Cotogna, SF

10 years.  It had been 10 years since I last dined at Cotogna.  How did I let it be that long?  I honestly have no idea.  I enjoyed it so much my first visit  (particularly, swoon, the tagliolini with dungeness crab & meyer lemon), that I returned as soon as I could get another reservation, just a month later (where the gnocchi with “four lilies,” vin santo & snap peas stole my heart).  I declared the place a gem, totally understood why they book up a month in advance, and certainly intended to return, just, seemingly, I never did.

10 years passed.  Cotogna seems to still be going strong - when I went to make reservations a couple months ago, when I had visitors in town, for a slot about 2 weeks out, there were no bookings available.  When they came back, and I had enough advance notice, I acted fast.  This reservation I secured by booking it literally the moment reservations opened up 1 month in advance.  10 years later, and Cotogna is still always full booked.

Setting

What else has changed at Cotogna?  Well, there was this whole pandemic thing, and Cotogna, like many other restaurants, installed parklets to have outdoor dining options.  My group was seated at a large parklet table.

Parklet.

The parklet setup at Cotogna is made as comfortable as possible, with solid wood walls to block wind and provide privacy, ample greenery, and of course, lots of heat lamps, both above the tables, and along the sides.  Each seat is also provided with an extremely cozy warm blanket.  Besides the temperature, it really doesn't feel like you are eating on a sidewalk, although it does lack some of the charm of dining inside at Cotogna, with the open kitchen and lovely wood burning oven taking center stage.

Our visit was in July, which, if you've been in SF this past month, you'll know was a bit, uh, unseasonably cold.  The wind was legit.  Even with the heat lamps, even with the barricades, even wearing a jacket, it was cold.  I appreciated that blanket immensely.  As the evening wore on, eventually the wind died down, the wine kicked in, and I was plenty warm, but, it was a bit unpleasant at first.

Cuisine

The cuisine at Cotogna remains largely unchanged, although prices have gone up accordingly.

Menu.

The menu is still broken down in antipasti, pizza e pane, pasta, secondi, and of course, dolci, although the later is not listed on the main menu.  The only real difference from prior menus is that bread used to be available free of charge if you asked for it, now it does incur a fee.  This is on trend with most SF restaurants over the past few years.

Feast.

My visit was with a group of four, and we dined family style, with one vegetarian in the group.  We focused primarily on the elements I remembered being the best at Cotogna, namely, the pasta.

We had a nice meal, although I wasn't quite as wowed as I had been on previous visits.

Antipasti / Pizze E Pane

The Cotogna menu begins with some antipasti to share, such as oysters, a gazpacho that sounded great ... if it had been warm weather, and a few other light dishes.  We selected one for our group, a signature dish, that I saw nearly every table order.  If you weren't familiar with the menu though, it would be easy to pass by, just listed as prosciutto with some garnishes. 

Next up is the pizza and bread lineup.  We entirely skipped getting pizza (both myself and the other diner who visits regularly agreed it is fine, but, the pasta is better) but did get the house made focaccia, intending it to be used to soak up our pasta sauces.

Our dishes arrived after not too much delay, once we had nicely settled in, and were enjoying our wine.

Antipasti: Prosciutto.  $22.

"Prosciutto with gnocco fritto & Lambrusco pickled onions."

I selected the antipasti for the group, but everyone was interested once I shared the details.  I knew what to expect - not only would there be the prosciutto obviously, but strangely, not even listed on the menu, is the fact that it comes with gorgonzola dolce, which made it suitable for our vegetarian diner to have part of as well.  Plus, if you don't know what gnocco fritto are, it could be easy to pass up the little pillows of crispy goodness.

The idea behind this dish is you crack open the gnocco fritto, and stuff it as you please - as much prosciutto, cheese, onions as you see fit, to craft your perfect bite.  I'll admit I didn't do a great job - to much of the red onion that was just too flavorful and overpowered.  Of course, you could also just opt to eat the prosciutto as is, and is what we needed to do once we ran out of our single gnocco fritto pocket each.

I enjoyed having something "to do" to put together a nice bite, and the prosciutto and gorgonzola dolce were good quality, but I don't think I'd get this again.  A slightly novel way to enjoy a classic starter, but not one that really popped for me as much as I hoped.  ***+.

Pizza E Pane: Focaccia della casa. $10.

Our other dish to arrive at this time was the wood fire baked focaccia.  I actually intended it to go alongside our pasta, to lap up the sauces, but I realize now I should have specified that, as the pizza and bread are generally served as a course before the pasta.  In the end, our pasta dishes didn't have that much extra sauce anyway, so it was fine to get it earlier, and we had plenty remaining to use with the pasta if we wanted.

I opted not to try it, as focaccia isn't really my thing, I really had wanted it only for the sauce purposes, and I just used part of a gnocco fritto for that instead.

Pasta

The main attraction for us, like many, at Cotogna was the pasta. We entirely skipped the secondi, even though I'd seem some Instagram glamour shots of pretty lovely squash blossom wrapped salmon.  We where there for what Cotogna always shines at: the pasta.

Our group of four picked four to share from the 7 available, including 3 vegetarian items (as we had one vegetarian with us), and one with pork sausage.  We skipped the other vegetarian option (minestrone, eh), the signature agnolotti del plin (I hadn't been wowed by it before and the other regular had just had it the week before), and the final option, which I would have picked over the one meat dish we got, a garganelli with porcini mushrooms and prosciutto, but I was happy to go along with the group order.  The two items I wanted most were on everyone's list, so, I didn't care as much about the rest.

Three of our pastas arrived at once, but the signature, show stopping, raviolo did not.  I'm still not sure if the kitchen forgot it, or if it was deliberate to bring it so much later.  I suspect the former, as we were only provided serving utensils for three dishes, and I did inquire about it after about 5-10 minutes of not being mentioned.

Corn triangoli. $26.

"with chives & their blossoms."

This was the dish I was most excited for.  Yes, I knew the raviolo was the food porn showstopper, but this one sounded the most to my liking, plus, it sure gets great reviews, even better than the aforementioned raviolo.  Plus, I absolutely love corn, and it was peak corn season.

It did not disappoint.

The pasta was perfect - it was thin, delicate, and expertly cooked.  No mushy pasta here, and nothing clumped together.  The pockets were filled with corn goodness, along with all the visible corn in the simple butter sauce.  I wanted corn, and I got corn, every bite just burst with incredible corn flavor.  The chives were a nice match.

The sauce was a touch boring, part of me wanted a cream sauce, something with more to it, but I think that would have detracted from the wonderful corn flavors throughout, so I suspect the kitchen made the right call here.

Really, a lovely, corn forward, seasonal dish, perfectly prepared, and a great way to start the meal.  I'm still not sure if I preferred this or the raviolo, both were nailed.  ****.

Tortelli di Norma. $27.

"with ricotta salata, tomato & basil."

The group opted for this vegetarian pasta to round out our menu, to have a third option that was available to all, and, well, wasn't minestrone (we all agreed that was boring).

The tortelli were arranged lovingly, and just barely sauced - enough for each bite to have the sauce, but, certainly not much extra.  This was a dish about the beauty of the pasta, accented by the sauce and ricotta salata grated on top, but certainly not dominated by it.  It was a not a dish that you'd use your extra bread to soak up all the sauce, although I actually did do that to taste a little.

The sauce was a very simple tomato sauce, but quite vibrant, and rather buttery.  It certainly did NOT taste like it came out of a jar.  I decided not to try a tortelli, as I loved the corn triangoli so much, and wanted to save space for the hopefully incoming raviolo.  I also just wasn't really in the mood for red sauce, even though this was a nice sauce.

Mezzi Paccheri. $24.

"with pork sausage sugo & broccoli di ciccio."

The sole meat option we picked was the mezzi paccheri.  While I would have opted for the prosciutto pasta, my preference wasn't that strong, as I do like good sausage, and one diner was very interested in having sausage. 

This dish was considerably more sauced than the tortelli, as the sugo was a main component, although it certainly wasn't swimming in sauce either.  I was surprised at how minimal the tomato component was in it, while there was some mild tomato in the base, the primary ingredient was the ground pork sausage, basically in a meat enriched broth.  Roasted red onions and some lightly cooked cherry tomatoes rounded it out, along with the broccoli di ciccio for a touch of green.  I found it notable that the salt level was perfect for me - our tables came with no salt nor pepper to add, and, we didn't need anything adjusted, the kitchen nailed the seasoning.

The pasta, mezzi paccheri, was a great shape as it had a bit of bite to it, and held up well against the meat.  Like the other dishes, the pasta was perfectly cooked, al dente.

This dish was another fairly simple seeming dish, just tube pasta and a meat sauce, but, it was well executed.  My least favorite of the pastas, just because it was a bit boring.  ***+.

Raviolo di ricotta. $28.

Behold.  The raviolo.

Yes, I know this is one of those dishes that people go nuts over on Instagram.  Ok, in its served form it is a touch ugly, but the beauty comes when you cut into it.  Yes, I know that egg yolk food porn has kinda had its moment.  But, I also know how much skill goes in to making this dish, and, simple put, when done well, the results are stunning.

For the unfamiliar, this is "just" a simple, single giant ravioli patty, as big as a plate.  A ricotta filled ravioli.  In brown butter sauce.  With ... a giant egg yolk right in the center, hopefully ready to ooze out everywhere.  Nailing the execution of it - cooking the pasta fully, not actually cooking the yolk, etc is where the skill comes in.

But let's start with the pasta part.  Like all our other dishes, the pasta was clearly fresh, the right thickness, as in, fairly thin.  And, yes, perfectly cooked - not mushy, not underdone, lightly al dente.  The pasta was about as good as simple fresh pasta can get.

Same with the sauce.  Just brown butter, and plenty of it.  Definitely our most sauced dish, and by far the most delicious of the sauces, the one that I absolutely wanted bread to use to soak up all the goodness.  The nutty notes to it were lovely.

I suspect that just fresh pasta, with this brown butter, and a shaving of parmesan over it would be a fairly stunning, albeit very simple, dish.  But this one had much more to give, as that raviolo was ready to be cut into.

Raviolo: Inside.

And here you have it.

The pasta was well stuffed with creamy, seasoned ricotta, and of course, lots of bright orange egg yolk that did indeed come bursting out as I cut in, and mixed together with everything else to create the "perfect bite".  The result was a luxurious mouthfeel, that, even though there was plenty of butter, cheese, and egg yolk involved, didn't feel too rich.

Like the previous dishes, I noted how well seasoned the dish was, again, no additional accents were needed (although I could imagine a more heavy hand with black pepper, or perhaps fresh black pepper cracked on top, could accent it further, or perhaps some fresh sage?).

It might seem crazy to pay $28 for "just a cheese ravioli", but, the skill level was apparent, and it was tied for first place for me for the top dish. ****.

Dolci

After our mains were finished, the group pondered ordering more pasta, but I was certain to save room for dessert.  Of course, I always love dessert, but in this case, I'd looked at the menu online just an hour before to ensure they still had the items I'd been drooling about on Instagram for the past few weeks.  I looked forward to the glorious warm and decadent pan dulcis with rum caramel & vanilla bean gelato and the panna cotta with fresh figs.  

Our resident wine expert picked us a fairly incredible bottle of dessert wine, that we all quite enjoyed.  It actually wasn't on the wine list, but the sommelier found it and recommended it to us, after a lengthy conversation with my guest who certainly knew his wines.  It really was a treat.

Dessert Menu.

My heart sank when we received the menu.  Not only were the two items I was so excited for gone from the menu, but ... there was literally no dessert I even really was interested in.  The lineup was sorbet with fruit (I never think of sorbet as a "real dessert", plus, it wasn't exactly warm outside dining), a pine nut and lemon tart (since having pine nut syndrome about 10 years ago I've not gone near a pine nut, plus I don't generally care for lemon desserts), chocolate bomboloni (ok, possibly good, but I avoid caffeine, even chocolate at night), and gelato (a great component to a dessert, but, not a full dessert in my mind, and again, it wasn't warm out).

I quickly thought through other neighborhood options, but, nothing really came to mind, plus, we'd just ordered an excellent bottle of dessert wine.  And thus, with zero enthusiasm, I ordered the two "real" desserts for the group, a long with a scoop of gelato to pair with them.

The good news?  I survived not getting pine nut syndrome again, and perhaps can move forward in life without avoiding it quite so much.  And the desserts were "fine", but not particularly my style, and I really was sad not to get what I had been eyeing ... the woes of scoping a place out in advance!  Had I never known what desserts they were serving just a day prior, I'd feel much less disappointment most likely.

Sicilian Pine Nut & Meyer Lemon Tart. $12.

Behold.  A tart.  A lemon tart.  A PINE nut lemon tart.  For those who read my blog regularly, you know I don't tend to give tarts very high accolades (their crust is just so often a letdown, and I'd rather have a pie most days), and I also don't tend to go for lemon desserts.  And, um, I haven't had ANYTHING with pine nuts in it for at least 10 years since I had pine nut syndrome.  To say this was outside my comfort zone is an understatement, and, if there was any other dessert I wanted, I certainly would have just skipped it entirely.  But ... the menu was so limited, and I was ready to take a small bite, and hope for the best.

I was pleasantly surprised.  Not only did I survive my pine nut experience unscathed, I did actually enjoy the tart.  The shortcrust was soft, sweet, and buttery, really nicely done.  For once, a tart that doesn't have a "throwaway" shell.  The meyer lemon was lightly sweet and tart, and really a nice flavor to compliment the pine nuts.  It was a quite balanced dish, in both flavor and texture, with soft crust, gooey filling, and crunchy nuts.  It ate well, if you know what I mean.  The simple garnish of a small dollop of cream and lightly candied lemon worked well, but, you know me, I'd love more cream (and, the gelato I ordered also worked great with it).

I actually enjoyed this, and would consider getting it again.  One of the better tarts I've had, even if not flavors and ingredients I normally go for.  ****.

Chocolate & Praline Bomboloni. $14.

The bomboloni weren't quite what I was expecting.  I did expect large filled donuts of course, but I thought they'd all be filled with chocolate of some form, and that there might be praline (like, candied nuts) on the plate.  Instead, our order included two of the donuts stuffed with chocolate filling and one stuffed with "praline".  This was actually a good thing for me, as it meant I could mostly skip the chocolate (caffeine), although there was chocolate sauce on the plate as well, it was minimal.

There was also just a small dollop of cream, and a few cocoa nibs, to finish off the plating.  As no one else went for it, I quickly snatched up the cream, which was needed to balance the filling of the bomboloni (as was the gelato, keep reading).  I felt the dish lacked any crunchy textural element, and was surprised there was no praline on the plate.

I did not try the chocolate filled ones, but I did taste a little of the chocolate from the plate, which I think was the same.  It was ... chocolate?

Praline Bomboloni: Inside.

I opted just for a praline bomboloni.

The donut was mildly warm, and coated in sugar.  Nothing remarkable, on par with any donut shop really.  Sometimes restaurant donuts can be fairly mind blowing as they are freshly made, but these didn't seem particularly noteworthy.

Inside was generous filling, in this case, "praline", which to me tasted like hazelnut.  It was very sweet, and very strong, and entirely overpowered the donut.  It, like the donut shell, was mildly warm.  I found it fairly cloying, and didn't really enjoy it.  I needed to use equal parts gelato to attempt to balance it out, which really just meant I missed out on the subtuitlties of the lovely flavor of the gelato.  I wonder if the chocolate filling was better, or, if you needed to use a little of each to make a nice bite?  That doesn't seem particularly practical though, as they were seperate.

I didn't care for anything about this dish, and wouldn't recommend. *+.  The $14 price also felt a bit high, I know it was restaurant dessert prices, but, these sort of donuts would be <$3 each at a donut shop.

Jenn's Gelato: Vanilla & Honeycomb. $8.

Gelato was available in 4 flavors, 3 of which were caffeinated: mint stracciatella, vanilla & honeycomb, espresso & fudge, and cioccolato.  Since I was avoiding caffeine as much as possible, if I wanted gelato to pair with our desserts, I had one choice: vanilla & honeycomb. 

The gelato is served by the scoop for $8, and comes with a crispy wafer cookie.  The wafer cookie was not anything special, just basically a sugar cone but in round cookie form.  No one else wanted t, so I used it to scoop up some of the bomboloni filling and ice cream.

Honeycomb!

The gelato was good.  It melted nicely, and had quite large hunks of honeycomb inside.  It complemented the desserts perfectly - the sweet honeycomb went very well with the pine nut tart, and the neutral base helped balance out the very sweet and very overwhelming praline filling from the bomboloni.  I was quite glad to have the gelato, and even though we had only one fairly small scoop, the others didn't really seem interested in it, so I got nearly the entire thing, which was the right amount to pair with my portions of the other items.  

I definitely recommend adding gelato to pair with desserts, if that is your thing of course.  ***+.

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Dunkin' Donuts - The Drinks

Update Review, 2021/2022

Another year, another couple visits to the east coast, and thus, more Dunkin' beverages.

Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew. Small.
(Seasonal).

"For the ultimate pumpkin experience, Dunkin’s new premium pumpkin pick, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, offers Dunkin’s Cold Brew – coffee steeped in cold water for 12 hours for an incredibly rich, ultra-smooth, full-bodied beverage – made with pumpkin flavor swirl, topped with the new Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam, and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar topping. Dunkin’s new Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam is light orange in color and has sweet notes of pumpkin and hints of warm spices such as cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. The drink is served with a special sip lid so fall fanatics can enjoy the layers of velvety Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam and delicious bold Cold Brew to the fullest."

So ... this is not quite what I wanted.  I had ordered a small cold brew, no ice, black, when I saw the pumpkin cold foam behind the bar.  I asked about the pumpkin cold brew item listed on the menu, and was told it was the same as what I got, just with the pumpkin cold foam on top.  I changed my order, asking for that instead, so I could get to try the topping.  I still expected my black coffee, and no ice ...

And ... this is what I was given.  I couldn't be bothered to complain, but, it had ice, and it had pumpkin swirl syrup, with sugar and cream, mixed in as well.  Sigh.  Kinda the opposite of a simple black no ice coffee!

The topping however, the part I was after, was great.  It really did taste like pumpkin spice, and the cinnamon sugar on top took it over the top.  The entire drink was super sweet and tasted like pumpkin pie, again, not what I was going for, but, it was good ... for dessert.

***, and probably **** if it was what I had wanted.

Cold Brew. Large. No Ice.

"100% Arabica beans steeped overnight in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract the flavor, making it an ultra-smooth, full bodied cold coffee with a sweeter, rich chocolatey taste. Craft-brewed in small batches. Limited quantities available daily."

Some Dunkin locations have a full tap setup, with cold brew, nitro cold brew, and other items.  It looks, almost ... classy? (If you consider a tap system classy, heh).

Anyway, the cold brew I've had on tap at Dunkin' has always seemed slightly weaker than the cold brew I've gotten at locations that don't have the tap system, but it is always fine.  Not remarkable, but smooth enough, drinkable enough.  Fine, average cold brew, better than iced coffee or hot coffee usually. ***.

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Nitro Cold Brew

I finally found a location that had nitro on tap.  The nitro I did find fairly notable, super smooth, deep, rich, complex flavor.  I really enjoyed my nitro, and when I didn't finish it (its a lot of caffeine), I threw it in the fridge and enjoyed the next day with no problem (besides of course not having any fizz).   It was still good, just, not nitro'ed at that point.

Definitely something I'll get again.  It is available only in small size, per Dunkin' rules due to caffeine content.

****.

Update Review, 2020

I spent the summer of 2020 on the east coast, and was able to visit Dunkin' Donuts far more times than I have since ... well, living there.  It was always "fine", and I wouldn't have necessarily sought it out, but they were giving free coffee every Wednesday, and, well, it gave me somewhere to "go" outside the house.  The majority of my visits in 2020 I just ordered iced coffee, hazelnut.  

One time though, I splurged to finally give the cold brew a chance.

Large Cold Brew, No Ice.  $3.55.

"An ultra-smooth, full-bodied coffee like no other. We’ve steeped 100% Arabica beans in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract all the flavor into this velvety brew."

I can't say this was actually very good, nor better than the iced coffee.  It was just ... dark coffee.  

I usually find cold brew to be stronger, more smooth, etc, but this was pretty flat.

Not bad, but nothing really good about it.  ***.

Side of Whipped Cream.

Because this was my birthday freebie drink, I could do additions without an upcharge ... I didn't want whipped cream on my cold brew, as I wanted to actually get a chance to evaluate it in its pure form.  But I wanted some whipped cream to dunk my donut pieces into ...

So I ordered it "on the side", and was kinda impressed that no one seemed to bat an eye.  My serving of whipped cream was provided in its own cup, and the person delivering my order to the counter said, "cold brew, and here is your side of whipped cream", like it was tbd.  Nice.

It was a generous portion, considerably more than I'd get on an actual coffee.

Light, fluffy, standard sweetened Dunkin' Donuts whipped cream.  ***.

Whipped cream + French Cruller.

And here is my hack: a donut, with a side of whip!

It was my first time trying the french cruller (as I reviewed last week), so I didn't realize how sweet it would be - it is glazed.  It didn't need to be dunked in sweetened whipped cream.  But I think the concept is great, and look forward to doing it with a more plain donut.

Update Review, August 2019

Another year, another east coast visit, another couple lackluster visits to Dunkin' Donuts for highly mediocre coffee.

Dunkin' Decaf, Hazelnut, Medium. $2.65.

Dunkin' Donuts coffee really isn't that great.  I know this.  But, sometimes, you just need to go with tradition, and get it anyway.  As I did, several times during my July trip to the east coast.

I went for hazelnut each time, knowing the flavoring would at least help give it a bit of ooph.

The coffee the first day was ... ok.  Not good, but not the worst ever.  I think I still liked having the hazelnut.  I liked it better chilled over ice.

Why anyone would pay $2.65 for this is beyond me though.

Grounds!

The next day, it was ... horrible?  Bitter.  Acidic.  Harsh.  Just, really quite awful.

I took a couple sips, and then ... accidentally spilled it all over myself.  Literally, all over myself.  Which revealed the bottom of the cup.  Filled with course grounds.  No wonder it was so awful.

I had only taken, literally, 5 steps outside the door, so I went back, and asked if they'd take pity on someone who just dumped it all over herself.  They said yes (thank you!), and also noticed the grounds everywhere.  The supervisor (I think?) rinsed out the vat of coffee, and brewed a fresh one, before giving me more.

To say it was better is an understatement.  I wouldn't call it *good*, not by any stretch of the imagination, but, but was far far better fresh.

Still, um, $2.85 for this coffee just makes no sense.  I do it when I'm on the east coast, once or twice, but, I'd never visit regularly for this coffee.

Update Review, December 2018

Cold Brew, No Ice, Large.

"An ultra-smooth, full-bodied coffee like no other. We’ve steeped 100% Arabica beans in cold water for 12 hours to slowly extract all the flavor into this velvety brew."

Yes, Dunkin' jumped on board the cold brew wagon.  And ... they did a decent job.

Smooth, full bodied, not harsh nor acidic ... actually a decent cold brew.  Better than the brewed coffee, and actually enjoyable black (even though that order was met with surprise, "just black? No cream or sugar?").

So it was a rewards drink, I got the biggest size, no ice, and used it for my morning coffee for a few days (kept in the fridge of course).  #proMove.

Update Review August 2018

Yeah ... I'm pretty much over Dunkin' Donuts.  It is expensive for what it is, the coffee just isn't anything special, and the baked goods lost their appeal long ago.  It is reliable, particularly for a simple coffee (hot or iced), but beyond that, meh.

Update Review December 2016

A crazy thing happened to me on my holiday visit to the east coast in December.  I decided, perhaps long overdue, that I don't really like Dunkin Donuts.  At least, not the coffee.  It just isn't very good.  I'm sorry, I know I'm upsetting a lot of people right now.  And really, for what it is, it is expensive.  I had my years of loving the place, but I think I was into it in my younger years because of all the cream and sugar, and, well, I didn't really appreciate coffee itself.

During that visit, I still went a few times, got coffee, and didn't really care for it.  On my last day, I realized that I had a birthday freebie reward about to expire.  I didn't want another mediocre coffee.  I knew that way back in the day I loved Coolattas, except, I didn't want caffeine (although, it turns out, Coffee Coolattas have *very* little caffeine content, barely more than decaf!)  I thought I could perhaps try a fruity Coolatta for the first time, assuming it was basically just a slushie drink, but then I saw just how much sugar was in it (88 grams!), and thought better of it.  Instead I opted to go totally off menu, and make up my own icy beverage, somewhat inspired by exploring off-menu Frappuccinos at Starbucks.  Did you know you can do that at Dunkin' Donuts?  I didn't, until I tried.

Original Reviews, 2013 - 2015

I've shared my thoughts on the west coast coffee chain darling, Peet's, and the nationwide Starbucks, so it seems only appropriate to post about the place I grew up with: Dunkin' Donuts.  Or Dunks, as I knew it.

Dunks is where I learned to drink coffee.  Now, granted, what I thought was coffee then and what I think is coffee now are two very different things.  But it still holds a very special place in my heart.

As a kid, no birthday party was complete without a giant box of munchkins.  Once I could drive, no road trip was complete without several stops at Dunks to get a hot coffee and a muffin.  And no summer day was complete without a refreshing Coolatta or an iced coffee.  They seemed to have a product to fit whatever stage of life I was in.

But then I moved to the west coast, where there are no Dunkin' Donuts.  And I started drinking my coffee black, and then even just drinking espressos, and started caring which single origin coffee I was drinking, and what extraction method was used to prepare it. My days of Dunks were behind me.

On my last few visits to the east coast however, I've tried it out again.  While still satisfying in the nostalgic sense, it actually isn't very good.  I claim it has changed.  For example, my coffee of choice, the french vanilla, used to be actual french vanilla coffee, and now it is just the regular coffee, with a squirt of flavored syrup in it.  They only brew basic regular and decaf now, and just use syrups for the rest.  The donuts and muffins are no longer baked fresh daily on site, but rather in big distribution centers and shipped in.  And ... they sell bagels?  And breakfast burritos?  And ... tuna salad sandwiches?  And my precious Coffee Coolatta is now called "Frozen Coffee Drink".  Whaaat?

Anyway.  I've tried out a bunch of their products again, and my notes on the drinks are below (to read about the baked goods, and donuts, visit that review).  The only thing that I used to love that I haven't tried recently is the muffins, particularly, the corn muffins.  They had a big sign on them boasting "new recipe!" so I shied away.  I'll let them stay in my memory as the amazing thing they once were.

Notes below include both standard, and seasonal special, offerings, compiled over the course of 2013 - 2015.

Hot Coffee

I found a lot of variety in the hot coffee.  I think the biggest difference was likely how fresh the coffee is, particularly the decaf.  Unlike Peet's, they don't have any policies regarding freshness.  Several times I asked how fresh the decaf was, and the worker told me it was from that morning (when it was late in the afternoon).  Yikes!

Back in the day, when you ordered a coffee at Dunks, it came with cream and sugar, by default.  If you didn't specify anything, that is what you got.  And not just a little bit of each, they'd load it up with a giant scoop of sugar and a generous glug of cream.  Not half and half, cream.  It was sweet, it was creamy, and I guess there was coffee in there somewhere.

Times have changed a little.  Now, if you just order a coffee, they ask, "cream and sugar?"  And if you say yes, you still get the massive amounts of it.  I tried some black a few times, and must say, it wasn't very good at all.  But load it up with cream and sugar, and it is still pretty much what I remember.

Standard Flavors

Other things that have changed?  How the flavor is added.  I used to always love the french vanilla and hazelnut coffees.  Back in the good old days, these were actually flavored coffees.  Now all flavors are added as syrups.  Most are just sweetened syrup with some flavors, although the "flavor swirls" also include sweetened condensed milk, so you have to be careful if you get one of those and also ask for cream and sugar ... it gets crazy sweet and creamy fast!

For the shots that are just flavor, options are blueberry, raspberry, coconut, mocha, and toasted almond, plus  caramel, hazelnut, french vanilla.  The later options are also available as the aforementioned "swirls", with sweetend condensed milk already added in.

Small Hot Coffee, Hazelnut.

Hazelnut is my current favorite.  I used to love the old brewed French Vanilla flavor, but the new syrup I do not like as much.  Hazelnut adds a nice aroma and flavor, although the standard number of pumps of syrup tends to be too sweet for me.  I prefer one fewer pump than standard.

Other Flavors:

• Blueberry: I tried this really just out of curiosity.  Blueberry coffee?  Wat? Well, it was exactly what it said it was.  Blueberry flavored coffee.  No reason to get this again, but it was decent blueberry flavor.  
• Caramel: The aroma on this was lovely, but the taste ... awful.  I'm not sure if it was the caramel, or the stale, rancid old coffee it was added to, but, it was undrinkable, and I haven't been brave enough to try it again since!
• Cinnamon: Not bad, but obviously just cinnamon flavor syrup.
• French Vanilla: A tiny bit sweet, a tiny bit vanilla-y, and a bit "fake" tasting.  I still like having the flavor, but its not what it used to be.
• Toasted Almond: A bit burnt tasting perhaps, not good.

Seasonal Specials

Throughout the year, Dunkin' Donuts introduces seasonal specials, usually inspired by holidays, or recent partnerships (like when they merged with Baskin' Robbins, and started offering all sorts of ice cream inspired flavors).  These flavors come for a few months, and then go, although sometimes they repeat again the next year.

• Peppermint Mocha (Seasonal, Winter 2014): Slightly pepperminty, but not very strong.  Didn't taste any chocolate or "mocha"ness.  Least sweet of all the flavor swirls.
• Pumpkin Swirl: Very pumpkiny, spiced, and insanely sweet.  This is one of the "swirl" flavors, so it has sweetened condensed milk, very sweet, very creamy. 
• Red Velvet Swirl: Another "swirl" flavor, very sweet and creamy, actually kinda tasty!  [ Very sweet, very creamy, enjoyable. ] [ A single pump isn't enough for a medium to really give it the richer red velvet flavor.  But standard order (2 pumps?) is a bit too much for me, the cream left a nasty mouthfeel and coated my throat. ]
• Sugar Cookie (Seasonal, Winter 2014): This was a flavor swirl, so, again loaded with sweetened condensed milk and sugar.  I got a small, and I think the amount of syrup added would have been sufficient for a large.  Way, way too sweet. I'm not sure what I was expecting from "sugar cookie" flavor, but all this tasted like was sweetness.  Would not get again.

Other Hot Drinks

Dunkin' Donuts sells a number of other hot drinks, including tea, chai, hot chocolate, lattes, cappuccinos, and the "Dunkaccino®".  I can't imagine ordering these beverages, but, some people must.

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Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.

"Now you can enjoy the doubly tasty sensation of sweet and salted caramel in your cup of hot chocolate."

My sister ordered a hot chocolate since she doesn't like coffee.  And ... I stole a sip.  It was crazy sweet.  Like way, way too sweet.  And not very chocolately at all.  It did have a nice froth on top, but I think it came from a machine, not a skilled barista.  Certainly not my thing.

Iced Coffee

My old standard summer drink was always iced coffee.  Like the hot coffee, the flavors now come as a flavor syrup, rather than brewed flavored coffee.  And like the hot coffee, once loaded up with Dunk's signature amounts of cream and sugar, it was pretty much exactly as I remembered.  Sweet, creamy, refreshing, exactly what I wanted on a hot summer day.

Standard Flavors

The standard flavors available for iced coffee are the same as for hot coffee.

Medium Hazelnut Decaf Iced Coffee, Splash of Milk. $2.59.

This is my classic summer drink.  Warm weather and iced coffee just go hand in hand.  My favorite flavor for iced coffee at Dunks is hazelnut.

I never like my iced coffee black, so I always sweeten it, and add milk rather than cream.  I'm not cream-adverse, but for some reason in iced coffee it always tastes cloying to me, and coats my mouth in an uncomfortable way.  So, milk it is.

I loved this, on a hot day, it was oh-so-satisfying.

Dark Roast Iced Coffee, Splash of Milk, Hazelnut (3 pumps).

For National Coffee Day, Dunkin' Donuts gave out free medium sized coffee (hot or iced) of their relatively new Dark Roast only.  I'm usually a decaf drinker, and don't actually like dark roasts, but, I can't resist a freebee.

I added milk and hazelnut as I always do.  And ... it tasted exactly like the decaf I had the day before.  It certainly didn't seem particularly dark.  And I guess that means that the decaf doesn't taste particularly funky?  I really enjoyed it, and the associated caffeine high that came from sucking it down in all of 3 minutes flat.  Whoops.

Decaf Iced Coffee, Coconut, Large (July 2017).

I had a free beverage on my account, and it was valid for anything, any size.  While iced coffee is certainly not the way to maximize free $$ (Coolattas, etc are more expensive), it is what I wanted.  I did opt for large, which I'm pretty sure I've never done before.  I felt ridiculous holding it, but, some fraction of it was ice, right?

It was fine, standard iced coffee.


I decided to be crazy and try a new flavor: coconut.  I ... kinda liked it.  Very refreshing, and a bit fun.  I'd love to combine it with another flavor, but I'm not really sure what would work best.

Decaf Iced Coffee, 2 Pumps Hazelnut, Large (August 2018).

Another year, another birthday freebie.  And like last year, I decided to just get the thing I wanted, and not bother optimize the $$$ amount.

I went back to my classic order, decaf iced coffee, hazelnut.  A large normally has 4 pumps, I opted for 2, which gave it just a slight hazelnut flavor, but didn't overwhelm with sweetness.  Next time, I'd try 3.

It was fine.  Standard, good iced coffee.  Perfect for the weather.  But not remarkable in any way.

Other Flavors:

• French Vanilla: Not much flavor, meh. Somehow "fake" tasting.
• Coconut Caramel Swirl: Crazy sweet since it is a "swirl" flavor with sweetened condensed milk already in it, so don't get sweetener with this flavor.  Coconuty, caramely, and quite tasty!
• French Vanilla + Coconut + 1 Cream, small: Decent, but still too much cream for me, and I wanted to add sweetener anyway.

Seasonal Specials

Just like with hot coffee, Dunkin' Donuts offers seasonal and special flavors that can be mixed into iced coffee (or really, any drink you want, if you go for lattes, cappuccinos, or even hot chocolate).

Medium Decaf Cookie Dough Iced Coffee.  $2.39.

It turns out, that in the years since I've left the east coast, the classic Dunkin' Donuts order of cream and sugar is no longer sufficient: the new flavor "swirls" available already have dairy and sweetener mixed in!  The flavor shot includes sweetened condensed milk, cream, light cream, and milk, plus high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and brown sugar.  Seriously?  ALL THE CREAMS AND SUGARS!  Were people starting to get healthy and order skim milk and splenda instead of cream and sugar, so they had to up the ante and hide the crazy?  Anyway, this was crazy sweet.  It did taste kinda like cookie dough though, and I liked it more than I expected too.

Other flavors:

• Mint Chocolate Chip: Not nearly as creamy, nor as sweet, as the cookie dough, although it still obviously had both dairy and sweetener in it.  I wish I'd taken a photo, because it looked so different, and it makes no sense to me, given that the Dunkin' Donuts website has the same nutritional and ingredient information for the two varieties.  Given that the first one seemed way too creamy sweet, perhaps they added the correct amount to this one?  (Although, I'd expect the number of squirts they do must be standard, so I'm not sure why there is so much variance).  Like the cookie dough flavor, it did taste remarkably like mint chocolate chip.  Which, it turns out ... is not what I want from my coffee.  I wouldn't get this again.
• Butter Pecan: Again sweet and creamy, but I didn't care for the flavor.  It tasted a bit burnt.

Frozen Beverages

Ah, Coolattas.  For the times where you want to splurge.  Or for when you are younger, and have no clue how horrible these things are.

Coolattas are frozen, slushy, iced concoctions, sorta like Starbucks Frappuccinos, except made from a mix, not freshly brewed coffee to order.  Back in the day, I'm pretty sure they were all coffee based, but now there are fruity options as well.  All are loaded up with tons of sugar and random chemicals.  They are not available with decaf coffee, since the base is "Frozen Coffee Base", which already includes "Frozen Coffee Concentrate", made with coffee extract, not even real espresso.  The Vanilla Bean flavor uses "Frozen Neutral Base", a terrifying mix of chemicals, sugars, and cream, yielding a 850 calorie treat, complete with a whopping 174 grams of sugar.  The fruit flavors are marketed more at kids, and, as you can imagine, are just sugar bombs.

They also generally come topped with whipped cream.

I did used to love these, perfect for a hot summer day, for an indulgent treat.  I've tried them again as an adult, but, alas, the magic has been lost.

Oreo Vanilla Bean Coolatta, Child Size, Whip.

Oreo was a featured flavor of the month, not one that I had before.  It looked delicious in the picture displayed all over the store.  I couldn't resist, but I opted for the off-menu child size, to keep my sugar intake in check.

It was very sweet, like a liquid Oreo.  It had tons of Oreo crumbles in it.  It was nicely icy, well blended,  and actually, quite enjoyable.  Basically a milkshake.  The whipped cream on top really helped balance it out.  This size was perfect though, anything more would have been way, way too much.

Previous notes: The first time I tried it, I just had a small sample, and it was too sweet and not well blended.  The whipped cream on top was necessary to help balance it out.

Coffee Coolatta, Coconut, Medium, Whip.

I decided to try a new flavor.  I've been on a bit of a coconut kick lately, so I went for coconut.  It was ... ok.  I did like having some coconuty goodness in it.

The base had some slight coffee flavor, but not much.  It was blended decently, although it quickly separated, leaving a watery layer at the bottom and a icy layer on top.  Overall, it was also very sweet.

Standard whipped cream on top, Garelick Farms brand, from a can.

I didn't love this; the flavor just wasn't intense, it was kinda icy and separated ... meh.

Vanilla Bean Coolatta + Blueberry + Whip (Large).

"Rich and creamy, our Vanilla Bean Coolatta® is a refreshingly divine treat at any time of day."

I don't think Dunkin' Donuts is known for custom, off-menu drinks.  But I wanted an icy beverage, that wasn't caffeinated, and wasn't just sugar.  This left me with exactly one option: a Vanilla Bean Coolatta.  But I've had it before, and remembered that it was basically just sweet, and I didn't like it either.  So, I decided to try adding in a flavor shot, normally for the coffee obviously, but, I figured they could add it to a Coolatta too, and come up with a custom, sorta fruity, creamy, blended beverage.

The person taking my order clearly hadn't ever had someone order like this, but was really into it.  I think he was more excited than I was, particularly when he saw it was my birthday creation.  I think he wished me a happy birthday about 10 times.

Flavor shots are available in french vanilla, hazelnut, toasted almond, coconut, blueberry, and raspberry.  I opted for blueberry, but I think coconut or raspberry would be delicious too.

It sorta worked.  I did like the creamy blueberry flavor, and with just one shot in the large drink, it wasn't too much.  But the drink wasn't really as icy as I hoped, it was very thin and liquidy for the most part.  I wanted it to be thicker, more like a milkshake.  I think this is me just not really liking Coolattas, not a failing of my creation.

The man who prepared my beverage also went a bit crazy with the whipped cream, which I didn't mind at all, but, as you can see above, it looked rather insane.  So much whipped cream, but honestly, that *was* the best part.

This thing was perhaps the worst thing, nutritionally, that I possibly could have ordered, which is saying something given that I was surrounded by donuts.  Not counting the whipped cream, it turned out to be even worse sugar-wise than the fruity Coolattas, which I didn't realize until far too late.  174 grams of sugar (!!!).  How is that even possible?  A whopping 850 calories too, again, not including the very, very generous amount of whipped cream.  "Neutral Base", with its cream and every form of sugar imaginable, really did add up!


I can't say I'd get this again, as even I can't justify that much sugar, but, I'd consider a kid's size one, and try coconut next time ...

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Vanilla Coffee Coolatta.

This was my old standby, during the summer, when I wanted a treat.

It was very, very sweet, with a slight vanilla flavor, and a slight coffee flavor.  I remember why I liked these, but ZOMG serious sweet.

Update:  I had another, the next summer  It had that classic Dunkin' Donuts french vanilla flavor that I recalled from my youth.  It was nicely blended, with no icy chunks.  The whipped cream on top was good.  It was definitely too sweet for my general taste these days, but really was fun to try again because it really was exactly what I remember!

Update: And the next year? Way too sweet.  I didn't want more than a few sips of this.

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Vanilla Bean Coolatta.

This was an ordering mistake.  I thought I was getting my Vanilla Coffee Coolatta, but instead I seemed to have ordered a Vanilla Bean Coolatta.  Oops.

This was just sweet overload.  It did not have a good vanilla flavor.  It was not very slushy.  It was just sweet, sweet, sweet.  But the whipped cream was awesome.  Did I mention it was sweet?  ZOMG.  Not including the whip, this thing had ... 130 grams of sugar in it!  The perfect thing to pair with a donut, right?

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Mumu, Sydney

I finally returned to Sydney in August 2022, after nearly 2.5 years away.  I was there with a large group for a business trip, but had the opportunity to arrange a dinner for a smaller group of 10 of us.  I was prepared to make a booking at Ms. G's, one of my favorite (and fun!) places in Sydney, as I knew they did a great banquet setup, but alas, our dinner was for a Monday night, and Ms. G's, like many other restaurants, is not open on Mondays.

I started doing a bit of research, and pretty quickly knew exactly where I wanted to take the group.  A new restaurant from the Merivale group, with Chef Dan Hong (of Ms. G's, Mr. Wong, etc) at the backing: Mumu.  Located right in the Ivy, it was close by the hotel, not far from of the office, and seemed unique and fun ... much like Ms. G's, although with an entirely different focus.  Banquet menus for groups, a private room, and, well, done deal.  I made my booking for the private room easily online.

The theme is Southeast Asian street food, and I did worry it would be a bit too adventurous for the group, but, I think most people enjoyed it.  I'll gladly return.

Setting

"This inner-city hang-out (set within the ivy precinct) is the perfect place to drink, dance, and burn the midnight oil."

The main restaurant is, um, vibrant.  The music is loud, the vibe is frantic, and the single, large room with open kitchen area really is a bit overwhelming.  Not a place for a relaxed, quiet date night.  But a place to get drawn in by interesting cuisine, and have a good time?  Absolutely.

Private Room.

My group had a private room (I think Mumu has two), which was perfect.  The private room could seat 14, we had 10, which fit very comfortably.  We were able to ask to have the music lowered in our room, which was easily accommodated, and the staff shut the barn door, to really isolate us.  Sure, we missed out on the vibe, but, for our group, as part of a work function, this was a better fit.

We were a bit ignored, but I think that may be just kinda standard Sydney service.  Sure, our food was brought to us when it was ready, everything was served hot, but, we weren't checked on throughout the meal, ordering additional drinks took proactive work on our part, and getting the bill at the end of the night only happened when we physically just got up and left.  So, not the best service, but when the staff were interacting with us, it was well received.  The handled allergies and dietary preferences nicely.

Cuisine

The menu at MuMu jumps all over southeast Asia, hitting Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan & Vietnam, in a playful way, somewhat focusing on street foods.

The regular menu at MuMu is broken into 4 savory categories, plus dessert: To Start (small, mostly individual, bites), Raw/Salad/Small Plates, Seafood & Meat, and Vegetables/Rice/Noodles.  Each category is fairly large, with a variety of cuisines featured.  One could easily eat a light, refreshing meal if they pleased, or could go carb heavy and focus on noodles and rice dishes, or go big and pick all spicy cuisine, etc.  The menu really lets you choose your own adventure.

Banquet Menu. $88/pp.

For groups, two banquet menus are available (required for groups of 10+).  "Groups" can be just two people, so the banquets really are accessible to all group sizes.  Both banquet menus are made up of 12 dishes, with the cheaper option priced at $88 per person, the more premium one at $148.  They share a number of the same dishes, but, the pricier option does include lobster, scallops, and larger desserts.  Both banquet menus draw entirely from the regular menu, no special dishes are offered just as part of the banquet.

For my group, I selected the cheaper of the banquets.  We had 10 diners, 3 of whom were vegetarian, plus another who doesn't eat red meat, and another pescatarian, so I reached out to the restaurant in advance to better understand our options, as the online menus didn't really have much for vegetarians.  I was pleased to find that they actually have vegetarian equivalents of nearly every dish, so my vegetarians would not be left out at all.   

Banquet Feast.

We had a lovely feast.  Themes throughout the meal were strong (but balanced!) flavors, tons of texture, and dishes that were just actually fun to eat.  I'd gladly return, and would love to try a la carte instead of banquet dining another time.  The banquet menu was very reasonably priced for a large amount of quality food.

To Start 

Our banquet menu contained only one item from the To Start section of the menu, but, it was probably the dish I was most excited for.  The betel leaves.  I have such a fondness for stuffed betel leaves, having discovered them at Longrain (also in Sydney) many years ago.  If Mumu's version was anything like my beloved betel leaves, I'd be happy and declare the meal a success, no matter what came next.  The regular menu also has other light, mostly single bite, offerings like oysters, prawn sashimi, grilled scallops on the half shell, and their version of a play on larb.  I'd love to try the grilled scallops sometime.

The betel leaves arrived first, slightly ahead of the next dishes. 

Betel Leaves.

"Sweet pork, dried shrimp, macadamia, salted lime, finger lime, ginger, scud chilli, lemongrass."

This is a classic Thai dish.

This was a new dish for most people, so I quickly gave a little description of how to eat these, and people slightly apprehensively dug in.  For the unfamiliar, the idea of rolling this thing up (yes, you DO eat the leaf!) and taking a big bite was a bit odd, but I assured them they'd want to take as big of a bite as possible, to try to get all the bits at once.

Mumu's version was decent.  The leaf was fresh and crisp, and the filling was a mix of all the flavors (sweet, sour, etc) and textures, that make this a generally good dish.  I didn't necessarily taste the distinct components, but, there were sour notes, crunchy bits, and it was enjoyable enough, although I somewhat wanted a sauce to dunk it into.  

A nice start to the menu, it somewhat prepared the palette for what was to come next.  I wouldn't really seek it out again though.  ***.  5th pick of the savories for me.

$7 each on the regular menu.  The vegetarian version had tofu in place of the pork/shrimp.

Raw, Salads and small plates

Next we move into more starters, and our menu had 4 from this category, about half of the restaurant's offerings.  I liked the lineup, although would love to try the grilled calamari too.

These all arrived just after the betel leaves, and our table was quickly full of share plates.

Prahok Ktis.

"Spicy pork and fermented fish dip, pea eggplants, seasonal crudités."

This is a Cambodian dish, one I wasn't familiar with previously, but, was very interested in trying.  I love fermented fish, I like spice, I love dips ... it sounded right up my alley.  It also kinda scared a lot of people, as it was just so different from anything they had ever had before.

I loved it.  The flavors were intense.  It was spicy.  It was funky.  It was creamy and it had bits of texture.  It excited my mouth in so many ways.  I couldn't get enough of it.

Dish of the night for me, although it didn't generally seem to be a crowd pleaser.  I think just a bit too odd for most folks?  Even better for me though, as I gladly took all the leftover.

****+.

Prahok Ktis: crudités.

I'll admit though that the crudités served with the dip were a bit strange.  Served on ice.  And rather precious looking.  The assortment was green beans, cucumbers, endive, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes, all a bit awkward to dunk.  And the ice presentation was just ... well, different.  The veggies were fresh and crisp, not much more to be said for them.

The dip worked with crudités, but I immediately got to thinking all the other ways I wanted to try it.  It was rich, and the flavor so intense, that I don't think just eating it by the spoonful would be great, but I could imagine filling a lettuce wrap with it and enjoying it that way.  Or stuffing into bread like a sandwich.  As a dip, it was fine, but I think it could be enjoyed so many ways. 

$24 on the regular menu.

The vegetarian option for this course was a collection of spicy sambals with krupuk, so they too had a spicy dip and thing to dip into it.  If I hadn't been so distracted by loving the fermented fish/pork version, I would have loved to try theirs too.

Salmon.

"Jalapeno nam jim, fried shallots, herbs, lemongrass, lime leaf."

A lighter offering, and one more friendly to most, was the raw salmon.  The salmon seemed fresh, had good firm and not chewy texture, and was diced in reasonable bite sized cubes.  I of course loved the crispy fried shallots on top.

People seemed to like this, it was easily finished.  I found it a bit boring, compared to the other dishes, but this is likely a good safe choice for many.

***.  6th pick for me.

$27 on the regular menu.  The vegetarian offering was the same thing, but with sweet corn instead of salmon.

Crispy Rice Salad.

"Herbs, green papaya, jellyfish, snake beans, chilli, peanuts, tamarind."

The final starter that came in this bunch was a crispy rice salad, that also confused most.  It looked like fried rice, but was cold.  But, most people really enjoyed it.

Like the betel leaf, this was a mix of many different textures and flavors.  For texture, there was crisp snake beans, fresh herbs, somewhat slimy shredded papaya and the jellyfish, and tons of additional crunch from the generous amount of peanuts on top.  And then of course the crispy rice.  Fresh and crunchy and really quite fun to eat.  There was a bit of spice to it too.

Some in the group were apprehensive about the jellyfish, but, it really wasn't scary in this form.  Yes, there were slimy bits, but you could pretend were just glass noodles instead of jellyfish, and be quite happy.  Everyone really liked how crispy the rice was.  

My third favorite of the savories, and a unique and enjoyable dish.  ***+.

$21 on the regular menu.  Vegetarians had a similar salad, with I think tofu instead of jellyfish.  Mumu has also served a version of this in the past with smoked pork instead of jellyfish.

DIY Sweet potato and school prawn fritters.

"Lettuce, herbs, pickles, dill nuoc cham."

Our last item from this section arrived 10 minutes after the others, which was good pacing.  We'd all gotten to sample and go back for more of the previous cold dishes, and then our first hot dish arrived.  The DIY fritters.

This one was another stretch for folks ... the servers told people how to eat it (take a lettuce wrap, add herbs, add a fritter, add pickled stuff, dunk in sauce), but it still seemed complicated.  Most people ended up just taking a fritter, not the lettuce wrap/herbs, and cutting it up and eating it with a fork and knife.  Which, is fine, but not quite what the restaurant was intending.

Anyway, the fritters were good.  Super crispy, freshly fried but not oily.  They were made up of shredded sweet potato and small whole prawns.  The sweet potato flavor was dominant, the prawns more just for crunch than any real flavor.  Basically, imagine ... hash browns but made with sweet potato, and deep fried.

DIY Sweet potato and school prawn fritters: Wrapped!

I did make mine into a wrap, with the fresh crisp lettuce wrapper, some assorted fresh herbs, a bit of the pickled stuff, and the nuoc cham.  It reminded me of Vietnamese imperial rolls in that way.  The fresh veggies did lighten it up, and the acid from the pickle also complimented the fried nature, but I think I probably would have liked it more as some of the others enjoyed it, just on its own, and actually, with some kind of aioli.

A satisfying dish and it was nice to have something crispy and fried at this point in the meal.  My fourth favorite bite of the meal.  ***+.

$24 on the regular menu.  The vegetarian version was basically identical, just sweet potato only, no prawns.

Seafood and Meat

Now we are getting into the main dishes, seafood and meat heavy.  We had one seafood (prawns), one meat (lamb), plus a chicken dish.   There was a lull of about 20 minutes after the fritters before the mains came out.

The full menu has additional seafood (grilled Murray cod, pipis, and grilled rock lobster), and more meat (pork spare ribs, grilled beef short ribs).  I'll admit that I wasn't really thrilled with the banquet offerings here - I loathe lamb, dislike chicken, and, of all the seafood dishes, the prawns would be my last choice.  The more expensive banquet did have lobster instead of prawns, pork spare ribs instead of chicken, and beef short ribs instead of lamb, all of which I'd definitely prefer, but, I also knew we'd have plenty of food with all the previous (and next) dishes, that I didn't bother substitute anything.

King Prawns.

"Wok-fried, chilli, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, brown butter."

First up, giant king prawns.

Ok, this was delicious.  I honestly didn't expect all that much from the dish, and yup, I knew it would be a pain to eat, but ... wowzer.  Fantastic.  I'm so glad I had it.

The prawn was incredibly juicy, succulent, and perfectly cooked.  The huge size made it eat more like lobster than any prawn I've ever had before, and honestly, I think it was likely the best prawn (or shrimp, etc) I've ever had.  Um, and better than most (any?) lobster I've had too.  They just nailed the preparation of this.

And then of course there was brown butter and fish sauce, and yes, this thing was most definitely very well coated (poached?) in brown butter.  It was infused throughout the whole shell.  A bit of kick from chilli, a bit of funk from the fish sauce, and, well, it was just perfect, at least to me.

Second favorite dish of the night, barely behind the fermented fish dip.  I think the former wins just due to the uniqueness, but this was very, very good.  ****+.

$40 for 4 on the regular menu, which seems entirely appropriate given how phenomenal it was.  Our vegetarian guests had an additional vegetable group in this dish's place, squash.

Crispy Skin Chicken.

"Lemongrass salsa, Vietnamese mint."

I don't like chicken, so I didn't bother try it, particularly when everyone said it was fairly lackluster.  "Its the kind of chicken that makes Julie not like chicken", is what one diner said. Most of the chicken went unfinished, definitely the least favorite dish for everyone.

$21 for a single piece, $39 for two, on the main menu.  The vegetarians had crispy fried tofu instead.

Lamb Cutlets.

"Angie Hong's marinated and grilled, chilli relish, lime."

I don't cafe for lamb either, so I also skipped the lamb, but everyone else really enjoyed it.  "The lamb is really good", was murmurer up and down the table.  Let's just say, multiple people were more than happy to claim mine.

$46 for 4 on the main menu.  The vegetarians had crispy eggplant in a black vinegar that looked pretty incredible, like ribs almost.  I wanted to try it, but alas, they kinda devoured that one.

Vegetables, Rice and Noodles

And finally, the veggies/rice/and noodles. Our menu had only one veggie and one rice dish, no noodles.  The regular menu has additional vegetarian offerings (such as crispy eggplant that I did actually want to try), other rice dishes, and several noodles.  Both banquets have the same offerings here.

Seasonal Asian Greens.

"Wok-fried, enoki mushrooms, garlic, fermented chilli."

Every banquet needs a token vegetable.  That is what this kinda felt like.  I think only two or three of us even tried it.  People just weren't excited for a random green vegetable.

I thought it was fine, good flavors from the sauce, but, it was just veggies.  Good to round out the meal I guess.  ***.

One of the cheaper dishes, $19 on the menu.

Nasi Goreng.

"Spanner crab, cuttlefish, garlic crackers, fried egg."

Suddenly, we were in Singapore!  Nasi goreng.  Or, as everyone at the table said, "oooh, fried rice!  With an egg on top!".  I'm not really a rice girl, but I tried it.  It was ... well, fried rice.  I wanted to steal some crab and cuttlefish from it, but I couldn't really find any, they were tiny little bits.  For me, this was just not my thing, but I did like the rice crackers.  

Everyone seemed hesitant to take the single egg (one for each platter of this, so we had several).  When they went entirely unclaimed at the end, I took one to try.  The egg was fascinating.  I'm not sure how they cooked it really, the white was kinda puffed up, and very fried on the bottom, making it almost liked a fried tofu puff if that makes any sense.  There was far more egg white than there should be for a single egg ... at least, it seemed that way.   Again, I don't understand how they did it.  The yolk was actually perfectly runny, I think people missed out by not cutting into this and letting it ooze all over the dish.

Multiple people offered to take the rice (but not the eggs!) home, so, it clearly was a crowd pleaser, even if not to me. **+.

A touch pricey at $34 on the regular menu, particularly given how little seafood it seemed to have.  The vegetarian version was the same, just with tofu instead of seafood.

Dessert

The $88 banquet menu normally comes with two desserts: watermelon and the "Bánh flan", the later of which actually sounds fabulous (it is a crème caramel, but served with coffee ice cream and coffee syrup), but since I avoid caffeine at night was a poor choice.  And, obviously, deathly watermelon allergy meant the watermelon was out.  I asked if we could swap to the desserts from the higher priced banquet menu (for a fee of course), both of which sounded great: pandan tres leches and a fun pine-lime coconut lychee sago soup?  Yes!  I'd even be happy with the other dessert option from the regular menu, durian ice cream, although I know that one can be a bit polarizing.

The desserts are normally $18 on the regular menu (or $8 for ice cream, $10 for watermelon).

The lag between our mains and dessert were substantial, nearly an hour (!).  Our main dishes were cleared, new plates brought out, more drinks ordered ... and we waited and waited.  One person decided to leave, they were just too exhausted to stay longer.  We waited some more.  Eventually the desserts came, and after being placed in front of us, we never saw our servers again (until we literally walked out, and they came after us to pay the bill of course).

Pandan Tres Leches Cake.

"Coconut, butterscotch, longan, macadamia."

I was excited for the tres leches, as I love pandan, but I honestly didn't taste any pandan in this.  It was a moist enough cake, and I liked the cream on top and the coconut and macadamia crumble, but, pandan it was not, and I also didn't find any butterscotch nor longan.

Fine, for a tres leches cake, but it lacked the southeast asian flair I was hoping for.  ***.

Pine-Lime Spliced Coconut Soup.

"Lychee, sago, jackfruit sorbet."

The second dessert was a better match for me.  A play on a pine-lime splice (classic Australian ice cream novelty item), crossed with an Asian style ice/coconut soup.

I liked this.  I actually didn't really find much sago, but there was lychee and jackfruit for sweetness and texture, refreshing shaved ice, citrus notes, and the jackfruit sorbet (which, really was just too sweet for me).

When I combined some of this with the whipped cream, macadamia, and coconut from from the tres leches, I had a pretty satisfying complete dessert.  On a hot day, I think this would be a real winner.

***.

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