This post has been consolidated into my other Virgin America First Class reviews. Please go read it there instead!
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Melons Catering and Events
For the past several years, Melons Catering and Events has catered my annual company holiday party. These are large events, with ~1500 attendees, so certainly not any easy job for any caterer. And you know how I tend to feel about catering ...
Every year, they do entirely different menus. Two years ago, it was downright incredible. One room at the venue was a special seafood room, where they served seared scallops that rivaled those of most restaurants. Using their tiny little catering facilities. I honestly have no idea how they pulled it off, but I was absolutely blown away. They also always set up a dessert room, and many of the items featured there have been particularly notable. Of course, I never took photos or notes before, so I don't have any real details to share on my past events.
So this year, when I heard that Melons was catering our party again, I was excited. I took photos. I was ready to write a glowing blog post. But ... there was little to glow about with the main food options. Some of it was menu choice, as there was no extravagant seafood room this year (although there was a sushi bar, which was decent), but mostly, the hot food just really wasn't good, and perhaps most tragically, the desserts were all lackluster as well.
Melons has done a great job in the past though, so I'm hopeful that next time will be better ...
I was excited to walk in to the first room and discover a whole charcuterie table. The perfect place to start, particularly alongside my glass of mediocre red wine, and the lineup was quite impressive.
Melons cures all of the meat in house, using products from Stone Valley Farms. There were several salami-style items that were all fine, including pork fennel salami, coppa, lonza, and prosciutto. The prosciutto was the most memorable, and I genuinely enjoyed it, particularly slathered with a little mustard, of which there were several choices.
But the star of the lineup was the duck liver mousse (and not just because it reminded me of foie gras!). It had the perfect consistency and flavor, not too livery. I went back many times throughout the night for more and more of this. Once I tried all of the desserts, and was not satisfied by any, I may or may not have come back for more of the mousse as my quasi-dessert. Winning item of the night.
The charcuterie station was completed by housemade focaccia and breadsticks, wild mushroom salad, chick pea and olive salad, and roasted peppers, none of which I tried.
The next room we entered featured a sushi bar. Now this looked promising, particularly given how much I enjoyed the seafood offerings the previous year, it seemed possible that they would have decent quality product.
But, catering sushi? The shelf life of sushi is on the order of minutes, how could they possibly do sushi hours before and have it be good? They couldn't and knew that, so the sushi was actually being prepared behind the bar by a line of chefs, it hadn't been sitting around for hours.
There was a decent line up of nigiri including unagi, hamachi, salmon, octopus, and two types of tuna.
I tried all but the unagi, and they were all fine, not incredible obviously, but good enough, and the product was decent quality.
However, the fish was a bit warm. They obviously weren't in a climate controlled area, and were working with what they had, but there is something off putting about warm fish, and it certainly changed the texture.
The sushi was served with wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce, as you'd hope, but there were no dipping cups for the soy sauce, so you had to dump soy sauce on each piece of fish from the big vat as you served yourself, and this just didn't work well.
But for massive party catering? Not bad.
There were also pre-made sushi rolls.
One entire tray was California rolls, which turned out to be a good thing. Of all the sushi, it turned out to be my favorite, it tasted fairly fresh, and wasn't overly coated in mayo or anything.
Every year, they do entirely different menus. Two years ago, it was downright incredible. One room at the venue was a special seafood room, where they served seared scallops that rivaled those of most restaurants. Using their tiny little catering facilities. I honestly have no idea how they pulled it off, but I was absolutely blown away. They also always set up a dessert room, and many of the items featured there have been particularly notable. Of course, I never took photos or notes before, so I don't have any real details to share on my past events.
So this year, when I heard that Melons was catering our party again, I was excited. I took photos. I was ready to write a glowing blog post. But ... there was little to glow about with the main food options. Some of it was menu choice, as there was no extravagant seafood room this year (although there was a sushi bar, which was decent), but mostly, the hot food just really wasn't good, and perhaps most tragically, the desserts were all lackluster as well.
Melons has done a great job in the past though, so I'm hopeful that next time will be better ...
 |
| Charcuterie. |
Melons cures all of the meat in house, using products from Stone Valley Farms. There were several salami-style items that were all fine, including pork fennel salami, coppa, lonza, and prosciutto. The prosciutto was the most memorable, and I genuinely enjoyed it, particularly slathered with a little mustard, of which there were several choices.
But the star of the lineup was the duck liver mousse (and not just because it reminded me of foie gras!). It had the perfect consistency and flavor, not too livery. I went back many times throughout the night for more and more of this. Once I tried all of the desserts, and was not satisfied by any, I may or may not have come back for more of the mousse as my quasi-dessert. Winning item of the night.
The charcuterie station was completed by housemade focaccia and breadsticks, wild mushroom salad, chick pea and olive salad, and roasted peppers, none of which I tried.
 |
| Nigiri Sushi Bar. |
But, catering sushi? The shelf life of sushi is on the order of minutes, how could they possibly do sushi hours before and have it be good? They couldn't and knew that, so the sushi was actually being prepared behind the bar by a line of chefs, it hadn't been sitting around for hours.
There was a decent line up of nigiri including unagi, hamachi, salmon, octopus, and two types of tuna.
I tried all but the unagi, and they were all fine, not incredible obviously, but good enough, and the product was decent quality.
However, the fish was a bit warm. They obviously weren't in a climate controlled area, and were working with what they had, but there is something off putting about warm fish, and it certainly changed the texture.
The sushi was served with wasabi, ginger, and soy sauce, as you'd hope, but there were no dipping cups for the soy sauce, so you had to dump soy sauce on each piece of fish from the big vat as you served yourself, and this just didn't work well.
But for massive party catering? Not bad.
 |
| Assorted Sushi Rolls. |
One entire tray was California rolls, which turned out to be a good thing. Of all the sushi, it turned out to be my favorite, it tasted fairly fresh, and wasn't overly coated in mayo or anything.
The other platter contained a mix of spicy tuna, unagi, tempura shrimp, and veggie rolls. The spicy tuna was also tasty enough, but the fish was a somewhat grey color, which scared me a bit.
There were also two themed buffets: Italian or French. I somehow lost the photos.
The buffets annoyed me. They were buffets, but, you couldn't serve yourself, instead, they had staff there to add items to your plate. I wanted to try a little bit of everything, but it was impossible to communicate that I truly just wanted a little dollop of each dish so I could try everything, and then come back for more of something if I liked it. No matter what language I used, I got giant scoops of everything.
The French offerings had two salads, a good enough basic frisee salad with nicely crispy bacon bits (and an optional poached egg), and a fairly tasty celery root and carrot slaw. Hard to go wrong with bacon and mayonnaise. The hot offerings were not as successful. The gratin potatoes were completely undercooked and basically raw, so even large amounts of cream and cheese couldn't save them. The beef looked dried out and awful, so I didn't even try it, and I never like quiche, so I skipped that too. I was sad, since I love French cuisine, and there was potential here, but there weren't even delicious sauces to try!
The menu for the Italian section was no better. The main entrees were pork and rock cod, both of which I actively dislike (seriously, you want to hear me rant sometime ... ask me about rock cod. I don't think it is possible for rock cod to be tasty). I also skipped the fried stuffed olives, since they clearly weren't freshly fried. Since it was an Italian station, it obviously had pasta, and I did try those. The first had rubbery baby shrimp in a vary banal red sauce. Meh. The other was a vegetarian option, that just tasted really strange, and was crazy mushy. I didn't want to finish a single bite of this, not even for exploratory purposes.
The buffets were clearly not the way to go, and after the awful pasta and the undercooked gratin, I was too disheartened to try anything else, and just went back to the sushi and charcuterie to eat enough "real food" that I could move on to dessert.
As I mentioned, the previous years always had impressive dessert rooms. While I am fairly picky about food, dessert is the area where my standards do lower. Enough cream, butter, and sugar and I'm generally happy enough. But ... nothing here came close to satisfying.
On the left is carrot cake bites. They were fairly dry and flavorless, topped with a tiny insufficient dollop of cream cheese frosting. Seriously, carrot cake is ALL about cream cheese frosting, who thinks that a dot of it is enough?
Next was tiramisu, that clearly didn't set right. As it was spooned onto my place it ran all over the place like melted ice cream. I didn't mind the runnyness exactly, except that it also didn't taste like anything. No mascarpone flavor, no coffee flavor, nothing. Just runny whiteness.
In the back were tiny espresso panna cotta. Panna cotta is always a favorite of mine. This had a good consistency unlike the poor tiramisu, and it was topped with good enough whipped cream, and did taste a little like espresso, so, it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't particularly good.
The best was cheesecake, with a sweet, buttery, crunchy crust, and a creamy interior. It was topped with booze stewed dried fruits, which I wasn't a fan of, but the cheesecake itself was decent. Not earth shattering, and I wasn't even tempted to get a second piece, but, good enough.
There was also a pear pâte de fruit, topped with a dollop of cheese and a nut, which I skipped. Yes, gasp, I skipped a dessert.
And last, a chocolate gateau. It had a mediocre base chocolate cake layer and a decently creamy chocolate pudding layer. It was served with a sauce they ladled over the top, that was cloyingly sweet. Like, unpalatable sweet. And I like sweet! The sauce also had little chunks of banana, which were quite good, but I didn't understand the sauce at all. I'm normally a sauce girl, and a fan of having a hot component with my dessert, but this just didn't make any sense.
Last year's dessert lineup was much, much better, as there were multiple items that I couldn't stop going back for more and more of, and this year, I didn't bother with seconds of anything.
[ No Photo ]
Italian and French Buffets.
There were also two themed buffets: Italian or French. I somehow lost the photos.
The buffets annoyed me. They were buffets, but, you couldn't serve yourself, instead, they had staff there to add items to your plate. I wanted to try a little bit of everything, but it was impossible to communicate that I truly just wanted a little dollop of each dish so I could try everything, and then come back for more of something if I liked it. No matter what language I used, I got giant scoops of everything.
The French offerings had two salads, a good enough basic frisee salad with nicely crispy bacon bits (and an optional poached egg), and a fairly tasty celery root and carrot slaw. Hard to go wrong with bacon and mayonnaise. The hot offerings were not as successful. The gratin potatoes were completely undercooked and basically raw, so even large amounts of cream and cheese couldn't save them. The beef looked dried out and awful, so I didn't even try it, and I never like quiche, so I skipped that too. I was sad, since I love French cuisine, and there was potential here, but there weren't even delicious sauces to try!
The menu for the Italian section was no better. The main entrees were pork and rock cod, both of which I actively dislike (seriously, you want to hear me rant sometime ... ask me about rock cod. I don't think it is possible for rock cod to be tasty). I also skipped the fried stuffed olives, since they clearly weren't freshly fried. Since it was an Italian station, it obviously had pasta, and I did try those. The first had rubbery baby shrimp in a vary banal red sauce. Meh. The other was a vegetarian option, that just tasted really strange, and was crazy mushy. I didn't want to finish a single bite of this, not even for exploratory purposes.
The buffets were clearly not the way to go, and after the awful pasta and the undercooked gratin, I was too disheartened to try anything else, and just went back to the sushi and charcuterie to eat enough "real food" that I could move on to dessert.
 |
| Desserts. |
On the left is carrot cake bites. They were fairly dry and flavorless, topped with a tiny insufficient dollop of cream cheese frosting. Seriously, carrot cake is ALL about cream cheese frosting, who thinks that a dot of it is enough?
Next was tiramisu, that clearly didn't set right. As it was spooned onto my place it ran all over the place like melted ice cream. I didn't mind the runnyness exactly, except that it also didn't taste like anything. No mascarpone flavor, no coffee flavor, nothing. Just runny whiteness.
In the back were tiny espresso panna cotta. Panna cotta is always a favorite of mine. This had a good consistency unlike the poor tiramisu, and it was topped with good enough whipped cream, and did taste a little like espresso, so, it wasn't bad, but it also wasn't particularly good.
The best was cheesecake, with a sweet, buttery, crunchy crust, and a creamy interior. It was topped with booze stewed dried fruits, which I wasn't a fan of, but the cheesecake itself was decent. Not earth shattering, and I wasn't even tempted to get a second piece, but, good enough.
 |
| More Desserts. |
And last, a chocolate gateau. It had a mediocre base chocolate cake layer and a decently creamy chocolate pudding layer. It was served with a sauce they ladled over the top, that was cloyingly sweet. Like, unpalatable sweet. And I like sweet! The sauce also had little chunks of banana, which were quite good, but I didn't understand the sauce at all. I'm normally a sauce girl, and a fan of having a hot component with my dessert, but this just didn't make any sense.
Last year's dessert lineup was much, much better, as there were multiple items that I couldn't stop going back for more and more of, and this year, I didn't bother with seconds of anything.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Nestlé Candy
The Nestlé empire is rather insane. They have 8,000 brands ranging from baby food to frozen food and basically everything in-between If you start paying attention, you'd be shocked to see how many companies are owned by Nestlé.
Anyway, when Halloween rolled around, I got a chance to try some of their candy, for the first time in years. For some reason, everywhere I went was giving out candy this year, although most were giving out Hershey products, which I previously reviewed. You'll note that I called it candy, rather than chocolate, because honestly, there isn't a whole lot of cocoa going on here ...
"Crispety crunchety, peanut-buttery candy."
Tasting notes: The notes I wrote described this as "crispy crunchy caramely peanut buttery center" coated with milk chocolate. I was a bit blown away when I later read their description on the website, and it was a near-match! The filling was a really unnatural orange color. It was all low quality, but a pretty tasty combo.
[ Crappy milk chocolate, sweet crunchy center, not awesome, but not bad. ] [ I do love the crunchy sweet center, but, overall, it is actually too sweet for me to just want to eat. Perfect as a froyo topping. ]
"The classic peanut butter cup was missing something…until now. The combination of creamy milk chocolate, smooth peanut butter and the perfect dose of BUTTERFINGER took the cup to a whole ‘nother level."
My first thought was, "woah, they make peanut butter cups?" My next thought, as I opened the package was, "where is the outer wrapper?" as it was naked inside the package, like pretty much any other candy bar, but for some reason, Reece's has trained me to expect a wrapper. And very quickly, all those thoughts were replaced with, "what? Square? You can't have a square cup!"
So clearly, I went into this with expectations.
The milk chocolate was mild and very creamy. The inside was brighter orange than a regular peanut butter, more like, well, a butterfinger. The filling was a bit like crunchy peanut butter, and I liked the texture, but it didn't have enough peanut butter taste for my liking. Sorry, but I prefer a regular pb cup, or a regular Butterfinger, but I do see what they are going for here.
I still don't know why it was square ... with rounded corners, very 2.0 of it.
Anyway, when Halloween rolled around, I got a chance to try some of their candy, for the first time in years. For some reason, everywhere I went was giving out candy this year, although most were giving out Hershey products, which I previously reviewed. You'll note that I called it candy, rather than chocolate, because honestly, there isn't a whole lot of cocoa going on here ...
Butterfingers
 |
| Butterfinger Mini. |
Tasting notes: The notes I wrote described this as "crispy crunchy caramely peanut buttery center" coated with milk chocolate. I was a bit blown away when I later read their description on the website, and it was a near-match! The filling was a really unnatural orange color. It was all low quality, but a pretty tasty combo.
[ Crappy milk chocolate, sweet crunchy center, not awesome, but not bad. ] [ I do love the crunchy sweet center, but, overall, it is actually too sweet for me to just want to eat. Perfect as a froyo topping. ]
 |
| Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup. |
My first thought was, "woah, they make peanut butter cups?" My next thought, as I opened the package was, "where is the outer wrapper?" as it was naked inside the package, like pretty much any other candy bar, but for some reason, Reece's has trained me to expect a wrapper. And very quickly, all those thoughts were replaced with, "what? Square? You can't have a square cup!"
So clearly, I went into this with expectations.
 |
| Butterfinger Peanut Butter Cup: Inside. |
I still don't know why it was square ... with rounded corners, very 2.0 of it.
 |
| Baby Ruth Mini. |
Tasting notes: chocolate/caramel flavored nougat (the soft, slightly chewy kind) makes up most of the bar, topped with a VERY thin layer of thicker caramel, then layer of peanuts, covered in milk chocolate. Decent combination of textures, but the is caramel barely noticeable, and it is made from clearly low quality nuts and chocolate.
One bar I tried had no nougat! It was just thick caramel, peanuts, and chocolate coating. The peanuts and chocolate were nice enough, and the caramel had a nice chew, but, this didn't seem quite right.
Subsequent tasting notes:
[ Milk chocolate is clearly low quality, but the whole thing is sweet and kinda enjoyable, peanuts are nice. ] [ Same lower end milk chocolate, chewyish caramel nougat, plentiful peanuts that actually taste like peanuts, very sweet overall, not bad. ] [ Caramel very chewy, entire thing very sweet, like the crunch from the peanuts. ] [ Very sweet nougat filling, not enough peanuts, peanuts not evenly distributed so many bites had none. Chocolate isn't even really chocolate, just sweet too. ] [ Meh, the only good part is the peanuts. ]
This is from their Australian division, a chocolate disk with coconut flakes. The chocolate was just cheap milk chocolate, studded with lots of coconut flakes. I didn't really care for this, even though I wanted to like it, because I do like both chocolate and coconut.
Bit-O-Honey: Tasting notes: sweet, not very flavorful. Didn't really think it represented "honey" very well.
Nestlé Crunch: "Creamy milk chocolate and light airy crispies". Tasting notes: Is the chocolate actually "creamy"? No. Is the chocolate good at all? No. But I do enjoy the crunch!
 |
| Baby Ruth: Inside. |
Subsequent tasting notes:
[ Milk chocolate is clearly low quality, but the whole thing is sweet and kinda enjoyable, peanuts are nice. ] [ Same lower end milk chocolate, chewyish caramel nougat, plentiful peanuts that actually taste like peanuts, very sweet overall, not bad. ] [ Caramel very chewy, entire thing very sweet, like the crunch from the peanuts. ] [ Very sweet nougat filling, not enough peanuts, peanuts not evenly distributed so many bites had none. Chocolate isn't even really chocolate, just sweet too. ] [ Meh, the only good part is the peanuts. ]
 |
| Golden Rough. |
[ No Photos ]
Bit-O-Honey: Tasting notes: sweet, not very flavorful. Didn't really think it represented "honey" very well.
Nestlé Crunch: "Creamy milk chocolate and light airy crispies". Tasting notes: Is the chocolate actually "creamy"? No. Is the chocolate good at all? No. But I do enjoy the crunch!
Friday, January 09, 2015
Worthy Granola
I've been reviewing a slew of granola bars lately, but it has been a while since I reviewed regular old granola. I went through a phase where I tried tons of granola, making yogurt, fruit, and granola parfaits regularly. And then I stopped, mostly because I just never found granola I cared for. I know good granola exists, but somehow, I wasn't finding it. Some, like the ones I tried from Love Grown Foods, had bitter flaxseed that I didn't care for. Others, like the peanut butter granola from Erin Baker's Granola sounded like they'd be delicious, but failed to deliver. Honestly, the best I found was the dessert-like granola from Target's house brand, Archer Farms, or the Udi's granola included in my meal on Virgin America.
But I was given a sample of Worthy Granola by a co-worker. I read the label: organic, non-GMO, blah blah blah. I had no expectations.
It turned out to be the best granola I've ever had.
Worthy Granola is made locally here in San Francisco, and most of the ingredients are California-grown as well, including TCHO chocolate. You can purchase online through Good Eggs, or find it at a few establishments around town. I also met the owner at an artisan's market once. She only makes two varieties of granola, but both are phenomenal. If you ever find Worthy Granola, I highly recommend trying it!
The signature, and original, granola is called "Original Love", made with the standard players like rolled oats, whole almonds, raisins, and chunks of walnuts. I really appreciated the extra crunch from the well-toasted nuts, but I'm always pretty meh about raisins. These however were at least nice and plump, not little hard pellets like they sometimes can be.
The magic in Worthy Granola is in the additional ingredients in the mix, like generous size coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds. Maybe it is just this time of year, but the pumpkin seeds were a unique ingredient that I really enjoyed.
But the true "love" in this granola is the seasoning. Good base ingredients only get you so far, what makes this granola insanely addicting is just how delicious it is. Sweetened with maple syrup and blackstrap molasses, both of which give a more complex sweetness than standard granola. And then there is a tang from apple cider vinegar. The final touch? Pink mineral salt. That is what kicks the granola over the top. The salt level is high. Some would say it requires a "chef's palette" to appreciate it. But to me, it is perfect.
This is the best granola I've ever had. Interestingly, I generally prefer to have larger clumps in my granola, and this has none, but the flavors are just so amazing that I'm willing to overlook that. I enjoy it best just by the handful alongside a morning coffee, but I'm sure it is great in other applications too. I just never get that far. The moment the bag is opened, it is devoured.
Side note: the granola is normally distributed in glass jars, but since I had samples, it came in bags instead.
Worthy Granola now makes a second flavor: Cocoa Raspberry Love.
The ingredients list is a bit long, but nothing on there is scary: the same base of thick-cut rolled oats, almonds, dried coconut flakes, pure maple syrup, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, unsulfured blackstrap molasses, coconut sugar, raw apple cider vinegar, and unrefined pink mineral salt, plus additional freeze-dried raspberries, roasted TCHO cocoa nibs, and a blend of 66% and 84% TCHO chocolate.
But I was given a sample of Worthy Granola by a co-worker. I read the label: organic, non-GMO, blah blah blah. I had no expectations.
It turned out to be the best granola I've ever had.
Worthy Granola is made locally here in San Francisco, and most of the ingredients are California-grown as well, including TCHO chocolate. You can purchase online through Good Eggs, or find it at a few establishments around town. I also met the owner at an artisan's market once. She only makes two varieties of granola, but both are phenomenal. If you ever find Worthy Granola, I highly recommend trying it!
 |
| Original Love Granola. |
The magic in Worthy Granola is in the additional ingredients in the mix, like generous size coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds. Maybe it is just this time of year, but the pumpkin seeds were a unique ingredient that I really enjoyed.
But the true "love" in this granola is the seasoning. Good base ingredients only get you so far, what makes this granola insanely addicting is just how delicious it is. Sweetened with maple syrup and blackstrap molasses, both of which give a more complex sweetness than standard granola. And then there is a tang from apple cider vinegar. The final touch? Pink mineral salt. That is what kicks the granola over the top. The salt level is high. Some would say it requires a "chef's palette" to appreciate it. But to me, it is perfect.
This is the best granola I've ever had. Interestingly, I generally prefer to have larger clumps in my granola, and this has none, but the flavors are just so amazing that I'm willing to overlook that. I enjoy it best just by the handful alongside a morning coffee, but I'm sure it is great in other applications too. I just never get that far. The moment the bag is opened, it is devoured.
Side note: the granola is normally distributed in glass jars, but since I had samples, it came in bags instead.
 |
| Cocoa Raspberry Love. |
The ingredients list is a bit long, but nothing on there is scary: the same base of thick-cut rolled oats, almonds, dried coconut flakes, pure maple syrup, walnuts, extra virgin olive oil, unsulfured blackstrap molasses, coconut sugar, raw apple cider vinegar, and unrefined pink mineral salt, plus additional freeze-dried raspberries, roasted TCHO cocoa nibs, and a blend of 66% and 84% TCHO chocolate.
I loved this flavor too. The cocoa nibs added a little bit of extra crunch and bitterness, and the oats were covered with a little chocolate, making the whole thing take on a pleasant chocolate flavor. I think it would be awesome over ice cream.
But the real bursts of flavor came from two other ingredients: the freeze-dried raspberries and again, the pink mineral salt. The raspberries were just shocking. How did so much flavor get into these little morsels? The combination of raspberry and chocolate made it seem so decadent. But the real final punch was again the salt. It came through in every bite, on the finish, in a way that just rounded everything out perfectly, left the flavor lingering, and made you want.
And more I want. Now.
Thursday, January 08, 2015
Milky Way Ice Cream Bars
I'm sure you know Milky Way, the classic candy made by Mars. I've reviewed regular Milky Way chocolate bars before, but this is a Thursday review, so it is focused on ice cream, not chocolate. Did you know that they make Milky Way brand ice cream bars?
The wrapper, and exterior chocolate coating, look a lot like a regular Milky Way candy bar. But, once you get inside, you find that the milk chocolate shell is filled with caramel ice cream rather than nougat.
The bar was very sweet, as it was caramel on caramel. The ice cream was sweet, the caramel also sweet (and gooey!), and the milk chocolate, yup, sweet. But, I enjoyed it. The ice cream was better than most packaged ice cream bars, I loved the way the caramel sauce oozed all over the place, and the chocolate shell had a nice snap to it. It was far better than I expected.
I wouldn't necessarily get another, but it was pretty good!
Update: Ok ... so I got another. It was again crazy sweet. I wanted water or something to cleanse my palate afterwards, as I was overwhelmed by sweetness. The ice cream this time was a bit icy, but once it melted slightly, it was much better. The caramel was gooey and I liked it, but you had to be prepared for the sweetness. I again liked the snap of the chocolate, and although it wasn't quality stuff, it reminded me of the ice cream bars I ate as a kid, and thus, I liked it.
I also tried the chocolate version, basically the same thing, except with chocolate ice cream instead of caramel ice cream. The caramel sauce and milk chocolate shell were the same.
I again really liked the gooey caramel and the snap to the milk chocolate shell, but the chocolate ice cream was lackluster. This version wasn't as sweet as the caramel one, but I preferred the caramel.
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| Simply Caramel Ice Cream Bar. |
 |
| Insides. |
I wouldn't necessarily get another, but it was pretty good!
Update: Ok ... so I got another. It was again crazy sweet. I wanted water or something to cleanse my palate afterwards, as I was overwhelmed by sweetness. The ice cream this time was a bit icy, but once it melted slightly, it was much better. The caramel was gooey and I liked it, but you had to be prepared for the sweetness. I again liked the snap of the chocolate, and although it wasn't quality stuff, it reminded me of the ice cream bars I ate as a kid, and thus, I liked it.
[ No Photo ]
Chocolate Ice Cream Bar.
I again really liked the gooey caramel and the snap to the milk chocolate shell, but the chocolate ice cream was lackluster. This version wasn't as sweet as the caramel one, but I preferred the caramel.
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Travelin' Tuesday: Boston!
Welcome to another installment of Travelin' Tuesdays.
My recent Travelin' Tuesdays have focused on my adventures abroad, like London and Tokyo. But you might remember that about a year ago, I did my first ever Travelin' Tuesdays post, focusing on a few amazing meals in Boston and New Hampshire, including the meal I dubbed "Meal of the Year" at Clio in Boston.
While not as exciting as other locales, the northeast is the place I visit the most, since my family lives in New Hampshire. And thus, it is time to return to the Boston area, for more dining reviews.
This time, I'll start with another Virgin America First Class experience, SFO-BOS, followed by my goto stop for fresh seafood direct from Logan airport: Belle Isle. Speaking of seafood, I'll cover some mediocre sushi from Oishii Sushi Bar, before moving on to a good brunch (featuring a maple bacon waffle martini and cookie dough pancakes!) at North Street Grille in Boston. Finally, I'll do a new round of reviews of an east coast favorite: Dunkin' Donuts and I'll conclude on a sweet note with my favorite ice cream shop: JP Licks!
My recent Travelin' Tuesdays have focused on my adventures abroad, like London and Tokyo. But you might remember that about a year ago, I did my first ever Travelin' Tuesdays post, focusing on a few amazing meals in Boston and New Hampshire, including the meal I dubbed "Meal of the Year" at Clio in Boston.
While not as exciting as other locales, the northeast is the place I visit the most, since my family lives in New Hampshire. And thus, it is time to return to the Boston area, for more dining reviews.
This time, I'll start with another Virgin America First Class experience, SFO-BOS, followed by my goto stop for fresh seafood direct from Logan airport: Belle Isle. Speaking of seafood, I'll cover some mediocre sushi from Oishii Sushi Bar, before moving on to a good brunch (featuring a maple bacon waffle martini and cookie dough pancakes!) at North Street Grille in Boston. Finally, I'll do a new round of reviews of an east coast favorite: Dunkin' Donuts and I'll conclude on a sweet note with my favorite ice cream shop: JP Licks!
Monday, January 05, 2015
Seafood From Munchery
Each member of our group picked his or her own dish, and amusingly, everyone picked seafood, even though there were a large variety of other offerings available. I of course also added in dessert, as I was thrilled to finally be ordering on a night when Pietisserie pies were being offered. And I threw in some of the caramel corn, because I'm addicted to that stuff, and add it to my order whenever possible. Protip: order some, throw it in your freezer, and enjoy whenever!
Speaking of ordering, if you are interested in Munchery, for a full meal, desserts, or even just caramel corn, use my invite link, you'll get $20 off your first order!
We were all happy with our meals, and I'll continue to use Munchery whenever I need dinner during the week. But I'm still hoping that they'll offer weekend service soon!
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| Peppered Tombo Tuna: ponzu sauce. $11.95. |
I was really confused when I opened the box of my selection, the seared tombo tuna. Several others picked this dish as well, and I looked in their boxes too. All the same. A large tuna steak, not slices of seared tuna, as I expected.
Why did I expect something different? Well, the Munchery provided photo looked like this:
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| Peppered Tombo Tuna: Munchery Image. |
Slightly unsure of what I was really getting here, I looked at the instructions. I was supposed to heat the fish "until warm but still rare" after setting aside the ponzu. What was I supposed to do with the ponzu? Just pour it over? Dip things in it? Hmm, no further instruction given. Warm fish, cold ponzu? I decided to just have the tuna cold, as it was sushi grade fish after all, and I didn't want it to cook further.
The ponzu was ... ok. It had some garlic slices, green onions, and cherry tomato halves floating in it, all of which were soggy and not very appealing.
The bok choy was just steamed and kinda slimy. I liked the shiitakes, they were well seasoned, or perhaps just seasoned from the pepper crust of the tuna that was set on top of it. Either way, the mushrooms stole the show.
And now for the tuna. Served as a single steak, but obviously I could slice it myself as they did. It was far more cooked than shown in the photo, and I'm certain there is no way I could have possibly heated it so that it was warm without having it far past rare. It was well seasoned, but the pepper coating was inconsistent, and not nearly as generous as shown in the photo. Where the seasoning was, it was really quite delicious, and the strange ponzu was not needed.
Overall, this wasn't really what I was expecting, but I did really enjoy the mushrooms and the tuna, so I was happy enough. The others who ordered it however were not, and were quite disappointed at the done-ness level.
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| Sesame Seared Salmon: stir fried vegetables, kimchi aioli, tamari. $10.95. ($6.95 flash sale). |
This was Ojan's pick, and of course I tried a bite (it was my second choice, so I was thrilled he choose it, so I'd get to try it too!)
I tried it cold, but it was intended to be heated.
The serving of salmon was incredibly large. Tender, flaky, cooked medium. I loved the crunch from the generous coating of sesame seeds. Far better than I expected for pre-cooked salmon, and I would have gladly eaten the whole dish, although I would have kept it cold, duking it in the flavorful aioli. I don't actually like kimchi very much, but I did appreciate having the creamy component alongside.
The vegetables were carrots, broccoli, bok choy, and shiitakes. They didn't seem "stir fried" as advertised, but I think this was better, as I don't think stir fry would really hold up. If I were reheating it, I'd probably throw the veggies and tamari-ginger-sesame vinaigrette into a sauce pan for a few minutes. Like with my dish, I loved the mushrooms. Meaty and flavorful.
The vinaigrette was packed with flavor, and I loved the sesame oil on the finish. I used the leftover sauce on other food the next day. The veggies decently cooked.
The sauce lover in me really appreciated both flavorful, well thought out sauces included in this dish.
We ordered a bit late in the day right before a holiday, so it was on flash sale since there was surplus. The $6.95 price for a huge serving of salmon was incredible.
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| Provencal Style Grilled Salmon: roasted tomatoes, quinoa, sauce pistou $10.95. |
A final member of our group ordered the other salmon dish. I did not try it, but he seemed to enjoy it enough. The salmon was a decent size portion, simply grilled (with quite visible grill marks). The roasted tomatoes were a bit mushy/soggy, as the breadcrumbs were exposed to the moisture of the other food. The pistou was flavorful.
Fairly simple, but he finished his meal without complaint. Price was the same as other seafood based dishes through Munchery.
