Friendly's Ice Cream

Update Review, July 2022

As you may recall from prior reviews, I grew up in a household that always had ice cream cake for birthdays.  Not because my mother didn't want to make our cakes herself (she *really* did, and often made a cake in addition to the ice cream cake), but because we demanded ice cream cake.  And not just any ice cream cake, we *needed* Carvel.  To me, Carvel was the gold standard.  Granted, we had a Carvel store in our hometown, so we had custom made fresh ice cream cakes, and part of the joy of the whole thing was going to the Carvel store and pouring through photos of all the different cakes to pick from (and, getting ice cream while we were there of course).  Eventually the store closed, but we still kept the Carvel tradition alive, albeit with store bought cakes, which I've reviewed before.

So even though I clearly moved on from Carvel cake, and, was basically disappointed by it every time I've had it in the past few years, sometimes when I visit my family, and we are having a party, my past self comes out and demands Carvel cake.

And such was the case in July 2022, when I was visiting my family, and my mom hosted a 4th of July party.  Yup, she wanted to make desserts (and still did), but my sister and I demanded Carvel cake.  But this was the summer of continued supply chain issues, and she went to literally every grocery store in town, and came up short.  No Carvel cakes.  So she got a Friendly's cake instead (which, of course, we let her know was NOT the same, and she did end up getting my cousin to pick up a Carvel cake from 40 minutes away, etc).  So then we had two cakes.  I did a side by side comparison.

Here's the truth.  Well, Friendly's is just better (which I almost had concluded last time I had it too, see prior review).  Gulp.  Sorry mom ...

Celebration Cake.

"Every big (and little) celebration deserves ice cream cake! Lovingly handmade layers of premium chocolate and vanilla ice cream, separated by chocolaty crunchies, are topped with freshly whipped ice cream and decorations. Find one in the frozen or bakery section of your local grocery store!"

The construction of the Friendly's cake is much like that of the classic Carvel cake: vanilla and chocolate layers, separated by chocolate crunchies, whipped icing topping.  

But the Friendly's ice cream is just clearly higher quality.  The chocolate ice cream has more flavor,  creamy milk chocolate.  Both the vanilla and chocolate from Friendly's melt better, are creamier, are just, well, better.  The frosting is about the same, sweet, light, fluffy.  I always like the blue stuff the best, and yes, both have the blue stuff to leave your mouth corners blue.

And then those crunchies.  Those are the signature thing from Carvel, the thing I remember always loving the most (I was a center piece type, to maximize crunchies!).  I did always think Carvel won on this dimension, but, the past few years the Carvel ones haven't been anything like I remembered.  The Friendly's ones really just taste like Oreo crumble, which to me is a bit boring.  Carvel still takes a slight edge here.

So, put that all together, and the Friendly's cake is the clear winner, as the ice cream is actually good, and the rest just adds to the classic ice cream cake experience.  When I want ice cream cake in the future, this is clearly the one I need to get.

***+.

Update Review, December 2019

As I mentioned in my previous review, Friendly's is known for signature ice cream sundaes.  Many diners visit Friendly's just as a dessert destination, particularly as most of their sundaes clock in at 1200+ calories.  Don't even look at the Caramel Fudge Brownie Sundae (1910 calories!).  We rarely went for just ice cream, but sundaes were always a requisite part of a meal there for me growing up, particularly because they offer not only the ridiculous jumbo sizes, but also, a "Happy Ending" smaller size (which, to be fair, is still multiple scoops with toppings, it isn't exactly tiny).

Friendly's has long produced retail versions of its signature ice cream sundaes, individual packaged Sundae Cups, you can find in your grocery store freezer section, which I've reviewed before.  They still catch my eye every time I walk by when I visit my parents, the nostalgia for those sundaes is strong (and we don't have Friendly's on West Coast).

During my recent visit, something else caught my eye however.  Not just ice cream sundae cups, but dessert cups.

Dessert Cups

Dessert cups are a newer offering from Friendly's, retail only.  I was intrigued when I saw the varieties offered, 6 different options, and none seemed based on Friendly's ice cream sundaes.  Rather than just a base of ice cream topped with sauces, candy toppings, and sometimes whipped cream like the Sundae Cups, these are layered creations featuring classic dessert components like pie crust, crumble, and cake.  Think Red Velvet Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, and Pecan Praline.  

I *really* wanted the Blackberry Peach Pie (pie crust pieces, peach pie filling,vanilla ice cream, blackberry sauce, whipped topping, streusel crumble), as this sounded like exactly my sort of thing (except that I'd want the pie components warm ...), but alas, my grocery store had all varieties but that one.  Deciding between the remaining 5 was hard enough. 

Dessert Cup Packaging.

The packaging certainly drew me in, with a clear domed lid with visible whipped cream and toppings underneath.   While the sundae cups often contain a dollop of whipped cream on top, these clearly made whipped cream a primary element.  There was tons.

Banana Cream Pie.

"Layers of vanilla wafer crumbles, banana cream pie filling and french vanilla ice cream topped with marshmallow sauce, whipped topping, and more vanilla wafer crumbles."

I finally decided on the Banana Cream Pie, wondering what banana cream pie filling would be like, and definitely curious about the marshmallow sauce.

On top was vanilla wafer crumble, which only appeared here, not layered throughout, as the description said.  The crumble was fine, basically just like Nilla wafers traditionally used in Banana Cream Pudding.  I appreciated the crunch, and variety of crumb sizes, but the wafers are the least interesting part of banana cream pudding, and I like it better when just made in pie crust anyway ... which the name "banana cream pie" sorta implied ... not "banana cream pudding" ...

Below the crumble was sweet, fluffy, topping.  The description indicated that there would be both marshmallow sauce and whipped topping, but this seemed to be neither, and there was only one layer above the ice cream.  Instead, it was more like a marshmallow whipped topping.  It was very, very, very sweet, but certainly not a "sauce".  I loved the fluffy texture, and at first I loved the sweetness, but after a few spoonfuls, even when integrated in with the other ingredients, it was just too much.  Speaking of too much, there was a lot of that topping, as much topping as ice cream.

Banana Cream Pie: Layers.

Here you can see a bit more of the layers, it took digging to reach the ice cream.  The ice cream was simple vanilla ice cream, fine quality, and necessary to balance out the sweet topping.  That topping really was just too much.

So what about the "banana" element?  That was at the very bottom, the thin layer you can kinda see, "banana cream pie filling".  To me, a banana cream pie is filled with banana pudding and layers of fresh banana, so I expected basically a pudding, perhaps some chunks of banana.  This "filling" was not pudding-like, which I guess is understandable given that it is frozen, and also did not contain any chunks of banana.  Rather, it was more like a ... banana sauce, but not a syrup style, a consistency more like thick caramel.  It is made from banana puree, no bits, not even a touch of texture, from bananas.  It did taste like bananas, no question, and like sugar, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

Together this layered creation was a fun idea, and I liked the sounds of it, but it suffered from just being far too sweet - with more than half the creation crazy sweet, there was no balance.  How many grams of sugar did it have?  61 grams!  In the fairly reasonable size portion.  Yeah.  No wonder I tasted way too much sweet.

Original Review, December 2017

I grew up in a town with few restaurants, but we had a Friendly's.  We didn't go out to eat that often, but when we did, and particularly when we were going for a treat, Friendly's was on the list.

Why?  For the ice cream sundaes.  I honestly don't remember the food at all.  I know we got meals, but, I have zero recollection of what I ever had there.  What I do remember?  The peg games on the table, and, the ice cream sundaes.  While many of my friends always talked about the Fribbles (milkshakes), I had eyes only for the sundaes.  But not the one that all the other kids went for, the signature "Cone Head" sundae with a sugar cone upside down on top like a hat and a face, no, I went for the Reese's® Peanut Butter Cup Sundae.  Every single time.  It just used vanilla ice cream as a base (although I often swapped that out), but it was smothered in warm peanut butter sauce and hot fudge, topped with a mount of whipped cream, and garnished with sprinkles, a cherry, and of course, a peanut butter cup.  On really rare occasions I'd mix it up and get the Reese's Pieces version instead, with, well, pieces instead of pb cups, but this was my constant goto.  I just loved the chocolate and peanut butter.  The sundaes are huge, but, you could add a reasonably size "Happy Ending" one on to any meal, which was always my move.

Friendly's has long been in the ice cream business, a featured part of their menu for 80+ years.  Sadly for me, the restaurant shut down in the town long ago, and no where I have lived since has one.  Since then I know they expanded, offering soft serve, Friend-z (mix-in versions),   But they do make ice cream (gallons and novelties) sold in grocery stores everywhere, so, I finally got inspired to try them out, and see if they measured up.

Sundae Cups

I see this in grocery stores everywhere in New England.  The stores sell them 10 for $10, as in, literally, $1 each, which is a bit mind blowing to me.

"Our Sundae Cups come in a perfect personal size for when you just need a sundae all to yourself."

Friendy's individual sized sundae cups come in basically every variety of sundae they serve at the restaurants, and then some.  Which means, they do have a peanut butter cup sundae.  One really unique offering they make is an ice cream cake sundae cup, literally the layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream they use in the ice cream cakes, layered with the same chocolate crunchies, and topped with the whipped topping and confetti sprinkles.  If you like their ice cream cake, but don't have an occasion to celebrate, just get the sundae!

But back to the peanut butter cup sundae.  The sundae cup version uses peanut butter ice cream, and the fudge and peanut butter sauces on top are obviously not warm.  And no whipped cream.  Same with the Reese's pieces version.  This just didn't feel right to me, so I went for something different.

Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup.

 "Enjoy an ice cream masterpiece of green vanilla flavored ice cream topped with a layer of yellow vanilla flavored ice cream, topped with blue marshmallow, whipped topping and primary colored sprinkles—all in a perfectly personal size sundae cup!"

So yeah.  I went for the ridiculous Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup, clearly designed for kids.  The reason was fairly simple, I was having it in the evening, and so I had to rule out all the chocolate based ones.  Every single option, besides a strawberry one, had chocolate, either in the fudge sauce on top, or chips in the ice cream.  So, this was it.  It sounded a lot like the ice cream cake, just minus the chocolate layers.

I did laugh when I opened the lid.  They weren't joking about the colors.

Bright blue marshmallow topping.  Colorful sprinkles.  Yellow ice cream poking out.

I dug in.

The whipped cream was pretty standard, as were the sprinkles.  The blue marshmallow topping was sweet and fluffy, just like on their ice cream cakes.  I liked it.

Crayola™ Color Me Sundae Cup: Inside.

Under that all was, well, yellow and green ice cream.

It was a bit confusing to the brain to eat yellow and green ice cream, and have them taste like vanilla.  They didn't taste distinct.  They really were vanilla.  They just looked like Playdoh.

Overall, this was clearly fairly simple, but, I liked it.  The ice cream was decent, the marshmallow topping and whipped cream exactly what I remembered from their ice cream cakes.

I don't think I'd get this again, as it was a bit too simple, but, I enjoyed it.  Next time, I'd get the ice cream cake one, or maybe try the peanut butter one, knowing it is nothing like the beloved version served in restaurants.

Ice Cream Cake.

"Bring this Friendly’s favorite anywhere! Our Ice Cream Cake Sundae Cup is made with premium vanilla ice cream layered with chocolaty crunchies, chocolate ice cream, whipped topping & confetti."

When I was visiting my parents one time, I ... really started craving Carvel cake.  Clearly a result of being conditioned than when I'm at their house, there should be ice cream cake in the freezer.  And there wasn't.  Given that my mom hates it in principle (she's a firm believer in home made cake for birthdays!), and my dad hates it for ... other reasons (he doesn't like crispies or frosting?!), I couldn't quite justify going to buy an entire ice cream cake just for me.

So when we were at the grocery store, I made a swift impulse purchase: the Friendly's ice cream cake sundae cup.  Basically, a "single serving" of ice cream cake ... I hoped?

I opened it up to reveal more decoration that I expected.  Confetti sprinkles!  And the entire top was coated evenly in fluffy, sweet, whipped topping.  I was quite pleased.

Ice Cream Cake: Inside.

I dug in, and was further pleased.  

The only real surprise here was the ordering of the elements - the crunchies, rather than being in the middle of the two ice cream layers as is traditional with a real cake, were in the base.  But there was tons of crunchies, and although they weren't quite as good as Carvel, slightly softer, slightly less chocolatey, I liked them.  Both the vanilla and chocolate ice cream were fine, decent quality, creamy, not icy.

Put it all together and ... yup, basically, the same as an ice cream cake, but with more reliable distribution of all the components.  I liked the sweet fluffy topping, I appreciated the decent ice cream,, and loved digging for the crunchies.  It was also an item that ate well, like a good sundae.

I'd get this again if craving ice cream cake!

****.

Original Fudge Sundae.

"Vanilla ice cream topped with fudge, whipped topping & chocolate chips."

This is a classic ice cream sundae, just as promised.  Decent enough vanilla ice cream, lots of thick, rich fudge, fluffy sweet whipped topping, and a few chocolate chunks.

For a packaged pre-made sundae, this was very good.  Sure, the fudge would be better hot, and I wanted fresh strawberries or at least a cherry on top, but, overall, good.  Maybe some nuts?

***+.

Ice Cream Cake

I grew up in an ice cream cake family.  Every birthday.  Every year.  Without fail.  However, Friendly's was not our ice cream cake maker.  It was Carvel.  Always.

When I was younger, Carvel had a store in the town, and we had custom made cakes.  It closed when I was probably 8 or 10 years old, forever ago, but luckily, grocery stores still carry Carvel cakes.  Until one year, when my Mom couldn't find them anywhere.  I think she looked in nearly every store to no avail.  She sent my dad on a last minute job to try a final store, and he came back with something that sure looked like a Carvel cake, except ... it was Friendly's.

It wasn't the same.  But, that doesn't mean it was bad.

Celebration Ice Cream Cake.

"Friendly's ice cream cakes are lovingly handmade to transform any occasion into a happy occasion!"

Friendly's ice cream cakes are much like the Carvel ones - layers of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, chocolate crunchies in-between, fluffier whipped forsting on the outside. Available in different shapes and sizes.with the classic one having blue frosting border and some confetti sprinkles. They also make a Oreo version (Oreo ice cream layers, crushed Oreos in the center, fudge and Oreo topping), a Reese's version (peanut butter ice cream layers, chopped pb cups in the center, chocolate truffle frosting), and now, a trendy Salted Caramel Truffle one (salted caramel ice cream, caramel chocolate truffles, caramel sauce, fudge, etc).

But we had the classic.

Leftover Celebration Cake.

"Every big (and little) celebration deserves ice cream cake! Lovingly handmade layers of premium chocolate and vanilla ice cream, separated by chocolaty crunchies, are topped with freshly whipped ice cream and decorations. "

Of course, we all immediately compared this to Carvel.  Most of the family refused to even consider that it might be better in some ways.  But it was.

The ice cream was higher quality.  Sorry, Carvel.  Friendly's was creamier, less icy.  Just, better.  The ice cream was in reverse order from Carvel: chocolate on top, vanilla on bottom.

The crispies weren't as good though, they were softer, not as crunchy, not quite the same magic.

The whipped topping was sweet, fluffy, and good.

Overall, it was a fine replacement for a Carvel cake, and, if you actually care about the ice cream, a better choice.

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Cafe Paci, Sydney

Newtown.  Not an area of Sydney I necessarily venture to often (although, I do think the Cuckoo Callay there is better than the Surry Hills one for brunch).  Finnish food.  Definitely not a cuisine I seek out often (um, ever?  Not that I'm opposed but, it just hasn't ever really come up ...).  And yet, for one of the more significant dates of the year, my birthday, I did just that.  I ventured to Newtown, for Finnish cuisine at Cafe Paci.

Intrigued?  You should be.  Intriguing basically sums up every element of dining there.  The decor, the menu, the dishes themselves, are all, well, interesting.  This is not a place to be bored.  

Birthday Dinner.

I visited Cafe Paci on my birthday, with one other guest.  He had visited twice before, and highly recommended it.  Reservations are required a bit in advance, for basically all nights, all times, all party sizes, so, plan accordingly.

We had a nice meal - it was certainly some of the most unique food I've had in a long time, and was quite good.  Definitely a place for foodies, as much as I hate that term, because the food is, well, interesting.

Service was also good, which is not something I say often about Sydney.  Water glasses were kept reasonably full (house sparkling water is free!), new beverages offered when wine glasses/cocktails ran low, serving utensils brought for each share plate, new dishes provided between courses, and the staff were friendly but not invasive.  The meal was well paced out.

I think the menu changes fairly frequently, and I'd be happy to return to try more of this gem.

Setting

Cafe Paci is located right on the main strip in Newtown, in a busy, bustling area.

Street Front.

Cafe Paci looks like pretty much every other establishment of this section of Newtown: bright, fairly generic sign, no outdoor seating, just an entrance and a few windows to the street.

Bar.

But once you step inside, the charm is immediate.  Exposed brick, real wood furniture, quirky art.

A long bar surrounds the mostly open kitchen, with plentiful seating all along.  For a group of two, I think the bar seating would likely be nice, particularly if you want to watch the action in the kitchen.

Table Seating.

Tables are along the other side of the fairly narrow room, all tables for 2 that can be joined together to create configurations of different group sizes easily.

I liked the comfortable bench seating along the wall, and the esthetic of the lamps.

Place Setting.

I found the place setting a bit simple, given the slightly quirky interior and the menu.  Basic white plate, basic cutlery, basic water glasses.  With so many other interesting focal points, this felt a bit like a lost opportunity.

Food & Drink

Don't be afraid!

The wine list has very reasonably priced wines (by the glass or bottle), featuring a large number of orange and rose wines, in addition to standard white/reds.  The list draws from all over - Italian, French, Spanish, Australian, really, a large variety.

I thought this note in the wine menu was cute, as it made the somewhat eclectic wine list more approachable.  And I'll admit, I took a look, and felt pretty lost, not recognizing much of anything.

I had a decent red from Italy later in the meal, 2019 Alice Bonaccorsi Diecidiciletri, a varietal I had never heard of before, nerello mascalese.  It wasn't the most complex wine out there, but it was an easy drinker, nothing offensive about it, and priced quite reasonably at $17/glass.

Old Fashioned. $20.

"Scotch, honey, caraway."

To get started though, I went for a cocktail, perhaps a bit boring, particularly as their cocktail menu is fairly limited, but, I still had a bit of a sore throat, and scotch really is what I wanted.  Hence, an old fashioned.

It was a fine old fashioned, served in a pleasingly heavy glass. Not much to say about it. My companion had a similarly boring negroni.  

Menu

I didn't need the drinks to be interesting though, as the food offerings more than make up for it.

The food menu, much like the wine list, is kinda all over the place.  Pinpointing exactly what the style of cuisine is is quite difficult.  After all, there are items like deviled eggs (hmm, where do those come from?  I think they are British?), and calzones (Italian?), and basics like oysters, but then ... well, it is just so hard to describe.  For example, there is a taco ... but its a rye taco and has ox tongue and sauerkraut.  That certainly isn't Mexican.  There is gnocchi ... but, with an XO sauce, making it, uh, Asian-Italian?  And classic steak frites with sauce Diane for those intimidated by the rest of the menu, bringing in a touch of France and England.  It is a hard menu to really reason about, but it all sounded very, very interesting.  And I guess, uh, Finnish?

In addition to the printed menu, there were a handful of specials, including a few raw seafood options, a salad, market fish of the day, and a couple truffle pasta specials.

The dishes are intended to be shared, except for the first few items that are priced per piece.  We were encouraged to order about 5 different dishes and share them all, but as my companion is vegetarian, and I was drawn in by many of the seafood options, we opted to share a few as starters, and have our own mains.  Our selection of 3 starters and 2 mains (plus 2 desserts!) was just right, but definitely a filling meal, and we easily could have done a bit less.

I appreciated that the dessert menu was included on the main menu, so I could plan accordingly.

Potato and molasses bread with butter. $4.50/each.

Ok, so, if you know me, you know that I generally don't bother eat much bread with meals.  I'm definitely not carb adverse (believe me, put a bread pudding in front of me, or any breakfast carbs, or pile of mashed potatoes, etc, and you'll see), but, bread isn't that exciting to me, and I usually want so many other things.  And I definitely do not go out of my way to order bread at a place that charges for it.

And yet, I gladly ordered the bread here.  I had seen photos, and read reviews, plus had my dining companion's glowing recommendation of it, and, well, yup, I was interested in the bread.  The bread!

My interest was rewarded with some pretty awesome bread.  It was super moist and fluffy due to the potato base, really a unique texture, and had a fairly strong malty flavor from the molasses, and, swoon, the crust.  The crust was sticky, sticky, sticky, and basically, well, candy.  It was impossible to tear this bread with your fingers and not get sticky fingers, but, a bite or two in, you quickly stop caring.  The butter I think may have also had some molasses in it, and it was whipped and fluffy, and the type of butter that you spread on way too thick because its just downright delicious and who cares.

This dish, the simple bread and butter, the optional, paid, bread and butter, set the tone for the rest of the meal.  If it could be that unique and special, well, I knew I was in for a treat.

****+, really, some of the best bread I've probably ever had.  My second favorite dish I think, and it was great to save a little to soak up sauces later on.  I'd certainly get this again.

Mushroom Salad Special. $26.

Next up we opted for the salad special, a fascinating mushroom and comte cheese based dish.  We were told there would be raw mushrooms, crispy fried mushrooms, comte custard, and more.  Given my love of mushrooms, of crispy things, of comte, and of custards, this was a no brainer.

It was a fascinating dish.  The base was crazy thin sliced raw baby mushrooms.  Shockingly thin slices.  Think sorta like mushroom carpacchio I guess.  They were earthy and slimy, and you definitely have to like legit mushrooms (e.g. not plain white or brown table mushrooms) to like this.  On top was tons of the crispy fried little mushrooms.  Sooo much texture.  I liked them the best.  There was also shaved comte that kinda got lost amongst the strong mushrooms flavors, and I guess some comte custard in there, but I can't say I really found that.  

This was kinda fun to eat, and I liked the textures and strong flavors, but, I didn't particularly want more than a few spoonfuls of it.  Interesting to try, but not really the sort of dish you return to.  We didn't finish it, not because it was bad really, it just wasn't that good.  My least favorite dish.

***.

Radicchio, gorgonzola, anchovy, blackberry. $24.
(Anchovy on the side).

Next up, another salad.  Now, this one I was excited for, because I quite like radicchio and love anchovies.  Not quite sure when I last had anchovies, and they sounded perfect.  As my dining companion is vegetarian, the staff offered to put them on the side, which worked great.

I really enjoyed this dish.  The radicchio was served as full leaves, dressed well with at least olive oil (and I think some balsamic?).  Yes, it was a pain to eat as you needed to cut it up yourself, but, it was crisp as could be.  Under the radicchio was a few blackberries, gorgonzola cream and gorgonzola hunks, more olive oil (and again, I think balsamic?).  The gorgonzola cream, blackberries, and radicchio were a killer combination in my book, with the bitter base, the sweet and acidic fruit, and the creamy and funky cheese, really a fantastic play of flavors and quite balanced.  And then of course, my precious anchovies.  Yes, just anchovies, but, I love their funk, and they went quite well with the other ingredients.  I think the salad would be "fine" without them, but I suspect they added quite a bit.  They were soaked in high quality olive oil too.

Overall, well, I loved this.  Yup, a salad.  With essentially only 4 components.  But such beautiful balance.  I used extra bread to lap up the olive oil/balsamic/gorgonzola cream after my salad components were gone, and was pretty thrilled.

****+, my favorite of the dishes.

Potato dumpling with XO trout. $28.

I actually was fairly satisfied with the meal at this point, and would have gladly polished off the rest of the bread, dunking it in any remaining sauces, and moved on to dessert.  But ... we had more substantial dishes ahead, ordered individually as I wasn't interested in the vegetarian pasta.

I could have opted for a seafood forward dish, my standard, but, instead I went for the fascinating sounding potato dumplings.  I had seen photos so I knew this would be gnocchi, but with an Asian style XO sauce.  Fascinating.

It was a good dish.  The dumplings were soft pillows, not gummy, nicely done.  I do sometimes like gnocchi with a bit of sear, or bit of chew to it, and these were just a very soft style, but, they were good.

The XO sauce of course was where the interesting bits were here.  I didn't really taste, nor see, trout, but, there was definitely fermented funk to it, a bit of spice, and well, it was just unlike any other gnocchi I've had before, for sure.  Asian gnocchi ... it works.

I liked this, and I was glad to try something so unique, but I found that I got sick of it after a few bites.  Maybe I was just full and so pleased with the previous dishes?  I probably wouldn't get it again.  My third pick.  ***+.

Sourdough pasta with pear and pecorino. $26.

For his more substantial dish, my companion opted for the vegetarian pasta (the other option was an eggplant dish, which actually sounded pretty good).

As this featured sourdough prominently, I didn't ask to try it.  He did say it was sour.  In retrospect, I do kinda wish I had asked to try it.  I would love to discover some kind of sourdough item I can tolerate, or even, gasp, enjoy ...

Carrot sorbet with yoghurt and licorice. $15.

And then, it was time for dessert.  The menu had three options, in addition to a cheese course, and all sounded pretty fascinating.  Any other day, I probably would have gone for the passionfruit pain perdu with salted caramel and ice cream, as I love warm, carby desserts, sweet sauces, and cool ice cream pairings, but, I had been feasting on epic bread pudding from Saga Bakery for two days straight, and, well, I actually wasn't craving that style of dessert.  And I really am not normally into sorbet but ... this sounded fascinating, and I adore licorice.

My companion had visited before and had this then, and wanted it again.  And he didn't want to share.  Thus, two of the same it was.  Because he had told them it was my birthday, mine came with a candle, and luckily, no singing or embarrassing attention, which I appreciated.  And, I'm not going to lie, it was nice to blow out a candle on my birthday, as silly as it is. 

This was easily the most unique and memorable dessert I have had in years.  It also was quite good.

The base was a licorice cake.  Real licorice, like, black licorice, not the red candy stuff that is popular in the US.  It was incredibly light, and the licorice flavor was fairly intense.  I think my mother would hate this, but, I adore this style of licorice, so I was quite pleased.

Above that, a scoop of carrot sorbet.  Perfectly soft, refreshing, lightly sweet, and yes, it tasted somewhat like carrot.  Before you think that is weird though, um, think about carrot cake?  Carrots have a natural sweetness and are used in dessert applications all the time.  It worked, really.

And then then, the yoghurt, which was sooooooo light and fluffy, definitely aerated, mousse.  It too was lightly sweet, but still plenty tangy, and the texture was fantastic.

I'm honestly not sure which component I liked the best.  They were all very nicely executed, and together, the flavors and textures truly worked well.  This isn't a very sweet dessert, if you want sweet, likely the passionfruit pain perdu is for you, but it was refreshing, and a fantastic end to the meal.

I'd certainly consider getting this again, but also would like to try others.  The creativity level here is off the charts, and it makes you just want to explore more, even if you like a dish.  If I were to try to refine this dish more, I'd like to see some kind of crunchy element added and perhaps a salty element.  Part of what I love about black licorice is the salt, and I think that could work here in moderation, perhaps as part of the yogurt element?

Anyway, a very unique, interesting, and tasty dessert, very in-theme with the whole meal.  ****.

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Augustiner Keller München

Update Review, May 2022

Sigh.  Every time I'm in Munich I wind up at Augustiner Keller.  I've never liked anything there, not the food, not the drinks, not the pretzels, not the dessert (which you've read about before) ... but, it *is* an institution there, and is located close to our office.  Oh, and to say they can handle groups is an understatement.  I think the night we were there they had at least 6 different 50+ person groups just in the seating section we were in!

For a refresher, Augustiner Keller is a massive establishment, spanning several style of dining and drinking.  Inside is a massive beer hall with a full service restaurant, serving all the Bavarian food you can imagine.  Huge menu, huge place, all long communal tables, noisy, rowdy, and worth it for the experience alone.  

Outside is an even more massive beer garden.  It extends for blocks, all enclosed in garden walls.  Tables, tables, tables as far as the eye can see.  This area has a much simplified menu, entirely separate kitchens (in little sheds out there), waitstaff wearing lederhosen regularly carrying 10 giant steins in one hand (seriously, the muscles on these servers to heft them around is impressive!), and much, much beer consumption. Again, worth it for the experience. 

We were seated outside, but on the decks, rather than out in the beer garden.  These areas serve a bigger menu than the garden, but still greatly reduced from the indoor hall.  This is where most large parties go, where they can opt for a la carte or family style.  Our host was thrilled to find a place that offered a la carte for 55 people.  A small group of us decided to share anyway, which certainly aggravated our server as we wanted things like sharing plates.

Orders for drinks, for food, etc took a while to place, and even longer to be filled, but, everyone seemed to get what they ordered eventually, even if not actually hot when it arrived.  And hey, we got to dine outside, in a safer setting (May 2022, it still felt better to be outside rather than inside for Covid purposes), and everyone got what they wanted.  The food though?  Just as awful as I remembered, and really, really I have no desire to ever go back here.

Cold Dishes, Vegetarian, Fish.

The reduced menu in the area we were seated had a few sausages, a cheese plate, simple salad, a token vegetarian risotto (yeah, what?), a single seafood option (grilled salmon), and the necessary käsespätzle.  Inside the restaurant there are double the number of cheeses, salads, soups, sausages, fish ... and a slew more vegetarian items.

I was quite sad because the dish I most wanted (Gemischte Schwammerl) is available inside in the full restaurant, was not on offer where we were.  We actually even asked about it, but were turned down.  Not available in that area, only for full restaurant seating.  Wah!

Mains, "Best Seller", Dessert.

Mains were basically all the different forms of schnitzel, or variations on roast pork or duck.  Most dishes came with potato dumplings or cabbage.  Another dish I wanted (Maultaschen) was only served inside.  Le sigh.

The same goes for the desserts.  We had a small reduced menu, which included only 4 items, 3 of which I had last time, and one of which was just vanilla ice cream with berries.  Inside you can get kaiserschmarrn (really the only German dessert I truly enjoy) or apple fritters that sound quasi interesting.

Drinks.

Drinks are a kinda feature of the establishment.  I don't even call it a "restaurant" exactly, as so many patrons are just there for drinks, particularly out in the beer garden.  The drink menu isn't actually all that extensive either - it isn't like they have a large variety of beer to pick from, mostly, just how big you want it.  They also have your basic soft drinks, water, coffee, tea, and token wine by the glass.

I'd guess that 95% of the patrons have beer, split about 50-50 between giant steins and regular large Pilsner style glasses (not standard American pints).

Merlot D.O.C. 4.70.

The menu had exactly 3 wines, and only one was red.  Merlot it was.  I had zero expectations for this, particularly given the ridiculously cheap price (for .2L serve), but ... honestly, it wasn't awful.  Not too much acid, not too much tannin, not to grape-y ... just, quite drinkable.  A entirely acceptable "table wine".

***+.

Pretzels. 1.30 each.

When I realized that one of my fellow diners had not yet had a pretzel in Germany, and I suspected it would be at least an hour before our meal came giving our group size, I suggested getting a pretzel.  A few others joined in.  1.30 each.

The pretzels were highly unremarkable.  Served cold, as they do in Germany.  No mustard or anything.  Just, a cold pretzel.  Eh.  It was nicely salted and had a decent chew, not too stale, but, yeah.  Nothing special here, and since none of our food coming had sauce to want to dunk into, I saw no use for these pretzels, besides helping us pass time as we waited for the rest.

My hotel breakfast buffet had considerably better pretzels.

**+.

Käsespätzle.

"Swabian-style cheese noodles topped with crisp-fried onions and served with a mixed salad."

The same diner who had not had a pretzel in Germany also had never had käsespätzle ("the thing like mac and cheese?", he said, clearly having been told by someone else that he needed to try it).  So, käsespätzle was definitely in our lineup.

It was ... fine.  Not great.  The noodles were just kinda mush, the sauce not particularly creamy nor cheesy, and the fried onion strings no different than what you get from a can.  The little bit of crushed red pepper on top was nice though.  The version from Zum Dürnbräu was so much better, an entirely different league.  Really, to me, this was like boxed mac and cheese compared to a nicely homemade version.

I had my few bites and quickly moved on.

**+.

Mixed Salad (with Käsespätzle).

It came with an odd little side salad.

Three huge pieces of lettuce, a tiny tiny tiny portion of sprouts, 5 kernels of corn, 3 slices of cucumber, 3 small pieces of bell pepper, 1 tomato chunk.  No dressing.

I actually appreciated the greens and juicy cucumber, but the tomato was mealy and not good, and I'd be sad if I had ordered this actually as a salad.  Again, compared to the side salads at Zum Dürnbräu?  That is like comparing a McDonald's salad to Sweetgreen.  Not nearly in the same category.

**+.

Münchner Schnitzel. 15.50.

"Pork escalope with a mustard and horseradish crust, served with cold potato salad."

Next up, schnitzel.  One diner really wanted us to get schnitzel, and didn't care which we got.  I don't particularly like schnitzel, but I didn't mind trying a little.  After all, I *was* in Germany ...

Augustiner Keller has several versions on the menu, such as the pfefferschnitzel (pork with spicy peppercorn sauce and spatzle), wiener schnitzel (veal), or the one we got, Münchner Schnitzel, which was veal with a mustard/horseradish crust, and cold potato salad on the side.  The decision was easy for me as I had heard good things about the potato salad, and wanted to try that (plus, we already had käsespätzle, we didn't need plain spätzle with our schnitzel).

The schnitzel was ... average.  Decent crusting that didn't fall off, and the hint of horseradish and mustard really did give it nice flavor.  Pork was boring, a bit chewy, but fine.  The lemon was key as it added a lot of needed acid/flavor.  So, slightly interesting crust, but very average, and not something I ever really want anyway.

The potato salad was a big portion, good since we were sharing, but still quite a bit on top of the pretzels and spätzle ... carbs, carbs, carbs!  Meat and carbs, that's the German way ... (yup, that side salad was the only vegetable seen at our entire 50 person table!).  It was decent, German style so not all mayo (although it was pretty creamy, not sure if that was potato mash or if there was some mayo?), slightly acidic from vinegar, with some mustard flavor too.  The potato was small bits, plus some mashed, fairly soft.  Not much else to it, just, potato.  I liked the flavor, but I can't really imagine having a big portion of it like this.  I kept the leftovers and threw a scoop on top of a salad the next day at lunch, and that worked well.

**+.

Wiener Schnitzel. 21.90.

"Breaded veal schnitzel served with sautéed potatoes and cranberry sauce."

One of our tablemates, who wasn't in our family style sharing group, opted for the wiener schnitzel, and he offered me a big hunk to try.  His was *much* better.  Sure, the coating was just regular breading and so it didn't have the nice mustard/horseradish zing, but, I liked the flavor of the veal more (as in, it had some!), and the meat was much less chewy.  

I also liked the complimentary cranberry sauce with it (and, with the pork one I had on my plate too).  Definitely more my style to have a sauce.  I didn't try his potatoes, but he didn't touch them.

This was considerably, considerably better than the pork, but not something I'd really go get myself.

***.

Bayrische Vanillecreme. 4.95.

"Bavarian vanilla cream pudding with berries and cream, served in a glass jar."

Last time I was at Augustiner Keller we had a non-dessert sharer (he was gluten-free) who got the Bavarian cream.  We had another such person at our table this time.  The only notable thing was everyone was happy to see a little fresh fruit.  It seemed fairly lackluster though, not gathering any real comment from the person who ordered it, although he did finish it.

Apfelstrudel. 8.15.

"Apple strudel with vanilla custard and whipped cream.

You may recall that last time I kinda hated the apfelstrudel, and I told this group as much, but one person still ordered it.  This time it came with just a small little bowl of vanilla custard, rather than the giant gravy boat we had last time (and that I gladly consumed all of, dubbing it the best part of our meal!).

The strudel was deemed average, the whipped cream seemed canned, and, yup, I ended up basically getting the entire bowl of vanilla custard, which really was just a thin generic sauce, but with good vanilla flavor to it.  Not nearly as magical as I remember it being, but actually, yes, still the best thing I ate at Augstiner Keller, which is not saying much.

Ofenfrische Dampfnudel. 7.20.

"Steamed honey-coated dumpling with hot vanilla custard."

Everyone else at the table wanted the dampfnudel, even though I tried to describe it to them and said it wasn't great.  Not that we had many options, as I mentioned, the real good desserts were not available outside.  So, a bunch of dampfnudel were ordered.

When they arrived, everyone was 1) amazed how big it was and 2) exclaimed that it wasn't what they were expecting.  I had tried to describe it well, but, I guess I failed.  They still really thought it was going to be a "dumpling" in a form they recognized.

It is safe to say that everyone was highly underwhelmed by this.  A few half hearted bites were taken, and our table wound up a graveyard of abandoned dampfnudel.  After all, it really was just a barely warm big chunk of slightly sweet bread, with barely warm thin generic custard around it.  Basically ... like a King's Hawaiian roll with a little custard around it.  Not really sweetened (not sure where that "honey coating" was), and really, really not hot as described.

Major meh.  I left, and went to get alternate dessert.

*+.

Original Review, October 2016

On my recent visit to Munich, nearly every person I asked for restaurant recommendation from said to go to Augustiner Keller.  But, they weren't really telling me to go for the food.  It was more about the beer, and the experience ... not exactly a match for my interests.  Augustiner Keller is the largest beer garden in the world.  I don't really drink beer.

The first night we were in town, Ojan's work group had a big dinner there.  He came back not impressed, and told me I'd hate it.  He said it was an experience, but, he didn't really want to return himself, and he had another dinner scheduled there later in the week that he wasn't looking forward to.

Yet everyone kept recommending it, and, it was close to the office.  So, several days into the trip, my colleagues headed there.  I decided to eat dinner at the office and then join them for dessert, since I knew the desserts were supposed to be at least decent, and hey, this way I'd get to finally try a real German dessert.

Or so I thought.

The Space

Augustiner Keller is really two different establishments: a beer garden and a restaurant.  Both are quirky in their own ways, quite distinct, and massive.

Outside Beer Garden.

Outside is a beer garden, with big screens showing sports, and a counter where you order food, wait for it out in a little shack, and seat yourself.  I imagine that on a sunny afternoon this place is quite popular.  As it was, it was a rainy evening, and it was still pretty busy.  It was there that my co-workers had gathered, so they could watch the game on the tv screens.  This area is massive, with picnic tables going as far as the eye can see.

When I found my co-workers, they had only giant beer steins and equally massive pretzels on the table, so, I quickly went to the counter area to order dessert, only to find that the limited menu outside did not include dessert (besides an ice cream freezer).  Don't get me wrong, an ice cream freezer is an exciting thing, but I had just left my office with a stellar ice cream freezer, and wanted a "real" dessert!

(In case you are wondering, of course I tried the mega-pretzel, and, it was actually quite good).

Thus, I convinced some of them to join me inside so we could order from the dessert menu.

Front Hall.

The second half of the establishment is a restaurant, with outdoor and indoor seating, and table service.  It has a much more extensive menu, and a real kitchen.  Like the beer garden, it is also massive.

This photo shows just the calm front hall.  There is also a downstairs that you can reach from this area, and two side outdoor patios.

And then the main dining hall.

Main Dining Hall.

The main room was a sight to behold.  Like a giant mess hall, with huge, long tables running the entire length of the room.  Parties are seated where they fit.

It was packed and quite loud.  Each table had a basket of normal sized pretzels waiting on it.

The decor was fascinating, ornate woodwork, paintings on the ceiling, and massive round light figures with exposed bulbs.

It looked like a scene from history books.

Stage.

There is also a stage inside.  With a painting on the wall behind it.

Instead of a band setup though, there are tables.  And, within a few minutes of our being seated, people were seated up there.  Where they special?  We have no idea.  It was totally weird to have people up there.

Even more amusingly, Ojan said the night he was there, the stage was filled with diners, and there was a live band ... off on the side, rather than on the stage.

I feel like there must be a story here.

Dessert

So, dessert.  The server came over, asked if we were hungry, and I said, "yes, for dessert!"

He handed me two menus, all in German, and walked away.

The first menu was the classic menu, with items always available.  The second was the daily specials.  Both had 4-5 desserts on them.  Again, all in German.

I pulled out handy Google translate on my phone, and got to work.  Several minutes into my fun translating (which, works really well with the app by the way, you just hold it up and it translates in real time, totally amazing!), one of my co-workers said, "hey, do you just want me to translate it for you?"  It was then that I remembered he was Austrian.  To be fair, he lives in New York now, I know him from his time in San Francisco, and before that he lived in Melbourne, so he speaks with an Australian accent.

Anyway, once we translated the menu, we were ready to order, and our server did come back in a reasonable amount of time.

One diner is gluten-free, so he ordered the only thing that seemed gluten-free (Bavarian cream with berries).  The rest of us decided to share things so we could try several.  There were 4 of us, and I knew that the desserts would all be huge.  Of the 4 of us, one person said he didn't want dessert, and one was stuffed, so I suggested we get only two desserts.  Yet somehow we got three.  It was definitely too much dessert, but, we did order the top three things I wanted to try, so, not all a bad thing.

Ofenfrische Dampfnudel in der Honigkruste mit heißer Vanillesoße.

"Freshly baked dumpling in the honey crust with vanilla sauce."

From the standard menu, we picked the dumpling.  I will admit, this is not quite what I was expecting, as, uh, it didn't look like a dumpling, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Basically, it sorta reminded me of hybrid between a bread pudding and a doughnut?  The dough was super soft, fluffy, and had an underlying sweetness.  Sorta like any good, fresh, sweet roll from a bakery.

It was surrounded by vanilla custard.

It was served warm (both the dumpling and the sauce), which I really appreciated.

Overall, this was pretty good.  I liked the warm bread and the custard.  It was my favorite dish, one other diner's second favorite, and the other ranked it tied for second place.

Ofenfrischer Rahmapfelstrudel mit Vanillesoße und Sahne.

"Applestrudel, straight out of the oven, served on a creamy hot vanilla sauce."

When every person has talked to me about dessert in Germany, they've told me to get an apple strudel.  Never, ever what I'd pick, as I don't like apples really, but, I decided if there was a time to try the iconic German dessert, doing it in a group at a famous beer hall might as well be it.

My opinion was exactly as I expected.  Yup, it was filled with apple.  I love pastry, and, the strudel form doesn't provide much pastry.  Just lots of apples.

Of course, I liked what came with it, a generous puff of whipped cream topped with little berries and a mint leaf, and an entire dish full of "vanilla sauce" to pour over it.

As I've been known to just eat bowls of crème anglaise, it should come as no surprise to you that I did the same here.  The others found this to be odd behavior, saying things like, "And you aren't even drunk!" or "Do you realize how many miles you'll have to run to burn that off?"

Clearly, these folks don't know me very well.  This is totally normal behavior for me, and, honestly, is it really any different than eating a bowl of custard pudding or ice cream?   Yeah, I didn't think so.

Anyway, I didn't care for the strudel, because, apples, making it my least favorite, but it was the favorite of one diner, and tied for second for the other.

Topfenstrudel mit Vanillesoße und Walnußeis.

Finally, we also picked a daily special dessert, another strudel.

This one was filled with a cheese filling, it reminded me of ricotta cheesecake, so I'm guessing there was some ricotta or cream cheese involved.  Again, not enough pastry to evaluate the pastry, it was all about the filling.  I like cheesecake, but, I didn't really see a reason to serve it like this.  Clearly, not the dessert for me.

On the side was the same vanilla sauce and generous amount of whipped cream.  These were again good, and of course, I again ate them by the spoonful.

But, this dish also came with something special: walnußeis.  That is, walnut ice cream.  The ice cream was really, really, really good.  Loaded with caramelized nuts.  It was super sweet, the nuts added a great crunch, and, I totally stole the entire tiny scoop.  Seriously good ice cream.

This ice cream was, hands down, the best item of the night, making this my second favorite dish overall.  One other diner ranked this last, as he loved the apple strudel and the dumpling, but the other also ranked this first, saying, "That ice cream is really, really good!"

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