Soft Swerve, NYC

Update Review, August 2023

After several years, and a pandemic, of not visiting New York, I finally made it back this summer.  I had an agenda loaded with culinary adventures, and wasn't staying or working anywhere near a Soft Swerve location (they have multiple now!), but, I had such fond memories from past visits, that I managed to fit it in.  I visited their newest location, in Kipps Bay, and dragged a couple co-workers with me.

Soft Swerve still offers their standard (awesome) soft serve flavors, but they now also have a larger range of hard serve ice cream, and have changed up their toppings somewhat (alas, no more halo halo toppings).

Sadly one of the soft serve machines was out of order, so they had only four soft serve flavors available: vanilla, frozen hot chocolate, thai tea, and ube.  The ube I was delighted to see of course, but I was sad that the black sesame was not available.  I took the opportunity to try the two others.

Frozen Hot Chocolate (soft serve): 

"Made in house with real dark chocolate and our special blend of hot chocolate mix. This ice cream flavor is rich, smooth and creamy."

I tried this mostly out of curiosity, wondering what the distinction between regular chocolate and "frozen hot chocolate" would really be.  It turned out to be pretty uncanny.  It did, indeed taste like, well, frozen hot chocolate.  It had a much more cocoa-esque flavor to it than regular chocolate soft serve.  You could even sorta taste the marshmallows on top.  A very good chocolate soft serve, it turns out. The texture was perfect, remarkably creamy.  3.5/5.

Thai Tea (soft serve): 

"With hints of vanilla and subtle notes of sweet spices, our Thai Tea ice cream is made with tea leaves imported from Thailand."

The Thai tea was exactly what you'd expect.  Deep flavor, but fairly sweet, just like traditional Thai tea.  Light spicing.  And again, just, perfect consistency, so amazingly creamy and smooth.  Very good.  4/5.

Black Sesame (hard serve): 

"Tastes similar to peanut butter but with rich roasted notes."

I tried a bite of my co-worker's black sesame hard serve.  It was very good - great nutty, slightly savory taste.  Fairly creamy, seemed like decent quality hard serve.  I still wished they had the black sesame soft serve at this location though. 3.5/5.

Ube Cup. $7.50.

"A 5 oz serving of our most popular ice cream flavor, made with real purple yams. Definitely a must try flavor if you've never had it before. Pairs very well with toasted coconut and mochi."

I went for the ube soft serve, my past favorite.  It was again great - as with the other flavors, the consistency is what really sets it apart.  Amazingly creamy, rich, and smooth.  Stronger ube flavor than many other competitors.  Not too sweet.  Probably the best ube soft serve I've had anywhere.  ****+.

Not pictured is the toppings I added, as I had them on the side so I could create my own perfect creation.  The cotton candy crunch and mochi both went very well with it.

Cones.

Cake Cone. $0.25.

"Light, neutral-flavored, wafer-style cone with a crisp texture."

For me, soft serve is best consumed in a cone.  I got it in a dish so I could save part, and then create my perfect cone with toppings myself.  I added a cake cone on the side for $0.25 to do so (extra cone or dish is always $0.25).  I appreciated that they use the style of cake cone that is, well, a cone, rather than generic Joy cups with flat bottoms.  Eating out of an actual cone shape is more pleasurable for me, but I like cake cones more than sugar cones.  

Anyway, the cone was fresh, not stale, and exactly what I wanted.  4/5.

Cotton Candy Crunch. $0.75.

"Featuring the pink, blue, and purple colors of standard cotton candy, this sweet crunchy candy topping will turn any ordinary ice cream serving into an extraordinary dessert treat."

I got this mostly for fun, as I wanted a crunchy topping, and because the regular rainbow sprinkles didn't look particularly interesting (just the standard generic kind).  Plus, bonus points for making a *very* Instagram worthy creation once I added to my cone.  I asked for them on the side in case I hated them though.

The verdict?  Yup, they were pretty, crunchy, and sweet.  Not necessarily strongly "cotton candy" flavored, but, sweet and enjoyable enough, and far more fun than standard sprinkles.  3.5/5.

Rainbow Mochi. $2.

The rainbow mochi was clearly quite fresh, very soft and pliable.  Great to just munch on, but also went well with the ube flavor in my soft serve.  I don't think they make these in-house, but, they picked a good quality product, and clearly store it well so it doesn't dry out.  Recommended, particularly with flavors like ube or thai tea.  4/5.

Update Review, July 2019

My trip to New York *started* with Soft Swerve.  I have #priorities.

Literally, landed at 8:20pm, spent waaaaay too long in horrible traffic getting to hotel, checked in at 10pm.  10pm!  I was grumpy, I was confused about what to eat (too late for big dinner in this time zone, had been munching nontstop on the flight, etc), and soft serve ice cream was all I could think about.  Luckily for me, I knew Soft Swerve was a 14 minute walk from my hotel (or, 11 minutes, as I did it in a all-out power walk).  I literally checked in at the hotel, dropped my bags, and left, immediately.

11 minutes, plus a minute to wait for the one guest in front of me, and that was all it took for me to be instantly transported out of my funk.  Soft Swerve is just *so* good.

And pretty much exactly the same as my last visit.  Really friendly service.  Offers to try the flavors without me asking.

I did try the macapuno again, to give it another shot, and again didn't care for it.  The coconut flavor just isn't for me, although I think it likely is great with the ube, and you can swirl them.  I also tried the black sesame again, and did like it, the nutty nature was pleasant again, but ... this time, I went straight for the ube.  No need to mix it up here, I knew I had a winner.

My Creation: Halo Halo Toppings (base), Ube Soft Serve, Condensed Milk Drizzle, Rainbow Sprinkles, Mochi.

This was near identical to what I got last time.

Halo halo toppings in the bottom.  This time, ube soft serve only (the black sesame was good, but, I wanted #allTheUbe).  Same condensed milk drizzle and rainbow sprinkles on top, and this time, I added mochi was well.  They were nicely arranged around the edge.

The ube soft serve was as magical as ever.  Perfect consistency.  Soooo purple.  Lovely ube flavor.  Just, fantastic.  

The mochi was soft and a nice compliment, and the sprinkles were just for fun, but I loved them.  I wish I had left off the condensed milk this time though, as it made the whole thing just too sweet, particularly with the mostly sweet toppings in the base.  I think the black sesame was a more bitter flavor, and so that actually helped last time.

The halo halo toppings seemed to be a slightly different mix this time, but still included soft sweet red bean mash that I appreciated, you know, for the "protein", nata de coco and assorted jellies that were sweet and slimy and fabulous.  The palm seeds were definitely my favorite.  I'm not sure there was boba in here this time, I didn't find any, but then again, it was dark as I walked back to the hotel devouring it, so I may have just not seen them.

Overall, I was pleased with my creation, although it was kinda pricey.  $5 for the soft serve, $1 for mochi, $1 for halo halo, $0.50 for sprinkles, $0.50 for condensed milk ... $8!

I'd get this again, leaving off the condensed milk and adding something for crunch on top.  Or, if it was a nice warm day, I'd be more than happy with a colorful cone of ube soft serve, with rainbow sprinkles, and nothing more.

I wish I lived in NY.  Seriously.

Original Review, October 2018

OMG. <3. <3 <3 <3.

Yes, that is my summary of Soft Swerve, a Asian influenced soft serve ice cream shop in New York City.  The Yelpers agree, awarding 4.5 stars with nearly 1500 reviews.

It truly is some of the best I've ever had, and the toppings lineup is incredible.  In my "normal" life, I eat ice cream at least ... 5 times a week (often paired with a warm dessert), but when I visit the East Coast, I'm all about the soft serve.  It may be normal to folks who live there, but is a rare thing in San Francisco.

Luckily for me, New York is filled with soft serve, ranging from ice cream trucks everywhere, to fancier artisan places, to those that are all about the Instagram shots or "creative" flavors ... complete very long lines (hello, Big Gay Ice Cream, Dominique Ansel Kitchen, etc.  Of course I've tried those too (sorry, the burrata soft serve that Dominique Ansel I actually just didn't find very good ... it was icy and didn't taste like burrata at all, but the Cheetos soft serve with crumbled Cheetos on top at Big Gay Ice Cream was surprisingly delicious ... in small quantity).

Soft Swerve does create Instagram worthy ice creams (yes, colored cones, yes, a wall with the perfect backdrop for your snaps, etc), but they also don't complicate things too much.  And I've never encountered a line there.  And the ice cream is good.  Really, really good.

I don't know much else about them, not where they source the dairy, etc, etc, but I know this.  100% worth the trek.

Signage.

On the sidewalk is a chalkboard, I think with messaging that changes regularly.  I giggled when I read this one, but it did set off my "trying to hard" radar (unwarranted, luckily).

Menu.

Inside more chalkboards present you with your choices, and a step by step guide to ordering (not that it is complicated).

Step 1: Cup, classic cone (red colored, $1 extra), chocolate cone (black, $1 extra).  One size only ($4.50), besides pints.

Step 2: Flavor.  4 choices only: Ube (Purple Yam), Macapuno (Coconut), Matcha (Green Tea), or Black Sesame.  The first two and second two can be swirled, or you can layer 2 flavors.

Step 3: Toppings ($0.50-$1 each).  Many, many toppings, crunchies, drizzles, etc.  More on these soon.

You can also pick one of their pre-designed creations for $5.99.

Over my multiple visits, I tried all the flavors besides the matcha (since I was always visiting later in the day and didn't want caffeine).  All flavors were incredibly creamy.

Coconut is the one flavor I didn't select for my full size creations, although it was creamy, and good soft serve, the flavor wasn't as intense as the others, and I just preferred the ube and black sesame more.

Counter.

You order right up at the counter, where the toppings and cones are displayed in glass containers, just for looks.

More toppings display.

The toppings lineup is also on the other side of the area, in bigger jars, labelled.  It includes ...

Crunchies: Oreos, Toasted Coconut, Cereal Marshmallows, Cap'n Crunch, Reese's Puffs, Toasted Almonds, Freeze Dried Strawberry, Almond Cookie, Sprinkles, Chocolate Sprinkles, Fruity Pebbles, Skor Toffee, Crushed Nilla Wafers.

Chewies:
Mochie, Halo Halo Toppings

Drizzles:
Strawberry, Chocolate, Condensed Milk, Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Pineapple

Pick as many, or few, as you wish.

My Creation: Halo Halo Toppings (base), Black Sesame Soft Serve, Ube Soft Serve, Condensed Milk Drizzle, Rainbow Sprinkles.

For my creation, I went for the ube and black sesame.  Since they weren't on the same machine, I had to layer them.  I appreciated that I was asked which I'd like on top, and went for the ube ... yes, because I thought the purple would be prettier on top.

The black sesame is a wonderful flavor, nutty in a way that reminds me of peanut butter.  I think that a full cup of just that would be too much, but combined with any other flavor it works great.  So creamy and flavorful.

But the ube.  Swoon.  Again, perfectly creamy, and excellent flavor.  Seriously, one of the best ice cream flavors I have ever had in my life.  Anywhere.  I *adore* this ube soft serve.  It is perfection.

On top I drizzled condensed milk for a little sweetness, and it complemented the ube magically.  I added rainbow sprinkles, uh, for fun?  I love sprinkles, and I really appreciated the little bit of crunch and pops of color on top.

The base of the cup however is the most interesting part: Halo Halo.  I didn't realize when I selected it that it would be in the bottom, but, it made sense.  There was tons of this, and it was very fun to dig through and find all the bits.

Palm Seed.

The Halo Halo "topping" was a scoop each of sweetened red bean (actually really good, not mushy!), mochi (soft and pillow-y), nata de coco (slimy, slippery, and flavorful, great flavor alongside the ube), pandan jellies (more fun texture, but not much flavor), boba (good texture, not too firm, not too mushy), and palm fruit seeds.

I loved all these "toppings", on their own, combined, and with the ube soft serve.  It was like the merging of an asian dessert and soft serve of my dreams, and, yes, it was my dreams.

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New York Pizza Suprema, NYC

This past summer, I spent a month living in New York.  I enjoyed a glorious month of *real* summer weather (sorry, SF, 63* days do NOT count!).  And while I was there, of course, many culinary adventures were had.  Along with getting a few classics bagels (ok one from Liberty Bagels, great one from Murray's), of course I had to do the other cliche New York thing and get pizza.

I had a relatively short list of pizza places narrowed in on (which, is no easy feat, given just how many there are, and how *everyone* has a different place they swear by), and was agonizing over making this very important decision of where to go, when I lucked out, and an easy decision was made for me.  At my office, someone had an event, had tons of extra pizza, AND it was from one of the places on my list.  

The place in question was New York Pizza Suprema, which has been around since 1964. 

Storefront.

I swung by early on in my trip to scope it out, as I generally do.  NY Pizza Suprema is NOT fancy, in any way.  Definitely a no frills, slightly gritty place, located right near Madison Square Garden.  No dining area.

Box of Excitement!

The boxes tell some of their accolades, which of course include some "best slice" awards, but, nearly every pizza place around claims those.

The restaurant started out focused very solidly on *plain* slices and nothing more.  You simply could not add toppings. The owner believed in a quality product that didn't need to hide under toppings.  They do still highly recommend the plain cheese slice, but have since introduced toppings.  They make the sauce fresh daily, make their own mozzarella, and really do take pride in the product.  The menu is pizza, and only pizza.  They do not offer salads, subs, sides, or any desserts.  Pizza.  By the slice or whole pie.  They do have plentiful vegan offerings now, and toppings such as chicken parm or baked eggplant, not just your standard pepperoni/sausage/mushrooms/onions/peppers/etc, but they haven't strayed more than this.

Pizzas!

The hosts ordered quite a selection, and had plenty left.

I quickly snagged a few assorted slices, tried them cold, and then heated them up later at "home" in the toaster oven.  I was thrilled with my slices, and honestly, would have gone back for more if I could have.

Cheese. $28/pizza, $4 slice.

"Famed for receiving the only perfect score by the Slice Harvester who sampled over 375 slices in Manhattan. Our famous signature pizza with a light delicious thin crust slightly charred, topped with our famous homemade tomato sauce and imported Pecorino Romano cheese and finest Grande Mozzarella."

I started with the simple cheese pizza.  The baseline to judge any pizza place by, particularly as they tell you to, right?

I'll admit, one bite is all it took to tell me this was a good, very classic, slice of pizza.  The crust had a great chew.  Crisp but not burnt.  Right thickness to support the weight of the toppings and not be limp, but not overwhelm.  It didn't have a particularly interesting flavor, but, the makeup of it was all exactly what you want in a crust.  

Next, the sauce.  This was a saucier pizza than I was expecting.  Definitely sauce forward.  The sauce was good, slightly sweet.  But you definitely need to want sauce.

And finally, the cheese.  The cheese was a highlight for me.  It was perfectly melty cheese.  Great pull to it.  And they certainly don't skimp on that either.  Very flavorful cheese, about as good as pizza cheese can be really.

The pizza was sliced into proper huge slices, where more than one would be an undertaking.  

So overall?  Yup, perfect pedigree of a good slice.  Ratios all in balance, and, once you fold it in half, easy to pick up and eat, no fork/knife required.  Exactly what you want from a NY slice.  I'm not a huge pizza fan, but, I can't fault this in any way, besides maaaybe being a bit too saucy.  ****.

$28 price for such a large pie (or $4/slice) was quite reasonable.

Mushroom. +$6/pizza.

Next I moved on to a more interesting one, this one with mushrooms.  The base was exactly the same as the cheese - again, great chew, sturdy, saucy, awesome cheese.  It came very nicely loaded with cooked sliced mushrooms.  Every bite had plenty of mushrooms. None slimy. No complaints here.  ****.

Standard toppings are $6 each, and more premium offerings like breaded buffalo chicken, whipped ricotta, fresh mozzarella, fancy imported pepperoni are $8, again, quite reasonable.

Mushroom + Pepperoni. +$12/pizza.

And finally, pepperoni and mushroom.  

I got the last slice, which had suffered a bit in transit, but was still perfectly good.  Nothing more to say about the crust, sauce, and cheese.  All exactly as with the others.  The pepperoni was good too - somehow not too greasy, and it crisped up very nicely in my toaster oven later.  

This was my favorite of the three I tried, mostly because I really like toppings (ssh, don't tell the owner!).  ****.

I'm not sure if this was the standard domestic pepperoni (+$6) or imported pepperoni (+$8), as they offer both, but either way, I'd gladly get it again.

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Sushi Seki, NYC

In New York, there is no shortage of sushi options, spanning all price points.  It takes a lot for a place to stand out, but somehow, Sushi Seki did for me as I was browsing menus for delivery options on Door Dash.

Sushi Seki drew me in with the extremely large range of nigiri/sashimi options, with an entire section just for different tuna pieces (9 options, your standard chu toro, o toro, maguro, etc, plus a seared option, one topped with uni, and more), the same with salmon (5 options, inlcuding belly or king salmon, or seared, etc), same with yellowtail (7 options), shellfish (another 7), and so on.  The choices were extensive, and, key for me, I appreciated that you could order singles.  They also do offer a variety of of hot and cold appetizers, soups and salads, cooked entrees (such as miso cod, different teriyakis, katsu, tempura), a slew of rolls, and even carry Lady M crepe cakes (which I've reviewed before in Seattle) for dessert (along with others they make).

"Chef Seki along with his family of NYC’s finest sommeliers and sushi chefs are committed to the “never stop learning” attitude by creating and balancing the flavor of the fish with simple ingredients, a classic style, and expansive sake and wines, paired perfectly to each meal."

Chef Seki has a great story, starting in the industry as a dishwasher, and working his way up to cook, kitchen chef, and eventually, sushi chef, all in Tokyo.  He moved to NY city to further his craft.  He really does seem to embrace his mantra of "never stop learning".

Sushi Seki's first location opened in 2002 on the Upper East Side.  12 years later, the chef opened the second location in Chelsea, which is where I ordered from.  A year later, his third branch opened, which includes a 6-seat counter for omakase only dining.  

I ordered on Door Dash for delivery, and was quite impressed with the quality (and speedy service).  I'd love to try more of the lineup, and to visit in person sometime.

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 ]

Hijiki Salad. $10.

"Cooked brown sea vegetable, watercress, tomato, cucumber, bean curd, carrot, daikon, and onion dressing."

There is a Japanese deli near me in San Francisco (Delica) that has a hijiki salad I adore.  I rarely see hijiki on menus elsewhere though, so I was excited to try Sushi Seki's version of the salad.  They also have a more traditional seaweed salad on the menu, along with a basic green salad and a snow pea salad, all with different dressings.  Salad didn't seem to be an afterthought here, which I took as a good sign.

I asked in the notes for the dressing on the side, I'm not sure if they normally do that for takeout or not.  The base of the salad was watercress, fresh, crisp, peppery.  Mixed in was a bit of shredded carrot, a few thin bits of bean curd, and of course, the hijiki.  All sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Mine didn't seem to have any tomato or cucumber, but I didn't mind.  I also didn't really find diakon, and I'm not sure about the cooked brown sea vegetable ... maybe that was lost in the mix?

It initially didn't look like it would be very hijiki forward, but the hijiki flavor was strong, and I enjoyed it.  I didn't find it needed the dressing (which was really quite thick, somewhat sour, and sorta an odd consistency, but did taste of onion as said it would), and just drizzled a little soy sauce over it.  Overall, very tasty, and I'd get again.  ****. 

Uni ($15), Lobster ($8), Anago ($10).

Uni:

Although this piece fell over in transit, it still stayed well put together, the nori wrapper holding it together tightly.  The uni portion was good, I think 4 lobes.  It tasted quite fresh, no funk to it, and was all an even color.  Sushi rice was an appropriate portion (not dominating), well seasoned, lightly sticky.  Overall, a very nice uni nigiri, and $15 price seemed appropriate.  ****.

Lobster (steamed): 

The lobster is the only piece that let me down.  The flavor was actually quite nice, and it was a big chunk, but, it was extremely chewy.  It was steamed, so fully cooked.  Great flavor, but hard to get past the chew.  **+.

Anago: "Wild seawater eel."

Sushi Seki offers 3 different types of eel sushi, the more common unagi (barbecued with sweet sauce), a chopped version with tempura crunchies, and this, anago.

It had been a long time since I had anago!  I've gotten sushi a dozen or so times this past year, but everywhere always has unagi, and not anago.  Sometimes I love unagi, but sometimes, I just am not in the mood for the heavy unagi sauce.  I was thrilled to see anago on the menu, and even more thrilled when I tasted it.  Great flavor, great texture, not slimy, just, really nice anago.  Sushi rice good, as with the other pieces.  I'd get this again in a heartbeat.  *****.

I appreciated the generous portion of nice pickled ginger (not the pink kind!), and plenty of wasabi, no skipping on those.  ****+.

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BBQ Catering by Back Forty Texas BBQ

I have no idea if the origin story of Back Forty Texas BBQ is true, but, its quite the tale.  Founder was playing poker, his opponent bet half his BBQ joint, founder won, and got half the BBQ joint.  Opponent gave him the back room of the restaurant, rather than the expected half-ownership, so founder set up his own competing bbq restaurant in that space.  It sat 40 people, and customers started requesting to be seated there, in the "back forty".  And so the tale goes.  But anyway, Back Forty Texas BBQ is a Texas style BBQ joint in Pleasanton, CA now.

"When you visit our BBQ Restaurant in Pleasant Hill, we’ll treat you like a guest invited to our home. Your food will always be prepared fresh-from-scratch, using the freshest and finest ingredients for our authentic Austin, Texas recipes."

I didn't visit the restaurant (er, "roadhouse & saloon"), but rather, got to sample their food at a catered company bbq.  They seem to specialize in large format dining, both through their catering, and banquet facilities.

Our hosts opted for the $24 per person basic menu, which included choice of 3 proteins (options were ribs, hot links, pulled pork, beef brisket, bbq chicken), and 3 "Fixin's" (choices of tossed green salad, caesar salad, garlic mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, beans, coleslaw, potato salad, fresh vegetables, corn on the cob), along with dinner rolls, pickles, red onions (?), and extra bbq sauce.  Tables, cutlery, etc, included.

The catering seemed well run, but the food was very mediocre.  Perhaps I am just ruined now, after visiting Truth BBQ in Houston several times last year?

Rolls.

I didn't try the rolls, as they looked fairly generic, and online reviews of even the dine-in experience mention how lackluster they are.

The decor was cute though, including in the serving baskets, very picnic vibes.

Creamy Potato Salad / Mixed Greens Salad / Pickles & Onion.

For sides, our hosts picked the baked beans (served warm), mixed greens salad, and potato salad.  Reasonable diversity, but I would have preferred macaroni salad, slaw, and mashed potatoes (or corn on the cob, if it was in season).

Mixed Greens Salad: 

This looked mushy and watery and way over dressed, so I didn't try it.  It seemed to really be just greens, nothing else.

Creamy Potato Salad:

This was a fairly mushy style of potato salad, or as they call it, "creamy".  Not really hunks of potato, very soft mush.  It had a acidic flavor to it that I didn’t care for, and a weird aftertaste.  **.

The random slices of red onions were fresh and crisp.  Pickles were tasty, generic, but tasty.  ***+.

Hot Foods: bbq baked beans, bbq chicken, pork ribs, hot links.

For proteins, the hosts picked ribs, bbq chicken, and hot links.  I was reasonably happy with their picks, although would have preferred pulled pork over the chicken, I know white meat chicken is the general crowd pleaser.  All were served over grill pans to keep warm.

Baked Beans:

The baked beans were fine.  Fairly soupy, and just small white beans, seemingly no different from what you'd get in a can, but the flavor was pretty decent.  I certainly would have preferred some onions in here, some bits of bbq meat, or a smoky flavor, but, they were fine.  Average for canned beans, below average for a bbq joint.  ***.

Sampler Platter.

In addition to the beans, went for some of nearly everything, skipping only the soggy salad and chicken as I don't eat chicken.

Hot Link Sausage: "Spiced pork link sausage with a mild kick."

The hot links were served already sliced, which was helpful for the outdoor picnic setting.  The casing was thicker than I like, was kinda tough to bite through.  Inside was unremarkable ... dense, compact sausage meat, slightly more akin to a thicker hotdog than a quality sausage.  A bit gristly.  Very mildly spicy.  Very average, no different from what you can get at a grocery store.  **+.

Pork Ribs: "National Award Winners! Slow-smoked and lightly basted with sauce."

And finally, the national award winning ribs.  They were the best part of the meal, but, only in that they were on the higher end of average, and certainly not anything that I'd expect to be award winning even at the local level, and certainly not nationwide.  The ribs had a relatively flavorful dry rub, a hint of smoke, and had a reasonable amount of meat on them.  Not too tough.  Again, just, slightly above average, what you'd expect from a mediocre restaurant, not on par with what you'd want from a place specializing in bbq.  ***.

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Enjoy Life

Update Review, 2023

A few years ago, I tried (dairy free) chocolate from Enjoy Life.  And then promptly forgot about the brand.  Their product line extends far beyond chocolate bars though, to chips, to  chewy granola bars, "breakfast ovals", and "enjoy bites" (protein bites), to soft baked cookies or brownies. Their focus is being dairy free, gluten free, nut free, etc, etc, and, well, that just isn't me.  But somehow I found myself trying another Enjoy Life product again recently: the Plentils.

Plentils

Plentils.  Key word: "lentils".  Lentil chips.  I don't like lentils.  But I do like chips.  And snacking on things.  So I tried these anyway.

"Our lentil chips are also known as Plentils®. But whatever you call them, these crunchy vegan snacks come in five delightful flavors sure to please any palate. All varieties of enjoy life lentil chips and plentils are certified gluten free, free of 14 allergens, and made with all natural ingredients."

The lentil chips are available in 6 flavors, all your classic chip options (barbecue, salt & vinegar, sea salt), and a few more interesting (dill & sour cream, garlic & parmesan, and (dairy free) cheddar).  I only tried one variety, and wasn't compelled to try more.

Dill & Sour Cream Plentils.

"A little tangy and a little luscious, our dairy-free Dill & Sour Cream Lentil Chips will make your taste buds dance."

 The chips were light and fluffy.  They had a nice crunch to them.  So far, so good.

They also didn't taste like lentils, and since I don't like lentils, this was a good thing.

But they also didn't taste like dill and sour cream.  Or, like ... anything.  Not bad like styrofoam, but more like air.  There was just nothing to them.

Didn't like, and wouldn't get again. **+.

Original Review, 2015

Enjoy Life is a company that sets out to make products that can be enjoyed by anyone, worry free.  What they mean by this is that their products are gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free, basically, all-the-allergens-free.  And of course non-GMO.  They make cookies (both soft baked and crunchy), cereals, seed & fruit trail mixes (no nuts!), snack bars, chips (called Plentils), and ... chocolate.  For chocolate, they offer baking chocolate (chips or chunks), plus bars.

Chocolate

I've only had the chocolate bars, called "boom CHOCO boom" (I have no idea why).  They make 3 varieties of chocolate bar: a regular dark chocolate bar, a milk chocolate bar made with ricemilk, and a ricemilk crunch bar.

The chocolate was actually good, but sadly, like so many allergen-free items, something was clearly just a bit off.  As I have no reason to avoid any of these allergens, I won't be seeking out more of their chocolate.

boom CHOCO boom Dark Chocolate.

The flavor to the chocolate was quite good, it tasted "smooth".  Another taster remarked that it had the enjoyable taste of a dark chocolate, except that it was somehow sweeter than most dark chocolate.  Basically, you had some sweetness, but you could also taste the cocoa.  We wondered what percentage it was, and that information was no where to be found on the packaging nor the website.

But, the real issue is the texture. The texture wasn't right.  It didn't have a nice snap to it, and it was a bit chalky.  Sorta even crumbly.  Another taster dubbed it grainy.  None of us could get past the strange texture.

We wouldn't get this again.  **.

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KanaHashi Sushi, Brooklyn

Ordering sushi for delivery is not something I had ever done, nor even thought about doing, until this past year.  To me, sushi is generally an extravagance, and something I'd want as fresh as possible, so, just never something I'd even think of getting delivered.

And then I did it once, and realized the beauty of being able to just order a few pieces that I'm specifically craving, to round out other food I have at home.  I don't need to do a sit down omakase to enjoy the funk of some nice uni.  Or king crab legs.  Which is exactly what I did, when I ordered from KanaHashi Sushi, while recently staying in Brooklyn.

I ordered on DoorDash, and was quite impressed with both the restaurant and Dasher speed.  I placed my order as I boarded the L train leaving my office in Manhattan, and the order, and I, both arrived home within 2 minutes of each other, <15 minutes later.

Since I didn't visit in person, I can't tell you about the restaurant itself, but, I can tell you that I was impressed with my order, Yelpers agree, and the menu is extensive (which often isn't a good sign, but, it turned out fine).  I'd gladly return, to try more sushi, but also some of their interesting appetizers, and even desserts.

Manhattan.  $12.

I was pleased that KanaHashi offered their full cocktail menu for delivery, which isn't particularly common.

My cocktail came very well wrapped up.  I had to laugh at the cocktail stirrers on top, but, it was a nice touch.

Manhattan.

I was impressed with the drink in some ways.  They included the garnish of a slice of lime, and not one, but two maraschino cherries.  The ice level was appropriate (although I normally ask for no ice in delivery cocktails since they generally arrive watered down, luckily not a problem here since it was so fast).

But it was ... cloudy.  And tasted kinda fruity.  Not mai tai level fruity, but, fruity.  Yes, I could taste some booze, but, it really didn't taste like a traditional Manhattan.  I couldn't get past the very cloudy nature or sweetness.  **.

Jumbled Sushi.

My poor sushi!

Clearly, this suffered majorly in transit.  The restaurant wasn't far away, and it arrived quickly, but, wow, so jumbled.  I'm curious what mode of transportation my Dasher used.

Much like the cocktail, I appreciated the extra garnishes and touches KanaHashi included, such as the bed of shredded daikon swirls, a shiso leaf, thin sliced red radish, and a sculpted cucumber, along with ginger and wasabi mound.  Jumbled presentation aside, these components elevated the delivery experience.

King Crab Sashimi. $12.

Who orders king crab from a sushi restaurant?  Yes, cooked crab.  I'm not quite sure why it jumped out at me (I think because I was debating between ordering sushi, or a lobster roll, or crab cakes), but, I'm glad it did.  It had been ages since I have had king crab.  It really is, uh, the king of crab?

The serving was 3 pieces, one much smaller than the other two.  They were thick pieces, quite meaty, and tasted remarkably fresh, and flavorful.  I'm sure this is not a popular opinion, but, king crab > lobster.  It was like everything I always want lobster to be, but it never quite is.

For $12, this seemed pretty reasonable, and was a great opportunity to get to have some king crab in a smaller quantity.  Normally you have to order by the pounds of legs, and that is usually $$$.

I quite enjoyed it, and would gladly get again.  ****.

Hokkaido Uni. $16.

After a bit of searching, I managed to uncover my poor uni.  This was a seasonal special from Hokkaido, rather than the more local Maine variety.  I thought I ordered nigiri, but it came as sashimi, which was totally fine with me.

It was decent.  Creamy.  Good level of funk, didn't taste bad.  Not the best uni I've had, but satisfying, and clearly fresh as well.  

And again the price and portion were reasonable, there was more here than I expected, that mound goes pretty deep.  I think they may have incorrectly given me the sashimi portion, which generally is larger than individual nigiri.  ***+.

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Thistle

During the depths of the pandemic, seemingly all my neighbors got on board the meal delivery service wagon.  I live in a large condo complex, and the piles of Home Chef, Blue Apron, and Hello Fresh boxes took over our package room.  And then, people grew sick of quasi-cooking, and still couldn't go out, and a new wave hit, now with prepared meals and healthier focus, from the likes of Thistle, Factor, Daily Harvest, etc.  It was amusing watching the phases my neighbors went through, evidenced by all the deliveries.

I didn't join in the fad however, until recently, when I finally get Thistle a try.

Thistle Values.

If you are unfamiliar, Thistle is a bit unique in the space.  They have a very strong health focus, primarily vegetarian, mostly vegan, and gluten-free.  They provide full ingredient and nutritional info for every meal.  The company is slightly local (West Coast) and uses their own couriers for deliveries, delivering fresh bags of food, rather than frozen boxes via regular mail service.  They deliver twice a week, with the food you need for the next 3 days.  They offer a variety of meal plans, with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks all part of the standard lineup.  Menus change weekly, but rotate through every couple months, so regular favorites do return.  Breakfasts are mostly chilled items, although some can be heated.  Lunches are generally chilled salads/bowls.  Dinners can involve a quick trip to the microwave, but otherwise, these are ready to go.

These highly curated healthy and convenient meals come at quite the premium though.  Vegan meals are $14.99 each (meat proteins are $17.24), with snacks at $6, juices $8, and extras like salad shakers $9.  No, they don't have desserts.  Delivery charges are extra.

I am not vegan, not gluten-free, and not particularly health focused, so I'm clearly not their target customer, and it did take a little adjusting of my own taste buds to enjoy the products.

Breakfast

Amusingly, it is the breakfast offerings that most drew me in to Thistle, and I assume those are the least popular meal people use them for.  Sure, I enjoy my regular easy to prepare breakfasts, but, the Thistle breakfasts are the closest things they have to desserts, and thus, my interest.  (Ok, to be fair, the majority of the breakfast dishes are smoothies or tofu scrambles, very healthy, and what you'd expect from the brand, but the ones I was drawn to of course were not those).

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble With Vanilla Cashew Buttercream.

"A delicious seasonal combination of strawberries & rhubarb baked with almonds & oats. Enjoy with a creamy vanilla cashew buttercream."

While this dish was listed as a breakfast, I intended to have it as a dessert - not that I have any problem with fruit crumble for breakfast, I eat regular fruit crumble/crisp for breakfast whenever I have some leftover (usually with a dollop of yogurt instead of my regular whipped cream or ice cream).  The instructions included on the packaging said to heat it in a toaster oven at 350* for 3-5 minutes, but of course I tried a bite cold.

I was reasonably impressed.  The fruit was nicely stewed, juicy, flavorful, mostly large plump strawberries.  Fairly sweet but not too sweet, lightly spiced.  The ingredients listed "seasonal fruit" in addition to strawberries and rhubarb, but I didn't find any other fruit, which was fine.  The topping was a bit mushy straight from the fridge, but was a standard crumble topping of oats, along with almonds for crunch.  The ratio of fruit to topping was in good balance.

I would have been happy eating it cold, for breakfast or dessert.  

Next I did heat it up as instructed.  As expected, the topping got a bit more crisp, and the fruit was all bubbly.  Even more dessert appropriate in this form.

It also came with two whole strawberries, nicely ripe.  Perfect for plating it up and making it look fancy.  Kudos for the fresh fruit with this one.  

**** for a truly enjoyable dish, cold or hot, breakfast or dessert, with or without added ice cream, frozen yogurt, regular yogurt, whipped cream, as you see fit.  I'd get this again.

For the curious, the crumble without the cream is 330 calories, 21g fat, 8g protein, 12g sugar.

Vanilla Cashew Buttercream.

The cashew buttercream was a perfect example of why people mock vegan desserts.  It was not cream. It was not buttercream.  It was runny and full of chunks.  It looked like something that had curdled and gone bad.  My brain said, "bad bad bad!", as I looked at it, but, I pressed onward, knowing that this was likely expected, and not an indication of something I shouldn't be putting in my body.

The flavor was actually pretty decent, strong vanilla flavor, nicely sweet (from maple syrup).  It didn't taste like cashews really.  It did work fine to drizzle over the crumble, but, it certainly didn't hold up in any way, and wasn't a cream (or buttercream as they call it).

For breakfast, I actually would just add a dollop of sweetened (or not) yogurt on top the crumble and eat the whole thing cold. For dessert, I'd definitely go warm with ice cream, tart frozen yogurt, or real whipped cream, and just use this cashew cream for something else (although I have no clue what really).  It adds 80 calories, 6g fat, 3g protein to the dessert.

*** taste, but *+ look and texture.

Super Seed & Berry Muesli.

"A deliciously hearty muesli base, topped with a coconut & vanilla mylk tinted with blue spirulina."

The muesli made me so sad.  I was so excited for it.  I love muesli of all kinds - the crunchy kind you have like cereal, the overnight bircher style, all of it.  I adore it, and lament the fact that we don't have much muesli in the US.  When I visit Australia, it is a staple of my existence.  I wasn't sure what style this would be, but, I was excited.

The instructions said to eat it cold, or microwave for 40 seconds and add a tablespoon of water or milk.  I tried it cold first, eager to dive in, even though it looked more like overnight oats with additional dry oats on top, rather than anything muesli-like.  I didn't like it.  It wasn't creamy like overnight oats or bircher muesli, it was thick and gloopy.  The taste was quite bitter (likely from the chia seeds, sunflower seeds, sunflower butter), and it was just lumpy and stodgy.  

So I tried it warm, heating up half of it.  I added a tablespoon water as instructed.  It was no better, in fact, I think it was worse.  Now it was just super thick and gloopy oatmeal, that was oddly bitter.  I added a lot more water to try to turn it at least into regular consistency oatmeal.  It still just didn't taste good.  I think the sunflower butter was the failure for me.

Further, for an item that has "berry" in the title, it also had very little berry.  There were a couple tiny tiny fragments of what I guess was raspberry (freeze dried?) and a couple very mushy blueberries (also freeze dried? Rehyrdrated?).  No fresh fruit, which it certainly could use.

I tried adding yogurt to the rest I hadn't heated to make it more like bircher muesli.  Still, meh.  The flavors weren't good (so bitter), the textures weren't good (nothing crispy nor crunchy here), the consistency wasn't good (so gloopy).  *.  I would never get this again.

It was also a pretty hefty meal - 400 calories, 11g protein, 15g fat in just the base muesli.

Which gets me to the "Blue Majik Mylk".  Unlike the previous cashew cream that was more watery and milk-like, this one actually was quite thick, nothing like milk.  It was basically coconut cream with blue spirulina to make it look "magical".  Very, very thick.  Very strong coconut flavor.  It definitely helped jazz up the dish, but particularly if you didn't warm it up, it didn't mix in much as it was so thick.  Maybe fun as a spread on toast?  It adds another 80 cal, 7g fat. **+ because it was novel, but was odd to pair with this.

Lunch

Thistle lunches, besides on weekends, are basically all salads.  Designed to grab from fridge and ready to eat.  I tried one.

I didn't try any dinners, those are mostly dishes you heat up, generally legume and rice bowls, hence why I wasn't interested.

Lemongrass Lettuce Cups with Buckwheat.

"Scoop a marinated mince of sauteed vegetables, crisp cucumber, ginger, lemongrass, and peanuts with our house made "fish" sauce into each leaf of lettuce for a delicious bite of each cup."

Most of Thistle's lunch offerings are salads, but I went for the slightly more fun lettuce cups.  Sadly, it was fairly awful.

The instructions told me to scoop the filling mix into the lettuce cups to make my own wraps/cups.  This is where things first went wrong, as the lettuce pieces were not actually big enough to do so.  Big pieces of bibb lettuce would have worked, but, these pieces could not really hold any filling.  Not practical as wraps.

Undeterred, I tried to make it into a salad, tearing up the lettuce pieces slightly.  The lettuce was crisp, but, the ends were browning.  This still was fine-ish, and not the core problem.  The cucumber slices were also fine, although some were starting to turn a bit mushy.

The core problem was the filling, with buckwheat groats, tiny pieces of water chestnut, mushrooms, onion, carrots, peanuts, and hemp seeds, marinated with lemongrass and others.  It had good textures, and the peanuts in particular added a great crunch, but ... it tasted like it had gone bad.  Remarkably sour.  It smelt off.  I tried different components, but, it really seemed like it may have gone bad.  The odor was strong.  After a few bites, I decided that not only did it not taste good and wasn't worth "saving", it truly might make me sick.  If I hadn't been so fearful that it had gone bad, I may have considered trying to warm it up in a skillet perhaps, but, yeah, it just seemed so very off. 

* I guess, for moderately fresh lettuce and cucumbers, but, even those weren't in great shape.  This meal, without the sauce, is somehow 510 calories, 306 fat, 20g protein which surprised me, although I guess peanuts really do add up.

And then there was the house "fish" sauce.  Made from coconut aminos, date syrup for sweetness, lime juice and rice vinegar for acidity, plus tahini, garlic, sambal, and mushrooms ... I had no idea what to expect from the taste of this.  It was also a thick, dark sauce, which doesn't really mirror classic fish sauce.  The taste was good though, lightly tangy and lightly sweet, it did have Asian vibes.  A fairly light dressing, at 50 calories.

Snack

And finally, snacks, the other more interesting category to me.  These range from veggies (or gluten-free crackers of some kind) and dips, to baked goods, and items that sorta sound like real dessert (e.g. tiramisu. mousse).

24 Carrot Gold Muffin.

"This moist carrot muffin is loaded with applesauce, flax seeds, almonds, and plump raisins, and is spiced with cinnamon and ginger."

I found it interesting that the carrot muffin was listed as a snack rather than a breakfast item.  I planned to eat it as a breakfast item, but of course snuck a bite as soon as it arrived.  I was also a bit surprised that it said it needed to be kept refrigerated, but I'll admit I'm no expert in vegan and gluten free baked goods.

I took one bite, and was pretty close to spitting it out.  Wow.  Not that I expected it to be amazing, but it does have a substantial number of reviews, and high rating by other Thistle users.  A regular item on their menu.

While carrots are the first ingredient, I truly did not taste any carrot.  I tasted the dates used for sweetness, and I tasted the bitter flaxseed, and the spicing from cinnamon and ginger, and certainly detected the odd vegan and gluten-free nature of it from the use of applesauce instead of egg and cassava flour and almond meal instead of regular flour, but carrots? Nope.  I didn't taste them, and it didn't have any shredded carrots as I expected either.  It was dense and hearty like a bran muffin, but without the texture of the grains that make a grain muffin enjoyable.  It tasted healthy, was oddly gummy, and again, no carrot taste.  The raisins were plump as advertised, and all clumped at the base.

So, at first taste, definitely not what I was expecting. I saved the other half, and warmed it up, and topped it with cream cheese, and enjoyed it more, particularly once my expectations were readjusted to be more like a bran muffin than a carrot cake.  I suspect it would be nice with some jam as well.

For the curious, this muffin is 310 calories, 7g protein, so certainly better for you than your average muffin. 

*+ at first, **+ once jazzed up.

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