Wellsley Farms

"BJ's" is a common noun around my parent's house these days.  A regular on the weekend agenda.  "Gotta leave time on Sunday for BJ's!", mom will say with no touch of irony in her voice.  "Dad and I are doing date night at Panera, and then BJ's!", she'll say with glee, as I stifle my lols.  "Gotta make it hasty with BJ's".  It goes on and on, and I giggle like a silly school girl, but, BJ's is a big deal for them.  That is because she's referring of course to BJ's, the wholesale store.  It was a major thing when the town got a BJ's, as previously, folks had to drive about 1.5 hours to the nearest similar establishment (Sam's Club).  This all happened long after I moved out, so I didn't grow up with BJ's products.

In case you are wondering, BJ's refers to the initials of Beverly Jean Weich, the daughter of Mervyn Weich, the company's original president.  In addition to distributing lots of brand name bulk products, BJ's has two private label brands, Berkley-Jensen and Wellsley Farms.  Wellsely Farms is the upscale line.  And strangely, the B and J in Berkley-Jensen have nothing to do with the B and J in the store name.

Anyway, in my time visiting my parents, we sometimes wind up with goodies from BJ's, so I've tried a few assorted product categories over time, from their house brands.

Deli Salads

BJ's carries a range of basic deli salads, not scooped to order like a regular grocery store deli, but, prepackaged.  My mom always makes her own deli salads, so we don't usually get to try these.

Wellsley Farms Macaroni Salad.

One day I was really craving macaroni salad, and I was a captive audience stuck wandering around while we just "popped in for a few quick things".  And thus, a giant thing of BJ's Wellsley Farms brand macaroni salad wound up in the cart.

It was totally classic store bought macaroni salad.  Like you get at basically any deli.  I kinda think it is all made by some manufacturer somewhere and just resold at grocery store delis nationwide.  Base of elbow pasta, cooked decently, not too soft, but not quite as al dente as I'd make it.  Little cubes of red and green peppers.  Lots of creamy mayo sauce, deep inside the noodles that squirts out as you bite in, that brings me childlike glee.

It seems pretty reliable, awful for you, and is somehow loaded with enough preservatives that the expiration date was a month out from when we purchased it, mayo forward and all.  I liked it, in a classic way, but, I don't feel particularly compelled to get more of it. ***.

Ice Cream

Mini Ice Cream Variety Pack.

One day when I visited BJs, the sample station had ice cream.  I was rather thrilled, even though it was 11am, and I felt a *tiny* bit guilty going for an ice cream at that time.

The station featured the mini ice cream variety pack, with 3 choices (sandwiches, almond bars, or cones), all mini, portion-controlled, sizes.  As the server said, "in a sandwich, on a stick, or in a cone.  Something for everyone."

Mini Sandwich:

"Vanilla ice cream between two wafer cookies."

My mom went for the mini sandwich, and offered me a bite.  I'm not one for ice cream sandwiches, but, who am I to turn down a bite of ice cream?

It was exactly as I expected, just generic vanilla ice cream, inside two wafer cookies.   The wafers weren't traditional though, not chocolate, instead, blond.  Even more boring than chocolate.  The texture though was exactly like a normal ice cream sandwich.  Not for me, but fine I guess.  **+.

Mini Cone:

"Wafer cone filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with low-fat cocoa and hazelnuts."

I opted for the mini cone (ruling out the stick option, ice cream coated with chocolate and almonds).

It was adorable, really.  I do appreciate that they make things in sizes like this, although I question if one could really satisfy.

The ice cream was again fairly generic ice cream, not much vanilla flavor, but it was creamy and melted perfectly.  I liked the chocolate and nuts on top.  I give them credit for using hazelnuts instead of peanuts.  The cone was a standard sugar cone, lined with chocolate, plenty in the tip, no seepage.

Overall, very generic, but good enough, and a very cute size. ***+.

Snack Foods

Of course, you know me, and my love of snacks.  Of course I've tried some from BJ's, usually found near the produce section, in clear containers to draw you in.  None were particularly good, and even though they look like the same selections you'd find in any grocery store, I found them slightly worse in taste and quality.

Tavern Blend.

"A blend of honey roasted sesame sticks, butter toffee peanuts, salted peanuts, pretzels, corn chips, and cajun style corn sticks."

My mom picked this one and had it at home as a surprise for me.  There is a little something for everyone in this mix, sweet and salty, crunchy, assorted textures and sizes, but, it isn't one I would have picked myself.  Half the elements are things I don't really care for (corn chips, pretzels, plain salted peanuts).  

Nothing in it was particularly notable.  Overall, it was all fine, but boring, and not my favorite items.  Reviews of each component follow.

Pretzels, Corn Chips.

The pretzel sticks were just that, pretzel sticks, nothing something I ever go for.  **+.

The corn chips were basically just small chunks of regular corn tortilla chips.  I don't really care for tortilla chips.  **+.

Honey Roasted Sesame Sticks, Cajun Style Corn Sticks.

The honey roasted sesame sticks were the item I was most looking forward to, as I do love these sometimes.  These however just weren't great, not much sesame flavor.  Still, one of the better components.  ***.

Same with the cajun style corn sticks, not much of that promised cajun flavor. **+.

Salted Peanuts, Butter Toffee Peanuts.

Plain salted peanuts were as expected. ***.

Finally, the butter toffee peanuts.  Those were ok, well coated, with a crunchy shell, very sweet.  I liked those enough, my favorite of the mix.  ***.

Overall, **+ for my preferences, probably *** for most people.

Veggie Crunch Mix.

"An assortment of crunchy sweet potatoes, squash, carrot, taro, and green beans." 

I'm obsessed with veggie chips.  There are many different brands of this exact assortment of ingredients, sold at every grocery store in town, and I've long suspected that they are all produced by the same company somewhere, and just have different labels slapped on.

So when I saw this mix at BJ's, I gladly grabbed a box, a bigger size than the version I get at the other local grocery stores (Creative Snack Co, which I've reviewed before), and, cheaper.

Except ... I didn't like most of the items in it.  I always have different favorites depending on my mood, but, in general, I like these mixes a lot.  And this time ... not so much.  Specific reviews follow.

Carrot, Taro, Green Bean, Squash, Yellow Sweet Potato, Purple Sweet Potato.

The carrots were not very good.  I didn't dislike them, but I certainly didn't like them as much as I normally do, and they didn't have much flavor.  They were oily.  Carrots are usually my 2nd or 3rd pick, and I often get boxes of just carrots because I like them so much, and these I didn't really want.  **.

The taro I *really* didn't like, and it was always my favorite before.  I was pretty sad about this, but, it just had no flavor whatsoever.  The crunch was still good, but, these offered nothing taste-wise.  **+.

Green beans were the only item with flavor, and, like the carrots, ones I normally opt to just get entire buckets of.  They were crispy, flavorful, and good, except that they too were more oily than they should be. **+.

The squash and both types of potato were awful though.  Really oily, and again, no flavor.  *.

These were basically the sort of veggie chips that give veggie chips a bad name!  This mix really let me down, ** overall.

Plantain Chips.

"Whether you love plantains or you're looking for something new to snack on, try Wellsley Farms 11 Oz. Plantain Chips. Made with palm oil and salt, the chips have that satisfyingly crispy texture and salty taste you know and love, but in a healthier form."

These were pretty decent plantain chips.  Good crunch, nicely starchy, good plantain flavor, nice salt level.

I enjoyed these, and would gladly eat more.  ***+.

Signature Oriental Mix.

 "A spicy blend of rice crackers, roasted salted peanuts, sesame sticks, honey roasted peanuts, wasabi chili crescents, roasted salted almonds, roasted salted cashews, and chili crackers."

Next up, another fairly lackluster snack mix.

The rice crackers, salted peanuts, salted almonds, and salted cashews were exactly as expected, pretty standard, and, in my opinion, just, boring.  ***.

The sesame sticks and honey roasted peanuts were both slightly sweet, but much like the versions in the other mixes, just not particularly flavorful. ***.

The "wasabi chili crescents" were the most exciting sounding item, but, I didn't really pick up on much wasabi to them.  I thought they were just the regular rice crackers.  ***.

I'm not sure which were supposed to be chili crackers, as, well I didn't find any that were particularly spicy.

So, overall, another mix that just wasn't anything special.  Fine, but not great.  ***.

Baked Goods

And then, even though my mom turns her nose up at them, I had to try a few baked goods.  Turns out, in these cases at least, I should have listened to mom.  None of these were good.

Coffee Cake Cheese Bites. $7.99 / 32.

"Wellsley Farms Coffee Cake Cheese Bites are moist bite-sized cakes with cream cheese filling and cinnamon streusel topping that the whole family can enjoy. With their delicious combination of cream cheese and cinnamon, these tasty treats are a an ideal choice for breakfast, coffee hour or snack time."

These little bites sounded, and looked, pretty good.  While coffee cake is kinda boring on its own, these had plenty of streusel on top, and a little puddle of cream cheese.  I liked the two-bite form factor, perfect for just popping one or two for a quick little snack.

The flavor however really feel flat, not really as much cinnamon as I'd like, and the texture was fairly dry.  The streusel didn't really save them, again, not much flavor.  And the cream cheese centers didn't really add any creaminess.  Meh.

*+.

Mini Chocolate Whoopie Pies. $8.49/20.

My dad loves whoopie pies.  He loves packaged snack cakes like Ding Dongs, Devil Dogs, and the like.  So when I found these at BJ's, they seemed like the perfect thing for him.  Individual mini whoopie pies that he could pack in his lunches to work?  Perfect!

And when I saw the frosting oozing out ... I had to try them too.

Um ... yeah.  I'm not sure why I tried really.  I mean, I have memories of loving my great aunt's homemade whoopie pies as a kid, but I've never liked packaged snack cakes.  Why would this be any different?  And really, it wasn't any different.  A Devil Dog, but, small and round.  Dry, very processed, not really chocolately cake, and very sweet frosting.  The frosting I did kinda like once I extracted it, but only in that sweet overload cloying sense, not because it was good frosting.

So overall, yeah, not a whoopie pie, just another generic very processed snack cake.

**.

Raspberry Flavored Cream Cheese Cake. $18.99.

"Wellsley Farms raspberry flavored cream cheese cake is a delectable treat and always baked to perfection with fresh raspberries."

I thought this was, um, a cheesecake.  A raspberry flavored cheese cake, per its name.  It is not.  It is actually a 3 layer white cake (!), with raspberry cream between the layers, and white frosting on the outside.  I thought that frosting would be cream cheese flavored (sure didn't seem to be) and I thought it was garnished with slivered almonds (it really looked like it!), but actually, the garnish around the outside was torn cake bits (!) and white chocolate. Um, ok.

So, resetting my expectations, I did not have a cheesecake, I just had a layer cake.  Ok, I can go with that.

But ... it wasn't even a good cake.  The cake was plain and rather dry, the pink frosting between the layers of cake didn't taste particularly fruity (where exactly was all this "fresh raspberries"?  They weren't a garnish, and I guess they are what made the frosting pink?), and neither the pink nor white frosting on the exterior tasted like cream cheese.  The frosting was cloying sweet.

So, virtually no raspberry component, no cream cheese taste ... and yet, it is a "raspberry flavored cream cheese cake"?  I feel duped.

The only positive thing I have to say about this is that it looked good.

It is a huge cake, claiming 24 servings, and clocks in at 8000 calories for the cake, which again, led me to believe it was an actual cheese cake!

*.

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Milk Bar at the Grocery Store

I like to think that I knew about Milk Bar "before it was cool".  Long before Christina Tosi was a well known face and name from judging cooking competitions.  Long before there were multiple Milk Bar outposts.  When it still carried the name "Momofuku", and wasn't a separate empire.  Yes, I've known Milk Bar since the very early days, and was a fan back then.  It has been amazing to watch the expansion and success of the brand.  I've reviewed it many times before, including the iconic soft serve and crack pie, the cookies, and even cross-country cake delivery.

But a few years ago, Milk bar expanded even further: into grocery stores nationwide.  Talk about mainstream.

"Our taste buds were formed in the aisles of the grocery store, and the simple staples on those shelves have been our inspiration from day one. We make treats to bring you little moments of joy - wherever, whenever."

In grocery stores, Milk Bar carries 3 product lines: cookies, ice cream, and truffle crumb cakes.  I haven't yet tried the ice cream, but I've had a chance to try a product from each other category.  While it isn't quite the same as getting more freshly baked items at one of their flagship stores, I'm still a fan.

Cookies

The first products I ever had from Milk Bar were the cookies.  My first bites of the corn cookie, the compost cookie, the blueberry cookie ... those first tastes remain fixed in my memory as fairly life changing.  I've seen the quality drop as they moved to mass production, so I was definitely curious to see how the grocery store versions fared.

"Inspired by signature Milk Bar cookie flavors, these smaller, soft-baked cookies come in convenient on-the-go two-packs tucked into a colorful milk carton-inspired box."

For the grocery store, Milk Bar has 8 cookie flavors, sadly, the corn and blueberry ones did not make the cut, but the signature compost, cornflake chocolate chip marshmallow, and confetti did, along with some new ones: sugar sugar, cocoa mint, pancake, chocolate confetti, and seasonal candy cane chocolate chip cornflake. 

If you read my blog regularly, you know that cookies aren't really my thing generally, mostly because they are just a bit boring, not "full desserts", but, the early part of the pandemic lead me to appreciate cookies in a new way.  Simplicity had its place, and I found myself sometimes just wanting things to be easy, amongst all the uncertainty of those times.  So, simple cookies and milk it was, regulars on my rotation.  But of course, generally I ended up jazzing my cookies up, dunking into whipped cream and sprinkles, at least, often warming them up, serving a la mode or with ice cream ...  ).  Anyway.  I learned to like cookies again.

Chocolate Confetti.

"Yes, chocolate! It’s a party in this cookie and everyone’s invited. Chocolate Confetti is choc full of rich cocoa, mini chocolate chips, and lots of rainbow sprinkles."

Chocolate Confetti isn't really the flavor I'd pick, but these were given to me in a gift bag, so, Chocolate Confetti it was.

My first thought when I opened the package was just how ordinary the cookies seemed.  They were much smaller than the regular Milk cookies, just slightly larger than any other generic grocery store packaged cookie, and very thin.  They were at least very soft.

The cookie was ... kinda as boring as it looked.  Yeah, it had a chocolate base, and it did have lots of sprinkles and a few mini chocolate chips, but the chocolate flavor wasn't particularly strong, and the sprinkles added a touch of crunch, but not much else.  It had a processed flavor, and lacked the buttery sweetness of the classic cookies.

It was a fine cookie for a packaged grocery store cookie, but, nothing like the "real" Milk cookies.  The softness was the only real strong point.

***.

Truffle Crumb Cakes

I moved on to a more exciting product: truffle crumb cakes.

"Get to know these crunchy-on-the-outside, fudgy-on-the-inside snack cakes, inspired by our signature Cake Truffles, and nostalgic supermarket desserts. Find them in the refrigerated section!"

The crumb cakes are available in 6 flavors, 5 of which are chocolate based - chocolate chip, chocolate birthday, birthday, cocoa mint, chocolate pretzel, and seasonal candy cane chocolate.  They are slightly high maintenance in that they require refrigeration, just like the truffles from the shops themselves.

Birthday.

"A rich update on classic Birthday Cake flavor in a super-convenient handheld package! Sprinkle-packed cake inside, crunchy B’Day crumbs outside."

I went for the single non-chocolate option, birthday cake.

Wow, what a unique (and totally delicious!) product.  I'll admit that I had no clue what to expect from a "truffle crumb cake", and sorta thought they would be like cookies, but, they really were something else entirely.  Sorta like a dense sugary cake meets thick rich sugar cookie all covered in sweet buttery crumbles.  Thick of the most sugary buttery sugar cookie you've ever had, but, instead of being really soft and thin like a cookie, make it a denser thicker hockey puck.  If that sounds rich and overwhelming, you aren't wrong.  And THEN coat it all in the delicious sweet buttery signature Milk Bar crumble bits.  And if THAT sounds even more rich and overwhelming and potentially cloying sweet, you aren't wrong, except that ... it works.  Really.  Assuming you are in the mood for sweet that is.

I understand why they say they are "inspired by" the cake truffles, as my description of these reads fairly similar to that of the cake truffles (which I've reviewed before), although these are slightly more cookie-cake like, and have an even more substantial crumb coating.  Truffle crumb cakes.  Aha.  It makes sense now.

Anyway.  Yes, these are crazy sweet.  Yes, they are crazy rich.  Yes, the birthday cake flavor is basically just sugary sprinkles with more butter and sugar, and isn't exactly a highly refined complicated taste, but, its delicious.  I enjoyed dunking one in whipped cream just to tamper the sweet a bit, and found they pair equally well with red wine and black coffee, pick your vice of choice.

Each package comes with two of the cakes, and the serving size is just one, which actually is more than appropriate.  I adored this, but couldn't imagine eating two in one sitting just due to the high sugar content.  

I'd gladly get these again, and would like to try other flavors too.  ****.

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Breakfast at the Residence Inn, Cambridge MA

When I visit Boston, I most often stay at the W.  I really like it there - the suites are amazing, the staff treat return guests so well, the location is central and great for a variety of things, and the breakfast included with my status (essentially whatever I want from the restaurant, The Gallery, which I've reviewed many times) if fantastic.  But this year, they added a destination fee AND rates were really high, so, I decided to take a gamble and try a new place, the Residence Inn in Cambridge.  I knew it would be a very different tier of hotel, with no door man there to greet me, no lovely toiletries, and not-so-comfortable beds, but, it is located right near my office, and would have a full kitchen, which I appreciate.

The hotel was about as I expected, a standard Residence Inn, although recently renovated.  The beds were hard and uncomfortable, the AC was noisy and cycled on and off constantly, the elevators were slow and one was always out of service, etc, etc.  I didn't love the property, but, it was fine.  Included for all guests is free breakfast, which of course I took advantage of.  It was slightly better than I was expecting.

Daily Continental

The breakfast lineup always had the same basic continental offerings, essentially what you'd expect anywhere.  These were entirely unchanged from day to day and were fairly low quality.

Bagels & Toast.

Bagels (regular and cinnamon raisin), english muffins, and wheat bread were available, with a toaster and basic spreads (Nutella, Jif creamy peanut butter, jam, butter).  The breads/bagels were pretty low end generic quality.  The toaster seemed to only toast one side of the bread.  I had toast one morning and was not very pleased with my half-toasted mediocre bread.  **.

Cereal.

The cereal lineup was entirely sugary cereal.  Kids were always thrilled.  Adults were not.  The lineup never changed, and was always: Fruit Loops, Raisin Bran, and Cap'n Crunch.  Not even basic Cheerios or corn flakes.  I tried the Cap'n Crunch one morning, I think the first time I've ever had it, and truly did not care for it.

In a fridge nearby was individual cartons of 1% or 2% milk to use with the cereal, along with chocolate milk and yogurt (plain, vanilla, strawberry).  Fairly mediocre offerings in these sections.  **+.

Oatmeal & Toppings.

The oatmeal actually was decent, not gloopy, and seemed to be a hit with many, likely due to the great toppings lineup.  ***.

I was impressed with the toppings, which included the usual suspects of dried cranberries and raisins, shredded coconut and cinnamon, plus sunflower and pumpkin seeds, slivered almonds, whole walnuts, granola, and chocolate chips, along with brown sugar, strawberry sauce, and mango puree.  These toppings would be great with the waffles, breakfast carbs, and mixed with yogurt too.  Above average toppings lineup, ***+.

Fruit Salad.

The fruit salad always had melons, pineapple, and a few token grapes.  Never any berries.

Not pictured, but they also had whole apples, oranges, and bananas every day.

This area also oddly always had a pitcher of oat milk.  It was not kept on ice or cool in any way, and was not near anything you'd use it for.  It was like that every day though, so, clearly not just a setup error one day.  I'm not sure why it wasn't located with the other milk and yogurt, or closer to the cereal ... 

Signature Waffle Maker.

Residence Inn is known for having a DIY waffle maker at all their properties, and this one was no exception.  The waffle batter was in a branded Golden Malted Better Batter dispenser, that seemed to do a decent job at preventing messes.

I did try a waffle one morning, and it was too generic tasting and crispy for my tastes, but kids and adults alike did seem to enjoy this feature. **+.

Waffle Toppings.

The waffle station had the same toppings every day: syrup, berry compote, whipped cream.

The provided syrup was packages of Madeira Farms "Table Syrup", not real maple syrup, made with corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, water, and less than 2% of natural and artificial maple flavor.  I didn't try it.

The berry compote seemed to be tiny, previously frozen, shriveled blueberries in a bit of sauce.  Certainly not a fresh topping.  I used it to swirl into yogurt and cereal, but I wouldn't really want to eat it on waffles or pancakes.  **+.

Finally, I was of course thrilled to see whipped cream, but oddly, it was always Reddi-Wip non-dairy whipped cream, which had a very, very odd taste to it that I didn't care for.  I appreciate the non-dairy inclusivity, but, I really wished they had regular as well.  **.  This product is only available for foodservice distribution, not to general consumers (Reddi-Wip does make two version of non-dairy whipped topping for grocery store distribution, one coconut milk based, and the other almond).

Daily Changing Hot Bar

The hot bar actually surprised me.  It was different every day, which I wasn't expecting.  It always had one type of egg, two types of breakfast meats, one type of potato, and one other carby thing.  Reasonably extensive.  There were a couple repeats while I was there, but, the variety was far above what I thought most Residence Inn locations provide.

Fried Egg Patties.

The egg patties were the style you find in breakfast sandwiches at fast food places, with the yolks very fully cooked.  I didn't try them.

Scrambled Eggs.

Other days it was scrambled eggs, essentially what you find in any breakfast buffet, always a bit dried out looking.

More Scrambled Eggs.

Others seemed to go for the eggs, but I didn't try them.  Always fairly dry looking.

Hot Meats: Bacon, Veggie Sausage.

The bacon was reasonably crispy, and strangely wavy.  It too reminded me of fast food bacon, not actually cooked by anyone there, as it was too homogenous.  But still, nicely crisp.  ***.

I didn't try the veggie sausage, but it was nice to see them offer those up some days. 

Hot Meats: Ham, Turkey Sausage.

The ham honestly looked scary, round slices of slightly thicker deli ham.  I stayed far away.

I tried the turkey sausage, but it was not very good, thin, no seasoning, limp.  *+.

Hot Meats: Pork Links, Veggie Sausage.

The pork links were probably the best of the sausages, with a slight snap to them, but, overall, the sausages really weren't high quality.  **+.

I didn't try the veggie sausage here either.

Hot Meats: Pork Sausage, Turkey Sausage.

The pork sausage patties were no better than the turkey ones.  Both just limp, thin, and not seasoned, and just seemed really low quality.  *+.

Breakfast Potatoes: Hash Brown Patties.

The hash brown patties looked like big tator tots that were smashed.  I didn't try them.

Breakfast Potatoes: Seasoned Home Fries.

The regular seasoned home fries seemed to be a hit, everyone was taking tons of these.

Breakfast Potatoes: More Home Fries.

Another morning they were less seasoned, but same style, some with skin on, nice sized chunks.

Breakfast Potatoes: Roasted Red Potato Wedges.

I didn't try the red skin potato wedges either, but, give them a point for skin-on, and the nice color on them.

Pancakes.

My first morning had pancakes, and at that time, I assumed the buffet would be the same every day, so I planned to try them another day.  Alas, they never came back.  

French Toast.

The next day had decent looking french toast.  It had some color on it and looked fairly "fresh", although I didn't really see any spicing (cinnamon, etc) on it.

Jalapeno Egg Souffle Muffins

The breakfast carb the next morning was these pre-wrapped jalapeno egg souffle muffins.  Curious.  

Biscuits & Sausage Gravy.

On the weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, the hot carb was biscuits & gravy.  This called out to me for sure.  I had it both mornings.

The biscuits were reasonable.  They didn't have much buttermilk tang, and weren't remarkable biscuits, but, they were fine, not stale, and a nice base for the gravy of course. ***.

The gravy was very think, was reasonably seasoned, and had decent hunks of sausage in it.  The sausage fared better here than alone in the hot bar.  I wonder if they make their own gravy with leftover sausage? ***.

Pastries

And of course, they had some breakfast pastries every day.  Another surprise, these changed out daily too.  Most mornings had just 1-2 choices at any given time, but, they changed daily, and even throughout service (I went one morning at 8am, and stopped by later at 9:15am and found an entirely different set of items).  I love baked goods, so, even though these looked like pretty average hotel breakfast buffet quality, e.g. not good, I still tried many.

Danishes.

My first morning had the most variety, and I assumed they'd be the same every day.  Mini danishes (fruit or cheese), pecan plaits, and chocolate croissants.

They looked the same as I've had at many other hotels, and I generally do like the pecan ones, but, thinking they'd be there every day, I held off on getting a pecan one.  I've had remorse ever since, as they never returned.

I did try the chocolate croissant, a unique style with the chocolate swirled through, and just didn't care for the flavor of it.  Something about it really tasted odd.  I wanted to like it, it had a nice amount of chocolate, but, alas, I just didn't like it.  *.

Banana Nut Muffins / Chocolate Croissants.

The next morning, the chocolate croissants returned, and I tried another, thinking it must have been a fluke.  They did look good!  But again, something about the flavor was just off for me.  Good amount of chocolate, fairly flaky pastry, but, just, strange taste. 

The banana nut muffins were reasonable buffet muffins.  Not too dry, decent flavor, little bits of nut.  ***.

Blueberry Muffins.

The blueberry muffins were a slightly different style than the banana nut, a bit bigger.  These were actually pretty good.  Really moist, lots of berries, good flavor.  Far better than your average buffet muffin.  ***+.

Double Chocolate Muffin.

The double chocolate muffin was decent as well, moist, large, good chocolate flavor.  Slightly above average for a hotel buffet.  ***.

The blueberry was again really quite good.  ***+.

Cinnamon Roll.

I grabbed a cinnamon roll my last morning even though it truly didn't look good at all.  It looked hard, and over baked, and not a style I'd like.  I don't know why I grabbed it, but, I was rewarded for my random move.

It wasn't a soft, ooey gooey cinnamon roll, clearly.  It was sort of a danish style, but, thicker and harder.  Plenty of cinnamon and sugar.  Really, quite enjoyable, particularly once I warmed it up and topped it with ice cream.

***+ as served, **** warm with ice cream.

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Cap'n Crunch Cereal

Cap'n Crunch is not a cereal I grew up with.  While I was vaguely aware of it, we were a strictly Life cereal family, with some dabbles in Rice Krispies and Raisin Bran, but, definitely never Cap'n Crunch.  And unlike many other sugary kid's cereals, like Fruit Loops or Cocoa Puffs, once I hit adulthood, I didn't find any reason to seek it out.  And thus, I lived 40 years without ever having Cap'n Cruch.

"Cap'n Crunch® is the famed adventurer and breakfast connoisseur bringing adventure to your breakfast table and beyond."

For the unfamiliar, Cap'n Crunch is a figure, a captain, who, um, apparently is an adventurer and breakfast connoisseur.  He's also the namesake of a line of breakfast cereals, all with the original "crunch" pieces, but also available in a slew of spin-offs, including peanut butter, chocolate caramel, cotton candy, and the popular Crunch Berries, along with a line of cereal bars (think: rice krispie treats).

Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries

"Rock your taste buds in a berry crunchy way. Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries® take the original crunch you love, and add in bursts of colorful berry flavor. "

As I said, I'd actually never had Cap'n Crunch in my life.  Just, well, never.  Certainly not the kind of cereal we had in my house growing up, and Quaker brand cereals are rarely found in hotel breakfast buffets, so ... I just haven't encountered it before I guess.

I tried Crunch Berries before the original, as my niece had this, and I, uh, stole a cup?

I first had a dry handful, and my first thought was, "woah, sugar!"  Both the slightly fruity colorful little balls, and the regular crunch pieces, were very, very sweet.  No wonder my mom didn't allow us cereal like this growing up.  It made for a decent enough sweet snack out of the box, but as a breakfast cereal ... wowzer.  That said, I did like digging around for the Kix-like colorful "berries".

It was better with milk, as some of the sweet coating went into the milk, making perfect "cereal milk", and lessening the strong hit of sweetness, but, yeah.  Dessert.  Not breakfast.  Really.

***, it was fine, really, but I wouldn't ever go seek this out.

Cap’n Crunch®.

"Sweet and golden, with a crunch you’ll love, nothing competes with the original Cap’n Crunch®. Grab a bowl or cup for an easy snack that goes great with couch time, anytime.'

Next I went for the original Cap'n Crunch, no Crunch Berries.  It was slightly less exciting as it had no fruity colorful balls strewn throughout, but otherwise, it was still very, very sweet.  Again, perfectly munchable dry, more tempered with milk, and very, very sweet.

I think I preferred the Crunch Berries just because it was a bit more interesting?  But neither are varieties of cereal I'd ever seek out.

***.

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Candy's Cakes, Boston

When I recently visited Boston, I of course did a bit of research into where to get great baked goods.  I could of course have gotten the very famous cannoli and goodies from Mike's Pastry (or Modern Pastry), and that would be the most classic Boston experience, but, I wanted something a bit different.  Somehow my searches led me to Candy's Cakes, a very small local bakery, with Asian flair, and very little online presence.  They have a basic website, no Yelp reviews, and just a handful of Google reviews.

"We came all the way from Asia to infuse our culture and tradition into the delicious cakes and pastries we produced for you. Customers will taste our hearty baking when they consume our products, as we constantly debug and innovate in order to be the best. Candy's Cake is a one-stop shop for cakes and pastries, offering a wide range of flavors and styles to suit your needs. We take delight in using fresh ingredients, ensuring high-quality goods, and adding healthy sweetness to our expanding cake and pastry menu. Our recipe is delicious and healthy."

I didn't have much to go on, but, I liked what I saw on the menu, and in their blurb on their DoorDash listing, so, I took a complete gamble and ordered from Candy's Cakes.

The menu that drew me in starts with layer cakes in a box, individual portions of chiffon cake, cream, and fruits and other goodies layered together.  Here you'll find pandan, mango, durian, mochi, taro, matcha, red bean, and the like.  Now you may understand why I was so tempted.  For less adventurous, Candy's makes a tiramisu or chocolate mini lay box cake too.  Then there are basque style cheesecakes, in unique flavors.  Portuguese egg tarts.  Fresh cream and fruit mochi.  Cream puffs filled with goodies like taro, egg yolk sauce, durian, soy custard, mango, strawberries and more.  In the non-cake department, there is also mango pomelo sago pudding.  As a lover of most of these things, I pretty much wanted the entire menu.

I selected three items, trying to order from across the menu to hedge my bets.  I ordered my delivery on DoorDash, no issues there.  It arrived fairly quickly, packaged well.

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 ]
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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 ]

I was glad to try these more unique items, and everything was fine, but I likely wouldn't order again.

Crispy Puff

"Cream puff made to crispiness in the outside and softness inside."

I don't generally go for cream puffs.  This is true.  Choux pastry just isn't high on my list. But, I was ordering a variety of items from Candy's Cakes, and the idea of lots of cream really called out.  So, cream puffs, er, "Crispy Puffs", it was.  They come only as a pair.  

Candy's makes a large variety of cream puffs.  For the less adventurous, there is a fruity strawberry cream puff, with fresh strawberries and soy cream, or a mocha Oreo puff, with mocha cream and Oreos.  But my eyes were only on the more interesting ones.  Interesting as in ... durian (with soy custard).  Taro (with egg yolk sauce or pork floss). But since I was order two other taro items, as tempting as both of the taro versions were, I ruled that out.  I also just wasn't in the mood for durian.  I love durian, but, it has a time and a place, and this wasn't it.  And thus, I went for the quasi-boring mango and soy option.

Mango / Soymilk Puff. $10.99.

"Mango, soybean, fresh cream, crispy puff. 芒果豆乳酥皮泡芙."

So, the puffs!  I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the "soymilk" aspect of the name, and the "soybean" element of the ingredients.  The answer seemed to be a bit of a soy pudding inside, along with the fresh whipped cream.

The puff itself was decent, clearly quite fresh.  Light and airy, reasonably crisp on the outside.  And key for me, not too eggy.  Not exciting, but, a good base for fillings.

Inside was quite a generous amount of fresh whipped cream.  It wasn't overly sweetened, which was nice.  It tasted, well, like quality cream.  Just like the choux, clearly pretty fresh.  

Then there was the aforementioned soy pudding, just a little of it.  It didn't taste that clearly of soy, but it was slightly more yellow, and slightly more firm, that then snow white whipped cream.  And of course, the mango.  Fresh cubes of mango.  Not much actually, just a few cubes around the outside.  No mango component inside, and pretty easily lost amongst the cream.

This satisfied my desire for whipped cream, but I did decide to add strawberries and blueberries to it, as it was rather low overall in the fruit, and a bit boring.  That said, it was clearly freshly made, and all well made components.  The $10.99 price for the pair was reasonable.  ***+.

Cheesecake

"Made with high quality cream cheese and customized sweetness to your preference."

Available in two flavors, taro or jasmine.  I of course went for the taro.

Mini Basque Taro Cheesecake. $7.99

I was confused when I received this.  I knew to expect at burnt top, as it was basque style after all, but I was expecting a more traditional cheesecake shape.  But moreover, well, I was expecting something purple-ish .... taro colored.  This looked lightly green.  Was it the jasmine?  Pandan?  Certainly not what I was expecting.

It turned out that it was the taro cheesecake, but, it still let me down pretty badly.  The texture was nothing like a basque cheesecake.  It was grainy, and almost looked like it had been defrosted.  It didn't really taste like cheesecake.  It *did* taste of taro, and, under that top green layer it was purple, but, it mostly was kinda grainy thick set taro pudding.  Certainly not what I'd call cheesecake, and definitely not basque cheesecake, and not particularly enjoyable.  The scorched top did look sorta like basque cheesecake, but, it didn't taste caramelized or anything.

So, taro, yes, but cheesecake, and basque cheesecake, no.  I certainly wouldn't get this again.  *+.

Other

The rest of the menu is rounded out by single items, such as Portuguese egg tarts, mango pomelo sago pudding, and pork floss bites.  I'd gladly consume any of these things, but, it was the later that I went for.

Pork Floss Bite with Taro & Mochi. $8.99.

"Chiffon cake sandwich coated with savory pork floss. Delicious taro paste and mochi fillings in sandwich."

These sounded fascinating!  I love taro, obviously.  I really like pork floss. I knew they'd have nori too, even though not listed in the ingredients.  I like mochi.  Chiffon cake, well, I could care less about that, but, I didn't mind it being included.  These came two to set, at a very reasonable price of $8.99.

I was thrilled when I opened my package to see my goodies.  SO MUCH PORK FLOSS!  ZOMG.

The pork floss and nori were savory and salty and so very umami.  Excellent coating.  I couldn't wait to get inside the cakes.

Pork Floss Bite: Inside.

Inside was exactly as promised.  Two layers of chiffon cake, filled with taro paste and mochi.  ZOMG.  The cake was light, the taro flavorful and savory-sweet, and the mochi layer added a bit of soft chew.  There was no cream element to this dessert.

This was mostly fairly savory, it had so many textures, and was really as fascinating to eat as I hoped it would be.  It certainly wasn't a sweet dessert, but it also wasn't really a truly savory item too.  Perfect for those who don't want something too sweet.  It paired beautifully with a glass of red wine.  

Such an adventure, and I'd get it again if in the mood, but, not quite sweet enough and dessert-like for mn.  ***+.

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Rosebud American Kitchen & Bar, Somerville

Sometimes when I travel, I seek out the top restaurants in an area.  Sometimes I lean in to regional specialities, appreciating cuisine I don't get in San Francisco.  Usually, my meals and orders are well planned out and strategic.  But sometimes ... even I get drawn in by moments of random inspiration and impulse orders.

Which is what happened when I was recently in Boston, and ordered from Rosebud, a diner in nearby Somerville.  Why was Rosebud even on my radar?  I'm not sure.  It is a moderately well regarded classic diner, serving brunch and dinner everyday, with all the classics you'd expect, plus a bit more upscale cuisine at dinner time - alongside the expected burgers and chicken + waffles is an organic brown rice veggie bowl or seared salmon entree.  They also have several specials that change daily, and house made desserts.  

"Rosebud American Kitchen & Bar is a down-to-earth restaurant serving modern American fare. A definitive neighborhood joint in Davis Square, Rosebud offers a laid-back dining experience in a casual setting to guests from all walks of life. Honest food and honest drinks set the foundation of Rosebud’s menu. While dishes have roots from all four corners of the country, we carefully integrate a range of far-flung flavors from across the globe to keep palates guessing."

So, fairly straightforward "American" menu, diner style, that also happens to be open for dinner and serve cocktails.  Again, I was in Boston, city full of excellent seafood restaurants in particular (which I love), and yet, my mind kept drifting back to Rosebud, and their nightly seafood and dessert specials.  In particular, I was craving crab cakes, which yes, sooo many places in Boston offer, and I had a few top choices already picked out from high end seafood restaurants.  And then Rosebud had crab cakes as their nightly special, along with a decadent sounding pie from my childhood, AND a full cocktail list available for delivery, and ... impulse order it was.  Crab cakes, pie, and a cocktail, from a random diner in Somerville it was.

I ordered my delivery on DoorDash, which was quite easy.  

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 ]

My meal was prepared quickly, and arrived well packaged.  It was ... ok-ish, but certainly not great, and not somewhere I'd order from again.

Negroni. $13.

"New Amsterdam Gin, House Sweet Vermouth, Campari."

Well, this made me literally lol.  For context, the container is about 1/3 the size of a regular water bottle, and it is ... 25% full?  Um, really.  It looked ridiculous.  They do have an ice/no ice option, and I opted for without (so it wouldn't get diluted during delivery, I could add my own), so maybe it looks less ridiculous with ice, but, wow.

Ok, so, portion size aside, how was it?  Not great.  It honestly didn't taste like booze at all.  I could taste campari, and sweet vermouth, but it truly seemed like perhaps they forgot the gin.  I tasted nothing alcoholic about it.  

Clearly, a letdown, but at least an amusing one?  *+.

Crab Cakes Special.  $18.

"Panko, scallion, fennel apple salad, tartar sauce."

I ordered from Rosebud primarily for the crab cakes.  Yes, from a random diner, that has very little seafood on the menu in general, and certainly isn't known for it.  When I was in a city full of incredible seafood restaurants.  I know ... rookie move on my part.  And sadly, not one that paid off.

The cakes seemed to be a baked style.  They were made with entirely shredded crab meat, not a single lump to be found, and very, very finely shredded.  There seemed to be a lot of binding to it - potato maybe?  Lots panko?  Basically, not a lot of crab flavor, very soft and mushy, and the consistency was a bit odd.  There might have been other white fish in there too?  I'm really not sure.  They sorta seemed like the kind of crab cakes you might get at a cafeteria.  Or on a flight.  That said, they were well seasoned.

The tartar sauce with them was good, and there was plenty of it.  And Rosebud gets a point for including a lemon wedge to squeeze over.

Overall, not bad exactly, just, not the style I was looking for at all.  The portion of two small cakes for $18 was quite reasonable. ***.

Crab Cakes: fennel apple salad side. 

The crab cakes also came with a fennel-apple salad, that was nicely packaged on the side, and had the vinaigrette separate.  The mixed greens seemed fresh, the fennel I enjoyed, and the apple was also clearly fresh and crispy, but not really my kind of thing.  And I never care for vinaigrettes.  

I was impressed that they came with this though, particularly for the price. ***.

Fluffernutter Pie. $12.

"Chocolate ganache, peanut butter mousse, marshmallow fluff, chocolate covered pretzel."

Oh my.  While the portion of the cocktail was laughably small, this was most certainly not.  This was a gigantic slice of pie. Very rich pie.  Very sweet pie.  Wowzer.

So, to step back, for those who are not from the Northeast and are not familiar with a "fluffernutter", it is usually a sandwich.  A kid's sandwich.  A very popular kid's sandwich.  The ingredients?  Basic white bread, peanut butter, and marshmallow spread, Fluff brand.  Fluff + peanut butter.  Fluffernutter.  Very little nutritional value, tons of sugar, and yet ... at least where I grew up, a very, very common lunch for kids, far more than pb&j.

The Fluffernutter sandwich is the inspiration for this pie, which had a regular crust and a layer of chocolate ganache, and then the expected peanut butter component (mousse) and Fluff topping.  And chocolate covered pretzels to garnish, because, why not?

The crust was pretty average, just standard pie crust.  A pretzel crust might have been more interesting.  But plain and basic was perhaps needed to balance the rest.

The chocolate ganache was fairly firm, it was fine, light milk chocolate, and of course chocolate and peanut butter go great together, but, a real Fluffernutter has no chocolate component.  They took some liberties here.

The majority of the pie was the peanut butter mousse.  It was creamy.  It was rich.  It was oh so rich.  It was sweetened.  

But speaking of sweetened ... the topping was just pure Fluff, and, wow, I forgot how sweet that is!  Sugar, sugar, sugar.  It oozed Fluff everywhere.

This was good, and very decadent, but a few bites of this was really all you needed. Even for me, the girl who loves sweets and desserts.  So much richness, so much sweetness.  It was an overload really.  This slice could easily be shared with 4 people, just given the intensity of it.  I think it would have been better with perhaps a Fluff whipped cream, something a bit lighter, rather than pure Fluff.  

I'm glad I tried it, and the price was great for the portion, but, wow.  ***+.

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