STK Steakhouse

STK is a small chain of high end, or at least, high price point, steakhouses in major cities in the US.  They recently opened one in San Francisco, right along the waterfront, and literally right downstairs from my office.  

I was excited to try it out when it opened, but I took one look at the price point, and decided to wait for a worthy occasion.  This is not a casual evening out restaurant, this is a splurge, a major splurge, destination.  Reviews also seemed fairly mixed, so, I wasn't compelled to visit sooner.

After several months of walking by literally every day, I finally visited, with a small group of co-workers, at the end of a day long working strategy session.  We didn't have the budget for an actual meal there, but we were able to visit during Happy Hour, and make a meal of it.

Mostly Happy Hour.

We visited during Happy Hour, to take advantage of the quite reasonable prices.  The Happy Hour prices really are remarkable.

Also remarkable was the service.  As in, it was truly horrible.  We were fully ignored for 30 minutes until we flagged down a waiter (not our first attempt to do so, but, we were unable any other time!), who wasn't even ours, but he helped us out.  

The food was ... ok.  Not great, and certainly not worthy of the regular prices.  I'd consider returning again for Happy Hour just due to convenience and great prices, but, it certainly wouldn't be my top choice.

Setting

STK bills itself as a "modern steakhouse & chic lounge", the later part being a prime focus.  There is a live DJ every night.  At 5pm on the dot, the DJ stars spinning, and it is a scene.  The evening dress quickly becomes cocktail attire and upwards.  If you are looking for a low key, intimate, quiet venue ... this is not it.

STK sets itself up as somewhere to be seen - literally.  There is a giant bull out front to pose with, and of course, post your content to social media.  An Instagram-worthy flower backdrop and photo booth inside.  High end steakhouse decor.  

Patio.

My visit was for Happy Hour, which is limited to the small bar area inside, or, the large patio outside.  We were seated outside, where the vibe was still strong, the DJ blasting.  Seemingly ever table was a fairly large group of co-workers, or friends, out for a good time post their work days.  Food, and more importantly drinks, were free flowing.

It was also, well, San Francisco, which meant it was fairly cool, and the heat lamps were necessary, although barely functional, as they kept blowing out in the wind.  

Service was awful.  Truly the worst I've experienced anywhere in several years, including in non-tipping countries, or those were the status quo is essentially no service.  Getting attention of staff members required aggressive effort on our part.  Were we not dressed the part?  Was it just bad luck?  

Drinks

As a prime Happy Hour, or spurge-worthy dinner destination, STK has an extensive drink menu.  One entire side of the menu is devoted to drinks.

Drink Menu.

STK has a pretty decent cocktail list, with basics like a margarita, mojito, or negroni, plus interesting slight twists on classics and house specials.  All cocktails are $21 normally, a touch high, but still fairly standard for a swanky place in SF.  However during Happy Hour, *all* the house cocktails are only $9 (as are a single varietal of red, white, and bubbles for wine, and a single kind of beer).  I expected just to be able to pick from 2-3 cocktails for the special happy hour pricing, and kinda couldn't believe it that all were only $9.  That really is a remarkable price for a high end cocktail in downtown!  Now I understand why every table was loaded with cocktails.

STK's signature drink is the Spiced Watermelon, a tequila based cocktail that comes garnished with a big wedge of watermelon, and has won many awards.  Nearly every table around us had multiple watermelon cocktails adorning it, every server who walked by had at least one in hand.  As I have an extremely severe watermelon allergy, this was concerning, as I know in particular the bar often will use the same knife to slice a lemon garnish as they would the watermelon, so I made sure to be very, very clear to my server that I had a severe allergy.  I was still not particularly comfortable as tray after tray of deathmelon drinks walked by all evening, and our service continued to falter.

Not Your Daddy's Old Fashioned. $9 HH/$21 Regular.

"Woodford reserve bourbon - angostura bitters - brown sugar - vanilla bean."

For my own drink, I stayed far away from the fruity offerings, and went for a old fashioned, their spin on it, the "Not Your Daddy's Old Fashioned".  It was served appropriately in a fairly hefty old fashioned glass, with not too much ice, and a lemon peel garnish.  It was a very well made drink - everything in balance, nicely bitter but not too bitter, and definitely boozy. They certainly didn't water down the cheaper happy hour cocktails.  I didn't really taste the brown sugar nor vanilla bean, but, they presumably helped create the smooth, balanced profile.

Overall, a very nice execution of a classic, and beyond reasonable for the $9 Happy Hour price.  ****.

Food

Happy Hour

Happy Hour is what draws a lot of people to STK, for good reason.  Served Mon-Fri from 3-6:30pm, and late night on Sun-Thurs from 10pm-close.  The hours are generous, and the prices shockingly reasonable, not only compared to their regular $$$$ menu, but, in general.  The Happy Hour menu is only served at the bar inside, and patio outside, which was a bit unfortunate as we were a party of 4 so the bar wasn't an option, and, it was pretty cold and windy outside.  They have heat lamps, but, they kept blowing out.  Still, I do recommend this for a happy hour venue.

Happy Hour Menu.

The Happy Hour menu is arranged around a simple premise: $3, $6, $9.  That is, all dishes are either $3, $6, or $9.  All drinks are $9.  Simple.  And like I said, reasonable.

The menu ranges from smaller portions of some of their regular appetizers and side dishes, to happy hour exclusive bites.  The $3 lineup includes falafel, oysters, and their signature tots.  $6 gets you a mini "brg" and fries, wagyu meatballs, short rib quesadillas, or salmon "stilettos" (a cured salmon bite served in a spoon).  The $9 price point gets you popcorn chicken or crispy calamari (that I would actually really like to try), several styles of tacos (a single tiny A5 wagyu taco or pair of tiny tuna tartare tacos with taro chip shells), classic tartar or shrimp cocktail, or a play on steak frites.

If you really want to splurge at Happy Hour, there is also a $19 Surf & Turf, with a 3 ounce filet and single grilled prawn.  Honestly, this sounds perfect for me - 3 ounces is just about 3 bites of steak, which is all I generally want anyway.  Pair it with a carby side dish (I recommend the tots!) and a veggie side dish, and you could have a perfectly fine, not overly indulgent, reasonably priced, dinner.

During Happy Hour, most tables were piled high with happy hour dishes.  At $3, $6, and $9 dollars, how do you blame folks?  We tried 3 different items (ok, 4, if you count the veggie version of one), and doubled up on a few.  In general, I was impressed with the composition of the dishes, but, our food was not warm, even when freshly served.

Short Rib Quesadilla. $6.

"Fontina cheese - tomatoes - chimichurri - flour tortilla - mustard cream."

I'm not one for quesadillas in general, so I wasn't interested in this, but my co-workers opted to get the short rib quesadilla.  I suspect they were expecting more standard wedge shaped pieces, and likely some salsa or sour cream, but they seemed happy enough with this more stromboli-like presentation.  I didn't try one, but I did try the sauce, not knowing what it was, but being a sauce girl I couldn't resist, and found it very ... bland.  Everyone tried to guess what it was.  They mostly though it was aioli, which didn't seem quite right to me, and certainly didn't make sense with quesadillas, even non-traditional ones.  I thought maybe it would be sour cream, but, it didn't have any tang to it either.  The answer?  Mustard cream, the same as I had my crab cake (more on that soon).  The mustard element was not detectable, although it had a mild yellow hue to it.

This dish does not appear on the regular dinner menu, but is on the lunch menu in entree form for $31.

Lil' Brg & Truffle Fries. $6.

"Wagyu beef - special sauce - sesame seed bun."

One of the clear crowd pleasers of the Happy Hour menu is the "lil' brg", available with wagyu beef or vegetarian patty.  The brg comes adorned with all the fixings: tomato, a slice of pickle, well melted cheese, and is dripping the special sauce.  It really is a nice looking slider.  The bun was glossy and coated with a good scattering of black sesame seeds too.

Two of my co-workers ordered these, and said they were good, albeit very messy.  Although cooked medium-well, barely any pink inside, they said the patties were remarkably juicy.  Our vegetarian companion tried the veggie version, and said it was fine, but not great.

The Happy Hour brg also comes with their signature truffle parmesan fries.  You can't get the fries alone on the happy hour menu, but the brg comes with a tower of 4 of them.  These are unique fries, very thick (but not like steak fries) but rather like logs.  Solid logs of fried potato.   I tried one and wasn't particularly impressed.  It was just a big fry.  Looked interesting, but wasn't really.  I tried it very soon after it arrived at the table when my dining companion offered one, and it was stone cold.   The truffle flavor was barely noticeable.  The parmesan was fine.  If you want these with your meal outside Happy Hour, a side order of 12 of them is a whopping $20, which seems crazy to me.  **+ for the fries.

I also did try the special sauce that dripped off the burgers, and it was pretty standard special sauce.  Creamy, flavorful, zesty. ***.

The brg is also the regular starters menu for $33, which is a pair of them, with no fries.  $16.50 per slider - wowzer.  The happy hour price was totally reasonable, particularly with the fries, but  I can't imagine paying $16.50 each for these.

Tots. $3.

Our final item from the Happy Hour menu was my pick.  And, really, this dish was a primary reason why I wanted to go to STK.  For the tots.  Yup, the tots.  Me, a girl who could generally care less about most tater tots, couldn't wait to try these.  Another signature dish, another bougie spin on a classic, and luckily for us, far more successful than the fries.  A single order comes with 4 tots, and we ordered several platters of them, knowing that we'd each want more than one (or at least, hoping so!).

Much like the fries, the theme was super sized.  Giant tots.  They were crispy on the outside, and basically a ball of creamy yummy mashed potato inside, not shredded potato like their namesake.  I really liked the tots, but, they were barely lukewarm when they arrived, so, minus a point for that.  The same parmesan and herbs were sprinkled over them that came with the fries too.  **** tots, but, knocking down to ***+ due to being cold.

They were served with a orange dipping sauce, that I gleefully took a bunch of, only to discover that it was chipotle (I think).  Creamy, good, but, I didn't like chipotle flavor.  The others did though.  I used the mustard cream from their quesadillas, and a little of the special sauce that had dripped out of their burgers, on mine, and eventually asked for ketchup.  Yup, I was that person who asked for ketchup (which, everyone else ended up using too, for fries, tots, and brgs).

The tots are also available as regular side, 8 for $20, so this is clearly a much better deal.  

Dinner

Happy Hour was our main draw, but we could also order from the full dinner menu if wanted to splurge.  Warning: this is very much a splurge kind of venue. 

Dinner Menu.

So, the dinner menu.

It starts with several salads, such as a $29 iceberg wedge (for real), has a few of the Happy Hour dishes in dramatically higher price points (tuna tartare, calamari, the brgs for $34, $31, $33 respectively), and a few other starters such as bacon or burrata for $30, and a single crab cake for $41.  Gulp.

The raw bar comes next, with "STK Pearls", e.g. oysters and American caviar for $69, king crab, and a $71 per person, two person minimum, shellfish platter.  

Then there are the entrees.  Your cheapest option is the $55 chicken.  The sole vegetarian item, tagliatelle, with truffle, is $65.  For seafood eaters, things escalate to the salmon ($62), fish & chips ($68), and sea bass ($73).  But this is a steak house, and the red meat is what they are all about.  Small filets start at $61 and from there ... you rise up to the $165 tomahawk, or the A5 wagyu priced per ounce.  Want toppings such as a lobster tail to make it a surf & turf and that will be $41, a peppercorn crust will cost you $9, and then there are several butters to pick from for $12 each and long list of sauces for $4 (or a sauce plate, for people like me who always want them al, for $29).

The sides lineup (all $20) is really all quite appealing.  In addition to larger servings of the tots and fries, the other potato offering is a fantastic looking parmesan crusted mashed potato.  For those who want some vegetables, not necessarily healthy ones, there is creamed spinach, crispy brussels sprouts (with bacon), sweet corn pudding, confit mushrooms (also with bacon), and asparagus.

And not be left out, of course, desserts, all $18, none of which are particularly inspired: chocolate cake, cheesecake, apple pie (not even served warm), a skillet cookie, or bag of donuts.

So, a fairly low key meal of a salad to start, a modest mid-range steak, single side, and dessert would be $175 per person, before taking into account drinks (cocktails are $21 outside of happy hour).  Yeah, ooph.

We tried a starter and a side, and nothing else (yes, I even passed on dessert, mostly because they get such lackluster reviews).

STK Pull Apart Bread w/ Blue Cheese Butter & Chive.
 (Complimentary with Dinner).

"House made bread. Topped with blue cheese butter and served with chive oil."

I knew from reading reviews that people go nuts for the housemade bread, served with a signature blue cheese butter and herb oil.  I saw it being delivered to tables around us, as soon as folks had their orders in, before their appetizers/happy hour bites arrived.  But we didn't get bread.  This seemed on trend with the horrible service, but after literally every other dish had arrived and still no bread, I asked about it.

I was told the sad news - bread is only served to those who order an entree from the main menu.  So, copious Happy Hour bites, even sides and apps from the main menu, did not make us worthy of the bread.  Doh.  We had plenty of food, and a table loaded with plates, so, I accepted our fate, and moved on, but the server came back by and said he'd sneak me one.  Ok, while service was generally awful, our makeshift server really did a great job.

A few minutes later, he delivered the bread with a smile.  It was beautifully presented, in a skillet, with the two spreads on the side.  I eagerly ripped off a roll, and was immediately disappointed.  Um, it was not hot. Not even lukewarm.  Stone cold.  Sigh.  Really, I couldn't believe how cold it was.  Was the cast iron skillet all for looks?  Was it supposed to be cold?  I don't think so, as most photos I had seen of it had the butter melting all over it.  There was no way this butter was going to melt on the cold bread, in the cold SF outdoors.

I slathered the butter all over it, undeterred.  Rookie move, not trying the bread first, nor the butter, but, going all in.  And ... wow, I didn't really like it.  The butter had an odd taste, and was strangely chunky.  It was then that I remembered it was *blue cheese* butter, and I don't particularly like blue cheese.  The bread was also sourdough, although only mild sour dough flavor.  So, cold bread, cold butter that didn't melt in and had a flavor I didn't care for ... not a winner.  * for that butter for me, the parsley at least was ok?  And ** for the bread, at least it was soft?  The bread would be *** if warm.

The best thing on the board was the chive oil.  Very herby, flavorful.  Not remarkable, but, not bad. ***.

You can also purchase this a la carte for $6.90 if you don't quality for the complimentary bread, or you want a refill.

Starter: Jumbo Lump Crab Cake. $41.

"Whole grain mustard cream - chili thread - cucumber mustard seeds salad."

I went rogue and ordered a starter off the regular menu, instead of a happy hour bite, for my main protein.  I was really, really craving crab cakes, and I knew STK had a crab cake on the starters menu.  Had I stuck with the happy hour menu, the fried calamari really did look decent.

The crab cake was reasonably warm, unlike all the happy hour bites.  It was a decently thick patty, with not too much filler, and lots of crab.  Lightly crispy, not greasy.  A decent crab cake, but not remarkable.  Not particularly well seasoned, and it really could use a little acidity.  I wished for a lemon to squeeze over it.

The plate was garnished with flair, with the same mustard cream that the quesadillas came with, that made more sense here, but was still a very, very muted flavor.  I liked having some kind of cream, but, it didn't really help the flavors pop.  More mustard would definitely help, but really, I just wanted some tartar sauce.  If service was better, I would have asked for some of the roasted garlic and lime aioli that comes with the calamari perhaps, but, waiting to get the attention of a server was not really an option.  I wanted to eat while at least one item on my plate was remotely warm.

The "cucumber mustard seeds salad" was really just a single long thin piece of cucumber attractively rolled up.  Fresh, crisp, but, not much of it, and definitely not a salad.

Overall, the crab cake was fine, but everything else let it down.  Looked considerably prettier than it tasted.  ***.

This crab cake, the single crab cake, with very little else served with it, was $41.  $41!!!  Yes, it was a good crab cake, but, wow.  A $41 starter, or in my case, a light main.

Side: Sweet Corn Pudding. $20.

I wanted all the sides, but at $20 each, I limited myself to just one to try.  I was between the creamed spinach and the corn pudding, and let the group help me decide.  We all though the corn pudding sounded the most unique.

It was essentially just slightly fancier creamed corn.  Very heavy in the cream, and made with whole kernel corn, not crushed pieces like you find in canned cream corn.  I was secretly hoping it would be more the style of the insanely life changing corn pudding I had at Truth BBQ in Houston, but alas, it was more like regular creamed corn.  Good creamed corn, don't get me wrong, but, just creamed corn.  A bit more seasoning, a touch of kick like jalapeno, or even a cheese crust could have likely amped this up a bit, but as it was, it was fine, but not something I'd get again, unless really craving creamed corn.

The portion was definitely sharable, we all had several scoops with no problem.  ***.

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479° Popcorn

I'm always on a popcorn kick. 

It all started when I visited my parents one summer, and attended the local farmer's market with my mom.  The market was tiny compared to the Ferry Building farmer's market that I'm used to in San Francisco, but, it still left a strong impression.  The produce was fine, but nothing spectacular.  Overall, it seemed pretty forgettable.  And then my mom mentioned that she needed to get her "treat": a lemonade and a bag of popcorn.  She led me to a stand where they were making fresh kettle corn.  It smelt great, but it was just popcorn, how exciting would it really be?  While we waited for her lemonade to be freshly squeezed, I idly took a handful of the fresh popcorn.  It was salty.  It was sweet.  It was totally and completely addicting.  I couldn't stop eating it.

I haven't found kettle corn as good as that stuff anywhere else.  I've tried tons of popcorns, from packaged ones, to microwave ones, to fancy ones sold at the farmer's markets in SF.  None even come close to that popcorn.  The good news is, it freezes wonderfully.  I think I might even prefer it frozen, as it gets a little crunchier.  I may or may not have filled every remaining space in my luggage on my last return trip with popcorn.  And I may have mocked my mom when she overnight mailed me a giant bag of it as a surprise, telling her how ridiculous it was to spend that much money on shipping popcorn.  But secretly, I was thrilled.  If you are wondering, that is Howl'n Good Speciality Popcorn, and you can only find it in the Lebanon, NH area.

Anyway, this review isn't about that popcorn.  This is about 479°, a San Francisco based gourmet popcorn maker.  They are local, but sell it packaged in regular retail locations.  They have some savory and some sweet varieties, with fairly interesting flavors.

I almost liked all of their popcorns, but at the end of the day, they all leave me wanting something more.  Specifically, the popcorn from that tiny farmer's market in New Hampshire ...

Chipotle Caramel + Almonds.

“Rich, dark caramel spiked with chipotle chili + toasted almonds”.

This was sweet and ok, but not all that standout.  My notes said, "Just kinda there. Sweet, slightly spicy aftertaste, but really nothing special.  I really don’t get the chipotle spice at all.  Just kinda sweet popcorn, slight caramel flavor on finish.  There was only one almond in the entire bag.  Eh.  **+.

Vanilla Bean Caramel.

"Light, crunchy caramel popcorn infused with Madagascar vanilla. An indulgent snack with only 110 calories! Gluten Free, Non-GMO, Whole Grain, always air-popped, never fried."

On a recent flight with Virgin America, I saw 479° popcorn offered, skimmed it, and kept on reading my other options as I hadn't loved the 479° popcorn I'd tried before.  But then I backtracked.  Wait, it said "Vanilla Bean Caramel".  That was not the Sea Salt Caramel flavor I had before.  Do they make a second caramel corn now?

The answer?  Yes, they do, but it is an exclusive flavor to Virgin America.  Well, now I had to try it!

It was better than the sea salt caramel.  I could taste the vanilla bean clearly, which added a bit of oomph to the flavor.  The caramel was still very sweet, which I know is what you want with caramel corn, but without the salt to balance it, the result was even sweeter than the Sea Salt Caramel flavor.

The kernels were well coated, and the popcorn light and fresh enough, but overall, it didn't wow me.  Of course, like most popcorn, I immediately wondered how it would be frozen ... ***.

[ Others ]

• Fluer de Sel Caramel: "Sweet, crunchy caramel sprinkled with delicate flakes of sea salt".  Tasting notes:  Almost too sweet?  Not quite awesome.  Not quite a caramel corn, salt not really there enough. [ Way too sweet ]  [ Not actually good, but almost good, so you keep eating it trying to make it be good.  Almost too sweet, too much caramel.]  [ Really too sweet, I want to like this more than I do. ] **+.
• White Cheddar and Black Truffle: "Aged white cheddar drizzled with aromatic black truffle oil."  Tasting notes: Truffle is very subtle, don't really taste it.  Mostly just standard white cheddar popcorn with a bit of earthiness.  Not very good, cheddar very mild, meh. [ Update review: Cheddar too mild, not much truffle, meh ]. **+.
• Ginger Sesame Caramel:  "Ginger-infused crunchy caramel tossed with toasted black sesame seeds".  Tasting notes: sweet and ok, but not all that interesting.  Just like the fleur de sel, almost good but not really.  Lots of caramel, but not very good ginger or sesame flavors.  **+.
• Pimentòn de La Vera: "Smoky Spanish paprika with bursts of ripe organic tomato + onion." Tasting notes: Nice and spicy, liked.  Unique and flavorful.  ***+.
• Vietnamesse Cinnamon Sugar: "Vietnamese cinnamon dusted with crunchy light sugar".  Tasting notes:  flavor too subtle, not very cinnamony or sugary. **+.

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Westernco Donut

Another work trip to the Seattle area, another chance to indulge in local donuts (er, I mean, another great business opportunity to bond with my co-workers ...).  Last time, we had well known Top Pot donuts for our large event.  This time, I had a few other places at the top of my list to try, but alas, none delivered to our office, nor were near enough where the locals lived to stop to pick them up.  One of said locals went to a place they'd never been before either, Westernco Donut.

"Westernco Donut has been in the business of making the finest donuts for over 30 years and counting. We make our donuts the old-fashioned way. We don't try to offer the largest variety of donuts nor do we try to keep up with the latest trends from around the world. Instead, we focus on quality."

Some donut shops are all about their toppings, their innovative wacky flavor combinations, their  accolades.  Westernco Donut is definitely not that.  No bougie donuts here.  Just, simple donuts, done well.   And for the most part, they won me over.  I wouldn't go out of my way for these donuts, but, I enjoyed them.

Assorted Dozen.

Our first box was a lovely assortment of donuts, all fairly interesting, no plain or even simple glazed here.  There was puffy twists and bear claws, very glazed old fashioned (chocolate or vanilla), a filled raised circle (which turned out to have lemon filling), two cake donuts with icing and toppings (white with cocolate, chocolate with sprinkles), and my usual favorites, the apple fritter and cinnamon roll.  Normally, my first grab would be said fritter or cinnamon roll, but the top left two, the stuffed buttermilk bars, drew me in instantly.  They were oozing so much goodness!

Stuffed Glazed Buttermilk Bars. $2.50.

I immediately took half of each of them, one with jelly, one with pudding.  I was thrilled to find that they tasted as good as they looked.  Nicely crispy outside, moist inside, great crunch to the exterior.  Good base flavor.  Plenty of glaze.  The jelly one was goo style jelly, but that totally works in a jelly donut, and it was sweet, fruity, and enjoyable. ****.

The pudding filled buttermilk bar was the same excellent donut base, with vanilla pudding coming out.  Definitely "Snack Pack" style pudding, not a fresh custard, but, again, that works here, just like in a Boston Cream.  You don't need fancy custard. ****.

Vanilla and Chocolate Frosted Old Fashioned. $1.75.

Of course I also tried the ring shaped old fashioneds, after the success of the bar style, both the vanilla and chocolate varieties.  Again, good donut base, lots of glaze.  The chocolate was deep and rich. Both above average, although the coatings were so substantial it made these pretty sweet.  ***+.

The also make these in plain, chocolate based, and maple frosted varieties.

Assorted (baker's) dozen.

Our next box was nearly as interesting.  Here we had maple glazed raised bars, rasied glazed, vanilla sprinkled, and peanut coated rings, a chocolate covered circle one that I assume was filled, and some repeats: another twist and bear claw, another each of the glazed old fashioned (vanilla and chocolate), and another fritter.  This box also had two non-donuts, a chocolate croissant, and, hiding under the top right donut, was some kind of supersized palmier.

I tried a few from here too, once the others had gotten their picks, and many still remained.

They also make french crullers, regular cake or chocolate cake donuts with a variety of toppings, and donut holes, but our assortment didn't have any of those.

Apple Fritter. $2.50.

This was a fine fritter.  Good glaze, nice crags, moist inside, light cinnamon spicing, small bits of apple.  Fairly average, but good average.  ***.

Chocolate croissant. $3.
The chocolate croissant looked a bit lackluster, which I think is why it remained after everyone had their fill, so I gave it a try. It was much better than it looked, fairly flaky, and loaded with really nice chocolate. ***+.

Giant Palmier-thing.

I really don't know what this one was.  Their website doesn't mention anything like it, nor do any reviews I saw.  And I failed to get a close up photo of it.  But it looked much like a palmier, just, huge, in all dimensions, and drizzled with icing.  

It was the only real dud of the bunch.  It was dry, it was messy, and the pastry didn't have any buttery nor redeeming qualities to it.  Just, boring all around and not very fresh tasting.  I gave up on it quickly.  It could perhaps be layered with some cream like a napoleon successfully, but, the others were so much better, and we had so many left over, it wasn't worth the effort to "save" this. **.

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Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake House

During my recent business trip to the Seattle area, I found myself browsing random places on Door Dash, and one kept catching my eye.  Kiwami Sushi Bar & Sake house, a sushi restaurant, obviously, and one with good ratings.  It wasn't actually the sushi that drew me in however, it was one of their appetizers.  It sounded like a dish from my long ago favorite sushi place in San Francisco (sushi zone), and I couldn't stop thinking about it.

So one night, when I didn't feel like going out, I just got delivery from there.  I only actually ended up ordering one type of nigiri, and otherwise got hot appetizers, as I wasn't really craving sushi itself.  I haven't visited the business myself in person, so I can't comment on that.  They are known for their sake selection, which wasn't available for delivery, so I wasn't able to partake of that either.

In addition to a slew of regular sushi items (rolls, nigiri, sashimi, etc), Kiwami has an extensive cooked food menu, with items like chicken, salmon, or tofu teriyaki, pork or chicken katsu, and ribs for mains.  They also offer udon, poke bowls, yakisoba noodles, and other bowl style dishes.  It was the appetizers though that drew me in, with classics like agadashi tofu, chicken karaage, panko or tempura shrimp, tempura veggies, gyoza, edamame, blistered shisitos,  takoyaki, and more.

I ordered delivery on DoorDash, and had no issues with the delivery.  The food was completely hit or miss however, and I don't think I'd return.

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 ]

Sautéed Mushroom. $15.60.

"Shiitake, enoki, oyster mushroom, asparagus sautéed in butter & shoyu. With green leaf lettuce, arugula, ponzu, wonton chips."

Ok, now this is an odd dish, and an odd order on my part (who orders from a sushi restaurant and gets the veggie side?), but, it was actually really good, and the highlight of my meal.

The mushrooms were very well cooked, and a nice mix of "exotic" mushrooms.  Tender, not mushy, no woodsy stems.  Very well prepared.  Flavorful.  The asparagus was also good, but was a pretty minimal element.  The veggies were all cooked in a shoyu and butter sauce, which definitely infused them with all sorts of extra flavor.  Simply put, I'd be happy with just a side of the sauteed veggies, but this dish had a bit more going on.

It was all served over fresh crisp lettuce, sorta like a salad, although the veggies were lightly warm.  There was a lemon slice to drizzle over and add a hit of acidity, and I guess ponzu in the mix too.  It was enjoyable as a salad, or just as a scoop of warm veggies as a side.  It came with 2 wonton chips that were sadly fairly soggy by the time it reached me, due to being packaged with the rest of the dish, so they basically got steamed.  I love wonton chips, and I think these nice big ones would be great to scoop up the mushroom mix, but, alas, delivery definitely detracted here. I did try to add a note to package them separately, but they didn't accept any custom notes.

Overall still a very tasty dish, unexpected, and I'm glad I randomly tossed on to my order.  I nearly didn't order this because it was fairly pricey at $15.60, but, I'd get it again with no hesitation.  ****.

Baked Mussels. $14.40.

"5-piece mussels topped with mayo, garlic, tobiko. Baked, green onion."

Ok, these baked mussels pretty much broke my heart.  I wanted them to be like the ones from Sushi Zone (in SF) that I adored, and I was so so happy to see baked mussels on the menu that sounded similar, but, alas, these were nothing like them.

To start, the mussels themselves just weren't very good.  One had a substantial amount of grit in it.  Two were very, very chewy.  Several had a pretty pungent taste, which made me wonder how fresh they were.  One had a very chipped shell. So, the base mussels, not very impressive.

The topping also wasn't great.  A little creamy, but not much flavor.  The Sushi Zone ones have spicy mayo, and this was just regular mayo and garlic, which I knew, but even so, the mayo somehow didn't really improve these.

Uh, the shredded cabbage they were on was fine?  I really didn't enjoy these at all, and they were pretty pricey for what seemed like not the freshest mussels.  *.

Unagi. $9.60.

"Freshwater Eel."

I opted for just one kind of nigiri, unagi, because I was sorta craving it, and wanted to have some kind of hedge against the mussels, and some decent protein.  It was reasonable unagi, not particularly good nor bad.  Generous size pieces.  Slathered in a bit too much sweet sauce.  The sushi rice held together fine, wasn't dried out.

It came with ginger and wasabi, and soy sauce packets on the side.

Absolutely fine, but nothing special.  Price was reasonable.  ***.

Spicy Mayo, Sweet Sauce. $0.30 each.

I also added a few sauces to my order, just because I could.  They offered a huge lineup of sauces for a totally reasonable $0.30!

The sweet soy was thick, sweet, and pretty standard for sweet soy sauce.  Not needed for the stuff I ordered, but I drizzled it over a crispy shrimp cake the next day and enjoyed it.  ***.

The spicy mayo wasn't particularly spicy, but was creamy, and nice to have for other leftovers as well.  ***.

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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 ]
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• 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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