Sun & Moon Thai Restaurant

Ah, Thai cuisine in San Francisco.  I'm still on a neverending quest to find somewhere as good as the places in Sydney.

My recent adventures kept me local, finally trying out a newer, higher end Thai restaurant in the neighborhood that I've been eying for a while: Sun & Moon.  I knew that reviews were solid for the food, but, people complained about prices.  I knew it would be expensive, but, I also knew they take pride in the quality of the produces they use, and I wanted a seafood item, so this mattered to me.  Plus, it was in COVID-19 days, and staying nearby to get takeout was ideal.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of pickup and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes ...

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]

I haven't visited the restaurant to dine in.

Setting

Sun & Moon is located on Brannan Street, just a block away from South Park.

Not much signage!

The first time I went to Sun & Moon I wasn't sure where it was ... there was no big dominant sign with the restaurant name that I saw, just a small open sign, with a paper notice of the takeout/delivery service options.

Pick Up Area.

Since this was in the pickup only days, entering the restaurant was not possible, and they had a makeshift counter blocking the front door inside.  To alert the staff that you are there, you just ring the bell and then they call out "yes?!"

The first time I ordered from Sun & Moon a few weeks ago was really early on in the process, and my order actually was not ready when I arrived.  In fact, they didn't even know about it, as the internet had disconnected, and they weren't getting any orders.  Doh.  They did make it quickly once that was resolved.  I didn't write up that experience though.

I returned a few weeks later, and again placed my order via mobile (Caviar, although they are on Doordash and others as well, plus you can call in to order directly).  This time it was ready right as I arrived, I saw it brought out from kitchen.

Food

The menu is upscale Thai, classic cuisine, some with a slight twist.  Appetizers include chicken satay, simple things like steamed edamame, and always popular corn crab cakes, the salad lineup of course includes papaya salad and larb, soups include tom yum, and yup, there are a few classic main dishes (pad thai and pad see ew, green and yellow curry, a few rice dishes).  They also have ... ramen, which seems a bit out of place, but popular with the lunch crowd.

My first visit was just to get some sticky rice (to use with my own Thai food I had made), and I didn't take a photo, nor review it, but it was pretty standard sticky rice, warm, glutinous, and exactly what I was looking for.  The next visit was to try an appetizer, the most creative thing on the menu ...

Salmon Rolls. $16.

"Seaweed wrapped marinated salmon (medium-done) in fried spring rolls topped with ikura. Side of mild spicy cilantro sauce."

I loved the sound of these.  I saw sooo many photos of them online, and they looked fabulous, right up my alley.

High end salmon, cooked medium, in a fascinating wrapper of regular spring roll and seaweed layers?  It sounded great.  I love crispy spring rolls, I adore nori, and although I like my salmon mid-rare, I was pleased to see that they intentionally cook it medium, not more than that.  I had been going through a tempura nori snacks fad too, and this appealed to that side of me too.

And then, um, the crispy sweet potato strings I knew it was served over (yes!), another snack addiction of mine I picked up in Sydney where I'd get bags of this freshly made from the Thai hawker stand, and munch on them by the handful, throw onto salads, and top all sorts of curry bowls with them.

Add in ikura (why not?), and, well, I was quite excited.  I asked for the ikura on the side though, as I didn't want it to get hot inside the container with the hot salmon rolls.

My only slight hesitation was the dipping sauce cilantro sauce?  eh ...

As I mentioned, it was ready right as I arrived, and I wasted no time in diving in right on the sidewalk - I wanted piping hot, fresh, crispy spring rolls!  I was slightly disappointed to see the ikura inside the takeout container - it was on the side, but not quite as I intended to heat separate it ... but this wasn't really a problem as the rolls weren't hot.  Lukewarm ... maybe, but really not.  Sadness.

I also was sad to see the portion.  I knew it was an appetizer size, and would be 4 pieces, but in other photos I saw, they were substantially larger.  Or at least looked it.  At $16, this turned out to be very pricy - $4 a bite!  But if the bites were that good, I wouldn't care.  Sadly, they weren't.

The sweet potato strings turned out to be kinda the best part, and they weren't great - since inside the container with what was warm-ish rolls initially, they were soft, not as crispy as I wanted.  But they were still tasty, sweet, and such a fun component.  A unique plating, which looks much better when served on their dishes of course, far more fun than standard lettuce as the base!

The ikura portion was small, but it was intended to just be a garnish, and I enjoyed it - fresh (not fishy or off tasting), and fun little pops of flavor.  Another fun creative touch to the dish.

The dipping sauce, as I mentioned, wasn't a big draw for me, given that I'm not cilantro averse but I'm not a cilantro lover either, so I brought my own other sauces just in case - I brought a soy sauce with lemon juice added that I thought would go nicely (soy sauce to bring out the asian style, lemon to enhance the salmon), I brought an aioli in case I was craving creamy and rich - but of course I tried their sauce first.  It was light and very herb forward, as you'd expect.  It was spicy, but not too spicy, "mild spicy" really was accurate.  I wasn't into it with the spring rolls, but, I later used it on a salad, and thought it went well there.

So enough about the garnish.  Let's talk about those rolls.  Besides not being hot, and small, how were they?

Salmon Roll: Close Up.

Disappointing, on so many levels.  Yes, the lack of heat and small size were initial strikes against them, but there were many more things that just didn't go well.

They weren't crispy, you can kinda see here, there was a very thin slightly golden outer layer that was flaking off, and the rest of the wrapper was ... soft.  Pale.  These were not the crispy creations I was hoping for.  The nori wasn't really fried either, so that was additional softness.  The result was *chewy* rolls, not crispy rolls, which, uh, is just not very enjoyable.

But the salmon!  High end quality beautiful medium salmon!  Well, it wasn't medium, definitely fully cooked.  And how did it taste?  Honestly, this is hard to evaluate.  I barely tasted it.  Each roll had ... one bite.  One tiny bite.  Really.  The tails of the rolls were empty, just a tiny chunk of salmon right in the middle.

So, lukewarm, soft, chewy, not golden brown, not crispy, and lacking any real substantial salmon.  $16 for 4 little pieces like this, $4 each, plus some soft sweet potato strings and a couple pops of ikura.

I was extremely disappointed.

Mini Ikura Hand Roll & Asian Salad?

So ... I repurposed the last roll.

I made a mini hand roll with some nori and the ikura.  Sushi time!

I unrolled the spring roll, and toasted up the wrapper to make it crispy.  I extracted the single bite of salmon.  I made an Asian style salad, and used the crispy spring roll wrapper as a topping.  I enjoyed it all much more this way and was glad to not waste.

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Original Royaltea, Sydney

Update Review, March 2020 Visit

No Sydney trip is complete without several yogurt rice drinks these days.

This recent trip was cut short due to international travel concerns from coronavirus, so I was only able to make it to get two yogurt rice drinks.  Stop #1 was my beloved Koomi - where I changed my plans last minute and tried the mango yogurt again, rather than the taro drink I set out to get.  It was fantastic, and it turned out, after that, mango became a constant craving for me.

So a few days later, I was ready for another mango inspired item, and although I wasn't impressed with the taro quality (or, lack of taro really) at Original Royaltea before (start with my earlier review), the rice, black sesame pearls, and cheese foam were good enough to inspire me to return.  Plus, I hadn't yet tried a yogurt drink there yet ...

My favorite thing about the menu at the Original Royaltea is that the yogurt drinks all have rice by default in addition to the flavor you pick, and all come with or without foam explicitly.  Everywhere else looks at me like I'm very complicated when I try to add foam on yogurt drinks.  That seems to not be the norm.  But at Original Royaltea, the menu has 2 prices for each item, one with foam and one without.  So getting a creation that had rice AND something else mixed in, and cheese foam on top, was all just *standard* there.  So, of course I had to add more.

Mango Sticky Rice Yogurt w/ Cheese Foam + Coconut Jellies. No Sweet.

When I originally planned to return to Original Royaltea to try a yogurt creation, I assumed it would be for taro, but, my mango cravings took over.  I was skeptical about mango there though, as they didn't really seem like a place known for high quality ingredients.  I asked if the mango was fresh (rather than frozen or pureed), and I was assured that it was.  That was enough to get me to go for the mango rice yogurt.  Yes with cheese, and yes, I added coconut jellies inside too.

The staff member went out back to fetch my portion of mango, and she did indeed come back with fresh, ripe mango.  It went into a blender with yogurt (and I think some ice?), and was blended up into a smoothie base.  While that was going,, she set about putting in a *very* generous serving of purple sticky rice and a *very* generous serving of coconut jellies into the base of the cup.  Yes, ~1/3 of the cup was just those things.  The mango yogurt was poured on top, and then the top 1/3 was finished with frothy cheese foam.

I will admit I expected to have some fresh mango chunks, not all blended, particularly given the photo on the menu with big chunks of mango on top, and I was craving serious mango, so, that was a bit not what I wanted, but otherwise, this looked pretty epic.

And it was good.  The purple rice had a nice chew to it, and went well with the yogurt.  There was really more than I wanted in a drink, and more than I wanted for a reasonable portion dessert, but, uh, if you made this a meal, it would be just right to get all your carbs :)

The coconut jellies weren't anything special, I'm sure they just purchase them, but they were sweet and added a nice texture.  Sure, fresh young coconut or palm seeds or something like that would be better, no question, but, I liked what these added.  Still, given the quantity (literally, a cup of rice, a cup of these), I think it was overkill.  I'd probably leave out in the future, or ask for a half portion of both these and the rice?

The body of the drink, the middle portion was the mango smoothie.  I'm calling it a smoothie as that is what it was, all blended up, again, not what I was expecting.  It wasn't thick and rich and very yogurt-forward as a result.  I was expecting something more like Koomi et al, that really highlight the yogurt, and that you can even save some of to have with granola for breakfast (wait, am I the only one who does that? Or gets a second one for morning?).  This was just pleasant sweet mango flavored smoothie.  Definitely not tart.  It was good, and the mango flavor was strong, but if you wanted something healthy and very apparently yogurt-y, this was not it.  I got it not sweet (or at least, I tried to order it that way) but this was certainly sweet, hopefully just from the mango and base sweet yogurt?

And then of course the cheese foam.  They do nail this element.  So rich, so fluffy, so ... cheesy and sweet and savory all at once.  And so very much of it.  It was a nice combo with the mango smoothie.

So overall, definitely a success, and I liked each element alone and combined.  Sure, it was not the healthy thick yogurt creation I thought I was getting, and sure, I didn't get to enjoy any big cubes of mango, but it was sweet, well blended, mango-y, and the rice and coconut jellies added tons of interesting texture, and the foam, well, swoon.

I'm definitely interested in returning yet again, and trying more creations.  I'd be happy to get this again, perhaps with some modifications on the mix-ins.

Original Review, May 2019

Sydney has a lot of bubble tea shops.  Seriously, bubble tea has ... exploded, everywhere.  Some neighborhoods have a bubble tea shop literally ever other storefront.  The competition is real, and the shops just keep getting trendier and trendier, innovating in all different ways.

And then ... there is Original Royaltea.  It isn't one that is heavily Instagramed.   It doesn't seem to have any particular notable thing.  It doesn't have a stunning storefront.  And it certainly doesn't have lines.  It barely even has any reviews.

But it is one of the oldest shops, started in 2011.  And seems to have an entirely different following than the other shops.  I was curious, very curious, so I went far off the highly rated beaten path to try it out.

Setting

Original Royaltea is located deep in bubble tea central, Haymarket.

Street Entrance

Unlike most of the bubble tea shops in the neighborhood, Original Royaltea is not located on street level, rather, you must go up a flight of stairs.

I can't say it has any curb appeal, with tacky red "Final Sale" signs advertising the specials.

Ordering Counter.

Once you step inside, the appeal doesn't really grow, just an ordering counter, with some digital screens, and lots more signs.  There are few seats, and charging stations.

Every single customer inside was of Asian descent, and I felt the very real feeling of looking entirely out of place.  I also took this as a very good sign perhaps?

Sticky Notes.

I'm ... not sure what this wall is about, covered in multi-colored sticky notes?  People write messages and leave them?

Drinks / Food

Original Royaltea is obviously a bubble tea shop, although they offer a few small snacks as well (fishballs, cuttlefish balls, fried beancurd, and lotus).  

The rest of the menu is drinks, both hot and cold.

Menu.

The menu had both english and Chinese, and had lots of funny additions, added on with extensions off the edges, or on top with small pieces of paper taped on, and had things removed as well.

The categories had names but no explanation, and there were many: Super Fruit Tea (cold only, I think just regular fruity infusions), Fresh Fruit Juice (just juice?), Royal Fruit Drink (cold only, just tea-less fruity drinks?  These actually had some interesting flavors, like dragonfruit, but I'm not really sure what they were, or if they used real fruit), Royal Cheese Milk Tea (hot or cold, fairly standard milk tea lineup, with cheese as the default, although you can opt for "pure drink" instead),), Royal Dirty Cup (no idea, cold only), Royal Cheese Tea (hot or cold, standard list of teas, with cheese as the default, although you can opt for "pure drink" instead), Royal Cheese Foam Special Drinks (hot or cold, cheese default, more interesting flavors like Oreo, uji matcha, red bean), and Royal Cheese Tea I'm New (uh, just more types of Royal Cheese Tea?  More interesting flavors, like Tofu Black Sesame Milk, Passion Fruit Yogurt, and Purple Sky Soda).

The topping list is the part I was most excited for, a large range of offerings, including of course standard pearls, red bean, and pudding, but also new black sesame pearls, a bunch of types of jellies (including ones I haven't seen other places like grapefruit), random things like Oreo, interesting things like aloe, and as I was excited for, taro paste.

Original Royaltea is known for the cheese topping, and is why I sought it out, as I discovered the joy of cheese topping at Chatime a few visits to Sydney ago, and I've been loving it ever since.   As you can maybe tell given that nearly ever drink defaults to having cheese, they really are all in on the cheese, offering up 4 varieties: original, baked, mango, and durian, although, when I visited, they didnt have the durian one, and I really was going to try it!

Moar Signs.

Additional signs advertised new offerings, many with badges that say "Limited 50 cups per day", which ... I'm skeptical about.  Did they really count them? Do they run out? Are they trying to create scarcity and hype?

One of the new "Series" is the Yogurt Series, on special with half off the second one if you get two.  These all feature yogurt instead of milk as the base, and I was told it was a thick Greek yogurt.  There are two other well known shops around the corner that are offering, to much hype, yogurt and rice based drinks, so Original Royaltea clearly has jumped on board.  I am interested in trying these sometime, but yogurt is never the thing I think I crave ... but if I ever do decide to try it, the taro purple rice yogurt is what I'd try ... with cheese of course.

A sign here also shows how to customize your drink, with desired ice, sweetness (the menu offers 1/3 sugar, 2/3 sugar, no sugar, more sugar), toppings, and size options, although I realized later I was never asked about these.

Royal Sesame Taro Milk + Red Rice with Cheese. $8.50.

I selected one of the new, limited to 50 cups per day, special drinks, the "Royal Sesame Taro Milk", featuring their brand new black sesame pearls and taro milk, available plain or with cheese.  I certainly wanted the cheese foam, since that is kinda what I was craving.  I added red rice, because I wanted more substance and texture, and was worried I wouldn't really like the sesame pearls, because I haven't been into pearls lately, but I wasn't ready to go for the yogurt rice drink.

I liked this, and easily finished it, but it was actually a mixed success.  It also lacked a bit in the taro and sesame departments ...

Starting at the top, I did love the cheese topping, it was thick, rich, slightly salty.  I liked the texture and flavor, and appreciated that it was more savory than sweet.

At the bottom, the sesame pearls.  These were actually pretty good, soft, decent enough sesame flavor.  However, there weren't that many, and this was the only sesame element in the "Royal Sesame Taro Milk".  I'll admit that I expected more sesame, a paste, something.

I felt the same about the taro.  I thought this drink had taro paste in it (I was told it did!), but I never found any, and I was hoping for some fresh taro chunks or something too, but, alas, it was just taro powder used to make the taro milk.  I think it was non-dairy powder for the milk base as well.  So, the taro aspect was a kinda low-end, too sugary sweet, not very intense taro flavored milk.  A few days later though I had the highest quality taro milk ever, all fresh taro and high quality full cream milk, from Bubble Nini Tea (seriously, so good).

There was also no ice (good, it wasn't watered down like some places get), but, it was also not very cold, a kinda strange lukewarm temperature actually.  I really wanted it more chilled, considered not drinking much more until I got back to the hotel and could add ice, but, alas, I had it in my hand, opened, at that point, so ... I kept drinking.

The purple rice I loved though, it added tons of texture, and went well with the slight sesame and taro flavors.  Like the pearls though, I wanted more.  It made me interested in actually trying one of the rice drinks that have more recently become popular, e.g. the ones from The Moment.

I wasn't asked about my ice or sweetness levels, I realized later, and I normally would have gone for less sweet, and, since it wound up lukewarm, I certainly would have wanted some ice.

So yes, this was a mixed bag.  It didn't deliver in the taro and sesame flavors as much as I wanted, it was low end milk tea, but, I really did like the add-ins, and loved their cheese topping.  The biggest issue was the temperature of the drink.  Maybe I should try the taro yogurt rice next time?

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Luke's Organic Chips

Luke's Organic makes one of my favorite types of things to review: snacks!  Salty, crispy snacks, known as chips (at least in the US!) that is.  Except, well, they take a healthier approach, and are organic.

"We believe in simplicity: great tasting snacks that are always organic, non-GMO, gluten-free. We are also committed to being present every step of the way as your snacks grow up from seed to field to chip to you."

While the ingredients are organic, non-GMO, etc, they do not skimp on flavor or make them too healthy - chips are still fried, just in their own sustainable oil blend.

Luke's makes classic potato chips (including some not-so-classic flavors like white truffle & sea salt), kettle style chips (including fun flavors like ... ketchup with mustard and pickle!), healthy sounding MultiGrain chips (made with ancient grains, quinoa, amaranth and millet, chia, black beans, buckwheat groats, hemp, lentils, kale ... you get the point), and, "Lightening Bolts & Clouds".

I tried an item from the "Lightning Bolts & Clouds" lineup, their version of Cheetos, basically, cheesy puffed snacks, available in a thin crispy style (bolts) or puffs (clouds).

I'd gladly try more of their products.

Cheddar Clouds:White Cheddar Cheese Puffs.

"Clouds are in the forecast every day with Luke’s Organic snacks. These White Cheddar Cloud Cheese Puffs taste as good as walking on air with a light texture and crunch made from natural ingredients like organic whole grain corn and rice, a sustainable oil blend, and real cheddar cheese."

Ok, yeah, these were good.  They were puffy and airy but not too light, came in all sorts of crazy shapes that were enjoyable to grab and munch on, and quite flavorful.  They didn't taste healthy, but they also didn't taste heavy and awful for you.

Made from a base of corn and rice, and coated in cheese coating that ... actually contains cheese.  Real, organic, cheddar cheese.  They were very well coated.  The flavor reminded me of Pirate's Booty, which as you may recall from my review, disappointed me lately with the lack of strong white cheddar flavor, and I may or may not have described those as "Styrofoam packing peanuts", but these delivered in the crunch and the flavor where Pirate's Botty did not.

I really just have positive things to say about the product.  Unique form factor, good crunch, great taste.  I'd get them again.

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Craftsman & Wolves

Update Review, 2018

Craftsman & Wolves is a bakery in SF that I've known for years, as they introduced the world to the Rebel Within, the egg cooked in a muffin, that brought some serious acclaim.  They also do make really unique other baked goods, many of which I've had before.

Turns out, they also make donuts.  Incredible donuts.

"Extra" Donuts.

Sometimes, my workplace has even more extra benefits than normal.  Like, when someone orders donuts for an event, and has leftovers.  DOZENS of leftovers.

I had no idea where they were from, but I was eager to try them, although I was confused why they were square.

Spoiler: I took one bite, grabbed a second, and immediately set out to find out where they were from.  After some polling everyone in sight, I learned they were from Craftsman & Wolves, and I was a bit surprised, not knowing they even made donuts.

Turns out they do.  And they are amazing.

Vanilla Raised Donut / Biscotti Crumble. $4.25.

.

This was a great donut.  The base, a yeasted, raised donut, but it was more dense, more moist, richer than most, in a way that is hard to describe.  I really loved the texture and richness of the base.

The vanilla glaze was well distributed and sweet, but not particularly interesting.  Biscotti crumble on top was fun I guess, but I didn't really taste it nor feel like it added anything.

Overall though, the base of this donut was just fabulous, and I'd love to try others with more flavorful glazes.

Apple Cider Donut / Fall Spiced Sugar. $4.25.

"Hidden Star apple cider cake donut and tossed in cinnamon sugar."

Even better though was the cider donut.  ZOMG.

I grew up in a land of bobbing for apples and eating donuts off strings, and these immediately transported me back to those days.  But also, wow, they were the perfection of an apple cider donut.

The base, cake donut, again more moist and dense than standard, nicely spiced.  The crust on them though was the best part.  Crispy in all the right ways.

And then expertly coated in a spiced sugar, more interesting than simple sugar and cinnamon, and it complimented the flavors of the donut itself well.

This was a rockstar donut.

Original Review March 2016

Craftsman & Wolves is a bakery that was on my radar for a very, very long time before I finally tried it.  It opened in San Francisco in the Mission several years ago, and then just really took off.  They added a stand at the Ferry Building on Saturdays, then a second location in San Francisco, and now a spin-off down in LA.

For most people, Craftsman & Wolves is on their radar because of the signature item, "The Rebel Within", a cheesy sausage muffin with a egg baked inside of it.  It is a thing of instagram wonder.  It brings in the crowds, for sure.  I haven't had the Rebel, since eggs just aren't really my thing, but the other baked goods sound and look good as well.  I enjoyed a few items, but never found anything to be as rave worthy as others seem to.  Maybe I need to go back for a Rebel?

My encounters all took place at their Ferry Building stand at the Saturday market, so, I have no comments to make about their storefront.

Scones

Yellow Corn Scone / Stonefruit / Sweet Basil. $3.50.

This was one of the most unique scones I have ever tried!  Yes, corn, stonefruit, and basil.  In a scone.  It was somehow both sweet and savory at the same time.

The scone base was not sweetened, it had a great tang, which I always like.

The Brentwood corn was roasted, and the kernels were left whole.  There might have been some more ground up like cornmeal in the scone base, but I couldn't quite tell.

The stone fruit used in this particular scone was apricot, which came in little tiny cubes, which added a pleasant chew and sweetness.

The glaze on top was actually basil glaze, so it also wasn't very sweet, although, it was a glaze, so it had some sweetness to it.

This was a really fun scone, and quite delicious.  The texture of the base scone was nicely crumbly, I liked having the slight chew from the chunks of apricot, and the glaze was hardened on top, so there were several different textures at play, something I always appreciate.  And I liked that my brain was confused the entire time if I was eating something sweet or savory, and wondering why there was corn in my scone.  (But, I've had many corn muffins or cornbread that had full kernels in it, so, why not in a scone?  In fact, this did somewhat remind me of cornbread, just with a totally different texture ...)

I also really liked how the ingredients worked together, although I'd never expect them to.  Corn and basil, sure.  Apricot and basil even, as many desserts these days include basil.  But corn and apricot?  Certainly not something I'd think of putting together.  But it all worked.

I really enjoyed this, and I'd gladly have another, and it mades me excited to try more of their seasonal scones.  $3.50 for a good sized scone was a fine price, particularly given that it was made with so many fresh market ingredients.

Thai Scone / House Green Curry / Coconut / Mango. $2.

Remember how I said the corn and stone fruit scone was the most unique scone I'd ever had?  Well, that was true ... until I had my next scone from Craftsman & Wolves: the Thai scone.

I was planning to get the corn scone again, since I'd liked it so much the first time, but alas, the season changed, and corn and stone fruit were long gone.  There were two scones to pick from this time around, a Thai scone, or a apple and cheese version.  I grew up eating apple pie with cheese melted on top, so that scone sounded pretty normal to me, but the vibrant colors of the Thai scone won me over.  It doesn't show up well in this photo, but it was bright green, with pops of orange from the mango studded throughout.

Not only did it look unique, it also sounded fascinating.  Most of the ingredients were fairly non-standard for a scone (mango, coconut, ginger), but fell within the realm of reason.  But ... green curry?  In a scone?  I had no idea if I should expect something sweet or savory.

The answer was, like the corn and apricot scone, it was a bit of both.  The curry flavor was there, providing a savory aspect.  The base almost seemed like it could have been more of a biscuit than a scone.  But studded throughout were bursts of sweetness in the little chunks of candied ginger and larger chunks of dried mango.  Shredded coconut on top rounded it out.

The flavors and textures all worked well together, and it was interesting to consume.  I had it mid-morning, which worked fine, but I might have found it a bit too savory and a bit too flavorful for a breakfast item, which is when I normally have my scones.

The downside is that it was fairly dry.  I know scones aren't supposed to be moist, but, it seemed almost overcooked, or perhaps a bit stale.  I think it would have been better with just a touch less time in the oven, or, perhaps some kind of glaze on top.

This scone was also much smaller than my previous one.  It was shrunk down to a really pleasant size.  It wasn't tiny like the petite vanilla scones you can get at Starbucks that don't actually leave you satisfied, but it wasn't so large you felt remotely guilty devouring it.  The price was scaled accordingly, to a perfectly reasonable $2.  I wish more places made smaller sized treats!

Cookies

Cashew "Isle of Gold" Curry Cookie. $3.

I'm not generally one for cookies.  In the realm of baked goods, cookies are pretty near the bottom of my list.  Unless they are fresh baked, warm, and gooey, then I might make an exception.  But I'd still prefer just about anything else.

So ... why did I get a cookie?  Well, it was afternoon when I stopped by the Craftsman & Wolves stand at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market, and, it just didn't seem quite right to get a scone at 1:30pm.  So, cookie it was.  Plus, I know Ojan likes cookies, so I figured I'd be "nice" and bring it to him ... if I didn't like it.  (Yes, he knows my tricks, it isn't like he can't figure out why he randomly gets "gifts" of cookies with bites out of them!)

Anyway, the cookie.  It was a crispy-style, something I never like.  I should have known this just from looking at it, but I still picked it.  Ok, strike one, but not necessarily the cookie's fault, I know some people like crisp cookies.  Also, I don't actually like cashews all that much.  But the night before, I had these amazing sugar and coconut coated cashews at a party, and I'd been drooling over the thought of them since.  So, cashews did sound somewhat appealing at the moment.  The cashews were cut up in chunks, but still large enough that I could tell they were cashews and not some other nut.  They were ... fine.  And finally, the curry.  I didn't really detect it, particularly not in the nice way I had with the curry infused scone.

For me, there just wasn't much going on in this cookie.  The curry was too subtle to taste, it was a style of cookie I don't like, and, it was just really quite boring, something I never expected from a cookie with such a bold name (side note: no, I have no idea what the "Isle of Gold" reference is about).

Thus, I brought it home to gift to Ojan.  He went out of his way to tell me he liked it.  You must understand, for him to volunteer a review of an item without me dragging it out of him is a big deal.  So he did actually like it.  He said he wouldn't have known it was cashew if I hadn't told him, and would have assumed it was peanut, which is funny to me, since the nuts weren't so coarsely cut that you could still see their shape.  Cashews don't look like peanuts!  He also said he didn't taste curry necessarily, but rather, "some strange spicing".  He detected that something was a bit unique about it, he just could not tell what exactly.

I clearly wouldn't get another one of these for me, but Ojan said he'd get another.

Valrhona Chocolate Chip Cookie. $3.

"Made with Valrhona 80% chocolate and topped with sea salt"

By now, you know that I don't tend to like cookies all that much, particularly crispy style.  I picked this up mostly for Ojan.

But of course I tried a bite before bringing it to him.  Or, I intended to just try a bite.  It turns out, I liked the cookie and wanted more.  Ojan only got half.

Yes, it was a crispy cookie.  I prefer soft gooey cookies.  But, it was sweet, it was buttery, and it was loaded up with really high quality dark chocolate.  And the little bit of salt on the finish was perfect.  Ojan took one bite and said "I see why you liked this cookie".  I looked at him quizzically.  "It is 90% butter, 5% sugar, and 5% chocolate", he said.  Doh.  Got me.  I like my butter.

$3 is a bit high for a cookie, but it is a quite large cookie.  I wouldn't get another for myself, but I'd gladly steal a few bites now and then from Ojan ...

Other

Créme Fraîche / Grains of Paradise / Muscovado Morning Bun. $4.

"Soft vanilla freckled bun with créme fraîche, three shades of sugar and grains of paradise."

The next time I encountered Craftsman & Wolves, the morning bun was calling my name.

Now, I had read Yelp reviews in advance, and people generally seemed unimpressed with this item, but it really did sound like the perfect thing to go along with my coffee and some fresh fruit.  Plus, I do love a good cinnamon roll / morning bun / etc.

It was incredibly moist, actually damp, which was a bit strange.  It had a generous coating of cinnamon and sugar on the outside, but the dough itself wasn’t particularly flavorful, and it didn’t have cinnamon and sugar rolled up inside like I was expecting.  Less good than most morning buns I’ve had.  It reminded me more of a cinnamon sugar donut hole than a morning bun.

I also didn't taste the pepperyness I was expecting from the grains of paradise, and most certainly never encountered créme fraîche.  I know Craftsman & Wolves is known for having interesting ingredients mixed in, so I expected these elements to be prominent, and to not even taste them was a letdown. 

$4 was a little high for something that was so plain.  Maybe I'm just missing something here, or, alas, maybe the Yelpers were right about this one.  I wouldn't get another.

Confections

Toasted Pistachio and Cherry Fudge.  $1.

These were sitting by the register.  I couldn't resist.  They were too cute.  You know, for "later".

Inside the fudge.

Inside the wrapper was, well, fudge.

It was a soft style, loaded with pistachios and tart sour cherries.  It was fine, I liked the chew from the cherry, but, it was just fudge.  It didn't really taste any different from fudge my grandmother makes from marshmallow Fluff.

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Bengong Black, Sydney

Update Review March 2020

This is a tale of woe.

My second to last night in Sydney.  Running out of time to get all the things I so badly wanted.  I had to prioritize, and, even though the weather turned cold, I was out of time to get cold treats, so, I set out to get the ice cream I had been eyeing all week.  The taro soft serve from Ben Gong's tea.

Oh yes.  The seasonal special was ... taro!  I adore taro.  I adore soft serve.  I was too good to be true.

Except, well, it wasn't.  Everything about the experience really was unpleasant.  The line to order was long.   The staff gave me mis-information when I asked questions.  My order took 33 minutes to be ready (!).  And the taro soft serve sundae?  Really not delicious.

Ben Gong is off my list in general now, no need to return here, as there are just too many other good places.  But if you want to read my original reviews, when I tried a variety of amazing sounding, but not particularly great baked goods, a yogurt tea that I really didn't care for, and a mediocre soft serve, you can start there.

Taro Blast Sundae + Extra Toppings. $8.80.

Bengong has soft serve, but, with very limited options - several pre-designed sundaes, and that is it.  No customization.  Still, I tried to add sticky rice to the pre-designed Taro Blast sundae.

I was told that I could not add toppings on since it would be "so full".  I suggested putting in a separate cup then, and said I'd add them on myself.  This request was accommodated.

Note: I'm pretty sure the meager portion of sticky rice I was given would have fit with no problem. 

I added the cheese foam too, since I was getting a separate cup anyway, and maybe that wouldn't have fit, but, the rice, all I originally asked for, certainly would have.

Anyway.

Taro Blast Sundae. $6.80.

So, the seasonal special, the Taro Blast Sundae!  I was excited, although from the photo on the menu I couldn't quite tell what was in it.

"What is in the Taro Blast Sundae?", I asked.  "Ice cream" was the answer.  Just "ice cream", no more words were provided.

"Is it taro flavored ice cream or vanilla?  What toppings does it have?", I pressed. The photo certainly looked like purple-ish ice cream, and the photo looked like it had taro cubes, and some other things perhaps.  "Just taro", was the reply.

Well, ok.  I still got it.  As I mentioned above, I tried to add sticky rice to it, since I thought it would just be taro soft serve and taro cubes, and that was met with resistance due to cup fullness concerns.  Um, this cup was not exactly overflowing.

Anyway.  The soft serve was pale purple, and I guess was supposed to be taro flavored, but the flavor was so incredibly mild it was basically non-existent.  It was creamy, and melted fast, but it certainly didn't boast much taro flavor.  There also wasn't much of it.  The cup, it turned out, wasn't actually just full of soft serve.  

The edges of the cup were lined with some kind of taro paste.  The bottom 1/4? 1/3? was just taro paste.  There was a tiny scoop of it perched on top too.  Now, this could be a good thing.  I love taro, as I said. I love the taste, the consistency, everything.  And if the taro soft serve was lacking much taro flavor, clearly this would fix it, right?  Yeah, no.  It also didn't taste strongly of taro, and certainly had ... something added to it.  It was not just taro, clearly.  It was thick, and just odd with the soft serve, but worse, just wasn't good.  And there was so much of it.  There were no cubes like in the photo on the menu.

And then, the component that really ruined it for me ... the boba.  Yes, the boba, and tons of their syrup.  "Just taro" "ice cream" turned out to have the boba in there too.  I would have asked to have it left off if I had known.  The brown sugar syrup went horribly with the very little mild taro flavor there was.  And the boba weren't great, chewy but not in a good way, they just didn't seem fresh.

It is hard to explain just how poor this tasted, and how very sad it made me.

Black Sticky Rice / Cheese Foam.  $2.

At least the cheese foam and sticky rice would be tasty right?

I added the sticky rice, eager for some texture.  Alas, the rice was not very good either - not mushy exactly but not al dente, and also not sticky, and just, well, some mediocre cold rice.  Boo.

And the cheese foam?  You guessed it.  Lackluster.  It wasn't very frothy, and it certainly wasn't very cheesy or savory.  It just seemed like deflated whipped cream.

I tried so hard to assemble some bites of some of this that I'd like, after waiting so very long, but alas, it just truly was not good.

Original Review, October 2019

Ben Gong's Tea is a chain from China, founded fairly recently in 2014.  It isn't a huge chain, with only 15 locations in China, and, uh, 2 in Sydney, which is where I discovered it.  The original Sydney location is in Burwood, but I visited the newest location, dubbed Bengong Black..

Location

Bengong Black is located in the new section of Darling Square, an area that was entirely different just a year ago, and is now quite walk-able, and filled with very attractive storefronts, featuring new branches of many successful Sydney area businesses.

I still don't quite understand why it is "Bengong" Black vs "Ben Gong's" Tea, but, every reference I have seen uses one word for this location, vs two words for the others.  I'll just go with it.

Store Front.

Many establishments in the area have outside seating, but alas, Bengong Black does not.  Only inside, so minus one point for that, although there is plentiful communal seating just a short walk away, which we were able to utilize.

Baked Goods

The majority of the space inside the shop, besides the seating, is occupied by bakery cases, all self-serve.  Unlike many larger asian bakeries, the items were all already individually wrapped, although trays were provided to put your selections on.

The baked goods lineup at Ben Gong drew me in even more than the soft serve ice cream and drinks, actually.  Why?  Well, I love asian baked goods, but the Sydney staples of Breadtop and 85°C Bakery Cafe just haven't been winners for me (although I did like the Pasadena location), even though they are everywhere in the city.

Offerings were mostly sweet, but the requisite cheese hot dog was certainly there for a savory (and a ham and cheese bun, a prawn roll, etc).  My favorite ingredients of taro, ube, and pork floss were front and center.

Making decisions was hard, and I returned several times to try more items.  All were fine, but, I won't feel compelled to try more.

Brown Sugar Taro Mochi. $4.20.

The first thing I tried was this sweet bun, named "brown sugar taro mochi".

I was drawn in to this for the taro, always a favorite ingredient of mine, even though I really had no idea where the taro would be, and was confused that it was called "mochi"' when it looked like a soft bread.  I also didn't quite know why it had the dark coating ... was that brown sugar?

I'm still not sure what it was that dappled the outside.  It did not seem to have a particularly distinct taste, and my brain kept wanting it to be black sesame, but alas, it was not.

The bread was fine, slightly sweet, soft, pleasant enough.  Not stale.  Better than 85*.  It was well stuffed, only the first bite or two had no filling, after that, the filling took center stage.

Brown Sugar Taro Mochi: Brown Sugar Inside

At first, even once I had taken several big bites, and ripped off chunks, I still could not find the taro.  There was certainly a sweet, sticky, brown filling, but taro?  I didn't find it right away.

What I did find I guess was the brown sugar filling, it tasted sorta like black boba pearls, but, it was syrup-like paste.  My brain was confused by the familiar taste, but unfamiliar form factor.  I call it a syrup, but that isn't quite accurate.  It was thick, and ... glutinous.  Was the mochi aspect in here?  It was odd, no question, just something new for me.  I don't think I liked it.

Brown Sugar Taro Mochi: Inside.

As for the taro, once I did find it, there really was a very, very generous portion of taro mash inside, it just wasn't distributed to the top where I started.  It didn't need more, there really was plenty, and it was good, sweet, taro mash.

I warmed my bun up later, and liked the taro even more warmed up.

So overall, I had a ok soft bread, a strange brown sugar filling, and enjoyable taro.  It didn't add up quite as I wished though.  I needed something, and in my head, I just really, really wanted some cream to have with it.

Salted Egg Pork Floss. $5.80.

Next I went slightly savory, going for a pork floss option.

Pork floss shows up in several items, such as the basic pork floss bun, or a spicy one, or a tempting sounding one with taro and pork floss.  But I wanted the most interesting sounding of all: salted egg yolk and pork floss.  I kinda have a thing for salted egg ...

The bread itself was again fine, soft, slightly sweet.  Not really remarkable though.  It was coated with a little salted egg yolk, which mostly just made for messy fingers, rather than gave it much flavor.

Salted Egg Yolk Pork Floss: Inside.

But of course, while the bread being soft and fresh is important, I was most interested with what was inside.  

I ... was very underwhelmed by this one.  There was a mound of pork floss, and there was some mash that was slightly egg yolk tasting.  Both were salty and slightly savory, and both were very dry.  I really wanted to taste more egg yolk.  But really, it just ate ... boring.  Dry bread, dry fillings, nothing really that interesting.

I tried dipping it in some curries, and in some sauces, but it just never really got much better.

Star Fall. $4.80.

Back to sweets.

Uh, yeah.  I got the rainbow bun.  Called a "Star Fall", as if that helps understand what it is.  I had to ask.

The answer, I was told, is a salted egg custard.  Given that I like custard, and I like salted egg, this certainly sounded fascinating.  Plus, if nothing else, the 'gram would like the brilliant color, right?

I don't think the bread was actually a different flavor than the others, but it really did seem like it had a slightly more subtle, sakura like flavor.  I'm sure that was in my head due to the coloring.  Anyway, another fine bread base, although it seemed sweeter, moister, softer, and I liked it more than the others.

Star Fall: Inside.

Inside was the goodness, although this one was less well stuffed than the others.  Maybe just due to its massive size and large cavity inside?

It was ... well, a salty egg yolk custard.  Creamy.  Rich.  Salty.  Savory.  Sweet.  I loved it.  Chunks of the soft sweet bread slathered with that custard were just delicious.

I really enjoyed this item, and rather inhaled it.  I kept trying to save a chunk for later, and really should have, given how large it was, and how much I had just eaten prior to trying it, but ... it was just too good to put down.

Hands down favorite item, and I'd likely get it again.

Drinks

Most people seem to go to Ben Gong's Tea for the drinks, all of which are made to order.

Drink Menu: Part One.

The drink menu is fairly large.

First up is the fruit ranges.  "Fruitea Fresh" is fresh fruit iced teas, the lightest option.   "Fruitea Smoothie", are fruit & tea smoothies, interestingly topped with cheese foam by default.

Other cheese topped options are the "Cheezo Tea", basic jasmine/oolong/matcha topped with cheese foam.

These all allow sugar and ice level customization, and are served cold.

Drink Menu: Part Two.

Drinks get more interesting on the second page.  Here you find the "Wuwu Handcraft" range, which turns out to be brown sugar pearl milk teas, in classic black tea, matcha, or just milk base, with or without taro or purple rice added.

Next up, "Tea Cubes", which are smaller drinks, just classic black milk tea or matcha tea, with your choice of flavored konjac jelly inside.  I really wished you could add these jellies to other drinks, as I liked the sound of the lychee or coconut jellies.

And finally, "Shaking Yoghurt Tea", drinks made from yogurt and tea base (I think green tea?).

Seasonal specials rounded out the menu, and in October, strawberry was the theme: strawberry wuwu fresh milk, smoothies, shaking yogurt tea, ice cream sundaes.  Berries, berries berries.

When I headed to Bengong Black, I was planning to get the "Wuwu Taro Purple Rice Milk", as I really like taro, and have been into drinks with purple or black sticky rice in them on this trip, but ... my other random obsession this trip was yogurt drinks, so, at last minute, I went for one of those instead.  The purple rice shaking yogurt tea would have made the most sense, the most like the other drinks I had liked, but ... I don't know what happened, I kinda accidentally ordered a seasonal fruit one instead, even though ... it didn't seem like anything I'd like.  And, spoiler, I didn't.

I'd still consider returning to get a rice drink, but I wasn't particularly inspired by seeing other drinks being made either, and wished they had more customization options (e.g. add taro to the purple rice shaking yogurt tea).

Seasonal Special: Berries Shaking Yogurt Tea. $7.80.

Well, um ... I'll just cut to the chase.  I hated this.

It did look pretty, when it was first served.  Fresh berries (strawberries and blueberries) in the very base, a layer of yogurt, a layer of berries, and then the mixed up tea / fruit / yogurt drink.  It quickly looked gross, as it separated out, and had chunks of yogurt all floating around, but, at very first, it was appealing. 

The idea is to shake it to mix it all up, hence the "shaking" name.

I first used my straw to get the layers separate though.

The fruit was fine, soft, mushy, stewed in sweetness, but I think fresh (not frozen) fruit.  Very, um, fruity.

The yogurt was just yogurt.  Just generic as can be, fairly thin, fairly runny, fairly tart, yogurt.  Nothing special about it, at all.  I was really hoping for something creamier, richer, more interesting (like the Koomi yogurt - review coming soon!)

And finally, the majority of the drink.  I was told it did have some tea (I think green?) although I didn't taste it.  It was very, very sweet, very very fruity.  Except for the fact that it also was yogurty.  I guess it tasted like a smoothie, but like one that wouldn't stay mixed together well.

I did shake it.  And shake it more.  And more.  But it just kept separating out, into a watery fruity layer with floating chunks of yogurt.  I wouldn't mind the horrible look if I liked the taste, but I also just didn't like it.  At all.  The watery fruity layer tasted like the top of jam or jelly when you make it, the part you normally skim off.  Major meh.

Now, granted, I don't like smoothies, and I don't generally like yogurt, so maybe this is expected, but, the other yogurt drinks I had in Sydney I really did like.  

Clearly, this wasn't for me, and certainly did not leave me inspired to try any other shaking yogurt teas, or smoothies, from there.

That said, I did love the plastic reusable bottle, and gladly kept that for future use.

Soft Serve Ice Cream

And, last but not least: soft serve ice cream, a passion of mine.  Bengong Black always carries a basic vanilla flavor, plus a seasonal flavor.  I was sad to see the black sesame from a few weeks before my visit was replaced with the seasonal strawberry flavor.

Soft serve is available quite simply in a cone, no toppings, or, as a pre-designed sundae.  No options to craft your own, which I think would be great given all the toppings and mix-ins they have available.

One sundae is always available, the vanilla based "Wuwu Oreo Sundae", and two seasonal options were also offered, both featuring strawberries - one used the strawberry soft serve base (the "Strawberry Supreme Sundae"), and the other used vanilla base, plus fresh berries and agar.  Since I wasn't really excited about the berries, the Wuwu Oreo is what I got, even though I wasn't actually excited for Oreo either (but I knew that was a minor component).

Wuwu Oreo Sundae. $5.80.

The soft serve was good.  Just simple vanilla, but it was perfectly creamy, sweet, and fairly vanilla flavored.  Not bad at all.

At the base of the sundae was brown sugar boba, although you can't see them here.  There was a standard scoop, just like in a bubble tea.  Does "wuwu" mean boba?  I haven't really been into boba lately, but I did like the idea of the boba in the sundae.  The boba was fine, nicely chewy.  The brown sugar flavor I certainly prefer over standard tapioca pearls.  

The brown sugar syrup drizzled throughout added a really lovely flavor.  I would never think of using this as an ice cream sauce, but it really worked.  I'm inspired to add it to future ice cream sundaes.  It was also fun for my brain to compare the brown sugar flavor here, as a syrup and as pearls, to the paste from the brown sugar taro mochi ... this was so much more successful for me.

And finally, a bit of Oreo crumb on top, that honestly just was odd, chocolate cookie and brown sugar are not a combo that made sense to my brain.  The crunch was nice, but, meh.

I felt it needed just a bit more oomph, so I added licorice sprinkles that I had with me, and that really did help.  More brown sugar syrup, or, the ability to add lychee or one of the fruit toppings (or cheese foam?) on top would really make this incredible.

Overall, I'm glad I tried it, but I wouldn't get it again.  Good enough soft serve, and a new inspiration for use of brown sugar sauce, but Sydney has some outstanding soft serve (creamier, more intense flavors, etc), and I'd rather get those if I wanted soft serve.

Cakes / Desserts 

The final offering at Bengong Black is cakes and other desserts, all displayed behind a glass case and fetched by the employees.

Pretty Cakes.

They looked fine, but I had a hard time wanting a cheesecake or tiramisu, when I had so many other unique items to pick from (even though they did have matcha red bean cake, and a cute strawberry mousse).

When I brought a group of co-workers with me, one got the black forest cake, but didn't comment on it, so I can't imagine it was particularly notable.

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