Senor Sisig

Senor Sisig is a very well known food truck around San Francisco, one of the early pioneers in the now vibrant food truck scene.  The concept is fusion, in a very San Francisco way: fusion burritos.  The main influence however is Filipino street food, which makes it a unique offering.

"A DELICIOUSLY NEW EVOLUTION IN FILIPINO STREET FOOD. FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY RECIPES MADE SAN FRANCISCO STYLE."

The story behind it is exactly the cute kind of success story that makes you smile - two friends bought a food truck on Craigslist, one of them is a chef who grew up eating sisig, and they started a concept all around it, filling burritos and tacos with it.  They added chicken and tofu versions as well, to appeal to the masses.  Let's just say, SF was ready for a novel approach to tacos and burritos, and it took off.  They now have a fleet of 4 trucks, and two physical stores.

"IT'S NOT ASIAN, IT'S NOT MEXICAN, IT'S SEÑOR SISIG" - GUY FIERI, FOOD NETWORK

Yeah, yeah, I just quoted Guy Fieri on my blog.  The menu has stayed true to the original roots, with several varitions on sisig, served in the form of tacos, burritos, rice bowls, salad, nachos, or fries.

Food Truck

The location I visited was a food truck, but one with a permanent home, at Spark Social.

Senor Sisig is located in the back side of Spark Social, well past all the other trucks, but, the folks seek it out.  While other trucks had lines too, Senor Sisig definitely had a steady flow, all afternoon long. It is clearly one of the most popular businesses.

Ube Coconut Alfajores. $3.

"Sweet filling spread between two South American shortbread cookies (flavor availability varies)."

I had eyes for one thing at Senor Sisig, and it wasn't any of their very popular burritos.  Nope, I was there for dessert, and in particular, for a cookie.  Yup, me, for a cookie.  You see, they had ube cookies, and, while I'm not usually huge on alfajores, I had these described as being more like polvoron than real shortbreads, and thus, I was definitely interested.

This was good.  The cookie was indeed soft, much like a polvoron, and actually quite strong ube flavor. Lightly sweet, buttery, and it crumbled well.  A nice cookie, really.  And then, the filling.  It was not traditional caramel that you find in an alfajores, but rather, it too was ube flavored.  Sweet, and it had the consistency of caramel, a slight pull to it.  Basically, well, ube caramel.  It was all rolled in coconut flakes.

Each component was nicely done, and it definitely worked together well.  A nice, actually ube forward, treat.

****.

Chile Lime Peanuts. $4.

As a grab-n-go snack, Senor Sisig has housemade flavored peanuts, available in both garlic and chile lime.  I had seen people rave about these, so, totally as an impulse buy, I grabbed an order of these too.

The nuts were, well, nuts.  Peanuts, skin on.  They were reasonably well coated in a bit of seasoning.  It wasn't particularly spicy, but, the touch of acid from the lime was a nice touch.  Tasty enough to nibble on, and more interesting than plain roasted peanuts, but I wouldn't really go out of my way to get them.  $4 for the full container was a very reasonable price.  ***.

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Ultimate Cookie

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and purchase baked goods at local coffee shops (that aren't made in house), chances are high that somewhere along the way you have encountered treats from Ultimate Cookie.

Ultimate Cookie is a wholesale bakery located in San Francisco (yes, actually, in the city, not far from where I live actually).  They make, well, cookies obviously, but also biscotti, brownies, bars (including tons of healthy style protein and vegan bars, alongside classics like lemon squares, pecan chewy bars), cakes, cupcakes, and rice crispy treats.  They supply many cafes, upscale markets, caterers, and the like.  They have been in business since 1978, so, clearly, they are doing something right.

Ultimate Cookie put their name on the map with a signature item: "Oat Cakes".  It was these oat cakes that actually caused me to pay attention to their brand.

Famous Oat Cakes

"They only look like hockey pucks!"

Yup, that is their tag line.

Oat cakes are ... interesting.  They really do look like hard, dense hockey pucks.  They look healthy.  They taste healthy.  And they are pretty healthy, fat-free, high fiber, high protein (although they still have 400-500 calories each, and nearly 30 grams of sugar, so, not a light item).

I'm not entirely sure when you are supposed to want an oat cake.  For breakfast, rather than a scone or muffin?  For breakfast, rather than a bowl of oats?  For a snack (albeit a very calorie dense one), instead of a granola bar?  On a hike?  Dessert, instead of a oatmeal cookie?  They kinda work for any of these situations I guess.

Ultimate Cookie makes oat cakes in 3 varieties: apricot, cranberry orange, and cinnamon apple. People love these things.  While most of their products are only available wholesale, individual consumers can actually mail order these.

Apple Cinnamon Oat Cake.

"Dried apples, applesauce and spices... Delicious!"

The apple cinnamon is the flavor that most Yelpers rave about. Made with dried apples, spices, and applesauce.  At room temperature, it was kinda just dry and crumbly, but with decent spicing, and chunks of apple.  But it seemed like just a super dry granola bar. 

People online recommended heating it up, so I tried that.  It was even more dry that way.  I slathered in in jam, but it didn't help.  I did not enjoy it.  

I think that perhaps warm with butter it would have worked, but I kinda think I just got a stale one, and the spicing wasn't really the type I enjoy.  Would not get again. **.

I froze half of it originally, and when I pulled it out of the freezer, I warmed it up, wrapped in foil so it wouldn't lose moisture.  And, of course, added the butter I thought it needed.  It wasn't any better.  Just strangely dense and gummy, and the spicing tasted like soap. 

Apricot Oat Cake.

"The ULTIMATE Oat Cake... Our hottest seller.  Tangy dried apricots and raisins in a healthy oat cake."

The next one I tried came with dried apricots and raisins.

It was a lot more moist than the apple cinnamon, perhaps because it was fresher?  Moist is a relative term of course, as this is still a pretty dry, dense "puck", not a scone.  It seemed like the base should have been the same as the other variety, but this one wasn't nearly as crumbly and chalky.  It also had a lovely sweet flavor to it.  I enjoyed it just as it was, plain and at room temperature.

I got strangely addicted to it.  It was still very dense and hearty tasting, and almost too healthy/boring tasting, but then it had this sweetness on the finish that was really delightful.  It almost seemed like maple?  The chunks of apricot gave it a nice chew as well.

It was like eating a bowl of oatmeal, where you mixed in some dried fruit, and drizzled with maple syrup or perhaps brown sugar, except ... in a puck.  I really don't know how else to describe it.  It was nothing like a granola bar, nothing like an oatmeal cookie, and nothing like a scone, and those are all the things I'd expect it to resemble.  Imagine taking a bowl of oatmeal, and dehydrating and compressing it?  Doesn't that sound appealing?

They say it is their best seller, which was interesting, as people didn't seem to talk about it much, but I enjoyed it. ****.

I froze half of this as well, and warmed it up, wrapped in foil so it wouldn't lose moisture.  It wasn't nearly as good this way.  Unlike the apple cinnamon, it really did not benefit from added butter.

Update: I've since had many more of these.  The texture certainly depends on how fresh they are, which is hard to know when you purchase from a coffee shop.  They have week long shelf life at room temp, 2 weeks refrigerated, and, who knows how the individual place stores them.  But when you get them seemingly fresher, softer, they are great.

I'm always blown away by how much I like them when I get a fairly fresh batch.  So dense.  So hearty. With such an amazing sweetness that I can't explain.  And I love the chew from the bits of apricot.  I shouldn't love these, but, I do. ****.

Crumb Cakes

"Our famous Crumb Cakes are so good they have quickly risen to be just about our top selling dessert. They are light but full of natural flavor. The Cinnamon Crumb is a classic… and the rest of the flavors are all wonderfully delicious."

Crumb cakes are available in 5 flavors: cinnamon, wild blueberry, raspberry ripple, caramelized apple, and New York.

Besides the oat cakes, these are the second most common Ultimate Cookie item I see around town, likely due to their full week shelf life.

New York.

"Our delicious cake with a thick topping of streusel and dusted with powdered sugar. A New York Classic!."

The cake here was fairly boring, kinda plain sweet pound cake.  That part I could do without.

But the topping was decent.   Huge chunks of sweet streusel.  Tons of powdered sugar.  It broke off in big chunks.

I liked the topping, but I wouldn't want the cake itself again. ***.

Wild Blueberry.

"We toss wild blueberries in cinnamon and sugar and gently mix them into OUR FAMOUS Crumb Cake. Top this off with our brown sugar topping and you have a delicious new breakfast offering."

Next I tried the wild blueberry cake, made with tiny little wild blueberries, and the same crumb topping they use on the cinnamon crumb cake, rather than the decadent New York style.  The berries were mixed in and scattered on top, and there was a generous brown sugar crumb layer as well.

The cake was moist and flavorful, and the berries gave little pops of flavor.  Not tons, but, little bits.  The topping was crispy and sweet, not as interesting as the big chunks in the New York style, but, still good.

Overall, this was good too. ***.

Raspberry Ripple Crumb Cake. (2018).

"Swirls of raspberry jam and fresh raspberries, topped with a sprinkling of raspberries and sugary crumbs."

Moving on to the raspberry ripple.

Major eh.  This didn't even look great, but I was really in the mood for coffee cake.

I did not like, at all.  Boring, sweet cake.  Crumb topping basically just dark color bits.  Tiny bit of raspberry swirl.  If you like boring pound cakes, perhaps you'd like this.  *+.

Raspberry Ripple Crumb Cake. (2019).

I guess I had forgotten my distaste for this, when I encountered it again, again at a time when I was craving coffee cake, and when the raspberry and crumble topping drew me in.

I didn't dislike it quite as much, but, I found nothing very interesting about it.  Just rich buttery pound cake, slightly spongy/oily in an odd way, with some not crispy crumble and berry goo on top.  **.

Cookies

"Our gourmet cookies are what made us famous. We proudly offer about 20 delicious varieties. Of course they are all hand-made and freshly baked using only the finest ingredients. Try them dipped in dark or white chocolate — wonderfully decadent!"

Given that they are the namesake, I obviously had to try a cookie, even though I'm not generally one for cookies.  Ultimate Cookie makes a wide range, as you'd expect.

Russian Tea Cakes.

"Buttery ball full of nuts, rolled in powdered sugar." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"A buttery mound full of nuts and rolled in powdered sugar." -- Ultimate Cookie

I opted for the #6 best seller, a speciality cookie, the Russian Tea Cake.

These were ... pretty standard Russian tea cakes.  The most notable aspect was the MORE than generous powered sugar coating.  Seriously loaded up with it.  Which is a good thing.

Inside was ground nuts, and I suspect butter, flour, and more sugar.  Kinda crumbly, decent texture, but not exciting really.  Average quality.  ***.

Other

The Ultimate Cookies makes a wide range of other items, including brownies and bars, sheet cakes and cupcakes, turnovers, and breakfast breads.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcake.

"Moist pumpkin cupcake with a cream cheese filling."

It was fall, and pumpkin was in full force.  This cupcake, even if slightly abnormal looking, called out ot me.

This was almost good.  It was moist, and it was pumpkin spiced.  The cream cheese filling was sweetened and added more moisture.

But ... it wasn't really a cupcake to me.  More appropriate to call it a muffin.  Or just a cupcake shaped spice cake.  I was expecting some more dessert-like, and this didn't meet my dessert needs.  But for a *muffin* it was absolutely fine.

***.

Classic Crispy.

"Rice Krispies and marshmellow all melted together." (sic)

These were ... exactly the rice krispie treats that you likely grew up with.  Sticky, gooey, basic Rice Krispies and marshmallow.  No more, no less.

And thus ... entirely boring to me. **+.

They also make a chocolate topped version, and one with mini M&Ms on top.

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Ramenwell

Ramen.  Not something I seek out.  Not even when in Tokyo.  But San Francisco has a decent ramen scene, although, again, not really what I seek out.  And yet I sought out Ramenwell, a ramen restaurant in the Mission.

"San Francisco's source for delicious ramen, beer, and sake. Best Ramen in the Mission."

I don't think Ramenwell would make it to the top of lists of best ramen in SF, as there are too many others that are far better known such as Ippudo, Mensho, Marufuku, Hinodeya (very good agadashi tofu, fyi), Waraku (which, by the way, has excellent takoyaki!), and more.  But, per their claim, it could be the best in Mission, as most others are in Japantown or further out.  Yelpers seem to like it, with 4 stars overall, and in particular, folks love that they have both vegan and gluten-free options.

The menu at Ramenwell obviously features ramen as the main attraction, available in signature pork ramen, but also a vegetarian mushroom one, and even a vegan version.  The base recipes for each bowl include some toppings, but you can add more on as you choose.  Or you can just get the add-ins on the side, which, um, of course I did.  There were more than 20 additions available, ranging from wakame to garlic confit to three different kinds of noodles (vegan, regular egg, gluten-free) and many, many more.  The thing is, even if ramen is what the restaurant is known for, it isn't really something I like all that much.  The rest of the menu however called out to me instantly.  I wanted tons of things, even from the relatively small menu.

For those who want something before their ramen, or, like me, wanted something other than ramen, there are a couple appetizer options, including basic edamame to munch on, or more exciting things like takoyaki, "fries with eyes" (yes, fried smelt), two kinds of bao, katsu chicken, and dumplings.  Besides the chicken, all sounded good to me.  I also don't understand how it fits in to the menu at all, but they also randomly have macaroni salad ... vegan macaroni salad at that.

And then, of course, you know me, no meal is complete without dessert.  And what a stunning dessert lineup they have.  Small, but, um, so very good.  First up, pudding.  But not just any pudding.  Rice pudding.  And not just any rice pudding.  *Ube* horchata rice pudding.  Zomg.  And then, soft serve ice cream.  And not just any soft serve ice cream.  *Taro* soft serve.  Double ZOMG.  If you know me, you know I love pudding, you know I love soft serve, and you know I love both ube and taro.  Seriously, ZOMG.

I didn't actually venture to the restaurant though, and opted for delivery, via Door Dash.  While ordering was easy, and I loved that they had all the extras available a la carte, including tons of sauces too, the delivery experience was pretty abysmal.  My Dasher got very, very lost, and spent 35 minutes circling my neighborhood.  And then got lost in my building.  Etc, etc.  It meant that more than an hour elapsed between the time he picked it up and I got it, and thus, it was clearly stone cold (at least I didn't order the soft serve ... I wanted to, but decided not to at last minute just due to delivery concerns ... it would have been such a disaster!).  My order was also missing an item, and missing the utensils I had requested.  So, um, delivery experience, not great.

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

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

App: Dumplings. $8.34.

"Scallop, pork, shrimp, fried garlic, scallion, cilantro, side spicy sesame soy garlic sauce."

Rather than ramen, I opted for dumplings.  Technically an appetizer, they came 5 to an order.  Because of my loooong delivery time, the dumplings sadly were stone cold when they arrived, and completely stuck together.  Thus, I know my experience is not the same as if I had them actually at the restaurant, or even delivered in a reasonable time frame.   Once I dug them apart, I ended up re-steaming them, and even tossed one in my panini press try it crispy.

The dumplings were fine.  Average.  Well formed, sealed, and stuffed with a filling that was a mix of scallop, pork, and shrimp, all ground.  The mix worked well actually, and I liked how some bites tasted more like a classic pork dumpling, and others had a fishy nature.  The wrappers were reasonable thickness.  There didn't seem to be any herbs or seasoning in them, so, although the mix of proteins was interesting, they were a bit bland.

The toppings, pickled red onion, scallions, and fried garlic were a bit lost due to my needing to reheat the dumplings - the fried garlic had long since gotten soggy anyway.  The sauce on the side wasn't particularly great, but it was slightly spicy, slightly soy, and had sesame seeds in it.  I didn't taste any garlic.

I'd call these highly average, and I wished for a bit more flavor, either to the filling, or to the sauce.  I jazzed them up at home with more fried garlic and onion, and some chili crisp.  I don't see a reason to get these again, but if I ever wound up at the restaurant and wanted dumplings, I'd consider them.  The price was reasonable for 5 big dumplings.

***.

Side: Vegan Macaroni Salad. $4.74.

I really don't understand why Ramenwell has macaroni salad on the menu, as I can't imagine pairing ramen and macaroni salad, but, I love macaroni salad (even cheap mass produced deli ones), so I was thrilled to see it on the menu.  I ordered it to go with my lunch the next day.

The portion was quite reasonable, and I used a scoop per day for two days alongside my lunch.  It was fine macaroni salad.  The pasta was not too soft, it was creamy but not over dressed.  I did hope that it would have some kind of interesting element to it, a Japanese twist, even a sprinkle of furikake, or chopped up bits of Japanese pickles or something, but it was fairly plain.  I needed to jazz it up a bit. ***.

Interestingly, they choose to make this vegan, again, just like the existence of the macaroni salad on the menu in the first place, it seems like an odd choice.  I didn't mind though, as it didn't taste like "fake mayo".

The Door Dash price of $4.75 still seemed reasonable given the generous portion, but it is only $3.95 at the restaurant.

Side: Fried Enoki Mushrooms. $3.54.

Ramenwell has more than 20 extras you can add on to ramen bowls, or, even just get as a side.  I kinda love extras, and wanted many of them, including at least 4-5 of the sauces.  I settled on just one random extra to add to my order though: fried enoki mushrooms.  I'm so glad I did, as these were the highlight of my meal.

These were super crispy.  All stuck together, but in a good way, it made them fun to eat.   Really well seasoned, salty, "chef's palette" level of salt.  You could see salt glistening on them.  Clearly fried, greasy in a good way.  Did I mention, so crispy? 

Basically, just a joy to munch on, satisfying my immediate desire to eat something while I heated up my dumplings, but also very satisfying in a fried sense, and a super salty sense.  Comforting, slightly unique, and quite tasty.  It seems like it would be a shame to submerge these in ramen, and I think they were tasty just to munch on, or, as I did with a few, crumble on top of my dumplings and macaroni salad for a bit of texture and salt.

I'd definitely get these again, and would even probably make it a double order so I'd have more for the next day.  ****+.

The portion was small, but it was just an add-on, not a real dish.  The Door Dash price of $3.54 did seem a touch high, and they are only $2.95 directly from the restaurant.

Dessert: Ube Horchata Rice Pudding. $7.14.

And then, of course, my dessert.  While I really did want the taro soft serve, and people rave about it, I knew better than to get soft serve delivered.  Plus, I do love pudding, and rice pudding, and people do rave about the ube horchata rice pudding too.  It sounded like perfect comfort food.

I took my first few bites, and was underwhelmed.  The ube flavor was really quite mild.  It also seemed most likely to come from either powder or possibly extract, as there was no real visible ube in it, and it was too purple to be the real deal.  Most ube or taro milk tea has considerably more flavor.  I was really expecting, and hoping for, something far more intense in the ube department, and I had hoped for chunks of ube too.  So, the ube part?  Definitely a let down.  At least it wasn't cloying sweet.

The "horchata" part was also underwhelming, but that I didn't mind.  I thought the cinnamon would clash with the ube anyway.  I think the only cinnamon was just what you could see on top.

And then, the rice pudding itself.  It was a slightly odd style, made of chopped bits of rice, no full grains.  Tiny bits of rice.  Slightly al dente, which I did appreciate, but I wanted bigger grains of rice.  It wasn't a thick and rich and creamy pudding, rather, more of a thin style.  Almost frothy on top.  

I mostly just found it boring.  No strong ube, nor other, flavor.  No thick creamy pudding.  No interesting texture.  It just ate kinda plain.  I jazzed it up, adding fresh kiwi, white chocolate crispearls, whipped cream, and hunks of waffle cone, and then did enjoy it, but, on its own, just, plain.  I probably wouldn't get it again. ***.

The portion was reasonable, and only $5.95 at the restaurant, but it felt small for the delivery price of $7.14.

Tamano Hikari Junmai Ginjo. $14.40.

Since Ramenwell prides itself on the beer and sake selection, it was no surprise they had a good lineup available for takeout.  I fairly randomly just picked a mid-priced ginjo from the lineup.

I'm not sure if it was cold when my Dasher got it, but, by the time it got to me, my can was room temp.

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Freshëns Yogurt, MCO

Freshëns is a chain I've been vaguely aware of for years, usually noticing it off to the side in a food court somewhere. 

"Freshëns is a healthy “fresh casual” concept, which offers prepared to order food inspired by fresh ingredients, as well as our signature fresh blended smoothies."

Their concept is healthy stuff, salads and bowls, plus smoothies and yogurt.  Frozen yogurt that is.  I do actually quite like froyo, so I'm not sure why I wasn't ever interested in it before, but, probably because when I've been near food courts I've had other priorities.  Anyway, the chain is actually quite successful it seems, with more than 350 locations, and has been around for 30 years.

That said, not all locations are created equal, particularly in the land of franchises.  When I was recently flying out of Orlando, I took a quick look at what food options would be available to decide if I'd purchase lunch there, or pack my own, and, wow, everywhere got such awful reviews.  Freshëns in particular just got scathing reviews.  I couldn't really believe it could be *that* bad, thinking likely it was just people who wanted healthy options upset that it wasn't actually as healthy as they though (lots of reviews mention chemicals, etc).  I was still curious enough to cruise by ... also, I had 1.5 hours before my flight, and nothing better to do really.

Food Court Location.

The Freshëns location at the Orlando airport was in a food court at the entrance to gate areas 30-59, next to another healthy type place, and Wendy's and a generic Asian place.  Everywhere else had quite long lines, but Freshëns was relatively empty.  This could have been because their card reader was broken, so they could take cash, or tap payments only.

The location doesn't offer the full Freshëns menu, just smoothies and yogurt, along with some very sad looking packaged bagels and cookies, and generic chips and oatmeal.  It is hard to describe, but, it sorta had a run down feel to it.

The signage didn't say what toppings were available, nor what flavors of yogurt, but I could see the machine in the background, with one side broken, and the other said "vanilla".  I asked if they had only the one flavor, and the staff said yes.  I asked if it was sweet or tart, and I didn't get an answer, but instead, she did just hand me a cup with a small swirl in it - a regular cup, not a little sample cup, and no spoon. I wasn't quite sure what to do - did I stick my face in it?  I said, "and spoons are ....", kinda trailing off.  She pointed down to the end of the counter area.  I walked away to try my sample, fully expecting to hate it.

I didn't hate it, but, it wasn't really something I'd ever pay for, or go seek out, if I was anywhere else.  After cruising around the entire terminal area to see if there were better options, I returned, as, well, there just weren't any good options - a Wendy's Frosty actually probably would have been better, but, the line for Wendy's was soooooo long.

I approached again to make my order.  I asked what toppings were available, specifically, if they had any fruit.  The cashier rattled off a list of fruits in rapid succession, no clear pause between them, and far too fast for me to even take in.  And then glared at me.  "Do you want fruit?", she said.  All cups of yogurt come with 3 toppings included, so I fully intended to pick 3.  "Uh ... raspberries," I said, hoping those were in her list.  "We don't have raspberries", was the curt reply.  I then was able to look past her at the cold well where the fruit was ... it was all smoothie fruit, that is, frozen fruit, or, semi-frozen fruit.  There wasn't actually any *fresh* fruit.  It all looked quite sad.  I was also able to see the dry toppings, about 8 different things, none labelled either.  I made my selections as fast as I could, mostly because she looked like she hated me.  I can't say this was pleasant service.

A few minutes later, as I stood off to the side eating my froyo, she made a smoothie for the next customer, and went to put it on the counter for the customer, and, well, missed the counter.  The smoothie went crashing to the ground, and made a horrible mess.  She didn't even seem to say sorry to the customer who was now covered in smoothie, and who needed to wait for a new one to be made.  So, on the service front, I certainly understand the reviews.  It was worse than expected.

Yogurt with Mango, White Chocolate Chips, Peanuts. $6.49.

So, the frozen yogurt.  Was it sweet or tart style?  Um, yes?  It was kinda both.  It was also kinda icy, certainly not smooth and creamy yogurt that makes you think it is ice cream, but, not chunky icy.  It didn't taste vanilla in any way, mostly plain, lightly sweet, lightly tart, very, very, very generic yogurt.  It reminded of old school frozen yogurt, what I remember from the 1990s, and haven't had much since.  Which, actually, most likely is exactly what it is - the business has been around that long, and perhaps just never pivoted to embrace newer trends.  The yogurt was actually rather refreshing, as it wasn't too sweet, and the icy nature added to the refreshing feel.  It nearly tasted healthy actually.  It seemed like a reasonable thing to eat before a flight, not something that would bog you down.

But then of course there are toppings.  I opted for mango as my fruit topping, as the others just looked so abysmal.  It was semi-frozen mango, but, it was sweet and fairly flavorful, and went well with the yogurt.  I also opted for the white chips, not knowing if they were yogurt or white chocolate, but they seemed to be the later, fairly sweet, fairly clearly just made of oil and sugar.  They were a large size chip, which isn't as nice for froyo as the little chips.  My last selection was the nuts, which I think were just peanuts, little bits, that seemed about the same as what you get in a package at McDonald's.

So ... not exactly great yogurt, and definitely lower end toppings, but I did actually enjoy it.  Captive audience, boredom, etc.  If I was there again, and wanted a cold treat, and the line for Wendy's was too long, hey, I'd get it again.  ***.

I got the "regular" size, there were only two sizes available, this and a larger one for $1 more.  If the toppings had been higher quality, I'd say it was a reasonable price, but, the lack of fresh fruit really was a downfall.

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Müller Dairy

Update Review, 2022

After several pandemic induced years of not traveling to Europe, I finally returned in May 2022 to Munich.  While I was there, in between eating all the Kaiserschmarrn I could, I also took the opportunity to try some more of the products from Müller, conveniently stocked in the microkitchens in my office.

Reis (Rice)

"Müller Rice gives you the power to get the most out of your day. Delicious creamy rice paired with delicious real fruit or indulgent, confectionary flavours such as Salted Caramel and Chocolate Hazelnut make for a delicious Rice pudding dessert. A delicious and low fat way to bridge your hunger gap, anytime, anywhere. Muller Rice Pudding can be eaten cold or heated up in the pot!"

Ok, I'll admit that I forgot that I had tried several of the Müller rice puddings when I was in London before, and found them kinda lackluster then.  So when I saw them in the microkitchens in my Munich office, I just got excited, as, well, I love pudding, and rice pudding in general.

In addition to plain, the rice pudding is available in several fruity flavors (apple, strawberry), plus cinnamon or chocolate varieties.  I didn't try a fruity one, but did opt for the others.

Schoko.

The first flavor I tried was the "Schoko", or, chocolate.  I had it cold.

I was quite surprised when I opened it up to see a pale white/yellow base.  For some reason, perhaps the chocolate forward label, I was expecting it to be chocolate pudding (rice pudding obviously), not plain.  Not that I have ever had actual chocolate pudding as a base of rice pudding, but that is what my brain was expecting for some reason.  The chocolate was there, just, as swirls.

Schoko: Top View.

The base pudding had a rather ... plastic and fake taste to it.  What you'd expect from a generic packaged product.  The rice was al dente, but not in a good way.  The chocolate swirl was at least decent?

This was certainly a letdown, but, perhaps expected for a generic packaged product?  I think with enough jazzing up - fresh fruit added, or perhaps cinnamon and chocolate chips, or perhaps heating it up it might be ok, but it certainly wasn't good as served.

*+.

Plain.

After the letdown of the chocolate, I'm not sure why I tried the plain version, given that the failure of the chocolate really was the base rice pudding.

The plain version was actually considerably better, although still not great.  The rice in this one was a bit softer, not mushy, but not oddly al dente like the previous.  The base flavor was still pretty fake and plastic like, and it was very plain, just, sweet.  Still, for some reason, without the chocolate (that wasn't bad on its own), the base bothered me less.

Overall, definitely not something I'd get again, but, I added fresh fruit and cocoa nibs and enjoyed it enough, unlike the chocolate, which I actually ditched.

**+.

Cinnamon.

Wow.  I seemed to have saved the best for last.  And, kudos to me for not giving up and trying more flavors.

The cinnamon flavor was everything the chocolate version wasn't.  While the base was still plain, and the cinnamon came in swirls like the chocolate, this one was loaded with swirl.  Soooo much cinnamon.  The cinnamon masked the slightly plastic flavor that was dominant in the others, yet wasn't overpowering cinnamon.  

The rice was well cooked (not too soggy, not too crunchy), it was creamy, it was sweet, it was just, well, tasty.  Topped with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream it made a wonderful treat.

***.

Update: I had another, and this time, I heated it up (in the toaster oven, because my oven was already hot and I had a ramekin handy).  It was even better!  The flavors balanced out, and it got a film on top that I really liked.  Soooo good warmed up.  I'd gladly have another that way. ***+.

Yogurt

Müller makes several yogurt lines, I only trie done.

Froop

"Perfect variety for sweet fruits: Müller Froop is now available in many new varieties and with a refined recipe. On your spoons, get set, go!"

The Froop line is available in 12 flavors, many of which sound great.  All are fruity of course.  All have a plain base, with fruit layer on top (rather than fruit on the bottom as we see in the US).  They also make a "botanicals" line, with fruit + botanicals, like orange ginger or apple elderflower. 

I wish I'd been able to find more of these, as I really enjoyed the one I had.

Mango.

"Don't be stingy with the charms: Müller Froop Mango doesn't care much about restraint, but seduces with a full fruity taste. It's nice that you can then sink into the fresh yoghurt."

What is it about yogurt in other countries that makes it just so much better?  Or at least, I enjoy it so much more.  The base yogurt to this was smooth and creamy, not thick Greek yogurt, but not runny, a nice texture, clearly full fat, luxurious.  While it was sweet, it was also plain, and the flavor wasn't artificial tasting, like many in the US.

And then the fruit layer, which I honestly thought would be kinda gross, sorta an odd mango gel, but even that turned out delightful, vibrantly mango flavored, and again, not fake tasting.

I added chopped kiwi and fresh mango to this and enjoyed it as much as a pudding based dessert, but, for a mid-morning snack, and it didn't feel like I was going something rebellious.  I'd love to try more flavors.

****.

Original Review, 2019 Tastings

Last week I reviewed a few items from Emmi, a Swiss dairy producer that sells all over Europe.  This week brings another brand brand, Müller, the largest dairy producer in the UK.  Anyway, yadda yadda, Müller started in Germany, expanded rapidly, super successful, yadda yadda.  In addition to supplying 30% of the UKs milk, they also produce cream, yogurts, puddings and other dairy based desserts, and the like, along with butter.

When I was in London my office had some of their items stocked in the microkitchens, and I was pretty thrilled to have easy access to pudding at all times.  Really, why does my office have only yogurt here in the US?

Müller Corner

Müller Corner is a line of yogurt products, each with a separate side corner to mix-in (hence, the produce name).  The "Corner" range breaks down further into Fruit Corners (with the side corner filled with fruity compotes), Crunch Corner (with crunchy toppings like chocolate flakes, biscuit bits, and the like), Corner Creations (with not one, not two, but 3 different toppings to mix-in), and finally, Corner Skyr (made with Icelandic Skyr yogurt and granola mix-ins).

"Mmmh… Crunch Corner, that creamy yogurt you love, with a crunch on the side! Will you go for Vanilla Chocolate Balls? Or maybe Strawberry Shortcake? Actually, Banana Chocolate Flakes is yum too… Is it OK to try them all?!"

I only was able to try one Crunch Corner, but I love the concept, and would gladly try more. 

Corner: Dessert Inspired Banoffee Pie.

Banoffee!!!  I love banoffee, and definitely rarely get to enjoy it as its pretty rare in the US.  Even though I knew this product was yogurt, and not a real dessert, it was "dessert inspired" and had a mix-in corner filled with crunchy white chocolate balls, so, um, healthy yogurt this was not.

The yogurt itself was ... well, yogurt.  Runny style, very sweet, with a caramel banana flavor.  Not something I'd really want on its own.  The crunchy white chocolate balls however were awesome, much like crispearls if you've ever had those.  They added a creamy-sweet-crunchy element to it.

Was it banoffee?  Absolutely not.  What it lacked most of all was a whipped cream topping, as the banana and caramel were captured well with the yogurt flavor, and the crispy pearls did a decent job of mimicking the crumble biscuit base.  It was still clearly yogurt, not pudding or custard.  But for a yogurt?  It really was quite enjoyable, and what's to stop me from putting whipped cream on top of yogurt after all?

***+ for uniqueness and crispy things.

Müller Rice

Stepping away from dessert-pretending-to-be-yogurt, and closer to real dessert, is the rice pudding line, Müller Rice.  Müller also makes a protein enriched version.

"STOP grab your spoon and listen, when hunger is grabbing your attention choose Müller Rice it's nice and creamy, with fruit that’s light and dreamy. #RiceRiceBaby"

The rice comes in several fruity flavors (strawberry, apple, raspberry), plus chocolate or custard, in addition to a classic original.  I tried several.  All have instructions for serving chilled or warmed.

Creamy Dairy Rice with Vanilla Custard.

"This ones for all the custard lovers out there… .  Delicious creamy rice with an underlayer of bangin' Vanilla custard flavour sauce. Certified by Tasty B. It's the ultimate hunger-beating comfort food. "

The first one I grabbed was the vanilla custard version.  I was pretty excited for this, as I love a good rice pudding.

The rice pudding layer was good - really creamy, nice vanilla flavor.  The custard however was not very good, really quite runny.  Luckily it was all at the bottom of the pot, so I was able to avoid it for the most part.

So, great creamy vanilla rice pudding, but the part I was eager for, the custard, was a letdown.  I only tried it chilled, but I'd love to try it warmed up as well.

*** overall.

Strawberry Rice Pudding.

"Tasty B's number 1 hit is Strawberry Müller Rice. Delicious creamy rice with an underlayer of bangin' Strawberry sauce. Certified by Tasty B. It's the ultimate hunger-beating comfort food."

Next I tried the strawberry one.  Somehow, the rice pudding layer was totally different.  It was runny and didn't have a very good flavor.  The vanilla one from the custard version was considerably better.

But just like the custard one, the weaker element lay beneath the rice pudding, in the strawberry sauce layer.  The strawberry sauce was just crazy sweet goo.  I hated the strawberry sauce.  Think of all the bad American yogurts you have had that have sauces you mix in, and, well, that is exactly what this was.

I tried to work around the strawberry sauce and just get some rice pudding, but even that was not very good.  Do not recommend!

**.

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Fillings and Emulsions, SLC Airport

Airports.   Definitely not where anyone expects to find good dining, let alone high quality desserts and baked goods.  And yet, I found just that, in the Salt Lake City airport of all places.  At a little shop next to a Panda Express (which, don't get me wrong, I do kinda love, but, isn't exactly setting a high end vibe).

Now, my "discovery" wasn't exactly accidental.  I did a brief amount of research when I saw that I'd have a very short connection in the Salt Lake City airport, and one place, Fillings and Emulsions, sprang right to the top of the list.  While it was fairly new in the airport, the main location, in downtown Salt Lake, somehow had a perfect 5 stars on Yelp, even with nearly 1000 ratings.  That doesn't happen by fluke.

I looked at the online menu for Fillings & Emulsions, and I was totally and completely sold.  I knew that my layover must include a stop there.  Of course, things went awry when my inbound aircraft was very delayed, and I feared I wouldn't make my connection at all, let alone not have time to seek out the goods.  I still managed to literally run from one plane to the other, with a <2 minute stop to pick up goodies at Fillings & Emulsions (miraculously, no line!).  I really wished I could have had a bit more time to actually browse and make better decisions, but I was thrilled I succeeded at all.  I also had no time to even snap a photo of the shop, sorry, but, they had beautiful patisserie style glass displays, and everything, really, everything, looked as good as I had seen online.  Again, I say, it does not look like it belongs in an airport food court.

I don't even care much for macarons, but I was even tempted to try theirs - the unique flavors and fillings alone made them worthy of a try.  And of all things, they seemed most likely able to survive a bit of transit.  The savory creations also really called out - puff pastry wrapped hand pies, in a variety of flavors, including their play on a cubano.  If I had any extra time, I would have gotten one of those - I'm certain it would have been better than my onboard meal.  I didn't think I had the time though, as they weren't a grab n go item.  With a bit more thought, I also probably would have picked one of the viennoiserie, because, zomg, they had a dulce de leche stuffed cruffin, guava cream pastries, kouign amann ... literally, all the best things, but, it was late in the day, and I wasn't sure how fresh they'd be by then.  Those items also seemed maybe a bit too messy to eat on my flight?  And then there were the stunning tarts (I know, not what you normally hear me rave about, but, they had beautiful torched meringue!), and custards (flan, pots de creme, panna cotta) ... and cheesecakes, and individual cakes.  OMG.  The custards were my top choice, but, alas, they weren't available for a quick grab either.

My choices were fairly odd ones for me, but, I made very rushed decisions, opted for the quick to grab items, and also wanted items that would keep a day or two if I needed (I had a cooler bag with ice packs with me of course!).  My treats were beautiful, and they definitely got the attention of the flight crew and my seat mate, all of whom wanted to know where on earth I got such elaborate creations.   I liked them, and could certainly tell the quality of the bakery, but I'd like to visit again and pick items that I'd be even more likely to enjoy.  You know, next time I'm in the Salt Lake City airport ...

Petit Gâteaux

The Petit Gâteaux section of the menu is perhaps the most extensive (besides the slew of unique macarons that is).  Most of the items had caffeine - a beautiful triple chocolate mousse cake, a chocolate decadence (flourless chocolate cake with chocolate mouse!), classic tiramisu, or a double chocolate roll, and I didn't want caffeine to make my impending jetlag even worse, so that limited me considerably.  

Interestingly, it was one of the roll cakes that called out to me.  Yeah, a roll cake.  The girl who never really cares for cake (I mean, its fine, but, why ever pick cake when there are other dessert options?).  Oh, and to make it even more surprising, the roll cakes are all gluten-free too.  Why would I gravitate towards that?  Roll cakes come in 3 flavors: the aforementioned double chocolate, a pineapple yuzu one, or, the one that jumped out at me, the tres leches.  I assure you, this was no standard tres leches though.

Tres Leches. $6.30. 

"Tres Leches soaked gluten free sponge, rolled with homemade strawberry preserve wrapped in Chantilly cream. Glazed and topped with torched meringue and white chocolate."

As I mentioned, I don't normally go for cake, particularly when there were soooo many great other options, but, this looked really good.  I was definitely drawn in by the very generous strawberry and chantilly cream filling, and the mirror glaze and white chocolate ... and I had been craving tres leches randomly.

I liked this, but, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.  First, I really didn't get much tres leches vibes from it.  The cake was moist, and there was lots of cream elements, but, I  wouldn't have recognized it as a tres leches, as it lacked the strong signature sweetened condensed milk element. The cake was fairly average white cake, but at least didn't seem gluten-free or have an odd consistency as can often happen with gluten-free items.

The strawberry element was strong - this really was a fruity dessert.  While it was a thin layer, the strawberry preserves inside was quite sweet and fruity, and definitely the dominant flavor.  The cream inside was also lightly strawberry flavored, and I think the glaze was too? You needed to be in the mood for strawberry to enjoy this.  

I liked the white chocolate decoration and crispy balls, but mine didn't seem to have any of the described torched meringue?  I think that would have been a nice element.

Overall, this was good - cream, cake, fruit all fine - but not remarkable, and I really wanted some actual fresh fruit with it.  Far above average for a roll cake, don't get me wrong, but not extraordinary.  ***+.

Cheesecake

Fillings and Emulsions offers up 3 cheesecakes, none of which are remotely traditional.  In fact, they do *not* have a standard, simple, plain New York, nor Italian, nor even a trendy Basque cheesecake.  Nope, the cheesecakes are all quite elaborate, and very much not plain.  I do like cheesecake, but, I'll admit that none of them sounded very good to me.  Perhaps it is because I had just had cheesecake a few days prior, but mostly, because the options were not ones I was that drawn by: chocolate raspberry (I like both these things alone, but, rarely as cheesecake), passionfruit key lime (I love passion fruit, but, usually it winds up pretty fake tasting, and I really don't care for key lime), and, key lime (again, key lime).  But the key lime cheesecake is their top item, a signature, and I decided to just take a gamble.  I was getting two items after all, if I hated it, hopefully the tres leches would still work out?

Key Lime Cheesecake.  $6.55.

"Lime cheesecake wrapped in key lime pie filling, glazed and topped with Meyer lemon gelee and Chantilly cream. The number one seller."

Even if I don't like key lime, and even if I didn't really want cheesecake, I mean, look at this!  Again the glaze, the chantilly cream, the elaborate decoration!  What a beautiful item.  And, from an airport?  I mean, really.

The whipped cream on top looked a bit much, but actually was a nice balance to the rest of the dessert.  The crispy pearls were obviously a stunning decorative element, but they also added to it, I liked having the bit of crunch too.  The cheesecake actually had no real base, just a very thin layer that I barely noticed, and so these were really the only not creamy element.  While I don't love graham cracker bases used in traditional cheesecake, I did find myself wanting something for texture, something other than just different cream and rich elements.  I think a macadamia or coconut based crust would go wonderfully with the lime ...

Speaking of the lime, yes, there was no doubt this is a lime based dessert.  The gelee wrapping it, technically Meyer lemon I guess, was very strong in the slightly sour, slightly acidic, slightly tart, standard citrus realm.  Meyer lemon usually is a touch sweet and more tart I thought?  This really tasted more like lime, or regular lemon, to me.

Key Lime Cheesecake: Inside.

And then, inside, more lime.

In the center, the cheesecake.  It was smooth, it was creamy, and it was very much lime cheesecake.  I somehow thought the center would be perhaps regular cheesecake, and that I'd taste more of the cream cheese aspect, but, this was very lime-y.  Good lime cheesecake, but yes, very lime.

Around the cheesecake, almost hard to notice that it was a separate component, was another lime layer, the "key lime pie filling".  More creamy lime-ness.  Perhaps a touch more curd-like, a touch less cream cheese, but pretty similar in both flavor and consistency to the cheesecake.

This item was basically lime on lime on lime.  Cream on cream on cream.  It was good, but, much like the previous one you had to want strawberry, this one you really had to want lime.  I enjoyed it more once I added some fresh blackberries to bring a bit of balance.  I really did want some kind of texture too.

I probably wouldn't get it again as I'm not wild about lime, but it was a really nicely made item, and I liked it more than any other lime dessert in memory.  ****.

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Nagoya Sushi, Orlando

Nagoya sushi is an award winning sushi restaurant in Orlando.  "Most Authentic Sushi" and "Best Innovation in Orlando, Florida Area", are some of their accolades.  

"A specialist in innovative sushi creations, the award-winning Nagoya Sushi will delight your eyes and palates with sushi rolled into beautiful works of art. Elegant and cozy, the restaurant welcomes you with an extensive sushi bar and kitchen menu as well as seasonal specialties. Using the best and freshest ingredients available, the master chefs pay great attention to detail in preparing each dish. Complemented by warm and friendly service, you will find a satisfying dining experience awaits you at Nagoya Sushi."

Reviews on Yelp at least seemed to match the rave reviews, and although the menu is Cheesecake Factory style long, with just about everything ranging from the expected classic sushi to cooked Japanese entrees and a slew of totally ridiculous sounding rolls, people seemed to like most things.  And the fish quality seemed high, which surprised me given the menu breadth.  Sorry if I question that a place actually has quality fish when they have about 60 different kinds of rolls, with names like the "Ecstacy Roll", the "Orgasm Roll", the "Mexican Bubble", the "Sweet Sixteen" ... you get the point.  Elaborate rolls, with a slew of ingredients and sauces, toppings and strange shapes, many deep fried.  You know the type.

I was skeptical, but, when I was in Orlando for a conference and wanted some stuff to go with lunch, I decided to give it a try anyway.  I ordered on Door Dash, and it was easy to order, and the food came quickly.

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I enjoyed the items I got, and would order again if I was ever back in Orlando, and I'd even be willing to try some of the actual sushi.

Salads

As I mentioned, Nagoya has about 60 types of rolls on their menu, but really, every portion of the menu is quite extensive, including even the salads.  House salad, seaweed salad, cucumber salad, those are standard, but, then there are some more interesting ones, like baby octopus, jelly fish, or kimchi and conch, and I'll admit, I was curious about the "Tuna Cha Cha" with baked tuna, tempura flakes, caviar, and "seafood sauce" ...

This section also included items like edamame, pickles, and kimchi.

Oshiko. $8.

"Assortment of Japanese pickles."

I threw the order of pickles on to my order at the last minute, but I'm glad I did.  I love pickles of all kinds (I grew up in a pickling family!), and I'm always excited to try new ones.  I'm not entirely sure what all of these were, clearly daikon, cucumber, and carrot, but they were all crisp, tart, and completely satisfying.  I don't know if Nagoya makes them in-house or not, even if not, I still really enjoyed them.  Lovely color assortment too!

****.  I'd definitely get again if I was craving Japanese pickles.

Spicy Krabmeat Salad. $8.

"With cu and caviar."

Next up, the Spicy Krabmeat. 

I knew this was going to be krab, yes, with a 'k', as in kani, crab stick, not real crab, but, I really like that too, and thought it sounded great to have to throw on my poke-like salad for lunch the next day (with the pickles too!).

I was pleased with this order too.  It was basically just a mound of shredded krab stick, I guess with some spicy sauce, but it wasn't particularly spicy to me.  I still liked the krab flavor, and it had some fantastic crispy tempura bits on top, that I absolutely adored.  It ate quite well as a mound like this with the crispy bits, particularly when I drizzled it with spicy ponzu, and it worked great as I hoped thrown on top of a poke-like bowl (kale base, diakon, corn, Japanese pickles, wakame, ginger, furikake, ponzu, spicy aioli, etc).  I also think it would be really, really good just scooped up with taro chips.

The only area it fell short is in expectations: description said it came with "cu and caviar". Cu?  I think "cu" is, um, "cucumber", as this came with a few batons of cucumber on the side?  They were fine, but didn't really round the dish out in a way that made sense to me.  I'm not sure about the caviar either, I didn't find any in it.

I quite enjoyed this, both in its served form and on my own poke bowl creation.  I'd get it again too.  ****.

Grilled Octopus. $14.

"Grilled octopus tentacles on a bed of salad with our house yuzu sauce & dash of togarashi."

The dish I was actually most excited for, as I was really craving octopus, was the grilled octopus salad.  The octopus wasn't particularly warm when it arrived for delivery, but I quickly put it back in a hot pan and warmed it up.

The base was fresh juicy crisp iceberg, along with two fresh cucumber slices, and a juicy tomato.  Not exciting exactly, but they are what made it a "salad" after all, and seemed good quality.  The yuzu sauce/dressing that coated the salad was fantastic - lightly sweet, nicely tart and acidic, extremely strong yuzu flavor.  The dressing made the flavors in the entire salad just pop beautifully.

And then, of course, the star, the octopus.  It was nicely cooked, not rubbery, and beautifully charred.  Super easy to eat, cut into bite size bits.  I was impressed with the high smoky nature of it, many places that specialize more in this style of food don't manage to get that smoky quality so high, and yet, this sushi place, did?!

Another dish that just ate really well, and was nicely prepared.  And yes, another one I'd get again.  ****.

Sauces

If you know me, you know I'm such a sauce girl, so I was thrilled to see that Nagoya had a big list of sauces available on the side, ranging from hot sesame oil, to extra ginger, to honey wasabi sauce (!), and many, many more.  I used restraint, and tried just a few, but I was glad to have them to accent my meal.

Spicy Ponzu & Eel Sauces. $1.15 each.

The spicy ponzu was, well,  ponzu?  Light, slight soy flavor, slight tartness.  It accented the krab salad quite well, and, although it didn't really need it as the yuzu dressing on the octopus salad was plenty flavorful, I did also enjoy dunking some octopus bits in it.  It wasn't as spicy as I was hoping however, but, good standard ponzu it was.  ***+.

The eel sauce I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it was thicker, slightly salty, slightly, um, eel like?  I guess? A strong umami flavor.  Again, good to drizzle over other things I had, although not necessary.  I was glad to have it left over for other uses too.  ***.

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