G.H. Cretors Popcorn

G.H. Cretors is a popcorn manufacturer, specializing in Chicago mix caramel corn.  They've claim to have been making popcorn since 1885, and still follow small batch recipes.

Of course, they are also up with the modern times, featuring non-GMO corn, no artificial colors or flavors, preservative free, gluten-free, and they use brown rice syrup for a sweetener (as opposed to corn syrup).

Since I love popcorn, particularly caramel corn, I had to give it a try.

Chicago Mix.

"G.H. Cretors signature Chicago Mix combines caramel corn and cheese corn in the same bag."

So, to be fair, this was my first time having Chicago Mix.  I knew it was a thing.  Cheesy popcorn and caramel corn, mixed together.  I like sweet and salty mixes, so this sounded potentially good.

But, it turns out, at least for me, cheese and caramel just do not mix.

The cheesy popcorn was well coated, very cheddar-y.  Good if you like cheddar popcorn.  The caramel corn was crunchy, sweet, and had a deep enough caramel flavor.  Also really well coated.

But together?  Cheese?  Caramel?  What?  I just couldn't get behind it.  I separated out my two flavors, and then realized that I just don't really like cheesy popcorn that much, so I gave the cheesy corn to Ojan, and ate the caramel corn on its own.  I did enjoy the caramel corn.  Of course, G.H. Cretors must have realized there are people like me, and my counterparts who like the cheese flavor only, so they also offer popcorn in "Just the Cheese" or "Just the Caramel Corn" flavors.

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Sushi Seizan, Tokyo

On my recent business trip to Tokyo, I organized a bunch of meals with my fellow visiting coworkers, mostly at Michelin starred establishments (spanning from fancy French cuisine, to Japanese tapenyaki, to sushi).  But our hosts also took us out to experience more normal Japanese cuisine.  We went to BeeHive for lunch one day for mediocre ramen, and to President Chibo for okonomoyaki, that left three of us with food poisoning.  When we were asked what else we'd like to experience, we clearly said sushi, so one night, we went to a large group dinner.  Since our budget was limited, they selected a sushi restaurant located in the same building as our office, Sushi Seizan.

We had a large table on the side, semi-private.  Service wasn't very attentive, but we also didn't really need much.

Since we were a large group, our hosts arranged the menu ahead of time, a 10 piece nigiri plate per person.  Most of it was no different from what I could get at a grocery store in the US (the only exception being the stellar uni).  I wish I knew the price, because the sushi was so mediocre that I really hope it wasn't expensive.  (Don't worry, we'd have good sushi at Michelin starred Sushi Kanesaka a few days later).

The serving style was quire odd, as they brought out the dishes, each designed for a single person, rather slowly, and often one at a time.  I can't imagine they were preparing them as they went, so it was a bit strange how long it took to serve us all.  They also didn't seem to serve in any order that made sense, not serving women first, or starting at one end and working their way down.  Random, and very slow.

Anyway, it was nice to get out and have a meal with our larger group, it was easy to get to, and the semi-private area was perfect for allowing us to talk easily as a group, but I certainly would not return for the sushi itself.

Assorted Sushi.

Top Row:

1. Maguro (tuna): Flavorless, 7th pick out of 11 pieces.
2. Hamachi?: I wasn't entirely sure what this was, I think hamachi.  It was very plain, no flavor, 8th pick.
3. Toro (tuna belly): Stringy, remarkably bad. Toro shouldn't be bad!  Least favorite.
4. Ika (squid): Fairly standard, not offensive but not particularly good, 4th pick.
5. Hotate (scallop): Mild and sweet, my second favorite.
6. Tamago (egg):  I always love tamago, and use it for my "dessert" with sushi, but this was just ok, pretty unremarkable, still, my third pick overall.

Bottom Row:

1. Ebi (shrimp): Very standard and unremarkable, 6th pick only because I REALLY didn't like anyway I ranked lower than this.
2. Kani (crab): Very standard, a bit stringy, 5th pick because it didn't insult me, but I wouldn't want another.
3. Uni (sea urchin): The uni really didn't look good.  It was strangely colored and just kinda lumped into the nori.  But I love uni, so I dug in anyway.  I was shocked: the flavor was good, and it was really, really creamy.  Not only was this my first pick, and radically better than anything else in the meal, but it was so good that I'd go out of my way for it.  One of my co-workers didn't want his piece, so I gladly helped him out with it.  I wonder if I just really prefer Hokkaido uni to what I'm accustomed to in California?
4. Ikura (salmon roe): I never like ikura, and it was pretty standard.  Second to last pick, but mostly due to personal preference.
5. Unagi (freshwater eel): Not as bbq'ed as I'm used to in the US, less sauce, less cooked.  Third to last pick, as it was slimy and unappetizing.

Miso Soup.

The miso soup was served after the meal, which seemed odd to me, but perhaps that is normal in Japan?

It wasn't very good, the fried tofu skin was really, really soggy.

Yuzu Ice Cream.

After a fairly disappointing meal, I was obviously looking forward to dessert.  We were each served a tiny little scoop of ice cream, yuzu flavored.   I was sad at first when I saw how small the scoop was, but, it turned out I didn't even want to finish the scoop I was given.  It was more like sorbet than ice cream, in that it wasn't at all creamy, and was really icy.  Really, really not good.  I went out for dessert elsewhere after.  Stay tuned for that review!

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Restaurante Jardín, Mallorca

I recently visited the island of Mallorca, off the coast of Barcelona, for a few days.  My primary goal there was simple: to relax.  And relax I did, staying in a gorgeous villa right on the beach with a group of co-workers and friends.

But of course, I am a foodie, and no trip is complete without some fabulous dining.  Mallorca actually has 5 restaurants each with a Michelin star, and it is no coincidence that we wound up staying just down the street from one of them, Jardín.

The Jardín restaurant group includes three establishments: the Michelin starred main restaurant, a more casual bistro located downstairs from the flagship restaurant called Bistró del Jardín, and a even more casual establishment, Danny's gastrobar, located next door. Bistró del Jardín serves some of the most famous dishes from Restaurante Jardín, while the gastrobar serves tapas and burgers.  If we had been on the island longer, I would have liked to check out the casual places too, but since we had a limited time, we went just for the main restaurant, for lunch, on our very first day.  Jardín serves traditional Mallorcan dishes, except, with a twist.

Because I was on vacation, I didn't have time to write up my review immediately, but of course took copious notes.  I apologize for brevity, as this will not be as thorough as usual.

The meal, 12 courses, took several hours, but it was the perfect way to slowly ease into our time on the island, and was quite a success.  Of the 9 savory courses, 7 of them I'd gladly eat again, and 5 of them I would really, really like to have again.  The top 5 were all absolutely incredible.  For a large tasting menu where I didn't get to pick any of the dishes, this is a very high success rate!

The entire meal was quite memorable, not only due to the incredible taste of the food and the unique ingredients we got to experience, but also for the stunning plating and presentation throughout, and the elements of surprise thrown in, as you'll see below.  I also really appreciated the education aspects of the meal, and getting to experience so many local products, yet in a highly refined way.

We arrived 15 minutes early for our 1:30 reservation, to discover that the restaurant does not actually open until 1:30pm, so we couldn't be seated early.  Instead, we were invited to sit inside the casual bistro area, to have a drink first.  Since Emil was on this trip, he started us off in style, with a bottle of champagne (Veuve Cliqquot-Ponsardin Tellow Label) to start.

Fried Cheese Balls.

A few minutes after our champagne was poured, we were presented with tapas: fried balls.  They were clearly ridiculously hot and fresh, direct from the frier.  We were told that they were filled with jamón (ham), but, we didn't really taste ham.  They sorta seemed like fried balls of gravy.

I appreciated the snack while we waited, and the freshness, but, since we were about to have a 12 course meal, I didn't feel compelled to have a second one.

At 1:30, our host came back to get us, and instructed us to get in the elevator.  We crammed ourselves in, our group of 7 completely filling it.  Perhaps we should have broken into two groups.  By the time we got up to the restaurant, our host was there waiting for us.  It was almost like a magic trick, and he laughed as we got out of the elevator and saw him in surprise.  He also had our champagne bottle waiting for us!

Getting led to our table.

We were lead through the restaurant to the back, a semi-private area.  We were seated at a big round table.  The decor was modern and swanky, with bold artwork on the walls.

Centerpiece.

The centerpiece was quite interesting, made from assorted silverware.  Classic table settings included a white tablecloth and cloth napkins.

The ladies were all given purse hooks with the Jardin logo on them to use during the meal, and then, at the end, they put them into little bags for us to take home.  Souvenirs!  The knives we'd receive throughout the meal also had the logo on them.

Service throughout was good, as you would expect at a starred establishment.  The ladies were always served first, in unison.  Crumbs were cleared off the table.  Silverware replaced between courses.

Menu and Wine List.

The wine list was housed in a beautiful cork binder, made from a slab of virgin cork.  I'm not all that knowledgeable about wine, but Emil says the list was as impressive as its cover.

Lo Cortinel.Lo, 2012, D.O. Pla i Llevant.

Rather than selecting our own wines, we agreed to let the sommelier just select bottles for us to pair with our meal, switching to a new bottle whenever appropriate. 

We started with this white wine, which I found quite refreshing, not too sweet nor too dry, a good start.

The "menu".

Jardin has only one option, a 12 course tasting menu, for 93.50€.

The menu was presented as a list of main ingredients, one for each course, on graph paper.  The paper was attached, via paperclip, to a booklet containing information about Mallorca.  We were told that we'd receive the full menu at the end.

Our menu read:

• Botifarró
• Prawn
• Sobrassada
• Dogfish
• Lobster
• Sea cucumber
• Red scorpionfish
• Rice
• Rabbit
• Orange blossom
• Cheese
• Strawberries

I of course looked up the "menu" in advance, so I had asked to substitute out the rabbit for myself, since, I've had many bunnies as pets, and I just can't bring myself to eat rabbit.

Final Menu.

At the end of the meal, as promised, we received printed copies of a slightly more informative menu, complete with our wine selections.  I'll include these details in the reviews below, but I didn't have this information at the time I was tasting the dishes.

Botifarró.

Botifarró is a pork sausage, specific to Mallorca.  But, what was this?  It clearly wasn't just a sausage.  Our final menu said "mahon cheese pa amb oli: typical pa amb oli with Mahon cheese and botifarró."  Pa amb oli is a very traditional Mallorcan dish, which literally means "bread with oil".

The bread here was two little pita breads, perched on top of a casserole dish, one topped with what was presumably the botifarró, one topped with Mahon cheese (a local cheese).

We had no idea what we were in for when it came to these.  I thought they were just pita with toppings.  I thought very, very wrong.

The pita was super crunchy, and the inside held a big surprise: tomato and olive oil!  One of my dining companions described the experience of biting into it as "an explosion of happiness".  I agreed, the filling was intensely flavorful, and totally delicious.  Another commented, "how do they even make that? It is like a magic trick!"

The cheese was salty and firm, and the botifarró, well sausage-y.

This was an amazing way to start the meal, with surprise and delight.  We all then eagerly opened the casserole, to find it empty, used only for plating.  This set the tone for the amazing plating throughout, including beautiful garnishing and interesting serving pieces.

Of the 9 savory dishes, this was very middle of the road for me, Emil and I both ranked it 5th, but it was still very, very good.  There were just better things coming!  Three of my dining companions ranked it their #2 dish, and the last ranked it #3, so we all scored it in the top half of the meal.

Prawn.

Next came this dish, with what looked like a meat based spread, and two crackers, served on a beautiful wooden board, with a knife for spreading.  Again, stunning presentation.

But the menu said "prawn", so we assumed that we had skipped ahead to the next dish listed, sobrasadda.  Sobrassada is a pork sausage, native to the Balearic Islands.

Then, the dish was described to us verbally as "sea sobrassada".  Surprise!  The final menu told us that this was "red and white prawn sobrassada pate with olive oil biscuits".  Aha!

The sea sobrassada certainly had the texture of a regular sausage, but contained no pork, rather, it was made from the two types of prawns.  I have a hard time describing what it tasted like, other than the fact that I really, really didn't like it.  Nor did anyone else in the group.

On the side were biscuits that looked fluffy, like bread, but instead were very crisp, another surprise.

I appreciated this dish for the surprise aspects, and the play on sobrassada, but I didn't really want more than a couple bites.

My least favorite of the savory courses.  Four others ranked it second to last, and the other two ranked it third least favorite, so clearly, not a winning dish for any of us.

Sobrassada.

We were also presented with 2 full sausages, laid out in the middle of the table, just so we could see the full form.

Sobbrasada Bread.

Next came the dish listed as sobrassada.  Of course, it didn't look anything like sausage, because instead it was a cake, "sobrassada sponge cake with Mahon cheese".  And again, the presentation was stunning, served on top of a slice of a tree trunk.

It was a very fluffy sponge cake, made with corn flour, and, yup, sobrassada.  It was topped with shaved Mahon cheese, you guessed it, a local cheese.

This dish was pretty amazing.  The cake was incredibly light and fluffy, yet, intensely sausage-y at the same time.  The sausage inside was quite spicy.  The cheese on top was salty and delicate.  So much unexpected flavor in here.

I loved the play between this dish and the previous one.  The previous one looked like sobbrasda, yet tasted nothing like it.  This one, didn't look anything like it, yet the flavor was unmistakable.  Such a fun dish, and, unlike the previous, quite tasty!

This dish had very mixed reviews.  Both Emil and I ranked it our third pick, and one person ranked it number two, but another ranked it 4th, another 5th, and two others had it in their bottom three.

Dido Blanc 2001, D.O. Montsant.

My notes only read one thing about our next wine, that it was "bold", as in, very bold for a white wine.  I know we all seemed to enjoy it though.

Dogfish in Oil.

The final starter was a first for us all: dogfish.  We had no idea what dogfish was, nor what to expect.  Of course, at this point, we had learned not to expect anything.  As it was placed in front of us, were were told it was "dogfish salad".  Except, as you can clearly see, it was not a salad, but rather, a soup.  Except, it really was a salad.  But, a soup.  Let me explain.

The soup base was liquified lettuce.  Yes, really.  Hence, the "salad" aspect of it.  The dogfish came in 3 chunks, cured.  It was very firm, but otherwise, unremarkable.  The dish was finished with olive oil, which imparted a pleasant nuttiness.  Topped with slivers of lettuce, adding to the "salad" aspect.

This was a very fun dish, quite playful.  More places should make soup-salads!  It was also the first dish actually served on normal dishware.

This dish also received very mixed reviews.  No one disliked it, but it wasn't particularly amazing, besides the whole soup-salad aspect.  One person ranked it 3rd, it was Emil's and one other's 4th pick, two other's 5th pick, and myself and one other deemed it our 6th pick,

Bread.

Next up came the bread course.  I'm not really a bread person, but I did appreciate that it was served warm, and was super crusty yet moist inside.  No butter or oil were provided on the side.

Lobster with Nuts.

Next, the lobster dish: "mediterranean lobster with nuts emulsion", also served in a regular bowl.

Now, I know everyone is always crazy about lobster.  Not me.  Not that I dislike it, but I find lobster very overrated.  I prefer crab most of the time.

This lobster however, was shockingly good.  They said it was blanched, but it had a smokiness to it that was incredible.  It was very nicely cooked.

Also in the dish were fresh peas, just bared cooked, super tender and flavor.  They tasted like spring ... you know, if spring had a taste.

Finally, it was served on top of a macadamia cream.  This was the only part of the dish that wasn't a success.  It was really viscous, stringy, and really quite odd to eat.  The flavor was fine, but, it was just really not enjoyable to consume.

It didn't matter that the macadamia cream was a failure though, the lobster was so incredibly good, and I loved the brightness from the peas.

One of my dining companions rated this his favorite dish of the night, Emil and I both said it was our second favorite of the night, while three others ranked it third, and the final person deemed it fifth.  In the top half of the meal for everyone.

Improntium 2009 D.O. Utiel-Requena.

I didn't take notes on the next wine, a sauvignon blanc, besides saying it was "ok".  I guess I was pretty distracted at this point in the meal by the incredible food, and of course, my company.

Sea Cucumber with Marrow.

Next up was the sea cucumber dish, "sea cucumber with roasted marrow and reduced jus".  Plating-wise, we were back to dishes served on wood.

I'm pretty sure I've had sea cucumber at least once before, but, I don't recall ever really thinking much of it.

This however was quite tasty.  The sea cucumber wasn't at all slimy, which I somewhat expected.  The texture was really nice.  Like the lobster, it had a beautiful smokiness to it.

The pieces of sea cucumber were flanked by a a chunk of turnip and a chunk of marrow, both roasted.  I don't love turnips, but marrow added a very nice richness.

There was also a light sauce, very salty.  I loved it, but I could imagine it being too salty for those without a "chef's palette".  Garnished with pretty little chive blossoms.

This was the highest overall rated dish of the meal, hands down.  All 6 of us who did not rate the lobster as #1 had this as our top pick (the lobster lover ranked this his 4th pick).  While there were many memorable dishes from this meal, this is one we all kept talking about later, specifically for its incredible taste.

Ibizan Red Scorpionfish Stew.

Our final seafood offering was scorpionfish, which I'm pretty sure I've never had before.  Described as "steamed red scorpionfish with boiled potato in broth".

The fish was moist and meaty, not bad at all.

Served over what was a potato puree, but tasted fishy.  I kept trying it, trying to understand how my potatoes had such a strange flavor.  It turns out, they were infused with a broth made from an upcoming dish, a shrimp paella.  Another surprise.

Perched atop the scorpionfish was a tiny piece of crispy skin.  It was insanely crispy.  I've had crispy skin before, but never anything like this.  We all loved the crunchy skin, better than any chip you'll ever find!

There was nothing wrong with this dish, but we were all coming down off our high from the sea cucumber and lobster, and, besides the crispy skin, this seemed fairly boring in comparison.  It was Emil and two other's 6th pick, my and two other's 7th pick, and the final member ranked it second to last.  While in my bottom 3, this was still fine, and I'd eat it again, it just wasn't a top pick.

Ramiro's Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Léon 2009.

At this point, we moved on to red wine to go with our upcoming meat entrees.  The sommelier selected a Tempranillo.  My notes are brief, but say that it was quite nice, light, and not too tanic.  It went well with the meal.

'A Banda' Rice.

To segue into the meat dishes, we had a rice dish, which was the second stage of the previous dish.  The menu read "abanda rice with squid cream and roasted garlic."

As I said, the potato puree was made with a shrimp broth, just like the upcoming paella.  This was the paella.  My research after the fact taught me that "a banda" or "abanda" means rice cooked in fish stock.  The rice itself was very well cooked, nicely al dente.  But it was cooked with the same fishy broth, like the sea sobrassada, that I really didn't like.

On top was a very confusing component.  It was an aioli, made from raw squid!   The texture reminded me of lobster, a bit stringy.  It was odd, for sure.  It reminded me of cheese.  I actually kinda liked it, but, the others really did not.

It was recommended that we mix the aioli into the rice, but since I only liked the aioli, I just ate that part alone.

Everyone but me really didn't like this.  Three of my companions ranked this last, another second to last, another third last, another 6th.  But I ranked it 4th, because I really, really liked the crazy squid aioli.

Rabbit with Onion.

The main dish was rabbit, which, given my history of owning bunnies, I skipped.  The menu described it as "Rabbit: rabbit cooked at low temperature with caramelized onion cream".

Everyone else had this dish, and reviews were varied: two people ranked it last, but one ranked it 4th, two ranked it 5th, and the final 6th.

Lamb.

Sadly, my replacement for the rabbit was lamb, which, I don't really like.  It had a really strange stringy texture.  And well, it was lamb.  I gladly gave it away to one of my dining companions.  Its not like I was hungry at this point, and we still had desserts to come!

It was served over caramelized shallots, which I really did love.  I mean, it is hard to go wrong with shallots, but these were really caramelized, perfectly salty, and in a delicious sauce.

It was also served with a totally crazy flip out knife.

My second to last pick of the meal, and I wouldn't want this again.

Spring.

Finally, time to start in on desserts.  Or, pre-desserts really.  First up, a dish that the first menu listed "orange blossom".  When it was delivered to us, we were told that it was "spring".  The menu said "orange blossom ice cream with lemon and tender almonds".

The primary component was orange blossom ice cream, which was quite complex, and not just sweet.  Served atop a orange biscuit crumble and a lemony foam, with shaved tender almonds and white blackberries on the side.  The white blackberries were fascinating, sweet, honey-like.

Overall there was a lot going on here.  Something cold and creamy, something foamy, something crunchy, something soft.

Along with our desserts, we also enjoyed a sweet, caramely port, Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas 1991.

Cheese.

Next, what Emil would call a proper dessert: the cheese course.  Another stunning serving dish, shaped like an artist's palette.

The selection was 4 local cheeses, each served in pairs, one raw milk cheese, but the rest were goat.  Even though I dislike goat cheese, I still tried the brie-like one, but it had a strange chalky texture that I did not care for.

The dots on the palette were apple compote, which tasted just like apple sauce to me.  I'm not really sure why I'd want apple sauce with my cheese, although, I guess cheese and apple pie can be a classic pairing.  The final component on the platter were little pieces of carob sponge cake, which were quite bitter.

Overall, certainly not a winning dish for me, mostly due to the cheese selection.

However, it was served with a very interesting component, which I don't have a photo of: a shot glass filled with a sweet infusion.  We were told to guess what it was.  We guessed honey.  Or honeysuckle.  It was impossible to know what it was.  In the end, after we exhausted all our guesses, we were told it was a date infusion.

Strawberries.

The last course was "strawberries", or, "wild strawberries with 'menjar blanc' cream, reduced milk ice cream, and meringue.

There were two frozen components, one more creamy than the other, one more icy.  I think the creamier one was the "menjar blanc" cream, a play on blancmange, and the icier one the reduced milk ice cream.  There were also little meringues.  And a random hard thing, that I couldn't identify.  And a strawberry gelee.  And, yes, the strawberries.

This was a really fun play on strawberries and cream.  I was incredibly stuffed at this point, yet cleared my plate, easily.  Even Emil ranked this above the cheese platter.  Unfortunately, I didn't really take further notes, as I was too busy enjoying it.  My favorite of the desserts.

Espresso.

To end the meal, we all opted for espresso.  I went for decaf.  Served with sugar, sugar cubes, and brown sugar cubes, with a cute little thin spoon.  I didn't use any of the sweeteners.  The decaf was fine, not remarkable.

Mignardises.

We really thought we were done, but of course, we couldn't forget the mignardises!  Yet another beautiful presentation.

We each were given 3 selections:

1. Apple financier, topped with a dollop of apple cream.  Better than most financiers, but, meh, just boring cake.
2.  "mine malda" is what my notes say, but I don't know what this was really called.  Two crispy squares, like phyllo dough, with cream inside, and quince paste on top.
3. Chocolate cookie, topped with a super creamy chocolate ganache.  My notes say "vodka", but I honestly don't recall what I was referring to.

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Special Ben & Jerry's: Margarita Pie.

Ben & Jerry's isn't exactly novel.  I've reviewed Ben & Jerry's fairly extensively before, and a few weeks ago I even reviewed some of the Ben & Jerry's flavors that I recently consumed in Europe.  So I'll skip all the basics.  You know Ben & Jerry's.   

I recently attended Chipotle's Cultivate Festival in San Francisco, and at the event, Ben & Jerry's introduced a special flavor: Margarita Pie.  It was available at the festival only, a one time thing.

Margarita pie was described as lime ice cream with shortbread-crust crumbles and "gooey tequila-marshmallow swirls." Now, I don't really like lemon or lime desserts.  But, this was a one time opportunity, I had to take it, right?  I can't resist trying more ice cream.

Margarita Pie Ice Cream.

Let's just say, trying out this limited edition flavor was most certainly not worth the wait, at least for me.

The ice cream base was indeed lime-y, and did taste a fair amount like a margarita.  Which, if you like these things, might be good.  It was loaded up with generous chunks of the shortbread pie crust, which added a good texture.  I appreciated the distribution of the chunks, how many of them there were, and the seemingly perfect size of the chunks, but they paled in comparison flavor-wise to the graham cracker cookie crumble in the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor I just recently had.  As for the "gooey tequila-marshmallow swirls", I didn't find anything that I'd identify as gooey.  Or tequila-y.  Or marshmallow.  Or a swirl for that matter.  So, yeah, no idea where those were supposed to be.

Overall, yes, this was lime ice cream with some shortbread crumbles.  Which was fine, just not particularly exciting to me, and I felt cheated of my marshmallow swirls!

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Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen

There are certain foods, like yuca and taro, that I sometimes get really random cravings for.  Something about the starchiness just calls out to me, in a way that no potato ever can.

I've tried yuca fries at a few places, but I haven't been impressed, like the greasy, starchy, poorly cooked ones at Destino, or the better, but still not memorable, ones from Limón.  Thus, my great yuca fries quest, like so many of my quests, continues.

This time, rather than Peruvian, I went for a Venezuelan rendition, and headed to Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen, in the Mission.  They have two other locations as well, one in the Castro, and one up in Napa.  I think the Mission one is the original, and although I hadn't ever been in, I've seen it from across the street while waiting, waiting, and waiting at Little Star.

As you can probably guess from the name, Pica Pica’s signature dish is arepas, but I had eyes only for the yuca fries.  (Well, that isn't entirely true, the plantain and taro chips also called out, as did the yuca beignets for dessert).  They had a few other starters, and some salads as well.  Everything is gluten-free, as in, really gluten-free, no chance of contamination, if that matters to you.

I placed my order through eat24 when I was a few blocks away, and then swung in to pick my order up.  I had a very short wait, which I expected, as I intentionally placed my order when I was too close, since I wanted to guarantee that they'd be hot and fresh, not sitting around waiting for me.  During my brief wait, I took in the surroundings.

The first thing I noticed?  The sign proclaiming that they'd been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Not exactly a selling point for me, but I also knew Yelpers love the place (although, hmm, also not really a selling point!).

Pica Pica is a casual establishment, if I hadn't already ordered in advance, I'd order at a register, and take a number back to my table.  There were a decent number of tables for 2-4, and a counter with seating for singles.  Arranged at each table were silverware, napkins, and some condiments.  Up front near the register was a dispenser with little water glasses, self-serve.  Food was delivered to the table when ready. 

The place seemed fairly busy, as I had to wait in line to receive my order, and there was a constant stream of people arriving.  And as I said, they've expanded to three locations now.  They must be doing something right.  Unfortunately, the yuca fries are not it.

Yuca Fries with Guasacaca Sauce. $4.95.

I'm glad I opened my box before leaving.  It contained the yuca fries, as I expected, and a side of sauce.  The menu had specified different sauces that came with the other sides, but said nothing about the yuca fries.  For me, half the reason I get anything fried is just to have an excuse to try out dipping sauces.  I'm a sauce girl, whether it be dipping sauces or sauces on food, they are often the highlight of a meal for me.  So, sauces matter.

But this sauce looked an awful lot like guacamole.  And I knew that several other dishes, like the plantain and taro chips, come with guasacaca sauce, which is,basically guacamole, but without tomato.  And I'm allergic to avocado.  Very good thing I checked!

I found guasacaca to be a strange sauce to serve with yuca fries, particularly as all the Yelp reviews I had read talked about dipping into sauces.  It turns out, they have 4 house made sauces on each of the tables, but none of those were included in my togo order.  Nor were there little containers available to put them in.  If I were a Yelper, I'd angrily dock them a star for not including sauces, and another for not having it possible to help myself to them.

Anyway, I didn't try the guasacaca obviously, but their website describes it as "avocado, red onions, green peppers, garlic, cilantro, lime and a splash of our secret Pica’pun hot sauce!"  I brought it home for Ojan, who used it as a spread on something else, and he seemed to enjoy it.

But back to the yuca fries.  They were indeed clearly fresh, piping hot.  But they were soooo oily.  So, so oily.  I like fried food, but these honestly seemed like they hadn't been drained at all.  Just touching one left a layer of oil on my fingers that I couldn't wipe off.  I set one gently down on a napkin, and it soaked through instantly.  Minus another star?

The fries also just didn't taste like anything, and had no interesting texture.  They somehow managed to not be very crispy on the outside, and inside was just mush.  No starchiness that I like from yuca fries.  The inside was pretty much indistinguishable, taste-wise, from french fries or mashed potato.

My order contained 8 fries.  Yes, they were large, but 8 fries for $4.95? (And yes, there really were 8.  I realize the photo makes it look like there were 9, but two of them were only halves!).  Too expensive, and way, way too greasy.

I only ate half of them while they were hot, and brought the rest home.  I'm not entirely sure why I did so, as they weren't good even fresh, but ... I hate wasting food, and I was thinking that perhaps I could at least crisp them up in the toaster oven, and perhaps squeeze out some oil while I was at it.  But instead, the oil soaked in.  And ... I decided to just eat them cold.  I know this sounds like a recipe for certain dissatisfaction, but somehow, I actually liked them a lot better this way.  Not that I'd go get them again, but ... much better this way!

Sauces: Pica’chup, Pica'pun, Garlic Aioli, Mojo

As I mentioned, there were 4 sauces on the tables, 3 in squirt bottles, 1 in a glass jar.  Since I couldn't eat the avocado based sauce, and I knew Yelpers loved these sauces, I tried them all out.  Of course, I had to just squirt them all into my box, and very carefully carry it so they wouldn't get everywhere, which only quasi-worked.  I wound up with a pretty big mess.  Again, they lose points for not providing the good sauces WITH my fries.

None of the sauces were labelled, so I tried them all, took notes, and looked them up online later, finding the answers in one of their blog posts describing how when they developed the restaurant.  Apparently the addition of sauces isn't standard in Venezuelan cuisine, but us Americans, used to having sauces, particularly with Mexican cuisine, demanded them.  So, they now provide sauces.

The squirt bottles were really gross, incredibly sticky, even worse than the salsa ones at Nick's Crispy Tacos.  Given how insanely oily the yuca fries are, I understand how everyone's fingers are coated in grease, and that makes the squirt bottles nasty, but ugh.  Really gross.

• Pica’chup: This is their version of ketchup, described as "smokey".  I thought it tasted mildly like curry, and it reminded me a little of the maggi ketchup from Curry Up Now, although I liked the maggi ketchup more.  The spicing in the Pica'chup was more subtle and mild.  My least favorite of the sauces.
• Pica'Pun: This is their signature hot sauce, made with habanero.  Since I had no idea what any were, and this one looked like creamy mustard, I was surprised by the spice level.  But it was quite tasty.  It reminded me most of a tartar sauce, as it had flavors sorta like capers or relish in it.  But, a bit spicy. The oil level from the yuca overpowered this sauce, which was unfortunate, as it was quite tasty.  I think it would be particularly fantastic on fried fish.  My favorite of the sauces.
• Garlic Aioli: This was a very herby, creamy sauce.  It reminded me of boursin cheese actually.  But I think it was garlic aioli, even though I didn't necessarily taste garlic, and it was thicker than a standard aioli.  And uh, a bit cheesy. 
• Mojo: This was actually the spiciest one to me, and it was very runny, so basically got everywhere in my box.  Described as a "spicy pickled sauce (carrots, onions, garlic)".   I didn't necessarily pick up on any particular flavor, but it was spicy, and added some depth to the creamy white sauce.

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President Chibo, Tokyo

During my recent business trip to Tokyo, one of our co-workers lead us to several lunches as a group, so we could experience real Japanese cuisine, rather than just the fancy Michelin stared meals that I lined up.  The first lunch was mediocre ramen, at BeeHive.  Next, he took us to President Chibo, a restaurant specializing in okonomiyaki.  Chibo is part of a larger chain throughout Japan, although nothing about it really struck me as "chain-like".  I'm not all that into okonomiyaki, but I was more excited for this than the ramen, since I hadn't ever had it before in Japan.

Since we were a large group, we were seated in a semi-private area in the back of the restaurant, with our own chef, who cooked all of our dishes simultaneously.  Part of the fun with okonomiyaki is either getting to cook it yourself (the servers just bring you raw ingredients and you are seated at a tepan), or at least watching the chef prepare it in front of you.   It was actually really impressive watching him prepare so many different dishes at once.  Watching the cooking was fascinating, but unfortunately, 3 of us wound up with food poisoning after this adventure, and I didn't think the food was great anyway, so I obviously wouldn't recommend it, and would not return.

Starting the seafood and okonomiyaki.

Our group had a number of orders: two people ordered the lunch special of pork and squid okonomiyaki, two of us ordered the seafood version, one ordered another type of  okonomiyaki, two ordered one that included noodles, and one actually ordered a hamburger.

The chef started with cooking the seafood and the okonomiyaki bases, separately.  Each order of okonomiyaki came with its own big bowl of batter, and the chef never mixed from one to another.  We were all pretty mesmerized, guessing which one belonged to each person.

Adding seafood to the okonomiyaki.

After the seafood cooked on its own for a while, it was added to the okonomiyaki batter, which had also been cooking on its own.  Then, more batter was poured on top, again, each from the proper bowl.

Flipped over okonomiyaki.

Once the it cooked this way a little, the entire things were flipped.

Again, we had fun watching, but there wasn't any interaction with the chef, probably due to the language barrier.  I wish it could have been a bit more interactive, but it was still fun to watch.

Noodle based versions.

The regular okonomiyaki were left cooking on the side of the grill, as the chef started in on the noodle based versions, stir-frying up the noodles as if they were a stir fry, before they turned into massive pancakes too.

I got to try a few bites of one of these, and I liked it more than my regular okonomiyaki, as the noodles added a more interesting texture.  Next time, I'd probably get a noodle one ...

The finishing process begins.

Once fully cooked, the okonomiyaki were sliced into wedges, and slathered with sweet sauce.

More finishing ...

And then drizzled with mayo, and sprinkled with seaweed ...

Done!

And finally, topped with a ton of bonito flakes.

Inside a slice.

I eagerly dug in.

I was a bit confused when I tasted it, as it tasted a lot like bacon.  I ordered the seafood version, which should have included squid, scallops, and shrimp.  Not bacon.  Hmm.  But I figured it must just be the flavoring somehow.

So I continued.  I found a few bites of seafood, squid.  It was pretty flavorless and rubbery, and not very good.  Besides that, I couldn't find any seafood.  This was very surprising, since I had seen him cook it, and into each seafood one went a rather insane amount of seafood.  Huge prawns and several scallops should have been in there too.  I kept trying more bites, thinking the distribution was just wrong.  Still only the rubbery squid, and seriously, it tasted like bacon.

I asked if anyone had received the wrong one, specifically asking the people who ordered the lunch special of squid and pork belly.  They said they had the right ones.  I know that two seafood were made, and two lunch specials, so it wasn't like they made the wrong ones.  I was confused.

I looked over at Emil, sitting next to me, who also ordered the seafood version.  His very clearly had scallops.  And shrimp.  What?  Where was mine?

At this point I looked very closely at the one that another co-worker was eating, who claimed several times that he had the correct one, and saw shrimp and scallops in his.  Doh.  I had his lunch special, and he had mine.

I really didn't like it.  First, I like pork belly and bacon, so it wasn't just the filling choice.  The squid was not well prepared.  But the biggest issue is that it was all just really, really dry and overcooked.  I think we suffered from the fact that we ordered so many different things, and the okonomoiyaki were left cooking for  along time while the other dishes were finished.

Emil realized there was no way he was going to finish his entire dish, so offered me up several slices.  I dug into that one, the seafood one, and liked it more.  Most of the seafood was still overcooked for my liking, but the shrimp wasn't too rubbery, and the scallop was actually pretty good.  The squid in the seafood one contained more assorted pieces than in the lunch special version, but was still way overcooked.  The pancake wasn't quite as dried out, but it was still pretty dry.

So, still not a winner.  But, the best part of okonomiyaki is always the toppings.  They didn't disappoint: the sauce was sweet, the mayo creamy, the bonito very flavorful.  I ate more of the okonomiyaki than I really wanted, just to have more of the sauces.

Overall, I think okonomiyaki is just not a dish I like that much, but this was a particularly poor execution.  Very soon after eating, I got a major stomach ache.  At first I thought it was just from overeating, but it was pretty extreme, and soon after, two others (who both had the seafood version), were also complaining about not feeling well.  One of them turned so green that I really thought he was going to throw up on our elevator full of men in suits.

The price for the seafood version was ¥1,680, which was reasonable, giving how much seafood went into it.  I think two people could easily split one of these with no problem.

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Playero, Alcudia

I recently took a brief side trip to the island of Mallorca, off the coast of Barcelona, with a group of co-workers while we were en route to a business trip in Zurich (yes, this really did make sense!)

We rented a stunning villa, right on the beach.  We arrived late at night, so were not able to see anything about our surroundings.  The next morning, we needed breakfast, and decided to take a stroll down the beach, and wound up at Playero, which I'd read about before arriving.

Strolling down the beach.

You couldn't beat the easy walk, literally right out our front door, and along the beach.  At a relaxed vacation-mode pace, it was less than 10 minutes, all right on the beach.

Great Location.

The location was excellent, literally, right on the beach.  You could sit with your feet in the sand.  Some seats had umbrellas or were otherwise shaded for those who were sun-averse.

While it was a great location, the food was pretty mediocre, and pricey for what it was.  I had of course read all of this in advance, but I hoped the TripAdvisor folks were wrong.  Unfortunately, they nailed it.

Beachfront.  Slushy Drinks.  Can't go wrong.

Service wasn't super attentive.  I ordered a drink that never arrived.  But still.  Location, and slushy drinks on the beach.  We still opted to return (daily).

Strawberry Daiquiri.

I was a bit late to join my friends at Playero on our first visit, and was amused when I showed up to find them all drinking strawberry daiquiris, at 10am.  Thoughtful folks they were, they had of course already ordered one for me too.

The daiquiris were absolutely huge.  They were not stingy in the addition of alcohol, even though we were ordering them so early in the morning.

The first one I tried felt like a punch in the face from the alcohol, but I was quickly assured by the others that this feeling would go away.  Indeed it did.  I'm not sure if I just got used to it, or if it was better mixed once I got further into it, but I stopped caring about how strong it tasted after not too long.  Danger, danger.

The daiquiris were decent, freshly made to order, nicely slushy.  The best part for me however was the garnish.  Each came with a large strawberry on the rim.  And the strawberries were really, really good.  Sure, the first one I had didn't seem washed, as it had dirt all over it.  But, they were so sweet and juicy.  I can't remember the last time I had a strawberry so good.

Can't resist the slushy drinks!

Over the course of our stay in Alcudia, we returned to Playero most mornings.  The strawberries were always a highlight for me, and I appreciated the fact that some of my companions didn't care to just eat strawberries, and gladly gave me theirs.  Otherwise, I would have needed to order even more daiquiris, just for the fruit.

Piña Colada.

I read online that Playero made the best piña coladas on the island, so  I had my heart set on getting one.

Sadly, it wasn't a great piña colada.  I didn't really taste coconut, nor pineapple.  It was really just sweet.

Pa Amb Oli Sampler

Others ordered food on our different visits, but no one really liked what they got.  One ordered a croque madam, but it came without the egg.

Emil ordered the Pa Amb Oli sampler platter, I think expecting it to be an appetizer.  Pa amb oli is a traditional Mallorcan dish, literally, "bread with oil".  Instead of appetizer sized, or, even entree sized, it was a huge platter of 6 assorted pa amb oli, plus olives, peppers, and tomatoes.  I helped him out with this, and even so, we didn't come close to finishing it.  The server really should have warned us.

The bread that formed the base of the pa amb oli was fine, nicely crusty, although a bit soggy from the tomato spread, but in a way that worked.  But, neither Emil nor I are big bread eaters, so this was a bit lost.

There was one piece with meat topping, Iberan ham.  Emil liked this one the most.  We had so much assorted ham and salami on this trip that I was happy to skip it, but a few others at the table ended up ordering a pile of just the ham because they liked it so much.

Next was a trio of seafood options: anchovies, salmon, and tuna.

I also didn't try the one with anchovies.  I don't think Emil did either.

The smoked salmon was fairly standard, decent enough, but not special.

The tuna was ... interesting.  Basically large chunks of what seemed like canned tuna.  Not exactly high quality.

There were two cheese options: manchego or blue cheese, each topped with nuts.

I tried the manchego, it was fine, sliced thin, but never a cheese I really like.

My favorite was the blue cheese.  The cheese went well with the walnuts and the tomato base.

I'm glad I got to try a traditional offering of pa amb oli, since the version we had at the Michelin star restaurant later that day was anything like this, but I certainly wouldn't get it again.  The best part of the whole platter for me was the pickled peppers.

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