Somersaults

Somersaults are one of my favorite snack foods.

Like chips, they are the ideal form factor for snacking, perfectly crunchy.  But unlike chips, they offer something nutritionally, as they are made from from sunflower seeds, wheat, and sesame seeds.

According to the company, "Somersault Snacks are a nut-free, healthy sunflower seed snack. Somersaults provide impactful nutrition offering the same amount of protein with just half the fat of a serving of almonds and fewer calories."

Many snack bars make similar claims, but, unlike snack bars, Somersaults are actually tasty, and come in both sweet or savory versions, whichever matches your mood.  I'll definitely continue seeking these out!

Cinnamon Crunch.

"Cinnamon Crunch bakes warm cinnamon into our whole wheat dough to create a delightful yet healthy treat. A little sprinkle of sweetness makes this perfect crunchy snack a coffee pairing delight!"

I really liked this flavor.  Super crunchy, perfect size to snack on.  Hearty from the seeds, only a tiny bit sweet. A healthy tasting, yet slightly desserty, treat.  Some sweetness came from cane sugar, but I tasted the molasses more.  I liked the subtly from added chicory as well.

Perfect for when I want something not quite savory, but not an all out sugar bomb.  I'd gladly get these again.

Dutch Cocoa.

An interesting flavor combination, with the seeds and cocoa.  It wasn't that successful for me, but I guess this is a healthier chocolate snack choice, if you are craving chocolate?

Santa Fe Salsa.

Made with chili pepper, cilantro, a touch of jalapeño and a dash of lime.

These had a nice kick to them.  My favorite flavor, by far.

Salty Pepper, Pacific Sea Salt.

I started with the Salty Pepper.  I really didn't like the pepper.  It was too strong and didn't mix well with the other flavors in the little nuggets.

Yet, somehow, I wound up with another bag of these.  And this time, the pepper was more subtle.  It wasn't awful, but I still don't want pepper on my snacky-snacks!  My least favorite flavor.

Next, I moved on to the simple Pacific Sea Salt, made from salt is sourced from the SF bay.  These were nice and hearty, with a good saltiness, quite decent.  Like all the varieties, I loved the crunch.

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CX0873, Business Class, SFO-HKG

As you read about last time, my recent business trip to Tokyo didn't begin exactly as planned.  I ranted a bit about the disaster that was my JAL flight, or, specifically, lack thereof, so I'll spare you re-hashing it again.  Let's just say that when I finally boarded a Cathay Pacific flight at midnight instead, 7 hours later, I wasn't in the best mood.  I was tired, I was hungry, and I was really questioning my decision to fly the extra distance to Hong Kong, just to connect to Tokyo.

But, I was going to get to Tokyo, and that is what mattered, right?  And, I'd heard many great things about Cathay Pacific.  They are known for really having a premium product: excellent food, great service, modern aircraft.

Now, I have another tragic story.  I wrote a lovely post up about my flight experience, right after my travel, while it was fresh in my head.  I included details of the service, the wonders that were my seat, and of course, a very thorough review of the food served.  And ... I lost it.  I'm not sure what happened, but, the draft of the whole thing I had in Blogger was replaced with something else.

Luckily, I still had my tasting notes, in my handy little food blogger notebook, so I've been able to re-create my review of the food, but all my observations on the actual flight have been pretty lost.  And many subtleties of the meals.  Alas, this is better than nothing right?

What I do recall is that the flight was actually quite nice.  My grumpiness did disappear.  The service was indeed good.  I loved my seat, and it transformed into a quite comfortable bed.  And the 14 hour flight time, which sounded long at first, turned out to be a wonderful length: I was able to settle in, eat a full meal without rushing to get to sleep, change into my pajamas, get a full night's rest, have breakfast, and still not feel rushed.  In fact, I sorta think I'd pick to do this again, rather than just flying direct to Tokyo, particularly if it meant I could fly with Cathay again ... they really are a fantastic airline.

The Seat.

I was seated in Cathay's "new business" class, and it was a very impressive business class offering.  The seat was clearly well designed.  I did find it slightly better designed for sleeping rather than sitting, but, since that is what I'd be doing for the majority of my flight, I didn't mind too much.

My seat had all the amenities you could desire: power, usb charging ports, 3 different lights, a small side table, a large dining table that pulled out, and a cubby where the headphones could live.  There was a pocket for my water bottle, and even a cubby for my shoes.  Easy to find a place for everything.

Large TV screen.

At the foot of the seat was the ottoman, which would turn into the end of my bed once I transitioned into sleep mode.  The seat went fully flat.  I was provided with a very large blanket, comforter style, very comfortable.

The TV screen was impressively large, all touch screen.  I didn't end up using it on the flight though.

Supper Menu.

Once underway, the supper menu was presented.  A single starter (mesclun salad with grilled scallop and sesame oriental dressing) and a seafood or meat choice for the main:

• Cod with sweet wine sauce, served with steamed jasmine rice, baby pak choy and carrots
• Grilled USDA prime beef tenderloin with red wine sauce, yukon mashed potatoes, asparagus and baby carrots

Followed by desserts: a cheese platter (camembert, yellow cheddar, danish blue), fruit, or caramel cheese cake with chunky berry coulis.

For those who wanted a lighter meal, since it was so late, a soup (butternut squash) or salad (mesclun with smoked duck breast, tear drop tomato, fig, and balsamic vinaigrette) were available.

I was thrilled by this menu.  Every single course sounded good to me.  Cathay clearly spoke to my cuisine preferences.

Service began with a hot scented towel.

Drinks: Champagne, White Wine, Red Wine.

Next, the drink menu.  Not extensive, but since I'd spent the last few hours bored out of my mind in teh airport lounges, I'd been drinking, and didn't really care for more.

A single Champagne: Champagne Deutz, Brut Classic.

Two whites:

• Spy Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012
• Peter Schweiger Gruner Veltliner Kamptal Terrassen DAC Reserve 2011

And two reds:

• Quincho Reserve Syrah Maule Valley 2010
• Chateau Hanteillan Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois 2010

But as I said, I didn't have any, I was too burnt out by my travel experience already at this point.

Supper Starter: Mesclun salad with grilled scallop and sesame oriental dressing. Bread and butter.

To begin the meal, we had no choice of starter, which was fine with me, since I love scallops, and would have picked this over many other choices anyway.

My tray also came with water and silverware.  I liked how the silverware packets always contained two forks and knives.

The base of the salad consisted of basic mesclun, just greens, but fresh enough, along with two roasted red peppers and two sun-dried tomatoes.  They added a pop of flavor, but otherwise were quite standard.

The scallops also came in a pair, served cold on top. They were far better than I expected.  Sure, cooked all the way through, not mid-rare, but they were tender and sweet, not rubbery, not fishy, actually fresh tasting.  Both a large size, with actual visible grill marks.

The sesame oriental dressing came on the side, in a little container.  It was sweet, but not overpowering, really, not bad.

I also had the choice of bread, either sourdough rolls, or garlic bread.  Obviously, I went for the garlic bread, since I don't like sourdough.  It smelt incredible.

Sadly, the bread did not taste as good as it smelt.  It was soggy, and very oily.  The garlic flavor was as fantastic as it smelt though.

This dish surprised me.  I had no idea what to expect from Cathay Pacific, although I knew they were known for their cuisine, and this set things off on a strong note.  Not the way I prefer to eat my scallops obviously, but for business class cuisine on an airplane, this was quite good.

Super Main Dish: Cod with sweet wine sauce, steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried pak choy with carrots.

Next up, my main dish was served.  I had the choice of beef or cod, and, obviously, I went for the cod.  I eat a lot of seafood, and cod is always a favorite of mine.

Unfortunately, the main dish was no where near as good as the starter, and not nearly as good as it sounded.

The rice was probably the best part, and that is saying something, since I dislike rice.  Probably not intentional, but the top of the rice was crispy, which I enjoyed.

The fish came as a generous chunk, but was way overcooked, severely dried out.  The veggies were completely mushy, although I appreciated the cute cut of the carrots.  The sauce, always a saving point for me, was kinda ok, a bit sweet.

The only bites of this that I could tolerate was some of the crunchy top rice drizzled with some sauce.

Service throughout my meal was quite attentive, and my dishes were quickly cleared whenever I was finished, or, in this case, when I indicated that I didn't want any more.

Drinks: Spirits, cocktails, signature drinks.

The rest of the alcoholic drink menu contained aperitifs, whiskies, liquors, and beer, along with the Cathay Pacific "Signature Drinks" (the Pacific Sunrise and the Cathay Delight), and, a port.

I decided that my dessert would go nicely with a glass of port.

Supper Dessert: Caramel cheese cake with chunky berry coulis. Dow's Late Bottled Vintage Port 2008.

After the lackluster main dish, I was looking forward to dessert.  While cheesecake isn't one of my absolute favorite desserts, it is one that I do enjoy, and, seemed like something that would be fairly easy to execute well on a plane, since it doesn't need to be super fresh and isn't temperature sensitive.

I was served a very generous slice.  The cheesecake was creamy, which I liked, but was otherwise unremarkable and quite generic.  Where was my promised caramel?  It seemed to just be the little swirl on top, not enough to taste.  The crust layer was thin and was totally lost under the giant slice of cheesecake.

The berry coulis was quite good, and well presented spooned over my slice.  It was sweet, and clearly contained raspberries.

I also enjoyed my port.

Nothing remarkable here, but, I finished quite satisfied.

Decaf Coffee.

To go along with my port and dessert, I also ordered an after-diner coffee, decaf of course.  It was fine.

After-Supper Chocolate.

And to finish the meal, an after-supper chocolate!

Breakfast Menu.

After my slumber, it was time for breakfast.

The breakfast menu began with a slew of light starters:

• Orange or apple juice
• Mango smoothie
• Fresh seasonal fruit
• Natural or fruit yoghurt
• Assorted cereals

Followed by a choice of main dishes:

• Shiitake mushroom omelette with grilled back bacon, roasted yukon potatoes and vine ripened tomato
• Stir-fried e-fu noodles with dim sum and chili sauce
• Seafood congee, served with spring onion pancake

All were served with a bread basket of assorted breakfast breads, served with preserves, honey and butter.

As with supper service, the meal began with an offer of a nicely scented hot towel.

Non-Alcoholic Drinks.

Non-alcoholic choices were fairly standard:

• Juices: orange, apple, tomato
• Soft Drinks: Coke Zero, Coke, Coke Light, Sprite, Perrier water, tonic water, soda water and ginger ale
• Coffees: freshly brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino and caffè latte (regular or decaffeinated)
• Teas: Hong Kong style milk tea, Ceylon, Japanese, jasmine, oolong, Organic selection: camomile, earl grey and peppermint
• Hot Chocolate

I hoped for a Hong Kong style milk tea, and really enjoyed it.  Sweet, creamy, and just caffeinated enough to give me a needed jolt.

Breakfast Starter #1: Mango smoothie. Apple cinnamon swirl, preserves, honey, butter.

Breakfast began with an offer of drinks.  I decided to start with a mango smoothie, as it sounded refreshing and pleasant for waking up on the flight.  It turned out to just be Odwalla brand, very thick.  It wasn't served cold enough for my taste.

Next, a bread basket was presented with a choice of breakfast breads - a croissant, bagel, or apple cinnamon swirl.  I went for the most decadent one, the apple cinnamon swirl.

None of the breakfast breads were served warm, minus one point for Cathay.  Warm breakfast pastries are always better!  My pastry was very generic, a bit stale tasting.  The apple chunks inside were mushy and seasoned with way too much cinnamon.  I did like the sweet glaze on top.

The bread basket also came with my choice of preserves (Bonne Mamman brand, strawberry or orange), honey, butter, or cream cheese.  None of these really make sense given the item I picked, but would have worked with the plainer choices.

So far, not impressive.

Decaf Coffee.

I also ordered a decaf coffee to go with my breakfast.  They didn't have any decaf when they came through with the cart, so had to go fetch it for me separately.  It was very strong and dark, but not that good.  Served with cream, sugar, and Equal.

There was a very long pause between the breakfast breads and the next course.  The breakfast service was much slower than supper, a long, drawn out affair.  I think this was intentional, as the idea behind having supper rather than dinner is that it is expedited so that people can get to sleep.  Still, multi-course long breakfast wasn't quite what I was expecting.  Not that I had anything else to be doing.

Breakfast Starter #2: Granola, yogurt.

Next, a set of light starters was offered from a cart: fruit, yogurt, or cereals.

The fruit platter consisted of melons, pineapple, and strawberry, so I had to decline it, due to my melon allergy.

Cereal was Kellogg's: Special K or granola with raisins, served with milk or yogurt.  The yogurts were Yoplait brand, offered in plain or peach.

I used to love Kellogg's granola, so I was excited to see it.  It had been years since I'd had it.  I decided to get yogurt to go with, in order to make a parfait, and went for the peach.

The yogurt was creamy, but way, way too sweet.  I couldn't stand it.  The granola was pretty much what I remembered, crunchy and good, and I appreciated the chunk sizes, but without any milk and with yogurt that I didn't want, I didn't quite know what to do with it.  I ended up just using the granola as something to nibble on with my coffee while I waited for the next course.  Next time, I'd get it with milk.

Breakfast Main: Seafood congee, served with spring onion pancake

For my main course, I went for the congee.  I'm not really sure why.  I knew I didn't want the omelet since I don't like eggs, and I guess congee just sounded warm and comforting.  Plus, I do like seafood ...

Anyway, it was not a good pick.

The congee was really watery, and quite gross.  It was loaded up with a generous amount of seafood, shrimp, fish, and bay scallops, but tasted really fishy.  The spring onion pancake was crazy oily, wet, and cold.

I was jealous of the noodles and dim sum course I saw several of my neighbors received, and vowed to order that next time.  (Which, I did on my very next flight.  Stay tuned to read about it!)

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Mallorca Mondays!

Well, hello there. You may have noticed that I've been a bit silent for the past few weeks. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, I've just been traveling - to Spain, Zurich, and London! And, like any good food blogger, I was busy documenting all the interesting foods I consumed during my travels. And yes, there were Michelin stars.  And foie gras.  Lots of foie gras.

Since I have a large line up of travel posts for Travelin' Tuesdays: Tokyo Edition, I've decided to give the regular Monday lineup up chain restaurants/food trucks a brief break, and I present you with a new special series: Mallorca Mondays!

Mallorca, or Majorca, is an island off the coast of Barcelona, the largest of the Balearic Islands.  While not a gastronomic destination, it does have 5 restaurants with Michelin stars, and it wasn't exactly a coincidence that the villa we rented just happened to be right down the street from one of them.

So, stay tuned for the new few Mondays, as we journey to Mallorca.

We'll begin with my very first experience on British Airways, flying First Class no less, from San Francisco to London.  Dining on a plane may not normally be all that exciting, but in First Class, dining is a serious part of the experience.  Next, you'll get a peak at the afternoon tea service, served aboard a British Airways flight from London to Barcelona, business class (or, Club Europe as they call it).

And then, time to dine on Mallorca!  Ok, first we need to discover our local beach bar, Playero, but then we'll head with a long lunch at Michelin-stared Jardín, followed by a late lunch at the stunning Restaurante Golf Alcanada, and sample the Mallorca pastry ensaïmada.

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New Rubio's Enchiladas

I know, I know, I have reviewed Rubio's a bunch of times already.  But Rubio's is one of the only casual dining establishments within a mile or so of my house that is open on weekends, at a good price point, and actually tastes good.  Besides high end dining, my only other choices are McDonald's or Panera.

When I want something simple, fast, and tasty, I go to Rubio's.  I won't claim it is the best Mexican place in the city.  I won't say it is authentic.  But, it is reliable.  And, they regularly add items to the menu, so there are frequently new things for me to try out, like the chimichuri that was added last May.  I like that they are willing to experiment with new items, although the chimichuri is no longer on the menu, so I guess I was not alone in my dislike for it.  There are also seasonal offerings, like the langostino lobster, available only during a short period in early winter, as a burrito, or a taco.

Thus, I keep returning.  This time, it was for another new menu option, enchiladas.  Not something I'd normally order, but I was invited in for a free tasting, so I decided to give it a go.

Shrimp Enchilada with Verde Sauce.

There was only one seafood option available: shrimp.  Since I'm a seafood girl, I went for it, described as "sustainable, pan-seared shrimp, a blend of three melted cheeses and cilantro/onion wrapped in toasted corn tortillas. Topped with verde enchilada sauce, salsa fresca and a drizzle of white sauce."

It sounded a lot like the enchilada version of the salsa verde shrimp taco, which I've had twice before, made from the same shrimp, cheeses, and cilantro/onion mix, although the taco has the zestier creamy chipotle sauce rather than the simple white sauce, cabbage instead of salsa fresca, and added avocado.

I really wasn't sure how Rubio's would do enchiladas.  Not that I'm an expert, but I thought they are usually baked, not exactly the format for a fast-casual restaurant.  And indeed, these didn't seem baked.  I'm also used to enchiladas smothered in sauce, and topped with melted cheese.  While the Rubio's version was topped with sauce, it certainly wasn't smothered in it, and while it had cheese inside, there was none melted on top.  So, just based on looks, this didn't quite seem like an enchilada to me.

It was rolled like an enchilada however, in a corn tortilla.  I'm not sure if these are the exact same tortillas they use for the tacos, but it seemed like it, although, are the taco tortillas really this big?  The tortilla was moist and unremarkable.

Inside was the shrimp and cheese.  I remember when I had the salsa verde shrimp tacos, I never really tasted the cheese.  That was not the case here.  All I could taste was cheese.  There was tons of it, and it completely overpowered the shrimp.  And, unfortunately for me, I'm pretty sure the three cheese blend contained jack, my absolute least favorite cheese.  I really didn't like the cheese.

So I pulled out the shrimp.  Like all Rubio's shrimp preparations, they are "marinated in ancho chiles, garlic, cilantro and a touch of olive oil and pan-seared on an authentic comal."  And like always, I was impressed by the shrimp.  They somehow never come out rubbery or fishy, and the marinate really imparts a lot of flavor.  But, inside the enchilada with all that cheese, you certainly couldn't taste the shrimp.

The description said there was also cilantro/onion inside, which I never found.

There are two areas that Rubio's always impresses me with: the quality and execution of the seafood, and, the flavorful sauces.  As usual, I was looking forward to the sauces.

On top was the verde enchilada sauce, which unfortunately reminded me of the tomatillo salsa from the salsa bar, flavorless, far too mild, and watery.  It offered nothing to the enchilada, and I had to add Roasted Chipotle Salsa from the salsa bar to give the enchilada any kick.  I'm not sure why they use the verde sauce here, rather than the traditional enchilada sauce used on the others.  I'm sure I could ask for it that way instead, if I wanted an enchilada again.

There was also the white sauce, which I appreciated for the creamy factor as always, but, given how mild the other flavors were, I would have preferred the creamy chipotle sauce, like they use for the tacos, which again, I'm sure I could ask for instead.

And finally, the salsa fresca, "made fresh daily and features diced Roma tomatoes, diced white onions, freshly chopped cilantro, jalapeño and Serrano chiles, lime zest, oregano and a pinch of salt."  The salsa fresca was fresh and flavorful, and as always, I was impressed by the quality of the tomatoes.  I appreciated having the chunky and fresh component to the enchilada, although, I wouldn't normally put this on my enchilada.

So, as you can tell, it was not a winner for me, and I don't think it is just because I don't normally order enchiladas.  While I liked the shrimp, there was little else here that was successful: too much cheese overwhelmed the entire thing, the sauces were not flavorful enough, and, it really wasn't a traditional enchilada.  I wouldn't get one again.

Grilled Steak Enchilada with Fire Roasted Sauce.

The non-seafood enchilada choices are chicken, steak, or plain cheese.

Ojan's picked the steak, "made with grilled steak, a blend of three melted cheeses and cilantro/onion wrapped in toasted corn tortillas. Topped with fire-roasted enchilada sauce, salsa fresca and a drizzle of white sauce."

So, basically the same as my shrimp version, except using the same grilled steak that they use for burritos and tacos, and topped with a more classic enchilada sauce instead of verde sauce.

I did not taste the steak, but it is advertised as "marinated with garlic, savory spices and cilantro and grilled over an open flame", and Ojan said it was better than he expected, and, better than the steak we have in our cafe at our office.

I did try the "fire-roasted enchilada sauce".  While I didn't really grasp the fire-roasted nature of it, it seemed like traditional enchilada sauce, and I greatly preferred it to my verde sauce.  If I were to order another enchilada, I'd get this sauce.

This was far more of a classic enchilada, but it was still not baked, and although the sauce was more standard, it was not smothered like I'm accustomed to.  Not something I'd order again.

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Cadbury Chocolate

I devoted my last chocolate review to the classic American Hershey candies.  This week, I'm featuring chocolate from what is basically the British andAustralian version of Hershey: Cadbury.  As I learned during my time in Sydney, it turns out, they make more than just the creme eggs (and fact, in the US, those creme eggs are actually made by none other than Hershey!)

During my few month stay in Syndey, I tried a huge assortment of their chocolates.  Unfortunately, I lost most of the notes I took during that time.  This is just a smattering of what I could find.  None were particularly good, but it was novel to try out another country's common chocolates.

Moro.

 "Whipped nougat and caramel centre, covered in chocolate." 

Apparently Cadbury makes a bunch of different bars and calls them all the Moro.  What you get depends on which country you buy it in.  I got mine as part of the Cadbury Favorites mix in Australia.  I didn’t pick up on the nougat.  The caramel was a hard variety.  The chocolate coating was low quality and uninteresting.  Meh.

Update: just thick chocolately caramel, I don’t really like this at all.

Crunchie.

"A golden honeycombed centre surrounded by delicious Cadbury milk chocolate".

Another classic, around since 1929.  The honeycomb was sweet, with a good crunch.  The milk chocolate on the outside was standard, smooth Cadbury, that just isn’t my style.  I would have preferred just to have the honeycomb.

Update: Very sweet filling that is crunchy, but … not complex, just sweet.

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• Boost: "A smooth textured chocolate flavoured centre with crunchy biscuit pieces surrounded in flowing caramel, all covered in Cadbury’s world famous Cadbury Dairy Milk® milk chocolate".  Tasting notes: Probably the best one I've had yet, but not particularly memorable, caramel and biscuit covered in chocolate.  Something in the biscuit was a bit stale tasting.
• Cherry Ripe: "Ripe juicy cherries and moist coconut smothered in rich Old Gold® dark chocolate". Tasting notes: This is apparently Australia's oldest chocolate bar.  It sounded great to me, who doesn't love coconut, cherry, and dark chocolate? Yum!
• Flake: "Delicate strands of crumbly, Cadbury Dairy Milk® milk chocolate".  Tasting notes: Just milk chocolate, nothing special.  Not as flaky as I expected.
• Fudge: "Bar of soft fudge covered in delicious Cadbury milk chocolate." Tasting notes: This is a UK product. Gross milk chocolate outside, I have no idea what the filling was.  Not good.
• Picnic: "Milk chocolate and peanuts, covering chewy nougat, caramel, biscuit and puffed rice." Tasting notes: I guess I couldn't make my mind up on this one!  All my tasting notes are different :)  Meh, seems cheap, low quality chocolate, peanut flavor boring [ I really liked it!  Yummy peanuts, crispy rice, milky chocolate.  Great combo. ] [ Quality of chocolate really low, rice part not actually crispy, no real peanut flavor. ]
• Turkish Delight: "Exotic taste sensation with soft eating Turkish Delight jelly centre covered in milk chocolate." Tasting notes: Gross. (Gee, thanks self, you made some real meaningful notes there ... )

Chocolate Creme Egg.

From the outside, the chocolate creme egg looks just like a regular Cadbury creme egg.  The shell is made from standard Cadbury milk chocolate, smooth and creamy, but unremarkable.

Inside the egg.

But ... inside is nothing like a classic creme egg.  Besides having no creamy white part, there is also no ‘yolk’. The inside is just pure chocolate fudge.  They call it chocolate creme, but it wasn’t really creamy, it was thick like a chocolate caramel.  The only similarity to the traditional creme egg is that this too was cloyingly sweet.  I'm not sure how they made chocolate that sweet, but, ugh, I couldn't finish this.  At least with the regular egg it has the novelty of looking like an egg, whereas this one was just sweet overload, with no fun factor.

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Dips, by Dipin

I Love Snacking is a company that produces Mediterranean snacks, aimed primarily at airlines and vending machines, but some of their products are available in supermarkets too.  Each product line has its own label, so you likely haven't heard of the parent company before.

One line is Oloves, flavored olives.  I saw them once on a plane, I think Virgin America?  Another is Stuff'd, rice stuffed dolmas.  Fruity Pie is a new line not yet available.  I haven't tried any of these, but I did try their Dipin line, made up of assorted Mediterranean dips.

All are gluten-free, vegan.  Since I love sauces, and dips in general, I was excited to try these out.  Sadly, I didn't love any of them, as they really didn't seem all that fresh, clearly packaged, preserved items.  The flavors were also too strong, at least for me, partially due to the fact that many included ingredients that I don't like much to begin with, so having them accented was the opposite of what I wanted.

I like the idea of having healthy, pre-packaged, Mediterranean snacks, but these didn't really live up to my standards.

Pepper & Artichoke Bruscetta.

I started with the pepper & artichoke bruschetta: "grilled peppers, artichokes, fresh garlic, tomato, and a delicate dash of herbs."

As a dip, it didn't quite work for me.  I didn't taste the artichoke, which didn't bother me since I don't care for artichoke, but I was surprised by how prevalent the tomato flavor was, given that it wasn't part of the product name.  It was also a bit mushy and oily.  But my biggest issue is that it just didn't seem fresh.

I think it would have been decent spread on some bread, like real bruscetta, but I'm not sure what I'd want to just dip into it.  Sadly, it was my favorite of the dips.

Black Olive Tapenade.

Next, I went for the tapenade: "black olives, extra virgin olive oil, and a smattering of mountain herbs".

Well, you ask for black olive, and you get it.  This was soo incredibly olive-y.  Like the bruscetta, it was too oily for me.  It was also very salty.  And again, I'm not sure what I'd want to dip in it, I think they need to re-brand as spreads, not dips.

I liked it best when combined with the hummus, as the two very strong flavors helped mellow each other out a bit.  My second favorite of the dips, but I wouldn't try it again.

Classic Hummus.

Lastly, the hummus: "chick peas, tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and a smidge of cumin".

I don't generally like hummus, since I don't like chickpeas.  But I at least wanted to try it.

I know they say this is "classic", but is adding tahini actually a standard thing?  I didn't think it was, but I certainly don't have much experience with hummus.  As I feared, it was very chickpea-y, but did also have the taste of tahini to it.  Very smooth and creamy.  But, for me, just too much chickpea.  It was best mixed with the tapenade to mellow both of the intense flavors out.

My least favorite.

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Paladar Cafe Cubano

Paladar is a Cuban cafe in the Financial District.  Cuban isn't a cuisine I generally gravitate towards, but sometimes, I really start to crave yuca and plantains, so I decided to check it out.

Paladar is a cute looking place, with table seating, but I got my dishes to go.  They are up to date with modern mobile payment systems, offering both Paypal and LevelUp.

Unfortunately, I really did not like any of the dishes I got.  While not exactly the same style, it was about on par with Destino, a Peruvian restaurant, where my dining companions and I actually left after eating our appetizers, as we decided it wasn't worth ordering anything else.  Just like Destino, everything at Paladar was overly oily and completely flavorless (besides the strong oil flavor).

Charanga’s Yuca Frita & Chipotle Aioli. $6.

"Classic crispy cassava served with mildly spicy sauce"

I've been seriously craving yuca lately.  I was so exited for this.

Unfortunately, it was awful.

Visually, it didn't look great: the pieces of yuca were tiny little chunks, which was a bit disappointing.  They also looked really greasy.  But I still dug in.

They were nasty. So incredibly oily.  I did not taste the yuca at all.  Honestly, all you could taste was oil.  They were  hot, and crispy, but really not good at all.

I love dipping sauces, so I actually went for a third chunk, even after my initial dislike of the first two, excited to at least slather it in the dipping sauce.  I didn't like the sauce either.  It just tasted ... strange.

Limon Rotisserie  definitely had better yuca fries, and far, far better sauces.

$6 for the full size portion of just a few chunks (this photo is before I had any!) really seemed incredibly overpriced.  I clearly would never get this again.

Mariquitas & Mojo.  Small size.  $2.75.

"House-made plantain chips with garlic dipping sauce".

After the fail with the fried yuca, I decided to try out the plantain chips, another favorite of mine.

Just like the yuca, the plantain chips were overly oily, and didn't have much flavor to them besides the oil.  They also weren't very well salted.  I did like how crispy they were, and how large the slices were.

The mojo was incredibly disappointing.  I'm a dips girl, so I wanted it to be good, but it really wasn't.  Watery, slightly garlic-y, slight citrus tang, but really not much going on.

La Mar Cebicheria definitely had both better plantain chips, and far superior sauces.

The $2.75 price for a small was fine, but I would not get this again.

Plátanos Maduros, half-portion. $2.75. 

As a quasi-dessert, I also got the maduros, fried sweet plantains.  They were much better than the yuca.  Sweet, decent flavor.  Not good exactly, as they were kinda soggy, and a bit oily.

I wouldn't get this dish again, but it wasn't horrible.  $2.75 for the half portion was a fine price.

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