First Class on Virgin America

Update Review, January 2015

(You might wanna start with my earlier review below, then come back here ... )

Whenever I travel to the east coast, I always fly on Virgin America.  The wifi is the feature I just can't live without at this point, but the good food is a strong selling point too.  I've been shocked by the food quality, particularly the really good tuna salad and roasted pear salads I had in Main Cabin.  Sadly, my first experience in First Class was not nearly as impressive.

So when I was recently traveling and was offered an upgrade to First, I was a bit hesitant.  I had actually preferred my experience in Main Cabin Select more than First before, but, I really wanted to give them another chance.

While the service and seat were fantastic, the food again disappointed.

Spicy chili hummus chips.

To start, we were given bowls of very strange looking chips.  The description said they were "hummus" chips, but honestly, I have no idea what was supposed to be hummus-like about them.  They didn't taste like hummus, they didn't seem to be made of hummus, such a strange name.   This was fine with me, since I don't actually like hummus. They were however spicy, as promised, and I did like the crunch.  They were fairly light.

A quick Google search lead me to discover that they are made by Simply 7, a company that makes natural snack foods, preservative-free, non-GMO, gluten-free, etc.  They make 4 types of chips: the hummus chips, quinoa chips, lentil chips, and pomegranate chips.  While "hummus" chips don't make much sense to me, pomegranate chips make the least sense.

I didn't love these, but it was nice to start with something other than just nuts.

Menu.

For the main entree, I had 3 choices, which were honestly quite lame.  Both the hot and cold non-vegetarian options were chicken:

1. Dijon Chicken with Wild Mushrooms
2. Rigatoni with Fava Beans
3. Roasted Chicken Salad

We were also given a few options from the Main Cabin menu:

1. Green Goddess Sandwich
2. Artisan Cheese Plate
3. Protein Plate
4. Southwest Veggie Wrap

Amusingly, you can guess what the protein was in the Green Goddess Sandwich ... yup, chicken.  The veggie wrap and the protein plate featured hummus, which, as I mentioned with the hummus chips, I don't care for. But I really hate chicken, so I went for the vegetarian pasta.

There was no choice of appetizer, and unfortunately for me it was a salad that contained watermelon, so I had to skip it, since I'm deathly allergic.  The rest of it sounded good though, with arugula, tomatoes, ricotta salata, and proscuitto.

Rigatoni with Fava Beans, Wheat Roll, Hail Merry Chocolate Mini Tart.

As before, meal service was done all at once, with the appetizer, bread, main, and dessert served on a single tray.

My platter is missing the appetizer, obviously.

My tray came with a roll, rather than a bread basket like most airlines, with no options given.  The roll was a hearty wheat roll with some seeds on top, served warm.  It was actually my favorite part of the meal, and somehow wasn't stale tasting.  Plain butter was on the side, along with the signature airplane salt and pepper shakers, so I was able to create salty butter to add, which was fairly enjoyable.

For the main, I selected the pasta, since I wanted nothing to do with the chicken options.  Described as "rigatoni pasta topped with fava beans, caramelized leeks, and roasted grape tomatoes in an herb garlic tomato sauce topped with optional shredded Parmesan cheese".

After my last disappointing pasta experience aboard Virgin America, I didn't have high hopes for the pasta dish, but, anything sounded better than chicken.

Sadly, it was about what I expected, not good.  The rigatoni was the worst component, but I can't say it was really their fault, what do you expect from pre-cooked pasta that is then just warmed up?  The sauce was a close second in the worst component category though, as it was mostly just oil.  I didn't taste any garlic.  Actually, I take it back, the fava beans were the worst part, incredibly overcooked, mushy.  So the pasta, the favas, and the pile of oil were all pretty gross.  As were the breadcrumbs, which were just mush.

But, the roasted grape tomatoes were quite tasty.  Nicely roasted, and I actually loved the flavor.  The parmesan cheese was also decent, and a generous amount was sprinkled over the dish.  I ended up using the tomatoes and cheese on my roll, and created a sorta pizza-like creation.  As for the caramelized leeks, which I was actually looking forward to, I think I only found 2 tiny slivers of leeks in the entire dish.  

And finally, my favorite part of a meal: dessert!

Described as "Rich chocolate ganache cradled in an almond crust with a hint of sea salt."

On my last flight, the dessert was kinda a joke, just a tiny little bar.  It was no different this time.  The dessert was a tiny little tart this time, served with a single blackberry and strawberry half.  The tart was made by Hail Merry, who also supplies the chocolate macaroons and seasoned nuts you can order in main cabin too.  I've enjoyed some of Hail Merry's products in the past, but they are just snacks rather than full desserts.  I believe this tart was from their line of "Miracle Tarts", which are vegan and gluten-free ... not exactly generally selling points for desserts.

I was really saddened by this, not only because I love dessert  but because I had heard that they were serving Humphry Slocombe ice cream on board in First Class.  But alas, I guess that partnership ended?

The blackberry and strawberry were fine, fresher than I expected.  They reminded me of the salad and fruit I've had in main cabin on Virgin America, where I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the produce.  But the tart ... really boring.  The chocolate ganache in the center was creamy and pretty good, but it was gone in a single bite, and I would have loved some whipped cream or something with it.  I didn't taste the "hint of sea salt".  The shell for the tart was very dry and I didn't care for it, I guess it was made from almond meal.

Overall, another disappointing meal.  If I ever wind up in First Class again, I really think I might just order from the main cabin menu, as I've genuinely liked their food in the past.

Original Review, March 2014

My Christmastime trip to the East Coast concluded with a flight from Boston to San Francisco, onboard Virgin America.  On New Year's Eve.  Not exactly when I wanted to be on a plane, but the prices were so much more affordable that day that we couldn't pass it up.

Ojan and I were booked in regular Main Cabin, but moments before takeoff, Ojan was approached and offered a seat in First Class, due to his high One World status.  Wow, thank you Virgin America!  But we were traveling together.  Others seated near us actually asked if I could join him, but they turned me down.  Ojan hesitated, and said no, not wanting to leave me behind.  I told him he was crazy, and encouraged him to go up front.  I was happy for him, and waved goodbye.

We took off, and then ... reality set in for me.  No, I don't mind being deserted for a 6 hour flight, nor do I care that much about the bigger seat.  But, I wanted the other perks: the food and drink!  I've never been in First Class on Virgin America before, but I've been seriously impressed with the food in Main Cabin, like the restaurant quality tuna niçoise salad I had on one flight, and the ridiculously tasty dressing from my arugula and roasted pear salad on another.  If they could do main cabin food that well, what would it be like in the wondrous land of First Class?

Now, not to go into too many personal details, but Ojan has some GI problems that prevent him from being able to drink any alcohol, and require a really strict diet.  His mother packed him all of the snacks and meals he needed for the flight.  He didn't intend to drink or eat a thing up there, while I was sitting in the back, and would need to order and pay for anything I wanted to consume.

So ... once we were airborne, I asked if he was willing to switch with me.  Since he didn't intend to take advantage of anything besides the free movies up there, he nicely agreed to switch.  But ... the flight attendants were not happy with this.  They said that the upgrade was for him only.  I explained that he couldn't drink and had his meals packed, so he wouldn't be using any of the First Class services, but the flight attendant insisted that it was for him only.  I promised we wouldn't try to switch back and forth or anything.  The people seated around me, the same ones who were championing to get me upgraded as well, made remarks about how it really shouldn't matter, please just let us switch, etc.  The flight attendant left, and came back with another attendant, who wanted to hear the story.  Long story short, lots of drama, and they were really not happy with us, but did allow us to switch, eventually.

I excitedly took my seat up in the first class cabin.  8 seats, only 2 others occupied.  Ok, yes, they really could have let us sit together up there, but I understand it was a special status upgrade.  It still would have been nice, given that it was New Year's Eve though!

Anyway, the experience was far from impressive.  The service was fairly non-existent, even though the cabin wasn't full.  Dishes were not cleared after the meal, even as they piled up on our armrests.  Ojan came up at one point in the flight just to say hi, and they actually yelled at him, telling him that he was not allowed up there.  I understand that it is against the rules for Main Cabin passengers to enter the First Class cabin, but they were quite nasty about it.  And he really wasn't bothering anyone, as that entire side of the cabin was empty, and he was just standing talking to me for literally 2 minutes.  Rules are rules I know, but it just wasn't the nicest treatment.

The seat itself was a major upgrade obviously, as was the dedicated bathroom, but besides that, I would actually prefer sitting in Main Cabin Select.

But the most disappointing part ... the food was not very good!  Honestly, everything I've ever had in main cabin is much better.

First Class Menu.

In regular Main Cabin, the menu is provided via the in-flight entertainment system, where you can browse the menu, and order from your seat electronically.  In First, the menu is printed and handed out when you sit down.  This is nice in theory, except that it is collected immediately after you order your meal, so you no longer even have a drink menu to consult for future orders.  The menu contains all of the meals they serve, not just the ones available on your flight.

While none of the food options in Main Cabin are hot, the options are plentiful.  In First, there is a single appetizer, a choice of entree that is either vegetarian or not, and a single dessert.  Just based on choices, I preferred Main Cabin dining.

The entire dining service really did not seem First Class worthy.  There was no preflight beverage offered.  No water bottles given out.  Not even warm nuts.  No after dinner drinks offered with dessert.

But even more strangely, once the meal was served right after takeoff (which is normal obviously), there was no later service offered.  In Main Cabin, you can order snacks anytime from your seat.  I could press my call button to order another drink, which I had to do since we were very rarely checked in on, but I had no menu to consult to even know what was available for drinks.  And, there were no additional snacks offered.

Appetizer: Roasted Pear Salad with Goat Cheese. 

Our appetizer was a salad, with roasted pears.  I was thrilled when I read the description: "roasted pear and gratin of goat cheese, served on arugula mesclun salad, with toasted walnuts, dried figs, grape tomato, and fig vinaigrette", since I had really enjoyed the two salads from Main Cabin, and the pear salad then had such memorable dressing.  This would be better, right?  Wrong.

The part that was better was the pears.  Two slices, decently poached but still a bit firm so they weren't mushy.  They were good enough, but I don't really like poached pears.

The other salad toppings were a bit laughable.  "Toasted walnuts" equaled literally one walnut half.  A great component, added a crunch factor, but a single half?  "Grape tomato" actually did mean a single grape tomato, which was actually nice and juicy, and I would have loved another.  "Dried figs", just like the walnuts, meant one half a dried fig.  Another ingredient that was a great addition, adding a chewy texture and complimentary flavor, but only one?  The "gratin of goat cheese" seemed pretty indistinguishable from just a regular slice of goat cheese.  And I don't like goat cheese.

I was fairly disappointed at this point, but the real failure was the dressing.  Not only was it not delicious like the other dressing I'd had previously, it just wasn't good at all, somehow both cloyingly sweet and sour at the same time.  And, it was drenching the entire thing.  In Main Cabin, the dressing comes on the side, here, it had been smothered for us.  This isn't necessarily Virgin America's fault, as I'm sure there is variance based on who is pouring the dressing on, but ugh.

The salad was a nice mix of greens, but they were just a pile of sogginess due to the excessive dressing.

Was this worse than any other airline salad?  Nah.  But it was worse than any First Class, or even Business Class salad that I've had, and it wasn't even in the same league as their Main Cabin salads.  Sadness.

Entree: Pumpkin Ravioli with Brown Butter and Sage.  Wheat Roll.  Dessert: Chocolate Coconut Bar.

Next came the main meal.  The entree and the dessert were served all at once, on one tray.  Again, didn't quite seem like First Class service, particularly as this wasn't a short flight, so they weren't trying to consolidate service.  No drink refills were offered with our main courses.

I picked the vegetarian option, as it sounded quite good: "pumpkin and sage-stuffed al dente ravioli, with roasted butternut squash, toasted hazelnuts, roasted tomato, and sage brown butter sauce – all garnished with fresh sage leaves and parsley."

This sounded promising.  I love pumpkin and butternut squash, and I had a really quite fantastic similar dish on board American Airlines a month earlier, and I know ravioli is something they can reheat decently on an airplane, compared to the meat option (steak).

It wasn't very good.  There wasn't much sauce at all, it was just oily.  The ravioli was glistening.  This would be fine if it was delicious brown butter, but it did not have the nutty characteristics of brown butter, nor did it even really taste like butter.  Just slick and oily.

The ravioli (five of them) were certainly not "al dente" as advertised, rather they were a bit mushy, although I did like the edges since they were more firm.  Inside was a pumpkin and ricotta blend, with a strange spicing that I didn't care for, and chunks of squash.  The chunks of pumpkin on top were well cooked and I enjoyed them.  I have no idea where the "roasted tomato" was, I certainly didn't see nor taste it. The hazelnuts were whole, and more burnt than toasted, adding an unpleasant bitterness.  I did actually like the fact that they garnished it with fried sage leaves, which was great in theory, but instead were oily and soggy.

I was pretty disappointed by this, and mostly just ate the squash.  However, since no one came to clear our plates, I had it sitting there for quite a while, and eventually I ended up picking at it again.  It turned out that it got better as it got cold, as the paste turned more al dente.  Anyway, still not very good.

The other entree option was Filet of Beef Saltimbocca: "Prosciutto-wrapped beef fillet, served with sautéed mushrooms, horseradish-chive mashed potatoes, onions, and green and yellow beans."  It was a large steak, and looked decent, but how good can microwaved steak really be?  Even though I didn't really like mine, I'm pretty sure I made the better choice.

My meal was served with a roll, a dark wheat roll, nice crusty outside, and a packet of generic Land O'Lakes butter.

Also on the platter was an adorable plane shaped salt and pepper shaker.  Ok, they win points for that.  So cute.

The dessert was a pathetic chocolate coconut bar, made by Sweet Lady Jane.  It was small, and perhaps the least interesting dessert I've ever had on a plane.  It had a strong coconut aroma, a chocolate drizzle on top, almonds inside, and a shortbread crust.  The filling was really mushy.  It wasn't that great, and it didn't standalone very well.  It didn't seem very fresh.  No whipped cream or anything was served alongside.  Well, actually, there was a half slice of strawberry, incredibly dried out.  Least remarkable dessert ever.  Again, American Airlines had them majorly beat, as they offer hot cooked baked on board, and ice cream sundaes.

Taster's Choice Instant Decaf.

There was no beverage offered with dessert, since it came on the same tray as the entree.  I wanted coffee to pair with my measly dessert, and went for the decaf.  It was just instant Taster's Choice brand, the same as what they have in Main Cabin.  It was totally awful, but I really wanted hot coffee with my dessert!  At least in First Class, it is served in a mug, rather than a paper cup.

My water glass was empty, and no water refill was offered.  I also tried the Circadia Chardonnay with my entree, it was ok, a bit too acidic.

Several hours later, when it became obvious that no additional food service was going to be provided, I called my flight attendant to ask if there were any snacks available, since I'd seen the listing back in Main Cabin.  She said she'd bring out a snack tray.  A while later she came around with a tray containing nuts, popcorn, cookies, and chocolate, all items included in the Main Cabin menu, but alas, not any of the Main Cabin snacks I actually wanted.  I asked if I could order a different Main Cabin snack instead, and got a very confusing answer.  I gave up and just had popcorn.

Since the beverage selection was the same, and the meal and snack selection actually greater in Main Cabin Select, I think I greatly prefer Main Cabin Select, which really makes no sense.  Besides the seat, First Class on Virgin America was incredibly disappointing.  I hope my experience was just a single bad case, but I can't say I have any desire to book First Class again to find out.

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Catering by Presidio Social Club

As I mentioned last week in my review of catering by Dobbs Ferry, my office ordered catering from several local San Francisco restaurants, as part of an experiment.  For a month, each restaurant provided food once a week.

I haven't ever visited Presidio Social Club, although I almost did a year or so ago.  You may recall that I had a bit of a foie gras obsession, particularly right before the California ban went into effect.  I ate a ton of foie.  And then, on that tragic day, it (mostly) vanished from San Francisco.  Presidio Social club however was in an interesting position.  They are located on federal land as part of the Presidio National Park, and thus, the California law did not apply to them.  So, they continued to serve it for a while.  I was actually planning to go when I heard that they pulled it from the menu.  Sigh.

So I never went, but when I heard they were providing the catering, I was excited.  I knew we wouldn't get foie, but I also knew Presidio Social Club was supposed to be a decent restaurant.  But since they are not a standard caterer, I didn't really know what to expect, and I know it is a bit unfair to judge them entirely on this experience.  I present this very clearly as a review of their catering services, not the restaurant itself.

It was a mixed bag, as they really brought a large variety of dishes, some more successful that others.  The first week, it was healthy soup and salad, and I didn't care for either.  The next week, it was full on comfort foods, which I loved.  And on the next, rustic style, which I also didn't like.  But all of it was far, far better than Dobbs Ferry, the other restaurant who provided our catering throughout this experiment.

Chopped Kale Salad: shaved garden vegetables, toasted seeds, sherry vinaigrette.

On the first catering event, they went healthy and simple, with just a salad and a soup.  I tried both, starting with the chopped kale salad.

Yes, kale is very trendy this days, but I do like it, and I absolutely love delicata squash, so I was thrilled to see it included in the "shaved garden vegetables".  However, it was … raw.  Shaved thin, but still raw, which just wasn’t very tasty.  This was sadness, as delicata can be one of the most delicious things ever, particularly when roasted and slightly caramelized.

The salad base was kale, and the other shaved vegetables were radish and carrots.  All fresh and crisp.  There were sesame seeds as garnish on top for a bit of crunch.  But overall, it had no flavor, and was not remarkable in any way.

I wouldn't get this again.  Served as an appetizer for $12.50 at lunch and dinner.

East West Chicken Soup: Jidori chicken, egg noodles, carrots, ginger, scallions, cilantro.

Alongside the salad was chicken soup.  Now, I don't like chicken at all.  And I rarely like soup.  But I still really wanted to try it.

The soup was really oily.  As in, lots of visible oil floating on top.  The noodles and carrots were soggy.  The broth didn’t have a particularly good flavor.  Said a coworker, “This is the most unremarkable chicken soup I’ve ever had”.  Another said it was indistinguishable from canned soup.

I wouldn't get this again.  Served as an appetizer for $11.50 for lunch and dinner.

At this point, I wasn't excited about Presidio Social Club.  Their soup and salad failed to impress, but, those are not items I'd normally order anyway.  On the next visit, they went in a total different direction.  Rather than healthy appetizers, they went for total comfort food entrees, much more up my alley!

Classic Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Natural Jus.

The first entree selection was meatloaf, served over mashed potatoes.  It didn't look all that great, and given all the other catering experiences, I didn't expect much of it.  I was wrong.

This meatloaf was delicious.  Very moist and flavorful, made with a mix of beef and pork, with bacon fat added in for good measure.  It also seemed to have a bit of a sear on the edges, which gave a crispy crust which I enjoyed.  On top was the "natural jus", which had its flavor amped up with red wine and port.  Very, very good meatloaf.

The mashed potatoes were also good, incredibly smooth and creamy.  Clearly, there was plenty of heavy cream and butter used.  The potatoes also soaked up the jus well, and I liked dipping my meatloaf in them as well.

I really liked this, and would gladly eat it again.  It is on their regular lunch menu for $17.50.

Macaroni & Cheese with Herbed Bread Crumbs.

The vegetarian offering alongside the meatloaf was mac and cheese.  Both full size entrees, but both things I really like, so I couldn't resist getting the mac and cheese too.

The mac and cheese was made with a slew of cheeses: Blue Cheese, Cheddar, Fiscalini Cheddar, Gruyere, and Grana Padano.  As such, I expected it to be very cheesy and flavorful, but I think the combination of so many cheeses caused them to cancel each other out and mask each other.  The cheese sauce was creamy and coated the noodles well, but didn't have the flavor I was hoping for.

The noodles were a bit overcooked, the whole thing was mushy.  The bread crumbs on top were very oily and not crisp.  This could have just been a side effect of being catering and sitting in a hot box for a while.

Overall, it was ok, but not that great, and I wouldn’t get it again.  Probably a little better than most homemade mac, but not restaurant quality.  On the regular lunch menu for $12.00.

Winter Farro Stew.

On the next visit, they went an entirely different direction again,  this time featuring rustic style dishes,  with a braised chicken thigh as the meat option, and winter farro stew for vegetarian.  Since I really don't like chicken, I went for the stew, even though I admit that the chicken did look good.

It was called a stew, but it didn't have any broth, so I'm not quite sure why it was a stew.  Rather, it seemed like just warm farro with wild mushrooms and kale.

I like farro in general, but this was way overcooked.  The entire thing was just a bowl of textureless mush.  The farro was mush, the kale was mush, even the mushrooms were mush.

The flavor also wasn't there.

Did not like, at all.

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Läderach Chocolatier Suisse

Another day, another co-worker returns from a trip abroad with chocolates to share.  This time, boozy Swiss truffles for Zurich.

His offering was from Läderach Chocolatier Suisse.  Chocolate has been in the Läderach family since the 1920's, and the company has been handed down generation by generation.  That is about all I know.  Well, besides the fact that they make tasty truffles, and are only available in Switzerland and Germany.  I was particularly impressed by how good the creamy milk chocolate shells were, and the consistency of the creamy fillings.

24er Truffes mit Alkohol: Milch, Cocos, Baileys, Dunkel, Weiss, Marc de Champagne (L-R).

• Truffes Milch: "Truffle made from milk chocolate (at least 36% cocoa) and dark chocolate (at least 52% cocoa), with a milk truffle filling."  Tasting notes: Very smooth milk chocolate filling.  A simple truffle, but well made, high quality, with lovely milkiness, if you like milk chocolate.
• Truffes Cocos: "Truffle made from milk chocolate (at least 36% cocoa) and white chocolate, with a Batida de Coco truffle filling." Tasting notes: Smooth creamy milk chocolate shell, with a sweet creamy filling, more liquidy than the others, but not explosive.  The filling had a good coconut flavor to it, and was slightly boozy.  I really liked the chocolate, coconut, and booze flavor combinations, and this was my favorite of the truffles, but it was certainly a sweet choice.
• Truffes Baileys:  "Truffle made from milk chocolate (at least 36% cocoa), bittersweet chocolate (at least 52% cocoa) and white chocolate, with a Baileys truffle filling and a dash of Scotch whisky."  Tasting notes: The same creamy milk chocolate shell as the others, that I really liked, even though it was clearly a milk chocolate.  Inside was a smooth milk chocolate, clearly boozy, clearly Bailey's.  A very nice piece, particularly if you are in the mood for a hit of booze!
• Truffes Dunkel: "Truffle made from bittersweet chocolate (at least 52% cocoa) and dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), with a dark truffle filling." Tasting notes: I usually like dark chocolate more than milk, but here I didn't find the dark very remarkable. The bittersweet shell was much sweeter than I expected.  The filling was smooth and darker, but it just wasn't very complex.  It was only a mediocre dark chocolate, while their milk chocolate was stellar.
• Truffes Weiss: "Truffle made from white chocolate with a white truffle filling."  Tasting notes: I didn't get to try this one, I had to share with others ... boo hiss.
• Truffes Marc de Champagne: "Truffle made from bittersweet chocolate (at least 52% cocoa), with a Marc de Champagne truffle filling."  Tasting notes: Rolled in white powdered sugar, surrounded by a milk chocolate shell like most of the truffles.  Inside was a smooth chocolate filling, with another creamy, boozy filling in the center.  I wasn't entirely sure what the booze was in it until I looked it up later, but it was too delicate to be rum, so I wasn't surprised to learn it was champagne.

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Taste of Nature

I always have some form of granola or snack bar stashed in my purse, for when I'm out running errands and realize it is snack time.  Yet, I still haven't found a brand I really like.  You'd think that I'd give up and just find some kind of alternate snack to carry around (like ... just mixed nuts and chocolate bars?), but alas, I keep trying new bars.  I'm determined.

Taste of Nature makes a variety of snack bars, all USDA certified organic, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, low glycemic, blah, blah, blah.  Made from nuts, seeds, and fruits.  Nutritionally, and buzzword wise, their bars offer a lot.  Unfortunately, I didn't really like them.

The quest continues!

Brazilian Nut Fiesta.

"A Brazil-inspired, festive blend of certified organic nuts, seeds, fruit and crispy brown rice."

The bars also don't contain mystery ingredients.  The nuts are a mix of peanuts, almonds, brazil nuts, and walnuts.  For seeds, there are sunflower and pumpkin.  The "fruit" is just raisins.  Besides the whole grain brown rice, the only other ingredients are the sweeteners, agave nectar and brown rice syrup of course.

And, it tastes like the sum of its parts.  Nothing more, nothing less.  A bunch of seeds mostly, with some bits of nut in there, and a few sweet chewy bits of raisin.  The bar is fairly bitter, dominated by the seeds.  No spicing.

Definitely not my thing, and I wasn't inspired to try any more of their products.

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Baked Goods from Prima Cafe

You may remember my review of Prima Cafe a long time ago.  They serve my absolute favorite frozen yogurt in the city.

But, they are also open for breakfast and lunch, and have a good looking baked goods selection in the morning.  You know I love breakfast baked goods, but Prima was originally only open Monday through Friday, so I never had the chance to try them.  Until now, as they recently added Saturdays hours too!

Prima Cafe sources their baked goods from City Baking Co, so I quickly looked up the offerings online.  I've sorta been on a scone and muffin kick, so I was excited to try them out, since I know many cafes use City Baking Co, and some of their products sound quiet tasty.

Blueberry Scone.  $2.25.

City Baking Co makes a large variety of scones, including glazed options, like a maple walnut scone with maple icing or an iced lemon curd scone.  Or, equally delicious sounding, but slightly less decadent, scones with other toppings, like a brown sugar crumble topped apricot scone or an almond and sweet crumb topped raspberry scone.  Mmm!  They also have a host of standard fruit scones (strawberry, ollalieberry, currant, pumpkin, etc), and low-fat versions as well.

I was of course excited for one of the topped ones, but Prima Cafe only carries two varieties: cranberry or blueberry.  Both standard scones, no topping, not fun.  But perhaps more breakfast appropriate.

Since I never like dried cranberries, I went for the blueberry.

It was an incredibly boring scone.  It wasn't bad, but there was just nothing to it.  Slightly dry, but not too bad.  The blueberries were all in a layer in the middle, tiny Maine blueberries, and really just had no flavor, and didn't add much moisture.  The base had no flavor.  I would have loved some buttermilk tang or something.  The top was equally boring, it could have used a sugar topping, or something.

This was a large scone, a good price for $2.25, and clearly fresh, but just really boring.  Would not get again.

Carrot Muffin.  $1.95.

Since I didn't care for the scone, on my next visit, I went for a muffin.  Just like the scones, City Baking Co makes a slew of muffins that sound fantastic.  Mixed berry with a brown sugar topping!  Raspberry and almond filled with a crumb topping!  But alas, Prima Cafe also did not carry any of those.  They really seemed to be picking only the healthier options.

I settled on the carrot muffin, having fond memories of my mom's carrot cake.  Rookie mistake: bad idea to order something when I wanted it to be something else.

Described as: "Made with freshly grated carrots, pineapple, and coconut this flavor packed muffin is sure to give your morning a “kick-start”."

It wasn't a very good muffin.  It wasn't dry, but it also wasn't moist.  Just a very consistent, boring doneness.  It was loaded with plump sweet raisins, and a few tiny bits of pineapple.  The whole thing seemed very oily.  It wasn't very spiced.

This really seemed like it should be better than it was.  Maybe I just wanted it to be my mom's amazing carrot cake.  I dunno.  I would not get again, but the price was right for a large muffin.

Almond Croissant.  $2.50.

On my final visit, I decided to give them one more chance, and tried the final baked goods category: croissants.  I went for the most decadent looking, the almond croissant.

It was a classic croissant, stuffed with almond paste, topped with sliced almonds, and covered in powdered sugar.

It seemed like it might have been baked without the filling, and then had it added in later, as the croissant was physically sliced in half.  That didn't quite make sense to me.  Maybe Prima sliced them?  I'm really not sure.  Anyway.  It was also a monster.  We have little almond bear claws at my office that I have at breakfast sometimes, and I think I could have fit ... 6 of them in this thing.  HUGE.

The croissant itself was good enough, a bit moist, a bit flaky, a bit crispy.  Not remarkable, but better than most generic croissants.

There was TONS of filling.  It originally looked like way too much to me, but I liked the filling so much that I didn't mind.  Almond paste, sweetened.  But wow, there was a lot of it.

The slivered almonds on top provided some crunch, and powdered sugar sweetened it further, and made it that much more messy to eat.

Overall, not amazing, and I certainly wouldn't go out of my way for it, but it was good enough, and quite satisfying.  I'd get another if I wanted a sweet treat that I was pretending to be acceptable for breakfast.  It went very well with my black coffee.  And $2.50 is a fine price for such a beast!

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Business Lunch @ Roka Akor

Last week, I reviewed Roka Akor, not for the experience of dining at the restaurant, but rather, for the incredible takeout sushi we had delivered one night at my office.  As I said in that review, there really does not exist better takeout sushi in San Francisco.

But takeout is not what Roka Akor does.  They are a fine dining establishment.  Since being blown away by the takeout, I've been wanting to go to the restaurant for a real meal.  Known primarily for their pricy decadent omakase, I've been eager to also try out their more affordable option: lunch.  But, lunch is only offered weekdays, and I'm provided lunch at work.  It took some time for the opportunity to come up, but finally, on President's day, I was able to visit at lunch time.

At lunch, the regular a la carte menu is offered, but the incredible value lays in the business lunches.  Your choice of several appetizers, a main dish, rice, and miso soup, for only $22.  The appetizers included are normally priced at $12-18 and the mains $18-24.  The portions do not seem to be reduced sizes, and the choices are good ones.  This is a crazy good deal.  I even think two people could split one of these meals for a lighter lunch.

If you'd like to check out Roka Akor, and don't want to commit to a pricey dinner, I highly recommend trying the business lunch.  It is an incredible amount of quality food for the price.  I don't think you can do better than this for a full sit down lunch in the Financial District.  I'm still a bit stunned.

Next, I'm really going to have to splurge and go for a real dinner.

Open Kitchen.

The space is very open, including the kitchen, where you can watch food being cooked over the open flames.

Bright room, large windows, blond tables.

During the day, it is very bright and airy, with large windows and plenty of light.  No idea what the ambiance is like at night, but it was lovely by day.

The table was set with white napkins, but when Emil arrived in a black suit, his napkin was quickly switched out for a matching black one.  Attention to little details like this were very surprising, particularly for a lunch service!

One thing we all noted is that we were not provided warm towels to clean our hands before the meal.  We had just returned from Tokyo, so perhaps we were expecting this more than a regular diner.  Fairly standard practice for Japanese restaurants even in the US though, isn't it?

Miso Soup.

Our lunch sets all started with miso soup, normally $4.50.

I didn't care for it, but I'm not a soup girl.  Very standard miso, and both the tofu and green onion inside seemed a bit overcooked and mushy.  I wouldn't order it again, but as part of my lunch set, it was fine.

Santa Barbara Uni with Lime, Daikon Sprouts and Chicharrones. $15.

Emil decided to order one additional appetizer, the uni.  Because, when there is uni and chicharrones on the menu, how do you not?

The presentation was stunning, served in concentric wooden boxes.  The outermost one contained ice.

Inside the smallest box was the chicharrones, not exactly something I've ever had with uni before, but the bacon-y flavor does work well with uni.  They were super crunchy, and a very fun item to put the uni on.

Alongside was grilled lime, and a squirt of lime juice helped liven everything up.

The uni was either from Santa Barbara or Mendocino, I'm not sure which, since I'm pretty sure we were told both.  It wasn't my favorite.  It was creamy, and I think pretty fresh, but had a bit of funk to it. I think I've realized that I really prefer Hokkiado uni, which is unfortunate given that I live in the Bay Area.

The $15 price for a stunning presentation and generous amount of uni was fine.

Yellowtail Sashimi with Shallots and Poached Garlic Ponzu.

For our appetizers, we all picked the yellowtail sashimi, although the other options were a butterfish tataki or beet salad.

I really liked the butterfish tataki when I had it before, but I was trying to mix it up and try something different.  And who picks beets when there are raw seafood options?

We each received 4 generous slices of yellowtail, drizzled with ponzu, topped with some sort of onion based gremolada and crispy garlic slivers, and served with a side of greens, I believe watercress.

The fish was fresh, and I liked the delicate ponzu, but, I remembered at this point that I don't really like yellowtail that much.  Whoops.  I really wished I had picked the butterfish, since I knew I had enjoyed it so much before.  The onion in the gremolada was a bit too harsh, contrasting sharply with the delicate fish.  The greens were too bitter for me, particularly without a dressing.  My dining companions enjoyed their dishes, and it was fresh fish, this just wasn't quite for me.

Normally $18 when ordered separately, which is a bit high for 4 slices of fish, but included in the set lunch it was an incredible value.  I'm feeling like a broken record here, but it is worth repeating.

Salmon Teriyaki with Pickled Cucumbers.

For our mains, we could choose between a beef dish, very tempting sounding miso black cod skewers with mizuna salad, or salmon teriyaki.

Normally, I'd order the black cod in a heartbeat, as I love black cod, and I love miso, but I just had miso black cod two days before.  Hard life, I know.  So I went for the salmon.

The portion size was insane.  A huge, huge filet of salmon.  Well roasted, tender, flaky, but fully cooked.  I prefer my salmon mid-rare, but I know that is hard to achieve over a grill, and I didn't specify how to cook it.  It had incredible crispy skin on top and was served wrapped in a grilled leaf.

The salmon was lightly glazed with teriyaki, with a separate container of additional sauce provided to dip into as you ate.  Which, I did regularly.  It was sweet and delicious.  Emil, who doesn't eat sweets, was happy this was left on the side, as he could ignore it completely.  His loss!

The pickled cucumbers on the side I didn't love, they were a bit mushy, and not very acidic.

We were also all given a small bowl of rice, unremarkable, a bit mushy.  None of us really touched it.

One of my dining companions did pick the miso cod skewers, so I got to try a bite of them as well.  The cod was tender, beautifully cooked, and the miso glaze was absolutely delicious.  The serving was also generous, 3 full skewers!  If I were to get the business lunch again, I'd likely go for that option, although the same was quite good.

The salmon is normally $24, so the value as part of the lunch set is totally insane.

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Catering by Dobbs Ferry

First, let me explain something.  Dobbs Ferry is not a caterer.  They are a regular full service restaurant and bar located in Hayes Valley, open for happy hour and dinner, and weekend brunch.  But, at my office for the past month, we've been getting catering once a week from Dobbs Ferry.  I'm not entirely sure why, I think it was a bit of a promotion for the restaurant, and a chance to just give us something a bit different.  I'm not sure how much catering they normally do.

I was intrigued by the name, so I looked it up.  It turns out, Dobbs Ferry is the name of a village in New York, the hometown of the owner.  Thus, the restaurant concept is Californian bistro, with east coast influence.

So, I'm not reviewing Dobbs Ferry the restaurant.  I've never been there.  And I know judging a restaurant based on its catering is not fair.  Catering is rarely that good.  But I did try a lot of their offerings, and I cannot recommend it, at all.

Brussels Sprouts Salad.

On the first day of catering, they provided a salad, and a choice of two entrees, one vegetarian.

The salad was just a mix of brussels sprouts and artichoke hearts, with very mild, olive oil based dressing.  The vegetables were cooked well enough, not mushy, but no flavors really popped here.  The dressing really needed ... something.

Pete's Meatballs & Conchiglie

For entrees, we had the choice of Pete's Meatballs & Conchiglie or Vegetarian Stuffed Shells. I like both of these dishes, so I was hard pressed to decide.

In the end, I went for the meatballs.  Described as "pork and beef meatballs braised in tomato sauce", they are available on the menu at Dobbs Ferry in various forms, as a meatball sandwich, or over orzo.  In our case, they were served over cute little conchiglie.

The meatballs were a large size, very moist, a mix of beef and pork.  Not bad.  Not earth shattering meatballs, but solid enough.  But the pasta was overcooked and mushy.  Perhaps a side effect of being left in a hot box for catering service?  I could overlook that, except that the "signature marinara sauce", that appears in many of their dishes was not very flavorful, and really no different than canned tomato sauce.

I kept wanting to like it more than I did, since the conchiglie were just so cute, but besides the decent meatball, it was a pile of flavorless mush.

(The other option was stuffed shells: "pasta shells filled with spinach, ricotta and parmesan
cheese, baked in marinara with a parmesan crust."  I decided against this because they looked soggy, and given my experience with conchiglie, I rather expect they were, and it used the same bland sauce.  I think I picked the better choice ...)

Garlic Bread.

On our next catering day, we had garlic bread as the side dish, again with a choice of entrees, one vegetarian.

The garlic bread wasn't bad, for what it was.

The bread itself is from La Boulange, and it was a brioche-like baguette.  Nice level of crispiness.  Great choice for garlic bread.  But, it was covered in oil, on all sides.  When I picked it up from this napkin, it had soaked through all layers!  The topping was butter and garlic, and quite good.  Very oily, but the flavor was there.

For this particular style of garlic bread, it was good, but I didn't want more.  Really, just far too much oil for me.  But I did enjoy scraping the garlicky topping off, and I appreciated their bread selection.

Eggplant Parmesan.

For entrees, we could select between sausage & peppers, or eggplant parmesan.  One of my co-workers beat me to the pickup spot, and got the sausage & peppers: "Italian sausage seasoned with fennel, caramelized onions and roasted red peppers."  He took one bite, and declared it horrible.  He is someone who we make fun of for liking EVERYTHING, so to hear him say something negative about food was enough to convince me to go no where near it.  Plus, it was pork sausage, something I'm never a fan of, and was covered in their same marinara as the last dishes.

So I got the eggplant parmesan, which is offered on their regular menu: "breaded eggplant filled with spinach, ricotta, and parmesan cheese and baked in marinara with a parmesan crust" 

This dish reminded me exactly of the meatballs, in that the dominant flavor was the sauce.  And the sauce was not very good.  Really, most canned tomato sauce is tastier than this.  I don't understand it, as this is their signature sauce, and is an integral component of many of their dishes (in fact, part of every dish they offered us).

The eggplant was soggy, the breading oily and mushy.  Yes, it was catering so it was just sitting in a hot box, so I can't expect it to be crisp, but it was really quite bad.  Just like the pasta in the previous dish, a pile of mush.  And just like the garlic bread, way too much oil.  And you already know how I feel about the sauce.

The congealed cheese on top didn't help things.

Did not like.

Potato Salad.

The final dish I tried was the side of potato salad.  I love my deli salads sometimes, and I was really in the mood for potato salad when I tried this.  But ... I didn't like it.  The potato was overcooked, fairly mushy.  This time I can't blame the hot box for the pushy product.  The dressing was creamy, but far too heavy on the mustard for my liking.  There was a lot of raw red onion bits in it, too sharp.  Celery for some crunch was nice, bits of egg also good.  But overall, not a winner.

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