Duck & Waffle, London

Duck & Waffle.

A very hip, very trendy, very famous spot in London.  Notable for many things, ranging from the views (up on the 40th floor of Heron Tower, highest restaurant in the city), to the hours (open 24 hours, 7 days a week), to the cuisine (not just including the signature Duck & Waffle), to the ridiculous advance reservations you need for any reasonable meal time (literally, at least a month out).

I've wanted to visit Duck & Waffle on previous visits to London, but was never able to plan far enough in advance ... several weeks wouldn't cut it.  Finally, on my most recent trip, I made the reservation the moment I booked my flight, nearly two months in advance.

We secured a coveted Friday evening time slot, for a group of 6.  I was quite excited, although still a bit skeptical that it would actually taste good, and not just be all about the experience.

Trendy Meal.

We tried a large assortment of items.  They sounded great.  The looked great.  Most were underwhelming, with, oddly, the exception of the duck & waffle, not something I expected to like, but, clearly a signature dish they have perfected.

Setting

Duck & Waffle is located in Heron Tower, on the 40th floor.  They have a private glass elevator that whisks you to the top.  To get to the elevator, you go through red ropes, must confirm your name, go through a X-ray, have your bags searched, and your water confiscated (seriously?).  It was a scene just to get in (that said, the view from the elevator was perhaps the highlight of the experience).

The View.

The view once inside is also impressive, but a bit hard to capture on my cell phone camera.  This is the best I have, sorry.

Bar.

The front area is a bar, very ... busy, both in decoration and in activity level.  I believe this area is for walk-ins only.

Round Room.

The main dining room is a stunning space, round, large glass windows on all sides.  Coveted seats are along the windows, but the middle seats are comfortable round booths.

Many of the window seats are intimate tables for two, couples enjoying dates overlooking the city.

We had one of two large wooden tables, right near the entrance, but also along a window.

Open Kitchen.

The side of the room that isn't glass is the open kitchen.  There wasn't that much to see though, as it had high counters, just, dishes flying out of the pass, constantly.

Cocktails

"This month’s list of cocktails comes from the recently launched first self-titled book by Rich Woods (AKA The Cocktail Guy). The Cocktail Guy is available to buy in the restaurant and includes brand new creations as well as some of his iconic drinks from both Duck & Waffle and SUSHISAMBA. @the_cocktailguy"

The cocktail menu was amazing sounding.  "I want like all of these!", I kept saying.

They sounded better than they were, and were *very& pricey.  Also, the staff kept trying to get us to buy the associated cocktail book.  Pushy, pushy.

 Our drinks didn't arrive until after multiple dishes.  Minus a few points.

Black Cherry Godfather. £14.

"Monkey Shoulder whisky, black cherry liqueur, dry essence, caramel bitters. Served short and over ice. The Black Forest gâteau of Godfathers."

For my cocktail, I finally decided on the Black Cherry Godfather.  The large ice cube in the center was impressive at first, until I realized just how small my actual cocktail was.  Sure, this wasn't a fruity drink nor mixed with much, but, uh, it was less than a shot, seriously.  Other drinks were similarly thimble sized.  Minus a point.

It tasted like whisky, sure, but I didn't detect the black cherry nor caramel tones.  It was highly lackluster.

At nearly $19 USD, this seemed ... ridiculous.  I know I was paying for the view, and the creative cocktail, but, seriously?

I also tried my companion's "Peanut, Rye & Dry".

"Rye whiskey, peanut butter liqueur, dry Vermouth. A rich, nutty and dry cocktail. Served short and over ice."

It was actually incredible, the most memorable part of the night.  The peanut flavor was just crazy.  Liquid ... peanut.  I loved it, but didn't order it, too disgruntled at the slow drink service and prices.

Food

But we were (mostly) there for the food right?

Overall, everything was well conceived, decently executed, and well presented, but really failed to impress me.

Menu.

The menu is broken into 5 sections: Snacks, Freshly Baked Breads, Small Plates, For the Table, and Sides.

Everything is designed to be shared, and arrives as it is ready, a fact that the staff told us several times, warning us that things might not come in the order we expected.  Which was basically true, our main dish showing up halfway through the small plates, the bread coming last.

Small Plates

The largest section of the menu is small plates, about 15 choices in all.  These were the dishes that sounded the best to me, and luckily my fellow diners agreed, so we focused on order on this section.

We skipped the "Snacks" section (even smaller bites than "Small Plates"), but, I was certainly tempted by the bacon wrapped dates or the bbq crispy pigs ears.  Still, I was happy with our selections, we ordered nearly every small plate I wanted to try, 

SPICY OX CHEEK DOUGHNUT. £12.

"Apricot jam, smoked paprika sugar."

Ok, ox cheek may not be something I generally get excited about, but a savory doughnut sounded pretty awesome.  Plus, reviews rave about this.

It was a giant (seriously, huge) donut hole.  I tried to describe it to my fellow diners before we ordered, assuring them that one would be fine for our group of 5, but "donut hole" and "shareable" are hard to reconcile.  It was indeed easily sharable, and really, quite impressive when it was set down in front of us.

The doughnut itself was coated in paprika sugar.  I loved the flavor in that coating.  It was crispy on the outside, sorta doughy on the inside, but I didn't actually like the doughnut that much.

SPICY OX CHEEK DOUGHNUT: Inside.

And stuffed inside it?  The shredded ox cheek.  This was good, fine, savory.  Pulled pork would probably be more of a crowd pleaser, but I like that they did something different.

The sauce was a sweet apricot jam, like the exterior sugar, very sweet.  Too sweet for me.

Definitely an interesting dish, and I like the idea of it, and the sweet and savory combo, but, I didn't care for this.  One diner liked this, the others lacked enthusiasm but ate it.  Not in anyone's top three.

ANGUS BEEF TARTARE. £11.

"Pickled onion, mustard, marmite egg yolk & dripping croutes."

Next up was tartare, which I actually skipped, as I don't generally care for tartare, and I was still awaiting my drink ...

No one rated this a favorite either.

FOIE GRAS CRÈME BRÛLÉE. £13.

"Pork crackling & marmalade brioche."

Ok, now we were getting somewhere.  Was this the reason we were there?  Well, maybe.

You know how much I love foie gras and creme brulee, so, this was entirely up my alley.  Add in a pork crackling coated brioche (!), and clearly, I had to get it.

The creme brulee was perfection in terms of execution.  Super crispy top, very creamy.  Great caramelization on the brulee top.  They nailed this aspect of it.

The brioche was warm, soft sweet, decent enough.  The pork cracklings were on top of this, which gave it some crunch.

As much as this was executed well, it didn't wow me.  The foie flavor wasn't that great, and really, I had much, much better foie gras at Frenchie the night before (stay tuned!).

It was the favorite for one diner, third for another.

CELERIAC CARBONARA. £13.

"Pancetta cream, truffle rapeseed oil, confit duck yolk."

Next, there play on a carbonara, with shredded celeriac instead of noodles (channeling the ever trendy zoodles).

I didn't really taste the pancetta cream, but the truffle flavor was strong and good.  The confit duck yolk yielded appropriate food porn when it was cut into.

But overall, another meh for me.  One diner rated it their favorite.

'NDUJA SEARED OCTOPUS. £12.

"Whipped yellow lentils, fennel, green sauce."

Now we were getting to one that I was excited about.  I adore seared octopus, and please, who doesn't love 'nduja?

The presentation was great, topped with shaved fennel.

But ... the octopus lacked any of the smoky flavor I was hoping for.  The lentils kinda took over, and I don't like lentils.  And I'm not sure where the 'nduja was hiding.

It was the favorite of one diner though.

Freshly Baked Breads

I knew that Duck & Waffle specializes in fresh breads (not standard breads at all), so I insisted we get one of these.  There were many fantastic options, like a 'nduja & gruyere one (!), but, we went for my top pick, the cornbread.

We were warned when we ordered that this would take a while to prepare, and come "out of order", so we weren't surprised when our bread was the last item to arrive.

MAPLE GLAZED CORNBREAD, HARISSA YOGHURT. £7.

Like most dishes, the presentation was great, served in a hot cast iron skillet, on a wooden board.

A very hot cast iron skillet.  We had to be very careful serving this and passing it around.  I don't think a restaurant in the US would dare serve something like this, as I'm sure someone would burn themselves and sue.

The cornbread was great.  It wasn't anything like traditional cornbread though, it was really moist, filled with herbs, and full kernels of corn.  I loved the maple glaze, the maple flavor was strong, and it was nicely sweet.

The harissa yoghurt was on top, along with a few slices of jalapeno, but I mostly avoided it, choosing to enjoy the sweetness.  I think it would have been amazing with maple butter or something instead ...

Still, one of the better dishes.

For the Table

From the main dish section, "For the Table", we only got one item: the signature duck & waffle, but other choices were more pedestrian crowd pleasers: whole roasted chicken, whole roasted sea bass, bone-in rib-eye, uh, rabbit, and a vegetarian ravioli.

All designed to be shared, obviously.

We skipped the side dishes, just a salad or roast sweet potato.

DUCK & WAFFLE. £18.

"Crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup."

I've never really cared for duck.  I don't like eggs.  I had little hope for the waffle.  I figured this was mostly a gimmick, a play on chicken and waffles, and, well, people love fun concepts.

It turned out to be really good.  We very, very quickly ordered another.

I wish I had a better photo so you could see the full dish composition, but, there was a half a waffle, topped with a duck leg, topped with the fried egg, with a little pitcher of mustard maple syrup on the side.

The waffle wasn't particularly good, just a crispy waffle, no real distinct flavor, certainly not buttermilk.  But fine for a generic waffle.  I didn't try the egg, but, it did look nicely prepared.

But the duck.  Wow.  It was very, very, very good.  The best duck I've ever had, no question.  It was crazy crispy, so flavorful.  I have no idea how they prepared it, but, wow, it changed my view on duck entirely.

This was my and one other's favorite dish, and the second pick of another.

Desserts

I had high hopes for the desserts.

I'm a dessert girl in general obviously, but the dessert lineup in particular sounded fantastic.

However, of my group of 5, we had one person who wanted to abstain from dessert, one who wanted to order a personal dessert rather than share, and then two others who were willing to share with me, but wanted different items than I did. 

The other two wanted the exact same two items, and one of the desserts they wanted was explicitly very large, noting that it served two on the menu.  Hmmm.  And they didn't really want my top choice.

I begrudgingly agreed to get their two (one of which was my third choice), but also still got my top choice, leaving out my second choice (baked Alaska).  I knew that ordering 3 desserts (which the menu said would be for 4+)when there was only 3 of us who wanted it might be risky (only because I always feel compelled to polish off all the desserts), but, I was so unsatisfied I couldn't give up on ordering the one I wanted.

SALTED CARAMEL CHOUX BUN. £10.

"Smoked hazelnut cream."

First up was the one that the other two wanted, that I really could care less about.  I don't ever like choux pastry.

The choux was incredibly dark, something everyone commented on.  I guess this was the caramel?  For me it was still just choux, and not my thing.  It was topped with cream and shards of something.

On the side was hazelnut cream and hazelnuts.  The cream was very sweet and didn't taste smoky in any way.

It looked good presentation wise, but none of us liked this.

WHITE CHOCOLATE AND CHESTNUT MOUSSE. £9.

"Vanilla shortbread, clementine sorbet." 

Next, my pick, because I was a bit obsessed with chestnut since my time in Japan, chestnut mousse.

This was not what I was expecting, at all.  Where was the chestnut mousse? (A: hiding behind this all).  But again, a nice presentation.

The very base of the plate did have a chestnut paste, very flavorful and tasty, and it met my needs for chestnut.

But everything else ... meh.  The vanilla shortbread was an interesting texture, somehow very crispy and airy at the same time, but cookie/biscuits aren't really high on my list.  On top was clementine sorbet, and, well, I don't like sorbet.  The jelly cubes also seemed to be citrus, presumably clementine.

For a dish called "white chocolate and chestnut mousse", I was disappointed by how much of it was shortbread and sorbet, as those were really not what I was going for.  Overall, it was fine, but not great, not really what I wanted.

I was very glad we got the torrejas.

TORREJAS (Serves Two). £16.

"Maple caramel apples, cinnamon ice cream."

Next, my third choice, the torrejas.  This turned out to be the crowd favorite, and, my favorite too.

Compared to the others, it looked like a rustic mess.

Served in a square cast iron skillet, hot and fresh.  Two huge slices of french toast, a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, and some cooked apples sticking out awkwardly.  They weren't wining any presentation points on this one, but, it was the best tasting dessert we had, so, who cares.

The star was the french toast, super thick slices, really well caramelized (although borderline burnt).  It was super crispy, yet fluffy inside.  Warm and satisfying.

The cinnamon ice cream was pretty standard, creamy enough, and it melted in well.  The apples were decently cooked, slightly sweet.

Definitely a huge portion, and a bit hard for us to finish, but it was everyone's top pick for dessert, including the person who wasn't sharing with us, who went in for some of this too.

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Private Event @ Osha Lounge

I've long lamented the lack of great thai cuisine in San Francisco, which is not to say we don't have a lot of options, at all levels of the price spectrum, but, compared to the incredible thai food I've had in Sydney, I just can't find myself really that enthusiastic about options in San Francisco.

When you mention thai food in San Francisco, one of the very first places that people will mention is Osha, a small chain, with several concepts, including full service restaurants (in upscale or tenderloin locations), an "Express" version (in a food court), and a more recently rebranded and modified northeaster thai restaurant (Lao Table, which I've reviewed before).  They also used to have a fast concept place, After Osha, where I used to love trying desserts, but it sadly has closed.

I've visited different Osha restaurants many times over the years, and always found it to be reliably decent, just, not rave-worthy.

But now I have a reason to rave.  They do an amazing job with private events in their space at the Embarcadero location.  I do not hesitate to enthusiastically endorse it.

They really delivered on all fronts: a beautiful space, good food, incredibly reasonably priced, and ridiculously easy to work with.  They made organizing a large event remarkably easy, and I can't wait to work with them again in the future.

Thai Feast!

Everything we had was good.  Very solid execution of classic thai dishes.  Nothing mind blowing, but all good, and, particularly if you consider this was buffet style for a large group.

I highly recommend for large group private events, no caveats at all.

Setting

The location we picked as in their Embarcadero Center location, in the private lounge.

Private Entrance.

There are two private entrances to the space, one from inside 4 Embarcadero Center, one from the walkway near the front of the restaurant.

Signage was placed out saying that the lounge was reserved for a private event, and they even made a sign with our logo on it -- which I didn't even provide!

Lounge Seating.

One large area was all couches and comfortable seating, with lots of low tables.  Very comfortable for group conversations.

Fun Seating.

Another area had ... this.

I'm not sure if this was practical, but it was a pretty cool piece of furniture, and with the ottomans and side tables, it actually did work out well!

Food Serving Room.

Food was all laid out in the other large room, two different buffets, each serving different items, with lots of space to flow around them.

Drinks

For a drink package I had the option of just beer/wine/soft drinks, or I could add on a bar package for $15 more per person, which I did.  The package included basic well beverages for standard liquor, but I also asked to have a few signature cocktails and mocktails added.  My requests were easily accommodated, at no extra charge.

Private Bar.

Our space had a private bar, with multiple bartenders working.  They worked efficiently, we never had long lines.

Drink Menu.

Our custom printed drink menu had a single offering for sparkling, white, and red wine, and a single beer.  Everyone seemed happy enough with these, even though not much variety.

In addition to the basic soft drinks, I also asked for more interesting non-alcoholic offerings, since we had a number of people who do not drink, plus many who were driving that night.  Classic Thai iced tea was on offer, plus Lychee Iced Tea and a Mango Mojito.

On the cocktail side, they offered up three signature drinks: Thai Smile, Lychee Martini, and Bangkok Mule, plus basics made with vodka, rum, gin, and tequila.

Thai Smile.

"Jack Daniel's Whiskey, Amaretto, Fresh Orange Juice, Cinnamon Stick, and Lemon."

For my first drink, I went for the "Thai Smile".

It was too sweet for me, far too much orange juice, not enough whiskey.  I liked the maraschino cherry in it though.

Lychee Rocks sub Gin. 

"Absolut Vodka, Lychee Juice, Peach Schnapps, and Drop of Grenadine."

Next, I went for the "Lychee Rocks", but, not being a vodka lover, I asked to have it made with gin instead.

This was better, fine, and I liked the huge lychee inside, but, still not a very remarkable cocktail.  Still, I was glad they had signature cocktails available, it made things a bit more fun.

Food

The cocktail package normally comes with 7 items, served buffet style, ranging from appetizers to more substantial noodle and rice dishes.  The lineup covers all standard dietary needs: gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, along with a beef, a chicken, and a seafood option.

I asked to make a couple small tweaks, substituting pad se ew for the pad thai (uh, because I like it more) and crab rangoon for the firecracker prawns (again, uh, cuz I like it more), and these requests were easily accommodated, free of charge.

In addition, since our group was large, we were able to include dessert, complimentary.

I was really pleased with the food lineup, everything was hot and fresh, items were replenished constantly, and the signage was extremely clear for dietary needs.

Service was also excellent, dishes were cleared out of the way as soon as people set them down, and when the event was winding down, we were even offered boxes and doggie bags to pack up whatever leftover food remained.

Appetizers

Our buffet started with several appetizers.  The standard package included one seafood, two veggie, and one beef appetizer.  I subbed out the seafood one for a different seafood one.  Osha has a ton of starters on the regular menu, and I suspect I could have changed out more of these if I wanted.

Dungeness Crab Wontons.

"Crispy wonton filled with Dungeness crab meat, cream cheese, water chestnuts, onion, carrot served with plum dipping sauce."

The cocktail menu normally came with simple grilled firecracker prawns, but, when looking at the restaurant appetizer menu I saw bacon wrapped scallops and crab wontons, and asked if we could have those instead.  The bacon wrapped scallops were available for an additional fee, but, the crab wontons were a free of charge substitution, so I went with that.  Why?  Well, I like crab?

The wontons were fine, nicely crispy, and generously filled.  I didn't really taste crab though, mostly just cream cheese with some kind of other flavors.   I was sad to not really taste the crab, but they weren't bad exactly.  I almost had a second one, but didn't, so, I guess that is saying something?

Vegetarian Thai Samosa.

"Potato, carrot, curry and onion in a pot sticker wrapper."

A thai samosa?  What is that exactly?  I don't know, but these were surprisingly good.  I almost didn't try one, and didn't have one until my final round through the savory buffet (after I had moved on to dessert even!).  These are a signature item, from the regular appetizer menu.

The filling was very familiar; yes, it was a samosa, with potato, carrots, and onion, curry spices.  Warm, soft, comforting filling.

But the wrapper?  Not a standard Indian samosa wrapper, but instead, a kinda flaky pot sticker wrapper.  Yeah, what?  I know, they were different.  But very good.

The size of each was quite large, larger than an Indian samosa, and they were loaded with filling.  Not a dainty bite, particularly as they were fried.

My favorite of the appetizers, and I gladly took extras home with me, and they reheated easily.

Vegetarian Gyo-Za.

"Pot sticker wrapped with minced vegetables."

The final fried appetizer was gyoza, an item on the Happy Hour menu, but not on the regular restaurant menu.  I almost subbed it out for spring rolls (fresh or crispy), and rather wish I had opted for the fresh rolls, so we could have a non-fried item.

This was my least favorite of the appetizers, fairly greasy, the filling just minced veggies, none of which stood out.

Sauces.

On the side was two sauces, I think one was the plum sauce for the rangoon, and the other the dipping sauce for gyoza.  Neither were labelled, a bit odd given how well labelled everything else was.  And neither had spoons to serve, again, a bit odd given how well everything else was done.

I did ask a server for spoons, and they were quickly fetched.

Kobe Mini Burgers.

"Kobe beef sliders served with Asian slaw."

The sliders did surprise me.  The menu said "kobe mini burgers", and I expected sliders more like burgers.  Not that burgers are thai style at all, but, that is more what I thought they would be.  These are not part of the regular menu.

I didn't end up trying one of these, I was somewhat saving it for round ... 4 or 5 after I had the dishes I wanted more, but when I went back finally, they were gone.  Doh.  The only item we ran out of, otherwise, quantities were great.

The rolls did look like generic soft buns, but the pulled beef did look saucy and flavorful.  Next time, I'll be sure to get one!

Fresh Spring Rolls with Shrimp (Gluten-Free).

"Shrimp, lettuce, mint wrapped in fresh rice paper and homemade peanut dipping sauce."

These weren't served at my event, but, at another event I attended at Osha (along with the crab rangoons and the dreamy thai samosas).  Also on the regular menu.

They were good, fresh spring rolls.  The lettuce was very fresh and not wilted in any way.  The rice paper was soft and not dried out nor too soggy.  Clearly very freshly made.

I really liked the peanut sauce, but wished there was extra served on the side.

Salad, Noodles, Rice

Our menu was rounded out by a salad dish, a noodle dish, and a rice dish.  The noodle dish I changed from the original menu, but only slightly.  All of these dishes come from the regular restaurant menu.

No curries were offered as part of the standard lineup, which surprised me a bit as they seem particularly buffet friendly, but perhaps less easy to eat while standing and walking around.

These items were all well executed, very standard, decent versions of classic Thai dishes.

Chieng Mai Larb (Gluten-Free).

"Famous northern-style chicken larb lettuce tossed with aromatic herb and onion served with Artisan romaine."

I don't like chicken, so I skipped the larb, served with really nice looking large romaine lettuce leaves.

While this wasn't for me, I appreciated that the standard lineup had something gluten-free and low carb for those members of my party who preferred this.

Vegan Pad Se Ew.

"Rice noodle stir-fried with broccoli, black soybean sauce."

I switched in pad se ew for the pad thai from the standard cocktail party menu.  I wouldn't normally opt for it to be vegan, but, this is what was suggested to handle the most dietary constraints, and I didn't really mind.  And why pad se ew?  Well, I like it more.  The special event coordinator admitted that it actually works better in buffet steam trays too, but they have pad thai on the standard offering as it is more of a crowd pleaser.

It was, well, classic pad se ew.  Large, thick rice noodles, chunks of broccoli (not asian broccoli though), and cubes of tofu, in a black bean sauce.  The noodles were not clumped together, not mushy.  The broccoli wasn't too mushy, nor too crisp.  Flavor was mild.

Overall, solid, decent pad se ew.

Pineapple Fried Rice.

"Fried rice with egg, tomato, onion, green onion, cashew nuts, raisins, pineapple, chicken and prawns."

Fried rice isn't really my type of dish, and I didn't have any interest in the chicken nor prawns in it, but, I could appreciate it for being totally loaded up with goodies.  There were so many things packed in, all generously distributed.

I did try a small serving, mostly for the cashews and raisins, and it was good.  The rice wasn't clumpy, there was plenty of flavor, and I liked the textural elements of the crunchy nuts and the sweet plump raisins.

Crab Pad Thai.

"Rice stick noodles stir-fried with chicken, egg, bean sprouts, chives, tofu, and ground peanut served with fresh lime."

One diner had a number of food limitations (no onion, garlic, or gluten), and was able to order off the main menu, since the buffet items all contained at least one of these things.

He selected the pad thai, crab version.

The serving was ... massive.  So he shared with me.

It was my favorite dish of the night.  The base was fairly standard pad thai - rice noodles, sorta sweet sauce, decently cooked,  bits of peanut.  But on top ... that was tons and tons of stir fried crab.  Wow.  The dish carried a $5 premium for the crab, but, they really did give you your money's worth.  I liked it quite a bit, and would have loved just a big plate of stir fried crab!

Served with fresh juicy bean sprouts, a lime wedge, and, uh, a flower.

Dessert

Desserts are normally an add-on of $5 per person, but, given our group size, complimentary.  The more exciting Osha desserts, like the shaved ice creations, tempura ice cream, fried bananas and ice cream, and warm chocolate souffle are not really suitable for large banquets, so, our options here were limited.

French Macaroons.

The package included macaroons.  I ... don't like macaroons.  But others seemed happy with these, easy to grab, and in assorted colors and flavors.

Uh, not so Thai though, really, a bit random, and not part of Osha's regular menu.

Mango Sticky Rice.

"Sweet sticky rice served with mango topped with coconut cream."

Mango sticky rice is obviously *the* dessert of choice at a Thai restaurant, so I was happy they also offered this for our group.

Served appropriately formatted for a cocktail reception, in cute little glass parfait cups, sticky rice on the bottom, cubed mango on top, garnish of sesame seeds.

I've had Osha's mango sticky rice before, and it is always pretty good.  This was no different.  The sticky rice was, well, sticky.  Coated in not too sweet sweetened coconut milk.  Those elements I really liked.  The mango though, eh, mango in the US just isn't great, not very flavorful, not very juicy.  Not Osha's fault, but not great.

Overall though, I still liked this, and gladly downed, uh, 3 of them.  They were small, really.

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Waffling Leftovers: Poutine

Yup, another installment of Waffling Leftovers, my neverending quest to put random leftovers into a waffle iron, and see what happens (you can read all about my previous adventures here!)

Poutine: Waffled!

Today's big question: Leftover Poutine - Will it waffle?  The answer: yup, but ... read on for more ... subtleties.

The Original

As always, I like to show you the transformation, starting for the original dish in all its glory.

The Original: Poutine!

The original was a big plate of poutine: skin-on fries, topped with fresh local cheese curds, smothered in duck fat gravy, with plentiful large chunks of crispy maple peppered bacon from Worthy Kitchen.  It was glorious.

It was probably the best poutine I've ever had, which was surprising to me given that it came from a little place in Vermont.  But, they really did it well (definitely beating The Crazy Canuck in Waterloo and Queen City Kitchen in Buffalo)

Leftovers: Cold Poutine.

I wasn't entirely sure it was worth keeping the leftovers, but, I was beyond stuffed and couldn't bring myself to throw out something so delicious.

I first tried a bite cold mostly out of curiosity, honestly expecting it to be absolutely horrible.  I was surprised by just how delicious it was.  The fries, while cold and soggy, were so flavorful from the gravy, and really just transformed into something different.  The cold cheese curds were slightly squeaky in a good way, and the crispy bacon, swoon, was still delicious.  Honestly, if I didn't have this blog, I probably would have just devoured them cold and been quite satisfied.

But I was curious what would happen when I waffled it.  How could I not try it?

Waffling

I dumped the solid chunk of poutine straight into the waffle iron, 350 degrees, pressed down, and let it go.

Midway Through ...

And then I checked on it, and my heart sank.

Why would I think this would work?  I've waffled mac and cheese enough times by now to know that it doesn't work very well if you just put it in without crusting it, as the cheese all runs out.  My poutine appeared no different.  Runny cheese everywhere, fries and bacon half stuck together clinging to the lid.  Ooops.

Looking Better ...

I had no choice but to close the lid and let it cook further, hoping that as the cheese cooked more it would solidify and crisp up.

Which, it did, but very quickly started running the risk of becoming burnt.  Still, in order to extract it, I needed to let it go longer.

Waffled Poutine.

The final result was a bit of a mixed bag.

At one level, it was a success: it formed a waffle, and I extracted it with no problem whatsoever.  On the other, I didn't like it, and greatly preferred the cold version.

The area where the cheese all ran out just became crispy fried cheese, basically like a frico, a bit too burnt.  I didn't like it, but amusingly, my parents both did.

The fries were ok, still fairly moist, but the gravy flavor was lost with all the cheese infusion.  The bites of bacon were still delicious.

If I wanted to make a "waffle" out of these components I think I do have a recipe that would work well: make crust layers with bacon, stuff inside with fries (and maybe cheese? But I think I'd leave that out), and then drizzle it with gravy after it is cooked.  Clearly not what to do with already assembled poutine leftovers, but, if I had leftovers fries, bacon, and gravy, it seems like a reasonable idea.

So yes, it waffled, but next time I just want my cold poutine.

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Worthy Kitchen, Vermont

As you may know, I grew up in New Hampshire, and my family still lives there.  Since I've moved to San Francisco and turned a bit more, uh, opinionated about food, I've found it hard to fit in at home when I've visited, particularly when family members can't wait to show me their favorite restaurants (sorry, dear sister, The Flying Goose is horrible).  You can read all about my adventures in the area here.

I've mostly stopped going out to eat when I visit, besides of course getting a lot of ice cream in the summer, and eating my share of pancakes and other brunches.

This year, I was in town for Mother's Day, fairly last minute, and my mom indicated that she wanted to go out.  I tried to make reservations all over town, but, alas, everywhere was fully booked.  My sister (and father) both pretty much refuse to wait places, so, all the reservation-less brunch venues were clearly out.

I checked my list, and I checked it twice, and finally came up with the answer.  It may not be a traditional Mother's Day venue, but Worthy Kitchen, in Woodstock, seemed like it would fit the bill.

Lunch Feast!

What is Worthy Kitchen?  They describe the restaurant as "a craft beer and farm diner", which, well, yeah, does sum it up.

Our group enjoyed a large variety of selections, ranging from poutine and freshly fried donuts (yup, Mother's Day classic, right?), to salads, fried chicken, burgers, and grilled seafood.  Everyone was happy with not only their options, but also, with how delicious it all was.  There really was something for absolutely everyone in my family at Worthy Kitchen, which is honestly no easy feat.

I'd happily return, as would my entire family, so I'm very glad to have Worthy Kitchen now "on the list".

Setting

Let me be clear: Worthy Kitchen is NOT a fancy place.  They call themselves a diner for a reason.  It is NOT where most people would take their mother for Mother's Day.  You order at a register, seat yourself, fetch your own food.  Open for dinner nightly, and lunch just on weekends, certainly more of an evening place.

Our group of 5 (the guest of honor, my mother, my father, my sister, my sister's husband, and myself) headed to Worthy Kitchen at 12:45pm on Mother's Day Sunday.  Yup, prime time.  No reservation, because they don't do that.  We did have a short wait for a table (they had a physical list to add your name to), but by the time we read the menu and got ready to order, a table was waiting for us.

The main room is fairly large, with assorted seating ranging from bar stools, to high tables, to traditional low tables.  There is a smaller side room, and additional patio seating during the summer as well.  We were seated at a high top in the main room.

Menu and Ordering Counter.

The menu is written on a chalkboard on the wall, leading up to a register at the bar where you order food (and drinks).  Once you order, the person who takes the orders also fetches the drinks, and then gives you a buzzer to take to your table.  You have the option of keeping a tab open for future beverages.

Bar and Taps.

The beer lineup is impressive, with a 18 local beers on tap.  They also offer a handful of wines by the glass (and a few on tap too), cocktails, and ciders, but, craft beer is clearly the focus.  Oh, and draught root beer and ginger ale.

If you want to order just drinks (or desserts) later, there is a second register on the other end of the bar with much shorter lines.

Water Station.

Since Worthy Kitchen is a place where folks spend the evening mostly drinking, they smartly have a self-serve water station, with plastic cups, pitchers you can bring back to your table, and, a classic bright orange water cooler, elementary school sports-style.  Charming, in its own way.

Food Pickup and Kitchen.

On the other side of the room is the food pickup window, where you bring your buzzer when it goes off, in exchange for trays of food.  Silverware and additional condiments are located here as well, self-serve.  There is a second water station here as well, "All you can drink".

Drinks

Worthy clearly prides themselves on their beer list, mostly a lineup of local small brewers from New England.  It changes constantly, and the one beer drinker in our group was more than satisfied with his options.

My mother and I both went for cocktails.  They had a fairly limited liquor selection (vodka, gin, rum, tequila, bourbon), just one brand of each, and a couple signature cocktails on the board.  My mom went for a bloody mary given the time of day.  I didn't get a photo, but it came garnished with a full pickle spear, which was quite novel to my group (they clearly are not aware of the ridiculous garnish on cocktail fad that is happening elsewhere ...).

Her cocktail failed to impress.  She asked for it not spicy, and it was very spicy.  I watched it being made by the bartender / cashier, who clearly just took some mix, added the garnish, and handed it over.  She didn't care, and it was pretty clear.

Don't go here for the cocktails, but beer drinkers should be very pleased.

Worthy'Rita.

"Tequilla, lime, oj, ginger."

I joined my mom in the cocktail drinking, opting for the Worthy version of a margarita.  It caught my eye because it had OJ in it, which seemed appropriate given that it felt like morning to me (it may have been 1pm there, but it was still very much 10am in my head).

Just like my mom's bloody mary, it was not good.  Again, the bartender just grabbed a mix, added cheap house alcohol, and handed it over.

It was very sweet, not complex, and I didn't taste the tequila at all.  No garnish on the rim, no flair.  I didn't bother finish it.  I did like the glass, the same one all their beverages are served in, "specially designed to preserve volatile aromas and flavors that might otherwise escape."

Food

The food is what sets Worthy Kitchen apart from other casual drinking establishments.  While they do have plenty of standard bar food options (wings, fries, burgers), they also have a slew of other comfort food dishes, and daily specials, all of which have something fairly unique and special about them.  Oh, and they really, really care about ingredient sourcing.

Yup, this casual bar, in Vermont, works directly with farmers to source local ingredients, and writes the daily menu accordingly.  Their Facebook feed is a stream of excited posts about spring ingredients coming in, locally caught seafood of the day, and the like.  

"Buy high quality ingredients from farmers we know and trust; turn those ingredients into food that's both delicious and healthy; and serve that food to the people in our community who want affordable, farm fresh dining in a high energy, streamlined environment."

Yup, that about sums it up.  They source incredibly well, have a diverse, incredibly approachable menu, and throw in a twist on many dishes.

(Part of) Menu.

The menu is shockingly large, a mix of classic dishes that are always offered (with changing accompaniments) and daily specials.

To get started, they have a bunch of shareable apps, like wings in all varieties, spinach and artichoke dip, and poutine (with rotating toppings).  More on that poutine soon.

Burgers/sandwiches make up nearly one entire menu board, with a beef burger, a lamb burger, fried chicken burger, "Worthy Bomb" (a beef burger topped with fried chicken), a veggie burger that constantly changes (brie and veggie stuffed portabella mushroom cap on our visit), loaded hot dogs, and a brisket melt.  Side note: Worthy Kitchen also has a prior establishment, Worthy Burger, elsewhere in Vermont, that offers an entirely burger focused menu, with all these, plus a "turducky" (turkey and duck confit), a fish burger, and more, plus seasonal sides and desserts.  Burgers are a big part of their brand, and the Worthy Kitchen concept is the expansion of the successful Worthy Burger.

Healthier eaters won't be disappointed though, salads are not just your token house garden salad and ceasar, and instead are filled with really creative ingredients and seasonal items.  I honestly wanted to try them all, and I'm not even that much of a salad fan.

The specials are where the diversity really kicks in.  On our visit, they had a fried chicken platter, a bulgogi burrito, spicy vegetarian curry, a vegetarian bean based "farmer's basket", steamed mussels, steak, and grilled swordfish salad.  A few days earlier, they had a fried softshell crab sandwich, a chimichonga, mac and cheese, roasted leg of lamb, and a cubano.  The variety is really ridiculous.

Sides included roasted seasonal veggies, fries (regular or truffle paramesan), and additional simple proteins.

Kids too are catered for, with smaller versions of the cheeseburger, hot dog, chicken, mac and cheese, and a basic buttered pasta.

And of course dessert.  A very small lineup of just their famous warm doughnuts and ice cream.

Seriously, something for everyone here, which worked really well for our group.  We ordered poutine to share, and then individual entrees, which included: the burger, the bulgogi burrito, fried chicken platter, grilled swordfish, and salad.  How many places do you know that can do good southern fried food and korean fusion, while treating fresh seafood and vegetables with respect?   Yeah, usually a menu like this is a sign of doom, but they execute shockingly well on all of it.

Worthy Poutine. $11.

"Our small fries topped with cheese curds, duck fat gravy, and crumbled maple peppered bacon."

Swoon.  That is about all I have to say about this.

I wanted an appetizer to share, and the poutine was easily agreed upon by my sister, her husband and I.  My dad had never heard of it, and my mom didn't really care about an appetizer, so, this was an easy choice.

It arrived with the rest of the food, which I was a bit annoyed with, as I intended it to be an appetizer not a side, and ordered it saying "to share as an appetizer", but, alas, not that type of establishment.  They also didn't have any share plates available, so we had to rather awkwardly fit poutine onto the sides of our very full plates.

But, serving logistics aside, this was really, really good poutine, not that I've had tons of poutine in my life of course (read all about my first encounter at The Crazy Canuck in Canada, and then again at an airport diner in Buffalo).

The fries were normal size fries (aka, not thin, not thick steak fries), some skin on.  They were kinda soft and mushy, but that didn't matter in the poutine.

The fries were totally slathered in flavorful gravy, salty in all the right ways (although I didn't taste the duck fat listed on the menu, I'm not sure I would have wanted to?).  I was really impressed with the application of the gravy - I never felt like I was lacking gravy, or that any particular fry was missing out, but there also wasn't so much that they were swimming in it.  They really nailed having just the right amount of gravy.

The curds were excellent, actual fresh local cheese curds.  Again, just the right amount, tons of curds, making it definitely a cheesy dish, but, not too many that they took over.  I was really impressed however with how some of the curds were melty, resulting in stringy melty cheese, and the majority stayed soft and just nearly melted.  Temperature was nailed, and this is where poutine so often suffers, from unmelted cold cheese curds.

And then ... the non-standard poutine addition: bacon.  The bacon was seriously awesome.  Really crispy, no flabby bacon.  It was very flavorful (maple pepper).  The chunks were large and plentiful, and, just like the curds, just like the gravy, there really was just the right amount of them.

Overall, the execution of this dish was just perfect.  Hot fresh fries, flavorful expertly applied gravy, slightly melty soft curds, and crispy bacon.  Everything came in just the right proportions and sizes.  The ingredients were clearly high quality.

I really, really liked this poutine, and couldn't stop eating it.  Everyone else was more distracted by their main dishes (and my parents didn't want it in the first place), so I had far more than my share (and also took some home to waffle ... more on that soon!).  I can't get over how this random little place in Vermont nailed poutine like this.

Poutine is a menu regular, but it changes out toppings.  The previous version had confit pork belly, smoked cheddar, and pickled shallots, which certainly sounds interesting, but the version we had was a serious winner.

I'd gladly get any version of poutine they offered again, and even really enjoyed the leftovers ... cold, or, uh, waffled.

Springer Salad. $12.

"Frisee & Raddichio, pecorino, hazlenuts, cous cous, cucumber vinaigrette, housemade pancetta bits."

Yup, I went for the salad.  I know, I'm not usually a salad girl, and there were plenty of other things I like on the menu, but I actually wanted something lighter, and new I was going to load up on poutine and dessert.  Plus, sometimes I crave salads ...

Even choosing which salad to get was hard, the arugula salad with gala apples, fig spread, bartlett pears, walnuts, bailey hazen blue cheese, honey pesto drizzle, and balsamic vinaigrette sounded unique and full of textures and flavors that would work well together.  The special salad topped with grilled swordfish and grilled ramps also sounded tasty, but my mom ordered that, so I knew I'd get to try it.  In the end, I went for the "Springer", and asked for the dressing on the side (it normally comes dressed).

It was a ridiculously huge pile of salad.  I wish I had photos of my sister's fried chicken platter, or her husband's bulgogi burrito, as they were also ridiculously jumbo-sided portions too, but, for a salad, it somehow looked even more silly.  It was a mound, a serious mountain of salad, and everyone at the table laughed at it, and was amused that even after eating for a long time, it looked like I had barely made a dent.

So anyway, the salad.  The base was shredded frisee and raddicchio, both of which I adore, but I've never seen before in shredded form, but it totally worked, as I'm all for slaws.  The greens were fresh and crisp, colorful, and an excellent base, far more interesting than any standard spring mix.  The cous cous was large pearl cous cous, mixed in with the greens.  It was bit hard to see at first, but, there was tons of it, and it provided a lot of substance.

Hazelnuts were chopped in assorted sizes ranging from tiny chunks to nearly whole hazelnuts, and they added great crunch.  The housemade pancetta was salty and chewy, added more texture, and there was tons of it.  I didn't love the flavor of the pancetta though, I'm not sure why.

I wasn't super excited about the sound of the cucumber vinaigrette since I'm not a big fan of cucumber, which is mostly why I asked for the dressing on the side (also, I knew if I wanted to save leftovers it would keep better that way).  The dressing was intensely cucumber flavored, and my mom loved it, but, as expected I did not.  I also asked for a side of the honey vinaigrette which I really enjoyed, but actually, the salad had so much going on that it didn't necessarily even need a dressing (it was also great with some gravy and cheese curds mixed in from the poutine, which I discovered since I didn't have a plate for poutine ... )

Overall, I liked this really unique salad, lots of textures, colors, flavors.  It was certainly not just filler, not just greens, so even if I hadn't consumed all the poutine, and wanted to save space for doughnuts, there is no way I could have finished it, as the cous cous, nuts, and meat made it very filling.

The $12 price was very reasonable for such a large portion, and one that included some premium ingredients.  I'd love to try more of their salads.  

Swordfish Salad. $24.

"Parmesan-peppercorn crusted swordfish, with confit potatoes, asparagus, spinach, feta, piccholine olives, grilled ramps, preserved lemon vinaigrette, and chive oil."

Worthy Kitchen seems to always have a seafood special, ranging from big eye yellowfin, to faroe island salmon, to roasted mahi mahi, to striped bass, to soft shell crab.  On our visit, it was swordfish.

My mom ordered this, and of course offered me some, before she even dug in, even though it was mother's day.

Her salad too was loaded with interesting ingredients, ranging from confit potatoes, asparagus, olives, and feta.  I didn't try any of those things, but I did try the swordfish, which was very moist and she raved about for days (although I didn't taste the promised parmesan-peppercorn crusting).  The spinach base was slightly wilted from the hot fish, but I believe that was intentional.  I adored the grilled ramps on top, but my mom didn't, saying they were too chewy.  I gladly took them off her hands.

I didn't like this as much as my own selection, but she was very pleased with it.  It did seem a bit expensive, although I know it had a generous amount of swordfish.

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Buttermilk Fried Chicken. $18.

"Sweet Potato Puree, Pesto Chevre, Asparagus, & Garlic Honey Syrup."

My sister went for the fried chicken platter, and I stole a bite, even though I don't like chicken, as it just looked so ridiculously good.

It was awesome, perfectly fried, really crispy, not oily, incredibly moist inside.  I loved the garlic honey drizzle on top, and she loved the pesto chevre.  The sweet potato puree was smooth and creamy.  Another winning dish.

Worthy Doughnuts. $6.

"Warm cinnamon doughnuts with vanilla bean creme anglaise."

And finally, dessert.  The dessert options were only ice cream or doughnuts, but, the doughnuts were what people all rave about, so a bigger menu was not needed.

We did actually consider not ordering the doughnuts as our portions were all huge and we were all stuffed, but, we couldn't really go all that way there and not try the signature dessert, could we?  Not my family!  We settled on just a single order, knowing it was only 3 doughnuts, and cutting them in half.  I ordered them from the second register, received a new buzzer, and they were ready within 10 minutes, not nearly enough time for us to make room in our stomachs.

The doughnuts were hot and fresh, clearly straight from the fryer.  They weren't greasy or oily.  But ... I didn't really like them.  They were kinda just boring, a bit too dense, not very flavorful.  The cinnamon sugar coating was generous and well applied.

In the base of the bowl was creme anglaise to dunk them in.  It too was fine, but also not remarkable, no particularly strong flavor to it.

So yes, hot fresh doughnuts, yes dipping sauce, all of which were fine, but none of which was great.  It really sounded better than it was.  Maybe we were just too full?

For $3.25 extra, we could have added ice cream, which is the other dessert, also available just by the bowl for $4.25 (chocolate, vanilla, salted caramel).  We opted not to, which I think was the right decision.

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Patxi's Pizza

Patxi's is a bay area based pizza chain that I've known of basically since I moved to the area.  They have locations all over the Bay Area (including 5 in SF alone), but also in Colorado and Seattle.

Back when I lived in Palo Alto, we ordered Patxi's fairly regularly, from their first location.  Much like Little Star, the signature pizza is deep dish.  There is much debate among locals of which is better, Little Star or Patxi's (or Zachary's, but that is in Berkeley only).

I favored Little Star, and stopped going to Patxi's long ago, but recently had a chance to try it again when a friend ordered for a party.  They do of course offer more than just pizza (salads, wings, meatballs, dips, etc), but, all I have ever had is pizza (and salad).

Deep Dish 

"Our signature deep dish pizza, topped with a thin layer of extra dough, homemade tomato sauce and whole milk mozzarella."

When I lived in Palo Alto, the deep is always what we got, whether it was for dine-in or delivery.  I was only vaguely aware that they even made thin crust, to be honest.

I didn't write reviews back then though, so I don't have any ... besides to say that I know I liked it, and I always got the "Special" which is with their garlic-fennel sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, and onions, and I remember liking the whole wheat crust version too.  Basically, the three veggies I grew up with as our default pizza, plus, sausage.

I also remember that it really did take a while to bake, so we always got salad (caesar) as a starter while waiting, but normally just ordered delivery, to avoid all that.

Deep dish is also available with a whole wheat crust, and with low fat mozzarella or Daiya vegan cheese, if you have dietary preferences.  No gluten free option for deep dish.

Thin Crust

"Light and crispy, our italian thin crust made with extra fine “00” flour, baked to perfection."

Patxi's does also make a thin crust though, it just was totally off my radar.  But recently I attended a party with Patxi's pizza, and for some reason, that is what our host picked.

Thin crust is also available with whole wheat crust, but also with gluten-free crust (free of charge) and all the same cheese options.

Thin Crust Salsiccia.

"All-natural garlic-fennel sausage • herbed ricotta • fresh basil • mozzarella • homemade tomato sauce • Parmesan."

This was my first time trying Patxi's thin crust pizza.  This was a mixed success.

The crust was fine, nicely crispy, a bit of char on the back that I liked.  Standard, good thin crust.  I liked the crispy bits of basil.  The garlic-fennel sausage was flavorful and tasty.  All good things.

I do love their sauce, but the thin crust has such a thin layer that I could barely taste it.  I missed the wetter deep dish.

But the real reason I didn't like this very much was the herbed ricotta.  I like ricotta, don't get me wrong, but there was actually tons of it on here (not just the glob you can see), and it made the whole thing very dry.  Between the small amount of sauce and the plentiful dry ricotta, it just ate too dry for me.  Warming it up more didn't really help.

So overall, yeah, crust was fine, sauce and sausage great still, but, overall, not a slice I particularly loved.  Back to deep dish!

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