Catering by Rebecca Jean Catering

Another year, another holiday party thrown at my apartment complex.  I've now attended at least 5 annual winter holiday parties, and each year has been quite different.  The first year was full cocktail attire, with extravagant food (it will take me a long time to forget that amazing carving station!) and live music (including a harpist!).  Every year since has been slightly less formal in all dimensions (dress, ambiance, cuisine, etc).  Last year I still wore a dress, and the catering included fairly decent passed appetizers and a serious (!!!) dessert station.

But this year, they told us it was going to be more casual, with a "Home for the Holidays" theme.  Given that I was on jury duty that day, and Ojan came right from the office, this was welcome, as neither of us had the energy to go home and get fancied up.  The food matched the far less formal attire.

There was no harp player, nor live music of any sort.  There were no passed appetizers, nor even a cold apps buffet.  Nearly every person I talked to said something about the lack of even a cheese and charcuterie station.  Most significantly to me, there was no dessert table, just a cake!

But, it was an opportunity to try a new caterer, Rebecca Jean Catering (previous catering was done by Peninsula Catering, JJardine, and Delessio.

Buffet Dinner Menu.

Dinner was served at a buffet, which the staff kept very well stocked.  In same ways, it seemed they were over-eager to take the serving vessels away, and had to kept interrupting the flow of the buffet to change out items, when, many times, they tray was still more than 50% full, and the lines were getting quite long.  I didn't really understand, and it wasn't that the food was getting cold, on the contrary, I actually burnt myself on one item.

Anyway, the theme of the menu seemed to be "generic and inoffensive"?

I went into it with standard expectations for a catering buffet, that is, probably mostly luke-warm, soggy, not very good.  As I mentioned above, food being luke-warm was certainly not a problem.  While most of it was lackluster, I did really enjoy one dish ...

Sides

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Walnuts & Pomegranate Seeds (vegetarian).

I heard several tables mentioning how tasty the brussels sprouts were as I walked by, so, I took a big scoop.

The sprouts were a cold dish, which I wasn't entirely expecting, but, I do like brussels sprouts salads, so I didn't mind.  The brussels were decently roasted, and mixed with bits of walnut and pomegranate seeds.  I don't like pomegranate, and the seeds didn't seem particularly ripe, but I did like the festive touch they added.

The parts of this dish I liked the most was some pieces of the sprouts where the leaves separated, and they were just super crispy, and well seasoned.  Perhaps a touch too salty of a dish, but I enjoyed at least the crispy bits.

Overall, a fine dish, and the only slightly original dish on the menu.

Prosciutto & Tarragon Mashed Potatoes.

The photo pretty much describes the potatoes.  They tasted exactly how they looked ... meh.

Kinda mushy, but creamy, but in a too-thinned-out-with-milk way, not an indulgent, rich way.  I didn't taste nor find any prosciutto, and it was only after when I re-read the menu to type this up that I realized the potatoes were supposed to have prosciutto in there somewhere.  I'm all for tasty meat bits, but, it seemed a bit sad for the vegetarians (if they noticed).  I'd never expect mashed potatoes to not be vegetarian, so I'd kinda imagine many didn't even notice.

Anyway, they weren't inedible or anything, just not very good.  Oh, and I totally burnt myself on my first spoonful.  I have no idea how they were so hot!

[ No Photo ]

Baby Spinach Salad with Bleu Cheese, Pickled Onions, Apples & Toasted Pecans. Served with a choice of Balsamic Vinaigrette or Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Dressing.

I somehow missed a photo of the salad, but it was decent, baby spinach, tart pickled onions, slices of apples, and pecans.  I went for the buttermilk dressing, which was creamy but not particularly flavorful.  Again, fine, but nothing special.

Mains

Rosemary Roasted Mary's Chicken.

I don't like chicken, so I moved right past the chicken main dish.

Grilled Bavette with Caper Meyer Lemon Salsa Verde.

The grilled bavette didn't look remotely tempting.  The meat was obviously well done, almost grey in color, and looked pretty tough.  I easily skipped it too.

Baked Rigatoni with Winter Squash, Kale, & Roasted Tomato Béchamel (vegetarian).

The final dish was the real winner, baked rigatoni.

It was cheesy comfort food at its finest.  The top was a generous, crispy layer of cheese that held the heat in.  Inside was well cooked pasta, in a very rich, creamy béchamel.  The béchamel infused the whole thing, filling the tubes of rigatoni, so it squirted out as you bit in.  I loved the béchamel.

There was also some small pieces of kale (greens! not totally unhealthy!), and medium sized chunks of zucchini (not the "winter squash" I was expecting given the menu description).  There was very small chunks of roasted tomato as well for a little additional flavor.  I appreciated the kale and tomatoes, but the zucchini definitely felt out of place.

This was my favorite dish of the night, no question.  Sometimes, I'm a sucker for classic comfort food, and this certainly fit the bill.  Was it amazing, worth seeking out, etc?  Obviously not.  But, I went back for seconds, and, at the very end of the night, for "one more bite", er, plateful.

Dessert

Vanilla Chiffon Cake with Eggnog Buttercream.

As I mentioned, this year, there was no elaborate dessert table, instead, just a cake.  One kind of cake, vanilla chiffon, with eggnog buttercream.

It wasn't very good.  The cake was dry and plain.  The buttercream did have a slight eggnog flavor, but it mostly tasted like, and had the consistency of, Crisco.  I'm never a huge fan of cake, but this was particularly not very good, and even the frosting couldn't save it.

Snacks

Aged White Cheddar & Cayenne Shortbread Crackers.

In a side room with drinks, they did have a snack table.  So when I said there was no appetizers, maybe this counts?  There were only two items though, one savory, one sweet, so, not really.

The savory was cheesy shortbreads, sorta a cross between a cracker and a cookie.  A bit crumbly, thick like a cookie rather than a cracker, slightly sweet, and, cheesy.  I didn't taste the cayenne at all.

An interesting item, and maybe a winner if you wanted a little something to end the night that wasn't really sweet?

Whiskey Caramel Popcorn.

Also on the table was ... whiskey caramel popcorn!

ZOMG.  So, I have an obsession with popcorn, sweet or savory.  Yes, my blog has a label for it.

There is a vendor at the farmer's market in my hometown that makes the most ridiculously good kettle corn imaginable.  My mother sends me bags of it via next day mail sometimes when she is feeling particularly generous.  I know how ridiculous this is, as it is huge in volume, but light, and costs a ton to ship like this, but, well, it is incredible, and I can't get it in San Francisco, so I don't give her too much crap when such a shipment arrives.  I'm also known for bringing entire suitcases of it back to San Francisco with me every time I visit, and my mom knows to always have a freezer full of it waiting for me (yes, a freezer.  My real obsession, is not just popcorn, but, frozen popcorn.  Try it sometime.  It gets crunchier.  I never want it hot and fresh, I always want it frozen!).

At my office, the catering team often makes popcorn for events.  Their savory version with parmesan and truffle is particularly addicting, as is the sweet brown butter version.  Whenever an event has leftover popcorn, you know who is there immediately, scooping it all up, and whisking it away to her freezer.

And then there is caramel corn.  Whenever I order from Munchery, I try to add on extra caramel corn, just to throw into my freezer, as the version they sell from time to time from Chef Allison Tom is also pretty great.  When I visit the ball park, I stock up on the warm, gooey version from Say Hey!.  I'll even stoop so low as to just eat Cracker Jacks (but only when I freeze them of course).

So to say I was excited about caramel popcorn is a bit of an understatement.  And, this was good.  I didn't taste whiskey, and it clearly wasn't frozen, but, it was good.  Sweet, a bit gooey, crunchy.  Some little chunks, some big balls.  I wanted nuts or something in it, but, for classic caramel popcorn, it surely was good.  I may or may not have gone back for a few more cups full throughout the evening, and perhaps I walked out the door at the end of the night with a final cup full in hand.  I mean, who would do something like that?

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Nestlé Ice Cream, Canada

I've reviewed Nestlé ice cream before, but those previous reviews were all of their US products, and, I didn't really like any.  But now it is time to focus on their Canadian offerings, which, yes, are different.

Over the summer, I visited our office in Waterloo, Canada, where they had one of my favorite perks: an ice cream freezer, filled with classic ice creams from the host country.  You know how much I love my ice cream, and may recall my raving about Street's ice cream from Sydney, and both Heartbrand and Mövenpick in Zurich.  So even though I knew that Nestlé's US offerings are pretty mediocre, I was still excited, and managed to try nearly every selection during my short time there. 

Drumsticks

I enjoyed all three varieties I tried, and would gladly eat more of these, which is more than I can say for US based Nestlé products!

King Size Cookie Dough Drumstick.

"Creamy cookie dough and chocolate with a rich chocolate swirl topped with delicious cookie dough pieces all in a chocolatey lined sugar cone with a chocolatey tip!"

I think this may be only available in Canada.  +1 to Canada!

I've been pretty down on Drumsticks in the past.  The Canadian offerings didn't look much different from those in the US.   I was ready to pass them by, and then I noticed one flavor: cookie dough.

I was drawn in.  It was a crazy hot day (yes! 90 degrees!  They have real summer there!) and they had an outside deck adjacent to the ice cream freezer, so it seemed like a match made in heaven.

And ... it was.  This was really, truly enjoyable.  This wasn't just a normal Drumstick, it was King Size, and expected that I'd eat the bits of cookie dough off the top, perhaps eat part of the "ice cream", and then move on.  But, no.  I kept going, and going, and going.  And then it was gone.  Why?  Because it was really good!

On top were the bits of cookie dough.  Interestingly, I think they were just cookie dough, not chocolate chip cookie dough, as we've all come to expect when we hear "cookie dough".  Sweet, slightly buttery tasting, good texture.  Things were looking good.  Also on top was some chocolate sauce.

But the "ice cream" has always been the part of Drumsticks that has failed to impress me.  This one had two flavors of ice cream (or frozen dairy product - I believe they can't call it ice cream because it doesn't meet the industry definition of ice cream?), one was milk chocolate and the other was ... tan.  I think it was "cookie dough" flavored?  I was intrigued, in part because I've never actually had cookie dough flavor ice cream, rather than vanilla ice cream with cookie dough bits like were on top of the cone.

Both ice creams were creamier than I've ever countered before with a Drumstick.  The temperature was about 90 degrees, and it melted just perfectly.  Not so fast that I had a mess on my hands, but fast enough to make it perfectly lickable.  Melty, creamy, soft, sweet ... ok, wow.

I enjoyed eating the cookie dough topping off, and then I enjoyed licking my ice cream, over and over again.  The King Size cones really have a lot of ice cream.  Once I reached the cone layer, I intended to ditch it.  I knew there wasn't that much ice cream left in the code anyway, I was pretty full (cuz uh, I also had a big slice of lemon meringue pie from the cafe literally moments before), and I never like the cones.

But this cone wasn't bad.  It wasn't soggy, it stayed crispy.  I still don't love sugar cones, so I wasn't that into the cone, but there was something magic going on down in it.  It was chocolate lined, like always.  But also, inside the center of the ice cream in the cone, was a core of chocolate sauce.  It made the ice cream even better.  I cracked open the cone itself, and used it to scoop all the remaining ice cream and sauce out.  So delicious.

I was powerless, and devoured the rest on the spot.  This was actually a winner, and I'd get another in a heartbeat.

King Size Sweet 'n Salty Caramel Drumstick.

"Creamy-tasting vanilla and salted caramel ripple, topped with praline-roasted peanuts."

The next day, I rushed back for another Cookie Dough Drumstick.  But, alas, they were all out.  I settled for the Sweet 'n Salty Caramel instead.

It was ... fine.  Still better than other Drumsticks I've had in the past.  I'm starting to wonder if the Canadian ones are actually different, or, if the warm weather just makes them more magical, as they melt so nicely?

This one also had two types of ice cream swirled together, regular vanilla and sweet caramel.  The caramel was too sweet for me.  The vanilla was necessary to balance it, but, still just a touch too sweet overall.  The ice cream however was creamy and again melted just perfectly.

On top was a drizzle of additional runny caramel, again, more sweet.  I never tasted any of the namesake "salty".  There were also some bits of candied peanuts.  I didn't like the peanuts very much, I'm not sure why, as I like candied nuts and I love peanuts, but these tasted just kinda bad.  Definitely not nearly as successful of a topping as the cookie dough bites.

Once I broke through the massive scoop on top (yeah King Size!), the ice cream below had additional caramel down the core.  This was sweet too, but since it was the caramel sauce rather than the ice cream, it seemed to work better somehow, I wasn't quite as sweet overwhelmed.

The cone, as always, was chocolate lined.  I like the chocolate, and always eat the tip of the cone that is just a big chunk of chocolate, but I never like the actual sugar cone.  Still, I always want it because I love licking ice cream from a cone, so, no real complains.

This was fine, I finished it easily, but I don't want another.

King Size Chocolate Fudge Brownie Drumstick.

"Creamy texture with chewy brownie pieces in this King size cone that’ll make any chocolate lover go weak at the knees."

My final day in the office, I eagerly headed to the ice cream freezer.  I wanted another cookie dough Drumstick!  But again, no dice.  The King Size offering of the day was ... Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

I'm not a huge chocolate ice cream fan, but I still settled for it.  Turns out, it wasn't really settling.

It followed the same formula as the previous two King Size Drumsticks: 2 types of ice cream swirled together (this time, vanilla and chocolate), sauce on top and in the ice cream core (chocolate sauce), and bits of a namesake goodie on top (fudge brownies).  I'd seen all of these components before, except for the brownies of course.

It was about the same as the others.  Creamy ice cream that melted perfectly.  I loved the addition of the chocolate sauce on top and down inside the ice cream in the cone.  The brownie bits on top were similar to the cookie dough in both size and texture.  Not too big, not too small, slightly sweet.  Tasty enough.

Overall, very enjoyable.  I really do like the formula they have adopted here for two flavors of really nicely creamy ice cream, sweet sauce, and a fun topping.  I'd get another, but really, I just want another cookie dough one!

Other

I also tried another Nestlé ice cream product: the Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich.  The astute reader may notice that I have "Nestlé" and "Oreo" in the same sentence, and knows that Oreos are made by Nabisco, not Nestlé.  This is certainly true.  But, Nabisco doesn't make ice cream treats, so they license the name to several ice cream manufactures, including Breyers (for Oreo ice cream), Good Humor (for Oreo ice cream bars), and Klondike (for Oreo ice cream sandwiches) in the US, and, Nestlé in Canada, to make these ice cream sandwiches.

Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich.

Unfortunately, the cookie was ... soggy.  It didn't actually remind me of an Oreo, even though it certainly looked like a jumbo sized one.   The soggy texture was just far too different from a real Oreo.

The ice cream inside wasn't creamy, and as you can see, it wasn't white like in the picture on the wrapper (not that I cared if it was white or not).  It had lots of cookie bits throughout, but, otherwise, was unremarkable.  But most significantly, it didn't taste like Oreo filling, and I desperately wanted it to.

Everyone knows the good part of an Oreo is the creme filling, and this had none of the creme flavor, which, in addition to the soggy cookies, made it a fail for me.

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Park Gyros

Park Gyros is a Mediterranean restaurant located near Golden Gate Park, featuring mostly Greek cuisine, but they describe themselves as "Ancient Greece Meets Contemporary Turkey".

The menu has all the standard Mediterranean appetizers you'd expect (baba ghanoush, hummus, tabouleh, dolma, etc), plus tons of wraps (gyros, falafel, etc), assorted kebab plates with rice, salad, and pita, and a few traditional entrees like moussaka.  But I'm not really a big fan of Mediterranean food, sans one category.  You guessed it: dessert.  The dessert menu is not extensive, with only two options, baklava or rice pudding.  But who needs options, when you have rice pudding?  I love pretty much all puddings, rice pudding included.  And, spoiler, Park Gyros does a great rice pudding.

Outside Seating.

So, Park Gyros.  This is a casual place, you order at a register, located along a counter with the assorted dips and raw kebobs on display.  There is seating inside and out, all clean and well taken care of.

Service has been quite friendly on all my visits.  Yes, I've gone multiple times, because the rice pudding is just that good.  If you ever find yourself near Golden Gate Park, it is certainly worth checking out.

Rice Pudding.  $3.50.

As I said, I had my eyes only on dessert.  Yelpers rave about the baklava, but, baklava is never really my thing.  Sure, I like it, but baklava is like cookies to me, I like them, but I'd pick something else given the choice.  But I do love puddings, and in particular rice pudding, even though I'm not much of a rice eater.  When I saw the rice puddings behind the counter, there was no doubt in my mind that I was getting one.

Of course, rice pudding comes in many styles.  Is it served warm or cold?  Does it have raisins? Or nuts?  How much spicing? What kind of spices?  Cardamon?  Cinnamon on top?  How sweet is it?  Is the rice short or long grained?  Is the pudding runny or custardy? Topped with whipped cream?  Or even fruit?  Was it boiled on the stovetop, or baked?

Unlike crème brûlée, where I have a very, very specific style I like, with rice pudding, I like it many different ways.  But, I've had a lot of rice puddings over the years that were highly mediocre, like the one from Lahore Karahi, that even though it did have raisins, nuts, and spicing, was totally uninteresting.  Or the far too sweet version from Amber Dhara.  I had no idea what to expect from Park Gyros, as they are a gyro shop, not exactly specializing in desserts.

It was a massive serving of rice pudding.  What you see above is a single portion.  Yes, it came in a little aluminum tray (apparently this is traditional, I just learned that now).  As the cashier packaged it up, he asked if I'd like cinnamon on top.  I said sure, and it was freshly sprinkled on for me.  I'm curious why they don't always add it, do some people not like cinnamon?  I certainly like cinnamon on my rice pudding.  Anyway, I liked that touch, cinnamon'ed to order.

The most common rice pudding I encounter is Indian kheer, and I knew this would be a bit different, namely because kheer is boiled on the stovetop, and Turkish rice pudding is baked.  I remember the first time I had Turkish rice pudding, from Tuba, and was a bit put off by the film-like layer on top that results from baking, and the scorch marks on top, because I was unfamiliar with that style.  This time, when I saw the film layer, I momentarily thought there was paper or something on top, but then quickly remembered my previous experience.

I really liked this rice pudding.  And this time, I even embraced that top film layer, appreciating it for the contrasting texture.  The rice was short grained, not remarkable, not too mushy, not really al dente either, just there.  There wasn't tons of rice, but the pudding was thick enough to stand alone.  The pudding was sweetened, but not too sweet.  The cinnamon added some nice spicing.  I didn't really detect any other spices, and there were no nuts nor raisins either.  Somehow, I know this doesn't sound that great, but it really did taste good.  The sweetness was just right, the spicing was balanced, and it was perfectly creamy and comforting.  I didn't need to add anything to it, and appreciated it for its simplicity.  It reminded me of the pre-packaged one I had from Juan J's, which I had previously claimed beats out most restaurant rice puddings.

The portion size that I originally thought was insanely large was easily finished.  I sorta wished I'd gotten a second one to bring home and eat later.  Or to have for breakfast the next day.  It was quite good, and I'd gladly get another.  The $3.50 price was fine for a large portion of a clearly homemade item.

Update review: I was near Golden Gate park one afternoon and remembered the rice pudding, so I swung by Park Gyros again.  This time, I was not asked if I wanted cinnamon added, and it was just dumped on.  And yes, dumped.  I think he slipped as he was doing it, as he really did add a rather large pile of cinnamon on top.

Anyway, it was still delicious.  I love how absolutely creamy the pudding is, how it is the right level of sweet (not too sweet, but sweet enough to feel like a dessert), and strangely I love the thick film on top.  I'll continue to pick this up as a treat whenever I find myself in that part of town.

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Exquisite Catering @ Asbury Hall

Over the summer, I attended a wedding held at Asbury Hall, in Buffalo, NY.  It is a really fascinating venue, originally a Methodist church, constructed in the 1800s.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  And it is owned by Ani DeFranco.  Random, yes.  But a really great venue for a wedding, with a big stage in front, plentiful space in the hall, and even a balcony level.

Wedding Hall.

In the middle of they hall they set rows for the seated ceremony.  They were quickly cleared away after dinner and turned into a dance floor.

Dinner was a seated tables around the room.

Anyway, this isn't "Julie's Architecture Review Club", so, I'll stop talking about the venue, and instead focus on what you are here for: the food!

The catering was done by Exquisite Catering, and, assuming it would go the way of pretty much all wedding catering, aka, totally disappointing (like even at the famous Parker House), I didn't take notes, nor did I ever intend to write a review.

But, the quality of the catering was so impressive, I am compelled to write this up.  You know, just in case any of you need to throw a wedding in Buffalo, NY and are looking for a caterer.  If you are, I highly, highly recommend Exquisite Catering!  The summary?  They used quality ingredients, the food was well prepared, and shockingly, even for catering, it was served hot, and the veggies were perfectly crisp.  I was honestly stunned.

Our friends choose a wedding package featuring an open bar for four hours, a champagne toast, a cocktail hour with fruit, cheese, and antipasto displays plus three passed hot appetizers, and then a seated dinner with a salad and three entree options.  I'll review both sections of the night.

Hors d’Oeuvres

The evening started with a cocktail hour, which included both stationary cold appetizers and hot passed appetizers.

The bar was well stocked, and the bartenders very friendly.  Great service from the staff.

Hors d’Oeuvres Display.

"Salami, Marinated Artichokes, Pepperoncini,Assorted Olives, Roasted Red Peppers,

Sopresetta and Capicola, Seasonal Fresh Fruit, Domestic Cheese, Imported Cheese, Crackers."

All wedding packages include cheese and fruit at this station, and our hosts upgraded to include antipasto for $2/person.

The cold apps were an array of antipasto, cheese, and fruit, arranged on platters spiraling around a center piece.  The staff kept this area replenished nonstop.

This was the weakest part of the meal though.  I didn't try any of the fruit, didn't love the charcuterie, and thought the brie was flavorless, but I did really enjoy the smoked gouda.  That said, I wasn't trying to fill up on these items, when there were far better things to come.

Hot Apps: Duck Confit, Spanikopita, Spring Rolls.

For passed apps, our hosts were able to select 3 items from an extensive list, which had a number of tempting options, like mini crab cakes, fried ravioli with dipping sauce, crispy risotto bites, bacon wrapped scallops, even chicken and waffles!  They selected:

• Duck Confit on Brioche Drizzled with Truffle Honey
• Mini Spanikopita Quiche Cups (vegetarian)
• Spring Vegetable Roll with Sweet Chili Sauce (vegetarian)

The apps were brought around by servers circulating the room throughout the cocktail hour.  I didn't take any photos during that time, again, not planning to write a review, however, they placed a plate of them on our table afterwards to continue enjoying alongside our meal, which is what you see pictured above.

I don't really like duck, or crostini, so the duck confit wasn't a winner for me, just an item I don't really care for on top of crispy and oily bread.  Others enjoyed it.

The vegetable spring rolls were good, a little oily, but far better than expected.  They were served piping hot and fresh, quite rare for catering.  How often is catered food actually hot?  I did of course love the sweet chili sauce served alongside.

The spanikopita quiche cups were the hands-down winner.  They too were hot and fresh.  The inside was cheesy and creamy, and the crust was flaky, buttery, and quite tasty.  This was a unique form of spanikopita, no phyllo dough involved, but I really enjoyed these.  Warm, cheesy, comfort food, how do you say no, particularly when they keep coming to you, delivered with a smile by very attentive serving staff.

The staff did a great job here, circulating the entire room effectively (how frustrating is it when the platters of apps never make it more than a few feet into the room at large events?) and the food flowed steadily (again, how frustrating when it runs out after 10 minutes, or the lag between rounds is crazy long?).  We wanted for nothing, and it was one of the most successful cocktail hours I've ever seen executed.

Dinner

Beautiful Tables.

After the ceremony, we moved to seated tables for the main meal.

All dinner packages include salad, rolls, and coffee/tea service, in addition to the choice of 3 entrees.

Mixed Berry Salad.

"Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries tossed with mesclun greens and topped with a berry vinaigrette and garnished with gorgonzola cheese".

Our hosts had the choice of 5 salads for everyone to receive to start.  I really applaud Exquisite Catering here, as not a single option was just a standard garden salad.  The most run of the mill choices were the Caesar or Caprese, and the other three included more interesting ingredients like pears and candied walnuts, fennel and oranges, or, in our case, mixed berries.

The salad was actually really quite good, almost awesome even (aside from looks, that is).  The lettuce was fresh and crisp, and the spinach in particular really shone.  The berries were all quite flavorful, fresh, and perfectly ripe, a great seasonal choice.  Gorgonzola went nicely with the berries.

But ... it was inconsistently dressed, and overdressed in places, and the dressing was just too powerful.  The half of the salad I had without much dressing I actually really loved, but the center with all the dressing I couldn't quite handle.  A shame, as the ingredients really were spectacular.

Overall though, for mass wedding catering, the quality of the ingredients and freshness were very impressive.

Filet Mignon (8oz).

"Seared filet topped with a merlot reduction sauce along with red bliss potatoes and green beans

almandine."

Moving into the entrees, our hosts were able to pick 3 selections for us to pick from in advance when we RSVPed.  They selected one beef, one chicken, and one seafood option.

For beef, they could select between the NY Strip or Filet Mignon, and luckily for us, they went for the filet.

Ojan picked this for his entree, since of all items, steak is the one that catering tends to do the best, particularly because it is less temperature sensitive at serving time, and can hold its heat a little.

I tried a bite and it was good.  Obviously he had no choice in how it was cooked so it was more cooked through than we'd prefer, but it was decent quality, nicely seared, he polished it off without trouble, a bit remarkable given how much we'd already had to eat at this point.

The beans were unremarkable, I really think just beans, not almandine as described on the catering menu.

The potatoes were well roasted and seasoned, but not particularly interesting.  Ojan didn't bother take a second bite, and left the potatoes and beans virtually untouched.  But he enjoyed the steak, and was more than satisfied with his meal.  Again, we had feasted on the passed apps, since they were so shockingly good, and we weren't expecting stellar entrees.

Seared Swordfish.

"Topped with a crab and tomato butter along with herb risotto and asparagus."

I opted for the seafood, even though I knew this was a risky move.  But I really like fish!  Our hosts had the choice of pecan crusted salmon with a honey beurre blanc, panko crusted roasted mahi mahi with a basil butter sauce, or this swordfish.  They all actually sounded great to me.

The swordfish was actually really quite nice.  It was moist.  Yes, seafood served en masse, and it wasn't dried out.  It, like the apps, was piping hot.  Not just warm, actually hot.  A bit hard to see due to the sauce, but it had lovely grill marks on it, and a slight smoky flavor.  I was stunned at how well the swordfish was prepared.

Under the swordfish was asparagus, also quite good, nicely roasted, fresh, seasonal, flavorful.  No token generic frozen vegetables on the plate.

All of this was atop a risotto.  It too was quite good, flavorful, creamy, and nicely cooked. Not a pile of mush.

And, the best part, the tomato butter with crab.  This was truly delicious, and everything was smothered in it.  It went well with everything on the plate.

The portion was huge, and I'd already had quite a few of the appetizers, but I couldn't stop eating this.  It wasn't just good for catering, it was just really, truly, delicious.  I finished every last bite, even knowing how full I was, and that there was of course a dessert room to follow.  Too good.  Shocking.

No one at our table opted for the chicken selection, so I don't have anything to say about that.

Desserts!

After the meal, a back room was transformed into a dessert mecca.  I believe the desserts were prepared by someone other than the main caterer, but I'm not positive.

We had an assortment of cupcakes in fun flavor combinations, topped with fondant dinosaurs (the wedding theme).  The cakes themselves weren't great, but the frosting flavors were all tasty, and I loved the cute dinos.  There were also some lackluster mini pies and really excellent chocolates.

This was all served with coffee and tea.  The decaf coffee was very drinkable, a nice surprise.

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Sprogs Rice Scooters™

I don't even know how to write an intro for this one, so I'll just dive right in.  Sprogs.

What are Sprogs?  Well, according to the company, they are "Fresh Eats for Healthy Foodies On The Move!"  I am frequently a "foodie on the move", but, uh, the "healthy" part is obviously debatable.  But still, a new food item to try?  Obviously I was in.

Sprogs are "Rice Scooters™".   That cleared it up, right?

They are balls made from rice mixed with other ingredients.  Available in meat, vegetarian, and sweet varieties.  All are small little balls, designed as a quick grab and go option for a snack or perhaps a light meal.  Sorta like other forms of hand-held rice snacks like onigiri.

The company, based in San Francisco, was started by a mother who cared about feeding her family healthy, fresh meals, and hated the available option for grab and go meals and snacks.  So she set about creating a product that she'd be happy feeding her kids, and herself.

All varieties of Sprogs use partially milled Haiga brown rice, made from rice grown here in California.  Haiga rice is used because brown rice is more nutritious than white, and because the partial milling makes it easier to digest, without losing the nutritional benefits.  Many of the ingredients (particularly meat, eggs, and dirty dozen produce) are organic.  The corn is obviously non-GMO.  All are wheat-free and gluten-free (although not certified), and most of the vegetarian options are also vegan.

The company focuses on making the items as fresh as possible, making their own broth from scratch, their own jams (lower-sugar too), and pickling their own kimchee.  No preservatives.  Necessarily, these don't have a super long shelf life, less than a week, although they are fine left out of the fridge for a day, which is really handy.  Designed to be eaten cold, since they are a grab and go item, but they note that some people prefer to heat them up.

Sprogs sell for $2.59 each, which is a bit high for such a small treat, but makes sense given what goes into them.  You can order via GoodEggs, or they deliver in SF and Palo Alto for a reasonable delivery fee of $4.99, or they can be shipped anywhere in the US for $28 ($18 for California).

I tried many varieties, but alas, as I don't really like rice, these are certainly not the product for me.  I still think my favorite rice balls are the onigiri in the JAL lounge in SFO.  That said, Ojan, who does enjoy rice, and loves the rice balls from Onigilly, also didn't like any of these.  He finds the rice too mushy.

"Meatie"

Meat eaters have 3 choices, two with chicken (teriyaki or Jamaican jerk) and one with bacon and egg.  You can guess which one was interesting to me, given that I really dislike chicken, and, duh, bacon, when would I ever turn down bacon?  Still, no winners in this category for me.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken.

"Our. Best. Seller.  Coconut rice with red beans filled with shredded organic chicken that has been slow roasted in a hauntingly flavorful Jamaican Jerk marinade."

But I started with the best seller: Jamaican Jerk Chicken.  I was ready to hand it off to Ojan after I took my requisite bite, since I knew this wouldn't be one for me, as I don't like chicken or beans.

Surprisingly, my favorite part was the rice.  I liked the coconut rice, it used coconut milk rather than shredded coconut, so it was creamy and flavorful.  Of course, this is why Ojan didn't like it, as the rice was too mushy for his taste.  The beans were a bit mushy, but, they were beans.  I don't like them ever.  The chicken was in the middle, and I didn't try it.

If you like chicken, I can imagine this being a nice bite, 110 calories each, so a nice little snack with some protein.

Bacon & Egg "Fried Rice".

"The rice isn't actually fried, but it is chock full of chopped bacon, scrambled egg and veggies."

Next I went for the bacon one.  I like bacon, so of all the savory varieties, this is really the only one that I had any hope for.  Although, I was still skeptical I'd like a rice ball ...

Inside the ball was chopped cubes of carrots, peas, corn, and scallions.  You could see the love that goes into these in how the sizes of all the vegetables were the same.  They were well distributed throughout.  The bacon chunks and egg chunks were also the same size.

The brown rice was mixed with some sticky rice too, plus rice wine vinegar.

But ... it was still a rice ball.  I just don't like rice, particularly brown rice.  The veggies were well cooked, and I did enjoy the pops of flavor from the bacon, but, overall, this just wasn't for me.

I added soy sauce which made it better, but, I'm not sure what it would take for me to really like a rice ball.

"Veggie"

The four vegetarian options are all also vegan, and I tried them all.

Roasted Corn and Poblano  (vegan).

"Flame-roasted poblano peppers and toasted corn make for a surprisingly sweet, mellow flavor combination!  Tied together with sautéed red onion, pureed organic Yukon Gold potatoes and a hint of ground cumin." 

This was actually a pretty simple flavor compared to others in terms of the length of the ingredient list.  Besides the aforementioned poblanos, corn, red onion, and potatoes, there really was nothing else besides rice wine vinegar, salt, and cumin. 

It did have some good flavor, not due to the poblano as I expected, but actually from the roasted corn.  It was super flavorful, fresh, and surprisingly crisp.  I really liked the flavor of the corn.  I also found cubes of potatoes inside, although the description said the potato was pureed.  They were soft and tender, but very bland, since they were just potato.

I still wanted a sauce or something, because even with the corn and poblanos, it was fairly plain tasting on its own.  But with a good sauce, this could be a winner?

Kale & Kimchee (vegan)

"Bunches and bunches of fresh kale are finely chopped (turns our fingers green!).  Then we carefully hand-chop our own home-made vegan kimchee for awesome flavor with a little crunch.  (Instead of dried fish or shrimp, we achieve that funky, authentic kimchee flavor from fresh daikon.) "

I don't really like the flavor of kimchee, so, this was definitely not for me.  I tried a bite, but, it was just a cube of mushy rice with a flavor I really, really didn't care for.

Shiitake (vegan).

"First we simmer a super flavorful shiitake broth and let it steep overnight to develop the flavors.  Then we add Haiga rice and cook it directly in the shiitake broth.  Fresh ginger adds a little extra background note to this vegan favorite."

I did like the bits of shiitake in this one, nicely flavored with sake, mirin, and soy sauce.  But they were tiny and there were not many.  It was mostly just rice.  I didn't pick up on the promised flavors in the rice from the cooking method, it was fairly plain.

Not a big fan, well, since it was mostly just rice.  With more mushroom, it has potential though.

Coconut Red Lentil.

"A satisfying combination of red lentils and coconut milk simmered with onion and ginger.  Toasted yellow split peas add extra texture and protein.  Not exactly spicy but there is a little kick from the green chile. "

I saved this for last, since I did not expect to like it.  I dislike lentils even more than I dislike beans.

Like the Jamaican Jerk Chicken the rice was cooked in coconut milk, so it was a different texture than the others.  In this case though, it really just seemed like a pile of mush.  I didn't care for it.  I understand where Ojan was coming from in this aspect.

I was confused when I saw the insides of this ball.  I saw nothing red, instead there were little yellow things.  I thought this was red lentil?  Hmm, maybe they subbed in other lentils?  Then I tasted it.  I tasted the unmistakable taste of split peas.  I loath split peas, far more than beans and lentils.  So then I read the ingredients list ... yes, those were yellow split peas.  Blegh.  And where were those lentils anyway?  I never found any, nor did I pick up on the any green chile also mentioned.

Hands down my least favorite.

"Sweetie"

And finally, the category I was eying the most, the sweeter ones, all vegetarian.  Two are plays on peanut butter and jelly, and the final, rice pudding.  Yes, dessert!

Rice Pudding.

"A classic recipe made from Haiga rice simmered in organic milk with cinnamon and raisins.  The only difference?  You can eat this one without a spoon and we like it less sweet than traditional versions."

To say that I was most looking forward to this one is an understatement.  If I could pick only one Scooter to try, it was clearly going to be this one. As I've mentioned several times, I tend to dislike rice ... unless it is rice pudding.  I adore rice pudding.

I eagerly took my first bite.  Cinnamon.  So much cinnamon.  Way too much cinnamon.  Woah.  I honestly can't imagine this is how they all are.  I'd like to try another batch, as this was just so out of balance, it had to be a mistake.

The rice is a mix of the haiga rice that all the Scooters use, plus some sweet white rice too.  There is a little bit of milk and sugar in here to sweeten it, but it is still a ball of rice, so it isn't creamy like actual rice pudding.  There were plenty of nice plump raisins.

I didn't like this, partially because there was just way too much cinnamon, and partially because it just wasn't at all what I wanted it to be.  A cold rice ball with rice pudding spicing is nothing like my precious bowl of creamy rice pudding.

I tried to salvage it by adding milk, mixing it up, and heating it.  I was trying to create a creamy, warm rice pudding, and trying to reduce the cinnamon overload.  It still just wasn't for me.

I'd like to try another to see if it too is crazy cinnamon-y?

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Lady Walton’s Cookies

Last week, I reviewed Rip Van Wafel, a brand of packaged stroopwafels produced here in the Bay Area.  This week, I tried another brand of stroopwafel: Lady Walton's.

Lady Walton's takes a slight twist on the standard caramel filled stroopwafel, and instead fills them all with different types of chocolate.  They are available in 6 flavors, none of which are classic caramel.  Varieties range from dark chocolate (with orange, raspberry, or mint), and even some white chocolate (with french vanilla or amaretto).  And, called "cookies", because, who are we kidding, that is what they really are after all.  In addition to the standard cup-size cookies, they also make bite sized.

I liked these more than Rip Van Wafels, but, as I don't really like cookies, they aren't really something I'd get again.

Creamy Dark Chocolate Wafer Cookie.

"Award-winning, chocolate filled, all-natural wafer cookies made with European style butter and filled with premium chocolate. Place over a steaming cup of coffee or tea to soften and warm the chocolate."

I tried to follow the instructions to place it over my cup of coffee, but even the diameter of my narrowest cup was too large, and, fearing what happened with my Rip Van Wafel, I had to settle for not warming it up.

The wafer was very crispy, like a waffle cone.  It was a bit buttery, a bit sweet, but didn't really have much flavor.  Nor did the "premium chocolate", which just seemed like standard chocolate.

This was't bad, but it also wasn't particularly good.

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Crazy Crab'z at AT&T Park

Update Review, October 2015 Visit

As always with update reviews, I'll tell you to start with my original review, if you care about general background and previous experience with an establishment, as I skip that entirely for update reviews, unless something has changed.

I recently attended a ballgame at AT&T park as part of a company offsite, where our tickets were loaded with SplashTix credits to spend at concessions within the park.  Some co-workers spent the entirety on cocktails, but I was never impressed with the margaritas or Bailey's hot chocolate.  Others were all about the hot dogs (which I'd had before, and didn't really want again) and garlic fries (again, I'd been underwhelmed in the past).  I fondly recalled the crab louis salad from Crazy Crab'z for, but this time, I decided to spend my credits in other ways: indulging in bubble tea, a hot fudge sundae, and caramel corn.  Don't judge!  It was all great.

Luckily for me, anther co-worker went to Crazy Crab'z, and decided that he wanted Tony's Pizza instead, after eating half his meal.  You know who quickly volunteered to take the rest off his hands.

Crazy Crab'z Sandwich (1/2). $17.

It was ... ok.  The bread was insanely buttery, crispy, toasted sourdough.  Not really my thing, but I knew it wouldn't be.  There is a reason I opted for the salad before.

The filling was generous though, tons of crab meat, some shredded, some lump, with a lot of mayo mixed in.  Decadent, quality crab.  There were also slices of tomato.

Overall, it was certainly fine, but not really what I was in the mood for.  $17 is a high price for a fairly small sandwich (what you see above is only half), but, hey, it is the ball park, and there was a lot of crab.  I'd go back to the salad next time.

Original Review, June 2013

I recently attended my very first baseball game at AT&T Park, as a team offsite event for work.  This was not just my first Giant's game, or even my first professional baseball game, it was literally, my first ever baseball game.  Given that info, you can kinda imagine how much I cared about the actual game I was going to see.

I almost didn't go, but then I found out that they were also giving us credits ("SplashTix") to spend at the concessions at the ballpark.  I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from ballpark food, but I had visions of delicious things like snow cones, fries, cotton candy, and caramel corn.  And, as my co-workers quickly pointed out, if all else failed, the credits could be used for drinks.  I was pretty much sold, and then, being my crazy self, did some research to find out what was good at the ballpark.  I quickly discovered that while I could get classic hot dogs and peanuts, AT&T Park, being in foodie obsessed San Francisco, had a lot of other options.  There was sushi.  Crab.  Clam chowder.  Fried dough.  Sooo many choices!  My decisions were made a bit easier by the fact that only about half the merchants accepted SplashTix.  (Side note: I wish they had signs or logos or something that indicated which did and which didn't, because it was annoying to wait in long lines, only to find out they didn't accept it.  My understanding is that this was the first year they added SplashTix, so hopefully that gets smoother in the future.)

My research quickly revealed a number one spot for food: Crazy Crab'z.  And being a crab lover, this was very exciting.  Everyone complained about the prices, but raved about the crab itself.  And they complained at its location, back behind the scoreboard, probably the further away concession.  But again, pretty much everyone - Yelpers, Chowhounders, my friends - all universally said this place was worth it, and hands down was the best food in the park.

So, that is where we headed first.  The long hike along the Promenade to Crazy Crab'z was actually really beautiful, with open views to the bay.  I see the bay all the time, so this wasn't all that novel, but it was pretty striking.

We found Crazy Crab'z, and as predicted, it had fairly long lines.  While we were standing in line, a guy came over, pointed at a bunch of us near the back of the line, and told us to come with him.  Uh, what?  We kinda didn't move, and he was like "come with me, shorter lines".  We still didn't move much, but eventually followed him over to a line several stands down that was just advertising hot dogs and whatnot.  Um, I wanted crab, what was he doing?  He explained that all the lines were actually the same.  I still doubted him, but did as he said.  And, he was right, we could order the crab at the short line instead.  So, protip, all the lines back there are actually the same, you don't need to join the crazy long line.

Crazy Crab'z offers exactly 3 items: the signature toasted Crazy Crab Sandwich, a cold crab and bay shrimp roll, and a Crab Louis salad.  Everyone says to get the Crazy Crab Sandwich, but as it comes on sourdough, which I dislike, I decided to check out the other options too.  Everything is pre-made, so I had a chance to eye my choices.  The cold crab and shrimp roll looked really sad.  The hotdog style roll looked soggy and totally uninspired.  It had a lot of the crab and shrimp salad inside, but it seemed like a waste to get the shrimp mix, when I really wanted only crab.  The Louis salad was also pre-packaged, with a huge serving of crab salad atop the greens.  Since I mostly just really wanted crab salad, I went for that, with the caveat that my companions would of course give me a taste of the Crazy Crab.

Crazy Crab Sandwich. $16.50.

So, this is what everyone claims is the best thing to get in the entire ballpark.

I see now why people complain about the prices.  Sure, it is the ballpark, so everything is expensive.  And sure, it is crab.  But this was small.  Maybe hard to see in the photo without context, but this is certainly not a large sandwich.  Kinda snack sized, not meal sized.  Which is ok, since you want to get garlic fries, sweets, and lots of other goodies too, right?

The sandwich is served on grilled garlic sourdough.  As I said, I don't like sourdough (I know, I know, such a bad San Franciscan!), so this wasn't a hit for me.  It was really crispy, really oily, and a tiny bit garlicky.  Kinda hard to eat as it was so crisp.  My dining companions, who do like sourdough, didn't like it either.  One removed the tops on his and ate it open-faced, the other just took a fork and ate the crab filling only.

The filling was a mayo based crab salad.  It did have both shredded crab and lump meat.  More mayo than I cared for, as it masked the flavor of the crab, but the crab did indeed seem quality.  There wasn't much of it however.

The only other thing inside was tomato slices, which were surprisingly ripe and paired well with the mayo.

The whole thing was lukewarm.  As I said, everything was already made, so I'm not sure how long ago it was actually grilled, as they had lots of baskets all lined up under heat lamps.  The warmth was nice, but it certainly could have been fresher.

This wasn't an awesome crab sandwich, and I wouldn't go out of my way for it, but for ballpark food, it wasn't bad.  The amount of crab for the price however was still a bit shocking.  Hard to see from the photo, but the entire thing was very small, and the filling not that generous.

Crab Louis Salad.  $12.75.

Since I really just cared about the crab, I went for the salad.  From looking in the case, I could see that the louis salad had far more crab on top of it than the crab and shrimp roll had inside its sad looking bun.  And it easily had twice the crab salad on it that the Crazy Crab sandwich had inside its crappy sourdough.  It was also $4 cheaper.

The base of the salad was generic shredded iceberg.  It was crispy and fresh tasting, but still just iceberg.  It was nice to have some crunch with my crab though, so I appreciated some of it.

The tomato wedges in the salad did not live up to their counterparts from the sandwich.  The slices in the sandwich were red and ripe, and these were pale and mealy.  Meh.

There was also a hard boiled egg, cut in half.  It was surprisingly decent.  You can only make a hard boiled egg so good obviously, but it wasn't overcooked, the yolk wasn't off-color, it was just pretty good. I enjoyed it dunked in the Louis dressing.  Speaking of the dressing, it was also pretty good.  A bit tangy.  Better than most Louis dressing I've had even at restaurants.  I appreciated that it was in its own container so I could add as much or little as I wanted, and everything stayed fresh and crisp.

The crab salad was the same as from the sandwich.  Again, more mayo than I liked, masking the crab flavor, but a nice variety of lump and shredded meat.  And there was just sooo much on here.  I couldn't believe how much more crab I had than the guys who got the sandwich.  My biggest complaint however is that it was the same mayo-based crab salad.  I liked the Louis dressing, but I didn't want to add it to the already overly mayo-ed crab salad.  So I ate them separately for the most part, some bites with just crab salad and lettuce, and other bites with egg, lettuce, and dressing.  I would have preferred to just have undressed crab on top.

Many of the concessions at the park are outposts for full restaurants located elsewhere in the Bay Area.  When Emil realized this, he wanted to know where the real Crazy Crab'z restaurant was, as he was that impressed with the crab salad.  I had to sadly let him know that the only place he could get this was at the ballpark.  He then started scheming about the shelf life of the salads, saying he could come and get a few at a time, and stock his fridge.  Lols.  This was definitely the best value at Crazy Crab'z, and likely the best thing to get at the park, but I wouldn't say it was worth stocking up on.  Although, I can't stress enough how huge of a scoop of crab salad was on here.  Certainly the winning choice.  I'd consider getting it again in the future if I was ever back at the park, but I'll probably explore other options next time.  Unless you really want sourdough, or just a small snack, get this, not the signature dish!

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