Cape Cod Potato Chips

Update Review, 2025/2026

Whenever I visit the east coast I make sure to enjoy a bag or two of Cape Cod chips.  While they are ~everywhere around New England, I never ever see them in California.  Still such classics for me.

Original.

"Our Original chips are made with potatoes, oil, sea salt and the good vibes of the Cape."

These are the quintessential New England chip to me.  They are what should come with your lobster roll or what you get to dunk in your chowder.  They are super fried, they are crispy, they are thin, they are greasy, they are not good for you ... and they aren't trying to be anything else.  Classic well salted flavor.  In my childhood memories, they are best dipped in onion dip.  I rarely want a plain chip these days, but, these are good for that basic style. 3.5/5.

Sea Salt & Vinegar.

"Everyone loves the delicious combo of salty and sour that you get when you crunch into a sea salt & vinegar chip. That’s why we knew we had to create our very own version of it which has a bit more vinegar than what you'll find on a thinner chip to stand up to the robust potato flavor of our hearty chip."

I don't tend to love nor hate salt & vinegar chips.   They are fine, but, I'm more of a bbq girl. Still, since I love Cape Cod bbq chips so much, I wanted to give the salt & vinegar a chance.

The base chip is the classic thin crispy Cape Cod style that I really do like.  Certainly thinner than most.  I particularly like the pieces that are rolled over into themselves.  

The flavor was more tangy than salty, fairly average salt level, but nice tang.  Still not the flavor I'd pick given other options, but a nice salt & vinegar chip.  3.5/5.

Update Review, 2023

Since rediscovering Cape Cod chips a few years ago, every time I visit the East Coast now, I make it a point to have at least one bag of Cape Cod Chips.  They really are quite good.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We channeled our days grilling on the beaches of Cape Cod to craft a blend of tomatoes, onions and spices into a barbeque seasoning perfect for our chips."

When I think of a great bbq chip, these are essentially what I think of.  Super crispy.  Blistered.  Very clearly not a "light" style of chip.  True kettle chips.  Very zesty coating, deep mesquite flavor, tangy and smoky and sweet.

Maybe it is because I grew up with these, but, they really are a gold standard for me for a very good bbq chip.  4/5.

Original Review, 2020

Over the years, I've reviewed many snack foods, and many bags of chips, in particular.  By now, you probably realize that while I love taro chips, and other more exotic veggie chips, I pretty rarely get excited by plain old potato chips.  I see them as a vessel for dip, and little else.  Maybe sometimes I get drawn in by unique flavors in other countries, but besides that, chips? MEH!

But I recently re-discovered Cape Cod potato chips, and that all changed.

"We transform simple ingredients – hand-selected potatoes, oil and salt – into delicious, satisfying kettle cooked potato chips. Cape Cod Potato Chips are always made one batch at a time in our custom kettles to give them their distinctive crunch and unique flavor."

I remember Cape Cod chips from growing up in New England.  They were not the standard chip offering, usually we had Ruffles in our household, or Lays were common at sandwich shops or parties, but when we got to splurge for a fancy bag of chips at the convenience store, or perhaps at a friend's house, I remember getting Cape Cod chips, and being very happy with them.  They were always crispier, greasier, than others.

In my memories that is.  I didn't really trust my memories, but it turns out, this is one area where my memories lived up, basically, entirely matching accurate to my experience today.

Cape Cod chips are still based in Massachusetts, although they have expanded dramatically since when I knew them.  The classic chips come in different flavors.  They have reduced fat offerings.  Waffle cut or wavy style.  Um, "infused" chips.  Limited Edition flavors with partners like Samuel Adams Brewery.  But I can't tell you about any of those, as I had eyes only for the originals.

Classic Potato Chips

"Hand selected potatoes. Pure vegetable oil. Salt. How do you transform the simplest ingredients into such a satisfying kettle cooked chip? For us, it’s done one small batch at a time, using select potatoes, sliced thick and cooked at precisely the right temperature in custom kettles to a golden amber hue. No two chips are the same. Except that they all share a hearty potato flavor and that wonderful Cape Cod crunch."

The classic potato chips are what I always knew, and I didn't even know they came in multiple flavors (maybe they didn't before?).  But now they do, with flavors like Sweet & Spicy Jalepeno, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, plus more standards like Sea Salt & Vinegar and Sweet Mesquite Barbeque, among others.

But I went for the originals.

Original Chips.

These are no frills chips, they really are just potatoes and vegetable oil and salt.

But somehow ... they are just really damn good.  Is it the small batch cooking?  Is it the oil they use? The potatoes?  I have no idea.  But they are really good.

The crispy factor is sky high.  Perfectly crunchy and crisp.  Salt level is high, but not over the top. Most are folded over in unique ways, making eating a bag an adventure in "what shape will come up next?".

They are highly greasy, leaving your fingers coated instantly.  You know they aren't trying to be healthier.  The bags are smaller than other brands, and that is ok, because, well, they are heavy chips.

I don't know how to describe these beyond just ... perfect crispy chips?  I honestly am just happy with a bag of these, alongside a salad (or ideally, a lobster roll, right?).  They are awesome tucked into a sandwich, particularly a BLT.  Sometimes I think about making onion dip, or something else to dunk them in, but really, they don't need anything.  Just perfect as is.

I'll devour a bag any day.

4/5.

Less Fat

The Less Fat lineup comes in Original, Sea Salt & Vinegar, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, and Sweet Mesquite Barbecue, the later of which I immediately went for.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We may have tossed our 40% Less Fat Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips one more time in the kettle, but we seasoned them with the same delicious blend of spices so they taste just like our classic Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips. 40% less fat than the leading brand of potato chip."

I didn't intentionally seek out Less Fat chips, but my office had them, and they were still Cape Cod chips, and were still barbeque, which I was definitely going through a thing for, so I gladly grabbed a bag.  I wish I'd grabbed a second (2 bags is just ... 120% fat right?).

They were perfectly crispy, I loved the bent over pieces, and they were oily, but in the right way, not the gross way.   Form factor: A+, and I think I liked the lower fat version more than the classics, actually.

The barbeque flavor was good, I prefer a less sweet version (these had sugar and molasses), but the flavor was complex with tomato, onion, garlic, paprika, and more.

A very solid chip, one I'd gladly get again.

4/5.

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Tillamook Ice Cream

Update Review, 2021 - 2026

Several years passed since my run-in with the adorable baby loaf bus slinging free ice cream.  And during those years, Tillamook productionized their ice cream, and found widespread distribution channels (and offer frozen custards and ice cream sandwiches now too!)

It was time for me to try Tillamook again, this time, purchased from the local grocery store.  I first went online to learn about available flavors, and I grew quite excited.  Tillamook has a lot of flavors these days, including 3 (yes, three!) kinds of vanilla (old-fashioned, made with a blend of vanillas, vanilla bean with crushed vanilla bean seeds, and french vanilla, which uses a custard base).  But it wasn't the vanillas I sought out.  If I was feeling fruity, there were many many options, such as the interesting sounding peaches & cream, Oregon dark cherry, mountain huckleberry, white chocolate raspberry, and classic strawberry.  Speaking of classics, of course there is standard chocolate (or chocolate mudslide, udderly chocolate, or chocolate peanut butter), chocolate chip (or mint chocolate chip), cookies & cream, and rocky road.  And then there are spins on classics, like caramel butter pecan, oregon hazelnut and salted caramel, waffle cone swirl, and banana split (yes, with vanilla, strawberry, and banana ice creams, with walnuts, cherries, and fudge too!).  The list goes on and on.  Of particular interest to me was the "Monster Cookie" flavor - not because I like monster cookies in cookie form, but the flavor promised a cookie dough base, with salted peanut butter swirl, crispy oats, chocolate flakes, and sweet candies!  The marionberry pie flavor also called out, with hunks of pie crust within, along with the marionberries.

I wasn't able to find the more interesting flavors, alas, limited shelf space at downtown SF location, but I still was able to try a few flavors.

Vanilla Bean.

"Rich vanilla ice cream made with real crushed vanilla bean seeds."

Tillamook makes a bunch of different vanilla ice cream.  French vanilla.  Old fashioned vanilla. And this, vanilla bean.  From the ingredient list, they all use the old-fashioned vanilla as the base, as it has the fewest ingredients. That one is described as "Rich vanilla ice cream made with our special blend of the very best vanillas", and has a relatively short ingredient list: cream/skim milk/milk/sugar/egg yolks, then the vanilla extract, and a few gums (tara, guar).  Oh, and "Natural flavor" of course.  The vanilla bean has all of the above, plus vanilla bean.  French vanilla is where the ingredient list starts to get lengthy. Again, all of the base of old fashioned vanilla, no vanilla bean, and then more "stuff": citric acid, annatto (for color), and more gums (xanthan, locust bean).  Curious why those are needed to create this "silky smooth French custard ice cream"?  It is a big higher cal and fat as well, so I assume it has more egg yolk than the others.  Anyway.  3 vanillas, this was the most interesting sounding to me.

The vanilla bean specs were evident.  The color was very white, in a way that came across as quite pure.  It looked really quite appealing and high quality.  It also melted remarkably well, soo creamy and smooth.  The flavor was good, but not as intensely vanilla as I was hoping.  Häagen-Dazs® really is my benchmark for vanilla bean ice cream, and theirs has more vanilla going on.  

Overall, a good quality vanilla bean ice cream that I'd be happy to eat anytime, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it. 3.5/5.

Chocolate.

"Simply smooth, rich, chocolate ice cream."

Another simple flavor: chocolate.  This one looks to be the same base as the vanilla flavors, just with cocoa powder instead of vanilla extract.  

It too melted beautifully, and was quite creamy.  Excellent consistency. The flavor was fairly mild milk chocolate.  Chocolate ice cream is never my flavor of choice, so I found this a bit boring, but it was fine chocolate ice cream.  3/5.

Birthday Cake.

"Sweet cake batter ice cream with pieces of delicious yellow cake and rainbow sprinkles." 

I had high high hopes for this flavor, the first interesting one I purchased.  I had been craving cake in particular, so this sounded perfect (as I always pair my cake with ice cream).

My first bite and I was ... more than disappointed.  Almost ... repulsed.  It was cloying.  It tasted fake.  It tasted like packaged snack cakes, in a plastic way.  It was everything that gives "cake batter" flavored things an eye roll.   I was so sad.

But ... I kept trying.  Maybe the "delicious yellow cake" pieces would win me over?  So I dug for a few of them, finally figuring out that the strange bright yellow-orange tiny pieces must be the cake.  The color was unnatural, and they were barely bigger than the equally colorful sprinkles.  And, um, delicious yellow cake they were not, but I did almost sorta like the texture.

Speaking of the colorful sprinkles, I adore sprinkles, and appreciated the colorful pops, but, they didn't actually add anything to the taste of the ice cream.

So, sprinkles? Lost.  Cake?  Pretty much lost, slight texture.  But the real issue was the base flavor, the "cake batter", that was just fake-cloying-plastic.

Sadness.

2.5/5.

Update: But ... I had a half gallon of this ice cream, and I'm not really capable of letting ice cream go to waste, no matter how mediocre it seems to be.  While I never wanted to just dig into a scoop of this, I did find that it paired well with cake.  Warm cake (best with a funfetti cake, but any kind seemed to work) with a scoop of this, and some extra sprinkles, worked well enough.  3/5.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

"Cookie dough ice cream with delicious chocolaty bits and cookie dough bites."

Next I went for a classic crowd pleaser: cookie dough.  I hoped that the hunks of dough would be far better than the hunks of cake in the cake batter.

The base ice cream was good enough vanilla ice cream, nicely creamy.  Nothing revolutionary, but, good.  I appreciated how generously studded with mini chips it was, nearly every bite had several.  The bits of cookie dough were considerably fewer, and frequently took some digging to find a couple.  They were the small square type that you find at self-serve froyo places as a generic cookie dough topping, just slightly bigger.  They didn't taste particularly better than those, but weren't bad.  Basically, fine, but not noteworthy in any way.

So, good quality base ice cream, good amount of nice quality little chips, average cookie dough.  3.5/5, a gallon I easily finished, but wouldn't buy again.

Original Review, 2016

About year or two ago, I became aware of the Tillamook brand due to their catchy "baby loaf bus" commercials, and the ensuing drama when someone stole a bunch of them (yes, for real ... go read about it).  But, I thought they just made cheese.  I like cheese, don't get me wrong, but, cheese is cheese (unless it is Brillat-Savarin of course, swoon), and not something I get THAT excited about.

But, it turns out Tillamook makes more than just cheese.  They also make yogurt, sour cream, butter, and ... ice cream.  Now we are talking.  They've even made it since 1947.  They sell standard cartons of ice cream at the supermarket (1.75 qt size), plus "Tillamookies" (ice cream sandwiches with wafer cookies like waffle cones as the cookies), and "Tillabars" (chocolate coated ice cream bars on sticks).

But this isn't a story about any of those products.  In February 2016, they are launching a new product line of ultra premium ice cream, gelato, and custard, available in pint sizes too.  And, to promote their new products, they sent out ... the baby loaf bus!

Baby Loaf Bus!

I was walking past The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, when I spied ... yes, a baby loaf bus parked out front.

It was a cold, almost rainy day, and totally not ice cream weather, but, that didn't stop me.  Luckily for me, it seemed to stop everyone else, and there was literally no line.  No line, and free ice cream?  WHAT?!

On offer were four of the soon-to-be-released flavors:

• Dark Chocolate Gelato
• Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cream
• Oregon Hazelnut Chocolate Gelato
• Marionberry Cheesecake Custard

Marionberry Cheesecake Custard,  Oregon Hazelnut Chocolate Gelato. 2016

I stepped right up and ordered the one that sounded most interesting to me, the Marionberry Cheesecake Custard.  After dishing out a full scoop, not just a tiny sample as I expected, the friendly Tillamook staff member said, "and what else?"  I was shocked, not only were they giving me a full scoop, they wanted to know what other flavors I wanted?  I hesitated a moment, knowing it was late in the day so I didn't want caffeine, so I ruled out the obviously caffeinated coffee flavor and the dark chocolate, and settled on the hazelnut chocolate gelato.  The server asked if I wanted any others, and I said no at this point, quite happy with my two scoops.  Amusingly, the guy who strode up to line after me, did opt to get a scoop of all 4 flavors!

Marrionberry Cheesecake Custard
"Sweet mascarpone frozen custard swirled with an Oregon marionberry ripple and pieces of graham cracker crust."

I started with the Marrionberry Cheesecake Custard.  It had lovely swirls of marionberry jam, and bits of graham cracker crumble.  I didn't really taste cheesecake, but the texture was very smooth in the base custard, it melted perfectly, and I liked the bits of crust for crunch and the fruity swirls.  The distribution of ingredients was great.  I wasn't in love with the flavor though. 3/5.

Hazelnut Chocolate.
"Creamy hazelnut gelato and thick chocolate fudge, topped with morsels of roasted Oregon hazelnuts."

I moved on to my second choice, the hazelnut chocolate.  I ended up loving this one, which is interesting, as I don't actually really care much for hazelnut.  The base of the gelato was again great, a rich, creamy texture, that melted really nicely.  It was loaded with quite a lot of hazelnut.  The pieces of nut were the perfect size too, adding plenty of texture and crunch, without being too big and hard to eat.  The real winning element for me however was the chocolate fudge swirl.  Just like the marionberry jam swirl, it was a generous swirl, this time of rich chocolate.  I loved it. 4/5.

I really enjoyed both flavors, and the care that went into crafting the ingredient mix was obvious.  Each bite left you wanting more, another bite with crunch, another bite with a fruit or jam swirl.  Maybe, just maybe, I really could have tried all 4!

California Pistachio Farmhouse Gelato. June 2016.

"Creamy, nutty, and truly indulgent pistachio gelato with the perfect hint of sea salt."

And ... the baby loaf bus came back!  A few months later, during the actual summer.  It was perfect ice cream weather, and I was thrilled to see the bus.

They had three choices this time, the same Stumptown coffee and Marionberry cheesecake as before, but this time, no hazelnut chocolate (darn!  That is what I wanted again!), so, I went for the pistachio, made with California pistachios.

It was perfectly melty, and had a slight pistachio taste, but, there was something about it I didn't care for.  I'm really not sure what it was, but it had a bit of a funk to it.  Still, very creamy, nicely made gelato, just, not in a flavor I wanted. 3/5.

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Harborview Restaurant

Harborview opened near the Embarcadero in San Francisco in 2018, and got a lot of attention quickly, as it is an extremely large establishment (20,000 sq ft over several floors), offers fairly upscale Cantonese cuisine, and was founded by the person behind famed R&G Lounge.  It seems to be doing well, as it is still open now, 6 years later, and some of those years were the rough pandemic lockdown ones.

"We proudly serve Cantonese Chinese Cuisine in a sophisticated yet unpretentious setting with a stunning view of San Francisco Bay."

They offer a variety of private event spaces, multiple styles of dining, a large bar area, an outside patio, a takeout only area, and catering.  Open every day but Monday for both lunch/brunch and dinner.  Like I said, it is a big operation.  I've considered it for large group dinners on several occasions, but the price point was always outside our allowed range.

Visit #1: Takeout Dessert

After eyeing Harborview for so long, my first visit was finally inspired by a new menu item: Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust. These are basically a dessert version of their signature bbq pork buns, same crunchy sugar crust, just, different filling. I know people love the bbq pork buns, but I've shied away, only because I had the very famous ones from Tim Ho Wan in Singapore and ... I wasn't really into them (too sweet!). But taking a sweet bun the dessert route sounded good to me.

Packaging.

My order needed to be made to order, so it took 20 mins.  This was no problem, I went to Farmer's Market over at the Ferry Building (4 min walk away), my already planned next stop.  Got what I needed quickly, and was back in less than 20 minutes.  Perfect really.

I returned just in time for them to be finished, literally, can't get fresher than this.  They came packaged up in a standard take out box.

Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust / 雪山咖啡包 (3 pcs) $8.

"Baked buns with a special coffee lava filling, topped with our signature crunchy sugar crust!"

My box itself even was piping hot, and I was overjoyed.  I walked right up to the 3rd floor rooftop patio above Embarcadero Center, found the space entirely empty, with plentiful seating, sunshine, and flowers.  I opened up my box, and was met with further joy.

Yes, these were indeed hot and fresh, and yes, they were so good.  The order size is normally 2, but for some reason, I got 3.  I am *not* complaining.  Great value for $8.

Baked Coffee Lava Bun: Sugar Coating!

The top of the buns sugar coated, and I expected it to be crispy, e.g. "signature crunchy sugar crust", more like a pineapple bun, or at least like the crispy top of the bbq bun I had from Tim Ho Wan, but it wasn't really.

Not quite what I thought it would be, but still quite good.  Plenty of sugar, but it was more like a freshly made sugar donut, rather than a crispy bun.

The bun itself was lovely - soft, sweet, fluffy.    Much lighter than those from Tim Ho Wan.

Overall, the bun delivered: warm, soft, and sweet.  It really reminded me of a freshly made very good donut, just a touch crispier, and obviously baked.  It would be good just as a sugar bun, to be honest.  But of course, this had a filling. 4/5 for the bun alone though.

Baked Coffee Lava Bun: Coffee Lava Filling.

The filling inside was "coffee lava" - basically, a coffee cream filling.  It didn't exactly come flowing out like lava, but, it was warm, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, creamy, and quite tasty.  The coffee flavor was certainly there, but not that strong.  Coffee lovers might be a bit disappointed, but I thought the coffee level was nice.

I think I'd prefer a regular custard cream filling (or, sesame or ube ...), or a thicker cream, but this was quite enjoyable, and I'd gladly have more.  4/5 overall.

Visit #2: Takeout leftovers

My next "visit" was entirely unintentional, when some co-workers visited in person for a team lunch, and brought back their extra food to share.  Of course, I was happy to try a few things, even though obviously not hot and fresh (I heated items up myself at home, later).

Chilled Jellyfish. $11.

The jellyfish is a chilled plate, and one that looked a bit like perhaps some kind of pickled or fermented vegetable.  But, nope, that's jellyfish!  I haven't had much jellyfish in my life, but I have such found memories of the last jellyfish I had at Mumu in Sydney, in a dish I totally adored.  Bring on the jellyfish!  Here it was in its simplicity, I believe marinated a bit?

It was very interesting, and not bad at all.  Nicely ... crunchy?  Juicy.  Refreshing.  Not fishy in any way, in fact, you could definitely easily convince someone this was not seafood.  I enjoyed it. 3.5/5.

Pan-Fried Turnip Cake. $7/3.

I only took a small hunk of one of these as I wasn't expecting to like it all that much.  

It really was quite good, super crispy outside, good size little chunks within, strong flavors, well seasoned.  Sooo much better than the version from Yank Sing. 3.5/5.

Vegetarian Bean Curd Rolls. $9/3.

I really enjoyed the bean curd rolls.  Granted, I adore yuba and had not had it in ages, so that was definitely the main appeal for me.  The wrapper was delicate, lightly creamy (I know that sounds strange, and yes, it is a soft sheet, but it tasted, well, fresh and creamy if that makes *any* sense), and tasted very fresh.  They were well rolled, the wrappers without punctures, and they didn't fall apart too easily.

Inside was a mixed chopped vegetable filling, I'm not entirely sure what everything was, but there were bits of mushroom and many other things, all chopped up very small.  Good mix of textures and flavors.  These are also available with a shrimp filling.

I enjoyed them with a little soy sauce and chili crunch on them, warm and fresh like this, and later, with some leftovers I grilled them on my panini press, which also worked really well - as much as I liked the soft, pliable, fresh yuba, the crispy version was pretty fun too.

I'd love to get these again.  4/5.

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Grand Opening Bakery

Melissa Chou is a relatively well known name in the pastry scene in SF.  She was the pastry chef at Mister Jiu's, Aziza, and Mourad, she's been nominated for James Beard awards, and won many local accolades as well.  

She ventured out on her own in 2019 doing monthly popups, and then even started doing popups every weekend at Mister Jiu's even after she had left. But now she has her own place in Oakland, named, sorta confusingly, Grand Opening.  She offers a few cakes, pies, and pastries, but also does special orders.

I attended an event where I got to try a slew of amazing creations: three different cakes and one pie.  I'd love to try many, many more.

Mandarine Lychee Burnt Vanilla.

"Sponge cake, with whipped vanilla and custard, lychee gelee, fresh mandarin."

The cakes we had were all large format rectangular layer cakes, decorated simply but tastefully with flower petals (different ones for each).  All used sponge cake, and incorporated different flavors into their fillings and frosting.

I started with the mandarine lychee burnt vanilla cake.  This was the most simple of all the cakes.

Mandarine Lychee Burnt Vanilla: Layers.

It was definitely a cake that lost all integrity once sliced, but, who really cares?  It had layers of custard and whipped cream, studded minimally with lychee gelee and mandarin.  I expected the mandarine or lychee to be more prevalent, in either the cream or custard, or even just with more fruit within.  I was a bit disappointed by the low amount of fruit, as it was rather plain otherwise.

The vanilla sponge was quite light and airy, more like a chiffon almost, the whipped cream was just lightly sweetened so definitely not too sweet, and the custard was thick and rich, but these were all very basic, simple, classic, "vanilla" flavors, so this didn't really have much to make it pop.  Just doubling the fruit elements in here would have taken it far (I settled for adding fresh kiwi and blackberries as I had them on hand).

I can't fault any technique in this, and the elements were all good, but, I wanted something less basic.  3/5.

Strawberry Jasmine.

"Sponge cake, strawberry mousse, fresh strawberry, vanilla custard, whipped jasmine."

I moved on to another simple but elegant cake, the strawberry jasmine.  This one incorporated jasmine into the whipped topping, rather than the simple vanilla in the previous cake.  It was extremely subtle though, I can't say I really noticed it.

Strawberry Jasmine: layers.

It had the same custard and plain sponge, and much like the previous it had minimal fruit, so I again kept wanting there to be more pieces of strawberry.  It did also had a strawberry mousse layer, which definitely amped up the fruit flavor, but still I found myself wishing for a bit more.  Another cake that was well executed, and fine, but didn't excite me as much as I wanted it to. 3/5.

Melissa also makes a strawberry jasmine *choux* cake with the same layers, but an additional streusel topped choux that looks really interesting.  I think the choux would add a fun textural crunch that the cake otherwise lacks.  

Banana Coffee Hazelnut Crunch Cake.

"Banana custard, whipped coffee, hazelnut crunch."

"Whipped coffee cream, banana custard, hazelnut nougatine, sponge."

And finally, the banana coffee hazelnut crunch cake (which I think is also on their menu also as "Banana Milk Coffee Crunch Cake"?).  This one definitely had the most going on, with a flavored cream frosting (coffee), flavored custard (banana), and nougatine for crunch.  It was hands down the most flavorful and my favorite as well, which surprised me, as the flavors seemed more mainstream and boring but just turned out to really deliver.

The whipped cream had strong coffee flavor, definitely for coffee lovers, stronger than most tiramisu for example.  I loved the crunch from the hazelnut nougatine, which was also delightfully sweet.  And the banana cream was everything you want banana cream pie filling to be, thick, rich, banana forward.  And of course, the basic sponge.  I kinda wanted this to be a pie or parfait or something instead of a cake, just, lose the cake layer and give me more banana custard + coffee whipped cream + nougatine, but it was still really quite good.  My favorite.  4/5.

Burnt Honey Pie. $120.

"Beeswax cream, pollen."

And finally, the burnt honey pie.  This is her signature items, one that in 2024 the The New York Times put on their "best dishes in the US" list.  I was excited to try this unique offering, although it didn't look particularly interesting, "just a tart" is kinda how it looked.  It was sprinkled with bee pollen.

She makes this in cake form too but the pie/tart is definitely the one that has won accolades, and the one I was more interested in, so I'm glad our hosts picked it.

Burnt Honey Pie: Close up.

Cutting into it revealed the structure: tart crust, custard filling, whipped topping (which, actually is beeswax cream). 

The crust is pasta frolla, the Italian version of sweet shortcrust pastry, that I never knew by name before.  It was crisp, moderately flaky, held its structure well, and stood up nicely against the pie.  The filling was the main attraction, a custard that at first reminded me a bit of chess pie, crack pie, or nutless pecan pie, but just had sooo much more depth and complexity than any other similar pie.  It was honey, but ... caramelized almost, and in custard form.  It was definitely sweet, which I had read in reviews, person after person saying how sweet it was, how just a sliver was needed, and with my first bite I didn't think it was nearly as sweet as I was expecting, but after a few bites it really crept up and even I, someone with a incredible sweet tooth who was raised on cloying sweet Karo syrup pecan pie, found this to be quite a lot.  It wasn't a one-note cloying sweet, but, sweet it was.  After all, this *is* a honey pie.

The topping was also sweetened and had honey notes.  It did add even more complexity, and complimented the rest well, but it was more sweet on top of sweet, and I almost wondered if something like a slightly tangy sweetened crème fraîche may have worked better?  Or maybe that would be too much contrast?

Overall, this was unique and enjoyable, but you certainly have to like honey.  I did add fresh blackberries to mine to balance it out a bit, and I did find myself not going back for seconds, not because I was stuffed necessarily, but because I just didn't want more sweetness.  My second favorite of the items I tried.  4/5.

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Crown Snacks

Crown is a Korean confectionery/snack foods brand that has been around since 1947.  They make a variety of candies (mychew is their line similar to hi-chew), savory crackers/biscuits, sweet biscuits/cookies, and crunchy snacks.  As a snack food lover, I was immediately drawn in to their crunchy snack line.

Corn Cho.

"CROWN CORN CHO Corn Puff-Chocolate Flavor is a corn puff snack. The corn puff snack is crunchy yet melts in your mouth. The slight savoriness is complemented with the sweetness of chocolate drizzle that each corn puff is dipped in."

"It is a corn snack that is crispy and melts in the mouth. It has a rich chocolate coating on the surface, so you can feel the sweetness in your mouth."

I wanted to love these more than I did.  The form factor was perfect: super crunchy, light, airy.  So munchable.  But the base was very very bland, just corn flour and rice flour.  I think the problem is that I wanted them to be more like peanut bamba, as they look just like them, but lack the flavor of the peanut coating.  So, base: form factor 4.5/5 and one of my favorite kinds of snacks, but 3/5 bland flavor.

The chocolate coating was fine, fairly deep chocolate, and good quality.  Every piece uniformly coated.  But again, I wanted the peanut butter element alongside it.

I still easily downed this bag, but the entire time, I wanted them to be just something a bit more.  3/5.

Crown also makes these in a cheese flavor, again with a coated side.  I'd like to try those sometime.

Chamssal Seon Gwa.

"Experience the crispy and airy texture of Crown Chamssal Seon Gwa (참쌀선과), a delicious Korean rice snack made from premium glutinous rice and lightly coated with a sweet glaze."

"Perfectly balanced sweetness with a light, crispy texture makes it an ideal treat for any time of the day."

Very simple, but delicious.  Each package contained two oval shaped rice crackers.  They were super crispy, and slightly sweet with a underlying savory quality too (I think they had soy sauce?). Very enjoyable snack. 4/5.

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Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream

Update Review 2026

I've been lukewarm on Humphry Slocombe at certain times in the past, but as I got ready to leave SF to move across the country, I gave it one last try, and was quite pleased with my favor choice.

Vietnamese Coffee.

"Traditional Vietnamese coffee with chicory, sweetened condensed milk and Giant Steps Blue Bottle Coffee. "

It had been many, many years since I last had this flavor.  I remember thinking it was good but not exceptional before.  I really, really liked it this time.

The base ice cream quality was high, no ice crystals, smooth consistent texture, melted nicely.  The flavor was intensely coffee, but balanced by plenty of cream, and sweet in an almost caramelized way.  I tasted salt too, a la salted caramel, that I don't remember from previous times.  The flavor just really popped, and I'd gladly get it again.  4/5.

Update 2021 - 2022

It has been a while since Humphrey Slocombe invaded the SF ice cream scene with notable flavors like their boozy Secret Breakfast.   Many years since my completely memorable, but very embarrassing, total wipeout on their floor (yup, that happened).   For the most part, I’ve always found the place fairly overrated, but an update review was in order. 

The good news? I found some flavors I really, really grew to enjoy.

Honey Graham.

"Raw blackberry honey ice cream with delicious housemade graham crackers folded in."

This was my first time having Honey Graham, although I've had the very similar Harvey Milk & Honey Graham several times before (a special made for SF Pride, with a milk flavored base, honey, and graham crackers, named after, obviously, Harvey Milk).

I hadn't ever really cared for Harvey Milk & Honey Graham before, finding the honey far too sweet and cloying, so I wouldn't have actively ordered this flavor, nor sought it out, but when it was provided at an event I was at ... of course I had to try it right?  Just to, uh, compare?

At first, I only found it ... ok.  The honey wasn't quite as sweet and dominating as I remembered, but, it was still a very honey forward ice cream, and you need to be in the mood for honey.  It wouldn't pair with everything.  I like honey, don't get me wrong, but it has its place: in my greek yogurt, granola, and fruit parfaits?  Sure.  In baklava?  Obviously.  But really wanting the taste of honey, in my ice cream, isn't something I generally lean towards.  The honey is an interesting sweetness though, more interesting in many ways than standard vanilla or sweet cream.

The bits of graham cracker I had mixed feelings on too.  I liked the variety of sizes, big bits that called out "dig for me!" and little flecks, but, like happens with my flavors of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, I found the actually texture of the graham bits not entirely appealing, a bit gritty, a bit mushy.  But they were just big enough for that to be less of an issue than in other flavors, and I liked having *something* in there to dig for.

So overall, better than I remembered, but, this really isn't a flavor I'd ever going to be inclined to order myself.

3/5.

Update: But ... it grew on me, until I found myself actually craving it.  Regularly.  The sweetness, when you want it, is just ... perfect?

4/5.

Salted Caramel Cocoa Nib.

"Salted Caramel ice cream with toasted cocoa nibs. Crunchy, sweet, and salty. Everyone wins."

I ended up loving this flavor.  I enjoyed it so much more than I ever expected.

Sure, I love cocoa nibs.  I like crunchy things.  I like salty + sweet combos.  But ... I had never been all that impressed with Humphry Slocombe before, and, well, salted caramel just so often is "on trend", but way too sweet, and not actually tasty.

This however was marvelous.

It *was* sweet, very sweet, don't get me wrong, but the caramel had an extremely deep, complex flavor.  I loved the flavor of this base ice cream, and the quality was high - very rich and creamy, it melted perfectly.  I didn't really detect the "salted" nature though.  And the nibs?  They complimented it expertly - of course I loved the crunch, but they also provided a bitterness to offset the sweet caramel.

A beautiful flavor, strangely addicting, shockingly complex.

I'd get it again.  4/5.

Secret Breakfast.

"Bourbon ice cream with cornflake cookies folded in. Your secret (breakfast) is safe with us."

Secret Breakfast was one of Humphry Slocombe's breakout flavors, a signature item, back when things like cornflakes in ice cream were less commonplace (yeah, imagine the world, before things like "cereal milk").  And bourbon in ice cream? Definitely long before that was a "thing". 

I've reviewed it before, both in my original review and in an update in 2014.  It turns out, my opinion 7 years later is still entirely unchanged: I like the boozy base, and yes, you can taste the bourbon, but, the soggy, gritty cornflakes don't do it for me.

2.5/5.

Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee.

"Our version of a traditional Vietnamese coffee – a complex blend of Blue Bottle organic coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and chicory."

Coffee ice cream is rarely my goto, because I try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon/evening, which is when my prime ice cream consumption is.  That said, there are some coffee based ice creams I just adore (like Mitchell's Mocha Fudge, which is just incredible), and I love the fact that Humphry Slocombe did a collaboration with Blue Bottle, the coffee shop that really drew me in deep when I first moved to SF (a combination of incredible baristas at the location near me, ritual of visiting with a good friend before the farmer's market, and discovery of single origin beans from Ethiopia).

This was ... well, coffee ice cream.  Strong coffee flavor, but sweet, it really did mirror a Vietnamese coffee, rather than regular black coffee, with the addition of sweetened condensed milk.  It was reasonably creamy.

I didn't find this particularly more notable than any other coffee ice cream, but I did love pairing it with warm chocolate cake, and easily finished my pint.

3.5/5.

Caramel Pretzel Swirl. Single. $4.95.

"Chocolate covered pretzels and caramel in tahitian vanilla ice cream."

One day I stopped by the scoop shop in the Ferry Building, eager to get ice cream. I was excited to see what flavors they'd have. And ... sadly, I was kinda let down. They had all their classics (Secret Breakfast, Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee, Malted Milk Chocolate, Vanilla ...), a vegan choice, and only 3 others: a fascinating sounding olive oil and rhubarb flavor, this caramel pretzel swirl, and one other I'd had before. The olive oil one really was tempting, but per covid restrictions they couldn't offer samples, and I was not willing to take that "risk" on a full scoop. So, I selected this flavor kinda out of not wanting anything else, not because I had high hopes.

I love salty pretzels and sweet pairings, and I like caramel and chocolate, but, pretzel (or waffle cone, corn flakes, etc) usually disappoint me inside ice cream - so often they get soggy.  I hoped the chocolate coating would help mitigate this.

To Humphrey Slocombe's credit, the pretzels were not soggy.  However, I rather hated this favor.  It tasted ... stale.  Really, really stale.  Which is a very odd flavor when it comes to ice cream!  Even the base flavor just tasted off, not like vanilla.

The cone was a basic sugar cone, and I wasn't really into it either.  Not sure why exactly, it wasn't stale, but it also just wasn't very good.  I'm more of a cake cone, or waffle cone if I really wanna go for it, girl.

1/5.

Update 2017

Humphry Slocombe hasn't ever been my top ice cream choice, but, when I had a chance to try an exclusive new flavor, of course I took the opportunity.

The flavor, Hong Kong Milk Tea, is a collaboration between Top Chef Finalist Melissa King, Whole Foods, and obviously, Humphry Slocombe.  It is available only at Whole Foods, only in NorCal.

The inspiration for the flavor was the traditional milk tea Chef King grew up drinking every morning, mixed with cookies (for some texture, but also, tea and cookies is just far more fun than tea alone!).  It is made with local Numi black tea (Breakfast Blend) and condensed milk as the base, with the aforementioned cookies (almond cookies, made in house at Humphry Slocombe) mixed in.

Hong Kong Milk Tea.

Well, yup, it tastes like milk tea.  The black tea flavor was obvious, although not quite as intense as drinking a real strong milk tea.  It was sweet and creamy, just like, well, milk tea.

The almond cookie surprised me.  I knew it was in there, but I expected either chunks of cookie (a la classic cookies and cream) or swirls of cookie (like the cookie swirls Ben & Jerry's incorporates), rather than just integrated cookie crumble.  There were certainly no chunks, and nothing you could pick out as "oh, that was a cookie", but rather, it just added a texture and slight crispiness to most bites.  Really fascinating, actually.

Overall, I enjoyed it.  Good flavor, nice balance of sweetness, a bit of texture.  I tend to go for more texture and creamier ice cream, but, this was good.

Oh, and, uh, it was caffeinated, which I expected given the black tea base, but was far more caffeinated than I was anticipating.  Or maybe I just had way more than I realized (this was my first scoop, above)?  I was buzzing off the walls soon after, and the zing lasted with me for a few hours.  Uh, oops?

Update 2014

Over the past few years, I've tried out a number of flavors of ice cream from Humphry Slocombe, both at their first ice cream shop in the Mission, and more recently, at their new location in the Ferry Building.

As you can see below, I wasn't impressed with Humphry Slocombe in the past.  I'm not sure if their ice cream has changed, or if I have, but I have now found some flavors that I really do like, thus, an update is in order.  I'm glad I gave them another try!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Single Scoop, $4.

This is the first flavor that I have really, really liked.  The ice cream was creamy and melted perfectly.  The base flavor was peanut buttery, strong enough to taste, but not overwhelming.  The chocolate was tiny flecks rather than chips, plentifully distributed throughout.  It tasted like a peanut butter cup, just as ice cream, and so much better.  When I was younger, I used to always get Flurries or whatever they were called at my ice cream shop of choice, and always went for vanilla mixed with peanut butter cups.  It reminded me of those, except, soooo much better.  I'd definitely get this again.

Update: I got a pint of this.  The texture never seemed quite right.  It was too hard at first, and even as it melted, it never got very creamy.  It seemed to just go from hard to soft, with no nice phase in-between.  The peanut butter flavor wasn't strong enough.  Meh.

Secret Breakfast, Single Scoop, $4.

It had been a few years since I tried Hupmhry Slocombe's signature flavor: Secret Breakfast, aka, bourbon with cornflakes.

The flavor of the base ice cream was good, boozy, but sweet.  But the texture of the ice cream was grainy, starting right when I got it.  Even as it melted, it just never got creamy.  I almost think something had gone wrong with this batch, or perhaps it had gotten heat exposed accidentally?  The cornflakes, while cute, were soggy.

Overall, there are things to like about this, but the bad texture of the ice cream and the soggy cornflakes put it into gimmick territory for me.

Update: I also got a pint of this.  I knew I hadn't really liked it before, but I also knew it is their signature flavor, so I had to give it another try.  The base was again very boozy.  There is no doubt in your mind that this contains alcohol.  But, the cornflakes were again soggy and just kinda nasty to me.  The only thing I liked about this flavor is how soft it was, and how nicely it melted.  I think the high alcohol content helps make it meltier.

Harvey Milk & Honey Graham, Single. $4.

This flavor was originally made in honor of Harvey Milk day, but it turned into such a hit, that they added it to the regular line up.

The base is "milk" flavored ice cream, aka, plain, not "vanilla".  It has homemade graham crackers throughout, and is infused with blackberry honey.

The base was creamy, it melted really nicely.  It further convinced me that something just went strange with the batch of Secret Breakfast I had a few days prior.  This was the consistency of high quality ice cream.  I love mix-ins, so appreciated that the graham crackers added a ton of crunch, and I was fond of how many there were, and the size of the bits.  But this ice cream was all about the honey.  In a serious way.  The honey was too strong for me.  So sweet.  The graham cracker helped balance it out a bit, but it wasn't nearly sufficient.  I wouldn't get this flavor again.

Update: And I got a pint of this.  Wow, so sweet.  So very, very sweet.  Just completely in your face with the honey, which is a nicer sweetness than generic sweet, but wow, just too much.  I did however love the graham crackers in it.  There were tons of chunks, they were all varied sizes, some just little bits, others huge ones worth digging for.  I polished off this point in record time, even though I was dying from sweet overload, just because I was having too much fun going for the chunks.  If the sweetness was just toned down a little bit, this has potential.

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• Bananas for Beach Blanket Babylon: This is a limited edition flavor to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Beach Blanket Babylon.  I'm not familiar with Beach Blanket Babylon, but of course I wanted to try something special.  I was told it was a roasted banana and apple ice cream with frosted peanuts, a bit of a strange combination, but apparently this is directly tied to Beach Blanket Babylon characters.  Anyway, the banana flavor was very strong in this, too strong for my taste, so I'm glad I just asked for a sample before committing to a scoop.  I didn't want more of it, but the frosted peanuts sounded really good.
• Cinnamon Brittle: The cinnamon flavor was strong, but the dominant flavor was ... cayenne!  It had some serious heat to it.  I liked the crunchy brittle, but it was a bit too spicy for me, or maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it.
• Jam + Toast: now this was strange.  Like Secret Breakfast, another "breakfast" themed flavor, aka, one you can feel totally eat guilt free for breakfast.  Or at least that is how I prefer to think of it.  The jam I think was blueberry.  And, there were indeed tiny bits of … well, bread inside, for the "toast" component.  I almost liked this, but, the resulting texture was just a bit too weird.   It was like breadcrumbs in my ice cream, so no longer smooth and creamy.  But flavorwise, very interesting.
• Oolong + Fortune Cookie: this had a lovely oolong flavor, very subtle and delicate.  But the fortune cookies were in huge chunks and soggy.  Interesting concept, but the mix-ins ruined this one.

Prior Review, Published 4/19/12

I know people love this place.  I know they use Straus Organic Dairy for their ice cream base, source organic, local ingredients whenever they can, etc, etc.  They also make crazy flavors (ZOMG!  Bourbon and corn flakes!)  But honestly, there ice cream has never really impressed me.  The flavors just aren't that great, and the consistency is just that of generic, grocery store, standard ice cream.  Throw in the price tag associated with artisanal ice cream and ... I just don't get it.

These are my tasting notes compiled from the past year or so.  Multiple tastings are denoted inside brackets.

• Bittersweet Chocolate: Same as salted chocolate but without salt, not as interesting, but nice and creamy.
• Black Sesame: Good sesame flavor, enjoyable.
• Blue Bottle Vietnamese Coffee: Nice coffee flavor.  [ Decent coffee flavor] [ Really strong bitter coffee flavor, not sweet, I like it ]
• Brown Butter:  Just sorta sweet, not very distinguishable flavor. [ Pretty flavorless, but nice and creamy. ]
• Candied Ginger: Had nice big chunks of candied ginger in it. Very refreshing. [ Nice ginger, refreshing ]
• Chocolate Peanut Butter: Nicely loaded up with peanut butter, not bad.
• Cinnamon Brittle: Sweet cinnamon ice cream with big chunks brittle, very pronounced cinnamon flavor. [ Not all that much cinnamon flavor, not creamy ] [Nice cinnamon flavor in ice cream, enjoy the crunch from the brittle. ]
• Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip: Not any cream cheese flavor at all. Very disappointing.
• Crème fraîche: Definitely tasted like crème fraîche, would pair well with certain desserts.
• Dulce de Leche; Sweet and creamy.  My favorite of any I've tasted.
• Elvis (the Fat Years): Banana ice cream with bacon peanut brittle.  Ice cream base didn't have much banana flavor at all.  The bacon peanut brittle was salty and nice, gave a great crunch, and was intense bacon flavor.
• Harvey Milk and Honey: Has little chunks of honey graham crackers in it.  Not very creamy, chunks not very significant, kinda just sweet ice cream.
• Honey Thyme: I didn’t taste the thyme at all. Sorta sweet from honey. Not very creamy.
• Malted Milk Chocolate: Just chocolate, don’t get malt flavor at all.
• Malted Dulche De Leche: Sweet, didn’t really get the malted part, nice and creamy, didn’t really like.
• McEvoy Olive Oil:  No real olive oil flavor at all.
• Mexican Chocolate: Sorty spicy but not much spice detected, not very interesting.
• Peanut Butter Curry: Peanut buttery curry ice cream with peanut butter curry cookie pieces.  These flavors didn’t work for me, this was super strange!
• Rum Raisin: Very boozy, do not like [ nice and boozy, plump raisins, good consistency. ]
• Salted Chocolate: Nice chocolate ice cream but overrated [ really excellent salty flavor ] [ insanely salty, too much ]
• Secret Breakfast: Bouron flavor nice [ nice boozy flavor ] [ meh, just boozy ] [ boozy, decent ] [ no flavor, no booze, nothing ] [ Boozy, creamy, not bad ] [ Not very boozy, but nicely creamy ]

Non-Ice Cream

• Peanut Bacon Brittle: Ok, decent amount of peanuts, but not much bacon detected. [ not very good ]

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Nongshim Snacks

Snacks, snacks, snacks.  I kinda love snacks.  I'm an avid snacker, all day, every day.  Sweet, salty, savory, spicy, yes, yes, yes.  All the snacks.  Generally, the crunchier the better.

I also love travel, and adore trying snacks from all over the world.  I'm the kind of tourist who brings an extra suitcase to load up on items abroad - no, not souvenirs for family, nothing like that, I'm there going to the convenience stores and grocery stores, and stocking up on all the fun looking snacks.  Rather than go to a museum or lay on the beach, I'm the tourist wandering the aisles of the corner store, with Google translate open on my phone as needed, to discover all the novel-to-me items.

Which brings me to Nongshim, a South Korean snack food manufacturer popular around Asia (and yes, they do distribute to the US as well).  They have a massive product portfolio, including snacks, beverages, and of course, their most well known item: instant ramen.  They have 40+ different *brands* of ramen under their umbrella, and completely dominate the market.  But I was most interested in the snacks, generally the rice or wheat based items.

Cuttlefish Snack.

"CUTTLEFISH SNACK has nutritive cuttlefish as its ingredient.  The plain and savory flavor of grilled cuttlefish is preserved.  The snack is a delight to see as its contents are shaped like cuttlefish and a pleasure to eat as well."

"Our Cuttlefish Snack is a delightful snack with its chips shaped like cuttlefish. Made of cuttlefish, the unique and savory flavors are perfectly preserved, allowing one to fully emerge in the taste."

Um, these are addicting.  The flavor, the texture, all of it.  Love them.

Super crispy, yet light and airy too.  And fairly greasy - they taste legit fried, even though a packaged snack.  Very savory, but with a slight sweetness, and great salt level.  And definitely fishy.  If you don't like fishy flavors, don't go near these.  There is real cuttlefish (minced and extract), along with anchovy extract too.  Plus a slew of savory vegetable extracts (red radish, purple sweet potato, mushroom, onion, kelp), and of course sweet things (molasses extract, sugar, dextrose), and some random things like cacao extract (why?), and a long list of other preservatives, dairy ingredients, and more.  Certainly not wholesome.  But so delicious, even if reading the ingredient list makes you think they can't possibly combine into something tasty.  They do.  Food science magic.

I love these.  Way too easy to eat most of an entire (9 serving!) bag in one sitting.  4.5/5.

Banana Kick.

"Banana Kick is a corn-based product, with the flavor and shape of a banana. Loved specially among children, who find its crunchy sound and delicious taste appealing."

These are such a fascinating product.

Imagine a big airy snack puff, like a cheese puff but even more melt in your mouth in texture, and sweet, ... banana flavored.  Its like all the flavor infused in banana Runts, but, in a very munchable form factor.  They are odd, unique, and strangely delicious.

I love the crispy and airy form factor (they are very mild corn flavor, with a corn flour base).  I love the very artificial banana flavor (it really is just like banana Runts!).  Sometimes I think they are a bit too sweet (sugar is actually the second ingredient!), but generally, I love the over the top sweetness.  I don't know why we don't have any snacks even in this category (that I know of) in the US.

I enjoy these, and grab a bag whenever I see them.  But beware, you definitely have to be craving a sweet snack!  Low 4/5.  They are sorta similar to the sweet puffs line from Tohato (Japanese brand), that I also adore.

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