Travelin' Tuesday: Lisbon, the master post

Yup, I went to Portugal for the first time, back in September.  I stayed primarily in Lisbon, although I ventured slightly further away for two days to Cascais.

I didn't pick Lisbon for tourism, and certainly not food the cuisine, I was there for a conference.  As such, my dining was mostly limited to large groups, although I did explore the bakeries a bit on my own.  While the majority of the dining was very lackluster, there were two strong points, that I still think back on and start to drool.

The reason to go to Lisbon: Life changing egg tarts.

Bakeries / Treats

• Go to Pastéis de Belém. That is all.
• Really good froyo, with a unique fun topping I can't stop thinking about, Weeel.
• A Padaria Portuguesa, where I discover just how good Pão de Deus can be! Soft, fluffy, slightly sweet, pull apart bread with a delicious topping ... swoon.
• Sacolinha, a bakery chain in Portugal.  I got to try some unknown items, but not were awesome.
• Soft serve Cornetto machine?!!

Breads & Spreads at Largo.

Restaurants

• Ground Burger: Great pedigree, but the restaurant crumpled under our group size.
• More large group dining at Largo. Meh. The bread and spread were good.
• Charming setting, not touristy, but, mediocre group dinner at As Salgadeiras.  
• Of course I went to McDonald's.  Had to check out the local specialties! 

Breakfast Feast @ Sheraton, Cascais.

Hotels

• Lobby Bistro:  large, but highly mediocre, breakfast buffet at the Sheraton Lisboa.
• A highly unimpressive club lounge, Sheraton Lisboa.
• Breakfast buffet at Glass, Sheraton, Cascais. Finally, an excellent breakfast buffet! Extensive selection, quality, and tasty!

Meal on TAP Portugal.

Airports / Flights

• A tale of two Pão de Deus in the Lisbon airport.
• TAP Airlines: The sandwich "snack" didn't impress, but the hot meal wasn't awful (although still economy dining). 

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Waffle Iron Cooking: Polenta

I use my waffle iron more than any other appliance in my kitchen ... well, besides my coffee maker that is.  And no, not because I make a lot of waffles.  Or, at least, not traditional waffles.  I use it to reheat just about everything, rather than a microwave or a oven.  You can read about all my ridiculous waffling adventures from my master post.

Most of the time, I use the waffle iron to reheat leftovers, very rarely do I use it to actually cook something in its original form.  I'm not sure where today's experiment falls though, I wasn't just reheating leftovers, but I also wasn't cooking exactly ... I'll call it *almost* cooking, more advanced than simply reheating leftovers.

Block of Polenta -> Polenta Waffle with Ratatouille.

My adventure started because I had leftover ratatouille, and I wanted to do something interesting with it.  I could have served it over pasta, or cracked an egg in it, or served it with some crusty bread, all standard ways of serving ratatouille.  The idea of serving it over creamy polenta came to mind, but, I didn't have any creamy polenta just hanging around, nor the desire to make any.

But what I did have was a block of shelf-stable pre-made polenta in my pantry.  I knew I could work with that.  That, and my waffle iron, of course.

My creation was a success, a lovely polenta waffle, topped with ratatouille!

Block of Valsugana Polenta.

I started with a block of Valsugana Polenta, pre-made, pre-cooked, shelf-stable polenta.

It came as a big solid block in a plastic package like tofu.  It seemed perhaps like a step up from tube polenta, but, barely.  It was pretty gross and slimy, and really not appealing.

The package claims this is Italy's #1 polenta, but, it sure didn't have anything going for it straight out of the package.

Slices of Polenta in the Waffle Iron.

Since it is pre-cooked all you need to do is slice and heat however you want.  They recommend cutting into triangles and grilling or pan-frying.  I of course had other ideas.

I sliced the block lengthwise to form large nasty blocks of polenta.  Into the waffle iron they went.  The size was great, it fit into the iron easily, and was a good size serving.  I was able to cut 3 slices from the block.

Since the polenta was so firm, I had to press down hard on the waffle iron to get into the solid mass of polenta, but once it warmed up a bit, it was fairly easy.

Polenta Waffle.

The polenta took longer to cook than I expected, and at first, it didn't seem like it was going to crisp up.  I raised the temperature from 350° to 400° and that helped.  It still never got an amazing crust on it, but, it did get a little bit crisp.

The waffle came out decent enough.  The ridiculous firm solid mass worked well for this, and it held together great.  It wasn't as magical as when I waffled cheesy grits, likely because plain polenta doesn't have cheese or other fats to crisp it up.

I would have been bored with it at this stage, far too plain.  But I had my toppings at the ready.

Polenta Waffle Topped with Ratatouille.

I topped each polenta waffle with ratatouille, the thing that inspired this whole adventure in the first place.  It soaked into the waffle, was super flavorful, and made the dish.  Without it, it would have been boring, but with it, I deem this success.

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Lisbon Airport Dining

My visit to Lisbon concluded at, well, the Lisbon airport.

Airport dining may not normally be high on anyone's list of things to get excited about, but I read online that Terminal 1 had a great new food court, featuring actual good versions of Portuguese baked goods, from some famed establishments from the city.  I of course welcomed this chance to get “one last pastry” before jumping on my TAP Portugal flight, where I knew the food choices would be abysmal.

Although I didn't have much time in the airport before boarding, I managed to scope out all the options, and visit not one, but two bakeries to get a pão de deus from each, since I discovered that I loved them at A Padaria Portuguesa at the end of my trip.

Pastelaria Versailles

I started at Versailles, the one I had read the most about.  It is a cafe that has been around since the 1920s, apparently with amazing elegant ambiance (think: crystal chandeliers, marble counters) at the main location in Lisbon.  I didn't visit the real cafe, only the airport location.  

Display Case.

The display counter was loaded with a fairly small selection of treats, far fewer than what I was used to from swinging by bakeries around town.

I was planning to get one last Bolo de Arroz, after being fascinated by the one from Sacolinha, but the ones at Versailles didn’t really look good.  I also had my eyes on one last pão de deus, but, alas, they didn’t have any plain ones, just ones stuffed with ham and cheese.  It wasn't quite what I wanted, but is what I went for, knowing I could discard the fillings (or, perhaps be a more reasonable human and actually have some protein with my sweets?)

The ordering/payment system was kinda crazy.  You order and pre-pay at one counter.  That made sense.  No card reader, but, they do take credit cards, they just have to pull out a machine every time.  For an airport location, this seems crazy.  Then, you are supposed to know to take a few steps over, put your receipt onto a tray, and then someone else will go begin fetching your goods.  If you, like me, just throw your receipt into your pocket, your stuff will never come.  Sigh.

Then your stuff is put onto a tray eventually, and you are supposed to be watching and grab it, as nothing is ever called out when your order is complete.

To recap: no orders are sent to be filled, no orders are called out when ready.  I struggled with strange ordering/paying/pickup systems all over Lisbon, but this was certainly the worst.

I was not the only one who was confused by all of this, as I watched everyone around me mess it up.  Anyway.

Pão de Deus Misto. 3.95€.

"Ham & Cheese Coconut Topped Bread".

I had only had two pão de deus at this point in Portugal, and was eager to get one last data point.  I loved the absolutely dreamy one from A Padaria Portuguesa, but I knew that was actually not the authentic style, as it was softer and had more of a coconut paste on top, and was not crispy.  I also had the horrible ones from the Sheraton Lisboa Bistro Restaurant buffet, hard and stale, but, I have a hard time believing those were a legit version either.

This one seemed to be more like what I read about.  The top was a bit crunchy and the bread was still fairly soft, basically a cross between the two versions I previously had.  The dough wasn’t particularly interesting, soft but not fluffy, not really sweet.  Better than the Sheraton version in that it wasn’t stale and it wasn’t hard, but, no where near the perfectly lightly sweet fluffiness of the one from A Padaria Portuguesa.  Same with the top - definitely not like a paste like the one from A Padaria Portuguesa, but not quite as crispy as the Sheraton one.  There wasn’t as much topping as the A Padaria Portuguesa one, but, again, I think this was a more authentic ratio.

Overall, kinda boring, honestly, but I think this is what the bun was supposed to be like.

The ham and cheese were just a thin slice of each.  No spread of any sort, aka, mayo or mustard, to jazz it up.  I’m not sure I understand the combination of sweet coconut bun, ham, and cheese, although I guess Monte Cristos are a mix of sweet with ham and bread …

Anyway, I was glad to have one last chance to try the version that I think is representative of what they are supposed to be, but, alas, I just wished I had one more of the dreamy, soft, fluffy, not authentic ones.  Ojan however said, “that is one of the better Portuguese desserty things I’ve had”. Later, he said, "That was pretty tasty, it was like honey ham, but, with the honey in the bread!".  So, I guess it had its place.

Pastelaria Aloma

I’m a strategic person.  Although I was grabbing the pão de deus to take on my TAP Portugal flight to Paris, I tried a bite immediately just to make sure I’d like it, else, I had to make a backup plan.

If you couldn't tell from my review above, well, I didn't really like it (not tons of coconut topping, crisp top, soft but not very sweet nor fluffy bread).  I really wanted something more like the version from A Padaria Portuguesa.

So, I hightailed it to another bakery in the airport, Aloma.

Croissants, Local Specialties, Sandwiches.

Aloma too had a display case loaded with goodies.

They had pastel de nata baked on site.  While literally every single merchant had nata, these folks had ovens, right there, in the middle, and they were coming out hot.  This seemed much more promising.

And ... they had pão de deus!  The pão de deus looked softer, fluffier.  And there was only one plain one left, over with the croissants on the far left.

Sandwiches, Croissant Sandwiches, Pão de Deus Sandwiches.

I quickly jumped into line to order the last one, hoping no one before me would get it.  That said, they also had a ham and cheese stuffed one, and plenty of those, so, I could have gone with that to compare.

This shop's ordering made sense: you ordered from one person, they got your food, and you paid there.  No crazy multiple lines, putting out your receipt, etc like Versailles.

Pão de Deus

This pão was indeed closer to the one from A Padaria Portuguesa.  It was softer, the dough sweeter than the Versailles version.  Not quite as soft, not quite as dreamy as the A Padaria Portuguesa one, but I’m pretty convinced that no where else’s compares to that.

The top was also soft, not crisp, and more like a coconut paste.  Again, not quite as good as the A Padoria Portuguesa version in that there wasn’t as much topping, and it wasn’t as sweet, but, still, I really prefer this to the authentic crispy style.

So, overall, it was ok.  If this was the first pão de deus I ever had, I probably wouldn’t have tried another.

Turns out, the first one I ever had really was the best, I should have just stopped there.

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Catering by Wise Sons

My apartment building recently hosted a brunch with catering by Wise Sons Jewish Deli.  I'm not a big lover of bagels, but, I know many in the city consider these to be "the best", so, I had to try them out.

I've reviewed Wise Sons before, but since those were always visits to the actual stores, I'm separating this catering specific post into its own, since, well, catering isn't reflective of your experience visiting in person.

Assorted Bagels & Shmear.

"Our bagels are kettle boiled, double- coated in classic toppings, and carefully baked for just the right amount of chew."

The hosts arranged for bagel and toppings platters, each of which came with assorted bagels and cream cheese (dubbed shmear).

We had an assortment of bagels (plain, sesame, everything) and shmear (plain, scallion and smoked salmon).

I tried an everything bagel.  It was ... fine I guess.  Chewy, if you are into that style.  A normal sized bagel, not a monster like the ones from Panera.  It had all the standard "everything" toppings: poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onions, salt.  I thought the salt was a bit too strong. Since it was an event, no toaster was available, so I can't evaluate its toastability.

California Veggie Bagel Platter. $85.

"Choice of assorted Bagels and Bialys with Hummus, Plain and Scallion Shmears. Served with Pickled Onions, Olives, Cucumbers, Radish and Roasted Seasonal Vegetables ."

The plain and scallion shmears came with the "California Veggie" platter.

I tried the cream cheeses, and they were fine, but really, just cream cheese, nothing particularly interesting about them.  The scallion one did have lots of scallion bits, clearly freshly made.

I also tried the roasted squash since it was a bit funny to me that they put huge chunks of cold roasted squash on a bagel platter.  I had no idea how I was supposed to use this on a bagel.   I think it was pumpkin?  One chunk had ... a stem.  It was fine, but just roasted squash.

The pickled red onions were a nice compliment with the cream cheese.

Smoked Salmon Platter ($160).

"Choice of assorted Bagels and Bialys with Sustainably Raised Smoked Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese, Cucumbers, Radish, Red Onions and Capers. Served with Dill Pickles ."

From the other platter, I tried the briney capers (standard, but I always love capers) and crisp slices of watermelon radish (again, just something I love).

I wish I had snagged a dill pickle, as there was a full pint, but they were gone by the time I returned.

Intelligentsia Drip Coffee. $21.

Catering coffee comes in large cardboard boxes with a spout.  The cardboard box doesn't keep the coffee particularly hot, and is a bit difficult to serve from.  But, without renting real carafes, not sure what they can do better.  The catering package included Wise Sons branded cups, lids, half and half, sweeteners.

The coffee is Intelligentsia.    It was fine.  It certainly would have been better if not lukewarm.

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Ten Acre Popcorn, UK

Another Friday, another post about popcorn.  I know you are probably getting sick of all the popcorn reviews, but, the thing is, I love popcorn, and it is one of my favorite snacks.  I eat it near-daily.

Today's review is from a snack foods maker in the UK: Ten Acre.  Ten Acre makes "Hand Cooked Crisps" (chips, to Americans) in 10 varieties and "Hand Picked Popcorn" in 7.  They are all gluten-free, dairy free, MSG free, vegan, halal, kosher, etc.

The names of the popcorn are as unique as the flavors themselves, as they include the name of a fictional popcorn-related character, like, "Cousin Maisie’s Fennel and Lemon Popcorn".  Who is Cousin Maisie?  And, hmm, fennel and lemon on popcorn?  The full savory range includes a Wasabi flavor ("Ambrose Popperley"), Lime and Sea Salt ("Captain Theodore"), and Sour Cream and Chive ("Cornelius Popperley").  Sweeter options are Cappuccino ("Lucia Popperley") and Strawberry & Cream ("Cousin Penelope"), with a Sweet and Salty variety straddling the divide.

I only had the chance to try one variety while I was in London, but it wasn't noteworthy.

Aunty Winifred’s Sweet and Salty Popcorn.

"A perfect blend of sweet and salty. Tantalisingly tasty for those who like the best of both worlds in a packet of popcorn."

I opted for the kettle corn, nee, "Aunty Winifred’s Sweet and Salty Popcorn".  This variety has won an award, the "Great Taste Awards" (presumably a UK thing?)

It didn't really win any awards with me.  It was very plain, just a hint of sweet and salty.  Some pieces seemed entirely plain, but there were a few gems with a decent sugar coating.  Overall, a healthy snack I guess, but not a very satisfying one.

I froze it to see if that would improve it.  It did, resulting in crispier kernels at least, but still pretty boring. 

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Weeel Frozen Yogurt, Lisbon, Portugual

When in Lisbon ... get froyo?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I was supposed to be filling up on pastel de nata (which I did, at Pastéis de Belém), but, it was hot, and I wanted froyo.  What's a girl to do, particularly when she walks by a cute froyo stand in the mall food court?  I didn't even research Weeel before my visit, which is rare for me.  I'm glad I took the gamble, as it was excellent, and I returned every day I had left in Lisbon.

They offer only one flavor of yogurt (plain tart), with toppings, or made into shakes and parfaits.  At least, that is what I figured out from the menu and website.  The menu was very confusing, even though it had pictures.

The frozen yogurt comes in 3 sizes, always in a cup, no cones available, always with at least one topping.  That part was simple.

The other options, besides just froyo with toppings, are a "weeel shake" with frozen yogurt, fruit, and toppings, blended like a shake, or a "weeel fresh", which seemed to be some kind of fruit juice mix, or a "weeel up" which looked like a shake topped with more plain froyo and fruit, or a "weeel cool", which looked like a fruity ice mix topped with froyo and other toppings, and a "weeel done", a parfait, which I'll get more into below.

While the others shoppers weren't drawn to froyo and it was empty every time I walked by, the place does seem successful, as they have a few shops around the country, mostly in Lisbon, mostly in mall food courts.  They also have a few frozen yogurt trucks!  Lisbon is down with the trends, like serving milkshakes in mason jars at Ground Burger.

The yogurt and toppings were both high quality, and I really recommend Weel, if, you know, you wind up in Lisbon and want froyo.  It happens.

Toppings!

The toppings choices are extensive, ranging from liquids, to fruits, to candy, to cookies, to nuts.

Since they have only plain froyo, and all sizes come with at least one topping included, I guess this makes sense.

For liquids, there is dark chocolate, white chocolate, caramel, mango sauce, liquid nutella, and the fascinating looking "rafaweeel".  More on rafaweel soon.  Oh, and squeeze bottle of honey.

Next came fruits, including ripe mango chunks, watermelon (!), other melon, shredded coconut, fresh peaches, kiwi, apple compote, and a mixed berry compote.  Ojan lamented the lack of strawberries.

Candies included both milk and white chocolate pearls and mini M&Ms.

There were several types of cookie crumbs, including Oreos and caramelized biscuits.

And finally, nuts.  In addition to standard chopped nuts, there was also a caramelized nuts and seeds mix that I eyed, and granola crumbles.

Really, something for everyone here.  Most items were labelled in both English and Portuguese.

Pequeno with 2 toppings (mango, rafaweeel). 3.20€.

There is only one flavor of yogurt, plain tart.  On my first visit, I added "rafaweeel" and mango.

The yogurt was very good, it reminded me of Red Mango in the US, back when Red Mango was good.  Not too sweet, tart, decently creamy.  Clearly not trying to be ice cream, but very good frozen yogurt.

For my toppings, I was drawn in by nearly everything.  In the end, I decided to get one liquid and one fruit.  I really wanted a crunchy topping too, but, I was trying not to overdo it.

For fruit, I picked mango, as it looked really ripe and juicy.  It was indeed good, large chunks, although, only about 6 pieces were added to my froyo.  I wanted more!  Sadly, my camera did something crazy, and you can't actually see the vibrant, perfectly ripe, mango chunks on here.

For the sauce, I almost got the white chocolate, (or the nutella when I was considering a crunchy topping instead of mango), but last minute, I decided to try the rafaweeel.  I had no idea what it was, but it looked like white chocolate with stuffs in it.  Which ... it was.  I think.  Still not sure about the white chocolate part, it might have just been liquid yogurt coating?  Someone else thought it might be sweetened condensed milk?  Anyway, it was white and sweet.  Sure, it looked kinda odd against the white froyo, but it was tasty.  Inside was flakes of coconut, actually giving it a pretty good coconut flavor.  Coconut and mango were a great combination, so, I really lucked out.  There was also larger chunks of something, not sure of what, maybe waffle cone bits or something?  I appreciated the texture.

Overall, this was really quite good.  The froyo was good, the toppings were good, and the size was enough to be satisfied but not stuffed.  I immediately made a plan to return.

A small normally comes with 1 topping, medium and large with 3.  I wanted a small, but I really wanted 3 toppings.  I compromised and ordered 2 toppings.  I was told that small only comes with 1.  I asked if I could pay more for another topping.  Yes, yes I could.  So, a normal small is 2.70€, I paid 0.50€ extra for the second topping.

Pequeno with 2 toppings (caramelized seeds, white chocolate). 3.20€.

A few days later, after a large dinner at nearby Ground Burger, I wasn't really satisfied, and wanted something sweet to end on a good note.  Since we were only a block away, Weeel came to mind immediately.

Note: I was with a group of at least 40 people, and we had just finished devouring burgers, fries, onion rings, and milkshakes, and our next destination was a tiki bar.  Taking a "quick detour" to froyo was perhaps ridiculous, and I honestly didn't think everyone would follow me, I kinda assumed they'd continue to the tiki bar, and then a few folks would come with me and we could meet at the bar.  But instead, I lead a ridiculous entourage into the Il Corte Ingles mall, down to the food court, through the whole food court, and to the Weeel stand.  It really was quite comical, Julie leading a heard.

On this visit, I again asked for two toppings, which again required double confirmation that I was willing to pay extra.  Since I wanted the white chocolate last time and didn't get it, I got it this time, even though, I really wanted that rafaweeel again.  I decided to get my second choice from before of crunchy topping too, caramelized seeds, and skipped fruit, although, the mango looked excellent again.  So, basically, this was my second choice version of everything I got the day before.

And ... it was fine.  The froyo was again tart and creamy, and quite good.  The caramelized seeds were, well, crunchy, slightly sugar coated pumpkin seeds.  I liked the crunch, but otherwise they weren't actually amazing in any way.  The white chocolate was sweet and ok, but, no where near as amazing as rafaweeel.

Ojan was among the group I led there.  I told him how this place was like Red Mango from back when it was good, and assured him he would like it, but, he said he was too full and didn't want any.  He took one bite of mine, and then immediately got in line.  Lols.  He made a healthy version with mango and melon, and really liked it.  He wanted to retur as soon as possible, but we were out of days in Lisbon.

A few others in the group got the rafaweeel at my very strong encouragement.  They all gave it strong endorsements as well, even though they admitted that it looked scary.

So, overall, this froyo was only ok, but, that was my topping picks not being awesome.

If I had another day in Lisbon to get froyo, I'd definitely return.  I'd be pretty tempted to go back to mango and rafaweeel, and maybe add a third crunchy element like nuts.  Or, go for something with chocolate or nutella sauce.  So hard to get past that rafaweeel though ...

Weeel Done. 3.70€.

"Camadas de Iogurte Gelado com Toppings Crocantes, 3 Frutas e Topping Líquido Quente."

On my last visit, there was actually another customer, a lady, who ordered one of the items from the menu that wasn't just froyo with toppings.  It looked incredible.  I quickly asked what it was, and was pointed to the "Weeel Done".  On the menu display, it just showed froyo with some fruit.  Not really knowing what I was getting, I asked for one too.  It was my last visit to Weeel, and I wanted to go big!

It was a layered creation, starting with a little bit of froyo in the bottom.  Then my choice of crunchy topping (yes!).  Then my choice of not one, not two, but THREE fruits (!!!).  Then another crunchy topping (whee!).  Then more froyo.  And then a liquid topping.  Um, wow?  I could get ALL THE THINGS!

I didn't know I'd get all these choices, until it was being assembled.  My server added the froyo to the base, and then asked which crunchy topping I wanted.  I opted for the caramelized almonds, somewhat on a whim.  Then he asked me to pick a fruit, I said mango, since I liked that before.  And he said I got another fruit.  I said peaches, as they looked fresh.  And then he asked for another fruit, so I went with kiwi, mostly just totally randomly picking at that point.  He really loaded it up with fruit, far more per topping than on the regular froyo.

And then ... he asked for another crunchy topping.  I went with the caramelized biscuits, I don't even know why.  I wasn't expecting to get to pick so many things and was totally unprepared.  He returned to the froyo machine to add a ton of froyo on top, and then came back to ask my sauce choice.  That was no question.  Rafaweeel!  He handed over my creation, and I must say, I was pretty excited.  It was so much more than I was planning to get, just a simple small with perhaps two toppings!

The rafaweeel was again amazing, and this time I asked him what it was.  He said it is white chocolate, with coconut and biscuits, as I suspected.  I again loved it, sweet, coconuty, with a bit of fun texture.

The caramelized almond bits were also great, super sweet, nice crunch.  The caramelized biscuit though I didn't care for, as it was basically just cookie crumbs, which, it turns out, aren't very delicious when they get soggy in melty froyo.

The kiwi was hard and very lackluster, like all other kiwi I had on the trip.  I'm starting to think kiwi just isn't what to eat in Portugal.  The peaches were almost good, they had a nice flavor, but were still pretty hard, crisp to bite into.  Maybe that is how peaches are eaten here?  The mango was a mixed bag.  Some chunks were perfectly soft and ripe.  Others were kinda hard.

My parfait was a bit hard to eat, since I wanted to get to the mangos in the bottom, and had to dig through so much else to get there.  But besides that slight annoyance, it was pretty awesome.  Sure, the fruit wasn't all the ripest, and I wouldn't get the biscuit crumble again, but it was still really great, creamy, tart yogurt, a ridiculous amount of toppings, and, swoon, rafaweeel!

I would definitely get a Weeel Done again, if I was hungry enough, or if I had someone to split with, as this really is a bit of an undertaking.  Next time, I'd keep the rafaweeel (or maybe, maybe finally try the chocolate), I'd keep the caramelized almonds and perhaps try some of the chocolate candies, I'd keep the mango, possibly just double up on it, or pick something else that looked ripest.  If ... only there was another time!

I don't really understand the pricing at Weeel.  A small with 3 fruits, 2 crunchy toppings, and 1 liquid topping would be 5.70€.   When I ordered fruit toppings on my froyo, I got less of each on it than in here.  So this was more yogurt than a small, an equal amount of liquid topping, and 5 other toppings, all in more substantial amounts, for 2€ less?

Anyway, if you want a lot of toppings, clearly go this route, even if it is a bit hard to eat.

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Rich Table

Rich Table opened in 2012 to pretty much instant local acclaim.  A cute story, a husband and wife team of chef-owners, who opened their first restaurant together.  He makes their fancy cultured butter, she makes the homemade bread.  A casual, neighborhood environment, but with fairly refined food.  Seasonal market focused menu that is constantly changing, with a few unique signature dishes.  Reasonable pricing.

I've wanted to visit Rich Table for quite a while, but, reservations are notoriously hard to come by (although, they've never been awarded a Michelin star).  I was finally able to visit when invited by a VIP guest, who was able to secure us a table for 4 on a Sunday night, in the 5:45pm seating.

The Space

Rich Table is located in Hayes Valley, just a few blocks from the Van Ness station.  The space is casual but manicured, if that makes any sense, in that it is clearly designed, but designed to feel homey.  It is as comfortable as possible, but, the space is small, so the cramped nature does reduce some level of comfort.

Front Door - Curb Appeal!

The front entrance is very inviting, with a rather homey looking wooden red door.

Front Window.

The curbside appeal extends to the large window, stone work, and even a bench to sit on.  It is far more attractive than the surrounding area.

Seating.

The casual but attractive decor extends inside as well, with whitewashed wooden bench seating complete with throw pillows, and walls made with large wooden slats.

Most tables are just small tables for two, with only a handful of 4-6 person tables.

Open (Tiny) Kitchen.

The kitchen is open, and absolutely tiny, positioned in the corner behind exposed wooden beans.

Place Setting.

Tables were set in advance of our arrival, with simple fork and knife, plate, and white linen napkin.  The napkin mirrored the homey feel that the throw pillows and casual wooden elements established.

Our plates and silverware were changed out between courses.

Dinner

Everything at Rich Table is designed to be shared family style, so we were able to order a selection of menu items, some from all sections of the menu.  The pastas and desserts were the weakest dishes, the signature Bites were as unique as I expected, but, besides the steak, we didn't have anything particularly worth going back for.

Menu Board.

The food menu (top) at Rich Table is broken into several sections.  The three main sections are not labelled in any particular way, but if I had to make up names, I'd call them: "Larger Appetizers", "Pasta", and "Main Dishes".

Down the side of the menu ran labelled sections, with "Bites", "Bread & Butter", "Oysters", and the option to feast family style with the chefs picking your menu.

We ordered from all the major sections, skipping only the oysters and bread.

The bottom menu was cocktails, beer, and wine, plus house made soft drinks.

Drinks

My hosts brought a bottle of wine, so I did not order any drinks, besides sparkling water, from the drink menu.

Ojan however ordered a house made soda, as they sounded interesting.  He has the choice of strawberry-verbena, douglas fir, lemon-lime, cherry-lavender, or mexican cola.

Cherry Lavender. $6

Ojan took one sip and declared, "Woah, that's weird."

Given that reaction, I had to try it.  It was very sweet, but the cherry flavor was good.  A unique drink, if nothing else.

Bites

I knew from my research that the Bites section of the menu is what first brought Rich Table acclaim.  The sardine chips and porchini mushroom doughnuts are hands down, the most talked about, blogged about, instagrammed about, etc dishes.  But the other Bites also sounded great, so, we ordered every single item from the Bites section (save the avocado since I'm allergic).

The Bites seemed strangely portioned to me.  The chips are sold individually.  The doughnuts come as an order of 5.  The fritters as 4.  The spring roll, only one per order, cut in half.  It seemed like no matter your group size, these portions would always be a bit awkward.  It was also a bit odd that the varied serving sizes weren't mentioned to us.  When we ordered the spring roll for example, the server could have asked if we were all planning to try it, and suggested doubling up on it.  Instead, we had two pieces of spring roll for 4 people.

The first 3 of our Bites came at once, with a steady trickle of the remaining dishes a few minutes later.  This was good pacing, as receiving them all at once would have just covered our table in dishes, been overwhelming, and the hot dishes would have gotten cold before we could try them all.  I appreciated the staggering.

Dried Porcini Doughnuts / Raclette. $9.

In the first wave of dishes, the very first dish I reached for was Rich Table's second-most-famous dish: dried porcini doughnuts with raclette dipping sauce.

Yes, take a moment for that one to settle in.  Hot fresh savory doughnuts, with liquid cheese to dip them in?  No wonder people go nuts.

The doughnuts were piping hot and fresh from the fryer, not oily.  The texture was good, very doughy, in a way that I liked.  They didn't scream "MUSHROOMS!", but had slightly earthy tones from the porcini powder they were rolled in.  Good, savory doughnuts.

The raclette was actually really fluffy, cheesy, and, like the doughnuts themselves, it was served warm.  I'm glad I went for this dish first, while it was all hot.

We all liked this, but, no one loved it enough to go for the 5th extra.  I really wanted the molten raclette stuffed inside the doughnuts, rather than as a dipping sauce, like the ridiculous cheese foam injected donut "tanks" from Fill 'R Up Gastro Garaje in LA.

Sardine Chip / Horseradish Crème Fraiche. $2/each.

Next I went for the famous sardine chips.  Yes, a chip, with a sardine threaded through it.  Unique, for sure.

I actually wanted to reach for it first, but, since the doughnuts were hot and it was not, I had to prioritize.

The chip was crispy, but a bit oily, as you can see it glistening here.  The sardine was super salty, which was perfect with the chip, but rather chewy, in a way that made it a bit hard to eat.

The chips were served with horseradish crème fraiche, a fun play on chips and dip, although I didn't taste horseradish.  There was also a single leaf of ... baby kale?  It was at this point that I noticed that every dish came garnished with some kind of fresh seasonal green.

Overall, this was fine, and certainly unique.  I'm glad I finally got to try it, but I don't think I'd order it again, as the chewy nature of the sardine was a bit off-putting.

Fresh Spring Roll / Dungeness Crab / Fried Peanut. $11.

The third Bite that arrived at the start of our meal was the fresh spring roll, a light contrast to the fried carby items.

Inside the standard spring roll wrapper was crispy cucumber and a generous amount of fresh crab.  I got totally distracted talking about local Dungeness crab, and somewhat forgot to take real notes on this.  I couldn't stop thinking about crab night at Camino, in Oakland, which I was busy recommending to our fellow diners.

There were two sauces on the plate, a peanut sauce and a chile sauce, that you were supposed to mix together.  I somehow managed to just get a big spoonful of the chile sauce, and found it really hot, but, everyone else had them mixed and didn't think there was much spice.  Perhaps I got all the spice?  The peanut sauce was very chunky, a texture I liked, but made it hard to dip into.

The random green garnish here was a sprig of something.  Like I said, every dish had a random green garnish.  

The spring roll came as only two halves, which made sharing a bit awkward.  Luckily, our group of 4 was two couples, so each couple took one, and did the portioning.  In my case, this meant I got first dibs, and my partner took the second half after I was done.  The other couple tried to more politely cut their piece in half, but that just squished and mangled the whole thing.  The server really should have warned us about this portion size.

Anyway, this was good, a fresh, light, tasty dish, although not particularly novel.  It was the dish of the night for one diner.

Brandade Croquettes / Tikka Masala / Pickled Lime. $9.

Our next pile of Bites started with the brandade croquettes.  The order came with 4, one for each of us, but I decided to skip it.  We had way too much food coming, and they looked kinda burnt and dried out, and were less interesting to me than other things on our lineup.

The random green garnish here was a fresh pea tendril, which also showed up in the next dish.

The others didn't comment much on this dish, so I don't think it was particularly interesting to them either.

Corn Tempura / Aioli / Cotija Cheese. $9.

Our final Bite was corn tempura.

From reading reviews before my visit, I knew that this would be individually fried tempura corn kernels, but that is certainly not what I would have expected prior to seeing photos.  Everyone else seemed confused by it, expecting something more like a corn fritter.

Anyway.  I like fried things.  I like tempura.  I love aioli.  I like dipping fried things in aioli.  But ... that was hard to do with this form factor and plating.  The individual fried corn kernels meant that you couldn't pick them up.  This was not finger food.  The aioli was all on the bottom of the plate.  It made the tempura bits get soggy, and, I couldn't take a forkful of tempura corn and dunk it in the aioli.  I wanted more, separate aioli for optimal dunking.  And lastly, the corn tempura was too oily, it left an oily aftertaste in my mouth.

Sadly, I just didn't care for this dish, even though it sounded on paper like one I'd love.  Ojan even called it out, noticing that I wasn't polishing off the plate, asking what was wrong, because it was a dish that I should have loved.  And I would have, if it were less oily, and had more aioli ...

I'll give a shout out to the fresh pea tendrils on top though.  Crisp, peak season, and really delicious.

Starters

The Starters section (as opposed to just "Bites"), had 4 items, larger than the Bites.  Since we got so many Bites, I would have been fine skipping these, but, one other diner wanted the burrata, and, really, when will I ever turn down burrata?  We ordered just that one.  The dishes we passed up were grilled asparagus, beef tartar, and chicken liver mousse.  Asparagus and chicken liver mousse are dishes I would have ordered on any other day, so this really just a testament to how amazing the whole menu was, that I was able to not select dishes that sounded perfectly appealing.

Our starter came about 20 minutes after the last Bite, and 15 minutes before our entrees, again, good pacing.

Burrata / Strawberry Gazpacho / Country Ham. $10.

This dish was as fascinating as you might guess, given the description.

It was, indeed, a pool of strawberry gazpacho and big chunks of fresh burrata, topped with ham, greens, and furikaki spiced rice crispy rice.

One diner took a bite and said, "its like strawberry greek yogurt!"

The gazpacho was sweet and fruity, yet spicy too.  The burrata was creamy and delicious, as, well, it was burrata.  Hard to go wrong with fresh burrata.  The greens and finely sliced snap peas added freshness and color.  I think this was the same garnish as the spring roll?  The crumble on top was furikake spiced puffed rice, super crispy, and a fun touch.

It was a very intriguing combination of flavors and textures, and things you'd never expect to work well together, yet, somehow, it did.  Although, now that I think about it, fruit and cheese do make sense together, and obviously ham and cheese make sense, so, why not put it all together, and turn the fruit into a gazpacho?  The other diners summed it up when they said, "its just confusing".  I agree, it was confusing, but, I think I liked it.

I know the porchini doughnuts and the sardine chips get all the credit for being the unique offerings at Rich Table, but this one was far more fascinating to me.  Not necessarily more tasty, but, it kept me engaged.  It was the favorite dish of one diner.

Pasta

Rich Table is known for their pastas, which I knew, and our server made sure to tell us as well.  The menu had four pasta choices, which could be coursed out as a mid or an entree.  We opted to order two pastas and one entree, and have them coursed together.

I would have been happy with any of the four pastas, but the carbonara was my first pick, and the lobster tagliatelle was another diner's top request, so, we went with those two, skipping the bucatini (with triple cream!) and the braised duck and cherry lasagna (which, I'll admit, sounds a bit odd, but looked delicious).

I wonder if we just made poor choices, as neither pasta was great, and the pastas are something Rich Table is really known for.

Chitarra / Ramp "Carbonara" / Aged Gouda / Egg Yolk. $18.

The chitarra carbonara was really quite disappointing.

Not that it was bad exactly, but it was really, really boring.  The pasta itself was cooked al dente.  The sauce was creamy.  But ... there was just no flavor.

On top, of course we had a random green garnish, here it was a few leaves of ... baby arugula?

This dish simply had nothing going on.  I certainly didn't taste ramps or even gouda.  This went unfinished.

Tagliatelle / Maine Lobster / Corn Bisque / Peach / Caraway. $23.

The tagliatelle fared better.

Again, nicely cooked pasta in a creamy sauce.  This time, the sauce, sweet corn bisque, had flavor.  I really liked the crunch from the caraway crumble on top.

The chunks of soft, cooked peach mixed in were a bit odd.  Peaches and lobster?  Peaches and pasta?  It didn't not work, but, it was certainly different, and very sweet.  Perhaps a bit too sweet as part of a main dish.  There was a not a lot of lobster, but I wouldn't expect there to be at this price point.  The lobster was nicely cooked, not rubbery.

Overall, better than the other pasta, and I did like the sauce, but, I probably wouldn't get it again.

Main Dishes

The menu had 4 different main dishes.  Since we were going so heavy in the other areas of the menu, we opted to only order a single main, which was served at the same time as our pastas.

I was tempted by the halibut, since I really love halibut (and it came with grits!), but, I eat both halibut and grits regularly, so, that didn't seem very special.  I was really intrigued by the vegetarian main, a corn cake with "seeded cream cheese", strawberries, and sprouts, but I also had no real idea what that would be like, and no one else in the group was drawn in by that one.  So this left the pork chop or the ribeye.  Our choice was made not by the protein itself, but by one of the elements: Dungeness Crab Butter.  Yes.

It was an excellent choice, and I wonder more why the main dishes don't get more accolades.

Grilled Ribeye, English Pea, Potato, Dungeness Crab Butter. $34.

Ok, a steak is perhaps not the most sharable dish, I know.  But, they did say everything on the menu is designed to be family style, and, it was a vary large steak.  Amusingly, it was served with a fork and a spoon (although they brought us each a steak knife for our individual place settings).

I can't say this dish looked like I expected it to.  I expected a more classic preparation, a steak, potatoes on the side, scoop of peas, pat of butter on top.  Where were the potatoes?  And, that promised Dungeness crab butter?  I also can't say that it looked ... very appealing.  But one bite in I stopped caring what it looked like.  It was delicious.

Ojan took one bite of this, and instantly declared, "This dish makes me realize why people like ribeye".  Neither Ojan nor I tend to like ribeye, and always opt for filet, as ribeye tends to be chewier, fattier than we like.

But the ribeye was ridiculously good.  It was really well prepared, tender and juicy, not chewy, the considerable fat perfectly rendered.  It was well seasoned, very salty, in a good way.

The peas came in two forms, a smooth english pea puree at the base of the plate and a chunky pea pistou (or was it a chimichurri?) on top.  The peas were fresh, flavorful, and delicious.  I really enjoyed both pea elements.  Hello, spring!

The potato was crispy fried potato strings perched on top.  I loved the crunch they added.  I'm not sure exactly where the butter was, I think the steak must have been basted with it, as it was glistening and there was no obvious butter on the plate.  I didn't actually taste anything craby at all, but, I didn't care.  The dish was good anyway.

Everyone at the table liked this dish.  It was the dish of the night for both Ojan and I, although our dining companions happen to be serious steak connoisseurs, and said they can source, and cook themselves, a better steak.  We await our invitation, and, in the meantime, we'd gladly get this again.

Dessert

Dessert menu.

The dessert menu featured 4 sweet desserts and a cheese.  The selection wasn't exciting to me, and seemed like it was aimed a bit too much to please the masses.  A cake, a pudding, a chocolate dish, and something frozen.

I avoid chocolate at night due to the caffeine, so we quickly ruled that out.  I love pudding, but the panna cotta was lemon, and I don't care for citrus desserts.  Still, you know me, I have a serious sweet tooth, and we needed dessert.

It seemed that nothing was jumping out at anyone else either.  No strong votes for any dishes, so, we opted to double up on the cake, and added the frozen dessert our server strongly recommended.

The desserts were fine, but, they weren't special nor memorable.

Alongside my dessert I ordered decaf coffee, as always.  I love having a bitter coffee to pair with a sweet dessert.  Unfortunately, the coffee didn't come until at least 5 minutes after dessert.  It was good (Sightglass, served in a french press), but, given that we had one warm dessert and one melting dessert, I couldn't wait for it to arrive, and had to drink it after.  Next time, I'd explicitly ask to have that timed differently.

Pistachio Coffee Cake / Strawberry / Buttermilk Ice Cream. $11.

The dessert I was mildly interested in was the coffee cake.

Now, I'm not really one for cake (its in the same category as cookies for me, generally just meh), but, I do have a soft spot for coffee cake.  Not generally for dessert, but, a good streusel topped coffee cake makes a wonderful compliment to a morning cuppa.

Anyway, this was ... not really a coffee cake.  We all had the same initial reaction of "um, this isn't coffee cake".  I mean, it was cake, and it was round, but ... no streusel?  No cinnamon?  One diner said it was more like a soft scone.  To me, it was just boring cake.

The cake was served warm, which I appreciated.  Warm dessert with cold ice cream is a winning combination (although, I prefer the warm element to be a crisp, cobbler, pie, etc).  One point for the warm dessert.

The strawberries were glazed and super sweet.  They reminded me almost of canned strawberries, the goo surrounding them was that thick.  I like sweet, but, I didn't really like these.  Ojan told me to think of them like the strawberries my mom uses for strawberry shortcake, macerated with tons of sugar.  I almost could see the strawberry shortcake aspect of this dish, as it was cake and sweetened berries, but, the glaze was just too much.

The buttermilk ice cream was tasty though, it had a nice tang to it.

If I composed a bite with all of the elements, warm soft cake, sweet fruit, crunchy pistachios, and tangy creamy ice cream, it was enjoyable, but, overall, this was fairly lackluster.  One other diner said it was "not a very desserty dessert", which perhaps explains why it wasn't for me.  I like serious desserts, and this almost seemed more like a breakfast item to me.  I wouldn't get it again.

Cherry Ice / Sorrel / Almond Milk Ice Cream. $11.

Our other pick was the cherry ice.

This was an odd pick, but, when I asked the server if he had a favorite, he got a dreamy look in his eye, and told me the cherry ice.  I think he realized how it was a strange pick, particularly when compared to something like dark chocolate ganache.  I also recalled a surprised positive review about it when I browsed Yelp too, so, putting the two recommendations together, we went for it.  Why not try something totally different?

And different it was.  Not bad, but, very different.

Cherries and almonds were the primary ingredients, each featured in multiple forms.  The namesake cherries made up the light refreshing granita on top, but there were also fresh, tart halves of cherries underneath.  The almond milk ice cream was quite good, I found the almond flavor to it lovely, and I was surprised by how well the almond and cherry flavors combined.  There was also roasted almond slices as a layer in the bowl, which added more almond flavor and some crunch.  On top was chiffonade sorrel, you know, green garnish.

Overall, I enjoyed eating this dish, largely because it was different.  I appreciated that they worked the fresh cherry and crunchy almonds in, to boost the flavor of the granita and the ice cream, but also to add some other textures.  But, would I get it again?  Nah.  Again, just not my style of dessert, but it was a really refreshing and light option, so if you are into granitas and fruit, then, I'd recommend.

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