Lao Table

Update Review, 2021 Visits

After several years of not visiting Lao Table, despite walking by regularly, I finally decided to give it another try when they reopened mid-pandemic.  While I got takeout, I was drawn in by the outdoor seating they set up on the sidewalk to accommodate diners while indoor dining was still closed.

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

• 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 ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I just got some simple items, but, everything was fresh and well packaged, and I'd definitely consider going back again.

Fresh Vegetables. $5.

I had no idea what this would be, but, I had a free $5 credit on Seamless, so decided to get some "fresh vegetables" and see what happened.

Fresh Vegetables. $5.

The fresh vegetables was ... a big pile of green leaf lettuce, herbs (basil, parsley, dill, mint), and carrot sticks.  So random.  Mostly herbs, not vegetables ...

But this was actually great.  

The green leaf lettuce was super fresh and crisp.

The herbs I used in all sorts of ways - the Thai purple basil I used in my own Thai red curry (I had a can of red curry sauce in my pantry, score!), the mint went great chopped on top the Mendocino Farms  Marinated Red Beets & Quinoa salad I had just picked up (review coming soon!), the dill I threw on top of some potato salad.  All really fresh and it was fun to randomly have herbs to use.

The carrot sticks made for a nice snack with ranch dip (from The Melt, love their ranch!)

Entirely random, yes, but worth it. ***+

Fresh Vegetables. $5.

I had so much fun with the random fresh vegetables that I got them another time, when I was actually planning to make more Thai curry, and pick up more of the beet salad.  I knew my dishes would be much better with the Lao Table fresh herbs!  

I was thrilled to see the consistent batch of fresh veggies and herbs, exactly what I had the previous time, and just as fresh and crisp.

***+.

Steamed Vegetables. $5.

I had really liked the steamed veggies when I dined at the restaurant before, so I couldn't resist ordering them for takeout during Covid too.

Again, not the most exciting mix, just carrots, broccoli (American), and cabbage, but I appreciated the juicy cabbage in particular (I had it alongside some spicy Korean food).  (The broccoli paired nicely with my favorite Trader Joe's Butternut Squash & Sage Mac and Cheese (Seasonal), and the carrots I threw into my own Thai red curry).

Simple, but fine, not too mushy.

***.

Original Review, April 2018

I've somehow never reviewed Osha Thai before, a fairly well known mini chain of Thai restaurants in SF, besides, uh, the dessert my co-workers brought me one day.  Osha is a reliable, easy choice for slightly upscale modern thai food, has a location near our office, and generally is easy to get a last minute reservation at for groups.  So, we go fairly often.  It is always good, but, nothing like the much better Thai food in Sydney!

They recently converted one location to a new concept called Lao Table, more focused on Northeastern Thailand and Laos, where the head Osha chef is actually from.  I was excited to check it out, and see if the focus on more personal cuisine pushed Lao Table a step above the still disappointing SF Thai scene.

It didn't.  It was worse.  Far worse.

Lackluster Meal.

I'll sum this one up easily.  Underwhelming.  Lackluster.  Forgettable.  Most dishes weren't bad exactly, but weren't very good.  One was awful.  I will not be returning.

Service was also not good.  In the first 20 minutes, our water glasses were aggressively refilled.  But after that?  Totally ignored.  We had no water while actually eating our food.

Everything is intended to be shared, yet we were not provided serving utensils for most dishes.

And our server spent more time trying to upsell us and make us add on more dishes than I've ever experienced anywhere before.

Revenswood Zinfandel 2015. $13.

I was really, really craving a nice glass of red wine.  Something not too tannic.  I went for the Zin, and I appreciated that they offered a sample first when I hesitated in selecting a wine.

It wasn't great, but I didn't have the energy to try something else.  A drinkable table wine, with a price tag that didn't match the quality.

Appetizer: Grilled Calamari. $14.95.

"Chargrilled whole calamari and sweet chili-lime topping."

There is one dish on the menu that Yelpers all rave about.  The whole grilled calamari.  It was *why* I bookmarked Lao Table in the first place.  I love really well grilled calamari/octopus.  I insisted we get this.

When it arrived, I smiled.  Presentation was stunning.  Laid out on a wooden board.  It looked well grilled.  We were provided with a real sharp knife to cut it (but no serving utensils).

That knife ... wasn't even enough to cut through it.  The cook on this was horrible.  It was incredibly chewy.  Rubbery.  Impossible to cut.  It had no char, no smoke, nothing redeeming.  Really, really, really not good.

Strangely, it was served on top of a few chunks of celery.  Underneath it.  No idea why.

The spicy sauce on the side however was good, it had some real heat to it.  I enjoyed the sauce, just not with the calamari, at all.

We all tried a few bites, trying different parts, but, there just was literally nothing good about the calamari itself, and we threw it out.

Side: Papaya Salad. $10.

Our server and her upselling worked.  At last minute, another diner asked to add on a side of papaya salad.  It came right after the first appetizer, also with no serving utensil.

It was ... fine.  Standard Thai style papaya salad with a base of shredded green papaya, green beans, cherry tomatoes, and peanuts.  Decently spicy sauce.  The cherry tomatoes were entirely flavorless.

The menu has a papaya salad as a regular salad, for a whopping $21.95 as well.  Which seemed a bit crazy.  Sure, it has pork sausage, pork crackling, and prawns but ... wow.  The $10 price on this seemed a bit high for the small side dish size.

Side: Steamed Vegetables. $5.

After we ordered, our server kept insisting on more things, so I said that maybe we needed vegetables.  Of course she wanted us to get more entrees, but I just went for the simple side of steamed veggies, even though the others were like, "eh".  I guess I was craving veggies.

I didn't really know what the mix would be, but it was carrots, broccoli, and green cabbage.  Simple and steamed.  It arrived with the papaya salad right after the first appetizer, before the second appetizer, and long before the main.   Not quite what I intended, flow-wise.  It came with a spoon on the side to serve it with, I guess?  A single spoon, which, as you can imagine, didn't exactly work.

It was, literally, the only savory dish I liked.  And I didn't like the broccoli or too mushy carrots.  Really, the only savory element, of the entire meal, that I thought was good was a bite of plain steamed cabbage slathered in the hot sauce from the calamari.  I guess I'm glad we got it.

Appetizer: Miang Foie Gras. $23.95.

"Seared duck foie gras, coconut-tamarind reduction, fresh berries with lemongrass smoke."

Ok, foie gras might not be a normal thing to order at a Thai or Laotian restaurant, but, seriously, how do you resist foie gras, particularly seared foie gras?

We should have resisted.  This too came with no serving implements.

"How did they manage to make foie gras so ... boring," is what I uttered after trying this dish.  I literally don't understand how they made it so entirely lackluster, mediocre, and forgettable.

Was there anything *wrong* with the foie gras?  No.  But was it good?  No, not at all.

Backing up.  The presentation, that you can't see here, was the only memorable part, as it came under a dome, that was ceremoniously removed in front of us, and smoke came out.  Ok.

But then we had this.

Not very hot, not very well seared foie gras, two slices.  Assorted not ripe fruit.  A big pile of random salad greens.  Shredded coconut on top.  Perhaps a drizzle of the coconut-tamarind reduction.  Nothing really paired here at all.  No brioche or other carbs, perhaps we were supposed to ... roll it in the lettuce?  And the mediocre raw fruit didn't provide a nice sweet pairing either.  The only texture came from the shredded coconut.

Seriously, the most boring, not well composed foie gras I've ever had.

Entree: Panang Lamb Curry. $23.95.

"Thick coconut milk curry, lamb stew with cucumber salad. Served with jasmine rice."

I was not very hungry, and happy with a meal of foie gras, octopus, and the side veggies/salad, so I told the others to pick whatever curry they wanted.  They selected lamb, which, I'd never pick, since I don't like lamb.  I didn't care though, as it wasn't for me.

Like the other dishes, presentation was nice.  The portion of jasmine rice it was served with however was laughable.  Not enough for one person, let alone two people to share.  Our server, who tried to upsell us on sooo many things, didn't mention this, which was surprising.

The cucumber salad I did try, and it was pretty boring, not much flavor.

The curry sauce I also tried, it was fine, pretty standard panang curry.  The portion of lamb was ok for a single person to have as an entree, but a bit meager for a sharing dish, particularly for the price.  The others who ate it both agreed it was the best dish they had though.

Side: Sticky Rice. $4.

Since the rice quantity was entirely insufficient, we also ordered more rice, and went for sticky rice just to compare.

It was fine.  Warm.  Served in a plastic bag, inside a wooden basket cup.

Dessert: Khao Tom Mudd. $13.

"Sweet coconut sticky rice + red bean in a banana leaf W/ coconut ice cream in a whole young coconut."

For dessert, we had to rule out 3 of the 5 items immediately, as they all had caffeine (thai ice tea, chocolate, or espresso).  Which left two sticky rice based options: mango sticky rice or this.  Since you can get mango sticky rice at any Thai restaurant, we decided to go with the khao tom mudd, even though we had no idea what to expect.

And even once we got it, we had no idea what was going on.  Breaking it down ...

The coconut ice cream really was just served in a young coconut, exactly as the menu said.  No frills.

But it also turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me.  I wonder if they make it in house, or purchase from somewhere.  It had some texture from coconut bits in it, was rich, creamy, and just really enjoyable.  Perfectly melty too.

Serving it in a coconut was a bit strange perhaps, but I liked that too, as I was able to scoop out all the young coconut flesh, and add it to my ice cream.

While the cabbage with spicy sauce was the best savory item, I didn't really *enjoy it*, whereas the ice cream, I did truly enjoy.  That said ... $13 for a scoop of ice cream with a little sticky rice seemed high, like everything else.

Khao Tom Mudd: Inside the Banana Leaf.

But what about the rest of the dish?  That was the unique part.

It was two banana leaves, each with steamed sticky rice inside, as we expected.  Very hot, lots of steam escaped as we opened them.  The sticky rice was ... fine?  A bit boring.  But nice to have the warm sweet rice with the cold ice cream.

The red bean turned out to just be a few red beans scattered inside.  They were cooked fine, but didn't really add much.

Khao Tom Mudd: Inside the Sticky Rice.

But ... there was more.  Inside the sticky rice was ... something else.

We literally had no idea what we were eating.  The menu description didn't say that there was anything but beans and sticky rice inside the banana leaf.  The substance was a strange pink color.  I thought it must be mashed red bean, but ... it clearly wasn't.

After repeating, over, and over, "I have no idea what I'm eating", I figured it out.  I think.  Banana.  But, red banana?  I don't understand.

I ate a full one of these just trying to figure it out, but it wasn't actually good.  The warm sticky rice was nice with the coconut ice cream, but, the red beans were just eh, and that banana was pretty awful.

Next time ... I'd just get a side of coconut ice cream!

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Living Intentions

Update Review, April 2021

As you know, I love snacks, I love popcorn, and I love trying different flavors, both sweet and savory, of popcorn.  I discovered Living Intensions several years ago when my catering team started using them for events, and I liked, but didn't love, most of what I tried.  That said, I do like the idea behind Living Intensions (superfood popcorn) and after a few years passed, it was time to try them again.

"We have taken popcorn to the next level!

It all started with us using popcorn at home as a vehicle to give superfoods to our children and quickly turned into an exciting product idea. Now available for our customers, our Activated Superfood Popcorn is bursting with amazing flavors, nutrient-dense superfoods and the power of live enzymes. Your favorite movie-time snack just entered a higher plane of consciousness!

What is Activated?

Activated is food at its highest potential. At Living Intentions, Activated is an outlook, a way of being, and a mantra for intentionally shifting life into higher gear. Whether it be sprouted with active enzymes, loaded with superfoods, or enhanced with prebiotics, our activated foods contain combinations of essential nutrients, giving your body what it needs!"

All the popcorn has some kind of superfood or some kind of activated element to them, and in addition, they aren't as smothered in sugar as some brands, making them actually a fairly healthy, lighter choice.  I still find most of them just "ok" at room temperature, but like most popcorn, I find I like it considerably more frozen. 

Salsa Verde, Tandoori Turmeric, Boomchickapop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn.

For an event I hosted, I brought in the popcorn again.  The catering team provided two savory options that I'd had before: salsa verde and tandoori turmeric.  But are quite flavorful, and I find you need to be in the mood for them, if that makes sense.

Salsa Verde:

"Our Salsa Verde Superfood Popcorn combines our two favorite snacks. Every bite is bursting with fresh ground spices, aromatic herbs and zesty chilies. Plus, we have added the superfood goodness of spirulina, chlorella, kale and fermented black garlic to really take your snacking to a whole new level."

This one doesn't necessarily scream "salsa" but, its quote savory and kinda vegetable-y.  You can kinda taste the spinach, kale, garlic, onion, etc.  This isn't really a popcorn that I'd ever imagine sitting on the couch watching a movie and munching on, but, it would pair nicely with a burrito ...

It is an interesting popcorn, no question, but I won't really seek it out.

***.

Tandoori Turmeric:

"Our Tandoori Turmeric Superfood Popcorn may taste like your favorite dish out of New Delhi because every bite is bursting with freshly ground spices like coriander, cumin, and chilies. Plus, we have added the superfood goodness of turmeric and ashwagandha extracts, dulse and fermented black cumin to really take your snacking to a whole new level. "

The tandoori turmeric is similar to the salsa verde in that it doesn't seem like a casual, everyday popcorn.  Strong flavors, lots of veggies and herbs, spices.  

Again, not one I'd just randomly munch on, but I think it would go well with some indian food.  ***.

The sweet selection was from Angie's Boomchickapop, their totally delicious Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, which I've reviewed before.

Cheeze Please Activated MCT Popcorn.

"Our Cheeze Please MCT Popcorn is a dairy free cheezy blend of veggies, sprouted seeds, and savory spice. Smile, this is plant based!  MCT Oil is a unique extract of coconut oil, rich in MCTs and an excellent source of high energy fuel for your body and brain. MCTs absorb rapidly, so you don’t have to work so hard… whoo hoo!"

This is a vegan offering, so the "cheeze" flavor comes from nutritional yeast, the color mostly comes from carrot, bell pepper, and turmeric.

I hadn't ever had this one before, so I was excited to try a new (to me) flavor.  

I liked it considerably more than the previous flavors.  Sure, it was basically just a mainstream flavor, it did indeed taste cheesy.  Mild cheese flavor, no orange fingers, I liked it.   I would never guess it wasn't real cheese.

***+.

Original Review, July 2019

I'm addicted to snack foods, and popcorn in particular.  You know this, if you read this blog on Fridays.

I have no shame, and regularly go for the most decadent, least healthy versions of popcorn that there are.  But of course, I would prefer to find ways to enjoy my snack food of choice that are perhaps a bit better for me.

Which is where Living Intentions enters the picture.

"Our activated foods merge sprouted, plant based superfoods, with prebiotics and healing herbs to create foods with extra-ordinary nutritional benefits that give your body what it needs."  

Uh, yeah.  I wasn't so sure about this either.   But still, I learned more.

Living Intentions makes many product lines, all based on superfoods or sprouted foods: superfood popcorn, cereal, and nut blends.  Sprouted trail mix, nuts, seeds.

Popcorn

"It all started with us using popcorn at home as a vehicle to give superfoods to our children and quickly turned into an exciting product idea. Now available for our customers, our Activated Superfood Popcorn is bursting with amazing flavors, nutrient-dense superfoods and the power of live enzymes. Your favorite movie-time snack just entered a higher plane of consciousness!"

The product I wanted to try was the popcorn, as I'm a bit of a popcorn addict, and am always eager to try new brands.  And if they take a healthy slant on it, much, much better for me!

Savory

Living Intentions makes only two varieties of savory popcorn, both far more exciting than your standard plain, butter, or even cheesy popcorn.

Salsa Verde.

"Our Salsa Verde Superfood Popcorn may taste like it came from your abuela’s kitchen because every bite is bursting with fresh ground spices, aromatic herbs and zesty chilies. But it also contains the superfood goodness of spirulina, chlorella and kale."

I started with the stunning green salsa verde popcorn.  It sounded very healthy.

It was ... quite zesty.  Kinda Mexican-ish, as you'd imagine.  I tasted a cheesy quality, which I wasn't expecting, but I later saw nutritional yeast in the ingredients, which is surely where it came from.  It didn't actually taste too healthy, just, zesty and cheesy.

If the idea of a Mexican salsa style popcorn sounds good to you, try it.  It wasn't quite the thing I wanted though.

Tandoori Turmeric.

"Our Tandoori Turmeric Superfood Popcorn may taste like your favorite dish out of New Delhi because every bite is bursting with fresh spices like coriander, cumin and chilies. But it also contains the superfood goodness of turmeric and ashwagandha extract."

I moved on to the bright orange Tandori Turmeric, just to try it.  I knew it wasn't likely to be my spice blend of choice, and, well, it wasn't.  It was very flavored though, so if the thought of tandoori spices in your popcorn appeals, try it!

 Sweet

They also make two sweet offerings, and again, no basic kettle corn here.

Cinnamon Twist.

"Our Cinnamon Twist Superfood Popcorn may taste like a cheat-day pastry, but every bite is bursting with the superfood goodness of maca root, mesquite pod and maple."

Ok, now we were talking: a sweet offering!

The "twist" on the Cinnamon Twist might have referred to ... the maple sugar? The maca root?  I'm not sure.  I was weary of the nutmeg in it, but luckily it wasn't overpowering.

This was just a sweet cinnamon popcorn, with a bit of an aftertaste from Stevia.  I didn't taste the maple sugar though, sadly.

Overall, a bit of a letdown, and not something I'd get again.

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Zapp's Potato Chips

It wasn't until I moved to California that I encountered Zapp's potato chips, although they originate from New Orleans.

Zapp's makes kettle chips, fried in peanut oil rather than standard vegetable oil, and don't wash off the starch, which they say gives them a more unique potato flavor.  All their chips do not use preservatives or MSG, and are gluten-free.  The company started out independent, but is now owned by the same parent company as Utz and Dirty Chips, both of which seem more standard "kettle" style to me than Zapp's.

Anyway, you know I like to try a lot of chips.  Zapp's stands out from the pack, primarily because their flavors are all ... interesting, mostly Cajun inspired.  Their top seller is "Spicy Cajun Crawtators" and the very first flavor I tried is called "Voodoo". 

Kettle Chips

"Zapp’s New Orleans Kettle Style Potato chips are kettle cooked, one batch at a time. This process, combined with our premium ingredients, results in a crunchier, tastier potato chip that has a cult following!"

Zapp's makes pretty classic kettle chips - super fried, super crispy, and, sadly, just not a style I tend to prefer. 

Voodoo.

"Not many know that the delicious blend of spices that make Zapp's Voodoo Chips one-of-a-kind came from a happy accident. Sweet, spicy and uniquely Cajun, Voodoo Chips will put a spell on your with their salt and vinegar flavor with just the right hint of smoky BBQ sweetness."

This flavor has some history, or so they say.  "Voodoo flavor is a result of an accident.  An employee was moving a pallet of spices off the top shelf and dropped it.  While cleaning up, someone stuck their finger into the mixture of about 5 flavors and pronounced it great."

They were a good kettle style, but the flavor really didn't do it for me.  Sorta sweet.  And a bit onion-y.  Definitely not my thing.

**+.

Bar-B-Que Ranch Chips.

These sounded awful ... bar-b-que and ranch in one?  But, I liked them more than I expected.  It was like a ranch, but more flavorful.  My favorite of all of their chips, and I easily finished this bag.

***+.

Hotter 'N Hot Jalapeño.

"Kick up your snack time a notch with our Hotter ‘n Hot Jalapeño chips. They’re spicy, tangy and the perfect treat for those who like a little heat in their snacks."

The good?  Nice kick from jalapeño.  Actually really a nice flavor.

The meh?  Everything else about them.  I'm just not into kettle chips like this it seems.  They also tasted stale, even though not expired.

**+.

Voodoo Heat.

"Our voodoo chips will put a spell on you! The delicious result of a happy accident, these chips have a unique flavor that features salt and vinegar with a smoky BBQ sweetness and an extra spicy, jalapeño kick. Trust us on this one."

I'm glad I didn't read my previous review, as it deemed the regular Voodoo not my thing.  While I still don't really like Zapp's very fried thin crispy kettle chip style, I did find this flavor totally fascinating.  It is the same base Voodoo flavor, but, amped up with jalapeño, hence the "Heat" part of the name.

I got a hit of salt & vinegar, a bit of zing, and the sweetness of a bbq chip on the finish.  It was complex, not muddled, and really did make me reach for another chip, even though I wasn't into the chip form factor itself.

**** for the flavor, *** overall though.  

Mesquite Bar-B-Que.

"BBQ lovers, rejoice! Our Mesquite BBQ chips are a snack that actually tastes like your favorite barbecue items. There’s sweet flavors, a slight hint of spice and plenty of real-deal smokey flavors, all in one bite-sized chip."

I tried one more time with Zapp's, going for the mesquite bar-b-que, as I do love bbq chips (probably my favorite flavor), and the smokier, the better.

These were ... eh.  Again, just didn't love the Zapp's base chip, and again, tasted kinda stale, even though not expired.  The flavor was fine, intense, a bit smoky.

But overall, another not for me.

**.

Limited Edition Flavors

 Zapp's goes a bit overboard with making special Limited Edition flavors, that always sound intriguing, but I think are limited for a reason.  You don't generally want to try them more than once, but how do you NOT give Smoked Bacon and Cheddar chips at least one try?

Creole Onion Kettle Chips.

Again, decent kettle style chip, but the flavor wasn't that interesting.  Didn't get any "creole" spicing, it certainly wasn't spicy.  It did have slight onion flavor.  But overall, not interesting at all.

**+.

Limited Edition Honey Mustard.

I like honey mustard.  I like kettle chips.  But, it turns out, I don't like honey mustard kettle chips.

They were good, thin, crisp chips. And they did truly taste like honey mustard.  Which ... just totally didn't work for me.

*+.

Limited Edition Cheddar & Smoked Bacon Chips.

And again, same classic kettle style.  Nice and crispy.

But, that is expected for Zapp's.  What I didn't know what to expect was what cheddar and bacon chip would actually taste like.  I bought these solely based on how ridiculous the flavor idea sounded to me.  The answer ... well, they taste like bacon.  For real.  Ojan took one bite, and proclaimed, "it really does taste like bacon! I'm surprised!".  The bacon flavor was intense, especially on the finish.  You were left with a very strong bacon flavor, lingering long after the chip was gone.  And, quite honestly, long after you wanted the flavor to be gone.

I didn't pick up on much cheddar flavor, although, honestly, I'm not really sure I wanted to taste bacon and cheese.  I know they go together as hamburger toppings, but somehow, they don't sound great together in a chip.

These reminded me of chicarrones, in the crispy, porky, sort of way.  Very similar flavor, although obviously more subtle in the chips due to the potato aspect.  I thought they were interesting, but only in a research sort of way, not because I wanted more.

Ojan however liked them, saying they were "kinda addictive".  He had been craving bacon only a few hours prior to eating these, and declared that the chips had indeed satisfied his bacon craving.

**+.

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Flour & Branch

New bakeries are not particularly common in San Francisco, at least, not these days.  There are plenty of established classics (Tartine, Jane, b. Patisserie, etc), and of course there was a wave of places like Craftsman & Wolves that offered up innovative new items a few years ago, but, particularly in the setting of the pandemic, new bakeries aren't exactly cropping up.  So you can be sure that when one does, given my love of baked goods, I'm very, very interested.

"Flour & Branch delivers joyful bakes that will bring delight to every day and accompany your most treasured moments. Our treats transport you back to some of your best, most comforting memories of food, while giving you a new taste experience that stays with you."

Flour & Branch started in 2020, I think as delivery only (including Nationwide on Goldbelly), and quickly became known for the comforting nostalgic treats, but, with a spin.  Think PB&J, but as a stuffed soft cookie.  Think innovative stuffed french toasts.  S'mores transformed into cookies.  And so on.

"Flour & Branch strives to evoke those perfect childhood memories and combine them with grown-up sensibilities, refined techniques, and carefully selected ingredients to deliver unique and delicious experiences right to your door. "

And while these are treats and baked goods after all, the baker does care about quality and ingredient integrity, using natural, organic, etc ingredients when possible.  Reviews were very strong, and even though I'm not a general cookie person, these large, stuffed, soft cookies with fascinating fillings and topping most certainly caught my attention.

However, this is a story of woe, as my first visit was a major disappointment.   I reserved a Mystery Bag from Too Good To Go, an app the helps prevent food waste by allowing businesses to sell products that would often go to waste (usually at the end of the day) at a discounted price.  I've had some incredible success with the app - preventing waste, trying new places, meeting lovely merchants, getting delicious food, and saving money in the process (you can read some of my reviews here).  I was thrilled, thrilled, thrilled when I saw Flour & Branch join the program, with bags offered every day in the last 15 mins they were open.  Reddit users shared their bags of cookies.  I was in, but it took several weeks before I "scored" a bag - desirable ones like this go fast!

I eagerly went to claim my bag, sold as a "baked goods" bag (businesses can list "meals", "baked goods", "groceries", etc), which cost me $3.99, and was supposed to be valued at at least $12.99.  Most people seemed to get 3-4 cookies in their bags (usually $4 each).  I was excited and looking forward to the surprise treats.  And ... well, I didn't get cookies.  Nor any baked goods of any kind.  I got a $10 sandwich.  My bag also did not meet the $12.99 value as advertised.  Sadness.  I'm glad to help prevent food waste (pre-made sandwich still sitting around at 4pm was clearly headed to the trash), and I do know it is always a gamble and I'm getting a "mystery bag" after all, but ... I felt pretty duped, and the pastry case was still full of baked goods, yet I was told none were an option (even after I explained that I reserved a "baked goods" bag, it should be >$10, and ... I was allergic to avocado, they key element of the sandwich).

Setting

After about a year and half of delivery only service, Flour & Branch was able to finally open a retail storefront on 3rd Street, near South Park.

Storefront.

Flour & Branch is located on 3rd Street, and given its brand new status, had plentiful signage out front welcoming us in.

Seating.

Inside has a small, very cute, seating area.  I loved the touches like real flowers on the tables.  It was light filled and really just a lovely setting.

Espresso Machine.

On one side of the counter is the espresso machine, which really matched the vibe well.

Pastries.

The rest of the counter has pastries on display, with savory ham & cheese croissants and some killer looking kouign amann (stuffed versions available!).

More Goodies.

The savory lineup also had a sandwich of the day, breads, and a savory bread pudding (!).  And then there were gorgeous morning buns totally covered in cinnamon sugar and ... zomg, the stuffed french toast, two versions.

Cookies.

The cookies however are what Flour & Branch is most known for, soft baked cookies, most filled with something.

4 of the regular menu cookies were available, along with a brand new addition, the Lemon Thyme Papi.

Drinks, Salad.

A ceasar salad and canned/bottled drinks fill the cold case.

Monster Mallows.

These were so aptly named, giant giant rice krispie-style treats, but made with different cereals (fruity pebbles, captain crunch, cocoa crisps) and other mixins.

Monster, indeed.

Savory

Garden Sandwich: Avocado + Slaw.  $10.

"House made ciabatta with avocado, tomato, cucumber, & mushroom slaw, garlic chickpea spread, and jalapeno cream cheese."

Sandwiches are pre-made.  There are only 2 on the menu, one vegetarian, one with meat.  This was the vegetarian one.

So, I clearly would never order this.  First, sandwiches, not my thing, even if on house made bread.  But second, I'm allergic to avocado.  And yet ... here I am.

Yup, I ordered a mystery bag from the bakery known for amazing cookies.  And I got ... a sandwich.  With avocado.  And I'm allergic.

I can't evaluate this in any way, but, here ya go, a sandwich.  I did peak inside and the avocado was already quite brown and the other ingredients wilted, which, makes sense if it was made before the lunch time crowd, and my pickup was at 4pm when they closed.

Again, sadness.

Off Menu Test: Pizza.

The staff member felt bad for me when I told her I was allergic to avocado, and offered me some of a test item they were working on: pizza.  It had a little artichoke, lots of salami, and ham.  A little cheese, not really much sauce.

It was loaded with toppings, but I didn't really care for the salami.  On the plus side, the crust had a nice chew to it.

Sadness, again.

Sweet

Cookies

"We bet our cookies are unlike anything you’ve ever had. They’re thick and crumbly, with that almost under-done type texture on the inside and made with organic and natural ingredients: Kerrygold grass-fed butter, artisan flour, farm-fresh eggs, the finest sugars and vanilla, and so much care. "

Ok, so, the cookies.  For years, I've never been much of one for cookies, considering them "lesser" desserts.  I mean, nothing wrong with a cookie, but why would I have "just" a cookie when I could have a slice of pie a la mode?  To me, for years, a cookie was only an extreme fallback, or, perhaps a component in another dessert (e.g. the cookie for an ice cream sandwich).  And then, the pandemic.  Somehow in the depths of pandemic I learned to appreciate a good cookie.  And Flour & Branch is most known for the cookies.  I was very excited to try one.

Flour & Branch makes 8 kinds of cookies, all super thick (and so heavy!), most filled, and many with interesting toppings.  The rainbow sprinkle topped stuffed pb&j "Stuffy" is of course a fun play on a classic pairing (think gooey peanut butter and jam inside!), Nutella lovers will go for the other "Stuffy", filled with, yup, plenty of Nutella.  I was most drawn in by the Birthday Cake, which, doesn't have expected sprinkles on it (those are on the pb&j), but instead comes topped with a candy coated gummy bear, and the sprinkles are inside, along with white chocolate chunks.  The Nutty Butter also called out to me, another with white chocolate chunks, but also a fascinating combo of rum, macadamia nuts, and peanut butter.  Or the The Salty Sombitch (yes, real name), which has butterscotch chips, and is topped with toffee and sea salt.  Oh, chocolate fiends would most likely go for the brownie like Brookie (which also has peanut butter chips) or the Chipper, a play on a classic chocolate chip that includes ground espresso, rice crisps, and ... a marshmallow on top.

All cookies are $4 each, and they recommend heating them up.

The Salty Sombitch. $4.

"Crisp and chewy, this rich, buttery cookie is bursting with Guittard butterscotch chips and topped with chocolate coated toffee and a dash of Maldon sea salt. Perfect for dunking in cold milk or hot coffee."

I would have had a hard time picking my top choice of cookie, but the Salty Sombitch was in my likely top 3, so I was glad to not have to pick and to get one in my next TGTG bag.

I knew these were thick cookies, but I was still shocked when I picked up the bag containing the cookie.  It was so heavy I expected multiple cookies, but, nope, just one!  

It really was a fabulous cookie.  Rich and buttery, just as described.  Wow, what a decadent tasting base.  And yes, lightly crisp around the edges, slightly chewy, and really quite soft.  Texture, nailed.  It was quite sweet, butterscotch after all is very sweet, but the butter and sugar balanced each other well.  

The only slight miss to me was the toffee component.  The toffee element was just the bit you see here on top, a little dark chocolate toffee almond brittle, and it was easily lost amongst the rest of the cookie.  Most bites did not include it, and, when they did, it wasn't necessarily a pairing that made sense ... butterscotch and toffee?  Nothing wrong with it, but, not what I'd pick.

Anyway, it still was a fantastic cookie, normally $4, which seems entirely appropriate for such a large and high quality item.  I'll gladly try more cookies from Flour & Branch!

This cookie was great at room temp, and fabulous when warmed up.  Truly an incredible cookie.

****+.

Other

In addition to the pastries, Flour & Branch has two "Monster Mallows", basically, huge Rice Krispie style treats, made with Captain Crunch instead, and either Fruity Pebbles or Cocoa Crisps, and a drizzle on top.

Captain Fruity Monster Mallow. $10.

"The treat that never ends. The softest, butteriest, stickiest marshmallow treat, filled with Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, and whole mini marshmallows. "

Well, I don't care for rice krispie treats.  I don't care for Fruity Pebbles.  But, this was picked for me in my second TGTG bag, and hey, I was willing to give it a try.  It was, as named, a Monster, no question.  It was marked with a date 22 days prior, so, clearly this was not fresh, as expected from TGTG, but older than I really thought it should be.

It was ... um, wow, sweet.  Cloying sweet.  All I tasted was sweet.  Ok, yes, fruity too.  Basically, well, it tasted like Fruity Pebbles bound together with marshmallows, exactly what it was.  I liked the texture, it was soft and easy to rip apart, but, wow, sweet.  Again though, krispie treats aren't really my thing, nor are Fruity Pebbles.

These are sold for $10 normally, which seemed really quite high.  Yes, it was big, but, $10?  Not sure I understand that, particularly as this isn't a case of expensive ingredients (no high end Guittard in here), nor labor intensive ... 

**+ I guess?  I dunno, not my thing, but well made for a treat like this?

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Little Szechuan

For some reason, I have rarely ever dined at Chinese restaurants.  Growing up, this makes sense - my dad won't touch Chinese food, so we'd never go as a family to the sole Chinese restaurant in town. But after that, I'm not really sure why.  For some reason, Chinese food is solidly a takeout or delivery only thing for me (other than dim sum).

Which brings me to this review: yup, delivery and takeout from a Chinese Restaurant, Little Szechuan.

Little Szechuan is located right on Broadway on the edge of North Beach, in the area that gets a bit more "interesting" at night.  It is a pretty generic seeming place, albeit with a very large menu.  The place itself is also quite large, multiple levels, including several banquet halls.  I haven't ever really heard people talk about it much, seemingly just always hovering above *** on Yelp, nothing particularly notable, but, its been around quite a while, so, clearly they have some fans.

I haven't ever dined in, but I have both picked up food in person there, and had it delivered.  I was always impressed with how well labelled everything was, and how friendly the staff were.  Above average in both regards.  Sometime, I'd like to actually dine in.

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

• 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 ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Appetizers

The appetizer portion of the menu is extensive.  Every type of dumpling, pot sticker, wonton, buns, egg rolls, etc, along with things like salt & pepper calamari or tofu, bbq or roast duck, lettuce wraps, and chilled items like spicy beef tripe, cucumber saad, cold noodles, chicken feet, pork intestines, and so on.  Oh, and of course, all the soups and salads too.

If I was dining in, I'd definitely be interested in trying more appetizers, but our group opted for just one for our delivery order.

Fried Crab Rangoon.  $5.98 for 6.

Well, these just weren't very good, at all.  I thought crab rangoon was hard to mess up, but, sadly, they did.

It was very, very oily.  The filling inside was slightly sweet, cream cheese, and little bits of artificial crab.  Fairly fishy tasting, but biggest issue was how oily they were.

No one liked these.

*+.

Mains

The entree section of the menu was even more extensive.  19 pork dishes.  19 poultry dishes.  19 red meat.  23 seafood.  17 veggie dishes.  40 (!) noodles or fried rice items.  16 clay pots.  10 curries.  And so on.  So many choices.  Too many choices.

Kung Pao Chicken (less spicy). $8.98.

I have really fond memories of kung pao chicken, which, I realize is odd to say as someone who doesn't like chicken.  But when I was in college one of my professors had me over and we made kung pao chicken for dinner, my first time ever having it, and I loved the spice and the concept of having nuts in my stir fry.  It was all so new to me, and left a lasting impression.  From time to time, to this day, when I see kung pao I still try it, just to kinda remember the excitement of trying something new.

The chicken was tiny bits, breaded and fried.  Not bad really, and not too, uh, chicken-y.  Since it was ordered less spicy (not my choice), the sauce wasn't spicy ... at all.  Which definitely goes against my idea of what kung pao is supposed to be.  It was strange to have almost sweet, rather than spicy, kung pao.  Not the restaurant's fault, but, definitely different.

There was a generous amount of vegetables (zucchini and onions) and peanuts included, the vegetables were well sautéed and juicy.

Overall, a very good version, I just wish we'd been able to order it spicy.

***.

Szechuan Beef.  $9.98.

I was very excited for the Szechuan beef, particularly after the not spicy kung pao.  This was legit spicy, as you can see, full size spicy peppers right there in it.  The flavor was good, the veggies crisp, the meat not too chewy.

Solid execution. ***+.

[ No Photo ]

Mongolian Beef. $9.98. 

The Mongolian beef was another spicy offering.  I failed to get a photo, but there was about an equal ratio of pieces of beef to hot peppers!  This packed some serious heat.  The beef was fried, a bit chewy, but not bad.  My favorite element was the extremely flavorful, well sautéed onions.

My favorite of the dishes.  ***+.

Drinks

The drinks portion of the menu, also quite large.  In addition to your basic expected soft drinks, water, beer, wine, plum wine, sake, soy milk, etc, they have a range of fresh juices (6 choices, danger, danger, watermelon!), flavored ice teas (11 kinds), milk teas (14), smoothies (9), and trendy cremas (7), most of which can be customized to add in mix-ins.

Taro Smoothie. $3.98.

I really like taro.  I love the flavor, the starchiness.  I like real taro, particularly when mashed or turned into taro fries.  But even taro flavor from powders, mixed into bubble teas, can make me pretty happy.

So when I saw Little Szechuan had a "taro smoothie" I was intrigued.  They have a large list of milk teas, and taro isn't an option for the milk tea, so this seemed to be something different.  What was a taro smoothie?  I had no idea, but I had to order it.

I placed my order on delivery.com when I was a block or so away, walked in the door, and my drink was already being prepared.  Great service!

So, what is a taro smoothie?  I think it was real milk, blended with ice, and taro powder.  It was a bit too sweet for me, but the taro flavor was decent, and the ice was really nicely done, like a slushy.

I did want tapioca in it, but, Little Szechuan no longer offers tapioca.  They offered to mix in any of the jellies instead, and let me try both options.  One was sweet, multi-colored lychee jellies.  Since the drink was already a bit too sweet, I certainly didn't want to make it sweeter.  The other was the grass jelly, not sweet, and a larger side.  I'd consider adding those next time, as the smoothie sans boba was a bit boring, but really, I wanted boba.

I enjoyed my smoothie on a hot day, and it satisfied my curiosity, but, I don't think I'd get another, unless I brought my own tapioca.

***.

Taro Smoothie with Grass Jelly. $3.98.

Except, of course I craved another taro smoothie.  So I tried again, this time adding grass jelly.

I liked the smoothie itself, nicely blended, although I kinda wanted it a bit icier, more like a milkshake.  The taro flavor was stronger than the previous time.

The amount of grass jellies added was just right.  Enough to have some with most slurps, but not all.  The jellies are pretty flavorless, which is sorta what I wanted, as I didn't want more sweetness.  But they are very soft, which doesn't quite match what I wanted in my smoothie.

Really, I just wanted tapioca.  Not sure what I'd change next to make this work, besides begging them to offer boba again!

***.

Strawberry Green Iced Tea with Lychee Jelly. $2.98.

I recently attended a ball game at AT&T Park (company offsite), where I had a mango fruit tea with lychee jellies from Home Plate Boba.  It was perfectly refreshing on a hot day, and I was sorta craving another ever since.  About two days later, on another amazingly warm and sunny San Francisco fall day, I was about to get a taro tapioca bubble tea from Little Szechuan, when I saw that they also had fruity iced teas.  I'm not used to seeking these out, but figured it was worth a try.  It did match my mood better.

I had several choices for the iced tea base, either green or black tea based.  Since I didn't want too much caffeine, I opted for green tea.  My choices were jasmine (meh), honey lemon (not exciting), lychee (too sweet?), passion fruit (too finicky), or strawberry (just right!)

The menu didn't say it, but I also assumed it was ok to add any toppings in that they had available, so I asked for grass jelly, remembering it from when I tried it when I picked up my previous smoothie.  I expected the fruity tea to be sweet, and thought the less sweet jellies would be a nice match.

When my tea was handed over, it was clear that they used the lychee jellies instead of the grass jellies.  Oh well.  I didn't bother protest.

The tea was ... ok.  It was a bit bitter, in a way that seemed perhaps a little over-steeped.  But the real problem is that it didn't taste at all like strawberry.  You can see a tiny, tiny bit of strawberry in the bottom of the cup here, but I literally didn't taste anything fruity.  The strawberry is why I picked it!  It also wasn't sweet at all.  I am fine with unsweet tea, and I'm glad they seemed to use real strawberry instead of a sickly sweet syrup, but, it certainly isn't what I was expecting.

The lychee jellies were nice though, sweet, fun to suck up.

Overall, it was refreshing, just, not what I was hoping for.

The $2.98 price was fine, particularly since they didn't charge me for the jellies (normally $0.50).  I wouldn't get this again.

**+.

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Limited Edition Gelato Messina Tim Tams

The ultimate Sydney collab.  Tim Tams (the very, very Aussie cookie) and Gelato Messina (the fairly legendary gelato shop with many locations now).  Together.  To make Limited Edition Tim Tams.  To translate for San Francisco based folks, it would be like ... Oreo collaborating with Humphry Slocombe.  Or in New York, Chips Ahoy with Big Gay Ice Cream.  In Portland, Keebler and Salt & Straw.  I think you get the point?  Iconic cookie brand + local well known ice cream shop.

"At Messina, we make everything for our gelato from scratch. Each of our gelato flavours has its own recipe, plus our in house bakery team bake all our gooey brownies, coulis & sauces in house which are churned into our flavours. If there’s mint in a flavour, we cold press it here, if there are pistachios we find the best ones we can and use the real nuts. Working with the Tim Tam development team, we’ve taken all this flavour knowledge and made something that will tingle your taste buds in biscuit form."

Here's the thing.  I've never really been a fan of Tim Tams, I guess mostly because they are just hard cookies, which are never my thing.  And I'm kinda over Gelato Messina, as you read about in my last review.  But, when a friend brought me the limited edition Gelato Messina "Inspired" Tim Tams, you know I tried them.

For the curious, the collab was a big retail success, and they've since come out with three more flavors (Turkish Delight, Choc Cherry Coconut and Iced Coffee), all of which they encourage you to try eating frozen or chilled too.  They, um, come in packaging that changes color in the fridge.  For real.

But I tried the original line.

Choc Mint.

"This tempting “after dinner” combination is beautifully executed by the Messina wizards in their intense gelato, and is just as appealing here."

Basic chocolate Tim Tams are the least interesting to me, but, I do love chocolate and mint, so I gave the "Choc Mint" a try (ah, Australia, I love how you use shorthand even in formal titles!).

It was a classic Tim Tam construction: chocolate biscuits enrobed in chocolate.  The biscuit was crunchy and boring to me, the chocolate mediocre.

Choc Mint: Inside.

Inside, the filling was separated into a chocolate side, and a mint side, although, as you can see, mine wasn't particularly well distributed. 

It was kinda minty, and kinda chocolately, and basically reminded me of a Girl Scout Thin Mint, which I've never really liked (again, just a crunchy cookie).  Not for me.

But, other tasters were more impressed.

"It's like a mint slice but not offensive!", one Australian friend proclaimed, referring to the popular chocolate cookie also made by Arnott's.

"It's like a Thin Mint, but, better!", exclaimed another US based taster.

"Meh, I don't like the mint, but I like Tim Tams", was another response.

So, if you like Thin Mints, and you like Tim Tams, check this flavor out?

**+ for me.

We also tried the "Black Forest", but sadly, I lost my notes on that one.

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