The Club, SEA (Concourse A)

What do you do when you are delayed at the Seattle airport?  Particularly if you don't have any status with an airline to get nice lounge access, and are just flying domestic?  If you are me, first you mope around a little, lament your life choices, and then eventually, suck it up and figure out how to pass the time.

If you have Priority Pass, you are in luck, as they have one lounge accessible, dubbed "The Club", in Concourse A, which just happened to be where my flight would eventually take off from.

"The Club SEA lounge offers alive with warm, natural lighting, soft flowing interior lines, inviting social spaces and a range of food and drinks."  

Access is $50 per visit if you don't have Priority Pass or access some other way, and I can't imagine paying that.  Let's just say, this is a pretty lackluster lounge.  The space is drab, the bathrooms were less clean than those in the main terminal, and everyone inside was as grumpy as myself.  That said, it at least entertained me for a few minutes.

Uninspired Seating.

The description of the space refers to "warm, natural lighting" and "inviting social spaces", but what I actually found was a narrow, fairly dark, and very drab space.  It was considerably less pleasant to spend time in than the main terminal actually, and felt rather depressing.  It reminded me more of a doctor's office waiting room than an airport lounge.

There were no power outlets anywhere near the seats.

Lackluster Soda.

The non-water drink options were a coffee maker that actually made decent coffee, and a cooler with Coke, Diet Coke, and Sprite.  Very minimal line up.  On the counter was a dispenser with regular water.

I wanted sparkling water, which I could get from the bar "club soda", but the bar was not self service, and was never actually attended by a staff member.  They had a buzzer you could ring to get service, which was ignored more often than not, and it generally took at least 5 minutes just to get someone to fetch me a club soda from behind the bar area.  I believe they also had a few wines and beer, and maybe even spirits, but, again, never attended, and they certainly were not encouraging you to order beverages from them.

Salad Bar. 

The main section of the buffet is a salad bar of sorts.  It had the basics: not very fresh lettuce, mealy tomatoes, broccoli, black olives from a can, minced red onion and peppers, way over dressed cous cous salad (Italian dressing), and additional ranch and Italian dressing and cheese.  I was fairly underwhelmed with all of it.

What I really had my eyes on, and honestly, why I was excited to visit the lounge, was the macaroni salad, which I knew would be on offer.  I adore macaroni salad, cheap deli kinds are often my favorites.  This one certainly looked the part: very dressed, little to no seasoning, not really much to it other than a few small bits of red pepper and maybe some celery.  

I made a base of wilty, limp, and somewhat brown romaine, topped it with the macaroni salad and tomatoes (which I quickly discarded), and sat down to enjoy.  Oh, I added copious amounts of black pepper first, which they did have in packets.  It was ... fine.  Honestly, it didn't taste like much, but at least the pasta wasn't too mushy.

** for most of the lineup, **+ macaroni salad. 

Veggies Re-Stocked.

The big gaping hole in the salad bar turned out to be for veggie sticks, carrots, celery, and bell peppers, which was restocked a bit later. The veggies were fine.  I appreciated having some carrot sticks to munch on later as a healthier alternative to more standard offerings like chips (in fact, they had no chips or pretzels or anything like that).  *** veggie sticks.

Meatballs.

The hot item of the day (and, according to my research, most days) was meatballs.  There were small Hawaiian rolls on the side to make sliders if you wished.

These seemed to be very polarizing for people.  I saw many plates with discarded meatballs on them, but I saw just as many people going back for second servings of them.  I didn't have any, but I suspect you could make a decent little bite with a Hawaiian roll, meatball and sauce, and cheese from the salad bar. 

Lobster Bisque. 

The soup of the day (and again, according to my research, most days) was lobster bisque.  It was relatively warm, and had a sorta seafood-like flavor to it, but was fairly cloying and heavy.  Also woefully under seasoned.  Meh. **. 

Chips, Pita, Salsa, Queso.

Far off on the side, not with the rest of the buffet, was a tortilla chip, salsa, and queso station, with warm cheese sauce, fairly fresh salsa, and pita chips as well.   I added some of the salsa to my salad as a replacement for fresh tomatoes, and drizzled a little queso on top, but kind of wished I hadn't, as I didn't care for the queso.  If you did like it, I suspect it would go nicely on the meatballs too?  **.

Wasabi Peas.

The only real snack item, for those who just wanted to nibble on something salty and crunchy, was wasabi peas.  They were decent, had a bit of kick to them.  Probably my favorite thing in the buffet.  ***.

Desserts.

And finally, desserts.   I was surprised to see it wasn't just cookies, but rather, brownies and carrot cake.  

The carrot cake I actually enjoyed.  The cake was light and fluffy, a bit boring as the carrot shreds were minimal and it didn't have any: pineapple for moisture, raisins for sweetness, nuts for crunch, but, the base was fine.  The frosting was sweet and reasonably cream-cheesy, very creamy.  Not a carrot cake I'd go out of my way for, but it was good enough.  ***.

The brownies were ok.  I liked the big chocolate chunks on them.  Not too dry.  But not particularly deep rich fudgey taste.  Average really.  ***.

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Mochi Donuts from MoDo

Donuts.   You know I love them.  You know I eat them at least once a week, if not more.  And yet, I've reviewed very few mochi donuts.  Why?  I think I am less excited about mochi donuts than most people.  I'm not sure why, but I haven't ever really gotten into them.  I think I just really enjoy regular donuts so much?  I do like mochi, and absolutely adored the hybrid mochi tart from Pâte à Choux, but mochi donuts are much like cookies to me ...  they are fine, but not something I get all that excited for.

Of course, I do still like to try new things, so when a co-worker brought in mochi donuts from MoDo, once others got their picks, I did try a few.  I don't know much about MoDo, as their website doesn't have much info, and it is located down in Santa Clara.

Assorted Mochi Donuts, $2.50 each.

Our lineup contained all the MoDo standard donuts: black sesame, cookies & cream, churro, matcha green tea, pandan, lilikoi, and milk chocolate, plus the weekly special tiramisu sugar.

The tiramisu sugar was a very subtle flavor, I didn't taste the coffee element at all, but did detect cocoa powder in the sugar coating.

Pandan.

"Its taste is described as a grassy vanilla with a hint of coconut on top with a mochi donut!"

The first one I went for was the pandan, the darker of the vibrant green glazed donuts (matcha was the other green one).  The flavor of the glaze was fairly subtle, yes a bit sweet as it was a sugary glaze after all, but the pandan flavor wasn't particularly strong.  I would have liked a more pronounced flavor in the glaze, although I know pandan is always a fairly low key flavor.

The donut base was a decent enough mochi donut ... lightly chewy, lightly rice flour flavor.  Fine, but, as I said, just not something I get that excited for.  ***.

Black Sesame, Lilikoi.

I moved on to two others, both of which were considerably more flavorful.

Black Sesame: 

"Slightly savory, deep roasted sesame flavor, similar to peanut butter (without the nuts!)".

The black sesame flavor was exactly what I was looking for.  Another sweet glaze, but savory-nutty in the way black sesame is.  I really enjoyed the flavor of the glaze.  

The base donut was the same, kinda ho-hum for me, but I heated it up a little, and liked it even more that way, it got even stretchier and more mochi-like.  ***+.  My favorite of the trio I tried.

Lilikoi:

"A Hawaiian classic - lilikoi (aka passion fruit) is a juicy, sweet and tart, not-quite-citrusy tropical fruit."

I also tried their signature lilikoi, and was blown away by the sweet fruity flavor.  Yup, that was passionfruit all right! Definitely best for those who like a very fruity tropical flavor.   ***+.

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Woodblock, Redmond

Woodblock is a cocktail bar in Redmond, WA, open for lunch during the week, brunch on weekends, and dinner nightly.  They also host happy hour, late night bites, and special whiskey nights.  The food gets very good reviews, during all meal periods, which is hard to pull off.  They also look to have a great cocktail program, and excellent liquor selection (1000 selections of whiskey, scotch, bourbon, and rye alone!), but I only experienced delivery, and they do not offer any for delivery.  They also have a stellar brunch lineup (crab cakes benedict!  Biscuits & gravy!), but I ordered at dinner time.

My order was prepared quickly, and delivered soon after.  No qualms with the delivery experience, besides lamenting the lack of booze options.

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 ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Snacks & Appetizers

Woodblock begins the menu with "Snacks & Appetizers", which is where I focused my ordering.  Much here is very alcohol pairing friendly food, such as a charcuterie board, burrata, and duck liver mousse.  Crowd pleasing truffle Parmesan fries, chicken wings, mac + cheese, and falafel round out the nibbles, with fried brussels sprouts and spiced carrots for those who want a bit of vegetable.  

Soups and salads are in a separate section of the menu. I skipped those, along with the burgers + sandwiches, and "Large Plates", although the brisket gnocchi (to which you can add burrata) was certainly tempting.  I ordered two appetizers (and dessert!), to complement some other leftovers I had with me.

Scotch Egg. $8.

"Pork sausage wrapped, cage-free soft-cooked egg, panko breaded + fried golden, on bed of caramelized onion, arugula, served with currant-grain mustard aioli."

I don't know the last time I had a scotch egg.  It has been years, certainly.  But this is probably *the* signature dish at Woodblock, on the menu at brunch and lunch as well as dinner.

It came with some fresh and peppery arugula that complimented it well, and very tasty caramelized onions.  I asked for the currant-grain mustard aioli on the side (it was an option in the delivery app). and I'm glad I did.  It was fine grain mustard aioli, but I didn't love it.  I didn't taste the currant, and I think that really would have balanced the dish out nicely.  I wanted a touch of sweetness and more robust flavor to go with the sausage.  I did use it, but also added some bbq sauce of my own, which went better for me.  I think hot sauce would have worked too, just, something to jazz the flavor up a touch.

So, accompaniments, ***.  But this dish was obviously about the egg itself.

Scotch Egg: Inside.

The scotch egg was certainly well executed.  The panko crust super crispy (even for delivery) and evenly coated all around.  The sausage layer was super thin, making it all more delicate than I expected.  It also meant that I didn't taste much sausage, a bit of a letdown for me as I love sausage, and wanted to enjoy that element more.  The yolk was perfectly runny inside.  So, execution on this, very nice.

I liked the dish, and it was novel to have a scotch egg again, but, I wanted more sausage, a more flavorful sauce, and a touch more seasoning.  The flavor fell a bit flat.  I wouldn't get it again, but I didn't regret getting it.  *** overall really.

The scotch eggs are available as a single for $8, pair for $15, or trio for $22.

Chicken & Duck Liver Mousse. $10.

"Bacon, clarified butter, currant-grain mustard, toasted rustic bread."

The dish I was looking forward to perhaps even more than the scotch egg was the chicken & duck liver mousse.  I love a good mousse/pate, and this gets a lot of mentions on review sites.  It has been on their menu forever.

At first glance, it certainly didn't look very good.  Definitely a dish that takeout made a mess of.  It is normally served in a glass jar, with the grainy mustard on top.  I think they just scooped it out of the glass jar they make it in, and sorta tried to dump it into the takeout container reasonably intact, but, it certainly didn't come out looking very good.

The mousse was good though.  Very creamy.  Decent liver flavor.  Good, but not extraordinary.  It really needed a touch of salt to make it pop, slightly under-seasoned.

The mustard element here was again described as "currant-grain mustard", and I again didn't taste any currant.  And I again didn't really care for it.  The strong mustard taste really overpowered the mousse, and it was mixed in a bit from the takeout plating.  I really wanted some kind of fruit component, a touch of sweetness, which again, I think the currant would have provided, but, wasn't really here.  I was glad I had some blackberries to add to the mix.  I also didn't taste any bacon.  The clarified butter cap was kinda mixed in, again, due to the takeout nature, normally this is a layer right on top.  It didn't really add nor detract from it.

The toasted rustic bread I didn't care for, it was really toasted, more like crostini, and quite crisp.  I wanted something to spread the mousse on, but it wasn't this.  I was glad I had some crackers and broiche on hand.  Gluten-free diners can select either apple slices or gluten-free bread (for a charge) in place of the regular bread.  I'd be tempted to do the apple slices myself, given the dislike of the bread.

Overall, a good mousse, definitely a dish that suffered in takeout, but also still felt like it was missing a little something (sweetness, seasoning).  ***.

Dessert

The dessert menu is certainly a key part of what drew me in to Woodblock.  All exactly the style of desserts I like, including bananas foster bread pudding with a rum caramel and ice cream, a brown sugar maple panna cotta (sadly, not available for takeout), and a carrot cake ... amaretto carrot cake that is.  Yes, boozy elements in most of the desserts, and all came with recommended pairings of port, dark rum, or others.  They also carry Olympic Mountain ice cream and sorbet in several flavors (but not for delivery).

I went for the carrot cake, which gets stellar reviews.  I was certainly tempted by the bread pudding, but I know I have a very specific style of bread pudding I like, and, since delivery doesn't include the ice cream, I knew that wasn't quite right for me, as the ice cream is essential.

Amaretto Carrot Cake. $10.

"Amaretto-soaked carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, toasted almonds + caramel."

The carrot cake is another much lauded dish from Woodblock.  And this one didn't suffer from takeout like the others.  It looked good.  A huge slice, drizzled with caramel.  That said, it was the biggest letdown of the meal.  It wasn't worthy of the accolades, and honestly, was probably the worst carrot cake I've had in years.

The cake itself was overbaked.  It was dry, and burnt along the top sides and edges.  You can sorta see how dark it is here.  Surely, the person frosting it must have realized this?  It also didn't taste particularly fresh, again, not very moist, but maybe it was just the overbaked quality really taking its toll.  

Then there was the amaretto component.  Much like the currants in the mustard components of the previous two dishes, I detected none of it here.  I was looking forward to that bit of extra interesting flavor.  And moistness.  I didn't taste any amaretto at all.   I did taste almonds, lots of them.  There was slivered almonds all throughout, and coating the top and sides.  Definitely the most almond forward carrot cake I've ever had, so, in that regard, the naming is quasi-appropriate.  The nuts added a good crunch, but also served to further dry it out.

The case was otherwise standard enough carrot cake with shredded carrots.  I didn't detect any pineapple nor raisins that can commonly be found in carrot cake.  But, dry, brunt, and too heavy in the almonds for my taste. * cake, not really anything redeeming about it.

Carrot cake, at least for me, is only partially about the cake anyway.  Carrot cake tends to have a higher-than-average frosting to cake ratio than other cakes, and usually this thrills me.   But it also can frequently have cloying sweet frosting, which at least was not the case here.  The frosting was sweet but not too sweet, just, appropriately sweet.  Kudos for that.  But it didn't taste much of cream cheese at all, and trended in the Criso direction.  Sweetened Criso is what it seemed like.  It wasn't bad exactly, but certainly didn't deliver much in the way of cream cheese.  **.

And finally, the caramel, just a thin sauce, that seemed out of a bottle.  It didn't add to the dish.  I was glad I had strawberries and blackberries on hand to give this a fresh component at well.

Really, just, not a winner in any way.  Sadness. *+.

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Over Easy Breakfast Bars

Sometimes, I'm amazed at how large specific markets can be.  Like those for grab-n-go bars.  Sure, some are geared towards breakfast, others for sustained energy while hiking, others are high protein, some sound like candy bars, they can be soft, chewy, or dense, etc, etc, but, seriously, so many brands.  I've tried quite a few.

Over Easy is yet another entry in this category, geared at breakfast in particular, and featuring, as you may have guessed, eggs.  Or, egg whites at least.  

"Complete morning nutrition for full body and brain health.  Made from wholesome and nutrient dense ingredients, our products have been designed to give your body exactly what you need to start your day right, every single morning."

They are also gluten-free, dairy free, soy free, yadda yadda.  They produce 3 product lines: breakfast bars, minis, and shakes.

Breakfast Bars

"The ultimate morning bar: organic oats & cage-free egg whites for your brain body."

The breakfast bars come in 6 flavors: peanut butter, peanut butter dark chocolate, apple cinnamon, oatmeal raisin, toasted coconut, and banana nut.  I tried three different flavors and didn't really care for any, mostly just due to the style of bar.

Banana Nut.

"Same great traditional breakfast flavor, in a convenient bar."

The first bar I tried was the banana nut, which, back in the day, used to be my muffin of choice.  I was interested to see how it translated into a bar.

Like all the Over Easy bars, the base of this is oats, and of course the signature egg white, along with honey for sweetener.  It was much like any other chewy style granola bar, although considerably wider, and less cloyingly sweet.  A slightly more wholesome seeming granola bar, and one geared for adults, size-wise.

The "nut" element of banana nut comes from almonds, both chunks and almond butter that helps bind it.  The banana is dried banana, but I barely tasted it.  The nuts added a bit of crunch to the otherwise chewy bar.  

Overall, I found this pretty boring. I didn't taste the banana, and the nut added texture, but not much flavor either.  Basically, just a big, average, chewy granola bar.  It was an easy option for breakfast though, and one that didn't leave me feeling quite as weighed down as an actual banana nut muffin, and with 9 grams of protein that was a nice touch.  I wouldn't get it again though.  ***.

Apple Cinnamon.

"Packed with quality ingredients for long lasting, sustainable energy throughout your morning."

Next I went for another breakfast vibes inspired flavor, apple cinnamon, which I hoped would remind me of morning oats, but in bar form.

Like the banana nut, it had the same wider than normal granola bar shape, and chewy base of oats, egg whites, almonds, honey, and almond butter.  It also had bits of equally chewy dried apple and a hint of cinnamon.  It had a touch more flavor from the apple and cinnamon, but the flavor was fairly muted, and it still just ate too chewy for me.  **+.

Peanut Butter.

"The simplicity of peanut butter and oats in the perfect protein packed bar."

I saved the best for last it seems.  I still didn't particularly like it, but I didn't mind finishing this one.  

The peanut butter bar is a very simple bar, just the oats/honey/egg white base, and peanuts/peanut butter.  It tastes reasonably like peanut butter.  I like peanut butter.  It is still a dense, chewy bar though, and not a style I care for, and the flavor falls pretty flat past the peanut butter.  I wanted to dunk it in chocolate, or even in yogurt, just, something to jazz it up a bit.

The best of the three varieties I tried, for me.  I suspect the dark chocolate one would be more my style, as it at least has chocolate chunks in it too.  ***.

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Bake Sum

Bake Sum is the story of a successful pandemic born business.  Started by a pastry chef who made weekly boxes as a way to get through the pandemic, and grew to a small boutique bakery located in Oakland, where you can visit in-person a few hours a day.  They also supply to a few coffee shops, and have drop locations around the Bay Area for weekly boxes, which are still a focus for the bakery.  Boxes are $38, and contain both sweet and savory items, a mix of danishes, buns, cookies, mochi bites, cakes, and more.  

"A modern bakery with Asian American influenced viennoiserie, cakes, and pastries. Our pastries are always fun, beautiful, creative, and above all delicious."

As a lover of all baked goods, I've had my eye on Bake Sum for a while.  The menu changes monthly, although there are some classics that stick around more.  Flavors are full of Asian flair, with ube, lychee, hojicha, black sesame, and the like.  I've been drawn in by nearly everything on the menu.  The menu is dominantly sweet, but I've actually only tried the savory, as I discovered Bake Sum at a opening reception for a benefit gala, and it was savory only.  Given how fantastic my savory item were, and how great the sweet lineup sounds, I can't wait to try more.

Okonomiyaki Danish (mini).

"Inspired by the Japanese pancake, Okonomiyaki, this danish is topped with a veggie mornay and finished with Kewpie Mayonnaise, Okonomiyaki sauce, furikake, and bonito flakes."

This was the (savory) item I was most excited to try.  I love okonomiyaki in general, and I certainly love quality pastry, and it sounded fabulous.  And, indeed, it was.

First, the pastry.  This needs a special mention, as it was stunning.  The lamination was top notch.  So flaky.  Perfectly crisp.  So rich and buttery.  Excellent, excellent pastry.  The pastry alone made me want to try all the Bake Sum danish/croissant line up, as it is clear this pastry team has skill.

The toppings were even more flavorful than I had hoped they'd be.  The creamy mornay took the place of what would often be a cream cheese filling in a sweet danish, and the okonomiyaki sauce and kewpie mayo (yes!) both added to the creaminess and packed it full of flavor.  Very savory, very umami, and very complex.  Of course the furikake and bonito flakes amped up the flavors even more.

This was a delight to eat, a very successful interpretation of okonomiyaki into pastry form.  If I were to change one thing, I might add a touch of pickled ginger, or perhaps cabbage, just to give it one more dimension, but it wasn't actually needed.  I'd gladly have enough of these.  This world needs more Japanese danishes. ****.

Mini Danishes: Okonomiyaki (left), Aloo Matar (right).

"Filled with a tomato sauce and mornay of peas and spices, we top this Danish with roasted potatoes, yogurt and a mild mint & cilantro chutney."

I also tried the Indian danish, inspired by aloo matar.  The base was just like the okonomiyaki danish, a truly fabulous, well laminated, intensely buttery, crispy danish.  Top notch, again.  

I thought the okonomiyaki danish was flavorful, but this one was just as flavorful, if not more.  The little dollop of chutney, the spiced peas, the yogurt ... wow!  The complex spices really made this a flavor powerhouse, so unexpected given their small quantities, but, it packed such a punch.  It made me want to ditch my regular naan next time I get Indian cuisine, and just dunk a buttery croissant in my curry instead ...

Another great success, and I'm honestly not sure which I preferred more.  Both very unique, both very successful, and both very true to representing the dishes they are based on.  ****.

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AMC Theaters Popcorn

I eat a lot of popcorn.  Usually daily.  Sweet decadent chocolate covered drizzlecorn, savory spicy popcorn, anything in between.   Rarely plain.  Rarely butter.  Never microwave kind.

I definitely have a popcorn addiction, hence the label on my blog for it, and hence why I have an extra chest freezer full of it.  (Protip: Freeze your popcorn, and eat it direct from freezer.  It gets even crispier!).  

But movie theater popcorn?  I don't know the last time I had that.  I haven't been to the movies in years, and I'm certainly not one for paying $10 for a bucket of popcorn (and neither was my mom, we always brought our own).  It has probably been 30 years since I had movie theater popcorn, perhaps when visiting the movies with a friend's family when I was a kid?  I don't know.  I actually didn't quite know what to expect when I got one recently (as a freebie from a T-Mobile Tuesdays promo), as silly as that sounds.

Large Popcorn. $10.29.

"Of all the movie theatre companies in the world, AMC sells the most popcorn. Every day, we pop about 35 tons of kernels. That adds up to 52 million bags of popcorn sold each year."

The popcorn was already sitting ready to go in tubs under a heat lamp.  Not particularly freshly popped.  Not particularly warm.  Frighteningly yellow.

The kernels were well popped, no duds.  All were well coated in yellow.  It was salty, but not in a traditional salty way, if that makes any sense.  It was vaguely buttery, but, it didn't really taste like real butter.  

It was basically ... just a bit odd, tasted extremely unhealthy, and wasn't actually very enjoyable.  I don't feel compelling to try movie theater popcorn again.  **+.  

Update: Except I had that giant tub, and I couldn't let it go to waste right?  It sorta grew on me, but also left my stomach feeling pretty unhappy, so, in the end *** for the taste growing on me, but * for how I felt afterwards.

"Butter" Flavoring.

I was a bit sad about how meh the popcorn was, so I decided to jazz it up, which AMC theaters allows you to do yourself, with a row of butter flavoring dispensers.  Each dispenser has not one, not two, but three buttons you can push to dispense the topping, which seemed quite odd design, and actually just confused me more than it gave convenient options.  I understand maybe having one at kid level and one at adult but ... yeah, it was strange.

What came out of the dispenser?  I don't know.  Yellow oil.  It made the popcorn taste even more odd.  It didn't taste like butter.  I distinctly remember the movie theater when I was growing up boasting that they had "real butter" in the dispenser (which they controlled, but you could ask for more), and now I see why.  Real butter is not a given.  This stuff did not enhance the popcorn, but I'm sure it took the already 1000 calorie bucket up to an even unhealthier saturated fat land.

They also had a salt shaker to add more salt, which it didn't quite need as it was very salty in an odd way, in a "help I need more beverage" way, not a "oh, that was a nice pop of salt that accented the flavors" way, if that makes sense. 

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Victoria Pastry

Princess cake.  Not a very commonly found item.  But in San Francisco, there are two bakeries both very well known for their princess cake: Schubert's Bakery and Victoria Pastry.  Both have been on my radar for years, but, somehow, I didn't visit either for the first 17 years I lived in San Francisco.  I know, I have no excuse, particularly as I adore desserts and baked goods so much.  The only princess cake I think I've actually had in San Francisco before was from Miette, where it was good, but I wasn't into their marzipan. 

But in 2022, I finally sought out epic princess cake, from Victoria Pastry, located in North Beach.  Victoria Pastry is a San Francisco institution, as its been around since 1914!  It is famous for the princess cake, and well regarded for other items, although many seem to prefer Stella Bakery, just down the street (which, I reviewed last week).  

Display Case.

I'll admit, looking at the display cases, the items at Stella looked just a touch better.  But it is hard to wlak by either without being tempted (although, I somehow lived her this long before finally trying their goodies!).

This "visit" wasn't even technically a visit, as I actually ordered on DoorDash, when I saw Victoria Pastry show up as an option to DoubleDash, that is, to add on to my other order from another nearby business for no additional fee.  It was like the online version of impulse grabbing candy in the grocery store checkout line.  It caught my eye, I clicked, and next thing I knew, I had a glorious dessert headed my way.

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 ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

If you do visit in person, the first thing you'll notice is the display cases, loaded with goodies.  They make it easy to eat with your eyes, and want, well, everything. 

Princess Cake. $7.75.

"Vanilla sponge soaked in a triple sec with a layer of raspberry jam, vanilla custard, and whipped cream draped with green marzipan."

Ok, so, I'll cut right to the chase.   One forkful of the cake and I immediately understood why people rave about this cake.  Simply put, I don't think princess cake could possible get better than this.  It really was, well, perfect.

The layers of sponge cake were remarkably light and airy.  The bottom layer, soaked in triple sec, made it even more moist.  Flawless sponge, really.

And then, the whipped cream - it too was very light, fluffy, and, for lack of any better way to describe it, very, very fresh tasting.  Under the middle layer of whipped cream was a layer of thick custard, almost hard to detect, but it added a touch of richness.

The thin raspberry jam layer added a fruity and sweet element, and the marzipan a lovely almond accent, and additional sweetness.

Each element of the creation was executed perfectly, and together it combined into a dessert that ate so well - it didn't feel too heavy despite the cream layers, and it didn't trend too sweet despite the fruity jam.  All in balance, and all just as good as it can possibly get.

I truly savored and enjoyed every bite of this.  If you like princess cake, clearly, you must seek this out, but even if you don't, or think you don't, it is worth a try.  Really, stunning.

****+.

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