McCafé

Update Review, March 2018 Visit

In April 2018, McDonald's introduced a new line of beverages to the McCafé line: "Turtle" beverages.  Available as an iced or warm macchiato or iced coffee, all of which blend either espresso + milk (or coffee) with the new syrup, and then drizzle a lot more chocolate in too.

I've previously reviewed a few McCafé beverages, back in 2013 when I had some free drinks to redeem, and discovered the decadence and not-so-horribleness of the Iced Caramel Mocha in particular (but no, do not get a cappuccino there, nor the decaf coffee, nor the frappe, and certainly NOT a shake!), so feel free to start there with my intro and overall feelings on the McCafe offerings.

I did not seek this out, and was actually given it as part of a outreach event McDonald's did with local bloggers, so I got to try it ahead of its release date (!).

Iced Turtle Coffee.

"Our Iced Turtle Coffee starts with a chocolate drizzle and is mixed with ice, light cream, rich caramel and hazelnut flavored syrup and our premium roast coffee, made with 100% Arabica beans."

I didn't actually order this, but was given it to test as a new addition to the menu, part of the "turtle" lineup, that also includes a hot and iced macchiato. 

I'm not usually one for "dessert" coffee, although I clearly love dessert, for some reason, my coffee is just not where I tend to want my sugar (or cream for that matter).  And I say this as someone who has whipped cream or ice cream nearly every day.  I'm certainly not cream-adverse, just, not in my coffee!

Anyway, this was a nice looking product, more like Starbucks than McDonald's really, with chocolate swirled on the edges of the cup, exactly like in the marketing photos.

The "turtle syrup" is made with sweetened condensed milk + sugar + corn syrup + fructose + brown sugar, so, uh you don't really need to use your imagination much to guess what it tasted like.

It was ... well, sweet creamy "coffee".  Hard to taste the coffee.  I didn't really taste hazelnut nor caramel, either just sweet and creamy and chocolately.    15 year old me would have loved it.

Side note: I still wish McDonald's allowed some customization of the coffee drinks.  No decaf option, no option for a lighter dairy choice than the cream for this one.

Original Review, April 2013

Oh yes, I went there.  I've been sitting on this one for a while.  But, after last week's review declaring the Target brand granola the best I've found, I might as well get some more shame out there.  I went to McCafé.  And, if my readership doesn't entirely plummet after this, perhaps I'll even be brave and put up my review of McDonald's itself!

Anyway.  Let me back up.  I was lured into the whole McCafé experience via Mowingo, their phone app that promised to give me a free milkshake.  This was during my great milkshake quest, so I couldn't pass it up.  And then, a month later, it popped up offering a free coffee drink.  And so on and so on.  I'm such a sucker for freebies.  I love trying new things, and somehow, when I'm not paying, I feel like the stakes are much easier to deal with.  If it is awful, I just won't finish it.  But, when I'm paying, I have a bit of an irrational need to finish things, to "get my money's worth".  I don't know where I got this from, but it is really annoying, and something I'm working on.  But anyway.

So, I went to try out their fancy beverages.  I was honestly intrigued   It had been years since I'd be inside any McDonald's.  I pretty sure the whole McCafé thing didn't exist last time I was there.  And ... the website made it sound like they were basically making Starbucks drinks, and smoothies, and milkshakes.  They sounded possibly good ...

My first surprise came when I found that none of their coffee beverages, besides just plain drip coffee, are available in decaf, which I normally drink.  Seriously? No decaf? They lose some major points here.

And then ... the service.  Wow.  I know I was a at a fast food place, so my expectations did need to be reset from my normal dining experiences.  But some were still rather amazing.

At the first McDonald's I visited using Mowingo, I had no idea what I could choose from, as the app just said "small speciality coffee drink of your choice”.  And of course, the staff member had never seen Mowingo before, and couldn't read the small print on my screen.  She took my phone from me, and went back into the kitchen with it, asking random cooks to try to read the screen to her.  Of course the screen locked on her, which I tried to explain would happen.  She got very flustered and seemingly arbitrarily just declared that I could get any McCafé drink.  This sounded good to me, except ... I had no idea what McCafé drinks even existed.  I asked her, and she was like "What you want?  Coffee?  Latte?"  I knew they had all sorts of iced drinks, blended drinks, even shakes, as I saw some delicious looking creations on posters around the walls, but there was no McCafé menu in sight.  I asked for a McCafé menu, and she pointed at a blank screen.  Very good.  Sigh. So I stepped out of line, pulled up the McDonald's web site on my phone, and browsed through my options.

When I decided on an iced caramel mocha, she put the order in, and went to make it.  She came back with a Styrofoam cup.  I thought it was odd that they would serve iced drinks in those cups, but hey, what did I know.  Of course, the moment I touched it, I could tell it was hot.  I explained I'd ordered an iced drink.  She looked at the screen, and sure enough, she'd entered it as iced, like I'd said.  So she took the cup from me, hurled it across the room at the garbage can, and set off making a new one.  I'm not sure what went wrong with the next one, as she hurled it at the can too.  And then she started another, and threw that one out after only adding the syrups and milk.  And then, a forth one seemed complete, but she dumped it down a drain on the floor.  I had no idea what was going on.  She was upset, and frantic seeming.  Finally, she made one that she didn't throw out, and asked if I wanted whipped cream.  I said yes.  She pulled out the can of whipped cream, and went kinda nuts putting on an insane amount of whipped cream.  I could see her finger getting into the whipped cream as it dispensed, since it had to be nearby to activate the nozzle.  This was the same finger, without a glove, that had just been touching money, the register, my phone, etc.  Shutter.  And then she went to put the lid on.  Of course, it did not fit, given the massive mound of whipped cream she'd put on.  She tried to jam it on, with whipped cream spilling out the sides, and all over her.  The creation she handed to me was beyond sticky and messy.  Wowzer.  The next time I ordered a drink with whipped cream on top, the worker put the dome lid on first, and then filled it through the lid.  This resulted in zero mess.  Given how assembly-line style everything is done at fast food chains, I'm surprised that the procedure to make these drinks isn't a formulaic.

Oh, and in case you are excited to try out Mowingo, they stopped offering it.  The Bay Area was just a small test program, and apparently, it didn't work out so well.  Perhaps most McDonald's patrons don't have fancy smart phones? Or, people just don't want to install a different mobile app for each and every place they go?  Come on businesses, just get on GoPago or LevelUp!

McCafé Iced Caramel Mocha, Small.  $2.49.

Another McCafé Iced Caramel Mocha, Small.  $2.49.

I wasn't too hopeful as to the quality of their espresso, so I decided I might as well just load it up with syrups, to mask the flavor of what I expected to be pretty crappy coffee flavor.  And as it was hot out, I wanted something iced and decadent.

So I went for the most loaded up iced drink they had, the Iced Caramel Mocha.  Described as "iced espresso made with 100% Arabica beans, whole or nonfat milk, chocolate and caramel syrup, topped with whipped cream and a caramel drizzle."

It tasted like pretty much any other drink you could get elsewhere in this category.  The overwhelming characteristic: sweet.  I didn't really taste any chocolate, or mocha-ness.  The coffee flavor was there, giving it a slight bitterness, but there was so much caramel and milk that it was unoffensive, as I expected.

The whip on top was generic stuff from a can, but it wasn't bad.  The caramel drizzle was thick caramel sauce that was clearly just flavored corn syrup, but I liked it.

Overall, this was far more enjoyable than I expected, and I actually drank the whole thing, which I really wasn't intending on, making it the first fully caffeinated beverage that I had in about 1.5 years.  Let's just say that with all the caffeine AND the massive amount of sugar in it, I was rather bouncing off the walls afterwards.  Whee!

On a subsequent visit, I got another one of these, as it was the best drink I'd found so far.  As you can see from the photo, it looked pretty much identical.  McDonald's does have consistency down, even though these came from different stores!  It was pretty much the same.  Ridiculously sweet, barely any coffee flavor, with the same generic but kinda tasty whipped cream and caramel sauce.  I think I just like sweet things!

Small McCafé Caramel Mocha.  $2.49.

Since the iced caramel mocha was decent, and the next McDonald's I visited said I could only order a hot drink with my Mowingo coupon, I went for the hot version.  (Side note: some of the iced drinks are cheaper than hot ones, why can't I get those?  Grumble).

It was fairly inoffensive and generic.  Sweet, but not really that tasty.  Whipped cream was added on top without asking me, which I didn't mind, but this was the only place they didn't ask me about it.  The whipped cream was the same as everywhere, generic but pretty good.  The thick caramel sauce drizzled on top was again tasty.

I wouldn't get one of these again. Meh.

Small McCafé Vanilla Cappuccino.  $2.49.

On another visit, I was again told I could only pick from the hot beverages.  Feeling brave, I went for what I'd get at a "real" coffee shop: a cappuccino.  But since I thought their espresso was kinda nasty tasting, I added in the vanilla to mask it.

The vanilla didn't help.  This had a horrible taste.  Bitter, but not in a good way.  And the vanilla syrup was gross as well.

The foam was impressive, but again, not in a good way.  How did they create foam out of nothing?  It didn't really seem to be made of milk.  It had no flavor.  It offered nothing.

This was really, really bad.

Small Decaf Coffee, Vanilla.  $1.79.

And again, told I could only order a hot beverage.  Since the caramel mocha and the cappuccino were so bad, I decided to be simple and just get coffee.  But, hedging my bets that it would be nasty, I added vanilla syrup.  Bonus points to McDonald's that you can pick from a variety of flavor syrups to add at no additional cost.

It was bitter and horrible.  I added in 3 creamers and then it became bearable.  Do not recommend, would never get again.

Small McCafé Hot Chocolate.  $2.19.

And yet another visit where I was told I could only pick from the hot items.  Since I thought all of the hot coffee drinks were downright horrible, I went for the hot chocolate.  It was made by the same machine as the coffee drinks, described as "steamed  milk, rich chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle."

The milk came out better than in my cappuccino, but it was still fairly airy seeming and not that creamy.  The chocolate flavor was ok, not spectacular, but you could at least tell it was a hot chocolate.  The whipped cream on top was again the highlight.   The chocolate syrup was again just Hershey-like, thin, and not interesting.

Overall, not a bad hot chocolate, pretty generic, although the whipped cream certainly elevates it above most of the hot chocolates you get out of magic machines.  If it was winter and I was cold and wanting a hot chocolate, I'd consider getting one.  Interestingly, at one place where I was told I could only get a hot beverage, they wouldn't let me pick this, even though it was hot, and the cheapest item on the menu.  Such inconsistencies!

Small McCafé Peppermint Hot Chocolate.  $2.19.

Since the hot chocolate wasn't bad, on a blustery day I decided to try out another one, this time, the seasonal peppermint version. The person taking my order cheered when I ordered this, apparently I was the first one to ever do so.

It was fairly minty, but like the regular hot chocolate, not very chocolately.  The whipped cream was again my favorite part, the syrup again basically generic Hersheys.

McCafé Frappé Chocolate Chip.  $2.49.

"An indulgent combination of rich mocha, sweet caramel and a hint of coffee, with added chocolate chips, all blended to perfection. Topped with whipped cream plus a double drizzle of chocolate and caramel. "

The frappé line was the one I was most interested in, but all locations had told me those weren't included.  On the very last day of the Mowingo deal, it happened to be a ridiculously hot day, a very rare treat in San Francisco.  The person taking my order asked, "And which McCafé beverage do you want?" and I said "The Chocolate Chip Frappé", and she said, "Oh, I'm sorry, it has to be hot".  Since I really didn't care to try any more of their hot beverages, I said "Oh, ok.  Its such a hot day out, I was really in the mood for a cold treat.  Never mind then", and started to walk away.  And she called after me, "Oh, its ok, they are the same price anyway, and it is totally a frappé sort of day!"

w00t!  I finally got to try one of these things.  My excitement was short lived.  I'm glad I didn't pay for it.  It wasn't good.

Indulgent it was.  Do not go read the nutrition stats for this thing.  Let's just say that a quarter pounder with cheese is better for you, in literally every metric, than this creation!

I expected it to be somewhat like a milkshake.  Or perhaps like a Starbuck's frappucino or Peet's freddo.  It somehow wasn't like either.  Not ice-creamy like a shake.  Nor icy like a blended drink from a coffee shop.  It was just ... kinda cold sweet milk.  No real consistency to it.

Inside of it was a ton of bits of chocolate chips.  They added an almost good texture, except they were so tiny that they came out more like grit.   It was off-putting.

The top was the only redeeming part.  It was kinda frothy, although like the rest of it, the flavor was not good.  It was basically just sweet.  I couldn't pick out any mocha, or caramel, or coffee, or anything.  Of course, I enjoyed the whipped cream.  And again, the caramel sauce was really good, and the chocolate sauce totally mediocre.

I definitely would never get one of these again, but I'm glad my curiosity was satisfied.

Small McCafé Strawberry Shake.  $2.39.

I've had a serious thing for milkshakes lately, and so I was most excited about the free shakes in Mowingo.  They offer chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla, and I was intending to get vanilla, except they only had chocolate or strawberry that day.  Strawberry was my second choice, so I went for it, remembering fondly the amazing strawberry shake I'd had from Holy Grill a few weeks earlier.

This one seemed pretty similar to the Del Taco offerings, with the "shake" just coming out of a magic machine.  They topped it with standard canned whipped cream, and ... a cherry!  I give them credit for the touch of adding a cherry on top.

Unfortunately, this was, hands down, the worst shake I've ever had.  The consistency was fine actually, it was nicely icy, yet totally easy to suck up with the straw.  Much better than the far too thick one from Del Taco, proving that not all strange milkshake machines are the same!

The whipped cream was generic stuff from a can, but like in the other McCafé drinks I tried, totally fine.

The maraschino cherry was pretty awful, just way too fake and sweet, which, I guess is just how those cherries are supposed to be.  But way too fake and sweet is the theme of the sad story of this shake.

The flavor was beyond horrible.  So incredibly fake and medicinal.  And very sweet, but I expected that.  But ugh, it was just nasty.  There were little bits of real strawberry in there, but I'm guessing the majority of the flavor came from some sort of fake syrup.  Awful, awful.

Small McCafé Vanilla Shake.  $2.39.

You'd think that my experience with the strawberry shake would have been enough to make me never try their shakes again.  But ... it was really hot out.  I was craving a shake in a major way.  And I had another free one.

This time, I went for the vanilla shake.  Vanilla shakes are usually white.  For reference, the whipped cream in this photo was indeed white.  The shake was ... light yellow.  That was scary enough, why was it yellow?  But I still tried it.

It was just a step above the strawberry shake.  It also had a crazy fake, chemical taste to it.  And of course was super sweet.  It wasn't nearly as bad as the strawberry one, and given how badly I wanted a milkshake, I (regrettably) finished it.  I do give them credit for the consistency again, the magic shake machine does make a milkshake that is kinda the perfect consistency.

The whipped cream on top was again pretty good, and the cherry was again horrible.

Small McCafé Chocolate Shake.  $2.39.

And finally, I went for the chocolate shake.  Seems like I saved the best for last!

This wasn't an awesome shake or anything, but it was leagues above the others.  Like all of the others, it was a perfect consistency, not too thick, not too runny.  And it somehow didn't degrade as time passed.  It kinda reminded me of some ice cream my dad once threw out in the sink and returned to find not melted an hour or so later.  Magic, and in this case, exactly what I wanted, but somewhat scary to imagine what causes it to stay perfectly frozen.

The flavor was chocolatey, not too rich, but also not strangely sweet or medicinal like the vanilla and strawberry.  The whipped cream on top was standard and I liked it, the cherry was again horrible.

I certainly wouldn't ever go buy one of these, but it was by far the best of the bunch, and I could even imagine having another if it was given to me, which certainly isn't true with the other flavors!

McCafé Frozen Strawberry Lemonade, Small. $1.79.

It was a hot day, and I wanted something refreshing.  And literally, 2 minutes after having the thought of stopping somewhere for a cold beverage, my phone vibrated at me.  It was McDonald's, telling me that they were offering me yet another free McCafé drink.  This one looked like it had no strings attached.  I clearly didn't want any of their horrible coffee drinks, or shakes, but I had just seen that they also were making frozen summer beverages.  There were a few choices, but frozen strawberry lemonade called out to me.  It sounded like exactly what I wanted.

And it was, in theory.  Except, I needed to remember where I was.  I wasn't expecting fresh squeezed lemonade with real strawberry puree, but I still wasn't prepared for this.

First, it wasn't mixed at all, and I didn't realize it.  So I stuck the straw in, and took a big sip.  All I got was the strawberry syrup.  Now, you may recall how I felt about the strawberry shake?  That horrible, horrible flavor it had?  Turns out, they use the same chemicals for their strawberry sauce in the lemonade.  So fake tasting, so sweet, so horrible.

It turned out that I was glad it wasn't mixed, since I was able to then just try the lemonade, without the horrible strawberry syrup.  As you can imagine, it wasn't good.  Not tart.  Not lemon-y.  Just sweet.  Not good.

They do get points for the ice though.  It was like everything you ever wanted a Slush Puppy or Slurpee to be, just perfectly tiny little ice pellets.  That part was really nicely done.

But uh, no.  Do not get this.

Read More...

Le Chef Bakery

Yup, time to review more desserts! I have a sweet tooth, beyond belief, and yes, I finish every meal, lunch and dinner, with a full dessert course.  Every day.  Please don't judge.  What if I say I do it for you, dear readers? :)

According to the distributor,

"Le Chef is one of the country's foremost premier bakeries specializing in high-end, European-style baked goods. With a fine array of decadent desserts, enticing breads, and a comprehensive line of breakfast pastries, frozen-dough, and fresh-baked goods, Le Chef is poised to take the spotlight on the culinary stage."

Le Chef Bakery is a large wholesale bakery, offering up European-style baked goods with a huge line up of products - these range from frozen pre-made desserts of all varieties (pastries, cheesecakes, cakes, mouses, pies, tarts, brownies, bars, cupcakes, etc, etc) to fresh baked and sealed baked goods (croissants, danishes muffins, bagels, scones, pound cakes, sticky buns, etc), to breads and buns, to frozen doughs and muffin batters, to packaged dessert cups and retail snacks ... and of course they have a gluten-free line too. It is crazy extensive.

However, my distributor only carries an handful of items, a few breakfast pastries that I have not tried, a few individual cakes/tarts/pies, and some small assortments for catering platters.  I wish they carried more, because the lineup has some that sound amazing!

I know you can't purchase these directly, but I've seen them around town in many markets and restaurants, so, chances are, you could get your hands on some if you wished.

Individual Cakes & Tarts

It is hard to express just how many offerings Le Chef has, and I don't want to bore you with enumerating them all, but, let me just say ... they make a lot of cakes, cheesecakes, mousses, pies, and tarts, including a large range of individual sized items.

I was able to try a few individuals, and had mixed success.  I'd love to try more though.

Chocolate Crunch Hazelnut.

"Creamy bittersweet chocolate mousse jazzes up a hazelnut milk-chocolate flourless cake for a flair of drama. This is a chocolate lover’s haven!"

This thing was glorious.  And it didn't sound like something I'd even like that much, as I don't generally adore chocolate desserts, and I don't really like hazelnut that often.  But I loved it.

The very base was super thin, snappy dark chocolate that I enjoyed, but right above that was the most boring part, a *really* thin chocolate cake.  I wish I had a side profile of this one to show you, but it was very thin, so at least it wasn't that prevalent.  Just a chocolate cake.

Above that was magic though, another thin layer, of chocolate hazelnut praline.  I loved the crispy bits throughout.  Amazing texture.  Really, that could have been the base and it would be even better, or, even better, have more layers of this throughout!

And finally, the majority of the product, the bittersweet chocolate mousse.  Really intense chocolate, super thick, decadent, wonderful.  I really only have good things to say about this layer.  I'll criticize one thing - calling it a mousse, as it is thicker, really more like a ganache?

Chocolate Crunch Hazelnut Platter.

Given how much I loved the Chocolate Crunch Hazelnut the first time, I added it to my list of desserts to work into our rotation.  My group was surprised as I don't usually put bar-looking items on our lineup, and I probably have never put hazelnut on, but ... I knew these were great.

I again loved it, and was again quite impressed.  The thin chocolate cake layer bothered me less this time, although I still wish it just didn't exist.  I again loved the crispy praline layer, and was blown away by the rich, thick, smooth "mousse".  

I did find this time that the item was just a bit too rich as served, and maybe a bit too big (they are fairly big portions just given the richness), so I needed to, um, add whipped cream to cut it a bit.  You know, making a dish "lighter" by adding whipped cream.

Rustic Apple Blossom.

"Apples and brown sugar get fancy, topped with a delicious streusal (sic) topping."

Next we tried a mini pie, the rustic apple blossom.

These were interesting, different from the similar looking version from the Chudleigh's ones we have enjoyed so many times before (seriously, the best things ever!)

I expected these to be like mini galettes with just a slight, "rustic" overhang on the edges of the crusts, but they were almost fully enclosed with pastry.  As someone who loves pie crust though, I liked this ratio quite a bit.

I think I liked these.

I tried it first at room temperature, later chilled, and then warmed.  With whipped cream of course.

Rustic Apple Blossom: Close up.

The crust wasn't flaky pastry, but it was kinda pie crust like, just, thick.  I liked it more chilled than warmed, and liked to dunk it into whipped cream.

The streusel on top was good, brown sugar based, but there wasn't much of it.  I prefer the Chudleigh's toppings, no question.

And inside, apples.  Not too mushy, not too aggressively spiced, but, eh, I wasn't feeling the apples that much.

Overall, this was fine.  Like I said, I think I liked them well enough, but, since the apple wasn't really what I wanted, and they only come in apple, I wasn't thrilled.

Apple Pecan Tart

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"Filled with apples, pecans, raisins, and cinnamon, this tart satisfies a wide array of cravings – from a thirst for the sweet to a passion for the nutty. The thick, dense crust flakes and melts in one’s mouth."

The last item we tried were mini apple pecan tarts.  These were not good.

The tart shell was mushy, and didn't "flake" nor "melt in your mouth", it just broke apart and made a mess.

The apples were a bit too firm, and aggressively spiced.  The pecans would be a nice touch, adding crunch, but, they weren't toasted or anything, and were quite boring.  There seemed to be a bit of an odd glaze on top too.

The only part I liked was the chocolate drizzle on top.  I would not get these again.

Minis / Banquets

To make life easy for caterers, they make a slew of mini treats, offered in different assortments.  Because I wanted to sample as many items as possible, I opted for one of these assortments to try out 5 items at a time.

Mini Italian Assortment (Mini Pastries)

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 "Graceful accents turn the spotlight on this classy collection blooming with a wide variety of flavors and exploding with charm and lively elegance. Flavors: Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch, Pistachio, Tiramisu, White Chocolate Lemon Cone, White Chocolate Panna Cotta."

For my group, I ordered the "Italian" assortment, in order to try a wide variety of items.  Of the bunch, the only one I had before was the excellent (full size) hazelnut crunch.  And yes, they make a mini "French" version too with cream puffs, Opera cake, etc.

I was pretty excited to dive into the platter.

Mini Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch

First up, the a mini version of the larger item I had loved so much.  Flourless chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, hazelnut crunch, and more chocolate.

I really enjoyed it yet again.  The dark chocolate base had a great snap and seriously great dark chocolate flavor.  Above that was the only layer I didn't care for, the chocolate cake, but it was thin, and not that bad, just, kinda dry, and meh to cake in general.

Above the thin cake layer is another thin layer of glory: hazelnut mousse studded with crunchy little bits.  The crunch just adds a fun component to nearly every bite.

And then, the majority of the product, deep, rich, thick, chocolate mousse.  It is rich, it is decadent, and it would be too much on its own, but the crunchy bits help balance it, and I always add a generous amount of whipped cream.

My favorite of the 5 items.

Mini Tiramisu

Next, the other caffeinated option: tiramisu.  A cute little treat, but not really a tiramisu.

It was a semi-sweet chocolate cup, filled mostly with mousse, and a thin layer of vanilla cake that was soaked in a touch of coffee extract, all topped with whipped topping, a chocolate coffee bean, and a dusting of cocoa powder.

The chocolate shell was ok, had a nice snap, unique packaging and great for a catered even.  The mousse inside didn't really taste like anything, just, pastry cream, really, although it had mascarpone in it.  The very thin layer of cake was dry but also moist from being soaked, and had barely a hint of coffee flavor to it.  Definitely not the level you expect from tiramisu.

Whipped topping on top was fascinating, it was really sweet, and really fluffy.  I liked it, but it didn't go with the very flavorless mousse very well.  Yay for the chocolate covered espresso bean, it gave a nice crunch and bitter component.

Overall, this just didn't really eat as a tiramisu ... the lack of ladyfingers/negligible amount of cake, the lack of espresso flavor, and the pastry cream mostly dominating just made it something else.  It wasn't bad exactly, my third pick, but it wasn't something I'd want another of.

Le Chef also makes a tiramisu sheet cake, that has Kahlua in it, but also ... chocolate cream?  I think they take a generous inspiration from tiramisu ... They also make a retail large size tiramisu cup.

Mini White Chocolate Panna Cotta

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I love panna cotta.  This was certainly the one I was most excited for.

This ... was not quite a panna cotta.  There was a white chocolate panna cotta "cheese mousse" on top, but there was also a layer of vanilla cake.  It was garnished with strawberry curls (also white chocolate based), and had a lovely transfer sheet applied design on the side.

I'll be positive to start.  I liked the white chocolate and strawberry curls.  I even liked the white chocolate transfer sheet thing around it.

But this was really, really not a panna cotta.  The layer that was trying to be panna cotta was a fairly firm mousse, and it was fine, but ... there was so much cake here.  I really did not like the cake and panna cotta combo at all.  The cake ruined this for me.  Forth pick.

Mini White Chocolate Lemon Cone

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I don't go for lemon desserts normally, but I tried this for completeness, and, because, well, cream!

The lemon cream was more interesting than expected, with buttermilk and sour cream in the mix, and luckily for me, the lemon component was just in the very center, and there was not much of it.

The lemon cream was surrounded by a thicker, fluffy, white chocolate mousse layer, and, unexpected, it was all perched on a thin slice of almond cake.  I liked the white chocolate mousse, and even the white chocolate coating.  The cake was thin enough not to notice much, but it was pretty dry and boring.

Overall, a decent item, although not my favorite, it did come in number 2 for me.

Mini Pistachio

And finally, the green one, pistachio.

This turned out to be a little layer cake, with white chocolate pistachio mousse and almond cake (like the lemon cone), and, a lot of glaze.  So shiny on top.  In a way that wasn't necessarily appealing ...

This was my least favorite, as it was mostly cake.  The shiny sweet top was fine, but the mousse really didn't taste like pistachio, and dry cake was the dominant element.

Meh.  Least favorite.

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The Better Chip

Update Review, May 2020

Given that I never really want tortilla chips, I did not seek out more of the veggie forward versions from The Better Chip, but, they wound up in my snack cabinet when my partner was gifted a snack box.  

I still tried a few bags (one new flavor for me, one repeat, see my earlier review), since it had been 6 years since my last try of the product.

Conclusion?  Yup, I still don't ever want tortilla chips!  That said, the 2 flavors I had were the most boring in their lineup - perhaps sweet potato & plantain or chipotle & poblano are more interesting?

Spinach & Kale.

"These whole grain chips are made with straight-from-the-farm, fresh spinach & kale for pleasant, balanced flavor. Enjoy them right out of the bag or pair them up with warm artichoke dip or your favorite hummus. The spinach and kale we dice and blend into each chip go from farm to chip within a week."

I have tried this flavor before, but, I still wanted to try one more time in case my own personal preferences had changed ... which, well, happens, particularly around snack foods and my desire to eat healthy things.

But I felt basically the same as my prior try: the kale & spinach I did like, and you could almost taste them, but, they still are just tortilla chips, which, just aren't my thing.

Beet & Flax.

"We like the Earthy taste and vibrant color of fresh beet. That's why we bring them in fresh, from the field. Our chips have a mild Beet flavor... for real!"

The beet & flax fared no better, in fact, I think worse.  They were just tortilla chips (square this time! and red!), salty, savory, corn flavored.  The flax added bitterness, and, besides the color, I couldn't tell what the beets added.  I certainly couldn't taste it.

Original Review, June 2014

As you know, I love trying new snack foods, and in particular, chips.

Sometimes I go for classics, like those from Frito Lay,  and sometimes I try out ones that are supposed to be slightly better for you, like the ones from Food Should Taste Good.

As you can probably guess from the name, The Better Chip makes ones in the later category: "Unlike any other chip, The Better Chip puts flavor inside with fresh diced vegetables. Made from 100% natural and non-GMO ingredients."

They aim to make chips that are enjoyable for snacking, yet a bit less guilt inducing. Available in corn, jalapeño, spinach & kale, beet, and chipotle varieties, all made with corn masa, making them more like tortilla chips than classic chips. Since I dislike tortilla chips, this didn't bode well for me.

Red Pepper

The first flavor I tried was red pepper with salsa fresca.

The chips were very spiced, but the flavor reminded me a bit too much of Doritos, which I don't like.  They were almost good, and I went back and tried them many more times, hoping to like them.  A bit more in the salsa direction and less in the Doritos direction, and I would have liked them.  The flavor was so strong that they could act as a standalone chip, your chips and salsa all in one, no dip needed, although I bet they'd be good with some sort of cream cheese dip too.

They were very crispy, and I did like the hearty taste from the whole grain corn masa.

When I went to the web site to pull up the description, I found out that they no longer make the red pepper variety, so, perhaps I'm not alone in not caring for this flavor.

Spinach and Kale.

Corn masa chip, loaded with spinach and kale.

Wow, I really did not like these. I don't tend to like tortilla chips in general, and these were clearly tortilla chips. Except they tasted like spinach and kale. Now, I like spinach and kale, but it just really didn't work here. Just bitter. Meh.

Jalapeño.

And finally, jalapeño.

I *almost* liked these. They had a delightful kick from the jalapeño. They were salty. They were crunchy. But, at the end of the day, they were still tortilla chips, and, I just don't like tortilla chips!

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Dinner @ Perbacco

Update Review, May 2020

Back in 2012 (!), I visited Perbacco, a well known Italian restaurant in the Financial District.  It was largely not memorable (besides dessert!), which surprised me, given just how many accolades it has received over the years the pasta.  I was interested in trying their casual, next-door establishment, barbacco sometime, and, well, after 8 years, I finally did.  You can start with my original review though for background.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, barbacco and Perbacco joined forces, to offer a combine menu of dishes from both restaurants, using the Perbacco kitchen and area for pickup.  Since I had to order takeout, I did it in advance on Caviar, but I placed my order when I was only 1 block away.  I wanted my items hot and fresh!  Ordering was easy, and when I walked it, they said they had just gotten it, and dropped my item in the fryer.  "3 minutes", I was told (it was closer to 7, but, that is more what I expected).

I was there on a quest for one thing: fried brussels sprouts.  Oddly specific, I know, but a signature dish of theirs, and regularly on the menu.  And yes, I was craving awesome flavorful fried brussels sprouts, since having those from Pizzeria Delfina earlier in the pandemic days.  Sadly, these did not live up.

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 ]

Seating - Obviously Closed.

As expected, the interior was closed for seating, with the booths roped off along one side, plentiful signs about social distancing all around.

No Entry!

The main restaurant was entirely blocked off, the kitchen in swing way at the end.  It smelt *amazing* when I walked in.

Fried Brussels Sprouts. $7.

"Capers - Anchovy - Red Wine Vinaigrette."

Well … they were … not tasty.  I found nothing redeeming, which pains me to write.  I wanted so badly to like *something* about the dish.

This dish came from the Barbacco menu. It was why I visited after all, having read good things about them, although, perhaps, I should have read more, as a recent Yelper concluded "unfortunately that's where the tasty sensations ended. The sprouts were drenched in vinegar. "

Perbacco had a brown butter brussels sprouts on their menu right before the pandemic, and I should have read the reviews of perhaps. It ... did not go over as well as the barbacco ones usually do it seems.

• "Brown butter Brussels sprouts? Mushy and underwhelming." - Yelper
• "This was our veggie dish and side dish which wasn't the best. It was a bit bitter and not as roasted as I thought, it was more soft than crispy." - Another Yelper

Yeah, all these things. Drowned in vinegar, mushy, bitter ... yup, yup, yup. Just totally completely not what I expected nor wanted.

First, well, I expected crispy. I know I got takeout, but I ate immediately (literally, right outside the door), and they were dropped in the frier when I arrived. They did *not* sit any longer than it took me to walk outside. The large sprouts were not crisp (even though you could see a sear on some) and the leaves were absolutely soggy. It was all just a big, soggy, wet mess. I expected the leaves to be crispy (why remove them otherwise?) and the seared edge to have a bit of crispness.

Next, the flavor. Wow. Um. Yeah. So much vinegar. It was overwhelming, and had *no* balance. There was no touch of sweetness, nothing, in fact, it was extremely bitter. Just punch in the face of strong, strong vinegar. Oh, and intense saltiness. Now, I do love salty, and am in the "chef's palette" realm of diners, but this was a bit much. I think it mostly came from capers (although I didn't find any in here, no bits, nothing, no clear caper taste) and anchovy (no real pieces of anchovy unfortunately, but, there was definitely some paste at least in there). I adore anchovy (another reason I wanted this dish!) and had hoped for more anchovy, but I certainly didn't want more salt. Salt and vinegar, which is a great concept (and popular variety of potato chip after all!), but wow, both were just too much.

So there it was. A big box of mushy, wet, brussels sprouts with a flavor I couldn't get paste a single bite of without kinda gagging and downing some water. I just ... don't understand. They were also presumably awful for me, as they were fried and oily, before being soaked in vinaigrette. I don't really understand if something just went wrong, if they just really didn't work having been in a takeout box for a moment, or if I just didn't understand the dish. I couldn't eat them.

The positive thing I can say? The portion was generous, quite reasonable for the $7 price, easily 2x more than Delfina's version, that was $10. That said, I'd rather get less, pay more, and enjoy the dish, clearly.

I didn't throw out the rest, but instead brought them home, to attempt to do ... something later.  I used some that night, tossing them in a saute pan with a bunch of raw veggies (ranging from green beans to kale to cabbage to radish greens and more), and simmering with water to cook the other veggies and coax the oil and vinegar out of the sprouts, to disperse amongst the rest of the items, and perhaps mellow out a bit.  And in this form, I wasn't going for crispy, so the texture was ok.  I added a touch of sweet soy, and chopped nuts, and ... it kinda worked.

Another batch I threw on my indoor grill, which was successful in again coaxing some of the vinegar and oil out, got them more crispy, and I threw them onto a salad.  So, salvaged, sorta, but not in any dramatically good way.  I just couldn't stand throwing out food ...

Original Review, May 2015

Ah, Monday nights.  So many of my favorite places are closed.  The rest are often working without their executive chefs, and without fresh products.  Such a bad night for dining out.  But ... I had a friend  who I hadn't seen in over a year who wanted to have dinner, so I tried to find a suitable place.  Italian seemed like a good pick, particularly somewhere known for pasta, since that doesn't require fresh ingredients nearly as much.

We headed to Perbacco, a mid-range italian place, which I hadn't yet been to, although I've seen the chef at a cooking demo recently, and have read decent things about.

I was surprised by how large the restaurant was, with a bunch of different seating options.  Two stories,  open and airy, with some booths, round tables, and several private rooms.  The crowd was mostly older, nicely dressed.

Service was good.  Water glasses refilled, share plates and utensils replenished between courses, good level of detail provided when we asked about dishes, wine recommendations given and a small taste provided before committing.  The only issue we had was at the end it was a little hard to find someone to ask where our leftovers had gone to.

The menu included many starters, pastas that could be sized as appetizers or entrées, main dishes, and of course, desserts.  I'd read the best things about the pastas and desserts, so we decided to stick with those, particularly as the noteworthy appetizers and mains were seafood based, and ... it was Monday.  I basically wanted to try all of the pastas, so I appreciated the two size options, as it meant we could order just a bunch of the smaller ones, rather than a single entree sized one.

The pastas arrived crazy fast.  They were clearly all made with fresh, handmade pasta, but across the board I felt that they were overcooked.  None could have been described as al dente.  Perhaps that was the intended style?  The sauces also weren't particularly great.  And they arrived rather lukewarm.  They weren't bad exactly, certainly edible, but were disappointing, and I wouldn't order any of them again.  The dessert however was delicious.  Value was good, the serving sizes generous for very moderate prices.

I don't really have any reason to go back, but if someone wanted to go, I wouldn't say no.  I'm a little interested in their casual sister restaurant next door, Barbacco.  (What is with all these italian places having casual sisters next door anyway?)

Breadsticks with salsa verde.

Immediately upon sitting, we were presented with some breadsticks and salsa verde.  Neither the breadsticks nor the sauce looked that great, and I mostly tried them just to be able to make a note of it here.  But ... they were surprisingly tasty!

The breadsticks were super thin, crisp, crunchy, buttery, with a slight saltiness.  I really didn't expect to like these, but I'd happily nibble on them as a snack anytime.  Apparently they were created by accident when the chef was playing with a new pasta machine.  Everyone loved them, and they have been served since 2007.  As of 2011, they were making 2,300 of these bread sticks a day!

The breadsticks however were overshadowed by the salsa verde!  It was fantastic.  Very flavorful, made with parsley, bread crumbs, lemon zest, and olive oil.  The breadsticks weren't the best dipping device for it however, as it was a little hard to scoop up much of it.  The bread that would come later worked better.

I really enjoyed this on several levels: it was nice to be given a munchie before ordering, it was far more unique than standard bread and butter, and it was tasty!

Roll. 

Speaking of standard bread and butter, we did receive that as well, after ordering.

This was a huge let down from the breadsticks.  The roll was served cold.  It had a decent chew, but was very generic.  The butter was creamy and actually really good.  No salt provided.

Pappardelle: wide pasta ribbons / slow cooked short rib ragu / roasted cipolline / grated horseradish.  $13 small/$18 large.    

The pappardelle was a really nice form factor, large pasta ribbons.  Clearly fresh pasta, and cooked fairly well, but a little overdone, as it wasn't al dente and didn't have much chew to it.

The short rib in the ragu was really tender, flavorful, and there was a generous amount.  I'm not usually a huge fan of short rib, and liked this much more than I expected.  The sauce was pretty rich, and had a real "meaty" flavor to it, but I didn't really like it much.  The horseradish didn't come through much in many of the bites I had, but occasionally would come through on the finish, where it was really delicious.  The sauce needed more kick overall.

I have a thing for cipolline onions, particularly roasted ones, and found them very tasty.  There were a few small, whole roasted onions in here.

Topped with shaved parmesan, which went well with the ragu.

I can't help but compare this to the pappardelle I had a Cotogna recently, which was far better executed, the pasta cooked perfectly, and the ragu more enjoyable.  It also reminded me of another dish I had a Cotogna subsequently, with a tomato and horseradish sauce, that again, I enjoyed much more.

This was my and one other diner's second favorite dish of the evening, and the least favorite of the other.  I wouldn't order it again, as I'd rather try something else.  For $13 however, this was a generous serve of fresh pasta.  I'm curious how much larger the bigger size was!

Agnolotti dal plin filled with roasted vitellone and savoy cabbage / sugo d’arrosto.  $13 small/$18 large.

This is probably their most famous dish.  Everyone raves about it.  Been on the menu for ages.  It was just recently on list of top San Francisco eats.

Unfortunately, it arrived barely warm.  I wonder if it would have been better warmer?

The pasta was again nice, clearly fresh, but again, slightly overcooked, not having the chew to it I was looking for.  The filling was a ground veal (and cabbage?) that was fairly flavorful.

Included in the sauce was some cooked cabbage chunks, which looked a lot like the agnolotti themselves, and I didn't originally realize were there.  They added a slight freshness and crunch to the dish.

The sauce was really, really boring.  It didn't taste like anything at all, just a little salty.

Topped with grated parmesan, which didn't really seem to add anything to the dish.

This was my and one other diner's second to last pick of the night, but the favorite of one other.  I would not order again.  I think it was overall better than the version we had at Cotogna, but only slightly, as I didn't like either one.  Another very generous serve for $13!

Raviora: pasta filled with ricotta di pecora and mint / spring pea passato / mint butter.  $12 small/$17 large.

This was the best executed pasta of the night.  Again, clearly fresh and this time, it had a slight chew to it.

However, I really, really did not like the filling.  It had a strange mouthfeel to it, and was kinda bad tasting ricotta.  Generic grocery store ricotta tastes better than this.

The spring peas came in two forms: full snap peas and some shelled peas.  They were really delicious, full of flavor and freshness.  Cooked perfectly, the snap pea was crisp and the shelled peas not mushy at all.

There were also whole mint leaves, which were really refreshing and combined nicely with the peas and grated parmesan cheese on top.

The sauce looked more flavorful than it was, I didn't really think it had much going on.

This was almost a good dish, and I really enjoyed the freshness and flavors of the peas and mint, but the filling was just awful.  Least favorite dish for two of us, although second favorite for another.  I would not order again.  And yet again, this seemed like a really good value for only $12.

Rabatòn: herb and spinach ricotta gnocchi / local green asparagus / ricotta salata.  $12 small/$17 large.

Now this was a fresh, seasonal dish!  Ordered because we knew that local asparagus season is winding down.

The gnocchi were fairly forgettable.  They were fluffy, clearly just boiled and not pan finished (how I prefer my gnocchi).  I didn't really taste any herbs or spinach in them as advertised, although they were green, so it must have been there.

The asparagus came as some cooked chunks of spear and as the sauce.  The cooked chunks were nicely done, still a little crunchy.  The sauce was also quite good.  The consistency was a little too thick, but it was really light tasting, refreshing, and full of delicious asparagus flavor.  You certainly had to like asparagus to like this dish.

Topped with ricotta salata, which added a good saltiness that paired well with the asparagus.

Favorite dish for two of us, but third favorite for the other.  I still wouldn't order it again though.

Sformatino: caramelized milk chocolate mousse  dark chocolate glaze / cocoa-almond streusel / crema inglese.  $9.

This was a decent chocolate mousse dessert.

The base was a thin chocolate cake layer.  Earlier that day I'd had a dessert that was a much thicker moist chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse, and I felt it was more successful than this one, as this cake layer was too thin to really be noticeable.

The mousse was a good, creamy, chocolate mousse, but not particularly noteworthy.  Again the mousse I'd had earlier in the day had a more intense chocolate flavor that I enjoyed more.

The dark chocolate glaze was a really nice touch.  It was fairly thick, bitter, and added a lot more chocolate intensity to the dish.

The cocoa-almond streusel on top and on the plate wasn't particularly noteworthy, just a basic chocolate crumble.

The crema inglese was sweet and good, but there wasn't nearly enough of it.

Overall, not a bad dessert, but not particularly memorable.  Decent size and quality for $9.  I wouldn't order again.

Douglas fir panna cotta / pine nut crumble / mugolio.  $9.

This dessert didn't sound that great, but I do enjoy a good creamy pudding dessert, like a panna cotta.  I'd also read great reviews of this, but then again, I've kinda learned not to trust the Yelpers.  But most of the other desserts on the menu were all chocolate, and I was trying to limit my caffeine intake, and the other diners weren't interested in the other dessert that sounded good to me (a semifreddo with meringue, my other dessert obsession!).  So, we tried this one.

It was awesome.  The panna cotta had a fantastic wiggle to it!  The consistency was perfect, very creamy.  The flavor was really hard to describe, certainly not what I'd think douglas fir would taste like.  I never once thought I was eating a christmas tree :)  It was more citrusy, but subtle, and fairly sweet.  Really delicious.

The pine nut crumble on top was made up primarily of pine nuts.  It tasted strongly of pine nut.  I don't really like pine nuts, so I didn't like this component at all, but I did understand how the flavor would work well against the other sweet components.

The huckleberry sauce was too much, there were tons of huckleberries, and the flavor of this was intense and easily overwhelmed the dish.  We left some of it behind.  It was good, and paired decently well with the pine nut and the panna cotta, but there was just way too much on the plate.

The other syrup on the plate was made form mugolio, a pine cone syrup.  I didn't really pick up on this much at all.

This was certainly my favorite dessert and the highlight of the meal for me.  I'd order it again, but I'd really like to have it without the pine nut.  Perfect execution on the panna cotta.

Mignardises: hazelnut chocolate, almond honey torrone.

These arrived with the bill, on a plate that was clearly fresh out of the dishwasher.  By which I mean, it was hot.  Which ... caused the chocolates to melt onto it.  When I picked up a chocolate, 30% of it was left behind on the plate, and another 10% of it melted all over my fingers.  Whoops.  This was just a generic creamy hazelnut chocolate.  Not noteworthy.

The almond honey torrone was a piece of sweet nougat with almond slivers.  It would have paired well with tea, but like the chocolate, wasn't really memorable.

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Chanoma Cafe, Sydney

Update Review, 2019 Visit

It had been years since I went to Chanoma Cafe in Sydney, as we weren't particularly impressed on our original visit.  There are too many good places to go in town to waste time repeating somewhere lackluster.  Yet ... I walk by all the time, it is always swarming with people, and, well, they have good flavors of soft serve.  Eventually I decided I needed to try the soft serve again at least.

I had major decision paralysis when I visited.  The lack of coherent menu certainly added to this, as did the fact that I had literally just arrived from >24 hours in transit.  I was ridiculously jetlagged, craving strange things, and very, very grumpy.  I decided that was all a good excuse to go have ice cream, caffeinated ice cream no less.

The menu showed parfaits and sundaes, but I had a very hard time figuring out what the differences were.  I asked the person taking orders, and he said if I was alone and had no one to share with (I was), the parfait was too big, I should get sundae.  But, you can't customize sundaes at all.  It was all very confusing.

In the end, I either wound up with a "Deluxe Bowl" with extra toppings, or perhaps a modified sundae.  I'm not sure,  I also think he incorrectly rang me up, as I saw him put in "Extra mochi", which I didn't have, but I was too tired to really press more.

I don't really think I'll go back, unless I really, really want some matcha soft serve ...

Matcha & Black Sesame Soft Serve / Lychee Jelly / Red Bean / Anmitsu / Whipped Cream / Waffle Bowl.

Chanoma has two flavors of matcha soft serve, one called "matcha" and one called "matcha latte", the later described as more creamy, which sounded better to me, and the former, more pure.

I asked to try the matcha latte first, and it was good, indeed a fairly creamy ice cream, mild matcha flavor, sweet.  I was going to get it.  I didn't want just matcha though, so I wanted to mix with black sesame.  Alas, the black sesame machine had matcha (not matcha latte) and there did not seem to be a way to get two separate flavors, not side by side, not layered.  Thus, regular matcha and black sesame it was.

Both flavors were very intense.  The matcha was certainly less creamy than the matcha latte, but it was also a stronger matcha flavor.  I don't think I'd want a whole cup/cone of this alone, but, mixed with black sesame , it was good.  The black sesame I liked a bit more, it had a lovely nutty flavor to it, but it too was not very creamy, almost icy.  They win points for strong flavors, but lose them for the texture.

My sundae came with red bean and anmitsu, the former a scoop hiding on the other side, the later a skewer with two white and one green balls.  The red bean was fine, fairly classic sweetened red bean mush/mash.  A generous scoop.  Served warm.  The anmitsu I didn't care for, they were just flavorless soft balls, a bit too gummy.

To this I added jellies, coconut is what I ordered, but they only had lychee.  I'm not sure why I wanted these, but I wanted more fun elements.  The lychee jelly was sweet, slimy, fine, but, it turns out, not what I want on ice cream really.  Best left for inside bubble teas.

I also added whipped cream on top, which was just standard canned whipped cream, but it really went well to balance the stronger flavors of matcha and black sesame, so I'm glad I added it.

The waffle bowl was one of my favorite components, crispy sweet waffle bowl at start, but it softened quickly as the ice cream melted in.  I strangely liked it that way.

Overall though, this was fairly lackluster.  Nothing particularly great about it, toppings that I didn't end up actually excited for, and a ~$10 price tag?

Original Review, April 2015

When I was in Sydney, I was on a quest to try different foods from what I'm accustomed.  Sydney is full of Asian influence, and thus most of the places I choose to visit were Thai, or Vietnamese like Ms. G's, or uh, bubble tea.  On a slightly different asian front, I read about Chanoma Cafe,  a Japanese cafe, and self-proclaimed "Japanese Matcha Master".

As you'd expect given that tagline, their main item is obviously matcha, available in just about every form imaginable: regular matcha hot tea, or with steamed milk as a latte or cappucino, or iced as tea, or iced lattes.  Or, more interesting, it can be served as a float with matcha ice cream swirled into it, or even as a float garnished with mochi balls.  Or ... as a blended frappe, with Oreo if you want, topped with whipped cream of course, and mochi balls.  The menu is all pictorial, and there were some fairly crazy looking creations 

Chanoma Cafe also offers an fairly extensive non-matcha drink menu, including black sesame lattes, red bean lattes, and all sorts of floats.  Ojan ordered a yuzu lemonade, which was totally delicious.  It was sweet, flavorful, and really quite tasty.  By far the best thing we had!

The next biggest section of the menu is Japadogs, aka, Japanese style hotdogs, with totally ridiculous toppings, served with fries (wasabi or seaweed coated).  Ojan and another friend went for lunch, and ordered hot dogs before I arrived.  They both really enjoyed the toppings, but said that the hot dogs themselves were really, really low quality and they didn't like them.  And the hot dog buns were somewhat stale and chewy, hard to bite through, and there was too much bun to go with the dog.  Doh, sounds like I didn't miss much.

Storefront.

Chanoma Cafa is located inside the Regent Place dining area, alongside several other casual establishments.  It isn't a food court exactly, as each facility has its own contained doors.

You order at the register, and are given a buzzer to bring back to your table, and then pick the food up inside.  In my case, my buzzer went off literally within a minute, which seemed a bit ridiculous.  Why give me the buzzer in the first place?

The people working seemed fairly traditional Japanese, for example, handing everything over with two hands.

"Outdoor Seating"

There is seating inside, but also "outside" the shop too, basically, in the hallway of the mall.  Each little shop seems to have their own small seating area out here, and patrons were generally respectful of consuming only goods purchased at the proper establishment.

Seating was not very comfortable, just hard stools and wooden tables.  It is here that I found Ojan and our other friend, finishing off their Japadogs.

I joined them after the Japadogs, because I had my sights set on something else: dessert of course, and not just any dessert: soft serve ice cream.  You know I eat a lot of ice cream, but soft serve in particular I adore.  They serve only one flavor, you guessed it, matcha.  Available simply in a cone, or in totally ridiculous creations as parfaits, loaded up with red bean, mochi, fruit, whipped cream, pocky, waffle sticks ... the list goes on and on.

Matcha Anmitsu. $6.50. Plus whipped cream. $0.50.

As I said, I was there for the ice cream.  I decided not to just get a simple soft serve, and was really tempted by the aforementioned crazy parfaits, but I wasn't actually interested in having pocky, waffle sticks, or cornflakes in my sundae.  But I wanted whipped cream, and the other ice cream based choice, anmitsu, did not come with whipped cream.

I was stumped only momentarily, and came up with an easy solution?  Order the ammitsu, but with whipped cream!  Now I could have exactly what I wanted, and the person taking my order didn't bat an eye when I asked to add whip.

There were a slew of components to the creation, that you can't quite see in the photo above, because they are hidden beneath.

On the bottom was cubes of jelly.  They were absolutely flavorless.  A decent texture, and maybe I'd want them in bubble tea, but they made no sense in my ice cream.  Just sweet, sugar and agar, nothing else.  Least interesting component, by far.

On the side was a scoop of sweet red bean paste.  I really like red bean, but didn't like this.  I did like the mushy part, and the sweetness level was just right, not too sweet, just enough to be pleasant.  But then there were whole beans, which is good, except that they seemed almost raw and uncooked.  I like a crunchy element to my desserts, but ... I don't think this was intentional crunch.

The main attraction, the matcha soft serve ice cream, had a strong matcha flavor, clearly made with a serious amount of matcha.  It wasn't very sweet, actually, more bitter than sweet.  But it wasn't creamy at all, and even as it melted it didn't get creamy, and just stayed unpleasantly icy.  For the star ingredient, it was really disappointing.  The flavor was there, but the consistency was just all wrong.

Drizzled over the ice cream was an optional brown sugar syrup, which I opted for.  Since the ice cream was so bitter, it was a pleasant contrast.

On the side was a stick of shiratama, 3 little balls.  The mochi were soft, but not really flavorful.  I could see how these would be nice dunked in a hot matcha though.

And finally, my edition, the whipped cream.  It was sweetened, fluffy, basic whipped cream, but they did provide way too much.  I guess I got my $0.50 worth, but I think I had more whipped cream than any other component, and the balance was all off.  This is my fault for adding it though.

Overall, there were a bunch of ingredients here that I was interested in, but they just didn't execute it well.  I like matcha flavor, but the ice cream was too icy.  I like red bean, but there were too many undercooked beans.  I like mochi, but these were flavorless.  Sadness, as there was a lot of potential.

$7 was pricy for a small dessert.

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