Peter's Popcorn

As any regular reader of this blog will know, I'm obsessed with popcorn.  I'll spare you the details of my love of popcorn, my techniques for making it extra crunchy by freezing it, etc.  And just say, zomg, I love all kinds of popcorn.

I recently attended an event that featured a local popcorn brand, Peter's Popcorn, based in Oakland.  They do have a storefront, but it is only open two days a week for a few hours.  I think most of their production is catering and corporate gifting.  I don't know much about the business, besides that it has been around since 2007.

Assorted Popcorn!

The full list of flavors made by Peter's is fairly extensive, with a slew of both savory and sweet flavors.  

The ones we had at our event are in bold.

Savory:

• Bacon Cheddar
• Buffalo Cheddar
• Caramel & Cheese Mix
• Cheddar Cheese
• Movie Butter
• Oakland Mix (Chipotle & Cheese)
• Sea Salted Seaweed
• Sour Cream & Onion
• Spicy Cheddar
• Spicy Chipotle Lime
• Tomato Basil
• White Cheddar & Cracked Black Pepper

Sweet:

• Caramel Pumpkin Spice 
• Classic Kettle Corn
• Horchata
• Maple Bacon Caramel
• Maple Kettle Corn 
• Saigon Cinnamon Sugar
• Sea Salted Caramel

The event I was at had a selection of popcorn, 5 flavors.  Sadly our event had mostly the basic flavors, no fun ones like seaweed, horchata, etc.  Still, I grabbed all but the basic movie butter flavor.

All are popped using coconut oil, which was a deterrent for me.  I generally do like coconut, but dislike the taste of coconut oil.  Luckily,  the coconut oil base wasn't dominant though like Lesser Evil, so they win a point for that.  The popcorn was all well popped, but fairly standard kernels, no big puffy ones.  The flavors were all mostly letdowns.

Classic Kettle Corn:

"Lightly coated popcorn with pure cane sugar and a dash of sea salt. (Vegan, Gluten-Free)."

I started with kettle corn, always a favorite of mine.

Well, this was a very boring kettle corn.  The salt level was fine, but it was, as they describe, "lightly coated" in sugar.  Very minimal sweetness.  It was fine, but fairly bland, and bo-ring.  I find even grocery store mass retail brands to be more flavorful than this (e.g. Boom Chicka Pop).  **+. 

They also make a maple kettle corn that I'd love to try.

Oakland Mix: 

"Cheddar Cheese Popcorn (Coconut oil infused with cheddar cheese, buttermilk, and sea salt) mixed with Spicy Chipotle Lime (Smoke-dried jalapeño peppers with lime infused salt.)"

The Oakland Mix was considerably more flavorful than the kettle corn.  It was a fascinating mix, unlike anything I've had before.  It was zesty, and savory, but not really spicy, and not really cheesy either.  Somehow the jalapeño and cheddar sorta cancelled each other out.  It did come across as quite chipotle though, and the zing from the lime was there.  Fascinating, and not a flavor I'd probably pick on my own, but I finished my little bag in about 5 seconds flat, so clearly I liked it.  ***, maybe ***+.

Bacon Cheddar

Next up, bacon cheddar, which was a mix of cheddar and caramel pieces, with a few bacon bits.  The bacon bits were minimal, and mostly provided an extra hit of saltiness and crunch, but the bacon flavor permeated all of it.  I like bacon, but I actually wish the bacon elements weren't there.

The popcorn itself was fine, although the cheddar wasn't particularly strongly cheesy (just like the Oakland mix, I found it a bit muted).  The caramel corn was pretty classic sweet coated cloying caramel corn, definitely best to had mixed with another flavor.

Overall interesting, but shockingly I'd prefer without the bacon.  Low ***.

Sour Cream & Onion:  

"Cheddar cheese, buttermilk, cream cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, coconut oil, and a dash of salt. (Nut-free, GF, Non-GMO)."

And finally, sour cream & onion.  I took my first handful of this, and had to double check the packaging.  I didn't taste sour cream, nor onion.  In fact, I didn't taste much at all.  Which made no sense, given the fact that it contained cheese + buttermilk + cream cheese for the dairy components, and both garlic and onion powders.  Should I taste ... something? Anything?  "My tastebuds must just be broken tonight", I thought, and put the bag back in the pantry to try again another day.

The next night?  Same thing.  I tasted vague savoriness, not quite plain, but, definitely no onion/garlic, and definitely no cheesy elements.  It wasn't bad popcorn, but it was just incredibly bland.  Eh.  **.

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South City Kitchen, Atlanta

I was in Atlanta recently for a work summit, and of course, I did my research before my visit to scope out some restaurants to try if I got a free night.  I quickly determined that southern food was going to be my priority, and I was quite pleased when I saw our event hosts had a planned dinner (a full restaurant buyout!), for our group at one of the places on my short list of southern places to check out in the first place: South City Kitchen.

"Southern Hospitality with a Modern Twist." 

South City Kitchen is a bit more upscale than many of the others on my list, not just featuring fried proteins and long list of comfort food sides, but rather, more composed entrees and a curated selection of paired sides.  But of course, they do still have fried chicken, biscuits & cornbread, and other southern essentials.

Venue - Midtown

"We believe that great food isn't just about taste—it's about experience. At South City Kitchen, we serve familiar favorites with an unexpected twist, inviting you to rediscover Southern classics in an atmosphere that feels like home but with a bit more elegance. Come as you are, and leave with a memory."

South City Kitchen has four locations; I visited the one in Midtown Atlanta. It is open for breakfast and lunch weekdays, brunch on weekends, and dinner all nights. Our visit was at 6pm dinner.

Large Group Dining.

We had the entire restaurant as a buyout, as our group was supposed to be around 125 people.  However, things didn't quite go as planned, as mother nature decided to showcase a "once in a lifetime" event the week we were supposed to be in Atlanta (a location picked to be east coast but warmer than our other offices, ha!), and had a crazy cold snap with snow across Texas, Florida, and yes, Georgia.  At last minute, the organizers cancelled our in-person summit, and pivoted it to be virtual.  But myself, and some others, were already en route, and venues we had rented out did not allow cancellation with literally just two days notice, so thus, our intimate group of  <20 had an entire restaurant to ourselves.  It made the trip that much more memorable, but certainly makes this review a bit of a special case.

Our group was broken into two tables, each with different service staff. They did serve us basically all at once, and seemed quite adept at handling groups like this.  The meal was well paced for the most part, about 20 mins between courses, plates and cutlery cleared between courses, drinks kept refilled.  The only qualm I have with the service is that our appetizers came a full 10 minutes before I received my glass of wine, even though I ordered that as soon as we were seated.   I really like to pair my food with my drink, and I either had to just wait while things got cold, or eat without a drink (which, I did).

Food & Drink

Since our group was supposed to be 125 people, we had a special menu.

Event Menu.

The large event menu mostly draws from their regular menu, and features all of their most popular dishes. I was pleased that it wasn't going to be a buffet, or limited to the standard "beef, chicken, vegetarian" main dish choices. Instead, the format was 3 large family style starters for the table, individual choice of soup or salad, and then a choice of not the standard three, but 7 (!) options for individual main dishes (all with different sides).  And dual desserts.  Not a choice of dessert, but "&".  I was thrilled by that part in particular, to say the least.

A great lineup, but I sadly found the meal pretty average.

Red Blend Mending Wall 'Mortar and Stone'. $22.

For drinks, our hosts didn't have any restrictions, so the full cocktail menu and wine list were on offer.  I went for a glass of red wine, a red blend I had heard good things about.

I really enjoyed it.  It was complex, robust, smooth.  A generous pour.  I'd get this again without hesitation.  ****.

First Flavors

Our meal started with a trio of family style appetizers, dubbed "First Flavors" on the regular menu, along with South City Kitchen's signature breads.  Two of the three appetizers are southern classics from their regular menu, one was a bit of a hybrid of some of their other dishes only done for groups.  The meal started off with a high from one of the appetizers, and went downhill for me for the savory food from there.

Bread Basket.

Very soon after we were seated, bread baskets were brought out.  All diners, not just large groups like us, always get a bread basket, complimentary.  We also had butter on the table waiting for us.  The bread was warm.

Inside the basket was two kinds of bread: cornbread muffins at the base, and biscuits on top. Given so many rave reviews about both, I had high expectations for them, and I was kinda let down.  Both were barely average for me, and definitely not what I expected from a decent southern restaurant.  They seemed kinda generic hotel buffet quality, particularly the biscuits.

Cornbread Muffin / Biscuit.

Biscuit:
The biscuits were kinda dry.  Not much flavor.  No buttermilk tang.  Butter helped, but still these just had  underwhelming flavor.  They were well baked, lightly golden on top, but not flaky.  Low ***.  A biscuit can, and should, particularly in the south, be so much better.

Cornbread Muffin:

The muffins were a bit better.  I liked that they had some whole kernels of corn in them.  Golden tops.  But still, not remarkable.  ***.

The butter was just whipped butter.  I wanted honey butter, or a compound flavored butter.  Eh.

Pimento Cheese.

"Our b&b pickles, celery, benne seed crackers."

First up, pimento cheese, a menu regular.  Such a southern thing.  A dish unfamiliar to many at the table.  I appreciated it for being good exposure to southern cuisine for folks, and for being a homemade version.  It was decent. Lots of chopped pimentos, bit of kick.  ***. 

The dippers though were a let down.   The celery clearly had been prepped way in advance.  The ends of each piece, every single one, were dried out, white or brown.  It just wasn't fresh, and it was obvious.  The benne seed crackers were fine, but most of us just used our biscuits with the spread, as they were better.  Eh.  *+.

The pickles though ... I really did like them.  Sliced not too thick, not too thin.  Super high acid, which I liked.  Some onions.  Slightly sweet, but mostly nice bite to them.  I bet they'd be great with the pulled pork.  ****.

This platter went mostly unfinished.  The celery was visibly not fresh, we all had biscuits instead of crackers to spread stuff on, so those were basically untouched.  The pimento cheese was good, but was awkward to just eat as an appetizer.   I think it would be good as a spread on a sandwich or burger (which they do have on the lunch menu).  I gladly took the rest of the pickles home with me.

Fried Green Tomatoes.

"Goat cheese, red pepper coulis."

Sigh.  I love fried green tomatoes.  Love them.  Crispy fried things, yes.  Juicy tomatoes, yes.  Usually some kind of remoulade.  Absolutely yes.  Such a southern classic, yes.  A menu staple at SCK.  But ... South City Kitchen puts a spin on these, and makes them with a very hefty layer of goat cheese inside.  More like a jalapeño popper style, but with goat cheese instead of cream cheese.  Every review I read mentioned just how goat cheese-y they were.  I loathe goat cheese.

My aversion to goat cheese is so high that I actually didn't try one.  They looked crispy, the group seemed happy, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  Sadness.

Pulled Pork BBQ.

"Scallion hoe cakes, bbq sauce, horseradish slaw."

Our last starter is not from the regular menu.  However, the lunch menu does have a pulled pork bbq sandwich with presumably the same pulled pork and slaw, just on a bun, instead of on a hoecake.  Hoecakes are not on the menu at all.  I appreciated that they didn't just do these slider style, but adapted in this way.

The hoe cake is the element I was most excited for.  It was ... ok.  Kinda greasy, soggy as it was at the base of this mound.  I didn't taste scallion.  Still more interesting than a bun, but not crispy, and no real cornmeal flavor I could taste.  **.

The pulled pork was good, others remarked being pleased it wasn't greasy as pulled pork so often can be.  It was moist, juicy, tender.  The BBQ sauce was a bit pedestrian, but relatively balanced, not too sweet, a bit of smoke.  ***.

The slaw was the best element, and my absolute favorite bite of the whole meal.  It was fresh, crisp, creamy, well dressed, flavorful with a bit of kick from horseradish and a smoky nature.  Excellent slaw.  I wish I could get a big bowl of just that!  ****.

This dish did come together pretty nicely, particularly with the pickles from the pimento cheese platter, and it mostly made me more curious about the pulled pork sandwich.  My favorite of the savory dishes, but I probably wouldn't order it again (I'd just ask for that slaw!).

Soup & Salad

Next up, we had our first decision.  A choice of a very simple salad (as in, literally, just lettuces with viniagrette and cheese) or soup.  The regular menu has both of these items (the soup available as cup or bowl), along with more interesting salads, e.g. a caesar with crispy okra and grit croutons, all of which you can add grilled or fried chicken, sauteed or fried shrimp, or grilled salmon to.

This course was served after the first round of First Tastes had been cleared, our share plates and cutlery removed, and fresh utensils brought out.  It was a slightly amusing course in that the soup portion was really quite small, a tiny cup, and the salad was served in an amusing large bowl with huge hunks of lettuce ("it was like a whole head of lettuce in there!", the others said).  Yet the soup was very rich, and the salad literally just lettuce and extremely light.  The dichotomy between them was amusing laid out on the table.

She-Crab Soup.  Cup. $7.

"Cream, sherry."

While I'm not normally all that excited about soups, this one featured crab (an ingredient I have a label for on my blog for a reason as I opt for it whenever possible!), and it was a bisque, and hey, I like cream, so it was an easy choice for me.  

It was such a let down for me.  The crab you see on top, the single spoonful, was all the crab there was.  There was absolutely no other crab incorporated in.  One bite.  That is it.  I didn't get much of a sense of the taste of it from that sole bite. 

The body of the soup was extremely rich.  It coated the spoon in a way that wasn't very appealing.  It coated my entire mouth in the same way.  I love creamy, but this was just cream.  It was also fairly under seasoned.  I would have loved some kick, but even just some basic seasoning would really have helped.  I added salt & pepper from the shakers on the table to improve it.  The oil on top didn't match well with it either.

Alas, a complete miss for me.  *+.

Southern Inspirations

We had a whopping 7 choices for our main dish.  All but one come straight from their regular menu.  All their top dishes: the signature fried chicken, pork chop, shrimp & grits, and trout.  A token steak.  Two vegetarian options.  At my table (8? people) we had one pork chop, one steak, one vegetarian, and the rest all fried chicken.  The other table, had mostly fried chicken as well, with one person getting the trout.

I had a hard time deciding between the shrimp & grits (particularly as I know people love it at SCK, and I had a version on my Delta flight to Atlanta that was decent in some ways, but not others and left me wanting the real thing), the trout (because I love fish, and people rave about the crispy skin), and, um, one of the vegetarian dishes.  

Spiced Cauliflower. $19.

"Bbq’d peanuts, green tomato chow chow."

For my main dish, I made a bit of an odd selection.  One of the two vegetarian options, even though I'm not vegetarian, and I was pretty excited by both of the seafood options (shrimp & grits, or trout), both of which get great reviews.  But I was really craving cauliflower after having the mediocre version the night before at The Office Bar, I had seen several rave reviews of this dish, and our server talked it up.

It was a unique dish.  Very unlike anything I've had before.  At the base was the peanut sauce, "bbq'd peanuts", which were chopped, and sorta sauce-like.  But it didn't taste strongly of bbq flavor (which I really did want), and it certainly wasn't like a Thai style peanut sauce.  I enjoy peanuts, but this just wasn't a compelling condiment.  It was relatively low flavor somehow, not even particularly strong in the peanut taste.  This was a cold element.  *+.

Then of course, the cauliflower.  It was nicely charred, but a bit too soft for my taste, and again, just didn't taste like much.  It definitely lacked seasoning.  I believe it was supposed to be a hot/warm dish, but it was mildly lukewarm.  This I suspect was a victim of large group dining.  It was basically just quite boring.  Served as individual pieces, not a "cauliflower steak" as some restaurants do for a main dish.  **.

And then, the green tomato chow chow.  Here we had a real burst of southern cuisine.  This did have flavor, some vinegar, lots of red pepper (which, sadly, I don't love), onion, a little bit of green tomato, and lots of celery.  I did really like the celery.  Flavor, and interesting bits here, but still not something I found myself wanting more of.  It was also barely lukewarm. **.  

Overall, yes, there were 3 layers of components, and they were interesting, and it was unique, but there wasn't a single part of it that made me want another bite, and they didn't combine together to anything better than their individual parts.  I really regretted my choice.  Low, low **.

This dish is actually on the regular menu as a starter, er, "First Flavors", but it was an entree for us, I suspect slightly bigger portion?

Springer Mountain Farms Fried Chicken. $25. 

"Garlic collards, mashed yukon gold potatoes, honey-thyme jus."

The most popular dish at the restaurant, and the one our server definitely talked up, of course is the fried chicken.  The majority of my group got this.

They all seemed happy.  One diner remarked about how incredible a bite with all components from the plate together was.  The only slightly negative remark was around how plating it with the jus like this meant the base got soggy.

I did try the mashed potatoes, and they were quite good.  Rich, thick, rustic chunky style.  Mashed potatoes that I'd have a hard time not finishing.  **** potatoes.

Dessert

The regular menu has just 3 items on it.  Simple and to the point: southern favorite banana pudding,  chocolate bundt cake, and a seasonal hand pie.  I was definitely hoping the pudding would make an appearance on our menu, as I just adore pudding (hence, why my blog has a label dedicated to it).  I was also interested in the hand pie, because, pie!

We did have the pudding AND another southern classic, pecan pie (well, tart).  This isn't on their regular menu.  We were each served both, which I appreciated, but others who are less into dessert thought was too much.

Banana Pudding / Chocolate Pecan Tart.

Banana Pudding

"Banana pudding, banana jam, vanilla wafer, caramel, chantilly."

First up, the one I was most excited for, the banana pudding.  It was served as an individual trifle, not tiny, but reasonable individual size.  Served in these fairly narrow cups it was a bit hard to get a "perfect bite", as the spoon couldn't quite reach down all the way.  The first several bites were basically just whipped cream.  Good, thick, rich, house made whipped cream, don't get me wrong, and I love whipped cream, but, that is basically all we had on top.  It made up at least half the cup!  Oh, and of course the Nila wafer perched on top.  Great whipped cream, ***+, but, just out of balance, so *** overall.

Below that, was the banana jam, and that I really did enjoy.  Sweetened, stewed banana.  Yum.  ****. There were also some fresh banana slices, but just two in my cup.  

And finally, the base, which I guess was some banana pudding, but there wasn't much of it, and it was way at the bottom, so we barely got to taste it.  It was creamy, and had some banana flavor I think, but, the banana jam was so flavorful it was hard to distinguish.  It could easily have been basic instant pudding.  ***.

I don't think there were any vanilla wafers within, which honestly was fine with me, but I did miss the textural component of the softed cake-like wafers in a traditional banana pudding.

Basically, sure, I like whipped cream, and the banana jam was tasty, but this didn't come together all that well, at least as served in these little jars.  I think the version on the regular menu ($10) is larger, and has additional toppings/mix-ins?  *** because I still polished it off, but, banana pudding can be so much better.

Chocolate Pecan Tart

The chocolate pecan tart isn't on their regular menu, although it has been at times in the past (as has a pecan pie).  I love pecan pie, and Georgia is known for pecans, so this is another one that I do generally love, but ... you may read my blog regularly enough to know how I feel about tarts in general (compared to pie crust, or really, most other bases for dessert).  I also was a bit sad because it had chocolate, and I avoid caffeine at night, so I had to save for the next day.

Others commented that it was just too sweet, particularly alongside the banana pudding, and that it was too much whipped cream, given the mound on top of here and the entire top half of the pudding.  They also said they didn't think it actually had chocolate, despite being called a "chocolate pecan tart" on our menu (besides the visible drizzle of chocolate sauce on the plate).  I still brought mine home and waited to try it, as I prefer my pecan pie warm, with ice cream anyway.

They were right - there was no chocolate in here.  I *could* have eaten it fresh that night!  Regardless, I enjoyed the next day, probably even more than they did, as I heated mine up a bit, and did serve it with some vanilla ice cream.  It was a good little tart.

The tart shell was better than average, not just a generic compressed slightly sweet form, it was definitely thicker, darker, and more flavorful than most.  I didn't mind it at all, although of course I'd prefer flaky pie crust.  ***+ shell.

The filling was pretty classic pecan pie.  Crunch from pecans, nice level of sweetness, gooey.  Nothing surprising like honey or maple, just likely corn syrup, which truthfully is what I think makes a good pecan pie anyway.  ***+ filling, although the ratio of filling to tart shell left me wanting more filling.

I wouldn't go out of my way for this, and I still prefer pie over a tart (more filling, better shell), but this was good, and I'd happily eat another.  ***+.

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Dining at the Epicurean Hotel, Atlanta

During a recent trip to Atlanta, I stayed at the Epicurean Hotel (which, I loved, for so many reasons!).  During my time there, I did check out the main hotel restaurant for breakfast twice, and attended a private reception at one of their other dining establishments.  Sadly the food was not the high point really, a surprise for a brand so focused on being, well, Epicurean, but everything else about the hotel was exceptional (the rooms, the staff, etc, etc).  But this is Julie's Dining Club, and thus, the focus here is on dining.

Reverence, Breakfast

Reverence is the hotel restaurant, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus weekend brunch.

I opted to do a la carte my first morning, and to get my food to go, but I did look at the buffet before making my decision, and it did look good.  I noticed they allowed that togo as well (others were packing up boxes), which I appreciate as someone who often needs to eat hotel breakfast pretty quickly before heading to the office.

Buffet

The buffet is served weekends (and holidays) only, for brunch, 9am-1pm.  It is a whopping $38/pp, as tends to be standard for hotels.  I didn't partake, but did walk through so I could share here with photos.

Buffet Lineup.

I did appreciate that they provided a menu lineup of the buffet, although that indicates that it doesn't really change much. 

Seasonal Fresh Fruit.

First up, sliced fruits: cantaloupe | honeydew | pineapple | watermelon | orange.

Seasonal Berries.

Then the nicer fruits - berries! Strawberry | blueberry | blackberry | raspberry.

Breads & Spreads.

Basic sliced multigrain & wheat bread with toppings: jam | marmalade | honey | butter.

Hot Foods.

There were 5 different hot items in these stoneware serving dishes, your classic breakfast meats (bacon, chicken sausage), carbs (roast potatoes, grits), and scrambled eggs.

Chef Egg Station.

If you wanted made-to-order eggs instead, a chef was stationed with two burners and fixings for omelets, scrambles, and fried/over easy/etc eggs. 

Omelet Fillings.

tomato | onion | mushroom | jalapeno | spinach | cheddar | mozzarella | goat | feta | bacon | ham | spicy sausage

Cheese & Charcuterie.

Simple assorted cheese, charcuterie, fruit.

Granola Parfait.

I liked the look of the parfaits in the jars, with homemade granola and vanilla greek yogurt.

Regular & Chocolate Croissants.

The pastries looked decent too, freshly baked, nice egg wash shine.

Homemade Cake.

Cake for breakfast! I approve.

Cookies.

And cookies for breakfast? Excellent.  They weren't healthy style cookies either, just, regular cookies.  For breakfast.  Rules don't apply when traveling right?

A la carte menu

Breakfast / Lunch Menu.

I ordered from the a la carte menu, that really was fairly small on brunch days: only 7 main dishes, and some very basic sides.  3 healthy lighter dishes, 1 full breakfast with eggs, 1 sweet carbs, 1 interesting hash variation.  That was it.  My first choice was easy though, I'm all about dessert masquerading as breakfast, so, the French toast it was.  My second order was a bit random, just to try something.

My food was ready within 15 minutes, and came with all utensils and everything needed.

Tiramisu French Toast.  $17.

"Coffee mousseline | white chocolate crumble | macerated strawberries & blackberries."

Ok, so this looked worse for the wear when I opened my box. I'm sure it looks much better when served in the restaurant.  But alas, the toppings were so lofty that they hit, and stuck to, the lid of the box, so I opened it to find this.

Looks aside, this was good.  The base was very very thick slices of puffy brioche.  It didn't really seem to have much French toast eggyness to it, which I liked, as that's the one thing about French toast that I don't generally care for.  Rather, it was just moist inside, and lightly crispy outside.  Dusted with powdered sugar to make a bit sweet.  A good base, better than most French toast, particularly for my preferences.  ***+.

The coffee mousseline was very good.  Rich, creamy, really strong coffee flavor.  I could eat it like a coffee mousse and be more than happy.  I didn't necessarily taste "tiramisu", e.g. it was missing the mascarpone component, and there wasn't anything ladyfinger about this either, nor a dusting of cocoa, but, it was certainly coffee forward, and quite enjoyable.  ****.

The white chocolate crumble might have been nicely perched on top before it got ruined in my box, but I didn't really find it.  The macerated berries were good and rounded the dish out.  It also came with maple syrup, that was a bit thick and perhaps not real.

Overall, it was good, easily could be seen as dessert (particularly if you just added a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream), but it wasn't too over the top decadent to be breakfast/brunch.  I'd still consider it more of a thick brioche toast with coffee cream than "tiramisu" exactly, but that doesn't quite roll off the tongue as easily.

Acai Bowl.  $16.

"Acai blended with bananas | honey | peanut butter | granola | assorted fresh fruits."

This one was a strange order on my part, but I have two friends who had both been talking about their love of acai bowls recently, and I was curious to see if I too could love acai bowls.  Plus, I wanted the (housemade) granola and berries anyway.

It too looked a bit silly in the box square box, I'm sure much prettier in an actual glass bowl where you can see the lovely acai base, but hey, it worked.

The fruit on top was fresh, vibrant, ripe, very good.  It was late January, but the fruit really was mid-summer quality.  ****.

The granola was good, a very toasted style, loaded up with lots of crunchy seeds.  No big chunks as I do kinda like, but for an acai bowl, this made sense.  Much better than generic granola.  ***+.

And then the base.  That ... was not a success for me.  It was very bitter.  I didn't taste any of the promised honey, nor the peanut butter really.  And it was more melty than I think it should have been.  Kinda just cold bitter thick liquid.  Maybe I just don't like acai.  Maybe this wasn't very good.  I'm not sure, but I really didn't care for the base at all.  *.

Overall, I salvaged the toppings, but I clearly wouldn't get this again.

The Office Bar, Evening Social

Our first night we had a welcome reception at The Office Bar, a separate space run by the Epicurean, but in the building across the courtyard, not the same building as the hotel and Reverence (where they do have another, smaller, hotel bar).

"An ideal spot to grab lunch on the go, wind down those last few hours of work with a cold one in hand, or catch a game on one of our five oversized LED TVs. Transform your casual afternoon outing into a cozy nightcap at The Office Bar."

We had a small buffet set up, which featured all items from their regular menu.  The food was highly underwhelming, worse than expected really.

Cheese / Charcuterie.

I tried one triple creme cheese that didn't really have any flavor, not even in the rind, and some berries, that weren't particularly ripe (the breakfast fruit was much better).  Not a great lineup.  Nothing looked particularly appealing on the charcuterie platter (no pates, no pickles, just salami).

Flatbreads.

I didn't try any of the three flatbreads that were a thin wafer style.

Short Rib Sliders.

"Romaine | kansas bbq | buttermilk dressing."

I didn't grab one of the sliders on my first round at the buffet, and when I saw that the few people who did didn't bother finish theirs, I wasn't inspired to try them.

Baja Shrimp Tacos.

"Beer battered | chipotle aioli | cabbage slaw | pickled onion."

I had seen reviews of the shrimp tacos not being great, even when served fresh for regular guests (not as event buffet), but, I really do like fried shrimp, and aioli, so I was still hopeful.  And ... yeah.  They just had far too much batter that wasn't particularly good, WAY too much aioli, and a bunch of harsh pickled onions.  Some of the issue was certainly just sloppy assembly, but the flavors weren't balanced, and they were just too heavy in not delicious indulgent ways.  *+.

Fried Curry Cauliflower.

"Homemade hot sauce | buttermilk dressing."

The dish I was most looking forward to, and perhaps the best thing we had, was the fried curry cauliflwoer ... but that isn't saying much.

Like the shrimp, the cauliflower just had way way too much batter on it.  Very greasy, and just tons of batter.  There was some curry spicing, so that made it interesting at least, but most people just ended up discarding batter carcases on their plates (which was easy, as they fell apart as you tried to eat anyway).  The cauliflower was juicy and moist inside.

The buffalo sauce did have some kick, the ranch was ranch.  Both creamy, and flavorful, but not entirely great matches for the strong curry flavor.  *+.

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Delivery from Pacific Catch

Update Review, January 2025

Sigh.  This is the story of a sad delivery experience.

I ordered online, on Pacific Catch's own website, in the early afternoon, and set a delivery time of 5pm.  I immediately got the confirmation email.  Excellent.  It said expected delivery time of 5pm, as I requested.  Great.

At 4:46pm I got a message showing the tracking.  It had a delivery person (through DoorDash) nearly there, set to pick it up.  It gave a 5:07pm delivery time.  Ok, a bit late, but not that bad.  And then it showed the Dasher there waiting.  The delivery estimate kept increasing.  By 5:20pm, I no longer had a delivery driver.  My order status just went back to being received.  Sigh.

Um, what?  I had a 5pm delivery set, and now it was much past that.  By 5:30pm I had a new delivery driver.  They were on the other side of the city from the restaurant.  New delivery estimate?  5:57pm.  Sigh.  I ordered in advance, with a set delivery time, for a reason.  Also, there was raw seafood, and hot fried food, in the order, neither of which would take well to being just totally abandoned for an hour.  Sigh.  The delivery estimate then just kept increasing, as the Dasher slowly made their way towards the restaurant.  6:07pm it now said.

As expected, when it arrived (closer to 6:30pm), the hot food was stone cold (it likely had been ready before 5pm) and the sashimi was lukewarm, both of which definitely detracted from my experience.  But overall, it was still a decent overall experience, particularly because my order was inspired because I had a free birthday bowl on my account to redeem (and then I had to add more to the order to meet the delivery minimum), so this was minimal cost to me.

Bowls & Grains

For my free bowl, I could have picked from any of the standard bowls, which include the Japanese wasabi bowl I had last time and thought was ok, or the less appealing (to me) West Coast Style (roast veggies, pesto, drizzles), Hawaiian teriyaki (stir fry), Latin Chimichurri (potatoes, chimichurri, etc), or Mexican Grill (elote, black beans, guac, cotija, chips, etc), all of which could have my choice of salmon, kanpachi, shrimp, tofu, chicken, or steak (for an additional charge). Or the newer sushi bowls, which sound much like the Japanese wasabi bowl, just with sashimi instead of poke on top.  It was these bowls that drew me in.

Double Rainbow. $31.50.
(No avocado, crab salad on the side, sub all mixed greens).

"Sashimi (2 ea) of kanpachi yellowtail, salmon and sesame-seared ahi, crab salad, yuzu tobiko, avocado,

wakame, marinated cucumber, pickled ginger, daikon, soy-wasabi vinaigrette, 1/2 mixed organic greens, 1/2 sushi rice."

The regular "sashimi trio" bowl comes with 3 slices each of kanpachi, salmon, and ahi, but I opted for the double rainbow version, with only 2 of each sashimi, but also a scoop of crab salad, as that was the highlight of my bowl last time (and strangely is no longer an option to add on or sub in any other bowls).  I asked for no avocado as I'm allergic, and suggested adding extra of any of the other toppings, as I had last time as well.  I also asked for the dressing and crab on the side, so I could use them separately and so they wouldn't get soggy.

I was immediately let down to see the avocado perched right in the middle.  The dressing was indeed on the side as I had asked (and maybe is standard for delivery anyway?), and the crab salad was on the side, so they did honor some of my requests.  The crab salad was a much bigger portion than my previous order.

For a base I opted for all mixed greens (rather than half rice) which is one of their standard offered customizations.  The greens were fresh, crisp, assorted.  Pretty standard mixed greens base.

One side of the bowl was made up of the other vegetable toppings: pickled ginger, marinated cucumber, seaweed salad.  It was a decent sized mound of seaweed salad, pretty standard generic seaweed salad with sesame seeds and kinda sweet dressing.  The kind of seaweed salad that gets stuck in your teeth easily.  It did taste kinda ... fishy though, and I think I'd opt to have it left out in the future.  There was also a fairly generous mound of pickled ginger that had a nice bite to it, and a rather small portion of the marinated cucumber that wasn't particularly flavorful and was kinda soft.  All made it very poke bowl-eque, and went well with the other ingredients. *** toppings.

Moving on to the middle, the avocado looked freshly sliced, ripe, no browning, but I had to discard it.  The diakon sprouts were nice for fresh touch besides just the mixed greens base.  Lemon to drizzle on top added a nice pop of acidity.  Again, all good compliments to the overall bowl.

And then, the closest half of the bowl, the sashimi.  This was ... a mixed bag.  The pieces were quite thin, but mostly very wide, and sorta just looked odd.  Definitely not standard sashimi cuts.  All were warm, which was a bit disconcerting, due to the long delivery and likely having sat there for quite a while before pickup.  The salmon didn't have much of a fresh raw salmon flavor, if that makes any sense.  It was raw salmon, but it tasted more like smoked salmon (just minus the smokiness), sorta like lox, which was accented by the fact that it was sliced so thin.  I actually ended up putting it on my grill to quickly lightly sear it, and really enjoyed it mid-rare like that.  I think the quality was more suited to being cooked.  *+ as raw sashimi, but *** as cooked thin salmon.  The kanpachi was very chewy, and both pieces had a large blood line running through them.  Not particularly good.  **.   I ended up grilling this too, and thought it was much better that way.  *** grilled.  The "sesame-seared ahi" had the tiniest bit of sesame and the slightest sear of the edge, but both of those aspects were easy to miss as they were so minimal. The piece right on top right was reasonably cut (although, like the other varieties, thin and wide), but the other piece, that you can't see well, was totally mangled.  It was so thin I think that it just tore apart, and was about 1/3 the size of all the other pieces.  Consistent knife cuts really do not seem to be their strong point.  The ahi was as lackluster as the others taste wise. **. So the sashami really was not what I'd consider sushi quality.  Poor knife cuts, not flavorful, and I question how fresh it was.  I think this place does a better job with their cooked seafood and poke, which, granted, are the majority of their menu.

I moved on to the crab salad, which I intended to throw on top of a salad the next day, but of course I wanted to try it right then.  It was all real crab, a mix of shredded and a few large pieces of lump crab.  It seemed fresh, no fishiness to it.  Very lightly mixed with mayo, and sprinkled with furikake.  Good enough crab salad, and a generous portion, far more than I had last time.  ***+.

And finally, the soy-wasabi vinaigrette, which I enjoyed on my previous bowl quite a bit too. I love the hit of wasabi.

Overall, such a mixed bag, the base salad and veggie elements were good, the crab and lobster salad were great, and I did like the salmon once I seared it, but it is pretty hard to overlook the lower quality sashimi and odd slices of fish.

Kid's Meals

Pacific Catch has a remarkably good kid's menu.  Not only are the choices interesting, they are very reasonably priced.  Just $10, and all (besides the sushi rolls) include a side of choice (including sweet potato fries as an option with no up-charge, or side salad, regular fries, chile-lime fries, chips & salsa), plus some token broccoli and fruit.  The entree choices range from more standard kid favorite chicken strips to mini versions of the Mexican or teriyaki bowls (with choice of salmon, chicken, shrimp, steak), to several small sushi rolls, to even a 2 piece fish & chips or coconut shrimp.  Coconut shrimp is also available as a standard appetizer for $13.95 with 7 pieces (but no sides), and a 2 piece adult fish & chips is $15.95, so this really does seem like a great value (I think the fish pieces included in both is the same, just the portion of fries is less, and kid's version has the broccoli/fruit, the adults has slaw).

I was torn between the coconut shrimp (which gets great reviews as an adult appetizer but I wasn't entirely in the mood for) and the fish & chips (fried Alaskan cod, which gets ... mixed reviews as adult version as fish & chips or when used in fish tacos, but was more of what I wanted).  Really, I wanted the other fried seafood item that is served either as an appetizer, or as part of the "mixed catch" trio with those other two, the fried calamari, just not in full size appetizer form.  However that wasn't an option on the kid's menu.  I took a gamble, and tried to order it anyway, with a note in the comments.

Custom Kid's Meal. $10.
(Calamari, Sweet Potato Fries, Sauces).

I did technically order the kid's fish & chips, with sweet potato fries as my side choice.  But I asked them to sub fried calamari for the fish, and to include sauces for it (they don't normally include dipping sauce for the kid's meals fish & chips nor the coconut shrimp for some reason).  I truly had no idea what I'd get.  I thought the chances were high that I'd still get the fish & chips, which would be fine, but I did really prefer the calamari instead.

And ... I did mostly get what I wanted!  It was calamari instead of fried fish, and there *were* sauces, just, uh, not the ones that normally come with either of the items I had (plus lots of ketchup packets, because, kids).  I was still quite pleased with what I got, besides the fact that it was literally stone cold (not even lukewarm, like, actual cold, likely due to the exceptionally long delivery time).

Fried Calamari

"Crispy calamari, fried lemon slices, Fresno chile, chipotle aioli." 

My off-menu kid's portion of the fried calamari was fairly substantial, there is a lot under the sweet potato fries too.  My portion most mostly rings (likely the most kid friendly pieces?), but a few tentacles, and two little tips.  It also included two of the fried lemon slices, but no Fresnos that come in the appetizer version, and, rather than providing me the chipotle aioli that normally comes with the calamari, they gave me two other sauces (presumably believing a child wouldn't want the spicy aioli?)

The calamari was good (once reheated).  Light batter, not chewy pieces.  It was very oily and didn't seem like it had been drained very well (sooo much oil in the base of the box, and then in my air fryer as I heated it up), but that was easily to remedy.  The batter wasn't particularly flavorful, and it needed a hit of salt, but, the seafood itself was well cooked, and I enjoyed it.  I'd get this again.  ***+.  

The regular menu item for this, as an appetizer, is $15.95.

Sweet Potato Fries

I opted for the sweet potato fries as my side a bit skeptically, as I really love a certain style of sweet potato fries (Oren's Hummus has my favorites in SF, thick, double battered, super crispy), and Pacific Catch's look like boring thin ones, but reviewers all love them, say they are the best they've ever had, etc.  

They tasted as underwhelming as they looked.  Just, very generic, very average, thin sweet potato fries.  Cold they were really not good, but I did quickly warm them in my toaster oven, which improved them slightly, but, there just was nothing remarkable about the taste nor style.  Not sure why people love these.  Would not get again.  **.

Thai sweet chili sauce (normally with coconut shrimp): 

This was pretty standard sweet chili sauce.  Mostly sweet, a tiny bit of heat.  No better nor worse than any supermarket brand.  ***.

Jalapeño tartar sauce (normally with fried fish): 

This was great!  It did have bits of jalapeño in it, which gave it a slight kick.  Great level of creaminess.  Didn't just taste like mayo, balanced by some acid too.  Far better than average.  ****.

Broccoli, orange

All kid's meals come with broccoli and fruit, which, um, turned out to be a single piece of broccoli and a orange wedge.  I think this is what it always is.  Both were fine?  Fresh enough citrus, lightly cooked broccoli.  ***.

Update Review, 2024

Wow, many, many years (10!) had passed since I last had Pacific Catch.  The last time I had it, um, DoorDash didn't exist, and I ordered via Caviar, which has long since shut down.  Wild.  And the menu seems to have changed pretty dramatically too.

I still haven't visited in person, as this was also a delivery order.

Bowls | Grains & Greens

Pacific Catch has a bunch of curated bowls on the menu, all of which can have a base of mixed greens or rice, or, as they come by default, 1/2 and 1/2.  Each bowl is a different style, with toppings and proteins to match (although you can easily customize to swap out the main protein or double it up).  

Each bowl style is fairly unique, such as the Korean Bibimip inspired bowl with spicy cumber banchan, kimchi, etc and gochujang soy-chile sauce, or a Mexican Grill with elote corn, black beans, gaucamole, etc, etc and guajillo shrimp, or a healthy "West Coast Style" grilled salmon with roasted cauliflower, avocado, etc and pesto, yadda yadda yadda.  Don't worry carnivores, the Korean BBQ option with ribs and fried egg on top is there, as is the Hawaiian Teriyaki for those who don't want such bold flavors, etc, etc, etc.  10 different bowls total, and really, one for any flavor profile you seek.  They are mostly all available in two sizes, "Small" or "Regular". 

Japanese Wasabi Ahi Poke Bowl. Regular Size. $19 + $6.
(Sub Crab Salad, No Avocado, Add Shrimp).

"Avocado, wakame seaweed salad, marinated cucumber, pickled ginger, daikon sprouts, furikake, soy-wasabi vinaigrette, mixed organic greens."

I went for the Japanese bowl, which normally comes with ahi poke, but I subbed in crab salad, because, <3 crab.  I also added on additional shrimp, which I planned to use with my dinner.  I asked for the seafood on the side, as the shrimp I intended to use later anyway, and the crab I didn't want to make the lettuce soggy.

Because of my avocado allergy, I had to ask to have the avocado left off (I hoped they would add more of something else instead, but I don't think they did).  I opted for a base of all mixed greens rather than the standard 1/2 rice, 1/2 greens.

This bowl had strengths and weaknesses.  The base was kinda boring, just mixed greens, but fresh and crisp enough.  I liked the diakon sprouts as something a bit different. The marinated cucumber was kinda soggy/soft and didn't have much flavor.  The pickled ginger and seaweed salad were both average, about the same as you'd get at any poke shop or sushi place.  Nothing great about them, but nothing bad either.  I'm not sure where the furikake was, just a tiny sprinkle on top the crab? I didn't find any elsewhere.  So ... kinda all fine, but underwhelming, and lacking any crunchy component.  Getting a bowl this style at a poke place is a better bet for having more interesting ingredients and more textures.  So base?  ***.

The crab salad however was quite good.  Real crab, not krab stick, shredded, and mixed with mayo.  Perhaps a bit more mayo than I really prefer, as you couldn't taste the crab all that much, but, I liked it all the same. ***+.

The shrimp really let me down.  I was expecting larger, grilled shrimp, as I'd seen in other photos online.  I was hoping for 5-6 big juicy shrimp with lovely grill marks and smoky flavor.  These were small, and just sautéed I guess?  15 of them.  The shrimp were fine, well cleaned, not too rubbery, not too fishy, but really not very good either.  Eh.  **+.

And finally, the dressing, a soy-wasabi vinaigrette that was absolutely fabulous.  It had a legit kick from the wasabi, and the soy complimented the bowl ingredients well.  It was slightly creamy too, I think it may have had mayo in it too?  I also think I tasted some miso?  Anyway, it was really addicting dressing, and once I added it to my bowl, my flavors really popped.  ****.

So overall, I did quite enjoy my bowl, but I found it lacking a bit texturally, and really wanted some more exciting toppings.  *** overall.

This was the "Regular" size, so, $19 + $6 for the shrimp, making it a $25 salad, pretty pricy for what it was.

Side of Wonton Chips. $7.

When I ordered from Pacific Catch many years ago, I remembered really liking their house made wonton chips, served with all of the different pokes.  I didn't want poke this time, but I still wanted those excellent chips, so I reached out to the restaurant to find out if this was an option.  Although not on the menu, they said ordering a side of the chips (either these wontons or tortilla chips that go with the ceviche) was no problem.

My order included 3 little bags of chips, for $7, the cost of a side of fries normally.

The chips were good - crispy, light, fresh, not too greasy.  I enjoyed them with crab salad stacked on top of them, and I think they'd go great with sweet chile sauce too.  I wouldn't go out of my way to order these again unless I was really craving something like that, but, I appreciated that they let me do this.

***+.

Original Review, April 2016

One night, we were really craving sushi for dinner, but didn't want to go out to get it.  I looked through all the possible sushi locations on the popular delivery sites in San Francisco: Seamless.com, GrubHub, Eat24, Foodler, delivery.com.  Sure, they had sushi, but every place that I cross referenced on Yelp scared me away.  They all seemed to be the bottom of the barrel.  I was at a loss.  We considered using Postmates to deliver Whole Foods sushi.  It isn't amazing, but seemed less scary than the other choices before us.

And then ... I remembered Caviar.  A much smaller delivery service than the others, they partner with restaurants that do not normally offer delivery, but offer takeout.  They charge a flat rate delivery fee of $9.99 anywhere in the city, and automatically add on 18% gratuity.  It isn't the cheapest option, but their web site is beautiful, with quality photos of every dish so you know what you are getting, and they provide real time monitoring of your delivery.  But the best part: they partner with places you actually want to get food from.  I've only used Caviar once before, when we wanted pizza, and were able to get Little Star Pizza, my favorite pizza in the city.  So I eagerly pulled up their site, hoping that their curated options would include sushi.  And indeed they did.  I had two choices even.

I picked Pacific Catch, mostly because I've walked by their Marina location in the past, and it always looks busy, which seems like a good sign.  They actually have 2 locations in SF (6 total in the Bay Area), and I think my order came from the further location.

Ordering on the Caviar site was easy and flawless, and I received a call from the driver when he was a few blocks away.  I appreciated being able to GPS stalk him via the website as he approached with our sushi.  No problems with Caviar, at all.

The food was fine, which is saying something for delivery sushi, but it certainly wasn't remarkable, and seemed pricey for what it was.  I'd still consider going to Pacific Catch in person sometime to get some of their other food (the menu is very extensive, featuring fried seafood, seafood tacos, etc, but those items didn't seem particularly suited for delivery), but I wouldn't go for the sushi again.  So far, no takeout sushi has even come close to the takeout sushi we had from Roka Akor.

White Tuna Poke.  $12.

I know I said we were ordering sushi, but Pacific Catch has an entire section of the menu devoted to Hawaiian Poke, in more styles than I even knew existed - 7 total, including a vegetarian tofu option.  Since they featured poke so prominently, I had to try it.  And, it was raw fish I was craving, I didn't entirely care what form it was served in, poke worked for me.  Most of the pokes are ahi based, and since we were getting an ahi roll, I decided to go for the white tuna version.

Described as "yuzu citrus, fresno chilies, white soy sauce, red onions".  Served on the side were crispy wonton chips.

This was good.  Nice sized chunks of tuna that tasted fresh.  Very thinly sliced onions and peppers.  Flavorful from the soy and burst of citrus, well seasoned.  Everything was well balanced, both in the flavors, and in the ratios of different ingredients.

I really liked the crispy wontons.  It sounds silly, but they just got these right, super crispy, not too oily, great for scooping up the poke.  But, the poke itself was so tasty, I preferred to just eat it plain, and enjoyed the leftover crispy wontons dipped into sweet chili sauce later.

Definitely my favorite dish of the night, clearly fresh, and well thought out.  I'd gladly try another variety of their poke, or order this one again.

$12 price seemed a little high for the small quantity, but this was clearly fresh, quality seafood, so it wasn't too bad.

Spicy Tuna Roll. $9.

Next, an actual sushi roll, since, sushi is what we wanted.  Pacific Catch doesn't actually serve any nigiri or sashimi, so rolls were the best we could do.  Plenty of the rolls included deep fried components, which wouldn't work for delivery.  And all but one use avocado, which I'm allergic to.  I could easily ask to have the avocado left out, but I was worried my note would get missed in the delivery order, and I'd be unable to eat the sushi.  So, I had one choice: spicy tuna.

Described as "ahi tuna, sriracha aioli, chili oil, cucumber, daikon sprouts & green onion".

The role was very mediocre.  All components were a bit mushy, particularly the rice.  I couldn't taste the tuna, as there was way too much of the sriracha aioli, which didn't actually taste like sriracha, just like mayo, but it was orange colored.  The cucumber was fresh and crispy at least.

So, somehow flavorless, just mushy rice with a crunch of cucumber.  I didn't really care for this, and it turned me off from ordering any of their other rolls too.  Price was fine.

California Roll Salad. $19.50.

And finally, we went for the only other cold choice, a salad.  They offer salads topped with seared ahi, grilled salmon, chicken, or crab salad.  The ahi looked good in photos, but since I love crab, and Ojan was craving California rolls, we went for the California Roll Salad.

Described as "meal sized" and "made with organic spring greens & hearts of romaine, real crab salad, avocado, cucumber, ginger, tomatoes, carrots & shredded nori with soy-wasabi vinaigrette".

Ah yes, avocado, again, clearly, since it was a salad version of the California roll.  I asked to have the avocado on the side, and knew that if they failed to read my instructions, it hopefully would just be touching part of the salad, and I could work around it, unlike inside a roll.

My request was honored, and the avocado came in a separate container on the side.  I didn't get a photo, but it was a generous amount.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting, since I'd seen photos, and read the description, but somehow, I wanted this to be more than just the sum of its parts.  It wasn't.  It really was just a salad.

The lettuce was a mix of spring greens and hearts of romaine, fresh, crispy enough.  Same with the shredded carrot, the grape tomatoes, the sprouts.  There wasn't any cucumber, as was listed in the description.  Nothing exciting here.

I found the addition of a big clump of ginger a bit fascinating, as it was really strange inside a salad, but given that Ojan is a ginger-o-holic and stole all the ginger from the sushi roll, this meant I actually got some.  The nori sounded great, but because it was thinly shredded was just totally lost in here.  Perhaps some kind of bigger chunks would work better.  Both of these components reflected the sushi roll aspect of the salad well.

The salad normally comes with one scoop of the crab salad, but I had them add on a second scoop (extra $4.50), since that is what we really cared about.  I knew it was supposed to be "crab salad", but I wasn't quite sure what that meant.  It turned out to basically be the filling from a California roll, which, I guess is expected.  Cooked, shredded crab.  It didn't contain any pieces recognizable as crab, which was disappointing.  While filler-style crab like this works fine inside a sushi roll, it was a bit sad on the salad.  Sorta like eating canned tuna, as opposed to the real thing?  I think I was hoping for something more like the style of crab salad you get inside a sandwich crab roll, not a sushi crab roll.  It wasn't seasoned either, so it was pretty flavorless and mushy.

The soy-wasabi vinaigrette was good, it had a bit of zing from wasabi, and the soy flavor went well with the crab.

Overall, this was disappointing, but really was what it advertised to be, it just turned out to not be what I really wanted.  $19.50 is pretty pricy for a salad, even if it has two scoops of crab salad on it, since the crab salad wasn't remarkable.  I wouldn't get this again.

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