YBC Aerial Snacks

Snacks, snacks, by now, you know I love my snacks.  Even moreso if they aren't ones I grew up with.  Which leads me YBC Aerial.

YBC is another Japanese snack food manufacturer who makes products that are quite fun for me.  The product I tried, Aerial chips, seem much like Orion Turtle Chips, which I've reviewed before, and completely adore.  If you are unfamiliar, they are kinda like layered, or, 3D, chips. YBC makes Aerial chips in a zillion flavors like cod roe butter, peppersteak, tarako cream, teriyaki mayo, etc, along with more normal-ish to Americans variety like sour cream onion, salt, or butter.  I only tried one flavor, but I'd gladly try. more.

Corn Potage

"Enjoy munching on these four-layered corn snacks! Each piece tastes like corn potage soup."

"Each bite is packed with the rich, creamy flavor of sweet corn blended with a hint of buttery goodness, delivering an irresistible snacking experience."

Wow, ok, so these are exactly what they say they are.  They taste like corn soup, or creamed corn.  It is uncanny.  Soup, but ... in snack form.  Slightly savory, but fairly sweet, but not in a dessert way, just a sweet corn way.  Fascinating.

The form factor is much like other snacks of this style (e.g. Turtle Chips): lightly airy, layers that make for a really satisfying eating experience.  Very enjoyable.

I really did like these, but you have to be in the mood for this flavor, as it is so strong, and it turns out, I don't often crave a snack and corn soup at the same time.  ***+.

Read More...

Butter&

Mmm, cake.  I went through a short phase of not being very into cake, but those days are behind me.  A turning point for me was once I discovered how much I love warm cake and ice cream - no, I don't mean molten chocolate cake or butter cake or others that are always served warm, I mean regular cake, with buttercream, that I just warm up in the toaster oven a bit, and serve a la mode.  The frosting does of course melt, but it becomes a lovely sauce (or, just remove it, and put it back on at the end).  I don't think I ever had just normal cake, warmed up, until 2020 or so.  I "discovered" this trick when I had surplus few day old cake, and thought, "hey, warming things up or serving a la mode does wonders on day old baked goods, maybe it will work for cake too?"  And, yes, yes it did.  (Side note: Carrot cake in particular I can't imagine having any other way.  Warm carrot cake, topped with a scoop of vanilla bean or caramel swirl or cream cheese ice cream ... soo good!).  But anyway.  I am back to being a full time cake eater, and have it usually at least once or twice a week (sometimes warm, sometimes not) as part of my dessert lineup.

This is a lot of preamble to introduce you to a cake shop that was new to me: Butter&.  They are based in  San Francisco, and are very well regarded.  As in, 5 perfect stars on Yelp, with lots of reviews.  When does *that* happen?  I've been aware of the bakery for a while, but hadn't yet tried them myself until now.

"Butter& is a designer cake shop serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 2017. We're on a mission to make great design more accessible and to be the best employer in the food industry. Our designers specialize in a modern, minimalist, and precise design. We love clean lines and balance, and we're on a mission to make great design more accessible."

A designer cake shop!  I didn't even know that term before looking them up to do this review.  From what I see, they make very elegant cakes, not over the top custom cakes.  They make cakes in basically all sizes ranging from mini 2 servings to wedding cakes to serve 100. They can do single tier, two tier, three tier, etc.  Along with making cakes that look amazing, they also focus on less sweet flavors, and use a unique frosting.

"The frosting we use is a creamy Greek yogurt buttercream. Our cakes are much less sweet than others because our recipe uses a lot less sugar than other buttercreams, especially those typical in American desserts like American buttercream. That allows our cakes to be much more flavor-driven."

They offer 5 main flavors, and they aren't your standard vanilla, chocolate, and funfetti.  Not even red velvet or carrot.  Nope, these are actually interesting, well designed flavors.  The most interesting to me are the a strawberries + cream or brown butter + meyer lemon.  They do have a double chocolate option for the chocolate lovers (85% Guittard of course for the chocolate ganache), and a hazelnut + chocolate option that goes far beyond the standard Nutella-vibes, instead it has a hazelnut praline and chocolate ganache buttercream.  The cakes all use a light brown sugar cake rather than basic vanilla/plain (besides the double chocolate and cookies + cream, that have chocolate cake base).  Each cake has a backstory, and the menu includes all the details on the inspiration, which I love.

I didn't select a cake, but rather stumbled upon the last slice of a cake that a co-worker ordered for a celebration.  When I saw the box was from Butter&, I gleefully dug in.

Cookies & Cream.

"High quality, ethically sourced vanilla beans  infused into our buttercream with crushed Oreo cookies folded in and paired with fluffy chocolate cake."

Backstory: Whether you’re at the ice cream shop or dipping in milk, this one is pure nostalgia. We use Heilala Vanilla, a world-renowned humanitarian vanilla brand, sourced from the Kingdom of Tonga in Polynesia. Heilala Vanilla paste is made from organically grown bourbon vanilla beans, and using real vanilla beans in this recipe makes the vanilla flavor much more expressive than the vanilla extract many of us are used to. Oreo cookies are crushed and folded into the buttercream before being layered with fluffy chocolate cake.

So, cookies & cream is never the flavor of cake that I'd pick or order.  I grew up in a household with a father who adored Oreos, and that just never carried over to me.  I kinda actively dislike them.  But when there was one slice left of the cake, I couldn't resist, even if it was cookies & cream.

The first thing I noticed was the buttercream. It was soo creamy and light, and ... slightly tangy!  Sweet but not standard cake cloying sweet.  I was drawn in instantly.  This was fascinating cake.  I hadn't read the details about how they use Greek yogurt as the base, so I didn't know to expect this style, but I loved it.  The Oreos crushed in added some texture, but, given that I don't care for them really, of course I wished they weren't there.  That base buttercream though, just so good.

The cake was moist, light, and decently chocolately.  Again, not a super sugar laden American style, but, sweet enough.  Consistently baked.

Put together, this was an enjoyable cake, well executed, and nice to have something a bit less reliant on sugar to make it taste good.  I'd love to try their other flavors, as again, cookies & cream isn't really my thing.  ***+.

Read More...

Jake's Steaks

It isn't frequently that I crave red meat, or that I specifically crave a cheesesteak, but, well, it happened this week, and my quick research told me to order from Jake's Steaks.

Jake's Steaks has two locations in San Francisco, and I've almost been there several times in the past, but, I don't think I ever actually made it happen (usually opting for Phat Philly because they have great cheddar beer fries too and excellent churros too, or once trying out Busters).  This "visit", I still didn't actually drag myself to either of the locations, but rather, just ordered delivery.

I was really impressed with the packaging - every item came taped shut so that it would not open and spill.  Kudos to Jakes for this.  It is clear they care about their delivery experience.  

Sides

For sides, Jake's Steaks offer a variety of fries options - curly or waffle, garlic or cheese or chili cheese, pizza fries (marinara and wiz), and even Philly steak fries (e.g. cheesesteak fillings on top of fries), plus wings or chicken tenders, and then more fried things: onion rings, mozzarella sticks, zucchini sticks, and jalapeno poppers, all of which come with some kind of dipping sauce.

Garlic Waffle Fries. Small. $5.99.

I opted for the garlic fries, even though I was tempted by onion rings as I adore onion rings, but I knew Jake's Steak's uses the crumb coating style, which isn't my preference.

The portion was quite large, even though I got a small.  The box they were in had two sides removed, and then was taped together at the top rather than properly sealed, as it was bursting at the seams.  I give them credit for that.  So many fries.

The garlic smelt AMAZING, even through the bag, it was all I could smell, and it was so inviting.  My house smelt amazing for the next hour.  I give them credit for just how much garlic there was, between every layer, and tons in the bottom too.  But it smelt considerably better than it tasted.  While there was tons of it, and nice herbs too, it was really quite harsh, just lots of raw garlic. They were pretty standard/basic waffle fries, not particularly good nor bad, likely Sysco.  Not too greasy, not too crispy.  Only lukewarm but I was able to toss in the toaster oven for a few to warm up more (I had it hot and ready!).   

So, standard fries that were correctly prepared, smothered and really well coated garlic/herbs, but ... just a bit too harsh tasting for me.  Very low ***.  

Wiz on the Side. $1.79.

I also got some Wiz on the side, to dunk my fries, or potentially dunk my cheesesteak into for extra cheesiness.  It was, well, Wiz.  As expected.  Perfectly tasty.  ***.

Cheesesteaks

The cheesesteak menu at Jake's Steak is lengthy, as you'd expect.  Even once you select a base cheesesteak, all cheesesteaks come with a slew more options.  Sooo customizable.  Sooo many decisions.

So once you select your cheesesteak, THEN the decisions you need to make are size (8" or 12"), protein (steak, chicken, Beyond Meat), type of cheese (Whiz, white American, provolone, cheddar, pepper jack), style of your onions and peppers (grilled or raw onions, sweet, hot cherry, or jalapeno peppers, and if you want them in the sandwich or on the side), bread style (toasted, double toasted, not toasted, as a salad, no bread, or in a lettuce wrap), if you want any "top off's" (flavored aioli of all kinds), if you want salt/pepper/ketchup/mustard, if you want to make it a hoagie (mayo/lettuce/tomato), if you want any extra cheese, any extra protein (huge list of options, including meat balls, fried eggs, fried eggplant ...), extra veggies (13 options!), sauces (23 options).  Wow.  If you want to make no decisions, the default values are 8", steak, Whiz, grilled onions, and nothing else added.  All come on Amoroso rolls, imported from Philly, of course.  They don't try to use a local artisanal version or anything.

But you don't get to that point until you first select the type of cheesesteak, of which their are 17 options, ranging from your classic original Philly cheesesteak, to a ruben version with 1000 island and kraut, to one with a hot dog on it IN ADDITION to the full cheesesteak, to one wrapped in an egg omelet for breakfast, and so on.  So many choices.

Jake's also has lengthy line up of burgers, hot dogs, and other sandwiches, both hot (chicken parm, eggplant parm, meatball parm, spicy fried chicken, grilled chicken, etc) or cold (club, BLTA, Italian hoagie), and salads, but, I only went for the cheesesteak. 

Spinach & Mushroom Cheesesteak. $14.99.
(8", Steak, Not Toasted, White Cheddar, Grilled Onions).

The cheesesteak looked entirely unphotogenic when I opened it up, but I didn't care.  It was well wrapped tight inside, and then wrapped in a foil wrapper to keep it warm, and it really mostly did.  It was reasonably warm when it got to me.

I went for the spinach & mushroom cheesesteak, a slightly more interesting sounding version of a mushroom cheesesteak, which is what I normally get at cheesecake shops (and I don't mean a vegetarian mushroom option, I mean, a cheesesteak, a proper one, with steak, but with mushrooms added.  And no, not mushrooms instead of onions, in addition to, because onions are a default, just like the use of steak and not chicken or substitutes!  Hmm, turns out, I guess I have feelings on this topic!).  I wouldn't have thought to add spinach myself, but, it made sense when I saw it on the menu, and I thought worth a try.

From there, my decisions were mostly easy: smallest size (8"), steak, grilled onions - those were no brainers.  I briefly thought about getting it toasted, as that is generally a good thing for a sandwich, but part of the greatness of a Philly cheesesteak to me is that soft bread that gets all messy and soaks up the cheese and meat juice, and toasting seemed like not a good idea.  I'm interested though that they offer double toasting even, so clearly, so people must really like them toasted.  The cheese selection was the only one that I did need to think through a bit.  Whiz is great.  I like Whiz.  And it most definitely is the traditional thing to have with your cheesesteak.  But the white American kept jumping out at me on the menu.  White American it was.

The bread was soft, fluffy, and yes, quickly got soggy from all the soaked in meat juice and cheese, just as I kinda wanted.  Clearly fresh bread, no staleness detected.  Amoroso is a name you know for a reason, after all.  It is what you want for your cheesesteak bread.  ***+.

It was really, really stuffed full of fillings.  Like the box for the fries, it was bursting at the seams.  I really applaud Jake's Steak's for not skimping on portions.  The steak was thinly sliced and chopped, integrated so well with the plentiful mushrooms and small pieces of grilled onions that every bite seemed to have some of everything in it, creating a perfect bite every time.  The steak was tender and not a chewy bit was found.  The cheese just permeated everything and was sooo melty, even for delivery.  The spinach was wilted and mixed in, which I'll admit I basically didn't notice when I was eating it, but I'm sure my body will appreciate that I had some leafy greens?  **** fillings.

Put it together, and, yep, this is a very good cheesesteak.  Good ingredients, really well assembled, I have no notes on anything I'd want done differently.  I did like all my choices and would get it again, although I could imagine actually trying the cheddar (!) to really be wild, or just get the Whiz.  **** overall.

Dessert

On the dessert side, Jake's Steaks doesn't try to appeal to the masses, offering up only a few packaged Tastykake options, which I assume only those actually from Philly or wanting the nostalgia of them get excited for (plus me, becuase, hey, I like trying new things!).

Peanut Butter Kandy Kake. $3.49.

I still gleefully added a peanut butter kandy kake to my order.  It did arrive slightly melted, as it was in teh bag alongside the hot items.

Stay tuned for a separate Tastykake review soon!

Read More...

Boudin Bakery

Update Review, May 2025

Yep, Boudin keeps giving me free treats.  I've mostly just ignored them these days, but one day I was next to Boudin anyway so ... I stopped in for my freebie.

Oatmeal Raisin. $2.99.

I've tried all the other varieties of Boudin cookies, and found them meh, but it was my mother's birthday, so in her honor, I tried her favorite kind of cookie - oatmeal raisin (which I never go for as it isn't high on my list of cookie preferences).  I hadn't yet tried at Boudin.

It was a pretty standard sweeter style oatmeal raisin cookie.  A bit softer than the other kinds of cookies I've had from Boudin and more chewy, likely due to the oats, so that was a plus as I generally find theirs far too crispy.  It was quite sweet, not the sort of oatmeal raisin cookie that you can trick yourself into believing is fairly healthy or suitable for breakfast (330 calories, 21g sugar, which actually is much better than some of the others I guess).  Reasonable distribution of raisins that were plump and chewy and not hard little rocks.  It was really quite spiced, fairly aggressive spices throughout.

So, compared to other Boudin cookies, I think it was better made, but still about on par with a generic grocery store bakery department cookie, not really actual bakery quality.   I'm just not that into oatmeal raisin cookies.  **+.

Update Review, February 2024

I know, I've said many times that the baked goods from Boudin are not good, and I dislike sourdough, so, uh, why do I go back?  Easy.  Freebies.  They keep giving me a free cookie, because they "miss me".  My perseverance has paid off though - I finally found one that isn't awful.

Royale.  $2.89.

"Macadamia nuts, fresh coconut, chocolate chips."

I actually went to Boudin when my account had a free "Treat" on it, which is different from free cookie, and was excited to try the strawberry cheese danish, the apple turnover, or the chocolate twist.  But, alas, it turns out, "treat" is just the same as "cookie", and I was only able to select a cookie.  Since I didn't like the chocolate chip, peanut butter, or white chocolate macadamia, even a tiny bit to get a free one, that left me with the snickerdoodle or royale, the former of which I rarely like even if they are well made, so, Royale it was.

The Royale was loaded up with shredded coconut, which gave it a texture sorta like an oatmeal cookie, but with coconut flavor instead.  I liked the crunch from the macadamias. The little chocolate chips gave a pop of chocolate goodness.  These things actually all combined together quite well, considerably better than the white chocolate macadamia or chocolate chip had fared on their own.

The base was still a fairly hard cookie, and it was clearly very sweet and processed, but, it kinda worked.  It was the kind of cookie that goes well dunked in a hot chocolate or coffee.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this, but it was the first Boudin cookie I was actually willing to finish.

***.

Pumpkin Swirl Cake. $2.99.

"Enjoy a slice of our pumpkin swirl cake- with seasonal flavors of pumpkin, ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, and clove."

I decided to mix it up and give a different kind of sweet treat a try, opting for a slice of loaf cake.  I was not interested in the regular offerings, chocolate marble or lemon, but couldn't resist the seasonal pumpkin slice.  I was feeling, um, pumpkin spice season in full effect.

It was ... well, a loaf cake.  Not exactly dessert in my mind (since no frosting), not exactly breakfast bread appropriate either (since it was a pound cake base after all).  It didn't taste particularly fresh, and, unlike the bread and cookies, I don't think it was baked there on site.  It did taste like pumpkin spice.  I'm not sure what the white swirl parts were.

I tried to like this several times, once even warming it up, but, it always just tasted kinda, well, not good?  Hard to pinpoint exactly what, mostly just not fresh tasting, even if it looked reasonable.  **+.

Original Review, February 2022

Did you know that a company has a trademark on sourdough bread in San Francisco?  Yup.

"San Francisco Sourdough™"

Officially, the property of Boudin Bakery.  Boudin Bakery *is* an institution in San Francisco, as it has been in business since 1849 and has earned the title of the "oldest continually operating business in San Francisco."  While I can't say that locals talk much about Boudin, their flagship store in tourist central Fisherman's Wharf is always remarkably busy, and you can't walk through SFO without seeing baguettes poking out of people's bags (which, yup, you can buy from multiple locations in the terminal, in case you didn't stock up in the city itself).  Apparently they have about 30 cafes in California, including at Disney.

Bread

Boudin is most known for the breads, specifically, the sourdough.  It is their thing.  Available in many shapes and sizes, ranging from 1/2, 1, or 1.5 pound classic sourdough rounds, to a slightly crustier long, to an even crustier baguette, and the biggest, the 2 pound oval.  They also make dinner rolls (yup, sourdough), sandwich bread (yup, sourdough), a seeds & grain loaf (I think not sourdough?), and cinnamon bread, along with a few specials from time to time.

Given that I dislike sourdough, Boudin's bread offerings are mostly lost to me, even though I'm a member of their rewards club, and thus get a free 1 pound (or less) loaf of my choice every month.  I have tried the classic round, the long, and the baguette, and, while I can appreciate the different crusts and the crumb structure inside, they taste like sourdough, and I really want nothing to do with them.  If you came here looking for a review of the sourdough, sorry, I'm not the girl for you.

Sourdough Turtle Bread.

"Only our most experienced bakers can create these wonderful Turtle breads."

Boudin always has different "critter" breads FOR DISPLAY ONLY, such as crabs, alligators, teddy bears, even SF cable cars, plus seasonal offerings like santa and christmas trees for Christmas.  Kid's soups come with cute little sourdough fish, but otherwise, these creatures are mostly for looks it seems.

But one day, they had little turtles actually for sale, so I got one, even though I knew it would be sourdough.  Ok, in full disclosure, I got it for a friend who I knew would both like sourdough AND find this to be cute.

It was indeed cute, and easy to pull off its arms, legs, and head to eat.  It had a nice crust to it, and otherwise was standard Boudin fluffy sourdough inside.  A fun item for me to give away, not something I want for myself though.

***.

Dutch Crunch Roll. $2.99.

"Classic chewy sandwich rolls, slightly sweet with a crunchy crackle crust."

One day when I visited, I asked about any non-sourdough options I could use my free loaf for.  I was told that literally the only option was a special they had that day, dutch crunch rolls.  I do love a good dutch crunch, very much an SF thing for me, so, I was pretty happy to have this option, even though not maximizing the value of my free loaf (since a single roll was much cheaper than a large 1lb loaf of sourdough).

Anyway, it was fine.  It had a great crackling crust, a nice chew to it.  Decent bread.  Not much flavor though.  Not the best dutch crunch out there, I prefer a better exterior, but, it was fine.

***.

Sweets & Treats

The part of the Boudin menu I am of course most often interested in is the sweet dessert offerings, although, to be honest, they never look that great.

Sad Cookies.

Boudin's lineup always includes some cookies and bars (raspberry, lemon, brownie), and sometimes some pastries like apple turnovers, banana bread, or croissants.  They never really look very good, and I wouldn't normally purchase them, except that from time to time Boudin throws a free cookie or treat reward on my account, and thus, I've tried a few.

Spoiler: they are as lackluster as they look.

White Chocolate Macadamia. $2.99.

"Say aloha in one bite."

Meh.

None of the cookies looked particularly good, but, I do like white chocolate and macadamia.  Sadly, yeah, this was not very good.

Kinda hard, not hard hard but not soft.  Sweet chunks of white chocolate, but just ... sweet. Meh.

A pretty normal sized cookie, not massive in any way, 390 cal.  Again, meh. 

**+.

Peanut Butter Cookie.  $2.99.

"Peanut heaven."

If at first you don't succeed ... 

Yup, I tried another cookie from Boudin, when I had a free one on my account (because they "missed me").

I ordered chocolate chip, but alas, they were out, so I went for my fallback, peanut butter, although again, none of the cookies looked particularly good.

And, yeah.  Meh.

Peanut butter cookies in general come in many forms, some soft, some with bits of nut in them, others with classic fork marks on them, etc.  Or, my favorite, peanut butter blossoms, with chocolate in the center.  All have different merits.

This cookie didn't have much going for it though.  It was a hard style cookie, I prefer soft.  It didn't taste freshly baked.  It didn't have bits of peanut in it, rather, it had peanut butter chips, you know, the waxy things containing very little actual nut product.  It tasted sorta peanut butter like, but, yeah, lackluster to say the least.

Perhaps if it was fresh, perhaps if soft, perhaps if warm it might be ok?  But, it gets a big "meh" in the form it was served in.

*+.

Chocolate Chip Cookie. $2.99.

"Semisweet chocolate goodness."

If at first you don't succeed ... try for a simple classic.  Chocolate chip.  Surely, they must be able to make a decent chocolate chip cookie?

Eh.

Much like the previous cookies, this wasn't quite hard, but it wasn't quite soft.  A very sweet cookie, in a way that tasted processed.  Chocolate chips were minimal.

No better, nor worse, than a packaged chocolate chip cookie, and definitely nothing fresh baked about it, and not worth $2.99.

**.

Food

The Boudin cafes have a fairly lengthy food menu, filled with salads & grain bowls (hmm, no bread here ...), sandwiches, grilled cheese, and burgers, and sourdough pizzas (at select locations), and ... their "world famous" chowder and other soups, general served in, yup, a sourdough bread bowl.  The chowder is so "famous" they also can it, and sell it in retail form.

Chowder ... with some additions. $4.95/can.

"Enjoy our world famous clam chowder in the comfort of your home. Just heat and serve. "

So yeah, their world famous (says who?) New England style clam chowder.  Why is this something Boudin clams fame for?  I really have no idea, and I think the only real unique part is the signature sourdough bread bowl they serve it in.

Anyway, it was May 2020, several months into the pandemic, when San Francisco was particularly dreary and blustery cold, and I needed cheering up.  I remembered I had a can of Boudin chowder in my pantry, and set about preparing a comforting meal for myself.

I grew up actually in New England, and, although my family didn't eat seafood (besides mom's canned tuna), we did often have oyster crackers, in my mind, a key element to any bowl of rustic style soup. My pantry also had a bag of authentic Legal Seafood oyster crackers, which I knew would go great with my chowder.  I also pulled out bacon bits, because, um, bacon makes everything better?  And poured a glass of red wine to enjoy while "cooking".

Instructions.

Preparation was easy, and I had to laugh that they included explicit instructions on how to serve in one of *their* bread bowls.

I tried the soup heated up on the stovetop, and ... it was ... ok.  There were a reasonable amount of clams, the potatoes weren't too mushy, but it needed some jazzing up (besides just the aforementioned bacon bits and oyster crackers).  **+.

Clam Chowder with basic additions.

I added carrots, mushrooms, and celery to give it a bit more heft and chunky bits, and it was fine.  I certainly wouldn't go out of my way for it though, and at $4.95 a can, it felt pricey for very unremarkable canned soup. ***.

Clam Chowder Stew.

I had a second can in my pantry, and this time, I knew it would need to be embellished.  I was really missing travel at this phase of the pandemic, and decided to do a mashup I dubbed "Singapore Meets SF".

As its base, it was the canned Boudin clam chowder simmered with carrots, mushrooms, celery, potatoes, kale, chard, basically turning it into a stew, rather than chowder.  I added a generous scoop of Singaporean chili sauce, and topped it with Indonesian Sambel Teri (dried anchovy, crispy shallots, crispy garlic, chilis, spices, etc), to create my mash-up.

This actually turned out *really* satisfying, comforting and spicy at the same time, full of textures and different components, and I literally licked my bowl clean.  If only it came this way!

****+, with my very extensive additions.

Read More...