gimMe

"Gim means Seaweed in Korean. Gimme Seaweed Snacks are the only Organic and Non GMO Project Certified Seaweed on the Market. Our Seaweed comes from a protected bay in South Korea and we use the tides and sunlight to clean our seaweed."

I love snacks.  I love seaweed.  I've tried a ton of varieties of seaweed snacks.  Some I actually like.  These were ... not the best.

Seaweed Snacks

"Our original seaweed snack is made from premium organic seaweed, roasted to crispy perfection, and seasoned with one of five savory flavors."

gimMe makes their seaweed snacks in 5 varieties, ranging from simple extra virgin olive oil or sea salt to spicy wasabi.  I tried many.

Sesame.

"Satisfy your taste buds with toasted sesame. Made with our premium organic seaweed, we roast it to a crispy perfection using organic toasted sesame and sunflower oils then add a dash of sea salt. The nutty, toasty flavor is the perfect substitute for your pretzel cravings."

I started with sesame.

They were very oily.  And smelt funny.  And I didn't taste sesame.  Interestingly, these also had teriyaki powder (soy/onion/garlic/sugar), but I didn't taste that either.

Meh.

Wasabi.

"Feelin’ hot, hot, hot? Fire things up with a blast of wasabi. We roast our premium organic seaweed to a crisp perfection, then flavor each bite with a tongue-tingling, nose-tickling kick of natural wasabi. Flavor so intense, it will leave you saying WOW!"

Luckily for me, the wasabi fared much better.  The package boasted that it was a new recipe, perhaps that is why?

Not oily, and they did have a nice wasabi zing.  Not tons, and I'd gladly take more wasabi, but, it was definitely noticeable.

They also used the teriyaki powder and I again didn't taste it.  The best of the bunch, I'd eat them again, but wouldn't seek them out.

Teriyaki.

"All of the mouth-watering flavor you crave without having to fire-up the grill. We start with our premium organic seaweed, roast it to a crispy perfection with our award-winning blend of sesame oil, sunflower oil, and teriyaki powder. The finish is slightly sweet, smoky, and oh-so-savory."

Next up was teriyaki. 

These too were an oily style, but I was used to it by now, and found myself liking all the flavored oil off my fingers with glee. 

The flavor was sweet, and ... uh ... flavorful.  Really good flavor, not the match for having on top of a poke bowl as I was intending (as it was a spicy poke bowl), but great to munch on, lots going on in them.

Probably my second favorite?  The sweetness was the most surprising aspect, as it was more dominant than in the others.

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Red Ribbon Bakeshop

Baked goods.  Ube.  Both things I adore.  Combine them?  Even better.

I was thrilled to learn about Red Ribbon Bakeshop, a legit Filipino business, started in 1979 in the Philippines, but now has more than 450 locations worldwide, including 30 or so in the US.  I haven't visited a shop personally, but I was given some treats from one to try.  They also ship nationwide.

The Red Ribbon lineup features plenty of ube, with cakes, cream rolls, pastries, and so (of course they have halo-halo!), but they also carry many other items, including savory empanadas, a couple main dishes, plenty of selections with mango, and more.

But again, I didn't visit, I just tried a couple ube-liscious baked goods from the comfort of my own home.

Ube Mamon.

Mamón was a new item for me to try.  I didn't know what it was at first, and thought that it actually was going to be a big puffy cream filled cake.  No idea why I thought that, but, in my head, this was going to have cream inside.

Ube Mamon.

"Mamón are traditional Filipino chiffon or sponge cakes, typically baked in distinctive cupcake-like mold."

It didn't look great coming out of the package, a bit smooshed in transit ...

And, wait, no cream.  Just a chiffon cake.  I was suddenly much less interested, but still tried it.

Yup, it was, just a light cake.  Kinda ugly color on top ...

Ube Mamon: Inside.

Inside was a pretty purple hue, but, it still was just a light chiffon cake, slightly sweet, and to be honest, I didn't really taste ube.

It really was, well, boring?  Like this, **+.

It was better when I added ube ice cream, and lychee ice cream, basically making an ice cream sundae with torn hunks of the cake.  Likely would work cutting in half and stuffing with ice cream too?

I'll consider trying it warmed up, cream filled, etc, but plain cake ... eh.

Ube Ensaimada.

The Ube Ensaimada though I was very excited to try, same style packaging ... but very different creation inside.

Ube Ensaimada Ingredients.

Ok, I was *slightly* scared by the ingredients, um, "imitation cheese" ... and a lot of unpronounceables ....

Ube Ensaimada Nutrition.

And yes, that adds up to a heafy calorie count ...

But ... ube ... cheese ...

Ube Ensaimada

Spoiler: 

This was everything I wanted it to be.

The imitation cheese on top is fascinating, shreds of ... kinda cheese?  When I heated one of these up, it did *not* melt like normal cheese, that is for sure. But added a touch of savory.  The shreds of cheese were kinda ... hard?

The bread was soft, sweet, fluffy, asian style white bread.  Tasted pretty fresh.  Ube comes in the form of paste throughout, some visible on top.

Ube Ensaimada: Inside

Inside you can see the pockets of ube paste.

I liked this a lot.  Soft sweet bread, some ube flavor, the fascinating "cheese".  I'd love even more ube flavor of course, but it was good like this.

It was quite versatile, at least for me.

Good room temp, good warm.  Good as a snack.  I can see it being really tasty for breakfast.  I also liked a hunk warm with whipped cream.  I bet a fresh, warm one would be amazing any time of day.

***+.

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Ariana Restaurant: Special Theme Night - Chinese!

Oh, COVID, dining restrictions, etc.  How it all caused some restaurants to pivot, and try unique concepts, some of which I fully support.  

I was thrilled to discover Ariana Restaurant late in my stay in New Hampshire (staying with family while working remotely during some of the worst COVID times).  It is a lovely, higher end, full service restaurant in the Lyme Inn.  You can read all about my incredible visit here.

But when the pandemic got worse in December 2020, Ariana Restaurant owner/staff/etc made the very hard call to pivot to a takeout only menu, and decided to have some fun (?) with it, introducing themes every week.  So brand new menu, every week, totally different theme, served Thurs-Sun.

The week before Christmas, the theme was Chinese (yes, very random for a restaurant that was fairly classically French ...).  

Now, you haven't read many Chinese food reviews on this blog.  It *isn't* a cuisine I gravitate towards most of the time, yet I do enjoy it.  And yes, I had in my head the thought that what business did a classically french trained chef have doing Chinese?  And yet ... I was really, really excited for this lineup.  I had been craving Chinese food, after having frozen Trader Joe's dumplings, and mediocre lo mein and egg rolls randomly picked up somewhere a few weeks before.  I knew my mother would be up for this, as she *never* gets any Asian food since my father doesn't eat it.

Luckily, during theme week, Ariana also offers 2 dishes in each category (small plates and large plates) from their "Classics", and that week, the Classics included bolognese, which would make my dad happy.  So the whole family could order and feast.  I had a plan.

A Totally Reasonable Meal for 2.

So, takeout day it was.  Dad had just the single item, a dish of pasta, but mom and I, um, ordered ... everything else.  We couldn't decide on just a few things, and hey, this way, we'd have food for, quite literally, at least 4 days for both of us, basically taking care of feeding us until Christmas.

I'll be honest - it was a mixed bag.  The sauce work was standout in general.  Some dishes were good,and  some were just ok.  There was nothing I'd go back for though, and, critically, our dessert was missing :(

Small Plates

Even though theme night, the menu still followed Ariana's format: small plates and large plates, not traditional appetizers and mains.  The Small Plates offering was 7 Chinese dishes, ranging from dim sum style items to fun things like Chinese-style ribs, along with two of their Classic dishes.

The lineup, in full:

• Hot and Sour Soup with tofu, bamboo shoots, snow peas, seasoning V GF $7Pork Shao Mai with steamed seasoned Millbrook Farm Pork with a dipping sauce $9
• Pork Shao Mai with steamed seasoned Millbrook Farm Pork with a dipping sauce $9
• Crab Rangoon, baked with a seasoned crab mixture, sweet sour sauce $13
• Chicken Egg Rolls with seasoned chicken, Asian vegetables, pineapple dipping sauce $13
• Baked Vegetarian Spring Rolls with fresh vegetables, light soy, scallion, cilantro sauce $10
• Romaine Salad w/ cucumber, radish, bean sprouts, snow peas, ginger dressing V GF $8
• 4 Chinese-style Pork Ribs, soy, citrus chili glaze, scallions, cucumber slaw GF $10
• Our classic Blackened Scallops, orange chili butter sauce, scallion ginger rice cake GF $15
• Our Classic Mushroom Crêpes with spinach, goat cheese, arugula lemon cream GF $12

From the small plates, I ... literally wanted all the Chinese ones but the soup (and I wanted one of the Classics).  So, uh, yes, we got them all, ruling out only the soup and both Classics (mom still wanted the Blackened Scallops, but I convinced her that they wouldn't be great for takeout, wouldn't go with our meal, and were always available), and skipped the veggie spring rolls in favor of the egg roles.  So yes, 5 small plates, two people.  I think you can see where this is going.  I was too excited by them all, particularly as they all had fantastic sounding dipping sauces (you know me and sauces!), and I knew the chef was an excellent sauce master.

Pork Shao Mai. $9.

"With steamed seasoned Millbrook Farm Pork with  dipping sauce."

Starting with something nice and light, steamed dumplings, using quality local pork.  The only dish that didn't say what exactly the "dipping sauce" was.

These were good.  The wrappers were soft and pliable, they were delicately assembled and didn't burst open.  Inside of each was a very generous ball of pork, very lightly seasoned.

The dipping sauce was really unique, I have no idea what it was, but it had some real tang and sourness to it.  I think I liked it, particularly just as it was unlike anything I've had before.

I liked these, one of my top 4 dishes, but not something I'd get again as the pork itself was just a bit boring. Serving size of 5 for $9 was good value, particularly given the amount of pork inside.

***+.

Crab Rangoon. $13.
Half Portion.

"Baked with a seasoned crab mixture, sweet sour sauce."

So low-brow I know, but I couldn't resist the crab rangoon.  I was so curious to see a higher end chef take this on.  Would it be cream cheese dominant?  Use real crab or krab?

I love crab, but my mother does not, so I asked if we could get a half order of this one, knowing that the full order of 4 pieces was just too much for me given how much other stuff we had.  The chef nicely accommodated this.

It was ... eh.  Ok I guess.  Seemed like a generic egg roll wrapper, folded over what was mostly cream cheese, and yes, a bit of real crab.  Not really much to say, a mouth full of warm cream cheese is what I got, inside a nondescript wrapper.

The sweet sour sauce though was good, although I may have mixed it up with the eggroll sauce (stay tuned), I really am not sure which was which, but both were good, yes, sweet and sour.

***, just, standard I guess, nothing wrong with it, decent sauce.

Chicken Egg Rolls. $13.

"With seasoned chicken, Asian vegetables, pineapple dipping sauce."

I opted for the chicken egg rolls, rather than baked vegetarian spring rolls, even though I don't care for chicken.  I ... just didn't want baked spring rolls, and really truly love egg rolls.  I had been craving good egg rolls since the ones I had as random leftovers from somewhere a few weeks prior.   Plus, pineapple dipping sauce sounded *much* better than cilantro sauce, which came with the baked ones.

These were good enough.  Yes, likely a premade egg roll wrapper, probably even the same as the rangoon, but they were crispy, reheated well.  This sauce was also good, pineapple dipping sauce, but both this and the rangoon sauce were fairy sweet and sour, and I think I might have confused them, I'm still not sure.  They were both different, don't get me wrong, but I didn't taste one that was clearly pineapple.

This serving really was just two rolls.

Chicken Egg Roll: Inside.

Inside was juicy asian veggies that I liked, and really a large portion of strips of white meat chicken, which I didn't care for because chicken, but appreciated for those who do.

Like the sui mai, very solid execution, good sauce, not really remarkable though, ***+.

Chinese Style Pork Ribs. $10.

"Soy, citrus chili glaze, scallions, cucumber slaw."

Oh, did I mention that I was also craving BBQ, and thus, um, ribs also called out.  Glazed ribs.  Slaw.  Yes.

These were good.  The pork was moist, juicy, fall-off-the-bone.  Nice citrus chili glaze.  

I really liked the cucumber slaw, tart, and refreshing, which with our meal that otherwise had very little vegetable, was appreciated.  I also appreciated the mix of pieces.

$10 price for portion was great.

In my top 4 dishes, again though, just, ***+.

Ribs: Sauce.

I also give kudos for the extra sauce on the side.

Romaine Salad.  $8.

"With cucumber, radish, bean sprouts, snow peas, ginger dressing."

I know we had too much food, so why get a salad ... but, well, I did want something light to pair with leftovers in subsequent days, and figured some vegetables would do me good, as nearly everything we ordered was carbs and protein and sauces, but not much vegetable.  Plus, this sounded good! 

The salad was nice to have the next day with a pile of leftovers.  Fresh, torn chunks of romaine, a few bites of chopped snow peas, a small handful of bean sprouts, a few sliced radishes, and a bunch of sliced cucumber.  Everything was fresh, juicy enough, asian-themed enough.  The dressing was more sweet or gingery or soy-y or something than I really cared for, but it wasn't bad, very asian style, just not really my thing in general.  I liked just throwing some of the other sauces, or even cold general tao's chicken on top, and using the sauce from it.

Fresh, but not special. ***.

Large Plates

Next up, the larger plates, bigger than traditional mains.  Here there were even more options - 9 Chinese and two classics, spanning all types of proteins and vegetarian/vegan items: 

• General Tao’s Chicken: fried seasoned Chicken Thigh Meat tossed in a rich sauce with chilis, broccolini, orange peel, scallions, snow peas, rice GF $19
• Shrimp Cantonese: marinated Gulf Shrimp sautéed with bok choy, ginger, garlic, scallions in a light sauce with egg and scallions, rice GF $24
• Vegetable Lo Mein: sautéed cabbage, peppers, onions, peas, light sesame chili sauce $16
• Pork Lo Mein: the above with seared seasoned local pork $21
• Vegan Fried Rice: sautéed cabbage, peas, broccolini, sprouts in soy glazed rice $15
• Pork Fried Rice: the above with seared seasoned local pork $19
• Moo Shu Beef: pulled beef with shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, onions, peas, classic Chinese pancakes (4) with a rich soy glaze $24
• Stir Fry Scallops with mix of Asian vegetables, orange ginger glaze, noodles $27
• Teriyaki-style Salmon, with sesame noodles and vegetables, teriyaki glaze $25
• Our classic Bolognaise $25
• Our classic Vegan Curry Rice $17 add Shrimp $25

Again, I wanted nearly everything, yes, even chicken dishes, because I wanted the sauces!  We settled on just 4, which, um, again, these are bigger than traditional mains and we had 5 small plates already, again knowing this would make great leftovers.  We left out the veggie version of the lo mein, both fried rice since we were getting lo mein and two dishes came with regular rice, and, at my insisting that we had too much, the scallops and salmon, even though we both love seafood, these seemed like the ones that would travel and reheat the least well.  Dad got his bolognaise, which, as you may recall from my original review, I had always wanted to try.

This area of the menu was rather hit or miss.  I was surprised by some of the smaller portion sizes, and the lack of vegetables in dishes I thought would have them, but, again, the sauce work did impress.

General Tao's Chicken. $19.

"Fried seasoned Chicken Thigh Meat tossed in a rich sauce with chilis, broccolini, orange peel, scallions, snow peas, rice."

Yeah, yeah.  Julie hates chicken.  And broccolini.  And Rice.  But do you know what Julie loves?  DELICIOUS SAUCES.  Who can resist General {whoever}'s chicken anyway?

When I called to order, I did ask about this dish, was it their play on general tso's? And was told it was a mix between general tso and orange chicken, which sounded pretty fabulous to me.  Spicy and sweet, and likely with quite interesting balance.  I was in.

This dish was good.  Yes, it was chicken thigh, and yes, fried takeout bits of chicken do get kinda soggy, but, the sweet and spicy sauce was complex (it really was both sweet - lots of orange flavor, and spicy - particularly if you went for one of the three whole chilies in it!).  The broccolini was actually good (I know, I know), just the very tops, and only 4 pieces (!), but it soaked up the sauce well.  Snow beans were paltry portion at only 3 in the dish, and kinda soggy and overcooked.

Overall, a decent dish - I liked the flavors, appreciated the sweet and spicy balance, and the juicy broccolini doused in sauce was nice to have with my ridiculous pile of carbs and protein.  Portion size was a little small.  In my top 4 dishes.

I wouldn't get again, and it wasn't extraordinary, but, ***.

Rice (with General Tao's Chicken and Cantonese Shrimp).

I asked to have the rice on the side so we could easily save/reheat food, but also, because I don't really eat rice, and knew I didn't want it to steal all the delicious sauces.  I didn't try it.

Shrimp Cantonese. $24.

"Marinated Gulf Shrimp sautéed with bok choy, ginger, garlic, scallions in a light sauce with egg and scallions, rice."

Probably the dish I was least excited for, as I don't care for bok choy, and shrimp in general is ... ok, but it was one of my mom's top picks, and I knew that having a lighter seafood dish would be welcome, particularly a few days into our leftover fest.

I expected large hunks of bok choy, so I was surprised to see it all chopped up.  In this form, much like the broccolini, I found it didn't bother me, and appreciated, again, like the broccolini, having a bit of something juicy, particularly when it soaked up the sauce.  The peas I really didn't care for though, and wasn't sure what they were doing in there, not listed on the menu, and really didn't seem to fit in.

But that sauce.  Definitely a highlight of the meal.  Totally not what I was expecting, not that I really knew what to expect.  There was so much going on here with the ginger and soy (?) based sauce.  I loved the depth the ginger brought to it.  The egg was integrated to add richness.  I couldn't get enough of the sauce.

The shrimp themselves were a decent portion, I think 7 pieces, all big, juicy, larger wild gulf shrimp.  Well cooked, well cleaned, not rubbery, quite succulent actually.  I really liked the shrimp too.

Overall, a shocker for me, and my favorite dish overall.

**** - great sauce, nicely prepared shrimp, juicy bok choy, slight ding for all those random peas.

Pork Lo Mein. $21.

"Sautéed cabbage, peppers, onions, peas, light sesame chili sauce with seared seasoned local pork."

Rarely a noodle girl, yet the lo mein was way at the top of my list.  I had some mediocre random leftover lo mein a few weeks prior, and it hit the spot tremendously.  I couldn't wait to try this.  Even cold, leftover lo mein is one of my most favorite indulgences randomly.  

Both a vegan and pork version of lo mein were available, we opted for pork.

Well ... um ... it really, really, really let me down.

The noodles were as boring as can be, definitely not house made.  The veg, also very boring.  The sauce, fairly non-existant.  And the "seared seasoned local pork"?  I found it chewy and unremarkable, and flavorless.  My mom thought it was tender though.

A real letdown for me, I had a few bites, and moved on.  Seemed a bit pricey too for mostly noodles.  *+. 

Moo Shu Beef. $24.

"Pulled beef with shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, onions, peas, classic Chinese pancakes (4) with a rich soy glaze."

I may have never ordered moo shu beef before.  From anywhere.  I am certainly familiar with the dish, but I think perhaps I've never ordered.  This called out however, the great ingredients, and I think I had been craving beef as well, having really just had a lot of seafood.

It was decent, a huge portion of shredded beef, tender, well, shredded beef.  I liked the hunks of shiitake.  Cabbage, scallions, peas were all kinda eh for me.  Decently flavorful sauce, dark soy based.  Not remarkable, but not bad.

Really just "fine" in my box, wouldn't get again, but nothing wrong with it. **+.

Classic Chinese Pancakes (with Moo Shu Beef).

The Moo Shu came with Chinese pancakes, they were good, soft, supple. I used them to soak up all sorts of sauces.

Standard. I doubt they made them in house, but I appreciated with my meal. 

***+.

Classic Penne Bolognese. $25.

"A rich meat sauce of Robie Farm sausage, local veal, and Tensen Farm beef with marinara and cream."

And of course, Dad's bolognese, which I stole a bite of.

This *was* a good bolognese.  Very tender, flavorful beef, sausage, and veal.  Deep rich sauce, cream based.  Dad however didn't like it, sigh.  "It tastes funny" or "there is something strange in there" is what he said to my mom.  Sigh.  I gladly would have taken it if he didn't like it!

The penne was not too mushy.  Not much else to say, besides, yes, clearly a refined recipe, and about as good as a penne bolognese takeout is going to be, using standard generic penne.

The $25 price for the portion did seem a touch high though.

***+.

Dessert

The dessert menu was also tailored to the Chinese Menu, 3 equally sounding tempting offerings:

• Green Tea Cake Roll with honey buttercream $9
• Rice Pudding with coconut milk, ginger, cinnamon and star anise $8
• Mango Mousse with sesame coconut shortbread cookies $9

I had a really hard time narrowing down to just one dessert, which I finally did, picking the rice pudding, but ... IT WAS MISSING FROM OUR ORDER.  My mother is the one who went to pick up the food, and I did give her the full list, but, alas, she didn't check the order for correctness, and since we live a full 35 minutes away, and it had started snowing, going back was out of the question.

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Epicurean Solutions

Epicurean Solutions is a San Francisco wholesale producer of vegetarian foods, I think mostly salads, sold at grocery stores around town.  They also sell through many smaller vendors, sometimes rebranded (I'm looking at you Woodlands Market!).  I've seen the products at Whole Foods, and on Good Eggs, for years, but it took a while for me to finally try them.

I picked these salads up at Green Beans Coffee Co at SFO (which I've reviewed separately), as I needed a quick easy lunch when I arrived there mid-day once.

While some of the creations were complete misses, others were good, and I have since sought them out a bit closer to ho

Bow "Thai" Pasta with Peanut Sauce (Vegan).

"Irresistible sweet baked tofu in a creamy Thai inspired peanut sauce with bowtie pasta, roasted corn, baby bok choy, shredded carrots and crunchy peanuts. Tantalizing. Gratifying. Satisfying."

I'll admit that I grabbed this without fully reading the description.  I'm not really one for tofu, I just saw that it was thai style pasta salad, with peanut sauce, and that sounded good to me.

I didn't like it very much.  The big cubes of tofu I clearly didn't want, but it was really the peanut dressing that was just a bit too thick and rich for me.  I expected more vegetables, or more balance to the sauce. I never found crunchy peanuts, and the kernels of corn didn't really add anything coherent to it.

I wouldn't get this again.  Not tantalizing, gratifying, nor satisfying, sorry!

Sesame Pasta Salad.

"Egg noodles with Half Moon Bay wood ear mushrooms, tender pea shoots, fire-roasted red peppers and naturally smoked local almonds in a seductive, creamy sesame dressing."

The sesame pasta salad was more successful for me, as I liked the mix-ins considerably more, ingredients I tend to like in the first place: wood ear mushrooms, pea shoots, almonds.  Although it still wasn't great.

The noodles were tender but not too mushy, and the dressing, while thick and rich, had a bit more balance then the peanut based one, from soy sauce, rice vinegar, and even red curry paste.  It still was strangely bitter.

I only found perhaps 2 almonds in my entire container, and no pea shoots, so I am not particularly pleased with the ingredient distribution

I ended up having this on top of a traditional salad with greens to lighten it up a bit, but only had a small serving, before giving it away.  I didn't like it enough to finish.

Sriracha Glass Noodle Salad (GF).

"Delicate gluten free pasta is spiced up with our creamy sriracha dressing then tossed with baked marinated tofu, fresh kale, crispy red cabbage and smoky roasted pepitas. We can't get enough!"

After a few "meh" items, I finally hit on a winner.  And I was skeptical of this one as I find sriracha to be sometimes pretty polarizing for me.

The base is mung bean noodles, thin, soft but not mushy, well cooked.  Mixed in was a good amount of purple cabbage chunks (still crispy!), some kale, and a scattering of pepitas (more crunch!).  The tofu that I knew I wasn't excited for was minimal, just a few cubes, and easy to avoid.  The distribution and quantity of each ingredient was well balanced, unlike the previous salad.

The dressing was indeed spicy, as you may expect.  It had some serious kick, and was a creamy, mayo based style.  Everything was perfectly coated it in.  I was very impressed at how well dressed it was.

So overall, it was flavorful, spicy, had crunchy and fresh components ... it was good!  I found it a bit heavy to eat just like this, but really, really enjoyed it when I mixed it with a base of mixed greens and romaine hearts, and just had it integrated in, using its creamy coating as dressing.  I added a few dried cranberries for a touch of sweet to compliment the spice, and some wasabi peas for more crunch, and furikake because I adore the stuff and ... well, I had a very, very, very enjoyable bowl.

I'll definitely get this again.

Update: I have since gotten it a few times, and enjoyed it on top of greens in the exact same way.  It makes me curious to try some of the other salads, like the broccoli salad with veggie bacon and candied cashews, that sounds a lot like the "broccoli crunch" salad I love at Whole Foods (although that uses real bacon), but I've yet to find that one anywhere.

Update(2021): I find myself getting this frequently, an easy item to throw on to a Good Eggs order to meet the delivery minimum.  I always like to mix it in with some more kale and cabbage, sometimes some chopped green onions, and add daikon or carrots for crunch (not necessary, but nice if I have them on hand), and top with more pepitas.  Love it.

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Edible Cookie Dough, from Doughp

Update Review - 2018-2019

As always, please start with my original review to learn about Doughp, an edible cookie dough maker in San Francisco that I discovered a few years ago.  After falling in love with some of the flavors before, I eagerly ordered from Doughp for several events I catered over the next few years, with just small jars of a slew of flavors at one event (so we could try them all!), and going for full on huge catering setup for another (50+ people, we needed a lot of dough!).

I was pleased with my choices to use Doughp both times, and my guests were all fascinated too, for many of them, it was their first experience with edible cookie dough.

Take Home Jars

The OG.

"Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough."

Starting with the basics, the most classic type of cookie dough there is: chocolate chip cookie dough.  Blonde sweet base, little chocolate chips.

This one is fine.  Fairly classic sweet buttery cookie dough taste.  Fairly classic chips.  Not much more to say.

Good texture, good sweetness, very basic cookie dough.  Not one I felt compelled to have more of though at room temperature.

Ready to bake!

Of course, you can bake it though.  Or, as I prefer, half-bake.

I did bake it into full cookies a few times, generally accidentally (getting distracted while intending to half-bake!), and never cared for it that way.  Because, well, it was just a cookie.  It does bake up into totally normal seeming cookies though, nothing strange about them.

Eminem.

"M&M Cookie Dough."

Slightly more interesting than simple chocolate chip, "Eminem" replaces the chocolate chips with colorful M&Ms, again, fairly classic.

Nearly exactly the same as the OG, although I liked it a bit more because the M&Ms were crunchier.

This S'more is Hella Awesome.

"Marshmallow fluff-infused dough + grahams + chocolate chips."

Now, kicking things up a few notches to a Doughp signature flavor: This S'more is Hella Awesome.  Yup, s'mores, as a cookie dough.

The dough is marshmallow fluff infused, which I might not have noticed or identified entirely without the description, but it did have a different style of sweetness that I liked, and I did see occasional bits of white in it.  I just didn't really taste the fluff goodness, nor find any telltale Fluff goo however.  Fluff is all about the gooey mess!

I'm also not really sure where the grahams were.  Again, not distinct pieces, but also, it just didn't taste that different, no "graham-y" flavor.  That I didn't mind though, I'm not the biggest graham cracker fan.  It also had little chocolate chips like the OK.

So for me, this was the OG, but with a better sweetness.  I liked this one at room temperature well enough, probably my third pick at room temperature.

Nut-Hella Oreo

.

And ... another notch up: Nut-Hella Oreo.

Yup, Nutella base with Oreos.

Now, you know I don't generally care for Nutella.  I don't generally care for Oreos.  I didn't like the Oreos when they were included in the Peanut Butter Oreo flavor I had the first time I tried Doughp.  But still, I tried it.  It was the most distinct looking of all the varieties, much darker in color, and loaded with Oreo.

At room temperature, or fridge temperature, yup, not really for me.  I didn't taste Nutella actually, but the Oreo texture and flavor wasn't something I like.  I was ready to move on.

But I gave it one more try.  I warmed some up.  I didn't fully bake it into a cookie, but rather half-baked it.  It was soft.  It was gooey.  It was more like a hybrid skillet cookie-brownie.  I added vanilla ice cream.  Now, now it was good.

I still never tasted the Nutella, but I didn't care.  Warmed up, topped with ice cream, this was quite enjoyable, so I'm glad I gave it the chance.

I tried it again at room temp, and again wasn't really into it.  So I baked it.  And, yup, loved it again.  Half-baked, with vanilla ice cream, a total winner.

One of my favorites, but only when warmed up.

Seasonal Special: PB Chip, 4 ounces.

"Peanut Butter Cookie Dough with Chocolate Chips." 

Mmm, peanut butter.  Doughp makes a number of peanut butter based flavors, such as "You Jelly?" with berry preserves or "Fluffed Nuts" with marshmallow fluff, both of which I was eager to try, but alas, the seasonal special at the time was the more basic PB chip.  Slightly more exciting than the PB Oreo I tried last time, but still not the one I'd pick if I had more options.

Still, peanut butter? I was in.

PB Chip, Close Up.

I dug in with glee.  There really is something so fun about cracking into a jar of cookie dough.  It was well loaded with chocolate chips, not too many, but enough to get some in every bite.  Nice peanut butter flavor to the base.

And wow, it was rich!  A big spoonful of this went a long way.  Really, I'm all for sweet rich things, but there is no way I could just eat a jar of this in one sitting.  Which, is probably a good thing.

This was best when balanced with some whipped cream, even better when drizzled with chocolate sauce, and went great with the vanilla cones.  That said, it wasn't one I felt the desire to really devour at any point, making it my least favorite at room temperature.

Seasonal Special: Redrum, 4 Ounces.

"Red velvet cake smashed into a blonde cookie dough."

Next up?  "Redrum", or, Red Velvet!  Brilliant red color.

I didn't find any distinct bits of cake in it, but the dough was sweet, smooth, and really quite tasty.  I detected a cream cheese-eque taste to it, which I think was the red velvet nature.

Best plain so you could taste that cream cheese, and with sprinkles on top.  I liked it at room temperature quite a bit.

My favorite of this batch of jars, still behind the Amber Rose though, and behind the special flavor I had for a catered event I organized ...

Red Rum: Half-Baked.

I baked this one too.  Or, half-baked.  Just hot and gooey.  And ... well, perfect.

It was just so crazy good warmed up like this, topped with vanilla ice cream, and sprinkles. 

Catering

"DOUGHP MAKES EVENTS REALLY DOPE.
Quit it with the cupcakes already. Let DOUGHP take the wheel and turn up the awesome factor at your next event."

I couldn't agree more.  When I had a birthday themed event to host, I couldn't wait to bring in Doughp for our sweet treats.

For catering, Doughp offers 3 types of events: "DOUGH-IT-YOURSELF" (drop off service where you set up your own event with big tubs of cookie dough, toppings, bowls, etc), full service (them setting up and scooping to order on site), or, just dropping off individual jars.

DOUGH-IT-YOURSELF Package.

"We’ll drop off enough cookie dough, cups, spoons and sprinkles to serve up your entire crew. Your crew can then serve themselves for a little DIY action!"

I went for the Dough-it-Yourself option, selecting a single flavor of dough (birthday themed), and a few toppings.

I appreciated that they brought me an ice cream scoop to use to serve it, plenty of spoons, and Doughp branded bowls.

And a very, very big bowl of cookie dough.  ZOMG.

Toppings: Peanut Butter Sauce, Chocolate Sauce, Sprinkles. $0.50 each per person.

Topping choices were coconut, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce, M&Ms, Heath Bar bits, and Oreo.  I went for the sauces and sprinkles (because birthday).

The sprinkles were the hard, round kind, and they complimented nearly every flavor well, adding texture and color.  Highly recommended.

The peanut butter sauce was ... just peanut butter, a bit thinner so you could spoon it on.  It was fine, but, not particularly interesting.  Chocolate sauce was equally just ok, thin sauce, easy to drizzle, not particularly flavorful, though it did compliment peanut butter based flavors well.

Each was provided in its own tub, $0.50 each per person, I ordered for 30 people, which means each of these tubs was $15, which does feel a bit steep.  $15 for a little container of chocolate sauce?  For sprinkles?  Eh.

Vanilla & Orange Creamsicle Waffle Cones. $1.25/each.

If you prefer to eat your ice cream, er, cookie dough, from a cone rather than bowl, Doughp has you covered.  Fun flavored (and colored!) waffle cones are available in vanilla, red velvet, orange creamsicle, chocolate hazelnut, and birthday cake.

I eagerly ordered an assortment, particularly looking forward to the birthday cake ones I've seen online, but, alas, they only had orange creamsicle and vanilla in stock the day of my event.

The vanilla though aren't boring, they are black, and when you fill them with colorful cookie dough, are stunning.  They truly are vanilla flavored, not just plain.  Well made cones, not stale, great flavor.  This one worked as a wonderful base for nearly any flavor of dough.

The orange creamsicle were, orange, as expected.  The taste?  AMAZING.  I didn't think I'd like these, and they were the ones I was least excited for to be honest, but, they were crazy flavorful. Fruit loops-eque.  They didn't combine great with some flavors though (peanut butter based dough was NOT a match!)

Overall, I was quite impressed with the quality and flavor to the cones, and I look forward to trying the red velvet and birthday cake cones sometime.

Doughp 4Hope: 50 Servings.

"Sugar cookie base with cake pieces and sprinkles." 

O.M.G.

This was good cookie dough.  Really good cookie dough.  Seriously good cookie dough.  Yes, I could totally just eat this entire bowl.  50 servings?  Challenge accepted!  I'm only kinda joking.

It was sweet.   It was buttery.   The same sugar cookie base that I had really enjoyed with the Amber Rose before.

It had fun texture from the sprinkles.  And the cake pieces?  AMAZING.  I don't know what they were, but they were white chunks of sweet deliciousness.

I adored everything about this dough.  It was great plain by the bowl, er, spoonful.  It was great with whipped cream.  It was great with more sprinkles.  It was great in any flavor cone.

It was, well, just amazing.  My favorite, no question. Absolutely the best flavor at room temperature too, and it stayed softer than the others in the fridge.

But there is more to this flavor.

"This funfetti cookie dough will taste good and make you feel good. 100% of proceeds are donated to a local nonprofit every 3 months."

Yes, it is the special flavor they make in partnership with local nonprofits .  For August-October 2018, it was The Bread Project, La Cocina, and OneLove, all local nonprofits in the food industry that I was already familiar with.

Doughp 4Hope: 90% baked.

I was meaning to only half-bake this, but got distracted talking to people, and let it bake far more than I wanted, nearly making a cookie.  Oops.

It was still good warm, and I smothered it in ice cream and whipped cream and sprinkles, but, I was aiming for gooey more dough-like consistency, so I wasn't entirely happy.

Redrum & Doughp 4Hope, Half-Baked.

I did better the next time, putting the (toaster) oven only at 325*, and not straying far.  I only let it bake long enough to go get some ice cream and whipped cream ready.

The result?  Perfect!  Half-baked, soft, gooey, deliciousness.  Neither flavor actually *needed* me to add ice cream or whipped cream, as both these flavors have a decent amount of complexity to them, but I did anyway.  Because ... warm dessert and cold ice cream is my thing!

I think I might I actually prefer both of these at room temp though, not baked.  Its a toss up though, not clear.

#veganlyfe

"The Original, but vegan and gluten-free."

I give them Doughp props for making a vegan and gluten-free flavor.

This one is a bit different in that it always requires refrigeration.  It is also different in that it ... isn't buttery, decadent, and delicious.  The texture is different, kinda gloopy.  And, well, it tastes like soy?

I didn't care for it, but I had appreciation for the inclusion of those with dietary restrictions.

Original Review, 2017

"Doughp makes edible (and bakeable) raw cookie dough! We serve up the raw dough in sugar cones or cups for a ridiculously unique dessert experience. "

Yup, edible cookie dough.  You have seen this taking over the Instagrams lately right?  Will it reach the level of the cupcake craze of years ago?  Probably not, but I see potential to perhaps rival cronuts.

Edible cookie dough is exactly what you think it is.  Cookie dough, made safe for eating without baking.  Sold at speciality shops with long lines, and ever creative ways of making the product look more and more Instragram worthy.  (I've also had amazing cookie dough as a dessert at Little Donkey restaurant in Boston, served on a beater.)

Doughp is the latest San Francisco establishment to join this craze (say the name outloud and you'll get it).  They started as a popup at Spark Social events, did a bunch of catering, and now have space inside The Myriad.

They use flaxseed eggs to make the dough safe for eating, and do note that you could bake this dough into actual cookies if you wanted.  But, that isn't what people do.

No, they go to the shop, and get ... cones of cookie dough.  Yes, imagine an ice cream shop, but, instead of scoops of ice cream, you get scoops of cookie dough.

Doughp offers a slew of flavors (nearly 20, which they rotate), including some with names that made me laugh (like, "Eminem" for the M&M flavor, or "Red Dum" with "Red velvet cake violently smashed into a blonde cookie dough"), and plenty that sound amazing ("Fluffed Nutz" I have my eye on, peanut butter & marshmallow fluff!)

And then, the cone.  Flavored cones, like a brilliant red velvet one.  For an extra $1.50 of course.  And toppings, colorful ones, like Fruity Pebbles.  Add $0.50.  Pick your pairings based on looks, or how they'll taste together, depending on your priorities.

The dough itself is $6 a scoop.  Would I pay that?  Nah.  Do I really want a full scoop of cookie dough at a time?  It turns out, no.  But if someone brought me a container full, and I had it stashed in my fridge for a few days/weeks (they say it keeps for a month), I'd gladly eat a couple spoonfuls every day ...

Assorted Edible Dough!

I got to try an assortment of flavors when a friend brought them to a party.  We didn't have them as scoops, or in the colorful cones, or served with toppings, but we still had all the joy of eating cookie dough with a spoon.  And honestly, eating it right from a container like this taps into the same part of my brain as eating Ben & Jerry's from the pint for me, making it that much more satisfying than if in a cone.

The flavors I tried were: Amber Rose, Matcha Dood, That Eclipse, Dough, Oh Snap, and PB Oreo.  My reviews below follow in my order of preference (favorite to least favorite).

All had an enjoyable cookie dough texture, a buttery sweetness.  I didn't taste the flax in any of them, which I was really fearful of, as I don't like flax.

Amber Rose.

Amber Rose: "Cranberry sugar cookie with a hint of elderflower & rose water."

I loved the Amber Rose.  My favorite, no question.  It was a beautiful pink color, studded with dried cranberries.

It was buttery, it was sweet, it was everything good about cookie dough.  I didn't know what the flavor was when I was trying it, but I could tell there was a fascinating subtle something going on, which I guess was the elderflower, and it was sweet in a lovely way, which I guess was the rose water.  I don't even really care for dried cranberries, but I even liked them in here, a bit of texture, more sweetness.

Certainly not a flavor I would have picked, but I loved it, and it was my favorite of the bunch.

Matcha Doodle.

"Snickerdoodle cookie dough with a matcha green tea twist." 

Next I went for the crazy green looking one, Matcha Doodle.  I'll admit, the color wasn't necessarily appealing, but, I knew it was matcha based.  The name ... sounded familiar to me.  Why?  Uh, I think Doughp got inspiration from Humpry Slocombe, who has a flavor of the same name, described as "Generous chunks of cinnamon-y house-made snickerdoodle cookies are mixed throughout creamy matcha green tea ice cream."

Anyway, *this* matcha doodle didn't taste like snickerdoodle in any way, which, was fine with me.  I'm not really one for snickerdoodle.

It did taste like matcha, sweet butter matcha that is, and had a few little bits of white chocolate for added sweetness.  As a fan of matcha, I liked this quite a bit.  My second favorite.

That Eclipse, Dough (Limited Edition).

Ok, back to interesting colors, the limited edition, jet black That Eclipse, Dough.  You can probably guess when this was offered: the eclipse.

While it *looked* interesting, it didn't taste like anything.  Just buttery sweet cookie dough.  The color comes from being charcoal-activated, which didn't add anything to the flavor.  Very plain, boring, but I'm sure it was a top seller during the craze around the eclipse, and probably looked very Instagram worthy in the bright cones (just like the Nano X soft serve from JP Licks, also charcoal activated).

So, fine, but boring.

Oh, Snap!

Speaking of snickerdoodle, next was the plain looking Oh, Snap! the snickerdoodle flavor.

It looked just like regular cookie dough, and that is what it tasted like too.  Very seasoned, very cinnamony, and probably good, if you like snickerdoodle.  Not the flavor for me.

PB Oreo.

I saved the PB Oreo for last, expecting it to be my favorite.  It was my least favorite.

The peanut butter cookie base was ok, but I wasn't into the Oreo.  Which I guess makes sense, as I don't like Oreo much, but I thought the peanut butter and chocolate combo would win me over, and that I'd appreciate the texture.  I didn't.  Meh to Oreo (sorry Dad, I know you love them).

My least favorite, but Ojan enjoyed it (although he also noted that while it was good, it wasn't $6-a-scoop-good).

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