The Real Deal All Natural Snacks

I love snack food review days, because really, it just gives me the excuse to try every snack food I come across.  I'm a habitual snacker; every couple hours, I want ... something.  I particularly like things I can eat with my fingers.  Thus, snacks, or, as I often call them, snacky-snacks.

Uh, anyway.  Let's talk about the Real Deal Snacks. This is a company that has been around since 1946 making snack mixes. They claim to have created the first "party mix" and the first ones to make packaged tortilla chips.  I sorta find this hard to believe, but, I'll go with it.

In addition to their snack mix and tortilla chips, they also make veggie chips, cheese crunchies, and gluten-free corn pretzels.  While the snack mix wasn't a hit with myself or any other tasters in my group, I really did enjoy their veggie chips.

Snack Mix

Original Snack Mix

Well, since they invented party mix, seems like the snack mixes were the place to start.  They say, "The Snack Mix is a delightful blend of ingredients: crunchy cheese curls, pretzels, nacho tortilla and corn chips."  It comes in two flavors, Original and Chili Lime.  I tried both.

Crunchy cheese curl, nacho tortilla, pretzel rod, corn chip, bbq corn chip, pretzel twist (clockwise, from top left)

I started by laying out the assortment.  I expected 4 different items from the description, but, bonus, there were 6 - two types of corn chips and two types of pretzels.

(Clockwise, from top left)

Cheese Crunchies: "Light, crispy curls packed with delicious cheese flavor!"

These were basically Cheetoes, but less flavorful.  I appreciated the crunch, and they were my favorite of the mix. "Like a Cheetoes, but less good", said another sampler. "Not that exciting," said another.  The Real Deal also sells these as a standalone product, "Cheese Crunchies".

The nacho tortillas were round, and tasted strongly of tomato.  I guess that is a component of nachos, but I didn't taste anything cheesy.  I had only one of these.  They sell regular white corn tortilla chips, and blue corn, but no seasoned ones individually.

Pretzels were both sticks and twists, just standard pretzels.  I had only one twist. "Tastes like a pretzel stick," said another taster.  The don't sell these pretzels standalone, only the corn based ones, and these were regular flour.

The corn chips were like large size Fritos.  The bbq ones were very different from what I expected, I wouldn't have identified them as bbq, although they were clearly more seasoned than the regular ones.   The non-bbq ones were saltier.  "The salt makes them slightly less horrible", said my tastier.

Overall, I really liked the assorted sizes and textures, but none of the flavors were really that great.

Chili Lime Snack Mix.

I moved on to the Chili Lime version.

These were exactly the same as The Original, but with chili lime seasoning.  The seasoning was a bit zesty, making everything taste a bit like Doritos, which I never like.  I quickly handed this bag off to Ojan.

My only other note here is that the pretzels were particularly bad, they seemed burnt.

Real! Veggie Chips

Sriracha Real! Veggie Chips

The other fun sounding product line is their veggie chips.

"Made from real corn, real peas and real rice".  They come in a bunch of flavors: original, sriracha, and aged white cheddar.

Of course I went for sriracha.

Close up.  Tiny little chips!

These really grew on me.  At first they were just confusing, not really what I'd call a "chip".  They were tiny but also very light.  I could taste rice.  And I could taste peas.  Super strange.  And on top of all that ... some serious spice.  I'm not sure I'd know it was sriracha, which surprised me, since that is a distinctive taste.  But they were seriously spicy.

By the middle of the bag, I was hooked.  When I hit the end, I was devastated.  These were seriously tasty!  The spice level is what kept them addicting :)

A fairly healthy snack too, only 100 calories per bag, 1.25 servings of vegetables, and 80% less fat than potato chips.  And gluten free.  And vegan.

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Quick Bite at Prospect

I live, and work, right near Prospect restaurant.  I've been to the bar area many times, usually just for cocktails and sometimes bar snacks.  You can read all about my past adventures, and the restaurant in general, in old reviews.  I've never loved Prospect the way some of my friends do, but, they also have gone through several chef shuffles, so I do keep giving them a try.

On this particular visit, it was a random night, on the early side, and I had no plans until later in the evening.  I was really craving something tasty, but was incredibly lazy.  And by tasty, I didn't mean my usual desire for decadent desserts or baked goods.  I had plenty of those in my apartment.  I wanted ... an upscale snack.  I know, really an odd mood to be in, but, luckily for me, I could just venture downstairs to Prospect.

I felt a bit silly, dining alone somewhere nice.  Since it was early, the bar area was not busy, and it was easy for me to get a seat, rather than sit awkwardly in the dining room.  I knew I could order off the full menu from the bar from past experience, and was really much more comfortable there.  The bartender was friendly and polite, and took great care of me.

I enjoyed my "snack" quite a bit, and must remember that Prospect is always there as an easy, although non-traditional, option for me!

Amuse Bouche: Halibut Brandade with Spicy Aioli.

Since I had plans later, I only ordered an appetizer, not a full entree.  And as I said, I was just sitting at the bar, not the main dining room.  So I was surprised when an extra bite showed up.  An amuse bouche, even for a bar patron, who was just getting a single appetizer?  Amazing, and appreciated, but I felt slightly bad.  Did they expect me to order an entree next?  I wasn't planning to have a full meal and felt guilty.

Anyway, the amuse was pretty tasty.  It was incredibly hot, clearly fresh out of the fryer.  It was salty, as it was brandade obviously, but it was salty in a good way, if you like intense salt flavor.  Which I do.  The interior was creamy and moist.  The spicy aioli served alongside was creamy and had a slight tang, a nice counterpart to the hot salty bite.  My only complaint is that it was a bit too oily, I think it probably just needed to be drained for a second longer.

It was also a fairly unique choice for an amuse, hot and a heavier sort of dish than an amuse often can be.  I liked it, and could even see it as a regular item on their bar snacks menu.

Monterey Calamari: Squid Ink Spaghetti, Pickled Jalapeños, Viola Turnips, Sea Urchin Emulsion. $15.50.

Since I just wanted a small bite, I opted for an appetizer.  I've been craving calamari lately, so I ordered the dish titled "Monterey Calamari".  Of course, I knew it was Prospect and that there would certainly be a twist on what I was expecting.  So I knew for sure that this wouldn't just be a plate of fried calamari, particularly given that the follow up description said there would be squid ink spaghetti and sea urchin emulsion, all things I love.

When it arrived, I did sorta laugh to myself.  Calamari?  Yes, there were a few rings of calamari on the plate, but this was very much a squid ink pasta dish.  The naming aside, this dish really had my name all over it.  I love squid ink pasta.  I love uni.  And, as I said, I was craving calamari.

The calamari were tiny little rings, and honestly, got completely lost in the dish.  When I found one, it added a little texture, but little else.  The rings were nicely done, not rubbery.  Although the calamari is what drew me in, I didn't really mind them not being prevalent, as everything else was fantastic.

The squid ink pasta had a nice chew to it, slight squid flavor.  It was a generous portion of pasta, particularly for an appetizer.  I had obviously expected this to be a calamari focused dish, with the squid ink pasta being a creative garnish component somehow.  But, instead, it was a great pasta dish.  (I do think it would be better with a thicker form factor of the squid ink pasta, to really get more of the squid ink flavor however).

The sauce was creamy, slightly uni flavored, and stuck to and coated the pasta well.  I really liked the heat and vinegar component provided by the pickled jalapeño.

But the star was the lobe uni on top.  First, I REALLY didn't expect that.  The description just said "sea urchin emulsion", which certainly describes the sauce, but gives no indication that there would be a chunk of bonus uni.  And it was fabulous.  Creamy, sweet, really really excellent.  The best uni I've had in recent memory, better than even at sushi restaurants where it should be the star.

The only thing that wasn't successful about the dish is that, unlike the amuse, it wasn't delivered hot.  It was kinda lukewarm when I received it.  Still delicious, but unfortunate.

One criticism I've had of Prospect in the past is that it seems pricey for what it is, given the portion sizes (I appreciate the smaller portion sizes, and don't want them to change that, but I always feel things are just slightly over-priced).  That was certainly not the case with this dish.  Only $15.50, for a decent size serving of pasta, delicious sauce, and quality uni?  Oh yeah, and some calamari?  Really quite good price.

This was the best dish I've ever had at Prospect.  I'd get it again, although there were a bunch of other things on the menu I'd also like to try.  I'll certainly be going back!

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Dim Sum @ Luyu and Yum Yum, Sydney

During my recent trip to Sydney, it was time to be brave, and break outside our mold of devouring all the Thai food we could find.  And, perhaps even more brave, venturing out of the city a bit, to Newtown.

Several years ago when I was in Sydney I visited Newtown once, with a friend who lived there, for some cheap, unremarkable Thai food.  On my visit just a few months ago, I returned to Newtown, for one and one reason: to get what were supposed to be the best pies in the area at Pie Tin (spoiler, they weren't).  So far, my track record with Newtown wasn't great, and it takes a lot to get me to venture further than necessary (although sometimes the effort pays off great, like the amazing dinner, and subsequent brunch, we had at Pinbone!).  I had high hopes that this journey would prove just as fruitful.

Newtown is mostly comprised of cheaper eats, as it is a student area.  Luyu and Yum Yum, our destination, was not that.  Not that it was high end dining, but, for the area, it certainly didn't fit in.  Far fancier, in decor and food presentation, than anywhere else on the street.  It is even located on the upper level, looking down on all the regular establishments on the street.

Oh, I forgot to mention, it was also fairly new.  I know, I know.  Now I'm just getting crazy.  Going somewhere new, further away, and not getting thai or brunch, the only things I've really loved in Sydney?  But, reviews from food blogs I follow in Sydney were strong.  The photos looked great.  The same was true for the Gantry, which we visited a few nights earlier, and it was good.  I was starting to trust my food bloggers.

So, on Sunday morning, Ojan and I headed to Newtown, to Luyu and Yum Yum, to meet two Sydney friends for dim sum. It had been ages since either of us had dim sum, and we were quite looking forward to it.

Service was a bit strange.  The hostess didn't know where to seat us, even though the restaurant was empty when we arrived, and we had a booking.  We often had to flag someone down in order to get more water.  The server didn't know what teas did not contain caffeine, suggesting a green tea to Ojan when he said he wanted something without caffeine.  Some of our dumplings took a very long time to arrive.  They did do a good job of clearing dishes as they were finished though, and every dish arrived piping hot, so hot that we often had to wait a few minutes for items to cool down so we wouldn't scald the inside of our mouths.

Overall, it was fine.  The food was good enough, clearly care was put into making each dumpling, and quality ingredients were used, but nothing really stuck out.  The selections were creative and it was a nicer setting than typical dim sum/yum cha.  But it was really pricey.  I see no reason to return.

The Space

Interior.

The restaurant has an open feel with high ceilings.  The large bar along the side didn't have much activity as we were there at lunchtime, but I read that they make some interesting tea based cocktails.

Tables and chairs.

The decor is fairly swanky, obviously brand new.  Lots of wood.  The color palette was stark, black and white, with wood tones mixed in.

White bowls and plates, plus black chopsticks, were set on every table.

They needed better sound isolation, with all the hard surfaces, as nothing absorbed noise.  As the room filled up, it quickly got hard to hear our tablemates.  Partially, it was due to the very loud music, all high energy pop.  It didn't quite seem to fit the mood of the restaurant, and I found the noise level to be a bit ridiculous for a mid-day meal, and it certainly hampered our ability to chat with our friends.

Centerpiece.

The center of the table had a mat with a tea pot, 4 little tea cups, and a plant.  A nice idea, but, it didn't turn out to be practical.  As soon as our table started piling up with dishes, which happened not only to us but to everyone around us, it was clearly in the way.  We didn't have enough space for all our dumplings, much less this random thing in the middle.

The tea pot also turned out to be decorative only.  When we ordered tea, it came in a different pot.  Not really sure why they had a decorative pot on every table in the first place.  Still, it was decent decor.

Glass Walled Kitchen.

The kitchen is enclosed in glass, so you can spy on the cooks in action.  I was able to watch cooks meticulously filling the dumplings and loading up the steamer baskets.  They didn't seem to make them exactly to order, as they would prepare a big batch of each style at a time, but they were steamed to order.

Swanky Bathroom Sink.

The swanky decor continues into the bathroom, with gray slate tiles, strange black metal faucets, and copper (?) washbasins.

I don't normally review the bathrooms, but, there was something unique here.

There, I fixed it.

The hand dryer.  In the midst of all the brand new, swanky decor, the hand dryer was held up by duct tape.  I found this way too funny.

Menus

Menu: Dumplings & Dim Sum.

The reason we were there was for dumplings, which make up a majority of the menu, along with some other small dim sum style bites.  These are mostly all sold in quantities of 4, which was perfect since our group was 4, except for a few random ones that came in sets of 3.  We didn't ask for anything to be modified, particularly since I wasn't planning on having several of them, yet we were brought 4 every time.  This was nice of them I guess, but they should have asked, especially since they charged extra in every case, and, like I said, I didn't want some of them.  The prices below will be for 3 even though 4 are shown, since I didn't write down the adjusted prices.

We ordered all but one type of dumpling available on the menu, plus a few other small bites.

We ordered an initial set of 7 items, then added on another 3, and then went back at the end for a final round of the favorites.

Menu: Main Dishes.

The rest of the menu is main dishes, and we skipped it entirely, but we did see some good looking fried rice, stir fried veggies, salt and pepper squid, and amazing looking deep fried eggplant.  If I went back, I'd certainly get the deep fried eggplant, but we had so much fried food on our trip that I just wasn't in the mood at the time.

Dipping Sauces: Soy, vinegar, sesame chili oil.

We were provided with three sauces to go along with the dumplings.  I set to work perfecting my mix, which I put in my individual bowl.  I'm not quite sure if that is what I was supposed to do, since it was a large bowl, not a dipping bowl, but I don't know how else you could make a dipping sauce.

Dumplings

Over the course of the meal, we ordered every type of dumpling, except for the vegetarian mushroom dumplings.

Flying Seafood Dumpling (4). $13.80

"Scallop, Fish-ball, Prawn, Asparagus & Flying Fish Roe in Rice Dough Steamed."

This was probably the dumpling I was most excited for, since I love scallops.  I was thrilled to see the scallop perched right on top, not chopped up and mixed with other fillings.

Inside the dumpling was the fish ball, prawn, and asparagus.  I didn't taste any asparagus, nor prawn really, just a moist fish ball.  It was fine, but, I wanted to detect more individual flavors.  The scallop was a slice on top, tender, delicate, and on top of that was flying fish roe, which added fun pops as they burst.

The rice dumpling wrapper was nicely done, not too thin, not too thick, perfectly steamed.

Overall, this was fine, and I liked all the seafood, but there just wasn't much flavor to it.  My second favorite bite of the meal, for the scallop alone.

Mr Luyu “Starburst” Dumpling (4). $11.80.

"Chicken & Mr Luyu Homemade Soup in Fruit Infused Flour Dough Steamed."

This is one of their signature dumplings, a stunner with the colorful wrappers.

The online menu lists this as a pork dumpling, but alas, when we visited it was chicken.  I don't like chicken, but tried it anyway, since I was fascinated by the sound of the fruit infused dough.

The filling was indeed a chicken ball, plus some flavorful soup.  Good enough, but, again, chicken.  I didn't taste anything fruity in the dough, although there was obviously color to it.  More beautiful than tasty.

Each dumpling came perched atop a slice of carrot.  Woah, genius!  I honestly don't understand why more places don't do this, as dumplings always stick, and, particularly with soup dumplings this becomes tragic, since it causes them to burst when you pick them up.  That care was nice to see.

My 7th pick of the meal.

Mr Yumyum Pot Sticker (4). $10.80.

"Chicken, Ginger, Shallot & Chinese Cabbage in Seaweed Flour Dough Pan-Seared."

The online menu also lists the pot stickers as pork, but alas, for us they were chicken.  I skipped them, but the seaweed bits in the wrapper skin looked like a nice touch, and the fresh garnish under each pot sticker was a nice presentational element.

Why was everything chicken that should have been pork though?

Caviar Dumpling (4). $13.80.

"Prawn, Carrot, Coriander & Celery in Rice Dough Steamed."

These were great looking dumplings, little bags, tied up with a leaf, and meticulously topped with caviar.

Inside the dumpling was a mix of prawn, carrot, and celery.  The vegetables were minced and slightly crunchy, which I actually liked.  The prawn was a bit fishy.

The rice dough wasn't as successful here as in the Flying Seafood dumpling, it came out slimier.

I did really like the caviar on top, super salty, and like the roe from the flying seafood, it added a fun pop.

My third pick of the meal.

Mr Luyu’s Herb Dumpling (4). $11.80.

"Prawn & Chives in Rice Dough Steamed."

Another rice dough dumpling, this time with translucent skin.  Everyone was quite impressed with the skin on this.

Inside was a whole prawn and chopped chives.

This wasn't very interesting to me, just a prawn.  My 6th pick.

"Kiss Me" Dumplings (4). $10.80.

"Chicken, Ginger, Shallot, & Lulu Homemade Soup in Flour Dough."

I skipped the "Kiss Me" dumplings, since again, chicken.  These were classic soup dumplings, albeit with chicken instead of pork.

It is a bit hard to see, but on top, the red is actually little lips for decoration.  So cute.

Two of our diners said these was the best of the dumplings, and ordered a final round of them for "dessert" after we were done with everything else.

Snow White Rabbit Dumplings (3). $12.80.

"Prawn, Asparagus, Bamboo Shoot, Luyu Home-made Creamy Soup in Chrysanthemum infused Potato Starch Dough."

Ok, speaking of cute.  If I thought the lips on the "Kiss Me" were cute, they were nothing compared to the rabbits!

Yes, look closely, and you'll see that the dumplings are shaped like rabbits, ears and eyes and all!

I complained about not being able to taste any asparagus in the flying fish dumpling, which was not the case here.  Inside was a whole piece of asparagus, so full of flavor, a bit crunchy, and quite tasty. The bamboo also added further crunchy bits.

The dough was a bit thicker, perhaps because it was potato starch rather than flour or rice?  It was soft and a tiny bit doughy, but I liked that.

My absolute favorite, and the most interesting flavor and texture wise.  I'm not sure why it normally comes as only 3 pieces though, when most come as 4.

Manga Dumpling "Hedgehog" (3). $12.80.

"King Oyster Mushrooms, Chinese Mushroom, Fungi, Carrot, Corriander in Flour Dough Baked."

Continuing to get cuter.  I failed at the photo here though, as I didn't get a shot of these from the front.  Doh.

They really, truly looked like hedgehogs.  Certainly the cutest and most elaborate of all of the dumplings.  They had eyes in front and spines down their backs.  OMG.  So cute.

These were almost good.

They were more like buns, but called dumplings.  The dough was soft and slightly sweet.  The topside was crunchy where the spines were carved out.  I would have really liked the dough, except that they were just drowned in oil.

The menu said these were baked, but, I'm not sure how that was possible given how much oil was on them.  They really seemed fried.  The oil just ruined them.

Inside was a mushroom filling that wasn't very interesting.  Nothing really mattered though besides the oil.  The others thought I was exaggerating when I tried the first one and reacted strongly to the amount of oil, but they quickly agreed.  We all saw the potential in these, but alas, they were not executed well.  I imagine the oil is needed to achieve the crispy top, but, there has to be a better way to do it.

This should have just been an order of 3, but, 4 were brought to us, and we were charged extra.  We wished that only 3 came, as we didn't even want to finish 3.  My 4th pick though, for creativity and potential in the sweet, soft dough.

Small Bites

We also opted for a few of the other non-dumpling small bites.  We skipped about half the items from this section, including chicken buns, the crispy "mini frisbee", spring rolls, and the king prawn, since most of those were fried, and heavier than what we were in the mood for.

Garlic Bread (4). $7.80.

"Garlic, Cheese & Butter in Plain Flour “Man Tow"."

Yes, we ordered something called garlic bread.  I knew from my research that this was not going to actually be garlic bread.

The base was mantou, Chinese steamed bun.  It was topped with garlic, butter, and cheese.

The bun was soft and fluffy, and I kinda liked that.  The topping was very cheesy, but I didn't really taste any garlic.

I was fascinated by this, and we all found it interesting, but, I didn't actually like it.  I'm not sure why, cheesy bread should be a good thing.  My 5th pick. 

Duck Pancake (4). $16.80.

"Duck, Spring Onion & Cucumber."

This is certainly not something I'd order since I don't care for duck, but the group wanted it.

Ojan really liked it, and declared it the best item of the meal.  I asked if I'd possibly like it, since he knows my tastes pretty well, and he said maybe.  So, against my better judgement, I tried it.

The pancake was a thin dough wrapping.  It wasn't oily or anything, fairly soft.

Inside was the duck, smothered in hoisin sauce, complimented by a fresh cucumber spear.  The sauce was tasty, but, I just don't care for the gaminess of duck.

As I said though, Ojan really liked it.

Dessert

Dessert: Fruit Tart.

And finally, dessert.

No dessert is listed on the menu, but I know they always offer a dessert, and it changes daily.  Today it was a "fruit tart".  I asked what fruit was used and was told strawberry and I think mango?  It didn't really sound great, but, I needed my dessert.  Plus the server said it was really good and that it was creamy.

Um, what?  When he said creamy, I expected, well, a cream filling.  Maybe a custard?  This was not creamy at all.  The filling was chopped up apple cubes coated in yogurt.  It was not cooked.  While technically I guess yogurt is creamy, this was not.  And he never mentioned apple, the primary ingredient.

The promised strawberry was one tiny little slice on top as a garnish, along with a sprig of mint.  The rest of the tart was all apple.  Funny how he didn't mention apple in his description.

The filling was crazy sour.  Tart apple.  Sour yogurt.  Literally no sweetness.

The crust was a crispy shell that I did like, but, wow, I didn't care for the filling at all, and this really wasn't a dessert to me.  It belonged as a breakfast item perhaps, just fruit and yogurt.

I left highly unsatisfied, and went to seek out cronuts (stay tuned).

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Walkers Biscuits, UK

Last year, when I visited my London office, I got a chance to try a bunch of snacks from the office microkitchen (in addition to racking up a few more Michelin stars at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon of course).  Some snacks were more successful than others.  There were horrible ones, like the bars from Nakd.  Slightly better were oat and fruit bars from Braw or cereal bars from Alpen Light.

Once I grew tired of the bars, it was time to move on to biscuits, or, as I know them, cookies.  I'm not really a fan of cookies, and packaged cookies in particular, but, well, sometimes I can't resist just trying everything.  I saw Walkers products everywhere, not just only in our office, but they had them in the airline lounge and on my British Airways flight.  So I figured they must be legit.

It turns out, Walkers is actually originally a Scottish company.  They've been around since 1898, baking their famous shortbread.  Things have grown since then, and they now produce a slew of products and ship worldwide.  They care about the quality of their products, even as they have grown.  Everything is non-GMO, no artificial colors or preservatives, they use only milk and butter from free range grass fed cows, eggs from free range chickens, etc.

Since this style of product just isn't for me in general, you probably shouldn't trust my opinion much.  I found them all quite boring, sorry!

Shortbreads

The shortbreads are Walkers signature product, and the first item they ever produced.  They pride themselves on the fact that they are made with only 4 ingredients: flour, butter, sugar, and salt.  They claim to make the largest selection of shortbreads in the world, available in a slew of sizes and varieties.

The basic shortbreads come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from "fingers" to triangles to rounds to animal shapes.  You can get them with chocolate chips.  Or packaged into a slew of fancy tins.  Or gluten-free of course.

Pure Butter Shortbread.

"Pure creamery butter shortbread baked in the Highland village of Aberlour in Speyside to an original family recipe, first perfected by Joseph Walker in 1898."

I tried the most basic shortbread of all, the classic pure butter shortbread.  I believe these were the fingers.

I had read their marketing about how they don't use preservatives, no artificial this or that, but, I was still shocked to see the ingredient list.  Most likely the shortest of any packaged product I've ever encountered: flour, butter, sugar, salt.  Literally.

Impressive.  That said, they were just shortbreads.

Decently crumbly, a bit buttery, but, just a plain shortbread.  Not something I'll ever get excited about.

Oatcakes

The oatcakes are a savory offering, known as "Scottish Biscuits for Cheese" in the US. Again, available in assorted shapes and sizes.

Highland Oatcakes

"A perfect accompaniment to soup, meat and fish dishes, cheese and preserves."  "The perfect accompaniment to any cheeseboard".

Whoops, I thought these were cookies!

Instead, they are dry, oat cakes.  Even with cheese, I really didn't care for them.  They tasted like sawdust!

Biscuits

Biscuits are what you know as cookies.  They make a few different varieties, but all hard style.

Oat 'n Honey.

"Delicious crunchy oat and honey biscuits."

These were very, very boring biscuits.  They tasted sorta like graham crackers, but were shaped like a cookie.  Since they looked like cookies, I expected more flavor from them.  My least favorite.

Stem Ginger.

"Walkers Stem Ginger Cookies are baked to perfection to a traditional recipe with generous pieces of whole Buderim stem ginger. The candied ginger bits in the cookies are a plus."

For packaged, hard-style cookies, these really weren't bad.  Yes, they were crispy and I don't tend to care for crispy cookies.  But they were just the right level of sweet, buttery, and I liked the very strong ginger flavor.

I certainly wouldn't ever purchase these, but I was pleasantly surprised.

[ No Photo ]

White Chocolate & Raspberry Biscuits. 

"Raspberries and white chocolate chips are packed into Walkers’ famous biscuit recipe."

I found these to be incredibly boring.  I thought raspberries and white chocolate would be tasty, but alas, not much going on here.  Just kinda dry, packaged cookies.  Never anything I'd like.

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Bar Snacks & Drinks at Prospect

Prospect is the restaurant and bar located across the street from my offices.  It is one of Emil's favorite places.  Let's just say, I've visited many times.

The following is a collection of reviews over assorted visits throughout 2014 - 2015.  I was going to combine into one master post with my previous posts, but that would get far too long, so I left separate.  I'll leave all of the general descriptions out, since, you've read it all before many times.

Let me know if you have thoughts on how to best format update reviews.  Add to the original? Keep separate?  What works for you, dear readers?

Previous posts:

• March 10, 2012: Cocktails, Foie Gras, and Dessert
• April 26, 2012: Assorted bar snacks, cocktails, and full dinner.
• June 03, 2012: Bar snacks and cocktails.

Drinks

Domino Effect. $11.50.

"Vodka, Autumn Spice Syrup, Habañero Shrub Lemon, Apple Cider".

This was really sweet an unbalanced.  Surprising, since they normally have really well designed cocktails.

So I moved on to the Manhattan Project: Silver Oat Whiskey, Dolin Blanc Rhum Agricole, Orange Bitters ($12).  It was much better than the Domino Effect, more balanced, but still pretty alcoholic tasting.  I did really liked the cherry in it.  Not quite my thing, but a good drink.

Prospector. $12.

"Scotch, Madeira, Benedictine, Prospect Bitters, Flamed Orange."

Best drink of the night.  A really nicely balanced, signature drink for a reason.

I’d certainly consider this one again.  Goes particularly well with spiced nuts (more on that below!).

Unknown.

I didn't get the name of this on, but it had rum and “autumn syrup”.

It was the best drink I ever had at Prospect.  I loved the spice from the syrup.  I had one made by one bartender that was really amazing, sooo much spicing.  And then I had another made by a different bartender with much less spicing.  It also tasted more alcoholic, not nearly as balanced.  Still good, but not as mind blowing.

If it makes a return to the menu next fall, I'd certainly try it again.

Garden Variety: $12.

"Gin, Grapefruit, Radish, Lemon, Creole Bitters, Cava"

This was ... ok.  Fairly refreshing.  Good bitterness from the grapefruit.  But, just not a lot going on.  I wouldn't get it again.

I also tried the "Discovery of the New World: Reposado Tequila, Manzanilla Sherry, Cara Cara Syrup," and it failed to impress.  A bit too bitter for me.  Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for cocktails?

Bar Snacks

Warm Nuts. $4. 

When you are at a bar, you need to munch on something, right?  We started with the most basic bar snack: nuts.

They were nicely spiced (with rosemary I think?).   Served warm is always a nice touch.  The mix was pecans, cashews, and peanuts, a decent selection.   I particularly liked the pecans.

Not particularly amazing, but, good for what they were, and if I just wanted something to munch at the bar, I'd get them again.

Kabocha Squash Hummus / Olive Oil Crackers. $7.

Someone I was with ordered the hummus and crackers.  

I don't like hummus, but still tried a bite, since I love kabocha squash and hoped that would dominate the flavor.  It didn't.  Still hummus, so not for me, but the garnish of seasonally appropriate pomegranate seeds was a nice touch.

The olive oil crackers on the side were quite tasty though, I just wanted something different to dip them into.

Fries with Aioli. $6.

Whenever I visit Prospect, I'm always jealous of the fries.  They always look amazing, and so many groups seem to order them.  So I finally tried them, after many years of visiting and just drooling from a distance.

Look at these things!  Serious fries.  Thick cut.  Delivered piping hot and fresh.  Very soft and mashed potato-y inside, but crispy outside.

But ... I didn't love them.  I think it was the aioli that killed it for me.  I usually love aioli, and this was just ... mayo, really.  It had no real flavor.  It didn't add anything to the fries.  I found myself wanting ketchup (which never happens!).

On another visit, I tried the fries again when they had a special: salt and vinegar fries!  They were again thick cut, served warm.  The salt and vinegar flavor was quite successful.  But ... the aioli flavorless and not good.

Maybe I'll try them again, but sadly, this is one dish that looks much better than it has tasted.

Caesar’d Deviled Eggs with Garlic Bread Crumbs. $7.

Ok, now we are getting somewhere!  Deviled eggs!

I'm very particular about my deviled eggs.  I love deviled eggs.  When I was in college, I made them, in the dining hall, all the time.  The salad bar had whole hard boiled eggs, the sandwich bar had mayo, mustard, relish, etc, and I could always find other fun things to mix in.  So whenever I wasn't into what the dining hall was serving, I had a fallback that I adored.  Sure, my friends thought I was crazy, cracking the eggs, pulling out the yolk, mixing up my magic mix of filling, and stuffing it back in, but I didn't care.  They always made me so happy.

Anyway, I like trying interesting spins on deviled eggs, and Prospect always has some kind of deviled egg.

On this visit it was a play on a ceasar salad.  The filling was creamy, and perfectly salty, but the "caesar" nature of it wasn't too strong.  The garnish of lettuce to mimic the salad was cute though.

Fine, but I prefer my deviled eggs to be spicy, or just have something a bit more going on.

Spring Garlic Deviled Eggs: Bacon, Pickled Serrano. $7.

I tried several other variations on the deviled eggs at Prospect, and they just never really met my particular style.  I didn't order these, or even want them, but Emil did, and demanded that I try one.  He loves Prospect, and is always sad that I never find the food quite as good as he does.
The filling in these was green, which you can't really tell from this photo.  Unfortunately, I didn't taste any spring garlic.  The filling was creamy, but, just not interesting to me.  The egg was cooked fine.  The pickled serrano did give a nice pop of heat, and who doesn't love a tiny bit of bacon, but, they were just deviled eggs.  Not flavorful enough.

Duck Liver Mousse: Dates, Pickled Shallots, Brioche Soldiers.  $9

I've had mixed success with the duck liver mousse at Prospect over the years.  But, after a conversation involving foie gras, it seemed fitting to at least order the mousse (this visit was clearly during the foie gras ban).

The mousse itself was decent, creamy, not too liver-y, with a sprinkle of salt on top.  A bit more salt, perhaps on the plate for us at add on as desired, would have been appreciated, but otherwise, the mousse was fine.

The brioche soldiers sounded like a nice vessel for the mousse ... except they weren't warm.  They had been toasted at some point, but had lost their heat long before reaching us.

I love shallots and pickled things, so I liked the pickled shallots, but they didn't quite go with the mousse.  They would have been better mixed into the deviled eggs!

The only other component on the plate was two dates, cut in half.  They provided some necessary sweetness, but there were only two, and, dates don't really spread. This dish was seriously lacking some sort of fruit compote.

Overall, one of the less successful versions of this dish, but again, the mousse itself was fine, it was just everything served with it that didn't add up.

Spiced Foie Gras Torchon: Orange Marmalade, Sparkling Gelée, Chocolate Brioche. $15.

Ah, foie gras.  This review was clearly written once the ban had been taken back.

This was a decent offering.

Two types of toast, one regular brioche, one chocolate, both thick and nicely toasted.  Served warm this time.  A good foundation for the foie.

The torchon was good, quite creamy, with good strong foie flavor.

The "sparkling gelée" didn't have much flavor, but was a fun component.  The marmalade was similar, good enough, nice to have fruit and sweetness, but, not remarkable.

Overall, solid, well executed, but not particularly memorable.

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Gantry Bar and Lounge, Sydney

Last week, you read about how I visited the recently opened Gantry Restaurant in Sydney.  We had a great meal featuring fresh seafood and interesting cocktails.  I added Gantry to my list of places that I'd gladly return to, expecting that to mean on a next visit to Sydney, since I still had many other places I wanted to visit on this trip.

But, a few nights later, we had a VERY large group (at least 15, I think 20?) that wanted food, and, more importantly, drinks.  I racked my brain.  Where on earth could we seat 20 people, with no reservation, that would have decent food and drinks?

Then I remembered the lounge and bar area leading to The Gantry Restaurant.  I knew it used the same kitchen as the restaurant, but served more casual bar food.  And we found the cocktail menu really intriguing when we went for dinner, so I knew the drinkers would be happy.  And, it didn't seem that crowded when we were there before, so I hoped that possibly we'd be able to walk in with our swarm of people and be accommodated.

The Bar ... before we showed up!

We sent Emil ahead of the large group to scope it out and prepare the staff for our arrival, which he happily did.  When we arrived, it was just as we hoped: the entire bar was open, as were many of the adjacent casual seating areas.  Emil had a drink in hand, and vouched for its deliciousness.  Things looked good.

However, the staff were clearly not pleased with our huge group.  They were really were not happy that we wanted food in addition to drinks.  I wouldn't say that they were impolite exactly, but, they certainly didn't make us feel welcome.

The quality from the bartenders varied widely.  One bartender put a lot of care and attention into his drinks, such precision, and came out with great creations.  The other seemed to care less that we were there, and was quite sloppy.

After everyone ordered their drinks at the bar, we moved off into the casual seating space so as not to take over the entire bar.

Casual Seating.

The other seating areas were in pods of a few chairs around little cocktail tables, with assorted types of seating.  We broke up into several groups and were intending to order food for each set of people, based on what those individuals wanted.  However, they required that we do a single food order, so I just ordered for the group.

The service wasn't very good, probably due to our group size.

As the food came out of the kitchen, it got randomly distributed amongst our groups.  Even if we had 3 orders of the same dish, they just brought them all to one table ,and then brought nothing to the next table.  We had to distribute the dishes ourselves.

They also only brought out perhaps 3 sets of cutlery for our group of 17.  We asked for more cutlery, and they eventually brought a couple more, but not enough for everyone.  We were provided no share plates.   When we asked for share plates, again, just a few were brought.

Again, they did accommodate us, but, were clearly annoyed.  Our large group of jeans and t-shirt clad engineers was not the right demographic for their swanky hotel bar, and I don't really recommend you follow my lead here.  A small group of well dressed folks would fit in much better.

The food was fine, but not nearly as good as the meal we had in the full restaurant.  It was better than standard bar food, but it was also quite pricey compared to regular bar food.  I wouldn't return to teh bar and lounge for food, but perhaps if I just wanted a drink I'd swing by, as the cocktails were all interesting and tasty.

Drinks

The drinks were certainly the highlight of the evening.  All were unique and decently made (if you got the right bartender).

El Gantry. $19.

"Altos Blanco tequila swizzled with blueberry and native herbs."

I started with El Gantry.  Like the cocktail I had in the restaurant, it had a ton of crushed ice, but unlike the one at the restaurant, it was nicely balanced from the start.  I didn't really pick up much blueberry nor tequila though, and wanted to taste at least one of those elements more, hence the reason I picked the drink.

The garnish of some sort of fresh native herb was interesting, and added a strong whiff of herbs with every sip, not what I'm accustomed to while consuming a cocktail.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but was ready to move on.

So I moved on to a drink that Emil ordered, and quickly discarded.  Why?  It was sweet, and if you recall, Emil simply doesn't do sweet.  I'm amused that he even ordered it.  I don't understand.  It was The Grape Escape, described as "Hennessy VS and fresh grape juice shaken with orgeat and rhubarb bitters."  I guess he thought the Hennessy and bitters would counteract the grape juice?

I thought it was pretty good, although obviously quite sweet. The best part was the whole grapes submerged inside that soaked up all the booze, and were quite fun to eat at the end.  It was a drink that just kept on giving!

Throughout the night, everyone ordered a slew of cocktails, all interesting sounding and looking, and they all seemed to enjoy them.  On the cocktail front, we achieved success.

Port. ??

To end the night, I needed dessert, obviously.  The Gantry does serve desserts from the restaurant in the lounge, but that seemed too complicated with our group, so I opted for "liquid" dessert instead.

I opted for the port.  It was fine, but, just port.

Bar Snacks

As I mentioned, the bar and lounge menu is entirely different from the restaurant menu, which makes sense, given the space.  You can't eat beautifully composed plated seafood entrees while sitting in a low chair with only a side cocktail table, so the menu is adapted to the space.

The bar menu is broken up into two sections, dubbed "bar snacks" and "substantials", but all are designed to be share plates enjoyed at the bar or in the lounge.

To start, we ordered several of each and every bar snack.

 Beetroot Homefries / Dill Aioli. $9.

We started with the beetroot homefries that we had a the restaurant a few days earlier.  I skipped them this time around since I didn't really care for them at the restaurant, but everyone else gobbled them up, again a crowd pleaser.

We also got the chicken wings with tamarind glaze ($16), which, given my dislike of chicken, I obviously skipped (and missed a photo of entirely, amidst all the drama of food randomly showing up at tables, whoops!).  These went unfinished, which I'll use as an indication that they weren't great.

We also had the parmesan fries with Gantry's signature seasoning ($9), served in a huge pot.  I really thought I got a photo of this dish, but, alas, I didn't.  As I said, it was chaos, and it was quite hard to capture even the shots I did.

The fries were super thin, really crispy, nicely seasoned.  They weren't served with any dipping sauce, but since basically every other dish we ordered came with a pot of aioli, I was easily able to find some to dip them in.  They were good, but not particularly notable.

Szechuan Salt & Pepper Squid / Tartare Sauce.  $16.

Next was a serving of the s&p squid, always a fun bar classic, and the one I was most looking forward to.  The squid was decently crispy on the outside, not chewy nor rubbery, not too oily.  I appreciated the lemon wedge on the side, but with a huge group, we weren't really able to share the lemon.  Did I want other people's dirty hands on the lemon that was touching my food?  And were we supposed to pass it around?

Of course I liked the tartare sauce, but it seemed identical to the dill aioli with the beetroot homefries.

My favorite of the bar snacks.

Cumberland Sausage Rolls / Housemade Smoked Ketchup. $16.

The final "bar snack" were mini sausage rolls.  The pastry on the outside had a lovely gloss to it, but, wasn't really interesting, not very flaky or buttery.  Inside was very moist sausage, decent enough.

The housemade smoked ketchup was my favorite element, super flavorful and tasty.  I used it with the fries as well, it even trumped the aioli, which, as someone who loves aioli, you realize is quite the testament.

Prices were high though, $16 for three mini sausage rolls?

Substantials

Next we moved on to the "substantials" portion of the menu, larger dishes, but not really entree style.

Australian Cheeses / Muscatels / Quince / Local Honeycomb / Crackers. $28.

First up was a cheese platter.  It had a few pieces of fruit, including not very ripe strawberries and figs that one diner dubbed the only thing she didn't like that night.  I tried one and agreed, it was strangely bitter.  Dried apricots and a smear of some kind of jam were the final accompaniments.

But where was the cheese?  Most of the cheeses were hidden under the crackers, a strange plating.  All of the cheeses were pretty unremarkable.  Not a single cheese stood out, but that was common in Sydney.  No wonder they all just eat "Tasty Cheese" in Australia.  I don't think cheese culture has really caught on.  The crackers were just thin crispy crackers.

We also got the meat platter: "Selection of Cured Meats / Housemade Pickles / Warm Housemade Foccacia", also $28.  Again, no standouts, although the meats were all thinly sliced and tasty enough.

Tiger Flathead / Murray's Brewing Beer Batter / Chips / Tartare. $26.

Since Gantry excels in seafood, for the more main-dish like items we skipped the meats, and moved right on to seafood.

First up was the fish and chips, a dish I eyed in the restaurant all night long, as it passed by to other diners on that visit..

Like the s&p squid, it was served with a lemon wedge and the same tartare sauce on the side.

The fish was fine, moist inside.  The batter was thick and tasty.  The pieces were a bit too oily however.

The chips were not the same as the thin parmesan fries we had earlier, instead, they were thick cut wedges, I think they may have also been lightly battered in the same way as the beetroot homefries.

The final dish we got was also the most pricy, at $39: "Bucket of King Prawns / Marie Rose Sauce / Housemade Focaccia".

The bread was grilled, and basically just all butter.  I liked the strong smoky level of the grill, but wow, this was literally just butter.

I didn't have the prawns after several people said they weren't good, and, indeed, the expensive bucket of prawns went unfinished.  People chose to order additional food instead of finishing them, they were that bad.  I believe they were just cooked and then served chilled on ice, nothing special.

But, the sauce that came with them ... now THAT was special.  Marie Rose sauce is basically cocktail sauce mixed with mayo.  Yup, more mayo based sauce.  This was the winner of the sauces, creamy and spicy and flavorful.  Once I discovered this sauce, I dunked absolutely everything else into it.  Including leftover crackers.  Just so I could eat more sauce.  But, overall, since no one liked the prawns, obviously not a winning dish.

So yeah, basically, my night was spent dunking fried potatoes and seafood of various types into pots of aioli.  I can't say this was was a healthy evening, but, it was bar food after all, and, when in Rome, right?

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