Peter Pan Donuts, NYC

Yup, yet another day, another donut.  Whatever city I am in, donuts seem to seek me out.  Certainly, this is helped by the that my offices have a donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts from a place of their choosing every week.  But also, random parties with extra donuts just seem to regularly happen around me.  I rarely seek out the donuts, they come to me.

Yet, when I was staying in New York for a while this summer, I actually sought out donuts myself.  I wanted to see if there were other noteworthy donuts, besides Doughnut Plant.  So I did my research.  I had, well, plenty of options.  But one, Peter Pan Donuts, was located near where I was staying in Brooklyn, and got great reviews, so I assumed it would be my destination.

And then, random donuts kept showing up at the office, and I never made it to get a donut of my own accord.  Until I returned to New York in the fall, and the craving for a good donut hit.

And thus, Peter Pan it was.  

Peter Pan makes a variety of yeast and cake donuts.  All the classics, plus some upgraded ones, but nothing particularly wild or unique.  Yeasted donuts start with the standard honey dip, sugared, or frosted and sprinkle topped.  Filled versions had, lemon, blueberry, strawberry, or Bavarian cream.  Jelly donuts could come plain, sugared, or powdered sugared.  More fun is the crumb topped and cream filled red velvet or old fashioned, or other varieties with cream filling and a coating.  Cake options span from plain/cinnamon/glazed/powedered/coconut'ed old fashioned, to chocolate cake, to more interesting red velvet or even sour cream.  Oh, and don't forget the specialty donuts like a boston cream, several types of eclair, crullers with several toppings, or, my dad's all time favorite, the jelly stick.

I had one each, cake and raised, to really evaluate.  The raised was exceptional, and I'd gladly return for more and more of these!

Donut Box.

No pink box from this  shop, but a relatively classic and classy bakery label let us know what goodies were inside.

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake. $1.95.

The first donut I tried was a cake donut, which isn't normally my preferred donut (generally, I go for raised over cake).  But if I'm having a cake donut, an old fashioned or buttermilk based donut definitely far exceed regular cake donuts.  And, it was blueberry?  And glazed?  Now, that's a good combo, even for a cake donut.

It was fine.  Lightly glazed, not so sweet it took over.  It was clearly studded with lots of bits of blueberry, with visible blue bits throughout.  Mild blueberry flavor.  Dense in the right way inside, yet quite moist, and lightly crisp from the glaze.  But ... I didn't detect a buttermilk tang, and I was really hoping for that.

Overall, an absolutely fine cake donut, but didn't deliver in the "special" department for me, that is needed to take a cake donut above ***.  So, a strong ***, but, still just ***.

Yeasted White Cream Coconut. $1.95.

The next donut I tried was a raised one, and not one I picked for myself.  When I was stuck in a meeting when Peter Pan donuts arrived, I asked him to snag me something, and this was his selection.  It likely isn't what I would have picked (so much coconut!), but actually, it turned out to be absolutely fabulous.

The coconut on top was standard shredded non-toasted but likely sweetened coconut.  It was very generously applied, which I thought would be too much, but actually, it totally worked.  Just, a nice coconut flavor, that went so well with the fluffy sweet frosting.  ***+.

The cream frosting blew me away.  I expected fairly generic very sweet buttercream, but it was actually just really, really good.  Vanilla flavored I think?  It was so soft and fluffy, even though it was fairly old by the time I had it late in the afternoon.  It was sweet, but absolutely not cloying.  Really, really great cream. ****+.

Yeasted White Cream Coconut: Underside.

So, what about the donut itself?

Here you can see that this was actually a ring donut (surprise! Didn't it look like a filled donut?).  It had a great pocket of cream in the middle, in addition to the topping.  Given how much I loved this cream, this was a huge win for me.  

The donut was perfectly fried.  Very lightly crisp on the outside, golden brown, and so, so, so light and fluffy and airy inside.  Great flavor to it, didn't taste oily nor greasy.  This is really as good as a basic yeasted donut can get.  ****+.

Overall, I loved everything about this.  The quality of the donut, the frosting, everything.  I'd get it again in a heartbeat, and it made me immediately want to try more donuts from Peter Pan!  ****+, really nearly a perfect *****.

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Donut Pub, NYC

Another day, another donut.  Whatever city I am in, donuts seem to seek me out.  Certainly, this is helped by the that my offices have a donut rotation, where someone brings in donuts from a place of their choosing every week.  It generally means I get to try donuts from places further away from my house (or where I'm staying) than I'd normally go.  And it means I eat a lot of donuts.

When I was visiting my New York office this summer, it was of course donut day at some point.  My co-worker picked Donut Pub, a donut shop with two locations in Manhattan.  She got a selection of great looking donuts.

Great looking, but, overall, I was not impressed.  The donuts themselves were fairly average, and they relied heavily on far too sweet toppings/fillings.

Birthday Cake. $3.25.

"Yeast raised donut with vanilla icing, sprinkles, topped with buttercream."

The first one I went for was fairly ridiculous looking.  Yes, there was a donut hiding under all those sprinkles and frosting!

This was a raised ring donut, which may not be obvious at first glance, but, it was hollow in the center.  It had both vanilla icing cover it all AND the center filled/topped with buttercream, and of course the very heavy handed (er, generous?) application of sprinkles.  As you can imagine, um, it was a very sweet donut.

The donut itself was very average - average lightness and loftiness, and it was hard to really tell if it was greasy or not due to the toppings.  The vanilla icing was sweet, and the buttercream was crazy cloying sweet, and the sprinkles were the kind that are relatively waxy and, yup, sweet.  It was far too much sugar even for me to have in the morning, but if you think of it more like a cupcake, or perhaps if you are 5 years old, maybe it can be good.

This was a more premium offering, at $3.25, which is still reasonable for most NY donuts, given that $5-6 donuts are pretty normal.  **+.

Brooklyn Cream. $3.25.

"Buttercream filled and topped with chocolate icing."

Next up, I tried the "Brooklyn Cream", which is a play on the Boston cream (which they do also offer), but with buttercream filling rather than custard.

The raised yeast donut was similar to the previous one, fairly lofty, fairly light, but this time, rather than a ring, it was solid, and filled with the same cloying sweet buttercream.  I really love buttercream in general (I'm one who wants a cupcake to have equal parts frosting to cake!), but, I didn't really like this, as it was just too far in the sugar direction, and not enough, well, butter nor cream.  The chocolate icing was fine.

Another premium donut at the reasonable $3.25 price.  **+.

Assorted Regular Donuts: Red Velvet, Vanilla Cream,
Marble Cake, Apple Crumb.  $2.75 each.

A co-worker nicely grabbed me an assortment of other donuts to try.  She selected these, two cake donuts, and two raised.

Red Velvet (Cake):  Big let down. This one really was just a standard glazed old fashioned cake donut.  Yeah, it was reddish, but, I didn't taste anything red velvet about it (no cocoa element, and it seems like a missed opportunity to use a cream cheese glaze rather than generic regular glaze).  So ... interesting color, but average plain sweet glazed cake donut.  **+.

Vanilla Cream Powdered (Raised):  This was very similar to the Brooklyn Cream, but with powdered sugar rather than chocolate icing.  So again, average raised filled donut, cloying sweet frosting, and this time, powdered sugar coating, which didn't help to balance the sweetness in the same way the chocolate glaze did.  **+.

Marble (Cake):  Another cake donut, this one both regular and chocolate.  I don't think I've ever seen a marble donut before, so that was a bit unique.  But the donut itself was very average, and the chocolate flavor not particularly deep.  **+.

Apple Crumb (Raised):  This one was interesting at least.  It was a filled raised yeast donut, stuffed with apple pie filling (e.g. spiced bits of apple and goo), and then frosted with icing, and coated with crumbs.  The spicing was a bit much for my taste, and I was very sick of overly sweet donuts by the time I reached this one, so, the generous icing glaze was not particularly appealing.  A unique one though, so my favorite just as it was most interesting to eat.  ***.

These were all regular donuts, only $2.75 each.

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Bobo's Oat Bars

Update Reviews, 2021-2023

I've reviewed Bobo's products many times, so, skipping the intro this time around.

Oat Bites

"Everyone likes mini things! Oat bites are a mini version of Bobo's bars, perfect for a small treat or to complement the rest of your snack."

I've reviewed some of the "Bites" before, but to refresh your memory, these are smaller, snack size (or child size?) bars, a cute round style, great to have stashed in your bag when you need a quick pick me up, or a small bite to eat before hitting the gym but don't want a full breakfast.  

Bites come in two varieties: mini versions of the most popular flavors of the regular size bars, and, mini versions of their newer product, called Stuff'd bars.

Stuff'd

"Bobo's stuffed oat bars are a pre-stuffed trifecta of delicious nut butter: no mess during your enjoyment, and more protein!"

I was pretty excited when I saw Bobo's introduced the Stuff'd products.  Everything is more exciting with filling!  They come in full size bars and bites.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Stuff'd Bite.

"Every crumb of our Peanut Butter and Jelly Stuff'd Bites transports you to a joyful state of soft, gooey wonder – just like being a kid again. Gluten-free with 100% whole grain oats, Bobo's PB&J bites are the perfect blend of savory and sweet - and they're downright addicting. They're everything you want when you bite into a PB&J sandwich ... just without the mess."

Back in my original review of Bobo's products, I covered the pb & j inspired product Bobo's made at the time.  I found it ... lacking.  I wanted more from it.  Much more.

So I was eager to try out the new version, part of the "Stuff'd" product line, as I hoped it would, well, be "stuffed" full of goodness.  

The exterior is much the same as other Bobo's products - a reasonably soft, tasty, oat puck.  Some seem much softer than others, and it doesn't seem based on age.  You never know if a given Bobo's bar will be soft or not. It still amuses me that I like these, but I do.

The shell is where the peanut was incorporated in these.  No, sadly, there is no peanut butter layer iside, just the slight peanut flavor of the oat part.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Stuff'd Oat Bite: Inside.

Inside, it was ... ok.  

The first one I had really let me down.  Not nearly as stuffed as I wanted.  Really, I mostly wanted something ... more gooey?  And I definitely wanted more peanut butter flavor.  As it was, the product was nearly the same as all the other Bites - oat based puck, with slight, slight, sight peanut taste to it, and inside was a raspberry filling.  A decent amount of raspberry filling (I'm not calling it jelly, nor jam, because I couldn't quite identify it as a proper example of either!), but, it was not gooey in any way.  

2.5/5, kinda disappointing, really.

The second one I had however was considerably better, and I don't just think it was adjusted expectations.  The peanut butter flavor was much stronger (although I still wanted some as the filling too).  Again, no peanut butter stuffing, but rather, just the peanut integrated into the exterior oat part.  But inside, yes, plenty of fruity filling.

3/5, considerably better.

After several of these, I declare them fine as an Oat Bite, but, they certainly do not deliver nearly as much peanut butter, nor jelly, gooeyness as I really want.

Apple Pie

"Bobo's Apple Pie Stuffed Oat Bite is the most American treat. This one is a classic, combining ground cinnamon and tart organic apples to create that Apple Pie flavor we all hold so dear to our hearts. We recommend with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. "

Do you like oatmeal?  Apple pie?  Then, you will probably like this.

Like all Bobo's Bites, the base is a pleasantly sweet and lightly spiced oatmeal puck.  Not too firm, not to soft and crumbly-messy.  Enjoyable as an oatmeal forward snack bar.  

Since this is a "stuff'd" product, inside is a filling: apple pie in this case.  There isn't a lot of it, and the filling is a bit dry, not as gloopy as apple pie filling from a can, but it does have a nice apple flavor, and, key for me, does not taste like applesauce.

Overall, an enjoyable item as a breakfast bite, and next time I'd like to try warming it up and serving with whipped cream to turn it more into a dessert.  3.5/5.

Full Size

They also of course make the standard full size bars, which I've reviewed in every flavor previously.  But then they came out with a new one ...

Cranberry Orange.

"Our Cranberry Orange oat bar mixes the slight bitterness of organic cranberries with a sweet, zesty orange citrus, making this bar a favorite of many. Every bite brings out a lively flavor guaranteed to remind you of summer days by the pool. We recommend this bar as the perfect pairing to a cup of green tea."

Cranberry orange always reminds me of my mother.  In my mind, that is "her" flavor.  She often makes holiday cranberry sauce with a lot of orange in it, or cranberry orange compound butter, and, if she's picking a muffin, besides morning glory (her real #1), she opts for cranberry orange.  And for me, it has never really been my thing.  Perhaps a more "grown up" flavor in my mind for many years, but, I'm a grown up now myself, and still rarely gravitate towards cranberry or orange for that matter.  Thus, I tried this somewhat in my mom's honor.

This bar didn't remind me of "summer days by the pool" as described, but it did remind me of winter holidays, and a taste of home.  Both the orange and cranberry flavors were strong - orange in the background, cranberries as pops of chewy flavor studded throughout.  As always I enjoyed the soft-ish oat bar format, sorta like a less messy muffin, and very breakfast appropriate.

I still don't gravitate towards these flavors, but, it was a nice bar if you do.  3/5.

Update Reviews, 2018-2020

No need for an intro here, as I've reviewed Bobo's many times before (scroll down for earlier reviews, and proper intro).

I will say though, that I laugh when I read through Bobo's marketing, boasting about all the uses for their product, but the thing is ... I agree.  They are great for early morning exercise!  They are good for breakfast.  They do make for healthy kid's snacks.  I use them as an "on-the-go pick me up" all the time.  They could be a "perfect lunch pairing" or "meal on-the-go".  I'd imagine them as after school snack, workout protein boost, "travel companion", "outside adventure seeker", etc.  The marketing is funny, but, I think it does make sense.

I usually have Bobo's as a quick on the go breakfast, or in my bag to devour after an early morning workout.

Bites

"Everyone likes mini things! Oat bites are a mini version of Bobo's bars, perfect for a small treat or to complement the rest of your snack."

I love the form of the bites.  Perfectly snackable, filling enough due to the protein and oats, but never so big you feel loaded down.  Also, cute!

Lemon Poppyseed.

"Our Lemon Poppyseed bar is so delicious; the muffin man sends us an email from time-to-time trying to get a case or two. An adaptation of a coffee house favorite, this bar brings refreshing zest into the lives of its consumers, forevermore changing their outlook on life. It’s a perfect pairing for your favorite cup of coffee or tea."

I rarely like lemon/lime desserts or baked goods (and I *loathe* lemon curd!), but for some reason, lemon poppyseed muffins are on my "yes" list, so I was excited for this one.

The lemon flavor lived up.  The bar uses lemon oil which really gives it a strong lemon zing, and yup, the little crunch from the poppyseeds was there.  Add to that the base of rolled oats and pleasant sweetness characteristic of Bobo's bars, and, well, it was a winner for me, flavor-wise.

It was however rock solid.  And dry.  I'm not sure why, as I consumed it well within the eat-by date. I still enjoyed it quite a bit because the flavor was so good, but, something was certainly off. 3.5/5.

Update Review: I had another about a year later, and was again surprised by how hard it was.  The lemon flavor was again actually great (just vibrant and full of zing!), and the lemon poppyseed combo worked great for me, but, this flavor in particular just seems to trend ... hard?  I still really liked it, but wished it was a bit softer.  3.5/5.

Maple Pecan.

"Our Maple Pecan oat bar combines the sweet taste of maple syrup with a rich, buttery pecan crunch. Every bite is reminiscent of a warm pancake breakfast, making it the best way to jump start your morning … every morning."

This flavor sounded right up my alley.  Take an oatmeal base, and add in the maple syrup that I'd drizzle on a regular bowl of ice cream, and buttery pecans for crunch?

But it didn't really deliver.  Like the lemon poppyseed, the puck really seemed too hard and dried out.  The maple flavor didn't come through as maple, rather, just almost "fake sweet" tasting.  I did like the pecans.

Not sure what went wrong with this one either, I know I really do sometimes love Bobo's products.   I wonder if they have changed the recipe as they have scaled production?  2.5/5.

Oat Bars

"Grab a box and share with a friend! With delicious and wholesome ingredients these oat bars will sure to be your new favorite snack! "

The oat bars are the full size product, heftier than a standard granola bar, and, if you read the nutrition label, consist of 2 servings per bar.  This always makes me laugh, because it doesn't really seem reasonable to think someone would open a wrapped, sealed package that looks like an individual serving, and split it in half, and wrap up half to save for later.  But if you do indulge in a full bar, beware that they are ~500 calories, perhaps a bit more than you'd expect.

Anyway.

Chocolate Chip.

I've had the chocolate chip flavor before, and although I liked the base flavor, I was disappointed by the extremely few chocolate chips in my bar.  Granted, it was a mini, but still, I expected more than, um, zero chips.

This one was better, a full size, big hearty bar, serving size listed as 2.

I loved the sweetness (not too sweet!), the texture (moist yet crumbly), and, the quality of the mini creamy milk chocolate chips.  I still wanted more chocolate, as in, um, I wanted a chocolate coating, but the number of chips in this were actually quite reasonable.

Overall, a good product, and I'd get it again, just with a side of chocolate to melt and dip it in ... 3/5.

Almond Butter.

"Almonds are all the rage these days and our Almond Butter bar is no different. We mixed creamy almond butter with crunchy sliced almonds."

This was not a winner for me.  And the reason is simple: almond butter.  I just don't like it.  I like almonds.  I love peanut butter.  But almond butter always tastes oddly bitter to me, and I just don't like it.

The rest of the bar was fine, albeit quite simple.  Soft oats, slightly sweet from brown rice syrup and sugar, but besides that, the only other real ingredient was almond butter, and it left behind that signature almond bitterness that I couldn't get past.

Fine form factor, but not the variety for me. 2/5.

Update Review, January 2018

I've reviewed Bobo's Bars before (original, 2016 update), but I tried a few new flavors, and a new branding.  It seems the "Bites" are now called "Minis"?

Coconut Mini.

"Our Coconut bar combines our hearty oats with sweet organic coconut flakes, transporting every eater to a tropical paradise. While we recommend consuming this bar on an island, it may also be enjoyed at every other moment in life."

This one was only ok.  The bar still had the same dense quality, the hearty taste that I enjoyed, it wasn't too sweet, and the brown rice syrup as a sweetener worked well to compliment the oats.  The coconut added additional texture and a bit of chew.

But I just wasn't into the coconut flavor, and it seemed harder than others I had in the past. 2/5.

Coconut Bite (2020.

A few years later, I had another, and liked it more.

Again, some hearty taste I enjoyed, pleasant natural sweetness, and I was in a particularly coconut-inspired mood, so it really met my cravings.  As the last time though, I did find it considerably harder than the others.

I still enjoyed it, particularly when topped with a touch of coconut cream! 3/5.

Chocolate Chip Mini.

"No offense to Chocolate Chip cookies, but our Chocolate Chip bar is kind of a big deal. This tasty treat feels more like dessert than breakfast, but without the guilt. The slow-burning oats leave you feeling satiated beyond measure, satisfying your hunger and your sweet tooth. "

As always, I liked the hearty, dense base, even though it makes no sense to like a hard oatmeal puck.  But for some reason, it just really hits the spot for me, the sweetness is just spot on.

"Chocolate Chip": Inside.

But ... after two bites, I was confused.  Where were the promised chocolate chips?

I think I had a dud, as it literally did not contain a single chocolate chip.  I still liked the base flavor, but, chocolate chip it was not. 3/5.

Update Review, March 2016

A few months ago, I reviewed several flavors of Bobo's bars, which you can read about in my original review below.  They really shocked me, as I'm not generally a huge lover of bars, and these were quite great.  I describe them as oatmeal, but, in bar form.  Which doesn't sound like it should be good, but it is.  Oh, and some are gluten-free too.

So, I tried more varities (including some more fun ones!), this time, I went for the smaller "Bobo's Bites".

Bobo's Bites

"The perfect size for school lunches or a quick snack on the go. Enjoy a tasty Bobo’s Bite any time you want a small snack to keep you going!"

Bobo's recently introduced a new product line: "Bites".  These are smaller, 1.3 ounce bars,  ~180 calories, rather than 3 ounce, nearly 400 calorie "bars" I tried before.  This size makes more sense to me, as I found it odd that the larger size one had a serving size listed of 2, because who would really eat half a bar?

The Bites are all gluten-free, and offered in only three varieties: original, apple pie, and peanut butter and jelly.  I thought it was interesting that they only make gluten-free versions of the Bites, whereas the bars are available in both gluten-free and regular.  My guess is that they are more successful in the gluten-free market, and these are their most popular varieties?

Anyway.  I continue to think Bobo's bars/bites are awesome.  I don't entirely understand why, but, they are.  Get them.

Original Gluten-Free Bobo's Bite.

"Bobo’s Bites Original Flavor has all the great flavor of our Original Bar in a smaller snack size Bite!"

If you step back, this does not sound exciting, in any way.  Gluten-free and vegan.  A little packaged bar.  When do I ever like this sort of thing?  And, just in a plain, "original", flavor?  Please.  How good can some gluten-free rolled oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar, possibly be?  The only other ingredient in the entire bar is what seems like the components of Earth Balance (oil, water, annatto extract).

I realize, as I describe this, that it doesn't sound good.  I don't know how to convince you otherwise though.  These things are awesome.  Yes, even the plain flavor.  Oats, brown rice syrup, and Earth Balance ... nothing more.

Unlike most "bars", these are soft, even though made of oats.  Think of them like a dense ball of oatmeal.  Almost doughy inside ... but not really.  Sigh.  I can't do better than this at describing these.  You'll just have to try one.

Dense, perfectly sweetened, nice chew.  The "bite" will be gone before you know it.

Even the totally plain flavor is great on its own.  Just plain.  Room temperature.  No alterations.  For real.

One day, I was at home, and decided I'd try to get more creative, so I threw it in the toaster oven at low temperature for a few minutes to warm it up.  I pulled out honey butter and my mom's homemade jam to slather it with, as if it were a muffin or scone.  But first I took a bite warm.  I realized I didn't want anything else on it.  It really is just perfect as is, cold or warm.  I did like it warm, perhaps slightly more than at room temp, but warming it is really not necessary.

These are perfect for grab-n-go breakfast, or afternoon snack, but of course, I love desserts, and can also imagine crumbling one over some fruit to make a crisp.  Or just dunking it in whipped cream.  But ... again, not necessary.

Peanut Butter & Jelly.

"Bobo’s Bites Peanut Butter & Jelly Flavor packs the perfection of a PB&J into a perfect snack size Bite!"

Ok, now this one sounded GOOD!  Given that even the basic plain variety is amazing, I couldn't wait to try the PB & J flavor.  Again, made from the same base of gluten-free oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar, with the bonus ingredients of organic peanut butter and raspberry jam.  (Ok, slight strike against them, I prefer strawberry jam!).

Peanut Butter & Jelly: Inside.

I eagerly took my first bite.  Just like the others, I enjoyed the dense, oatmeal patty nature of it.  Slightly crumbly, slightly sweet.

The peanut flavor was subtle, but present, and I think there were little chunks of peanut inside.  The jam too was subtle, but provided a sweetness and slightly fruity quality.

But I'll be honest: I expected more.  Bigger bits of peanut, maybe some swirls of jam.  You can see the inside here, and, there isn't any visible peanut butter or jelly.  The flavors were there, subtle but there, but I really wanted to think "PB & J!", and, I didn't.

It was still good, still a bit better than the basic flavor, but not quite what I was hoping for. 3/5.

Apple Pie.

"Bobo’s Bites Apple Pie Flavor tastes like home made apple pie in a perfect snack size bite."

As you can expect, this is made with the same base of gluten-free oats, sweetened with brown rice syrup and sugar.  To get the "apple pie" flavor, it also has dried apples and "natural apple pie flavor".  Yes, for real.  Where do I buy that?

Anyway, this sounded like dessert, in a bar, for breakfast.  Yes!

It was ... ok.  Basically, apple-y oatmeal.  Which, it turns out, just isn't really my thing.  It wasn't bad, and I still liked the oatmeal aspect, but, apple just isn't really for me.  The spicing was nice.  Turns out, the original is my favorite flavor. 3/5.

Original Review, August 2015

You know I can't resist trying assorted bars, particularly when they are most soft, almost more like baked goods than granola bars.  And particularly not when they are delivered to my desk by a co-worker to try out.

I was pretty excited about the Bobo's Oat Bars once I saw them.  Cute packaging, but also, they pretty much looked like square muffins.  These are the types of bars I like most often, like the SuniBrite muesli bars from Australia that I recently reviewed, or the Nature Valley's Soft-Baked Oatmeal Squares.

Bobo's Bars look very small scale production, so I assumed they were locally made.  It turns out, they are made in Boulder, and available nationwide.  They are more mainstream than I realized, sold at REI and Whole Foods in San Francisco, and, I even saw them at the grocery store in my hometown in New Hampshire.

The bars all have the same simple base of rolled oats and Earth Balance, and are sweetened with brown rice syrup and sucanat.  All are wheat free, non-GOM, and vegan, although only the specifically gluten-free bars use gluten-free oats.

The regular flavors start with the basic "original", and then expand to include just one or two other ingredients: coconut, almond, chocolate, banana, strawberry, apricot, peanut butter, cinnamon raisin, and cranberry orange.  The gluten-free options are peach, maple pecan, lemon poppy, chocolate almond, apple pie, and peanut butter and jelly.

Honestly, the GF flavors sounded the best.  Maple pecan! Apple pie!  PB & J!  Um, yes?  My selection was given to me by coworker to sample, so I didn't pick the flavors, and I think she (rightly so) picked the appealing flavors for herself.

Now that I know how delicious even the less exciting flavors are though, and how easy they are to find around San Francisco, I may need to seek out some of the more tempting sounding flavors sometime, you know, when my never-ending supply of products to review somehow runs out.

The bars are heavy and dense, a whopping 3 oz, which means the serving size listed on them is actually 2 servings.  I kinda hate that, who really only eats half?  What am I supposed do with the other half? And really, FDA, why do you think that 1.5 oz is the appropriate serving size?  (Side note: Bobo's also has a newer product, Bobo's Bites, that are only 1.3 oz.)

Anyway.  The bars.

Regular flavors

Almond.

"Bobo’s Almond Flavor has pieces of roasted almond in every bite."

I started with the basic sounding almond bar.

Almond shows up as both dry roasted almonds and almond extract.  The almonds were tiny little bits distributed throughout; they didn't really add much crunch, but you could see them.  The almond extract however was quite powerful, it flavored the entire bar in a really pleasant way.

The bar reminded me of a solid chunk of oatmeal, which, I realize doesn't sound good, but, it was.  The oats were soft, not hard like a typical bar.  The sweetness level was perfect.  It was a treat, but definitely not too sweet.  It really was as comforting and satisfying as a bowl of oatmeal, but in a convenient form, perfect for a grab and go breakfast alongside my coffee.  I was pleasantly surprised by this, and would gladly add it into my regular breakfast bar lineup. 3.5/5.

Gluten-Free

Peach (GF).

"Bobo’s Gluten Free Peach Flavor has pieces of delicious peach in every bite."

The peach bar I tried was gluten-free, so the regular oats were subbed out with gluten-free ones, but besides that, the ingredients were exactly the same, mostly just oats and Earth Balance.  Of course, it had bits of dried peach in place of the almond components.

I didn't notice any texture difference between the gluten-free and regular bar.  It again was basically just a dense chunk of oatmeal.  Which again, I realize doesn't sound good, but really was pleasing.

Grab-and-go oatmeal, who knew they made such a thing? The peach flavor was subtle and delicate, quite nice.  I'd get one of these again too, but I'd really like to try some of the other flavors. 3.5/5.

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Annie T's Cakes

For Mid-Autumn Festival this year, a co-worker brought in a bunch of treats from Annie T's Cakes, a local small Chinese bakery that makes small batch cakes and cookies.  The business is entirely vegan, and mostly organic.

Since this was for Mid-Autumn Festival, I mostly got to sample the mooncakes, but I'd like to try their pineapple cakes some day.

Almond Cookies.

"A crunch on the edge and softer chew towards the center, these cookies have the distinct almond flavor of that beloved childhood classic. Annie's T Cakes recently recreated this cookie for the San Francisco pre-screening of A24 studio's latest feature film Everything Everywhere All At Once starring Michelle Yeoh."

The almond cookies were a bit plain for me.  That said, I'm not usually all that excited about cookies.  The flavor was subtle.  They were only lightly sweet.  They did have a nice chew to them, and I liked the almond in the center.  I think fairly authentic Asian style cookies, far less sweet and decadent than the American style sugar/butter bombs I am used to.  ***.

Red Bean Mooncake.

"This mooncake has a sweet red bean filling perfect to pair with light teas or just on its own. With a subtle sweetness, it's sure to hit the spot."

The first mooncake I tried was the red bean one.  The pastry was soft, a bit crumbly, and very lightly sweet.  Since these are vegan, clearly no lard used.  It was generously stuffed with red bean filling.  Fairly decent clear red bean flavor, very lightly sweet as well.  It did not have whole bits of red bean in it, mostly just a soft homogenous mush.

Overall, a pretty classic mooncake.  No better nor worse than others I've had.  The most subtle of the ones I tried from Annie T's.  ***.

Black Sesame Mooncake.

"This black sesame mooncake has a deep, nutty flavor perfect to pair with light teas, dark coffee, or a warm milk tea."

Next I went for the black sesame, always a favorite of mine.  The pastry was the same here, soft, slightly crumbly, lightly sweet.  It too was very well filled with the filling, this time, black sesame paste.  This filling had lots of texture and grit from the sesame seeds.  The flavor was far more intense than the red bean one, deeply nutty as promised, very clearly identifiable as black sesame.  Again very lightly sweet.

I liked this one the most, as I really like black sesame, but, there wasn't anything remarkable about this.  ***+.

Hojicha Mooncake.

"In Chinese tradition, mooncakes are most often eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. These hojicha mooncakes are made with high quality roasted green tea, giving the mooncake an earthy flavor. They're not too sweet and perfect to satisfy your snack cravings."

Annie T's makes three different tea filled cakes: jasmine, matcha, and hochija.  I think I picked the hochija, but I'm not 100% certain.  Again, same pastry case.  This filling was a fairly bright flavor compared to the others, and again, very identifiable as tea (of some kind).  This filling did seem to have bits of bean as well, but, black ones.  There was certainly a fair amount of texture to it.  I think this one would pair really nicely with tea.

My least favorite as I'm not wild about tea flavors, but, the flavor was nice.  ***.

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Quest Nutrition Bars

Quest Nutrition is another nutrition snack foods company, focusing on high protein items.  They made protein powder, bars, protein pasta, and even, uh, protein chips and peanut butter cups.  

Protein Bars (Original Review, 2016)

I've tried only the bars, as they are an easy grab-n-go item for me when I'm dashing around on weekends.  Quest makes 3 different product lines for bars: "Cereal Protein Bars", in flavors like Waffle and Cinnamon Roll, Hero bars, with gooey fillings and sweet candy-like coatings, and more standard protein bars.

"America's Favorite Protein Bar leads the charge in Quest's mission to end metabolic disease. Every delicious Quest Bar flavor has 20-21 grams of protein and plenty of fiber without a lot of unnecessary ingredients or extra carbs. All Quest Bars are gluten and soy free, and contain no added sugar."

It is the protein bars that I tried, which is also their most extensive product line, with more than 20 varieties, many of which sound rather awesome (e.g. Strawberry Cheesecake, Cinnamon Roll, PB & J, Mint Chocolate Chunk).

The protein bars are high protein, 20+ grams per bar, made from a protein blend of milk protein isolate and whey protein isolate, along with soluble corn fiber, almonds, and, some chemicals.  They are virtual no sugar, using artificial sweetener only.  Sounds promising, nutritionally, in some ways.

I tried several flavors, and, I have to admit, my reaction was a bit unexpected.  The texture is all wrong, but, they don't taste that bad.  I stopped after trying only 3 varieties however because whey protein isolate bothers my stomach, and, these made me feel awful almost immediately.  If you can tolerate whey protein isolate though, I do recommend, for taste and yummy chunks inside!

S'mores Protein Bar.

"Toasty-sweet marshmallow, rich chocolate and crisp graham cracker layered together in this melt-in-your-mouth, campfire classic. "

This one looked ... promising.  I could indeed see large chunks of chocolate.  I could indeed see areas of graham cracker.  It didn't look THAT fake.

And, at first bite, it wasn't awful either.  It was kind of a strange texture, but I loved the big chunk of chocolate.  And then ... the aftertaste hit.  Wow, it was horrible.  I don't know what it was, if it was the "protein blend" or all the artificial sweeteners.  Whatever it was, it was truly awful.  I actually spit it out.  I couldn't handle it, nor could I handle taking a second bite to give it another chance.  Zero stars?

Cookies & Cream.

"With real cookie crumbles and delicious cream, America’s favorite flavor can now be your favorite Quest Bar! "

So, I tried another, the promising sounding Cookies & Cream.

And, like the S'mores, it was actually almost good.  The texture was odd, but it had huge chunks of chocolate cookie and cream in it, both of which were actually good.  This was much better than the S'mores.

Except, well, it had the strange protein blend in it, which immediately made my stomach feel really funny.

I need to stop trying these bars! **.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

"Our best-selling bar is like sneaking a spoonful of cookie dough straight from the bowl."

I don't listen to my own advice.  Particularly when I discover cookie dough bars.

It was like every other bar.  The texture is strange, the taste is strange, but, the chocolate chunks and slightly cookie dough nature of it are good.  And it makes my stomach feel strange.  **.

Protein Chips (2023 Review)

Quest makes two styles of protein chips, either tortilla chips or "original style".  The tortilla chips look much like regular tortilla chips, triangle shaped, and they come in a bunch of zesty varieties (nacho cheese, chile lime, ranch, spicy sweet chili, loaded taco).  The original style aren't really standard potato chips, but rather, they seem to be baked, hexagon shaped, and look much like Popchips.  They come in more standard potato chip flavors such as sour cream & onion, cheddar & sour cream, or bbq.  All use their protein blend (whey and milk protein isolates), and boast a fairly impressive load of protein (19g per bag or so).

I tried only one kind of tortilla style chips, but I'd gladly try more.  Which, is very odd for me to say.

Loaded Taco.

"Say hola to the Quest Loaded Taco Tortilla Style Protein Chips! Each crunchy chip is seasoned with loaded taco flavor and ready to feed your taco cravings whenever they hit. Keto-friendly."

Things I don't generally like: tortilla chips.  Tacos.  Most Mexican food.  Healthy strange protein items.  And yet ...  I both tried, and liked, these taco flavored protein tortilla chips?  Um, yes.

I kinda liked them.  Yes, they tasted quite a bit like Doritos, which I generally do not like (although not as heavy in the tomato department).  Mostly zesty, slightly cheesy, tortilla chips.  They had a good crunch and completely normal tortilla chip texture.  Very savory.  They had a slightly odd aftertaste, but, there was so much spicing that it was easy to overlook.  I didn't hate them.  They went remarkably well with salads with tomatoes and/or corn, and great with Mexican style chipotle like creamy dressings.  

I easily finished my bag.  While I wouldn't seek them out again, they really weren't bad, and the protein stats are quite compelling (and, somehow, the protein isolates in this form didn't bother my stomach the way it does in bars).  I'd like to try more flavors.  ***.

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Culture, An American Yogurt Company, NYC

If you have read my blog, or know me at all, you know how much I enjoy ice cream/frozen yogurt/gelato/etc.  I have a scoop of some kind of frozen treat with nearly every dessert after dinner (warm pie a la mode, fruit crisps/crumbles/tarts always "need" a scoop, even a heated up leftover donut requires ice cream in my world ...).  Most week days I have the soft serve at my office after lunch, and weekend lunches *always* conclude with a warm chocolate cake or cookie with ice cream on top.  So ice cream (and its close relatives) are just part of my everyday baseline.  

But when you put me in warm, sunny weather, I turn a bit crazy about frozen desserts.  About soft serve in particular.  I don't just want my afternoon frozen treat as a component in a larger creation, I need it to be THE starring role.  And it needs to be soft serve (hard serve is for eating at home!).  It needs to be consumed outside, in the afternoon sun.  Rainy days need not apply.  If it is ice cream, or frozen yogurt, from a shop that doesn't specialize in toppings, then it needs to be in a cone (cake cone, not sugar, ideally cone shaped but the flat bottom will do), with sprinkles or dip.  If the temperature is over 85*, dip is not considered.  If it is a shop known for toppings, which is generally more true for froyo than ice cream, then, a dish with ALL the toppings is in order.

Now that you have this context, let me further explain that I got to live in New York for the month of August this year.  Let's just say, I certainly made the most of my soft serve "needs".  I dragged coworkers nearly immediately to Soft Swerve, my favorite soft serve ice cream in the city.  I took advantage of birthday freebie scoops to get generic hard serve at Baskin-Robbins and Haagen-datz, and birthday froyo at Pinkberry and 16 Handles.  I indulged in the office soft serve ice cream every single day.  I finally ventured to Mister Dips to get an epic soft serve creation there (review coming soon!).  On so on.

My last week in town, my co-workers wanted to get me cake to celebrate.  Now, NY has excellent cake, don't get me wrong, and I had plenty of it too when I was there (namely, Empire Cake, several times a week, without fail!), but I wanted more of an adventure.  It was going to be 90*+, and, well, I certainly could not stay indoors eating cake.  I had to go get creamy soft serve.

My destination, and thus theirs, was Culture, An American Yogurt Company.

"Here at Culture An American Yogurt Company our goal is to provide a healthy snack alternative to those who crave quality strained yogurt combined with artisanal toppings. We manufacture fresh and frozen yogurt in house. Our yogurt is made from specially selected live probiotic cultures and the freshest local milk, nothing more. Manufacturing all yogurts on premises ensures quality health-conscious treats that are extremely fresh."

I was drawn to it because it sounded like no other froyo around.  The froyo (and their own regular yogurt too) are made fresh every morning.  They use local dairy.  Flavors rotate daily, and are generally quite fascinating.  Toppings are not your run-of-the-mill generic shop options, rather many are housemade, and they are well curated.

Menu Board.

Culture offers both regular (as in, non-frozen) Greek yogurt, and of course, the reason we were there, froyo.

This location has 6 flavors, which change daily.  On the day we visited, the flavors were:

• Original
• Nutella 
• Lychee 
• Pear Ginger 
• Unsweetened Raspberry
• Organic Cherry Vanilla

They seem to always have one organic, one unsweet, and one chocolate-adjacent, along with two others, and the always-available original flavor.  Prices for basic cup/cone are $5 kid's, $6 small, $7 medium $7, and $8.50 large(-$1 for non-frozen yogurt, +$1 for organic flavor).  

From there, of course, are the toppings.  The lineup of toppings features fresh fruits, sprinkles, sauces, nuts, seeds, granola, and then the less healthy options like white chocolate shavings, chocolate chip cookie bits, and mochi.  No real candy toppings.  Basic toppings are $1 each, or you can opt for a specialty curated topping creation for $2 each, which includes an option key lime pie (lime custard, crumble, lime syrup) or the classic sundae (cookie cup(!), sauce, whipped cream, cherry on top), along with higher end toppings like their version of wet walnuts (featuring maple syrup instead) or sophisticated balsamic strawberries.

Our group exclusively got frozen yogurt, in a variety of flavors and topping combinations.

I sampled all but the unsweet raspberry flavor, and the one person who tried that puckered up immediately and exclaimed over how very unsweet it was.

Lychee:  This was my favorite of the flavors I tried.  It was not nearly as sweet as I expected, and the lychee flavor was fairly subtle.  Just a lightly sweet, tangy, yogurt.  If I had wanted just fruit toppings, or fruit/granola, or mochi, I would have opted for this flavor.  Another member of my group really liked it.  ***+.

Pear Ginger:  This was by far the most flavorful of the flavors.  We nearly all agreed that it was *too* flavorful.  The ginger was insane.  That said, one co-worker did get it.  **.

Organic Cherry Vanilla:  I expected more from this.  It was lightly fruity, lightly sweet, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you it was cherry, and I didn't taste anything particularly vanilla either.  I wanted it to be creamier, and just more ... something.  It was a touch too boring.  ***.

Nutella: I'm not a huge Nutella fan, but, I wanted to try this as it regularly gets raves.  It was good, sweet, sorta chocolately.  A touch grainy and not as smooth as the others.  I would have been happy enough with this flavor if I had wanted something more chocolately.  ***+.

Overall, I found the flavors (besides the pear ginger) to be a bit muted, but, the quality yogurt was quite clear.  This is frozen yogurt for those who actually like yogurt, and not just flavor syrups).

Small Original Tart ($6) Vermont Maple Specialty Sundae ($2)
w/ Strawberry & White Chocolate Shavings (+$1 extra).

In the end, I went with the simple, classic, "original" flavor, which is a lightly sweet tart flavor, much like Pinkberry's standard original flavor, or Anita Gelato's froyo, just, a bit stronger in the actual yogurt taste.  You can tell you are eating a relatively healthy, actual yogurt base here.  Not a super rich, creamy froyo - you wouldn't accidentally think it was ice cream, but, a refreshing, tart, not too sweet, quality yogurt.  ***+.

I opted for the original flavor because I was really curious about the special "Vermont Maple sundae".  You see, I really do quite like wet walnuts, and this is their play on wet walnuts, just, more sophisticated, using maple syrup, yes, real syrup, rather than standard cloying corn syrup goo.  The Vermont Maple sundae comes with your choice of fruit (banana, strawberry, blueberry), and I opted for strawberry, but also added white chocolate shavings, as I kinda adore white chocolate, and was excited to see them offered, not just little chips.

The toppings were quite generously piled on, and for $1 per topping, this really did feel like a reasonable price.  The berries were fresh and chopped into perfect size pieces, the walnuts had a lovely maple flavor (and syrup to them that coated the froyo), and, I loved the standard sweet white chocolate shavings.  With all my sweet toppings, it certainly didn't eat like a healthy, tart yogurt, but that was fine with me.

Overall, enjoyable, quality product, but I didn't find myself super excited to return.  ***+.

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Eléa, NYC

My last week in New York, I was really, really craving nice grilled octopus.  Yes, random, and specific, but I had really excellent octopus at The Rusty Face in Brooklyn just a few weeks prior, and had been craving more ever since.  My office served it a few times in those weeks in-between, and it was always good, but, not even on par with The Rusty Face version.  I really wanted one more great octopus dish before I left.

I had a handful of restaurants on my short list for octopus, that I had researched meticulously, but, somehow, at last minute, I pivoted to a totally different venue, one that I had only heard about an hour before.  Why?  Simple.  A friend highly recommended it, for the octopus in particular.   Thus, my restaurant of choice was Eléa.

"Meaning “olive” in ancient Greek, Eléa offers guests a menu of soulful and modern Greek dishes that encompass flavors across the region’s many islands and terrains."

So, yes, not only was I getting my last chance octopus from a place I had barely just heard of, I was getting it from a Greek restaurant.  Greek is rarely my style of cuisine.

Eléa has an extensive menu, ranging from raw bar selections, to salads, a slew of spreads, appetizers, seafood dishes, lamb, ribs, filet mignon, etc, etc.  Great sounding dessert lineup.  I was there just for the octpus, but couldn't help myself from ordering a spread too.

Branded Bag.

It was not particularly close by, so I ordered delivery (which, took forever!).  The custom Eléa bag gave my delivery order a classy touch.

Selection of Spreads: Taramo Salata & Pita. $10.

"Roe of grey mullet fish, capers, red onion."

To start, Elea offers a selection of spreads (literally, an entire section of the menu called "Selection of Spreads"), for $10 each ($21 for a trio, $29 for five).  The lineup includes the standards of hummus and tzatziki, along wtih more interesting options like melitzanosalata (eggplant based), tyrokafteri (red pepper), skordalia (almond/garlic), fava, and, the one I went for, taramo salata (fish roe).  I was thrilled to see the taramosalata on the menu, as I fell in love with it many years ago when a hotel I was staying at had it nightly in the lounge, and I binged on it for days on end.  I don't know the last time I had it!

When I opened my container, I was a bit surprised.  I expected the spread to have more color to it from the roe, but also, to be topped with capers and red onions as their online photos showed, and description implied.  This looked more like ... very white hummus, or maybe the skordalia dip?  I tasted it, and was even more let down.  It didn't taste like much at all.  Sorta like slightly thick mayo.  Maybe a touch of garlic.  Where was the fishy flavors from the roe?  The brininess from the capers? The acid from the red onion?    It was smooth and creamy, but, that is about all that was positive about it.  The flavor was really, really lacking.  I'm still not entirely sure if this dish was correct (was it another spread?) or if it was accidentally unfinished (should it have had the toppings?), but, it was bland and boring.  * for smoothness, but, hard to give it much more credit.

It came with a substantial portion of pita (perhaps part was for my other dish?), wrapped in foil to keep it warm.  It was highly average pita. Not particularly light and fluffy, and a thin style.  I don't generally like pita all that much (exception being sometimes I really do like the big puffy version from Oren's Hummus), so take my "meh" with a grain of salt, as I'll usually say "meh" about pita.  **.

Overall, a complete let down.  The portion was generous, but, not actually welcome as it was so bland.

Eléa Classics: Htapodi. $27.

"Grilled Spanish octopus, fava puree, pickled pearl onions, confit cherry tomatoes, capers."

The real reason I ordered from Eléa of course was for the well regarded octopus.  The Eléa version came with some things I do enjoy (capers, pearl onions, confit tomatoes even) and one thing I was really not excited for (fava puree), as I don't care for legumes.  But my friend who recommended the dish, and nearly every online review I saw, all raved about that puree with this dish, so, I was at least willing to try it.  I did ask for it to be separate, on the side, in my order instructions, but that note was not honored by the restaurant.

The octopus itself was fine.  It was cooked well - not chewy, not rubbery, not overcooked, properly cleaned, etc.  The pieces were cut into an easy to eat size.  But it was simply just roasted I think, as it had no grill marks nor smoky flavor.  I really like a smoky octopus, charcoal grilled, etc, and this was just plain.  So, execution was fine, for that style, but I wanted it smokier.  ***.

The toppings let me down a fair amount.  I loved the capers, the brininess they added, and there was tons of them.  They went very well with the octopus.  So those were a win.  ****.  

But the pearl onions, which I expected to love as I love onions in general, and pearl in particular, just had an odd taste to them.  I know they were pickled, but these had a flavor that just didn't appeal to me.  Somewhat acidic, yes, but there was more to it.  I ended up discarding these after trying a few and just truly not enjoying.  They were cooked nicely though, soft, not raw, not slimy. **.

Then, the cherry tomatoes, that said they were "confit" but really seemed basically raw.  Slightly softened from being with the warm other ingredients, but definitely not confit.  They were fine, but, average, and just lightly warmed tomatoes.  ***.

And lastly, the fava puree.  I think the fava puree here is the same that you can order as a standalone dip, with Santorini yellow split pea, shallots, dill.  It ... reminded me a lot of hummus, which makes sense.  And I don't like hummus.  I had hoped the fava flavor would somehow be mroe interesting, or perhaps that the shallots and dill would lift it, but ... yeah, not my thing.  It was remarkably smooth though, and a nice thickness.  It also seems odd to lose your delightful octopus in the spread ... even if I liked it.  **.

So, overall, lots of elements that just weren't really my preference, and octopus that was prepared well, but not in the style I wanted, so, overall, a pretty average dish for me, not one I'd get again.  ***.

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