Aloft Hotel, Buffalo

On a recent trip, I wound up stranded in Buffalo, NY.

Why?  I was there for a co-worker's wedding on a Saturday night.  The wedding was lovely, and the wedding food, shockingly good.  As were the pastries at the brunch at the Hyatt Buffalo the next morning (although, the hotel itself kinda sucked).  I went to the airport Sunday morning, enjoyed lunch at Queen City Kitchen (also shockingly good), swung through the American Airline's Admiral's Club, and boarded my flight.  We left the gate.  We almost took off.  And then ... ORD, the airport I was headed to for my connection, issued a ground stop.  We waited for an hour on the runway.  Then we went back to the gate.  We waited an hour.  Two hours.  We were told it would be just an hour more.  It never was.  Eventually, the flight was cancelled.  And by then, it was too late to rebook on any other flights.  Of course, the cancellation was due to weather issues (hail in Chicago!), so American didn't need to do any customer care.  No vouchers for meals, no vouchers for hotel.  Oh, and the only American flight with availability was 5am the next morning.  I was not a happy girl.

We clearly needed to spend the night in Buffalo.  I had zero desire to go back to the lackluster Hyatt.  And, being a Starwood girl, I went for the only Starwood option in the area: Aloft Hotel.  I hadn't ever stayed at an Aloft before, but it seems like a lower-end Westin.  Hip, swanky, modern.  And the hotel was basically brand new.  A really nice property, and I'd gladly explore this brand more in the future.

But, obviously, you are here to read about the food, not about the excellent design of the hotel room.  During my time at the Aloft, I explored both the offerings at the bar that night, and the breakfast area in the morning.

The W XYZ Bar

When I checked in, the receptionist took pity on me and my cancelled flight ordeal, and gave me a voucher for a free drink at the bar, the W XYZ.  I gladly went to check it out.  And of course, I got tempted by the dessert menu too ...

The Space

The bar and lounge, like the rest of the hotel, was brand new, modern, and although obviously designed to be trendy, very functional.

Bar Seating.

There was a traditional bar, filled with really friendly patrons.  Everyone had a story of why they were there.  After all, who stays at the airport hotel?  Most of us had cancelled flights, missed flights, or were traveling for crazy reasons like renewing passports out of country.  No one was there because this was a destination they wanted to be at.  Yet ... everyone was so, so friendly, staff and patrons alike.  My mood really did improve once I started chatting with folks at the bar.

Lounge Space.

The other side of the space was a lounge, with full bar service.

I found a wonderful space to sit on a colorful couch, with foot stool and ample space to stick my drink, phone, laptop, etc.  It really was very comfortable, and as close to being at home as I could get.

More Lounge Space.

 Larger groups would have liked the couch area on the other side of the lounge.

Fireplace, Outside.

On a nice day, the space flows out onto a furnished patio too.  And for a bit of ambiance, a gas fireplace, perfect once the snowy Buffalo winters hit.

Overall, it was a really lovely space.

Pool Table.

Oh, and, on the far side, there was a pool table and other recreation activities.

Drinks

Cosmo-Not. $10. Wasabi peanuts. Water.

"Raspberry Jam, Lemon Juice, Beefeater Gin".

I redeemed my voucher for a drink from the cocktail menu, the "cosmo-not".  It was a lovely drink. Very strong on the gin, which made it not too sweet.  The raspberry "jam" was a raspberry puree, I think freshly muddled fruit.  Really a nicely balanced drink, and I quite enjoyed it.  My evening really was looking up!

The best part however was the bar snacks: wasabi peanuts!  These were addicting.  I devoured, literally, an entire bowl of them singlehandedly, in the first 10 minutes I was there.  They had a serious kick.  Eat more than 2 at a time and you had a hard time breathing for a second.  But that just made them more addicting.  No pain no gain?  I loved the crunch of the shell, the peanut inside, and wow, the wasabi.  They weren't messing around here.

Hess Pinot Noir.  $9.

For my next drink, I went simple, and just opted for a glass of pinot.  They had only one selection available, but, it was decent.  It went well with my dessert, which is why I ordered it, rather than another sweet cocktail, even though their cocktail menu had plenty of tempting options.

Dessert

Yeah, yeah, dessert girl here.  You know me, I can't resist dessert.  After my giant bowls of wasabi peas, I needed something less, uh, spicy.  (Side note: my nutrition this day was uh, leaving something to be desired.  Tons of addicting snack mix in the Admiral's Club.  Tons of excellent fresh chips at Queen City Kitchen.  An insane number of fantastic pastries at the Hyatt breakfast buffet.  Doh. 

But ... I wanted another treat.  Hey, I was stranded, I deserved nice things, right?

The dessert selections were a molten chocolate lava cake (sounded great, but, I didn't want caffeine), hot apple pie with whipped cream (ok, but, meh, my least favorite variety of pie), or, cheesecake.  I'd been craving cheesecake a lot, hence my ordering it at Romano's Macaroni Grill on my layover in Chicago a few days prior, and that one didn't exactly satisfy.

NY Style Cheesecake. $7.

"Served with seasonal berries".

So, cheesecake it was.  Plus, cheesecake has ... protein, right?  I was totally being responsible.  Same with those wasabi peanuts.  All about the protein.

The cheesecake wasn't quite what I expected.  First, it was round, an individual serving, not a slice.  Not that that really matters.

It was pretty good cheesecake.  Fluffy.  NY style, so not ricotta based Italian style.  Not super cream-cheesy, but really creamy enough.  I liked it.

The crust was super thin, and I still can't quite say what it was.  Not graham cracker, not cookie.  It wasn't crispy or sweet.  It was just there.  I really love a sweet, crispy base, and this was kinda lacking.

Drizzled on the plate was a sweet syrup that went great with the cheesecake.  And a single strawberry on the side, and a couple blueberries.  I guess that was my "seasonal berries"?  The fruit was good, really fresh, really ripe, really flavorful.

Overall, this was quite nice, far better than you'd expect from a hotel bar.  I'd like it even more with a touch of whipped cream on the side, which I'm sure I could have asked for.  The crust was really the only component that wasn't great.

The $7 price was about what I'd expect for a full, plated dessert.

re:fuel by Aloft

Our hotel package came with included breakfast.  You never know what exactly "breakfast" means when you book these things, but it is always a gamble I like to take.  Will it be a buffet?  Just continental?  Fresh made to order omelets?

At Aloft, it means $10 per person to spend at the re:fuel area.  Before I dive into describing breakfast, let me back up a bit, and describe re:fuel.

Snacks

Aloft doesn't have mini-bars in the room.  Or crappy, out of stock, vending machines in the hallways.  Instead, they have a rather amazing snack station down in the lobby.  What a great idea - far easier to restock, and they are able to provide a far more interesting set of items, including frozen products and other items to microwave, since they can offer up a single microwave for all guests too.

I somehow failed to get a photo of the main table, laid out with assorted goodies, ranging from packaged candy, to things like Aloft branded chocolate covered pretzels, gummy bears, and jelly beans.  There were also granola bars, gum, and other packaged snacky foods.

I also failed to get a picture of the main cooler space, with salads, sandwiches, fruit cups, and other grab and go snacks/meals.  Bad blogger I am.

Bottled Drinks.

Coolers on the side held assorted drinks, including Coke products, iced teas, sparkling water, and juices.  A second drink fridge had upgraded drink selections like Naked Juice.

Mac and Cheese, Chips.

A number of chip-like options were available, including pretzels and several types of popcorn (including microwaveable bags so you could pop your own fresh, in the provided microwave).

If you wanted a simple "meal", they also had ... Kraft Dinner!

Freezer Goods.

The final section had a freezer, stocked with assorted frozen dinners (Lean Cuisine, etc), frozen breakfast sandwiches (Jimmy Dean Biscuits, Uncrustables), and ice cream (Drumsticks, Ben & Jerry's Pints, Snicker's ice cream bars, etc).  I was VERY tempted by this area, but alas, never took advantage of it.

Breakfast

As I said, I was given $10 to spend on breakfast.

As you can imagine, options there were extensive as well.  The pantry/snack area had plenty of breakfast selections, but they also have a made-to-order station.

Oh, coffee and tea are complimentary for all guests, all day long, although you could upgrade to made to order espresso drinks with your dining credit if you wanted.

Menu Board.

The main breakfast attraction is the cooked to order items.  It is kinda cute, you fill out a paper form with your selections, and hand it to the breakfast chef, who whips it up to order.

Choices included breakfast burritos, omelets, waffles, or custom breakfast sandwiches.  The breakfast sandwiches were clearly the top seller, available as a bundle with a piece of fruit or breakfast tots, and a bottled juice for $10, exactly the price of the voucher, and what most people clearly opt for.

The Aloft Buffalo website says they also have pancakes.  And the person checking me in said they had pancakes.  And the person I asked the evening before about how breakfast works mentioned the pancakes.  And ... yet, no pancakes.  Not on the board menu, not on the paper menus (which interestingly didn't match the board), and when I asked the chef, he acted very annoyed with me.  Ok, no pancakes.  False advertising!

Cereal, Oatmeal.

For not made to order items, a large variety of cereal was available, including the expected sugary junk, but also Cheerios, Chex, granola, and a number of Kashi selections (Go Lean!, Go Lean Crunch!, Blueberry Clusters).
In addition to the classic cold cereals, there were some "fancy" Quaker hot cereal "Real Medleys" in bowls with mix-ins like berries, to which you just added hot water.

Yogurt, Fruit Cups, Parfaits, More Drinks.

The fridge also contained yogurts, fresh fruit cups, and granola / yogurt / fruit parfaits, along with Starbucks bottled drinks and chocolate bars (to prevent melting I'm guessing).

Baked Goods.

The pastry case had some sorta sad looking sliced croissants, english muffins, and apple turnovers drizzled with icing.

I *almost* opted for the turnover, but, they just really didn't look good, even to the baked good loving me.

Bagels, Toast.

The next bakery case had assorted bagels and toast, with butter or cream cheese, which you could toast in the provided toaster next to the microwave.

Condiments.

The condiment station was nicely stocked with assorted Smucker's jams, peanut butter, pancake syrup, ketchup, hotsauce, honey, etc.  Really convenient!

Custom Breakfast Sandwich.  $6.

I've kinda been on a breakfast sandwich kick lately, I'm not quite sure why, as they aren't things I typically like.  But, when I get on a roll, well, I get on a roll, and I've even liked ones from Starbucks.  So I opted for a breakfast sandwich.

And, designing my own sandwich, cooked to order, sounded like it had the most potential of everything on offer to be tasty (although ... the Jimmy Dean frozen sausage breakfast sandwich was also calling out, I've clearly seen way too many of their ads!)

To start, I had to pick my bread, given the options of a bagel, bread, croissant, or english muffin.  I normally would pick a croissant, but the croissants looked fairly sad, and, my breakfast sando kick as has been featuring english muffins lately, so, english muffin it was.

Next, the eggs.  Choice of fried, scrambled, or whites only.  I went classic, fried.

Next, cheese.  American, cheddar, swiss, provolone.  Swiss is my favorite cheese out of the bunch, but, given the context, I thought generic old melty American was the best bet.

And ... meat!  Sausage, bacon, turkey bacon, or turkey sausage.  I'd pick turkey bacon usually, but I was sharing with Ojan, and he really wanted regular bacon.  My second pick anyway, so, not awful.

The only final customization you could make were the addition of pesto or sundried tomato.  I would normally go for the pesto (although, with bacon? Hmm, maybe not the best pairing), but Ojan didn't want it.

So, fried egg, american cheese, bacon on an english muffin it was.  All sandwiches, regardless of customization, are $6.

I filled out my slip, handed it over, and a few minutes later I was rewarded with a hot bag.

Fried egg, american cheese, bacon on an english muffin.

I opened it up to see my creation.

The muffin wasn't toasted, but it was warm.  I'm not sure what technique they used to make the sandwiches, but it clearly didn't involve a toaster.  I would have liked it crispy on the outside.  Next time, I'd ask for it specifically that way, or I guess volunteer to toast it myself in the toaster first?  The muffin was just a generic english muffin.  It wasn't buttered.  Again, I guess I could have grabbed butter from the condiment station to add it later?

The fried egg was fine ... it was an egg, but it didn't have a runny center or anything.  I'm not convinced it was freshly fried, it might have been a reheated patty.  I'm starting to think that they "made to order" is really just microwaving pre-cooked components ...

The cheese was nicely melted, standard yellow American.

The bacon was a generous amount, but greasy.  Salty.

Overall, this was ... fine.  I actually think Starbucks does a better job, although their eggs are even more questionable, but their reheating process is better for creating a desirable crispy english muffin..  Panera's version was also better, but it is hard to compare those, since I customized that one so much.

Anyway, if you like a basic egg and cheese, then by all means, get one, but beware that it may not be quite as fresh to order as you are expecting (which, I suspect the same is true of the waffles).

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Hotel Chocolat, UK

Ok, Hotel Chocolat is rather fascinating.  A UK company.  They do have a hotel, but it isn't in the UK.  Rather, it is in Saint Lucia, amongst the cocoa groves where they source the cacao to make their chocolate.  In addition to the random hotel, and chocolate factory, they also operate several restaurants, in London, Leeds, and in Saint Lucia, using cocoa as a savory spice throughout the menu.  Plus cafes all over Europe, selling drinking chocolates, chocolate pastries, and more.  Such a random, but actually tied together, assortment, revolving around one of my favorite things: chocolate.

The primary business of Hotel Chocolate is chocolate making, which is how I became familiar with the brand.  The chocolate line is extensive, containing everything you'd expect, ranging from bars, to truffles, to enrobed fruits and nuts, to drinking chocolate.

It doesn't really stop there though. They make things like chocolate spreads, mixed with things like gingerbread spices (the Gingerbread Christmas Spread) or the even better sounding salted caramel and pecans.  They also make jams, chutneys, and marmalades infused with cocoa. And ... cocoa pesto ... yes, basil, pine nuts, cheese, and cocoa nibs.  And cocoa pasta.  And cocoa nib ketchup.  And cocoa balsamic vinegar and finishing oils.  And even beer, vodka, and gin infused with cocoa pulp.  The list goes on and on.  It seems crazy at first, but I guess if they are developing menus for the restaurants and cafes to feature cocoa in many forms, these products probably just came out of that collaboration?  A little harder to explain is the beauty product line (body creme, eau de parfum, bath oils, candles, etc, etc), although, I guess those were developed for the hotels?

Anyway, totally fascinating.  I usually go to look up a chocolate maker, read the quick little details about where they source the cacao from, and quickly move on.  I totally got lost in Hotel Chocolat's website.

British Airways Treat!

Now, the chocolate.  I received this aboard a British Airways flight, a cute little package of two chocolates, wrapped in plastic, inside a cardboard tube.  Hotel Chocolat offers a zillion packaging options and very, very elaborate gift boxes.

Chocolate Menu.

The backside featured my "Chocolate Menu".  Inside, I'd find:

• "A silky soft and perfectly creamy 40% milk chocolate truffle"
• "Indulgent 70% dark chocolate filled with slated molten caramel"

The packaging also boasts "Hotel Chocolat represents a new model of luxury chocolate-maker.  Growing cocoa ourselves on our plantation in Saint Lucia enables us to link the world of sustainable cocoa agriculture with the hedonism of fabulous chocolate!"

Milk ganache in a milk chocolate shell.

I started with the milk chocolate, 40%.

The shell was smooth and quite creamy, with a nice snap.  I don't tend to go for milk chocolate, but this was actually a really complex milk chocolate.

The ganache inside was perfectly soft and almost oozed out.  I'd certainly prefer for it to be dark, or flavored, and of course they do make all these options, but for a very basic milk chocolate with milk chocolate ganache, this is clearly a quality product.

Salted runny caramel in a dark chocolate shell.

After the success of the simple milk chocolate, I eagerly moved on to the dark chocolate with salted caramel.

And ... I didn't like it nearly as much.  The shell was a shiny, snappy 70% dark that just didn't have any complexity.  Honestly, I think the milk had more going on than the dark.

Inside was a perfectly runny caramel, not too liquidy, not too firm, but I didn't taste any salty quality.

This wasn't a bad chocolate, but it certainly didn't come close to the milk, which really surprised me, as I always prefer dark chocolate, and mmm, salted caramel!

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Girl Scout Cookies

A few days ago, someone asked me a question about my favorite Girl Scout cookies.  I went to snarkily reply, saying something along the lines of "Why don't you just check Julie's Dining Club?", and then realized that somehow I have never reviewed Girl Scout Cookies.

Girl Scout Cookies should need no introduction.  I don't think it is possible to live in the US and not have experienced Girl Scout Cookies.  They come to your house, ring your doorbell, and look all cute while asking you to purchase overpriced, low quality cookies.  You have to do it.  If, somehow, they don't come to your house, you'll find them instead on every street corner, out front of the grocery store, or even worse, at your office, when a co-worker brings his or her adorable child there to ask you to purchase them.

Ok, ok, I'm being a bit dramatic, but, I don't really think these are great cookies.  That wasn't always true though, back in the day, I used to get into them, I think perhaps because my mom always loved Thin Mints.  She'd put them in the freezer, and ration them all year long.  My dad liked the Trefoils (shortbreads).  I always thought it was funny, as my mom is a epic baker, and we nearly always had fresh cookies in the cookie jar.  But, these were her thing, and I did sorta get into them, although I was never a big cookie fan in general, much less packaged cookies.

Anyway, the Girl Scouts have been selling some form of cookies since 1917, they clearly have staying power.  Back then, they had one variety, and actually baked them themselves.  Now, they have two different suppliers (who are not the girls themselves!), producing 11 varieties.  The strange thing to me is that depending on which supplier you get, the cookies actually have different ingredients/tastes, and, in some cases, even different names, although the same concept of cookie.  I've included both names here in the review.  So, the cookies I get here in California really are different from what I grew up with in New Hampshire.


Anyway, without further ado, I present the lackluster Girl Scout Cookies.  These are only my notes from the past year or so, so, not as extensive as I normally do, since for some reason, I never bothered take notes on these before.

Do-si-dos / Peanut Butter Sandwich.

"Crunchy oatmeal sandwich cookie with creamy peanut butter filling."

This was my first time having a Do-si-dos, as my mom never bought them when I was growing up.  But I saw peanut butter, and obviously couldn't resist trying it.

The cookie was hard and crunchy, reminding me slightly of a crunchy granola bar, due to the texture and hearty oats.  The peanut butter inside wasn't creamy as promised, and seemed to be more sugar than peanuts (which I guess is true of many commercial peanut butters anyway), super sweet.

Sorry Girl Scouts, but these really aren't quality cookies ...

Tagalongs / Peanut Butter Patty.

"Crispy vanilla cookies layered with peanut butter and covered with a chocolaty coating."

For some reason, when I was growing up, we also never got Tagalongs.  I'm not sure why, as peanut butter and chocolate are a combination that I have always loved.  I had tried them though, when friends of mine had them, and I traded one of my stash of Thin Mints.   I recalled liking them.

But ... it was a dry, flavorless, crispy cookie base.  The peanut butter was nicely creamy, but didn't have much flavor.  The chocolate was equally flavorless.  Chocolate and peanut butter should be a winning combination, so it was sad that this wasn't.

Subsequent tasting notes:
Hard, kinda stale, unremarkable biscuit style cookie.  The peanut butter was creamy and plentiful, as was the chocolate.  The chocolate and peanut butter were a good combination, if only the cookie part was better!

Samoas / Caramel deLites.

"Crisp cookies coated in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut, and striped with dark chocolaty coating."

From my childhood memories, Samoas were always one of my favorites, and the third variety we got in addition to my mom's Thin Mints, and my dad's Trefoils.

But this ... was just a rather dried out, stale, flavorless cookie, ring shaped.  I didn't taste any caramel, but apparently the cookie is coated in it?  The coconut was just gritty, and the chocolate as flavorless as everything else.

I did not like this at all, which is sad, because I know I did used to like these.

Subsequent tasting notes: flavorless cookie ring, coated in flavorless caramel, coated in flavorless coconut, with chocolate stripes.  Not good at all.

[ No Photo ]

Savannah Smiles.

"Crisp, zesty lemon wedge cookies dusted with powdered sugar."

This was a hard cookie.  It had nice lemon flavor, but way too much powdered sugar.

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American Airlines Admiral's Club, Buffalo Airport

Buffalo, NY.  Not exactly a destination I head for normally, but I recently had friends who got married there, so, Buffalo it was.

I didn't explore much of the city, besides the reception hall (with actually really good catering by Exquisite Catering) and the Hyatt Regency hotel (also with shockingly good breakfast catering).  To conclude my quick weekend visit, it was time to head to the airport.  With my OneWorld status, even though I was flying regular domestic economy, I had lounge access to the Admiral's Club at the quaint little airport.

The lounge was ... well, it was a basic Admiral's Club.  At some point, unless you find a Flagship lounge like in  LAX, these all look the same.  Uninspired decor, sad snacks (although sometimes I do love the snack mixes), cookies, and mediocre wine.

I didn't expect to spend much time there, or in the Buffalo airport at all for that matter.  I left the lounge to get food at Queen City Kitchen (again, shockingly good, what is it with this town having decent eats?), and got on my flight.  We left the gate.  We taxied down the runway.  And then we didn't take off.  We were connecting through O'Hare, and, well, it hailed.  Ground stop issued.  I don't ever fly though O'Hare, I know better.  But it was August!!!  After spending more time on the runway, we came back to the terminal and deplaned.  Awesome.  But we were told they'd try again in an hour.  More delays meant more time in the lounge.  Eventually our flight was cancelled.  Nothing else available that night, as there aren't exactly tons of flights out of Buffalo.  So I spent another night in Buffalo, this time at the newly opened Aloft (a really great property, if you are looking for something close to the Buffalo airport for some reason, with nice cocktails, great snacks, and decent dessert).  And then went back the next day to the lounge again.

So, I spent a fair amount of time in this lounge.  It is ... adequate.  The staff however were really friendly, and took pity on us stranded travelers.

The Space

Seating.

Like all Admiral's Clubs, I found the seating rather uninspired.  Not uncomfortable exactly, but certainly not inviting.  Lots of natural light though, and plentiful power ports.  And carpet stains.

The lounge was basically empty the entire time we were there.  Given that AA restricts Admiral's Club access so tightly, this isn't surprising to me in any way.

Business Center.

It had a token business center on the side, with copier, printer, etc.

Workstations.

And a few computer workstations.

The wifi worked fine.

Snacks

Soup, Cheese, Crackers, Veggies, Ranch, Olives.

The food selection in Admiral's Clubs always makes me laugh.  It is nice that they offer something I guess, but really, does anyone eat this stuff?  (Ok, ok, Ojan and I both tried food at some point, we were in there forever over the course of two days. Boredom, not tempting looking options, lured us in).

To start, the soup of the day was Roasted Corn and Green Chile Bisque.  I mock the food, but, actually, this wasn't awful.  It was really flavorful and spicy.  I almost liked it.

Next up was assorted crackers and cheese cubes.  The Swiss cubes weren't awful either.

Next, veggies, an assortment of baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and celery sticks.  They managed to not be too dried out, but these aren't exactly exciting veggies.  On the side were individual pots of Ken's Buttermilk Ranch.  Totally generic ranch, but sometimes, I actually like this stuff.  It was nice to have individual containers rather than a big unappealing vat of it.

The final item in here was olives, a mix of black and pimento stuffed green.  I didn't like them, but Ojan did and went back for more.

Chips and Salsa.

The next day, they added chips and salsa to the lineup.

The chips were actually higher quality than I'd expect, Food Should Taste Good brand multigrain tortilla chips.  Two types of salsa, generic Tostitos or "Salsa del Sol".

We didn't try any, since we liked Queen City Kitchen the first day, and decided to go back there for poutine before our flight instead.

Cookies, Fruit.

The cookie selection was the standard chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin, which I've reviewed before, and little chocolate brownies.  Red and green apples (wrapped in plasic wrap?) and oranges were in a bowl.

These aren't for me, but Ojan always likes them well enough.

Premium Snack Mixes.

I always have my eye on the snack mixes.  AA has a number of different mixes, and you never know which ones you are going to get at a given lounge.  They all sound like exactly the sort of things I'd love, as you know me and snacks, but often I want to like them more than I actually do (like the yogurt pretzels from the SFO lounge).

Here, we had a trio of snack mixes, labelled "Premium Snack Mixes", in "Sweet", "Savory", or "Simple".  I obviously tried them all.

The dispensers were super annoying, hard to get things out of, particularly the one with the large pretzels, that just kept getting jammed and cracking.  They can do better here ...

Sweet and Salty Mix, Savory Mix, Peanut Butter Pretzels.

I started with the one labelled "Simple".  They looked like just square pretzels.  I was thrilled to discover that they were stuffed with peanut butter.  Not amazing, but an upgrade over plain pretzels, for sure.

Next I went for "Savory".  This had pretzel twists and pretzel balls, neither of which I cared for.  But it also had cheesy twigs and cheesy little triangle chips.  And corn nuts.  The entire mix was quite zesty and flavorful.  I really liked the triangle chips.  I enjoyed this assortment, sans the pretzels, one of the best mixes I've had from AA.

And finally, and sweet and salty one, a classic GORP, with bonus almonds.  It was everything a basic GORP should be, sweet and salty, simple but addicting.  Again, good.

I ate a lot of these mixes while stranded there, and really quite enjoyed them.  Mmm, snacks.

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Le Petit Marchet

Le Petit Marchet is ... an interesting place.  It is a deli.  And a pizza place.  And they make sandwiches.  And serve Mediterranean food.  Oh, and then there is a large grocery area as well, carrying mostly junk foods (lots of chips, snack mixes, and candy), plus basic staples.

They are open late, and deliver all over the city (yes, you can get pints of Ben & Jerry's delivered to your doorstep this way).  If you want wings and fries, one friend wants a shawerma, another wants a slice of pizza, and someone else wants a tuna sandwich and macaroni salad, you can get it all here.  And you can tack on pints of ice cream, some oatmeal for the morning, and a bunch of candy too.

I swung in one day when I was on a bit of a deli salad kick, trying out macaroni salad all over the city (like the poor version from L & L Hawaiian, the mediocre version from The Sandwich Spot, the decent ones from Deli & and A.G. Ferrari,  the great one from Fountain Cafe,  .  The service wasn't particularly friendly, and the deli salads didn't look, nor taste, great.  Still, a good option if you need random stuff delivered late at night.

Small (8oz) Macaroni Salad.  $2.50.

When I looked into the deli case, I could see that this was fairly unremarkable looking macaroni salad, but I've had many experiences lately where generic looking things have been quite tasty, so I went for it.

It was pretty much exactly what it looked like.  About as standard of a macaroni salad as there is.  The pasta was elbows, a bit overcooked for my liking.  The dressing was mayo, and there was tons and tons of it.  I guess this means it was creamy, but definitely overdressed.

And other than that, there wasn't much going on.  A few tiny pieces of peppers, no real seasoning.  Totally unremarkable.

Like the macaroni salad from Deli & ..., I jazzed it up with some of my mom's homemade zucchini relish, and it was much better that way.

The small container was stuffed full, and this was a good price for the portion.

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Queen City Kitchen, Buffalo Airport

On my recent trip to Buffalo for a friend's wedding (short version: shockingly good eats, including great wedding catering by Exquisite Catering and good pastries and amazing eggs at Hyatt Regency hotel breakfast).  But for my final meal, I had to eat lunch at the airport.  The Buffalo airport isn't exactly large, and the options were quite limited.  Not even a Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, or even a McDonald's.  Just a few small grab n' goes, a meager food court, and 1-2 bars.  And a new establishment, Queen City Kitchen.  I couldn't find many reviews online, since it was new and not exactly in a location that people review often, but, what I could find were quite solid.  Of course, they were all for breakfast, not lunch, but, it certainly seemed like my best option.

And, indeed, it was.  I was really pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food (the cooked food was better than the snacks).  And the stellar coffee.  And the friendliness of the staff.  Really a great place, and I'd certainly return ... if I wind up in Buffalo again.

The Space

Grab N Go Counter.

One side of the establishment is a grab-n-go area, designed for travelers just running through, selling a selection of pre-made salads, sandwiches, and plenty of snacks.  They even had housemade chips, alongside standard packaged chips, and all sorts of creative snack mixes.  I couldn't resist grabbing a few things for the flight.  More on those below.

Bottled Drinks.

The drink selection was also impressive.  Sodas, juices, and all sorts of flavored waters.  I kinda wanted it all, but settled on a single tasty flavored water.

Pastries. 

Up at the counter in front was a great pastry lineup: croissants, cinnamon rolls, assorted danishes (cream cheese, cherry cream cheese, apple, cherry almond), muffins (cinnamon spice, banana nut, lemon poppyseed, blueberry), and cookies (oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip).

If I hadn't just devoured, literally a full size cinnamon roll, a full size croissant, a pecan pie stuffed danish, and part of a lemon cheese danish at the hotel breakfast  (uh, along with scrambled eggs, sausage, and cereal ...), I certainly would have tried one of these.  Alas, I did not on this trip.

Bar Seating.

Another section was a bar with seating and waiter service.  It looked like a nice place to camp out, if you were going to be there a little while.

Otherwise, you could order from a full menu at the register, take a number, and go take a seat, and a server would bring it to you.  We opted for this choice.

Booths.

Most of the seating was comfortable booths along the wall, plus tables and benches along the other side of the room.  The most notable fact of this area is that not only did each table have a dedicated power jack (soooo welcome in an airport), the outlets had ... USB ports.  Welcome to the future.  We could charge our laptops and phones at once.  Amazing.

Condiments.

Condiments were self serve, mostly in individual packets, including mayo, malt vinegar, hot sauces, honey, amongst others.

Drinks 

King Decaf Americano. $3.09.

Besides the flavored sparkling water I grabbed from the case, I wanted coffee.  The coffee options were extensive, with classic espresso drinks made by a barista, along with a number of flavored iced coffees, and self-serve pre-brewed drip coffee in several flavors.

Since I wanted it fresh, I opted for an americano, decaf.  Sizes were "JR", "Queen", or "King".  Cute naming, but when people are half-awake and needing coffee, complicated names aren't actually desirable!

The decaf was shockingly good.  Some of the best decaf I've ever had.  Flavorful.  No funk.  So smooth.  I drank it black, gladly.  So, so good.

Coffee Condiment Station.

The coffee condiment station (and self serve drip coffee area), had all the standard choices for sugar and sweetener, milk, creamer, honey, and cinnamon.  I didn't investigate these add-ins however, as my amazing americano needed nothing added.  Nothing.

Lunch + Dinner

Daily Specials.

The main menu features an assortment of salads, sandwiches, and appetizers.  They even had a chalkboard with daily specials out on the walkway in the terminal.  If I was hungry, I obviously would have opted for that poutine, given my first, and only, poutine experience was a few days prior at The Crazy Canuck.  I wanted more poutine!

But given my ridiculous brunch, I wasn't exactly hungry.  Ojan hadn't been insane like me at brunch though, and was ready for lunch.  And given that we had no connection time between our flights, he knew we also needed dinner for the next flight.

So he ordered one hot meal for lunch to eat then, and a salad to go for later.  Both came packaged to go, but we were invited to eat there at the regular tables anyway, and the food was brought to us at our table when ready.

Special: Chicken Parmesan Sandwich with Housemade Chips.  $11.25.

"Fried Chicken Fingers, topped with marinara sauce and fresh mozzarella cheese."

For lunch, Ojan opted for a special from the chalkboard out front: a chicken parm sandwich.  He said he was just in the mood for it.  Since I wanted only a few bites, I didn't protest, although this isn't something I'd normally ever order.

I ended up eating far more than I ever thought I would, given how ridiculously stuffed I was.  Ojan was shocked, not only because he'd seen how much I ate at brunch and couldn't believe I wanted more food, but also because, well, I don't like sandwiches.  And I don't like chicken.  This was a chicken sandwich.

But it was really, really nicely done.  Clearly made to order with some love.  Shocking for an airport!

The bread was super fluffy.  Really fresh.  And perfectly toasted, just a bit crunchy on the outside.  Warm.  I'm pretty sure I'll never like a sandwich bun more than this.

Each half of the sandwich had a chicken finger inside.  They were lightly breaded, all white meat.  Not dried out.  Not too fried.  Not oily.  I thought they were great ... for chicken fingers.

Smothered in a delicious marinara sauce.  Flavorful and tangy.  Not generic stuff from a jar.

And, perhaps the best part: the mozzarella.  Absolutely perfectly melted.  Tons of it.  And, not just some shredded or sliced mozzarella.  It was fresh mozzarella.

Wow.  Every element of this was just really, really nicely done.  I was full, but I ended up eating quite a bit of it.  Ojan wasn't starving, so after he ate all the chicken finger out of his half, he left behind some bread with sauce and cheese.  I gladly devoured the rejects.  Soft, fluffy, toasted bread, with crazy flavorful marinara and amazing melted mozzarella?  Um, yes?  It was like pizza.

All sandwiches at Queen City Kitchen come served with house made chips.  You can upgrade to fries or sweet potato fries for $2 more.  We stuck with the chips, which seemed to be a great decision.

They were really awesome, for chips.  Clearly made from fresh potatoes, skin on.  Assorted shapes and sizes.  Some were really crispy, others a bit softer.  I preferred the soft ones, but I really liked the contrast.  They were salty.  They were, well, just, great chips.  Ojan and I both devoured a ton of these, and took the rest with us to enjoy later (and enjoy later we did!)

Really, a complete success, and very reasonably priced at $11.25, particularly for airport food.

Greek Salad. $11.25 + grilled chicken breast $5.25.

"Romaine lettuce, feta cheese, sliced cucumbers, black olives, grape tomatoes, and red onions with a choice of dressing."

To take on the flight, Ojan opted for a Greek salad.  This was a theme on the trip, as you recall the Greek salad he loved on our outbound trip at Napa Farms Market too?

Other salads on offer were a caprese, an iceberg wedge, a cobb, and a ceasar.  All salads can have grilled chicken added.  Personally, I was eying the wedge (crispy fried onions! bacon! ranch!) or perhaps the caprese, given how delicious that mozzarella from the parmesan was.

But Ojan went for the Greek, and added the grilled chicken so it would have some protein.

It was ... fine.  Just not my style of salad.  Nicely composed, lots of fresh cut grape tomatoes, red onion, black olives, cucumbers, and decent feta.  The dressing was fairly classic greek.  It was all fresh enough, and Ojan liked it, but just not my thing obviously, and he didn't think it was nearly as good as the Napa Farms Market one that he adored.

It was a large salad, but with the chicken upgrade, $16.25 for a salad seems pretty high, even in an airport.

Poutine. $7.50.

"French fries, topped with gravy and cheddar cheese curds."

Our flight story is actually more complicated than I described.  Short version?  Canceled flight after numerous delays, got stuck in Buffalo overnight at the Aloft, which was actually wonderful, and had decent cheesecake and fresh made breakfast sandos.

Blah, blah, blah, but this all meant that we wound back up at the Buffalo airport the next day, so, we were able to visit Queen City Kitchen again, get the poutine this time around, as a little pre-flight snack.

Sadly, it wasn't nearly as successful as the other food.

We had the choice of fries or tator tots, and went traditional with fries.  The fries were hot and fresh, but really unremarkable.  Their housemade chips were far superior.

I also didn't really like the gravy, I think turkey gravy?  It was just kinda goopy, and the flavor wasn't very developed.  What I loved about The Crazy Canuck's poutine, besides the fries as the base, was the gravy.  That gravy was awesome.

And finally, the curds.  Just like at Crazy Canuck, they weren't really melted.  But since the food was made to order and served piping fresh, the fries were super hot, as was the gravy, so we were able to stuff the curds down into the fries and melt most of them.

Overall, this was just meh to me.  Ojan ate it, but agreed not nearly as good as Crazy Canuck, and that it was more like what you'd expect at an airport.  Oh well.

Snacks

The snack selection near the register was just too much to ignore, particularly given how much I love snacks, and because I knew I'd be sitting on a plane, and I'd love something to munch on to pass the time.  Oh, and because they make some of their own snacks!

Toronto Poutine Chips. $3.75.

Near the register were bags of housemade chips, in either buffalo chicken or Toronto poutine flavors.  Given how tasty the plain chips served with the chicken parm were, I wanted them both.  They looked, and sounded, amazing.  Ojan made me select just one, and voted for the poutine, since it was more unique.  Thus, poutine it was.

These chips weren't nearly as good as the plain ones served with the sandwich.  Perhaps because they weren't quite as fresh?  But also ... the whole "poutine" thing was kinda lost.  Poutine = potatoes + gravy + cheese curds.  Yes, there were potatoes here obviously, and they were the same whole sliced potatoes, of assorted shapes and sizes, that we found in the fresh chips served alongside the sandwich.  But the seasoning was the issue.  There was no cheese component at all.  The "gravy" was supposed to be mimicked by a beef base and powdered milk, along with spices (thyme, oregano, parsley, pepper) that were sprinkled on.  Yes, they had a flavor, but nothing about it reminded me of gravy, or of curds, or of poutine.  Almost more like a mild sour cream and onion if anything?

The flavor just wasn't great, the chips weren't as fresh, and $3.75 for what was actually a fairly small bag seemed high compared to the other reasonable prices at Queen City Kitchen.

Buffalo Wing Nuts. $4.95.

I love peanuts and snacks.  I love the taste of buffalo wings, but I don't like chicken.  So, put them together into buffalo wing nuts?  Sounded awesome!

But ... I didn't like them.  They did have some heat to them, but I wouldn't have identified it as "buffalo wing" flavor.  Really, they just tasted like strange flavored peanuts.  The coating was also slightly candied, not really what I expect from wings.  About 1/3 the mix was heavily coated in the crunchy candy coating, 1/3 was just mildly coated and spiced, and the other 1/3 had barely any coating.

I wish I could tell you what was in the coating, how they made it spicy, but, uh, the ingredients just read "chocolate, raisins".  Methinks someone copy-pasted here!

I clearly wouldn't get these again.

Update: Except, well, I can't leave well enough alone.  They were sitting on my counter.  Ojan rejected them.  What was I to do, but keep trying?

The ones with barely any coating and the mild amount of coating never grew on me.  But the ones with tons of coating, when consumed by very large handfuls, kinda did.  In that quantity, they almost, just almost tasted like buffalo wings.  Still too much peanut for me, but close ...

Pepper Cheese Pub Mix.  $4.95.

Next I tried the tempting looking pepper cheese pub mix.  Like I said, I love munchy snacks!

In the mix was pretzels, sesame sticks, cracker sticks, peanuts, and two types of corn nuts.  The pretzels were just standard mini pretzels, unseasoned.  I didn't want these.  The peanuts were just regular peanuts, boring.  The cracker sticks were a bit better, slightly seasoned.  One type of corn nut was not seasoned and pretty generic, the others were red, which you'd expect to be bursting with some kind of flavor, but, alas, they were not.  The only thing I really liked in the mix was the sesame sticks, just because I like sesame sticks.  Everything else was just fairly boring, and although some pieces were well coated, there just wasn't much flavor.

I obviously wouldn't get this again either.

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