were mind boggling.

Add on some dark chocolate ganache and a drizzle on top?  Yes, please.  Really great.

Will gladly have more and more of these.  Protip: add whipped cream to balance the richness! ****+.

Tripleberry Crumb Bar.

"Plump fresh strawberries, ripe red raspberries blended with a variety of other berries and fruits on an oatmeal crust and topped with a crunchy golden oatmeal topping."

Bars are never my thing, but, hey, I was a captive audience, so I gave it a try, particularly after the success of the previous bar.

I didn't care for it.  It was waay too fruity, which I realize sounds strange, but it was kinda like a fig newton, just, so focused on the fruit mush, even though it had a decently thick base and topping.  The base was ... kinda shortbread?  The topping was ok, it had coconut, good chunks, nice sweetness.  

But overall, not a winner for me.

*+.

Cakes

"The Original Cakerie’s product offerings are ideal for restaurants, cafes, catering affairs or any event you have in mind. Our decadent 12” x 16” half-sheet cake creations are filled with luscious ingredients such as 100% dairy whipping cream, pure fruit fillings, and European blends of milk and dark chocolates. "

I was impressed with their own marketing for the cakes, focusing on quality ingredients.  The cake lineup is about 40 varieties strong, but our vendor offered only 4.  I tried all but the more basic chocolate, but I really wish we were able to order the pecan streusel cake (sour cream cake with a coconut pecan shortbread base, cinnamon pecan streusel, and fondant?!) or the sticky toffee.

I was thrilled the cakes lived up to their marketing.

Golden Harvest Carrot Cake.

"Juicy fresh pineapple pieces, freshly shredded carrots combined with Pacific Northwest cranberries transform this wholesome buttermilk cake into a real labor of love. Our lightly spiced 3 -layer cake, generously sprinkled with toasted California walnuts and finished with a rich cream cheese icing is a celebration of colors and flavors." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Lightly spiced cake with juicy pineapple pieces, freshly shredded carrots and cranberries sprinkled with toasted California walnuts and finished with a rich cream cheese icing." -- The Original Cakerie

This was good carrot cake.

Super moist and loaded with many juicy, flavorful goodies (carrots, pineapple, cranberries).  I liked the crunch from the nuts too.  The different add-ins were all well distributed.

It was 3 layers, each with a layer of cream cheese frosting between, sweet, flavorful.  The very top and the top inside layer were both just the right amount for my taste, but the bottom inside layer wasn't as thick, and I wound up with a few bites where I wanted more frosting.  But I know I like more than most.

Overall though, very good.  ***+.

Tuxedo Truffle Mousse Cake. (2019)

"A layer each of creamy dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse between three layers of marbled white and dark chocolate cake." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Moist marbled cake separated by a layer each of dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse, smothered with dark chocolate ganache swirled with white chocolate." -- The Original Cakerie

Ok, this was even better than the other items from The Original Cakerie, if that is possible.  I adored it.  Thick of the best wedding cake you've ever had, and then magnify that.  And you get this.

The cake layers, super moist, buttery, decadent.  Not throwaway cake, and I'm really impressed with just how moist the cake was.  I didn't taste much distinction between the marbled bits, but, it didn't matter.

And then the mousses.  So.  Good.  Really creamy, really sweet, really rich.  The chocolate one was nicely chocolately.  The white chocolate, sweet and delicious.  And then thick dark chocolate ganache on top to balance it all out?  Just, delightful.  So many great things here.  I'm sure the fact that the cake was more than half mousse, rather than cake, did add to how much I enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed this cake, more than any other in recent memory.  And, due to the thick mousse layers, I didn't find myself needing ice cream to go with it! ****.

Tuxedo Truffle Mousse Cake. (2022-2023).

"A layer each of creamy dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse between three layers of marbled white and dark chocolate cake." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Moist marbled cake separated by a layer each of dark chocolate and white chocolate mousse, smothered with dark chocolate ganache swirled with white chocolate." -- The Original Cakerie

I've had this before, and I continue to be impressed.  This really is good cake.  The marble cake layers are moist, both the white and milk chocolate mousses are quite rich and creamy, and the chocolate ganache on top is thick and full of chocolate flavor.  It is just, well, tasty.

****.

Update: I enjoy deconstructing this as well.  Taking just the chocolate mousse and ganache, adding fresh raspberries or strawberries, and whipped cream, and eating as a chocolate mousse.  Then, cake layers, warmed up, and topped with ice cream.

Alternately, warming up the cake AND chocolate mouse or ganache can be pretty amazing - turns into basically molten lava cake!

Tuxedo Chocolate Mousse Cake (2024).

"Made from scratch marbled cake layered between dark and white chocolate mousses. Finished with dark chocolate ganache and white chocolatey swirls. "

I have this frequently (once a month in fact, when my office gets it to celebrate the birthdays that month - thank you everyone for being born!), and I enjoy it every time.  As usual, I got several slices, and deconstructed it to make 3 different desserts: a chocolate mousse (which I added berries, whipped cream, and cocoa nibs to), a white chocolate mousse (again, added berries and whipped cream), and a cake (which I served with ice cream).  

The chocolate mousse was thick, rich, chocolately, and great as always.  Perhaps a bit too firm and pudding like for those who want a light airy mousse, but, I really enjoy it.  The chocolate ganache layer on top is even better, more intense chocolate.  ****.

The white chocolate mousse however is great too.  Again, a thicker, well set pudding more than a light mousse, but, again, I quite like it.  Sweet, some depth of flavor from the white chocolate, not just sweet, and definitely not cloying.  I like this nearly as much as the chocolate layer.  ****.

And finally, the marble cake, which is fine, moist enough, but the least interesting element.  ***+.

Chocolate Layer Cake (2023).

"Smooth and creamy chocolate icing is sandwiched between three layers of rich, made from scratch chocolate cake."

This was a pretty good cake.  The cake was moist and rich, great chocolate flavor.  The chocolate frosting was fudgey, thick, and also had great chocolate flavor.  Put them together and you have a nice chocolate dessert.  Even better when paired with vanilla ice cream, but great on its own too.

Above average for generic chocolate cake and frosting, ****.

Chocolate Layer Cake (2024).

"Three layers of intensely rich chocolate cake towered one on top of the other and sandwiched between silky smooth chocolate buttercream icing."

Last time I had this, I dubbed it "better than average chocolate cake".  

I was again impressed at how fluffy the frosting was, and how it had a great chocolate fudge flavor.  Better than average.  And again impressed with the cake, fairly moist, deep chocolate flavor.

This isn't an earth shattering great cake, but, it is definitely good, and far better than your generic chocolate layer cake from a grocery store.  ***+.

Lemons & Cream Shortcake. (2019)

"Triple layer shortcake with whipping cream and lemon curd."

After the success of the last cake, I ordered the final Original Cakerie cake available through our distributor, the Lemons & Cream shortcake, even though I knew I was unlikely to enjoy it, because I'm not a lemon dessert girl.  And I'm still not crazy about cake.

It was good, for what it was.  The white cake layers were quite moist.  The whipped cream was fluffy and a good portion.  And the lemon curd, well, it was lemon curd.  Tangy, lemony, and totally not what I like.  But I can see that this was a well made dessert, better than average for a frozen layer cake.  Just not for me. **+.

Lemons & Cream Shortcake. (2023).

"Triple layer shortcake with whipping cream and lemon curd."

After the not-so-good strawberry version, you might question why I tried the lemon, when I don't really care for lemon desserts.  Captive audience I guess, as it was served in my cafe at work.

I really did not care for it. Just like the strawberry version, I do not understand why they dub it "shortcake", when, in fact, it is just cake.  Not very good cake at that, but at least the cake was reasonably moist, although somewhat in a "hmm, that thawed out strangely" way.  The whipped cream though ... just tastes off.  Like the inside of a freezer.  Stale.  Not fresh.  I've had plenty of good frozen and defrosted desserts, but this is just not one of them.  The lemon curd layers were fairly standard tangy lemon curd.

Overall, just tasted bad. **.

Update: I had it again a few months later, and it was actually better.  Cake was moist, cream didn't taste funny, tangy lemon curd, tiny raspberry (?) am layer.   About on par with a grocery store cake. ***.

Lemon & Cream Shortcake. (2024).

"Made from scratch shortcake layered between real whipped cream and real lemon filling."

Yes, I dislike lemon desserts, yes, I had this before and didn't like it, and, yes, on behalf of all shortcake I'm offended that they call this shortcake, and yet ... I still tried it again when we had it at my office.

It was slightly better than I remembered.  The cake was moist, the whipped cream was standard.  It didn't taste stale nor freezer burnt, and the flavor was pretty basic, but not off putting.  It didn't taste fresh, but it didn't taste bad.  The lemon curd layers though were too tangy for my tastes, too eggy, just not what I like.  **.

Strawberry Shortcake (2023).

"Made from scratch shortcake is layered between fresh whipped cream and real strawberry filling."

I really wanted to like this.  Yes, I knew it wouldn't be actual shortcake, rather, a cake interpretation of it, and I knew the "fresh" whipped cream had been previously frozen, and the "real strawberry" filling was a goo ... so, really, NOTHING like strawberry shortcake, which, should be made with a fresh biscuit (NOT angel food cake, zomg), ridiculous ripe fresh berries you picked that morning, and, plenty of whipped cream.  THAT is strawberry shortcake.  Sorry, growing up in a strawberry picking family of serious dessert eaters and bakers left me very opinionated on this one.

Anyway, even knowing it would be a mass produced frozen cake with goo, I still had hope for it as a great fruity cake, just not a shortcake.

Sadly, although it looked pretty good, the cake was moist, the whipped cream layers decently generous ... it all just had an odd taste to it.  I can't quite place it, but it was just ... off.  It tasted fake, it tasted bad, I just really, truly, did not like it.  

I added fresh berries, I added coconut ice cream, I kept trying, but alas, there was just something so off about this.

**.

Rosamunde Sausage Grill

Update Review, October 2024

For Oktoberfest, my office had a party catered by Rosamunde Sausage Grill.  It had been *years* since I last had Rosamunde (my last review, below, was in 2015!), so of course I went to check out the offerings.  We had big platters of soft pretzels with dips, and assorted sausages.  I tried a few things, and was really pleased with what I had.  I'd love to have more!

Hot Pretzel Stick.

I almost didn't grab one of the soft pretzel stick hunks.  I didn't expect it to be anything special.  I had plenty of soft pretzels, from Germany, in my freezer at home.  It didn't look very good either, sorta shriveled up a bit.

But this was actually very good.  Remarkably soft.  Great chew to it.  Nice mellow flavor.  Excellent salt level.  Good at room temperature even, slightly better warm.  One of the best soft pretzels I've had really.  It didn't even need a dip. High ****.

House Beer Cheese / Honey Mustard.

The soft pretzels come with two dipping sauces, honey mustard, and beer cheese, both house made.

The beer cheese I tried both warm and room temp.  It was definitely better warm, as it got more smooth and runny, but it was fine at room temp too, just a bit thicker and gloopier.  It had a really pleasant cheese flavor that I couldn't quite pinpoint ... white cheddar maybe?  The beer flavor was definitely dominant, which at first I wasn't into as I don't actually like beer, but it grew on me.  This was good to dunk the soft pretzels in as intended, but I also liked it smothered on some sautéed greens.  Better than expected, given the beer forward nature.  ***+.

The honey mustard was a thick style, grainy, and very mustard forward, only lightly sweet.  It seemed more appropriate for sausages than pretzels, as it was pretty intense.  It was fine, but not what I think of as honey mustard really, e.g. not what I wanted to dip sweet potato fries in.  ***.

Mission Street.
(Bacon Wrapped Knockwurst).

I love a good, basic hot dog.  Beef or turkey, or a mix, sometimes I just really enjoy a standard hot dog.  The closest thing Rosamunde has to a generic dog is their grass-fed all beef knockwurst.  I almost opted for that, but at last minute, decided to just go all out and get the "Mission Street" version, which comes wrapped in bacon.  I couldn't resist the smell of the bacon!

It was a very good sausage (I'll stop calling it a hot dog now!).  It was much bigger in girth than a standard hot dog, very juicy, but still had that classic hot dog flavor, although a bit more ... meat forward.  It had lovely smokiness imparted in it from the grill marks, and sooo much flavor from the bacon.  The bacon was a bit flabby for my taste, but I put it on my own grill to warm it up more and it got nicely crisped up.  

The flavor really was remarkable in this, and I really enjoyed it.  ****.

Hot Italian
(Spicy Pork).

The hot Italian was fairly easy to pick out of the bunch.  Both the spicy red pepper flakes and the fennel were easy to spot, and the color of the sausage meat was a more pale pork color.   This was the one I was most excited for, as I really enjoy Italian sausage.

I didn't like this much.  It had a great snap to it, good casing, and was just lightly charred with a bit of a smoky flavor. But the fennel was too strong for me, and I couldn't really get into the textures, lots of chunky bits of pieces and parts, all different color variations, it just was ... to clearly made of all the bits for me.  I could respect it as a well made sausage of this style, but, turns out, not the style for me. **+.

Original Review, February 2015

Ok, yes, I'm reviewing a sausage place.  I know, not my normal stomping grounds.

But, Ojan has been craving sausages, and I recently learned that Rosamunde also sells the sausages raw, for you to take home and cook yourself.  So I decided to surprise him, and went to pick up some sausages.

Rosamunde has two locations in San Francisco, the original in the Haight, and a newer, much larger, one in the Mission. I've known about Rosamunde for years, but sausages and beer aren't very high on my list, so I'd never been.
The Haight shop is tiny.  As in, no tables, and only a handful of stools along the perimeter.  Most people seem to get their sausages and go eat them next door at Tornado, with beer of course.  The counter displays the fresh sausages, each labelled so you can see them before you order.  The sausage line up is fairly impressive, 15 or so varieties, some mild, some spicy, featuring standard beef, pork, veal, chicken, and lamb, and of course some vegan ones, as it is San Francisco after all.  But for the more adventurous, there are also sausages made with duck or even boar.  Besides sausage, the only other items sold at the Haight location are pickles, chips, and potato salad.  There is just absolutely no space for anything else.

Behind the counter is a single employee, busy taking orders, ringing people up (cash or Paypal only!), and cooking the sausages, all at once.  It is an impressive operation for one person to run, and she does an incredibly job, but quite honestly, they really suffer from the setup.

By contrast, the Mission location is a full restaurant, with seating inside and out, on the sunny Mission sidewalk.  They also serve brunch and have a few extra sides, like soup and fries.  There is a full kitchen in the back, a pickup window where your number is called when your order is ready, and a separate counter and register to order at (also cash or Paypal only, although there is an ATM inside).  I greatly prefer stopping by this location.

Condiments!

Both locations have a plethora of condiments, including several different mustards and ketchups.  I'm guessing they are house made?

I sampled several:

• Curry Ketchup: Interesting flavor, and I think it would be too much for a sausage, but it was actually pretty tasty.
• Honey-Wasabi Dijon Mustard: It had a slight wasabi on the finish, yet a pleasant sweetness to it.  Nicely balanced and interesting.
• Garlic-Pepper Mayonnaise: I didn't actually taste garlic or pepper, but this was really tasty.  I guess that could be just me loving mayonnaise, but, it was really creamy and flavorful, just not in the way I expected.
• Spicy Brown Mustard: Just standard spicy mustard, with a slight grit to it.

I think the assorted condiments would best be utilized on fries, which only the Mission location serves.

Knockwurst, Weisswurst.  $2.50 each.

I was there just to pick up some sausages to grill at home later, since Rosamunde sells them raw.

The pale one was the weisswurst (veal, onion & leek).  I picked this one because I wanted to taste the additional ingredients, but I really didn't see, or taste, any onion or leek inside. It was too subtle for me.  The flavor was overall very mild, and it sorta reminded me of pork, which I don't care for.  It was very juicy and plump however, and perhaps if I liked veal, I would have liked this.

Each sausage was huge, and Ojan and I decided to split one, since half a sausage, a full bun, and all the sides were were having was a large enough meal.  I understand a bit now why they don't have additional side dishes at the store, as they aren't necessary with sausages this big.  Of course, I had already planned a cole slaw and spinach and cauliflower salad to go with our sausages, before I saw how huge they were.  They stayed nice and plump when cooked, which I think the large size really helped with.

I left the all beef knockwurst for Ojan to eat another day, and didn't try it myself.

$2.50 for a huge sausage was fine, as is the price of $7 at the store, where they are cooked for you, with a bun and two toppings.

Hungarian, with grilled onions and sweet peppers.  $7.

On one visit, I was with Ojan, who wanted to get a sausage to eat right there.  He picked the Hungarian, a classic smoked pork with garlic sausage.

When you get a sausage to eat either store, 2 toppings are included, and you can pick from sauerkraut, grilled onions, sweet or hot peppers, or beef chili.  He went for onions and sweet peppers.

The sausage was nicely grilled, juicy, with a great char on the outside, as you would expect, but it was far too porky for me.  I'd never pick a pork sausage, but  Ojan really enjoyed it.

The bread was a fluffy white bun, slightly grilled, but not buttered or anything, so it didn't brown up very nicely.

The onions were soggy, the peppers unremarkable, both pre-cooked in large batches.

I clearly wasn't into this at all, but Ojan really liked it.  $7 price was reasonable for a made to order fancy-ish sausage with toppings.

Sides

Split Pea Soup with Knockwurst.  $6.50.

When I visited the Mission location, it was to pick up split pea soup for Ojan.  They had two varieties, vegan, or, with knockwurst.  Since I was at a sausage shop, it seemed only appropriate that I'd get the one WITH the sausage.

I assumed they'd just scoop out some soup and I'd be on my way, so I was a bit surprised that my order seemed to take just as long as the ones for people who were ordering sausages.  And then I realized why: the knockwurst wasn't already part of the soup, they actually grilled one fresh to order, then chopped it up, and added it to the soup.  I'm guessing you could easily ask for a different type of sausage if knockwurst isn't your thing.

I of course snuck a taste, even though I don't really like split pea soup, because uh, I hate split peas.  It was ... split pea soup.  Puree style.  It tasted like split peas, and little else.  Since I don't really care for split peas, I didn't care for it.  I personally would have liked some cubes of carrots at least to break up the pea-ness of it, and far more salt and pepper, as it seemed very under-seasoned.

The knockwurst however was grilled to perfection.  Plump, juicy, moist.  A shame to drown it in this soup!

The soup was served with a side of sliced up pieces of bread, I'm guessing the same bread they use for the sausage buns?

Anyway, I certainly wouldn't get this again, but if you like split peas, then perhaps this soup is for you.  The vegan version is $5.25, which seems high for just a bowl of soup, but with the knockwurst it is $6.50, which is reasonable since it had a full sausage inside, cooked to order.

German Baked Beans (vegan).  $3.75.

On my next visit, while picking up sausages to grill at home, I also got a side of the baked beans for Ojan.  I don't really like beans, but, I wanted to at least give them a try, so I took a few bites before delivering them home.

To be fair, every once in a while I really like baked beans.  I'm weird though, I really like my baked beans cold.  And uh, generally, from a can.  Sometimes, I'm not the classiest gal.

Anyway, these were served warm, small sized beans, all the same variety.  Ojan jokes that I don't actually like baked beans at all, I just like the sugar sauce.  I think he may be right.  These weren't nearly as sweet as I'd like, so, I didn't like them.  And they had a really odd spicing that I couldn't quite pinpoint.  I really didn't care for them at all, and certainly wouldn't get them for myself again.

$3.75 for a reasonable size side dish was fine.

Pickles! $2 each.

I couldn't resist also getting pickles.  I adore pickles, and grew up with homemade pickles of all varieties, made by both my mother and my great-aunt.  I've been pickle-spoiled my whole life.  Those ridiculous things sold in supermarkets, that come as strangely fluorescent green spears, are NOT pickles.  It doesn't matter how many jars I bring back to San Francisco with me every time I visit, we go through them way too quickly.  I force Ojan to ration them.

So, whenever I see house made pickles, I give them a try, as it would be great to find a source of pickles a bit more local.  Along with just classic dills, I've also tried pickle plates at Wise Son's and at Il Cane Rosso, but I still haven't found anywhere I love.

These were huge monsters.  The person taking my order offered to slice them for me, but I declined, assuming they'd keep better whole.

I cut into one literally the moment I walked into my house.  And ... it was a good enough pickle.  Vinegary, but not too much.  The one thing I didn't like is due to their large size, they were filled with tons of seeds.  Very, very, seedy, which I don't care for.

These were enjoyable, but no replacement for the varieties that my family members make.  I'll have to keep looking.  $2 a pickle seemed a bit high, but they were huge, and I honestly have no idea what pickles should cost, as they aren't an item I normally buy commercially.

Delicias de Michoacan, Tucson

I recently took a business trip to Tucson, Arizona.  It was a very short trip, helping with campus recruiting at University of Arizona. We had evening events presenting to the students every night, so no time for seeking out great cuisine.  In my short time there, I focused mostly on getting soft serve ice cream during the day (it was 95* and PERFECT ice cream weather!), which lead me to my first ever visit to Dairy Queen and to local gem Noodies. 

But my last night there, I decided I wanted to lean into the unique cuisine of the area, which certainly seemed to be Mexican (a lot of Sonoran influence).  But I don't really like tacos, burritos (burros), enchiladas, chimichangas (chimis), and the like.  The street food though did draw me in, with featured  their version of sorta Frito pie with all sorts of goodies dumped on top of bagged Mexican tortilla chips, lots of refreshing fruit/ice creations (respados), bacon wrapped hotdogs topped with pinto beans/onions/mustard/jalapeno sauce/etc (Sonoran dogs), and a bunch of snacks featuring tamarind candy and other "cocktails" of sweet/savory/sour items.

  

I somewhat randomly picked a venue, Delicias de Michoacan.  They actually specialize more in the ice cream and fruits/ice desserts, but since many of the respados include melons, and I'm extremely allergic, I had to forgo those items, in fear of cross-contamination.  I don't get the impression that these hole in the wall little places would use fresh knife/cutting board between their melons, strawberries, and mangos.

I ordered for delivery, since I was staying at a hotel 3 miles away and didn't have a car.  It took nearly 1.5 hours to arrive, which I'm not sure if was their fault (it stayed in "preparing your order" status for a REALLY long time).  The hot item I got was barely lukewarm when it arrived, so I think it really was ready and just sitting there.  

I didn't enjoy my goodies, and I still don't know if perhaps I just don't like these things, or if they just didn't do a good job with them.

Corn Cocktail.  $6.99.

"Corn, salt,lime,Tajín,mayoneis,Sour cream, butter,cheese and chili Optional nacho Cheese extra $1.75."

I was really looking forward to the corn cocktail.  I love corn.  This play on elote as a dish sounded great, and I thought it might be a bit like Korean corn cheese, just Mexican style.  Many other places had similar dishes (although most others didn't include the sour cream).

It came in a styrofoam cup, still lightly warm.  I dug in.

Corn Cocktail: Top View.

The first bite I got was ... all sour cream with some cojita.  Pretty generic sour cream that wasn't really pleasant as it was warm (but not hot).  I dug deeper.  Still just sour cream.  The top layer was really quite thick, and made it hard to actually reach the corn.  I think you are supposed to just mix it all up?  I wanted to taste it all separately first.  I never found the mayo.  

There was also a little bit of hot sauce (was this the chili and tajin? I never found those elsewhere).  It was fairly mild, and not that flavorful.

Finally I reached the corn.  I was instantly let down.  The corn was like canned corn.  It didn't taste fresh, it wasn't roasted, it was just ... very bland plain corn.  It was a bit too hard too, like it wasn't cooked enough.  It had basically no flavor.  Where was the salt? The lime?  The butter?  I expected the corn element to be so much better than this.

I didn't really like anything about this.  I don't have comparison points, so I don't know if this is what it is supposed to be like, but I found it remarkably bland, hard to eat, and just not very good at all. *.

Pepihuates. $6.99.

"Cup with cucumber peanuts and tamarind candys saludito salt lime chamoy chili and Clamato."

Behold!  The pepihuates.  It looked about as I expected, and just as crazy as I anticipated.  Yes, there was cucumber, Japanese coated peanuts, all sorts of tamarind candy, and Clamato juice ... in a cup, with a straw ...  

Garnishes.

I was intimidated just getting to the garnishes!  A straw coated with chewy salty sour tamarind candy, and a roll up of some sort.  Was that the saladitos?  Lots of chew, lots of sour, some spice, very interesting.

Churro loko?

The very top layer was these tamarind candies, that I think are churro loko?  They were chewy, sour, sweet, and quite interesting in terms of texture.

Below that was the peanut, Japanese coated style.  I love, love, love those peanuts normally, which is why I got this, but since they had been soaking in the Clamato, they were soft, soggy, and strangely gummy.  Sadness, but I think this makes sense, it just made me not care for them.

And finally, cucumber, chopped into batons.  Very soft, slimy.  Some versions at other places also include jicama, which I think would be great in here for more freshness and juiciness.

This was all drowning in the Clamato.  I didn't really taste any clam, but it was moderately spicy tomato cocktail juice.  

Overall, very ... interesting, and I liked the combo of spicy + sweet + sour, and all the textures, but ... I didn't actually enjoy it very much.  I wonder if it is better fresher?  I could see it being more refreshing if the cucumber was juicier and crispier? Fun to try, *** for the experience, but ** for my lack of enjoyment.

Escape from NY Pizza

I have a strange relationship with pizza.  I grew up eating it regularly - one night a week when my mom worked nights, my father made it for us (using packaged crust mix, jarred sauce, and basic cheese/ toppings, but it was relatively homemade).  All through ski season I enjoyed the Ellio's pizza at the snack bar at my local ski area.  My family went to Papa Gino's a fair amount when it existed in town, followed by a Little Ceasar's phase after that.  Every birthday party had pizza from somewhere local.  In college, there was one place that delivered, and that was monster slices.  In grad school, I often made bagel or english muffin pizzas for myself.  Etc.

When I moved to SF, I got exposed to deep dish (and was in love with Little Star) and fancier California thin crust (Delfina!). 

And then I basically stopped eating pizza.  For years.  Like, 15 years probably.  Whenever I visited my family, they still did weekly pizza night.  I never joined in.  And then covid happened, and I guess my eating habits did again too.  I now do actually eat pizza, at least once a month.

All the Pizza.

In the spirit of trying all the pizza these days, I finally tried pizza from Escape From NY Pizza, a small chain in San Francisco.  Their pizza has never looked particularly good to me, but its relatively cheap, has delivery, and is frequently ordered at events.

I've tried their pizza a few times.  Generally, it is as blah as it looks, although others seem to enjoy it.  In all my trials, I found only one variety that I ever liked.

Gluten-Free.

This is a gluten-free pie, with a thinner crust than the regular, that is even worse.  It reminds me of everything you'd imagine about bad gluten-free items, basically, way too crispy, and tastes as bland as can be.  Like eating cardboard.

Cheesy Garlic Shrooms.

"Olive Oil Garlic Base, Shredded Parmesan Cheese, Mushrooms, Mozzarella and Feta."

I really liked some aspects of this pizza.  It surprised me.

What I didn't care for was the crust, just a boring chewy style.  Meh.

But I really liked the toppings - great garlic flavor, and the cheese mix was really flavorful and had an amazing cheese pull.  I really, really liked the toppings, I just wanted the served on something other than that bo-ring crust.

****+ toppings even, but *+ crust, ***+ overall.  I'd gladly have those toppings again.

Great Escape.

"Red Sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Mushrooms and Onions."

Another event with Escape from NY Pizza, so I tried it again, a classic style this time.

Meh.  Crust was boring chewy/soft style.  Red sauce was kinda too sweet, and there was lots of it. Generic mozzarella, and lots of it.  Generic pepperoni.  Mediocre mushrooms.  I did like the slightly sweet red onions.  

Just not my kind of pizza.  I think my parents would like this style, and many others enjoyed it, it just isn't for me.  *.