Reef Bars, NZ

A while back, I flew on Air New Zealand to Sydney (via Aukland).  On one of my flights, they had a snack basket with REEF Bars.  I grabbed one, just in case I got peckish at some point.  You never know when you need a snack bar ...

I wasn't able to find out much about the manufacturer, which seems to be Bite Me Foods, located in New Zealand.  The bars are made for sports and recovery, not exactly what most airline flyers need at the time.

"The Reef Bar is the perfect combination of proteins, carbohydrates and essential fats your body needs for energy and recovery before, during and after sports or exercise.  They are healthy, nutritious, balanced and they really taste amazing. Reef Bars don't contain any fillers like oats of peanuts. There is only 0.4g of brown sugar used in each Reef Bar."

I found this pretty amusing, because, really, how often are folks on a plane "before, during, or after sports or exercise"?  Still, it was nice to have a balanced bar like this available.

Tropical Fruit & Nut.

This was a delightful mix of fruit, nuts, and seeds smashed together, with very few random filler ingredients or binding agents.

I tried the tropical flavor, which included papaya and pineapple, along with standard dates and raisins.  I really liked the bits of fruit, quite sweet, and flavorful.  I appreciated the ratios in this bar, with 19% each devoted to the star ingredients of papaya and pineapple, and only 7% and 5% to the raisins and dates, respectively.  I hate it when bars are overwhelmed by dates!

The nuts used were brasil nuts, making up 10% of the bar, plus almonds (only 4%).  The seeds were sunflower (like the dried fruit, 19% of the bar).  I loved the nuts, as brasil nuts are always a favorite of mine. The seeds were not my favorite, a bit bitter.  I'd like to swap the percentages of these.

The final elements were bits of crystallized ginger and fruit peel, which both added zing, but I didn't really like.  The binders were just egg, potato starch, soy flour, rice flour, and maize flour,  making it gluten-free, but I didn't detect them in the bar at all.  A little brown sugar and vanilla round it out.

I actually quite enjoyed this.  Great crunch from the nuts (and nuts that I like!), and sweetness from the fruit.  The texture was great, the flavors were good, for a bar, it was quite enjoyable.  I appreciated the slightly chewy, sticky nature to it as well.

I don't often have the need for items like this, but, if I were looking for a snack, I'd certainly get another.

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Reception Catering at Town Hall Restaurant

Town Hall is a southern inspired restaurant located a few blocks from my house and office.  It has been around for a while, and has a decent reputation.  I walk by regularly.  But I hadn't been to the restaurant in years.

So let's rewind first.  Back in January 2009 I went to Town Hall for the first and only time, for lunch, during Dine About Town.  I don't remember anything about the savory food, but I did remember that we went there intentionally for the butterscotch pudding.  Mmm, I love pudding.  And then ... we all felt sick afterwards.  Not that I was scared of going back, but, the place just hadn't left an impression so I saw no real reason to return.

Fast forward to 2016, when I was invited to a reception in the private dining room.  So, I gave it another try.  The private dining room is upstairs, and has a small area near the entrance where they set up a little bar.  It then opens into the larger room, long and fairly narrow, with large windows.  They use this space for formal sit down dinners, cocktail parties, meetings, and more, so it is pretty customizable.

Our event only had beer, wine, and appetizers, so I can't comment on much else.  The little bites were all decent, but nothing mind blowing, about what I remembered from our previous visit.  I'd go back if someone else wanted to, but, I have no reason to return of my own accord.

Corn fritters with cilantro aioli. $5 (back) Some other fritters (front).

These two trays contained different items, even though they looked similar.

In back were the corn fritters, basically hush puppies.  Honestly, I'm not sure why they called these corn fritters, as they were cornmeal, not corn kernels.  Anyway, they were dense balls of cornmeal, not particularly interesting.  They had a dot of aioli on them, but, too small to really taste.  I wanted some kind of pop to this dish, like a jalapeño aioli, or honey butter, or ... something.  It was just kinda dry, dense, and boring.

The front tray is something I'd actually call a fritter, and I expected to taste some vegetables in here, perhaps corn, perhaps okra, uh, something.  But, they just tasted like balls of fritter dough.  These had a more sizable dollop of what seemed like a yogurt sauce?

Both of these were pretty lackluster.

Tuna tartare with Tabasco aioli on a crispy wonton. $6.

The crispy wonton looked incredibly oily, and I don't really like tuna tartare, so I skipped these.

Mushroom profiteroles, mint-pea creme friache. $5.

The mushroom profiteroles sounded better than they were.  Not that they were bad, but, don't profiteroles and crème fraîche sound awesome?  These were good, not awesome.

They were small little profiteroles, stuffed with a woodsy chopped mushroom mix, with a dot of the crème fraîche  on top.  Fine, but, well, just not very interesting.

Roasted veal herb meatballs with green peppercorn sauce over potato purée. $5

The veal meatballs were quite good.

Super moist, juicy, cooked medium (almost medium-rare actually, perhaps a tiny bit under).  They were drenched in jus and served over creamy, flavorful potato puree.

Overall, nicely executed, although not particularly memorable.  I'd prefer to have some kind of sear on the meatball to give a little crispy exterior.

Still, my favorite dish of the night and I went back for seconds.

Grilled ribeye skewers, guajillo chile jus. $7.

The ribeye skewers were so close to being delicious.

The meat was really well cooked, as you can see, still some pink, medium.  And the sauce was delicious.

But ... it was ribeye.  I took one bite, and it was tender and pretty good.  I went for my second bite, and wound up with a mouth full of fatty chewiness, and, since we didn't have silverware, I had no way to cut off a piece, and the entire chewy thing wound up in my mouth.  I did not appreciate this.

Still, delicious sauce, more creamy yummy potato puree, but, alas, ribeye.  My least favorite item.

Smoked chicken mini tacos with avocado salsa. $7.

Well, these were a surprise hit.  I actually tried these last, and didn't intend to try them at all, but curiosity got the better of me.

The taco shells looked super greasy, like the wontons I skipped.  I was pretty sure it was chicken inside.  Why would I want these?

I'm glad I tried though.  The taco shell, although, yes, greasy, was really delicious.  Crispy, oily in a good way, like a giant wonton.  I loved it.

The filling was I think smoked, shredded chicken.  It was tender and actually had a nice flavor to it.  On top was a slaw, crispy cabbage and carrots, and some creamy sauce.  The event menu lists smoked chicken tacos with avocado salsa, but I certainly didn't find any avocado salsa on these, hence my confusion as to what they really were (items were not labelled at the event).  They might have been pork?  Or duck even?

Anyway, the crispy shell and the slaw were tasty, making these my second favorite.

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Perfect Bar

I don't really like granola bars, protein bars, and the like, but, sometimes I need convenient snacks to carry with me, or to make sure I have protein to supplement my sometimes ridiculous lifestyle, and bars work well for this.  As such, I end up trying a lot of bars, surprising for an item I just don't generally like all that much.

Perfect Bars are nutrition bars, all with peanuts or almonds as the base (well, specifically, peanut or almond butter).  They are sweetened with only honey.   Like all trendy bars these days, they are non-GMO, gluten-free, kosher, full of protein, no refined sugar, laden with super foods ....

They produce 3 types of almond based bar: plain almond butter, almond acai, and almond coconut.  I didn't try any of these, since I don't generally care for almond butter.  Peanut options are Carob Chip, Fruit & Nut, Cranberry Crunch, and plain Peanut Butter (available as a mini only).

Perfect Bars however lose out in the convenient factor, because they require refrigeration and have a shorter shelf life.

Peanut Butter Mini.

"Creamy organic peanut butter meets organic honey meets 20 expertly-hidden whole foods."

The first flavor they ever made was peanut butter, so, I started with this, their first, and signature, item.

I tried a mini version, not really expecting to like these bars, and not wanting to invest in a full size bar.  The mini was indeed mini, easily finished in 2-3 bites.

The bar was a fairly solid texture, just kinda a block.  Since I had it straight from the fridge, it was also cold, and crumbled a bit.  I wonder what it would be like if it warmed up a bit?

Anyway, my 2-3 bites was only 100 calories, which is decently low given that it is a peanut butter bar, and, shockingly, the first ingredient is indeed peanut butter.  And you can tell.  It mostly just tastes like, well, peanut butter.  There was not a strange bitterness to it.  There was not an awful aftertaste.  It tasted like peanut butter, honeyed peanut butter even.

As I said, the first ingredient is peanut butter, and the second is honey, so, it actually makes sense that that is what I tasted.  The bar actually tastes like what it is made of.  There are more ingredients in it, including "Dried whole food powders", which includes kale, flax seed, rose hip, orange, lemon, papaya, tomato, apple, alfalfa, celery, kelp, dulse, carrot, and spinach, but honestly, I didn't taste any of that.  Notably, there is no "whey protein isolate", or any strange chemicals.  The only not entirely obvious ingredient is rice protein, which never tastes as nasty to me as the other proteins commonly found in bars.

Anyway, was this actually tasty?  Well, not really.  If it had some chocolate chips in it though, I could imagine liking it (they do make a version with carob chips, perhaps that would work?).  Or just something to give it a bit more oomph.  As it was, it was just a strange textured bar, that mostly tasted like honey peanut butter.

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Pino's Pizza, Boston

Pino's Pizza is a hole in the wall pizza place in Cleveland Circle in Brighton, near Boston.  It is a friend's family's favorite pizza place.  They have been visiting for years.  It seems to be an institution among others too, as it has been around since 1962, which is crazy in restaurant years.

Whenever he visits home, my friend always makes a trip to Pino's, with his entire family, including his elderly grandparents.  It is a big ordeal, but a tradition and something they absolutely love to do.  I've somehow not usually been around when they have gone, but this time, I was.  I was assured I was in for a treat.

Menu and ordering area.

Pino's is a no frills sort of place.  You order at the register.  They sell slices that are pre-cooked and just warmed when you order, or whole pies.  They also have the makings for subs.  I guess they also have some Italian dinner classics, like ravioli, ziti, shells, spaghetti, and assorted parmigiana, but we didn't order any of those.  These folks come for the pizza, and only the pizza.

It was lunchtime, and slices and subs seemed like popular items for others.

Once you order, you are given a number, and that is that.  Pizza is delivered to your table with paper plates.  Silverware and napkins are self serve.  Classic toppings such as oregano, parmesan cheese, garlic, and red pepper flakes are available in shakers at the register.

And that is that.

Cheesesteak with peppers.

I said they go for the pizza, but one diner also wanted us all to try the cheesesteak.  So we got a cheesesteak to share amongst everyone.

The bread was soft and not very fresh tasting.  The beef was well done (as in, cooked completely) and chewy.  I don't really like cooked peppers. The cheese was nicely melted at least, but there wasn't much of it.

Clearly, not my thing.

Large onion, peppers, mushrooms, "extra crispy". $18.50.

The first pizza we got was a large with onions, peppers, and mushrooms.

I liked the onions and mushrooms, both were soft and well cooked.  The topping amount was generous, nicely coating the pizza, and evenly distributed.  I didn't care for the peppers, both red and green, but, again, I don't really like cooked peppers.

The sauce was fine, simple tomato sauce.  The cheese nicely melted.  A bit greasy for my taste overall though.

The crust was rock hard.  Not charred in a nice way, just rock hard.  But, we did order it "extra crispy", as that is how the person ordering likes it.  The rest of us disagreed, but, this is her thing, so we went with it.  I thought the crust had absolutely no flavor.  No cornmeal, no oil, just ... rock hard brick of flavorlessness.

We also got a pepperoni pizza and a small cheese.  I tried a bite of the cheese, and it was much better, the crust not quite the same level of rock.

I think if you didn't ask for it extra crispy, the crust would at least not be hard to gnaw on, but it wouldn't likely be anything remarkable.

Overall, just simple pizza, not much more to say here.

Clearly, not my thing, but, I'm not really one for pizza in the first place, and, I think this place is their favorite due to all the memories.  I'll also throw in a shout out to the staff, who clearly know the family well, and treat them so very well.  They always make extra pizza bread for his grandfather to take home, as he loves to have it for breakfast the next day with classic Persian feta cheese and herbs.

Definitely an institution, just, not mine.

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Donut Savant

Have I mentioned that I love donuts?  Yeah, I love donuts.  I'm always look for an excuse to try out a new donut shop.

One place I heard great things about is Donut Savant, known mostly for the size of their donuts.  And no, not because they are huge.  Instead, they are known for having actually reasonable size donuts.  The donut holes are bigger than a standard donut hole (probably twice the size of a Munchkin, for you Dunkin' Donuts folks), a bit bigger than a golf ball.  Really, the perfect size to be able to try a few different donuts (which you know you always want to do anyway).  They also make bars that are slightly bigger, rolls that are a bit bigger still, fritters that are bigger yet, and some full size cronuts and jelly donuts.  But none are monsters.  The story goes that the owners wanted to solve the problem of having folks always hacking up donuts and leaving behind a box of carnage so they could try multiples / take less.

Since I like to try all the things, this sounded great to me.  Plus, the donuts are supposed to be excellent.  The only problem?  Um, Donut Savant is in Oakland.  Luckily, they deliver to SF!  But ... only if you order $50 of donuts.  Which, for some places, (ahem, Dynamo), is easy.  But at Donut Savant, each donut is ~$1 (even less when you buy them in person, basic holes are only $0.50!).  I needed a reason to order 50 donuts.  I finally got one, when I organized a large event for my team.  We obviously needed donuts for our morning break, right?

Ordering online and delivery were easy.  But, honestly, I didn't love the donuts (except for the fritters!).  For the most part, they were fine, but, really nothing special.  Maybe I went into it with too high of expectations?  That said, the size really was great, and the fritter was one of the best I've ever had.  I'd eat them again, but, I'll be seeking out somewhere else to try next time ...

Baker's Choice Dozen. $12.50.

"Baker's choice of a dozen assorted cake donuts plus one free specialty donut."

To make decision making easy, I opted for several boxes of Baker's Choice Dozen, which come with 12 of the donut holes, plus an extra large special one thrown in.  Our boxes of dozens included all their standard offerings: chocolate glazed, vanilla glazed, salted maple glazed, chocolate dusted, maple pecan, coconut dream, and cronuts for the extras.

From this box, I tried a donut hole, the chocolate dust (center near the top, below the pecan topped one).

Chocolate Dust Hole: "Buttermilk cake with a dark chocolate cocoa and sugar dusting."  I tried only one of the holes, since I had my eye on the specialty donuts.  It was a standard cake donut, not too dense, and coated in cocoa and sugar.  It was what it was.  Not particularly interesting, and I didn't really taste that much cocoa.

Delivered, the dozen is $12.50, pickup is $10.

Chocolate Bars - $1. Sufganiyot - $2.50. Chocolate Glazed Cronut - $2.50.

I mostly ordered boxes of the Baker's Choice Dozens, but, I did also pick out a few specific special ones.

Chocolate Bar: "Raised dough with dark chocolate frosting."

I ordered a bunch of the chocolate glazed bars, since I knew they'd bit a hit with my crowd.  They were about double the size of the holes, yet still only $1.  I didn't try one, but I'm assuming it was the same dark chocolate frosting as the others, which was fantastic.

Chocolate Glazed Cronut: "A labor of love which blends the best of a donut and a croissant. Our raised donut dough is rolled and folded like a croissant. The result: a unique combination that tastes like a donut with the flaky, layered texture of a croissant. We call this creation 'The Cron't' (rhymes with “don’t”)."

Ojan wanted a cronut, and selected the chocolate glaze.  I stole a bite before delivering it to him.  It wasn't like other cronuts I've had, in that it wasn't really layered and laminated like a croissant.  I think they used the same regular raised donut dough and just folded it differently, rather than frying a laminated dough?  It was kinda chewy.  So it wasn't really a croissant, and it wasn't really a donut.  Honestly, I wasn't impressed with the texture at all.  The chocolate ganache on top however was great, very thick, very rich, great chocolate flavor.  Cronuts are the most expensive items at $2.50 ($2 at the store), and are basically regular size donuts.

Sufganiyot: Inside.  $2.50.

"Raised dough filled with strawberry raspberry jam and dusted with cane sugar. "

This donut was the reason I was excited for Donut Savant.  I really, really love a good jelly donut.  I didn't know anything about Donut Savant's jelly donuts in particular, I just know they are my favorite donuts, so I couldn't wait to try one from a donut shop that was supposed to be all around great.

Sadly, it was the most disappointing donut I tried.  It was just a basic mediocre raised dough donut.  The dough didn't seem special in any way, not slightly sweet, and, almost even a bit stale and chewy.  It was nicely coated in sugar.

The filling ... also not great.  And there wasn't that much of it.  Really, everything about this was mediocre.

It was a standard full size donut size, and the most expensive item (besides cronuts) at $2.50.  I wouldn't get again.

Cinnamon Rolls. $1. 007 Sean Pecan-ery. $1.25.

One of my co-workers loves cinnamon rolls, so, I also got a ton of these.

Cinnamon Roll: "Raised dough cinnamon roll."

I started with a basic cinnamon roll.  These were slightly bigger than the smaller donuts, but still much smaller than any other cinnamon rolls I've seen.

It was ... fine.  The defining characteristic was the amount of cinnamon, very generous between the folds.  Nicely glazed.  Overall, solid I guess, but not particularly distinct from other cinnamon rolls, besides the smaller size.

007 Sean Pecan-ery: "Raised dough cinnamon roll with buttercream frosting & toasted pecans."

Of course, I really had my eye on the 007.  Why have just a glazed cinnamon roll when you can add frosting and pecans?  I liked the addition of the sweet frosting and crunchy pecans, and this was a far more exciting option than the plain cinnamon roll.

Apple Fritter. $1.25.

And finally, fritters.  Because, although I said I love a good jelly donut, I adore a good fritter.  I'm a sucker for fritters.

"Raised dough with granny smith apples and cinnamon."

And these delivered.  This was basically the best apple fritter ever.  For multiple reasons.

First, let's start with the apple part.  They actually had chunks of apple.  I know most fritters have some little bits of apple here or there, but in these, you could actually find the chunks, and they were good.  And I don't even really care for apple!

The dough was slightly sweet, moist inside, slightly crisp outside, nicely glazed.  Very solid.

Next, the size.  These were the second largest donuts (besides the cronuts and full size jelly donuts), about twice the size of the small ones, a little bigger than the cinnamon rolls.  Literally the most perfect size.  Plenty big enough to satisfy, but not pushing you towards feeling gross at all, which can really happen with standard super sized fritters (seriously, why are fritters always so crazy big?).  I had one after lunch (yes, after having 3 different donuts that morning), and it still didn't feel like "too much".

I really enjoyed this fritter, and would gladly get another.  Hands down favorite item I tried.

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SF Soup Company

SF Soup Company is a San Francisco based chain, started in 1999.  They have 10+ locations in San Francisco, mostly in the FiDi, as well as a handful throughout the peninsula.  As you may have guessed, they specialize in soups, but also make salads and sandwiches to go alongside.  A few of the locations also offer breakfast.

I've walked by several of the more prominent locations, in the Westfield Mall and the Metreon, many, many times.  But, soup, salads, and sandwiches aren't really my go to items.  Of course, samples are though, and often times when you walk by one of their restaurants, they are out front hawking soup or salad samples.  So, even though not a destination I'd really seek out, I've tried a number of their items over the years.

The Space

Premade Sandwiches, Soups.

Soups and sandwiches are pre-made.  They make something like 40 different soups, which rotate daily.  Even when not out front hawking soup samples, they are happy to let you sample any flavor before purchase.  Soups are served for you, in a regular or bread bowl.

Sandwiches are mostly half sandwiches, and aren't anything unexpected, your basic turkey, roast beef, tuna, and egg salad are available.  Perhaps the most interesting is the hummus wrap?  Sandwiches are clearly not the focus, but, an item added to the menu because customers don't just want soup.  They are pre-made and easy to grab and go.

Salad Making Station.

Salads are made to order.  They offer up some suggested recipes, but you can also create your own custom tossed salads.

The Food

I've tried many samples, but only stopped to purchase soup one day, when Ojan wasn't feeling well, and I wanted to bring him something comforting.

Sourdough Bread.

Soup comes with a choice of sourdough bread (a baguette chunk) or wheat roll.  I didn't want either, but Ojan opted for the sourdough.  The chunks were all a generous size, assorted pieces, including ends as he selected, or middle slices with less crust.

The bread looked fresh enough, soft and fluffy, but since I loathe sourdough, I didn't bother try it.  Ojan said it was "too sour", and only ate a few bites.  Sourdough that is ... too sour?

Soup

As I mentioned, they offer a slew of soups, and the varieties offered at any given location rotate daily.  You can check the soup schedule online.

Grandma Mary's Chicken Soup. $xx.xx

"A flavorful, soothing broth full of chunks of hand pulled Chicken, Parsnips, Carrots, Celery and Egg Noodles finished with fresh Dill. Just like Grandma Mary used to make it. "

This was for Ojan, when he was not feeling well.  I tasted the broth.  It was decently seasoned, nicely salty.  It seemed like the right sort of thing for a sick person ... if I liked soup.

The egg noodles were actually optional, and were added in by the person serving the soup.  I'm sure the gluten-free or low carb folks appreciate this.

The soup did look decent, loaded up with generous chunks of vegetable and tons of chicken.  Ojan said it was ok, appropriate for being sick.

On other walk-bys, I tried the following:

• New England Clam Chowder: “A thick, rich and creamy traditional recipe loaded with Clams from the North Atlantic and Red Skinned Potatoes. “  Tasting notes: Awful!  Fairly nasty flavor in the base, really fishy, not creamy. Clams really chewy. This was really not good. [ This time I liked it, very creamy rich base. Didn't love, but didn't hate anyway. ]
• Organic tomato bisque: “A luscious, silky, Organic Tomato and Sweet Cream soup.”  Tasting notes:  Not flavorful at all. Canned tomato soup is better.
• Organic Southwestern Corn Chowder: “A delectable blend of Roasted Corn, Red Bell Peppers and Red Skinned Potatoes simmered with Ancho, New Mexico and Chipotle Chiles. “  Tasting notes: Not bad.  Creamy, nice corn flavor, big chunks of not overcooked potato. It was a bit spicy, but the potatoes were overwhelming and mushy.
• Cream of Exotic Mushroom: “A rich, thick, pureed mushroom soup with Crimini, Oyster, Porcini, and White Mushrooms finished with a splash of Cream. “ Tasting notes: not much mushroom flavor, not very good.

Salads

Salads are available in several pre-designed recipes for entree or side salads, or you can pick your own ingredients and they are mixed to order. I haven't ever ordered a salad, but Ii've tried a few samples. Interestingly, the salads have been my favorite items.

Cranberry Kale Salad.

"Tender massaged kale with tri-colored quinoa, dried cranberries & feta cheese with meyer lemon vinaigrette." 

This salad was entirely ruined by the vinaigrette.  It was way, way too tangy.  The kale was fresh and crisp though, and I did like the quinoa, but I don't really like dried cranberries or feta, so, not much for me here, and that dressing ... ugh.

Others:

• Grilled Chicken Chipotle Salad: “Organic Mixed Greens, Grilled Chicken Breast, Roasted Corn, Jicama, Black Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Avocado, Cheddar Cheese, Organic Blue Corn Tortilla with creamy chipotle dressing”. Tasting notes: This was surprisingly good. Fairly fresh greens, nice ingredients, zesty dressing.  Cheddar cheese was generic shredded stuff though. 
• Asian Chicken Salad: “Organic Mixed Greens, Grilled Chicken Breast, Shredded Carrots, Edamame, Shredded Cabbage, Crispy Wonton, with Sesame Miso Dressing.” Tasting notes: This was tasty! Fresh greens, nice crunch from the crispy wontons, tender edamame. The sesame miso dressing was delicious, and it wasn’t over dressed. 
• Grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad: “Organic Romaine, Grilled Chicken Breast, Foccacia Croutons, Shredded Parmesan Cheese.” Tasting notes: Another pleasant surprise. The lettuce was crispy and about as good as you can hope for romaine. The dressing was zesty. The parmesan was a fairly sharp flavor, in big shreds. The croutons were a nice crunch, not stale tasting. Overall, pretty decent, although the dressing was the weakest component, not all that indistinguishable from any generic dressing from a bottle.

Breakfast

Several locations offer breakfast. The menu is simple, just oatmeal, yogurt parfaits, and frittata sandwiches. I tried the oatmeal once when, as you might be able to guess now, they were giving out samples.

• Brown Sugar and Raisins: "Organic Steel Cut Oats simmered and stirred with just a dash of Brown Sugar and hint of Cinnamon and Vanilla. " Tasting Notes: I had this as a sample, so it was lukewarm, but the oatmeal was actually pretty nice and creamy.  Not gloopy.  They had topped it with way too much brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and some plump raisins.  Not bad, actually.
• Fruit and Granola: This item has been discontinued. Tasting Notes: I had this as another sample. Again, not a bad consistency. Definitely no bad mushy, gloopy, oatmeal here.  The fruit was sweet and nice, more like a compote than fresh fruit though.  Granola on top of oatmeal was a little strange, I liked the crunch, but it was a bit odd.

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QF 73, Sydney to San Francisco

After our lovely stay in the Qantas First Class lounge, it was time to get on board QF 73, from Sydney to San Francisco.  (Yes, Qantas has started flying direct again, I no longer need to connect through LAX!)

The flight was basically what I’ve come to expect from Qantas: lovely service, uncomfortable seats with crappy storage, decent food, good wine.

The Seat

11K (bulkhead).

The aircraft was a 747-400, outfitted with standard sky beds.  We were seated on the upper deck, front row, because pickings were slim for seats together, even though we booked far in advance.  As always, I have the same complaints about these seats, there really just isn’t much storage.  It really made me appreciate the well thought out seat we had on our American Airlines flight to Sydney.  But, because we were on the upper deck, my window seat did have a large storage bins beside it, so at least I could dig for my things, even if I had no where convenient to put them near me.  Grumble.

Front Row Storage.

Since we were in the front row, we also had no seat in front of us, so our TV screens were in the arm rest, and we didn’t have as much storage in front of us, but at least we had little shoe cubbies and a slot to stow our laptops.

Besides not having good storage, the seats also aren’t very comfortable for sleeping.  While they go “flat” and are supposed to be fully flat, mine certainly wasn’t.  It was very, very sloped.  Since the seat just slides out, you can tell that people put too much weight on the bottom over the years, and it has ruined the seat, resulting in the slant.  It also had some pretty big lumps and hard spots.

I also was not impressed with the sleeping amenities.  The “mattress” is just a very thin pad, nothing like what we had on our American or Air New Zealand flights, which had actual comfortable mattresses.  The blanket is scratchy.  A single decently fluffy pillow is provided (did I mention, American gave us 2 each?).  Of course, I knew that I’d want more pillows and blankets to build a sleeping nest with, so, the moment I was on board I asked for any extras they may have.  I was told that business class was fully booked, but premium economy wasn’t, and they could steal some from down there once underway.  I kinda assumed the FA wouldn’t remember this, but, he did, showing up with another blanket and two pillows a while later.  The premium economy pillows were a bit smaller, and the blanket was totally different, super scratchy on one side, but soft on the other.  I think I liked their blanket more, but it was much heavier too.  I really appreciated the attendant snagging me these items.

Ok, so, the seat isn't great for sleeping, the pillows and blankets aren't the nicest ... but there were more reasons I got no sleep.  The flight is always hard to sleep on, as you need to try to go to bed very, very early for Sydney time (as in, 6pm!)  I didn’t even bother trying until after 8pm, but the horribly uncomfortable bed made it nearly impossible.  Add on that the fact that Qantas serves breakfast 2.5 hours from landing and the SYD-SFO direction is about 2 hours shorter than SFO-SYD,  and … there just aren’t enough hours.  On the plus side, Qantas had the best movie selection I’ve seen in years, and I was happy enough to watch movies rather than sleep.

In the future though, it will be hard for me to pick Qantas over other airlines.  I do love the service, but … I got no sleep, and that seat just drives me crazy with its lack of useful space.

Anyway, I’ve talked about this aircraft before, so, I'll spare you more ranting.

Amenity Kit.

The amenity kit came in a colorful Kate Spade bag, with a low quality eye mask, ear plugs, socks, Aspar moisturizer, hand cream, and lip balm.  Light cotton pajamas were also provided, a nice touch, not always included in business class.

Dinner

Dinner was not served until 5pm, almost two hours into our flight, which was fine with us, since we wanted it later anyway to be at a slightly more "normal" time, but it was a fair length of time from when we took off.  The salad course and drinks came by cart, but the small plates and main dishes were served individually, row by row.  The dessert was also done from a cart, with coffee, tea, and after-dinner drinks.

Sparkling Water, Tempranillo, Nuts.

Meal service began with our selection of drinks, along with which packaged snacks (brazil nuts with pretzels) were handed out.   Since I remembered not loving the shiraz last time, I opted for the other red choice, tempranillo.  It was … fine.

Dinner Menu.

Although I was provided a menu, I ordered in advance online (through Q eat), to ensure my choice was available, and to opt for the exclusive online only entree.  The full menu:

Small Plates

• Sweetcorn and basil soup with grilled focaccia.
• Confit salmon with smoked tofu, pickled daikon, ginger and lemon dressing.
• Tomato, mozzarella and basil calzone.*
• Tapas plate of jamon serrano, piquillo pepper, tortilla and gordal olives.*

Main Plates

• Roast pumpkin with udon noodles, miso eggplant, mushroom broth and soy beans (vegetarian)
• Crumbed blue eye with tarragon tartare sauce, roasted chat potatoes and crushed peas.
• Lamb kofta, celery, carrot and harissa mayonnaise in warm pita bread.*
• Tandoori chicken with basmati rice, roast cauliflower, spinach and mint raita.
• Roasted pork cutlet with onions and sage, soft polenta, roast cherry tomatoes and rocket. 
• Panzanella salad with anchovies, basil and balsamic dressing. (Online exclusive)

Dessert

• Selection of cheese served with accompaniments
• Almond rice pudding with glazed peaches and praline
• Maggie Beer ice cream
• Seasonal fruit*
• Valrhona chocolates*

Items with the * were available anytime during the flight, as were Red Rock Deli chips and another dessert (lemon coconut slice).

Mixed Greens.

To start, we were brought little bowls of salad greens, and offered balsamic or palm sugar vinaigrette.

The greens were boring, the dressing was mostly just oil.  Meh.  I declined the bread offering, sliced sourdough and multi-seed, served warm, with cultured butter on our trays.  The butter was tasty.

The Salad: After

The salad was fairly over-dressed, with tons of dressing pooling up in the bottom.  Maybe I should have gotten bread to dip into it?  I wonder if you can ask for dressing on the side?  It was added by the FA when she served it to me.

Panzanella salad with anchovies, basil and balsamic dressing. (Online Exclusive)

"A simple salad of quality Roma tomatoes marinated in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, with fresh spring vegetables and chunks of toasted sourdough. It is accented with clean flavoured, savoury Spanish anchovies and fresh basil."

For the main, I really, really struggled in picking a dish.  I hoped that Ojan would want to share with me, so we could get the crumbed blue eye with tartare sauce and the Q Eat special panzanella, but, alas, he wanted the lamb kofta.  Doh.  I think I changed my selection online about 5 times in the week before the flight.  Finally, I settled for the panzanella, when I saw that it is an item normally only on the First Class menu and offered in business only as part of Q Eat online ordering, and, when I realized I’d have crumbed fish with mayo in the lounge right before, making more crumbed fish and tartar sauce unnecessary.  Thus, the panzanella.

Even though the panzanella was listed as a main, it was served as my starter. The attendant came with a calzone and a panzenella, and I thought they were both for me, assuming that they just did the entire meal in one service.  Nope.  The calzone was for Ojan, since he ordered a calzone as his starter, and the panzanella was for me as my starter, even though listed as a main.  Confusing, but, to be fair, this order made more sense, it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Anyway, the panzenella was not really a panzenella at all.  The bread component was ... 6 croutons.  Croutons do not a panzenella make.  They make a regular salad, garnished with croutons.

The base was sliced fennel, tiny cubes of carrot, red pepper, cucumber, celery, and capers  On top were slices of roma tomato, fresh basil leaves, and a few sliced anchovies.

The veggies were fresh and good enough, but, it was really, really overdressed.  Drowned in balsamic vinaigrette, even worse than the starter salad.  Really a shame, since I think this could have been quite good, and was obviously a higher end dish, with the fresh basil and everything clearly applied by the staff prior to serving.

Decent ingredients, decent plating, but, spoiled by the dressing application.  Maybe this FA just had a heavy hand?

Tomato, mozzarella and basil calzone.

“Originating in Naples, calzone is a stuffed pizza that resembles a large turnover.  Our calzone is filled with a mixture of parmesan and mozzarella, rich tomato sauce and basil. It is brushed with olive oil, baked and served fresh from the oven with a delicate baby leaf salad dressed with balsamic dressing.”

For my small plate, I selected the calzone, because it seemed like it would have potential to be done decently on an airplane.  I suppose the corn soup would too, but I never order soup.  But actually, given how full I was from my lounge feast, a little soup and bread sounded a lot more appealing than a big heavy calzone.  Whoops.  I guess that is one downside to pre-ordering, you can't modify based on how you feel at the time. 

Ojan also opted for the calzone for his starter, so, alas, I wasn’t able to try a second starter either.  I had assumed he’d go for the confit salmon!  He really wasn't helping with my desire to try more things.

Calzone: Inside.

Anyway, the calzone.  It was … pretty awful.  The filling was just mushy tomato sauce.  I honestly didn’t taste any cheese.  I didn’t like the flavor of the sauce.  It was very, very bready, and the dough wasn’t good either.  The crust was hard and almost burnt.  I was so confused by the lack of cheese that I interrupted Ojan to ask if his had come with cheese.  I really thought it was somehow left out of mine.  He said no.

The only good thing I can say about it is that it was served hot.  The crust was hard and not really doughy, and the filling I hated.

Lamb kofta, celery, carrot and harissa mayonnaise in warm pita bread.

"Spiced lamb koftas are grilled and served in warmed pita bread with pickled celery, carrot, red cabbage and harissa mayonnaise. Harissa is a North African pepper paste made with coriander, fennel and cumin seeds cooked with capsicum, garlic, palm sugar and chilli powder then blended into a smooth paste."

For his main, Ojan went for the lamb kofta.  Since I hate lamb, I never thought I’d even want a bite of his, but, I was so disappointed by my calzone, and I saw he wasn’t eating the last third of either of his pita pockets.  He ate the lamb kofta out of each pocket (2 balls in each), and discarded the extra pita bread with fillings.  I couldn’t resist trying.

And … it was good!  The pita, standard white pita, was served warm and was quite soft.  The shredded carrots, red cabbage, celery were crunchy and flavorful, slightly tangy from being pickled, and all the harissa mayo leaked down into the veggies.  So, fresh crunchy veggies, creamy mayo, and nice bread?  Totally tasty, and I quite enjoyed his discards.  Who needs the lamb?  His dish was clearly the best, and actually really satisfying.

Almond rice pudding with glazed peaches and praline.

To say I was thrilled when I saw the dessert selection is an understatement.  I love puddings and rice pudding is no different.  Plus, garnished with sweet fruit and praline?  Yes!  Of course, I also had my eyes on the ice cream, Maggie Beer brand.  Our selection of the day was burnt fig, honeycomb, and caramel.  I had a really hard time picking, but, since I had gelato in the lounge just hours before, I decided the pudding was more unique.

The pudding was … fine.  It was different from any rice pudding I’ve ever had.  The grains of rice seemed almost more like farro, they were very thick, but decently cooked, not mushy or too hard.  The sauce too was thick, I guess almond flavored?  I’m really not sure where the almond was in here, it tasted more vanilla than anything else.  I would have liked more spicing, like cinnamon perhaps?  And some nuts mixed in?

The praline crumble on top was good, sweet, and nice to mix in for texture.  I wanted more.  Or, like I said, some nuts mixed into the pudding.

The peaches were gross though, clearly from a can.

Overall, fine, but certainly not great.

Ojan opted for the fruit platter, with kiwi, passionfruit, and a melon.  The fruit all looked pretty ripe and good.

Dessert Wine.

To go along with my dessert, I also opted for a little of the dessert wine, which was sweet and delicious.  It was probably the highlight of my meal.

Vahlrona chocolates were also served with dessert, milk or dark chocolate. 

Breakfast

Breakfast Menu.

The breakfast menu is always hanging at the seat when you board, ready to fill out before take off, so your custom breakfast can be delivered to your seat with minimal interruption in the morning.  The menu was the same as my previous Qantas flights, with continental selections of muesli, fruit, yogurt, toast, croissants, and a breakfast pastry (blueberry danish this time), and three hot items.  You can also choose the express breakfast of just a danish and coffee, or choose to not be woken at all.

Drinks

• Orange juice
• Apple juice
• Watermelon and ginger energiser

Continental Breakfast

• Fruit salad (with yoghurt optional)
• Brookfarm toasted muesli (with low fat or full cream milk)
• Toast
• Croissant
• Blueberry Danish
• Berry jam, marmalade, honey, vegemite.

Full Breakfast

• Free range scrambled eggs on toast with bacon, hash browns, and mushrooms
• Spinach and feta baked egg with cherry tomato salsa
• Sour cherry french toast with mascarpone and cherries

As I mentioned, you pre-order breakfast from a card before takeoff.  Qantas serves breakfast between 2-2.5 hours before landing, earlier than most other airlines.  While I was grumpy at American Airlines for not having a “real” breakfast, their quick, continental style breakfast did mean that they served it only an hour out, which really makes a difference when it comes to sleep, particularly in the SYD-SFO direction, as the flight time is nearly two hours shorter.  I rolled over at one point, and immediately in my ear was the flight attendant, “Ms. Parent, are you having breakfast?”  I pulled off my eye mask, blinked, and looked around.  It was still dark.  I said, “uh … yes, can I wait a little while though?”  She told me that no, they were serving breakfast then.  Oooh.  I said ok, and got up to use the bathroom first.  I joined the line of two people, both of whom were changing, putting in contacts, putting on makeup, etc.  I saw my food arrive within moments of my standing up to join the line.  It was getting cold.  But a line was forming behind me.  If I went back to grab a bite, I’d get stuck waiting even longer, and I did need to use the bathroom.  Sigh.  So, the breakfast flow certainly didn’t go as planned.  Beside me, Ojan kept sleeping.  About 30 minutes later, after I’d finally used the bathroom and eaten, the FA asked me to wake him for breakfast.  Ugh.  I could have waited that long too then, right?  Why did she make me eat before I was ready?

Anyway, grumpiness aside, I really do appreciate that they offer warm interesting breakfast pastries and always a warm breakfast carb (french toast, pancakes, waffles, etc).

Blueberry Danish.

On my last Qantas flight from Sydney to LAX, I loved my rhubarb, brown sugar, and cream cheese danish.  So, when I saw a blueberry danish on the menu, I knew I was getting it.  It was served warm.  It was huge.  It was a different style though, no cream cheese, no artistic edges, this was just a standard danish.

And … it was seriously overcooked.  It was hard as a rock.  I’m not exaggerating here.  It really was rock hard and basically inedible.  The blueberry goo in the center was tasty though, and the pastry seemed like it had a nice buttery taste and would be flaky, but alas, ruined by the oven.  When I got up to use the bathroom later, I saw that every danish, croissant, and piece of toast went unfinished in the cabin.  Clearly, someone had the oven up too high and didn’t realize it, which, now that I think about it, also applied to my calzone ...

Sour cherry french toast with mascarpone and cherries.  Decaf coffee. Sparkling water.

For my main, I obviously went for the french toast.  The presentation was nice.

I’m sure it was warm when it was served, but, alas, I was stuck in the bathroom line, so it was basically room temperature when I got to it.  It was still pretty good though.

The bread looked like raisin bread, but, I guess it was cherry.  I wouldn’t really call it “french toast” though, it didn’t seem eggy, soaked, fluffy, or any of those things.  It really just seemed like toast, flavorful toast, but, toast.  Like the calzone and danish, it too was overcooked.  I really think they had a temperature problem in the oven.  The crusts were actually nearly black, and it was really hard.  Luckily, I could coat it in the delicious toppings and it wasn’t too bad, and I like some crunch, but, it was clearly over cooked.

The toppings were great though.  The sour cherry compote on top was flavorful, full of juicy cherries. I adore mascarpone, and I was provided a generous scoop on top.  I was going to say dollop, but, this was far more than a dollop.

So, even though the toast was overcooked, the tasty toppings made up for it, and I did almost enjoy this.  I’d like it even more if it were warm and fluffy.  This was better than the pancakes with raspberries and mascarpone I had on my Qantas flight from LAX to Sydney last year.

Ojan had the spinach and feta baked egg with cherry tomato salsa.  I had no interest in trying the eggs (it looked like a frittata), but he didn’t eat his tomatoes.  Normally, when someone leaves something behind it is because it is gross, but, you know me, I still needed to try it.  I actually really liked the cherry tomatoes, baked so they were blistered, in a flavorful marinate, perhaps balsamic?  Savory, and really fairly tasty.  I don’t know why he rejected them.  His dish also came with a piece of turkish bread on the side.  As you can guess, it was rock solid, nearly a weapon.  Seriously, that oven.

The decaf coffee was standard instant, and not very good.

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