Waffling Leftovers: Buffalo Cauliflower

Today's adventures in Waffling Leftovers* isn't quite a success story.  Hey, sometimes it happens.  I haven't kept stats exactly, but I think that about 60% of the time, my waffling experiments are fine, (good, but not life changing), 20% of the time they manage to transform my leftovers in magical ways (I'm looking at you pizza, donuts, and more!), and then, like this, 20% of the time they pretty much fail.  But hey, I still have fun with it.

*please go read my master post to understand what I'm talking about, if this concept is foreign to you ...

Today's story also involves two totally different adventures in buffalo cauliflower leftovers - one batch prepared at a fancy restaurant, one prepared at home.

And one success, and one ... not so success.

Attempt #1 - Buffalo Cauliflower from Pine Restaurant

The first attempt was the least successful.

Buffalo Cauliflower ... Quasi-Waffled.

Here is the "transformation" of my leftover buffalo cauliflower ...

Buffalo Cauliflower: Will it Waffle?  The answer is clear.  Uh, no.

The Original: Buffalo Cauliflower with Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese.

The original dish was "buffalo cauliflower", from Pine restaurant in Hanover, NH.

Buffalo cauliflower is sorta what it sounds like - imagine treating cauliflower like chicken wings, smothering it in hot sauce, and serving with blue cheese (in this case, chunks of blue cheese and a drizzle on top).

The original was perfectly tasty, spicy, quasi-fried cauliflower, pungent blue cheese, but, our group was clearly not going to be able to finish all our appetizers, so I nominated this one to be saved for leftovers, imagining it would not only keep better than the others, but, also, perhaps it would waffle ...

Cold Leftovers ...

I had some of the leftovers cold first.  The cauliflower was soft and even hotter (spicier) than originally, as the hot sauce had permeated the cauliflower even further.  It was perfectly fine cold, and I considered not waffling it, and just tossing it with some greens to make a buffalo cauliflower salad.

Cooking on the Waffle Iron ...

But, my plan was to waffle it, so waffle if it I did.

I didn't think about this very well though.  I just put it into the waffle iron (350 degrees), and let it go.  I didn't try to bind it with anything, no crusting, etc.  Just, the cauliflower and little bit of remaining blue cheese

I'm not sure what I expected to happen, but when I opened the lid after a bit to check on it, I had to laugh.  Yup, cauliflower wasn't suddenly going to form into a patty and become a waffle ...

Still, I thought it would get crispy, and that is what I was going for.

It never did.  I let it go longer and longer, and even cranked the heat up, hoping for crispy bits, but, it never happened.  Once it reached the "I'm about to turn into a horribly burnt mess" phase, I gave up, and tried to remove it.  But of course it didn't remove easily, as nothing was stuck together.  Doh.

Kale Salad Topped with "Waffled" Buffalo Cauliflower.

I decided to serve it over baby kale, going back to my original idea of enjoying the leftovers as a salad, even though the cauliflower was now warm.  It was ... fine I guess, but really just heated up cauliflower, and reheating it in any other way would have been equally effective.  The waffle iron didn't add anything to it, and, I think it actually was better cold.

Clearly, not an experiment to repeat.

Attempt #2: Homemade Buffalo Caufliflower

Except, well, I did repeat it, just with a very different batch of buffalo cauliflower.  Homemade even.

Buffalo Cauliflower Transformation.

I'm not entirely sure why, but batch #2, using a totally different base, worked much, much better.

So now, when you ask, "Leftover Buffalo Cauliflower: Will it Waffle?", my answer is ... YES!

The Original: Buffalo Cauliflower with Blue Cheese and Shaved Fennel.

The original dish this time was made by my mother as a appetizer for our Christmas eve party.  The cauliflower was battered and baked, then tossed with Frank's hot sauce and baked again, then topped with blue cheese crumbles and shaved fennel.

I really liked the battered cauliflower, but next time I'd drizzle blue cheese dressing rather than just blue cheese crumbles on top, to provide more creaminess and counterbalance to the spice.  The shaved fennel was perfect, a more sophisticated version of celery, basically.

A tasty dish in its original form.

Leftover Buffalo Cauliflower.

The leftovers were fine cold, although the batter was now mushy, and that wasn't quite appealing.  Spicy flavor was still there, nicely complimented by the blue cheese.

Into the waffle iron ...

It was my mother who suggested waffling this, and I actually had forgotten my previous attempt, so I didn't raise any red flags.  We put it into the iron, no modifications, at 350 degrees.

Waffled Buffalo Cauliflower: Success!

About 7 minutes later, I raised the lid to find a perfect cauliflower waffle, albeit a bit burnt ... I got distracted and wasn't checking on it carefully enough.  It extracted perfectly.

This one worked great.  I think the batter on the cauliflower was the key, as it helped bind it together in a way the other version did not.

This, drizzled with some blue cheese dressing, and topped with shaved fennel, was perfect.  Spicy, crispy, creamy ... better than the original, and a fully composed dish, which, I totally failed to take a photo of.

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Redhook Brewery Private Event, Seattle Area

Redhook is a brewery in the Seattle area that also randomly has a facility in New Hampshire, my home state.  But that doesn't mean I had heard of it before, as I'm not a beer drinker.  Which I'm sure raises questions about why I'm writing about a brewery.

I'm not writing about a brewery, exactly.  I'm writing about the experience of hosting a private event at their facility.

It had shockingly good food.

Setting

The private space we had was upstairs, above the regular restaurant/pub, at the Woodinville location.

Large Space.

The space was huge, with plenty of banquet tables for dining.

Cozy High Tables.

Along the edges of the room were also high tables, with high stools, for more intimate convo.

Production Facility.

You could also see into the production facility through a viewing area.

Food & Drink

The event team was very easy to work with, and they had many different easily configurable packages to choose from.

We ordered an appetizer buffet and a main dinner buffet.

Wine!

While it is a brewery, they did also have a nice wine line up.  We were all pleasantly surprised by how good some of the wine was.

Beer, on Tap.

Of course the focus is the beer, on tab, along with cider.  We had a private bar in the space, with a bartender all night.

Appetizers

We started with an appetizer buffet.

These were the items I was most excited for, but ended up not really liking.  I was worried after trying the appetizers that we were in for some horrible food.  Luckily, I just needed to wait and get past them.

House-Made Spinach Artichoke Dip with sliced French baguettes.

This I didn't care for.

It was mushy, not very flavorful.  Served with basic baguette slices on the side.

Redhook Wings with celery sticks + bleu cheese dip.

"Chicken wings tossed in Longhammer IPA BBQ Sauce."

I don't like chicken so I skipped the wings, although I did try some of the bits that fell off and were left behind in the serving pan so I could taste the flavor of the coating.  It was ... fine.  Not exciting.

The menu said we would have celery sticks and blue cheese dip, but alas, we had no celery sticks. Those are the part of wings that I actually like! (Ok, yeah, maybe I just like the dip).

Baked Brie En Croute.

"French brie, puff pastry, apricot jam, dried fruits, nuts, crackers + fresh bread."

This is the app I ordered mostly because I really wanted it.  I love warm gooey baked brie and I adore pastry.

It was pretty mediocre.

Sadly it was not served warm, so no ooey gooey cheese as I hoped.

The pastry not particularly flalky nor buttery.  It was supposed to have apricot jam in it as well, but it did not.  That component would have provided some flavor and sweetness to pair nicely with the cheese.

The candied nuts were kinda bitter.

Sadness.

Brewery Pretzel Bites with white cheddar ESB sauce + whole grain mustard.

The pretzel nuggets were pretty standard, nothing special.  

But the cheese sauce was great!  Warm, smooth, cheesy, quite flavorful.  I really liked it.

There was also a grainy mustard on the side.

This was the best of the appetizers, just for the cheese sauce, but paled in comparison to what was to come next.

Mount St. Helen's Dinner

As I mentioned, I expected to like the apps and not really the main dinner, but the opposite is what happened.

The menu we had was the "Mount St. Helen's", priced at $22 per person.  Our package seemed pretty simple: salad, chips & dip, sausages and hotdogs.  Not exactly exciting.

Other menus were things like the "Mount Rainier" made of sandwiches, "Belltown" a burger bar, "Market Street" a taco bar, "Greenwood Ave" a gyro bar, "Pike Street" the pasta bar, "Phinney Ridge" the Mexican "fiesta", "Golden Gardens" the bbq buffet, and then some fancier, higher priced buffets with things lie pork chops, prime rib, steaks, rack of lamb and salmon, but these were double the price.

I had the ability to choose one salad for the group (from a choice of mixed greens, ceasar, or argula & ham), the choice of 2 mains (2 styles of brat, hot dog, or reuben), and the rest was fixed: fruit platter, chips & dip, and cookies.  More on that later point soon.

I also opted to have our french fries from the appetizer package served with the main dinner, as that seemed more fitting than as appetizers.

House Salad.

"Mixed field greens salad with candied walnuts, grape tomato, pickled red onion, house ranch + IPA parmesan vinaigrette."

We started with salad, which people seemed to appreciate.  The first thing to run out all night!

I tried it, it was ... just salad.  The candied walnuts here were also bitter.  Greens were fresh enough.

I tried the ranch, it was ... just ranch.

House Parmesan Chips + Chipotle Ranch.

And then "chips".

ZOMG, THESE WERE GREAT!

Housemade chips, all assorted sizes and shapes, some really huge.  Some were crispy, some were soft, both were enjoyable in their own way.

They were coated generously in parmesan too.

Very, very good chips.

But the dip?  WOW.  I love, love, loved this.  Spicy, creamy, just downright incredible.

The night was looking up.

I also brought some of these back to the hotel with me (the event staff were encouraging us to take leftovers, gave us boxes and everything).  I really, really enjoyed them the next night.

Swoon, that dip.

Second best dish of the night.

Seasoned French Fries with ketchup + house ranch dip.

The chips were very good, but nothing prepared me for how amazing these fries were.  Yes, the fries.  From a buffet.  Some of the best fries I've had in years.

Much like the chips, they came in many assorted sizes, some crazy long.  They were perfectly crispy outside.  Fluffy inside.  Really well seasoned.  And just really tasty.

I only took a few on my plate to start, just to try them, and was shocked.  I immediately went back for more.   And more.  And more after dessert.  And more on my way out the door at the end of the night.  They were just too good to resist.

I can't explain it.  They were in a buffet.  I know this.  But they stayed hot and ridiculously fresh somehow.  I had some even an hour later, and they were *still* good.

The menu said they would come with house made ranch dip, but they did not.  We did have ranch with the salad though, so people could have used that I suppose if they wanted.

Of course, I was dunking them generously in the chipotle ranch, because it was just so good, but even without, they were just fries perfection.

Dish of the night, no question.

Nathan's Beef Hot Dog.

For the entrees, we had two different types of composed sausage, except they came broken down into components so guests could assemble their own.

The hot dog was for the "Volcanic Chili Dog", which was listed as "Nathan's beef hot dog, chili, cheese blend, on pioneer roll."

I did not have the hot dog, as I don't love beef hot dogs, and opted for the other option.  They did look like they were actually all grilled though.

I'm not sure what "pioneer rolls" are, but there were regular buns on the side.

Chili.

The chili was also on the side, beef and bean chili.  I didn't try it either.

The menu said there would be a cheese blend, but alas, there was not.

Most people never figured out that the chili was to put on the hot dogs (or on the fries too even?), so this went largely untouched.

Uli's Jalapeno Cheddar Brat with Caraway Sauerkraut.

"All natural pork infused with bold spices, cheddar, and jalapenos. This one's on the spicier end of the sausage spectrum."

Next was brats, for a dish listed as "Jalapeno Cheddar Brat with caraway sauerkraut, whole grain mustard, pretzel bun."

There was no whole grain mustard, although there was beer mustard over with the pretzel bites on the appetizer table that some people went back to get.

There was no pretzel buns, only the plain ones that seemed to go with the hot dogs.  Which is too bad, because pretzel buns sounded great.

I didn't try the kraut, under the brats, since I don't care for kraut.

But I did try a brat, and ... I really liked it.  I was pretty surprised, and to be honest, didn't plan to have one at all, and only took one because I didn't think I'd like the fries/chips very much, hadn't eaten much from the lackluster appetizers, and was worried I should be responsible at eat something "real" before moving onto dessert.

Like the hot dogs, they were actually all individual grilled, grill marks and all.  Nice snap to the casings.  Super flavorful filling, a bit spicy, really well seasoned.  The meat was pork although that wasn't obvious, the flavor fairly masked by everything else going on.  It was kinda chunky and a strange texture, but, I liked it.

Overall, good, far better than expected.

Dessert

We had a package that had only cookies (and fruit) as an option, and I worked hard to make sure we had "real" dessert.

Red Hook did have an a la carte dessert menu for events, all bite sized things: cookies, brownies, (including bacon bourbon ones!), cheesecake squares, bread pudding bites, and the like.  These came priced at $4 each, but weren't that much more exciting to me than the cookies.  These still don't qualify as "real" desserts to me.

 I was able to add on real desserts.  The desserts were fabulous.

Fruit Platter.

This was part of the dinner package.

Due to my severe allergy, we explicitly said not to include melon in the fruit platter.  And ... melon.
I obviously stayed far away.  Not that the fruit looked very tempting anyway.

I did mention it to the event planner, who immediately remembered and felt awful.  She brought out other fruit platters without it, and removed this from our bill.

Spiced Bread Pudding with Bourbon Caramel Sauce.

First up was the bread pudding.  I was very excited for this one ... bread pudding with bourbon caramel? And whipped cream on the side.  Served warm.  Yes!

It was ... only ok.

The bread pudding was highly spiced, and had raisins in it.  Too much spicing for me, or at least, I guess I'm just not that into "fall spices", you know, pumpkin spice season ...

The bread was pretty dense, although it was the cube style I like.  Not the best base, and a bit burnt on top as you can see.

But the sweet sticky bourbon caramel was excellent.  I got as much of that as I could, and it helped quite a bit.

I give them major points for serving this warm, and keeping it warm throughout service, but my least favorite dessert, and I wasn't compelled to go back for more of this one.

Triple Berry Cobbler.

"Strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries topped with an oatmeal crumble."

The berry cobbler was decent, again, served warm, which I really appreciated.

The fruit was soft and stewed, fairly sweet, but also a bit tart.  It too was spiced in a way I didn't love, but not nearly as strongly.

The crumble top was decent, a mix of oats and whatnot.

Overall, a standard crisp, well executed.

I had some the next day (they offered us togo boxes at the end to take stuff home with us!), and it was actually even better cold.  I might have had it for breakfast.  And I might have loved it.

My second favorite dessert.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream.

I adore them for including this.  A huge bowl of cinnamon whipped cream, to put on either dessert.  Lots of cinnamon flavor, excellent.

Cookies: Triple chocolate chunk, white chocolate cranberry.

And finally, the cookies, included in the dinner package.

There were supposed to be two other kinds (chocolate chip, gingerbread), but we had only two kinds.  Which was plenty, with all the food.  They provided 40 (?) cookies for our group of 80, and I think that fewer than 10 were consumed.  Which meant, some people left with cookies, and I, the girl who doesn't really like cookies, eventually tried one.

I'm glad I did.  Because they were really good.  Perfect texture, super soft.  Buttery.  Sweet.

I went for the non-chocolate one, not realizing it was cranberry, and I even loved the cranberry.  What?! I always complain about hard little dried cranberries.  These weren't hard, they were soft and tart and flavorful and the flavor went great with the white chocolate.  The white chocolate chunks were huge and sweet and creamy.

I took one home even for the next day, and loved it then too.

My favorite of the desserts, yes, even compared to the warm fruit crisp and the warm bread pudding.  Pretty sure that is a first.

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Waffling Leftovers: Skillet-Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses

Update Review: December 2017

When I visit my family, my mother often makes a wonderful 5 cheese pasta dish that we call "grown up mac and cheese" from a Smitten Kitchen recipe that we have tweaked a bit.  And when we grow sick of traditional leftovers, my mother and I both really enjoy waffling it, which, you've read about before.

Waffling Transformation: Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

There isn't much new to this story, as its a repeat of something we have done many times.

So the answer to this one is pretty expected - Leftover Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses, Will It Waffle?  Yup.

The Original: Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

The original dish this time was slightly different from our previous adventures.  It is usually cooked in a cast iron skillet and finished under a broiler, but this time it was served as part of a big Christmas Eve feast, so we couldn't quite do the more fussy preparation.  And honestly, I think my mom just forgot about the cast iron skillet.

So, this was the same recipe, just, baked in a regular casserole dish.  It also had a bit more cheese on top, I think mom was feeling decadent.

Leftover Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

The leftovers are always good, but, reheating them results in the oils running out, and cold, it is a bit dry.

Waffling ...

So into the waffle iron we put it, no crusting, 350 degrees, about 5 minutes.

Waffled Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

It crisped up perfectly, extracted easily ,and was a success as always.

Why doesn't everyone waffle their leftover cheesy pasta?

Original Review, July 2017

Another installment of waffling leftovers, using leftovers I suspected would waffle great: leftover pasta.

I've waffled many other pasta dishes over the years, like mac and cheese, tuna noodle casserole, lasagna, and even choroizo wrapped pesto pasta, so when I had two-day old pasta that needed life breathed into it, I knew where to turn.  My waffle iron.

Waffling Transformation: Skillet-Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

The answer to this one is pretty straightforward - Leftover Skillet-Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses, Will It Waffle?  Yup.

The Original, Unbaked.

The original was a Smitten Kitchen recipe, pasta shells mixed with 5 cheeses, herbs, and tomatoes, baked in a cast iron skillet, and topped with lots more cheese.

My mom made this a few years ago, and it was a hit with the whole family, so she continues to make it when I visit, tweaking it a bit through the years (we use more herbs, her homemade chunky tomato sauce, a different mix of cheeses).

The Original: Skillet-Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

I always enjoy the original, as the cast iron skillet and broiled top (optional step, but, totally recommended) yield plenty of crispy bits.  I'm all about the crispy bits.  We add plenty of ricotta for creaminess, and a smoked cheese or two to enhance the flavor, and, well, this dish is a winner.

This year, she made a double batch, one in a cast iron skillet (as per the recipe) and one in another baking pan, to compare.  It meant we had a LOT of pasta leftover.

And I knew the waffle iron would help me out with even more crispy bits.

Leftover Pasta.

We ate leftovers one day, reheated traditionally.  It was fine, although, like mac and cheese, some separation occurred, and oils ran out.

I also had some cold, which I've enjoyed in the past, a la pasta salad, but, this time it was just a bit too dry.

Waffling ... 

By day three, the waffle iron is where I turned.  At my mom's request.  She wanted to try it waffled!

So into the waffle iron a chunk went, 350°.  I let it go a fairly standard amount of time, just under 10 minutes probably.

It extracted easily.

Waffled Skillet-Baked Pasta with Five Cheeses.

The pasta waffle was exactly as I expected it to be.

Lots of crispy exterior, formed by both the pasta and the cheese.  So many little crispy bits.  The shells in particular were a fun choice, since they had more interesting contact points with the waffle iron than flat pasta like lasagna does.

The cheese didn't run out, which surprised me a bit, but perhaps this mix of cheeses (mostly hard cheeses), just worked better than the softer cheeses used formac and cheese, where I've had this problem a bit?

Anyway, it was a fine, crispy pasta waffle, although it did lose the creaminess of the original.  My mom enjoyed it topped with steamed collard greens.

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MIX Poke Bar, Bellevue

Poke.  Poke bowls.  One of the latest fads for sure, and although it has hit San Francisco it isn't too bad, but the same cannot be said for Los Angeles and Seattle.  Seriously, everywhere.

As I haven't been into raw fish lately, poke isn't particularly interesting to me, except that poke bowl places have tons of mix-ins, toppings, and sauces.  Um, I live for toppings and sauces.  And they usually some interesting protein options besides just standard raw tuna (crab salad! Scallops! Octopus!)

So when I arrived in Bellevue, WA on a Sunday evening and didn't have the energy to go out to a real restaurant, poke it was.

I had my choice of at least 3 different poke places all within half a block of my hotel, but I went for MIX Poke Bar, the one with the highest Yelp ratings.

MIX Poke Bar is fairly new, open only a year, located in Bellevue Square mall.

Ordering Window.

"MIX Poke Bar puts a modern spin on the traditional Hawaiian dish while respecting the history and culture of where it came from. "

MIX Poke Bar is a very casual place, located on the sidewalk basically next to The Cheesecake Factory outside the Macy's in Bellevue Square mall.

They have no seating, and really, it is just a open ordering area to the outside.

The menu is poke bowls.  There are lots of customization, all included in the price, but besides that, the menu contains only bags of chips (Hawaiian chips), soft drinks (Hawaiian Sun), poke by the pound, and macaroons.

The first thing you select is the size, ranging from "Regular" with 2 proteins for $12 to "X-Large" with 4 proteins for $16.  I'm not sure if the amount of the base changes too, or just the proteins?  There is no option for a single protein, but probably you can just select one and double up?

The next decision is what your base will be.  Salad greens, white rice, brown rice, or tortilla chips.

I went for the smallest size since I wasn't actually very hungry, with salad greens as my base, because I don't like rice.  I was planning to get the chips actually, but the person before me got chips, and I saw they were just tortilla chips.  Somehow I thought they'd be more interesting than that.

With your bowl size determined, and the base added to it in, it is time to continue down the assembly line.

Proteins.

Next up is your choice of protein.  Choices here include standard raw offerings (tuna, salmon), cooked seafood (shrimp, octopus), a non-seafood option (chicken), and vegetarian option (tofu).

The only protein I really wanted from this section was the octopus, but I picked salmon as my second since I was required to pick two, and, I figured I could hedge my bets.  I certainly didn't want chicken or tofu, and I'm just not really into raw seafood these days, but, I do still sometimes like raw salmon, and I was in the Pacific Northwest after all!

Your protein is put into a metal bowl for mixing with the mix-ins, not into the container with your base.

Mix-Ins.

Next is, well, the mix-ins.

Green onion slivers, slices of sweet white onion, cubes of cucumber, thin slices of jalapeno, and ogo (seaweed).

I don't like cucumbers so I skipped that, and was planning to add many things in the next station, so I left out the jalapeno and sweet onion, but added the green onion and ogo since I thought they'd compliment my upcoming selections well.

These were added to the bowl with my proteins.

Sauces.

Next, sauce and sprinkles.

The sauce choices all sounded pretty interesting: House Shoyu, Creamy Spicy, Sweet + Savory Miso, Gochujang Ponzu.  I narrowed down to creamy spicy (because, um, I love creamy sauces) and sweet + savory miso (because, uh, miso), and asked for a recommendation.  I was told that they are both great, and that people love to mix them.  I didn't know that was an option!  Of course I wanted to mix.

The sauces are normally added to the metal mixing bowl with the protein and mix-ins, but I asked to have mine on the side, for two reasons: first, what if I didn't like it!  But second, I wasn't planning to eat it right away, and I didn't want it to get mushy.  

This was no problem, and my sauce mix was made into a little container on the side instead.   The person making my bowl recommended that I still add sesame oil to the mix then, which I agreed to.  She also offered sesame seeds from the shaker, which I also said yes to.

Toppings.

The final station is why I was really there.  Honestly, if I could have just gotten toppings, I would have.

Krab salad, seaweed salad, masago, wasabi, ginger, furikake, crispy onions, and edamame.

I left off the edamame and roe, but went for everything else.

Regular. $12.

So, my final creation: Regular size, mixed green base, tako and salmon proteins mixed with green onion and ono tossed with sesame oil and sesame seeds, topped with krab salad, seaweed salad, ginger, wasabi, furikake, and extra crispy onions, with spicy creamy + sweet and savory miso sauce mix on the side.

I think I selected well, although, poke bowls just really aren't for me.  I still enjoyed most of it.

I'm not a big salad eater, but, the greens were good, a pretty standard mix of "salad greens", that is, baby spinach, a few slightly bitter lettuces, some standard green leaf.  All fresh enough, and delicious dunked in the sauce, and tasty where the sesame oil soaked in.

The proteins though ... I did not like.  At all.  The tako I was pretty excited for.  I adore octopus, and I've been on an octopus kick lately.  But this ... this was every reason people don't like octopus.  It was sooo chewy, rubbery.  I really couldn't get through it with my teeth.  It had no flavor, only chew.  I love a nice smoky grilled octopus, but this ... yeah.  I tried a few different pieces, different sizes, different parts, hoping something would be salvageable, but alas, no.

The salmon I also didn't like, but that I expected a bit more.  It wasn't well trimmed, and it was pretty flavorless.  Not nearly as offensive as the octopus, but really not good.

The sesame oil, green onions, and seaweed that were mixed in though were good, and I enjoyed those elements, particularly as the lettuce below soaked it all up.

My toppings though redeemed the whole thing.

In the center of my bowl was a scoop of the krab salad.  Yes, it was "krab" and I knew it, but I loved it.  Bring on the mayo and I'm a happy girl.

The seaweed salad was another scoop, added on one side, and it too was good.  Better than most generic seaweed salad, a good assortment of seaweeds, great flavors and seasonings.  Awesome mixed with the krab salad too.

The ginger was a bit comical ... a huge, huge mound, as big as the pile of krab salad if not bigger.  Um, I didn't need that much ginger.  It was pretty typical low-end pickled ginger.  Nice to cleanse the palette I guess, but not particularly good.  The wasabi was even funnier, just a big pile of wasabi paste stuck on top of the bowl.  Uh ... I guess I was supposed to mix it in?  It too seemed pretty low end.  I'd probably leave both of these off in the future.

The crispy onion bits were awesome.  I'm a sucker for these in general, so it probably comes as no surprise that I loved them.  I loved the crunch, I loved the fried-ness.  I was originally given a little mound, just like all the other elements, in its own separate area, but I asked for extra, saying I just loved crunch so much, and so she sprinkled some all over the top.  Yes!

Furikake was my final topping, also sprinkled all over the top.  It added great flavors to everything.

And finally, my sauces, on the side.  They were both great.  The creamy spicy sauce wasn't really that spicy, but it was quite flavorful, and yup, mayo.  I enjoyed dunking salad into it, and would have liked dunking my octopus in, if I had liked the octopus that is.  The sweet and savory miso was a lighter option, but again, great flavor.  I see why she recommended mixing them.

So overall, I did actually end up with a tasty salad that I enjoyed, topped with very flavorful seaweed salad, creamy krab salad, and plenty of crunchy fried onions, with very delicious sauces on the side.  It was fairly healthy and quite satisfying, and really packed in a lot of flavors and textures.

That said, I discarded the premium parts of my bowl, the salmon and octopus, and that felt a bit sad.  I really wish I could just go for some krab salad and seaweed salad sides, topped with crispy onions and furikake!

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Poke from Big Fish Little Fish

The poke fad has hit the Bay Area.  Poke bowl establishments a la Subway/Chipotle are popping up, not nearly as prevalent as in Los Angeles (or even Seattle), but, we are getting there.

Poke Bowls!

And by "the poke fad", of course I mean customizable poke bowl places, that bare very little resemblance to their Hawaiian inspiration.

Setting

Big Fish Little Fish is located in Rincon Center, open only for lunch, only during the week, clearly geared at nearby office workers.  It is adjacent to Eatsa, the fast casual "robot" customizable vegetarian quinoa/salad bowl place, that I've reviewed before.

Lines, Always.

You will find Big Fish Little Fish easily, as there is always a line leading to the front.

Outside Seating.

Large size communal picnic tables fill the courtyard, shared with the other establishments nearby.  No heat lamps though, so, during San Francisco "winter", these largely go unused.

Indoor Seating.

Big Fish Little Fish has some limited indoor seating, but most people get their bowls to go.

Ordering Counter.

The ordering counter is at the front, with a big line leading to it from outside.

The Food

The menu is pretty simple: poke bowls.

Signature Bowls.

They have a few pre-designed bowls if you want to go simple, or you can build your own.  The only side dish available is soup.  Not even chips.  No desserts.  Very bare bones.  Some of their other locations seem to offer poke burritos, but not this one.

The ordering system is a bit confusing.  Everyone waits in the long line, and then you step up to order.  If you are ordering one of the pre-designed bowls, you then just get directed down the line to order and pay, and are given a number to wait for your bowl to be delivered.

Otherwise, for build-a-bowl style, you start down an assembly line, where the staff rush you through.  I understand that the line is long and they need to provide quick service, but, they really rushed us.

Base Options.

If you are building your own bowl, the first step is to pick your base, from 4 options: brown rice, white rice, mixed greens, or kale.

Your base of choice (you can pick two) is placed into the cardboard bowl, and you are handed off to the next station.

Proteins.

Next is your choice of proteins, 2 choices for a "Little Fish" or 3 for a "Big Fish".

Choices are all seafood, nothing here for your vegetarian or non-seafood eating friends (no tofu, chicken, etc that are common at other places).  For raw options there is salmon, albacore, "tuna", and spicy tuna, plus cooked shrimp and octopus.  All are cubed or chopped into bite sized pieces.  I laughed at the "tuna" vs "albacore" listings ... albacore is a type of tuna ... I assume the "tuna" was ahi?

Your choices are placed into a separate, aluminum, bowl, 1 small scoop of each.  And you move down the line.

Sauce.

Now, time for sauce. Two creamy options are available: "srirach" aioli or wasabi cream, plus four lighter options: ponzu citrus, traditional yuzu, sweet onion, and mustard sesame.  Yes, the "srirach" I'm pretty sure was meant to be sriracha.

These are normally mixed in with the proteins, but you can also ask for them on the side, in little containers.  And then, passed on again.

Toppings.

The next person controls only two toppings: seaweed salad and "crab".  I was glad to see these not considered premium offerings, and I asked for two scoops of crab and it was no problem.

Then, on to the rest of the toppings.  This is where things got very rushed.  And where they got even more stingy, although you weren't limited in number of toppings.  Options were corn, green onion, jalapeno, red onion, carrot, cilantro, pickled ginger, masago, mango, purple cabbage, cucumber, and "edameme".  Avocado was also available, for $1.50 more, the only premium topping.  They seriously need a proofreader for the signs ... "edameme".

The person making my bowl at this stage really rubbed me the wrong way.  "Carrots", I said, and she put in the *tinest* little bit of carrot.  "Cabbage, lots of cabbage", and she just rolled her eyes at me.  She tried to hand my bowl down the line before I finished with my toppings, and I really wasn't being slow!

Your fish was mixed up at this point with the sauce (if you had mixed in) and toppings you asked to have mixed in, and dumped on top of the bowl.  And then, on to the final station.

Crunchy Toppings!

The finishing station offered a drizzle of the same two cream sauces from earlier, plus a few crunch toppings: wasabi peas, crispy onion, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, and furikake.  Apparently they used to have more options, like crispy lotus chips, but alas, they were removed.  Sunflower seeds seemed really random.

Custom Big Fish Bowl.

One of my co-workers did a custom Big Fish with tuna, salmon, and spicy tuna, plus a scattering of other ingredients.  This gives a pretty good overview of how, uh, lovingly assembled the bowls were, and how not exactly generously filled they were.  The wasabi cream drizzle on top was almost invisible!

The tuna portion was decent, the salmon much smaller.

Custom Big Fish Bowl.

Another co-worker made the same 3 protein choices for a Big Fish bowl, but added more toppings.  This one looked better.

Custom Big Fish Bowl with Proteins & Sauce on the side. $13.

I took the advice of some Yelpers, and opted to have my protein left on the side, and sauces individually packaged, since I had no idea which sauces I'd like, and I wasn't certain I'd eat the whole bowl in one sitting, so I wanted to keep the other ingredients from getting soggy.

Sauces: Traditional yuzu, Wasabi Cream, Srirach Aioli.

So, starting with the sauces.  I kinda wanted to try them all, but I settled on three, both of the creamy options, plus just the traditional yuzu, since, well it was tradition.

I wasn't impressed with any.

The wasabi cream did have a tiny bit of kick, but it seemed to just be, literally, wasabi sour cream.  I expected something ... more, not sure what.

The "srirach" aioli was creamier and richer, since it was aioli, but, I hated the flavor of it.  I don't dislike sriracha, but, this was just not tasty.

So, two sauces down, the ones I expected to love, since I'm all about creamy sauces.  I wish they had miso aioli.

The traditional yuzu was fairly boring, very light, it really tasted just like watered down soy sauce.

I'm very glad I left these on the side, and more glad that I had alternate dressings at home I could use instead.

Proteins: Salmon, Tuna, Octopus.

For proteins, the only one I really wanted was octopus (really, I wanted scallops or crab, but, not options), but the salmon looked good so I added it, and I got the "tuna" for a friend.

The octopus was horrible.  So chewy.  So rubbery.  The mix of pieces was good though.

The salmon was good.  It did indeed seem fresh, the flavor was good, the cuts were good.  The portion fairly small.

I didn't try the tuna, but it too did look decent quality.

Kale Bowl with Toppings.

And finally, all the rest of it.  If you know me, this is what I was really excited for.  Toppings!  Crunchy things!

For my base, I went for a salad, with a choice between mixed greens or kale.  I opted for kale.  It was torn into fairly bite sized pieces, with shredded carrot and red cabbage already mixed in.  It was fine, fresh and crisp enough, although a bit of an odd choice rather than baby kale, as raw kale is pretty tough.  Still, decent.

I added both sides, seaweed salad and surimi crab.  The seaweed salad was a generous scoop, standard marinated mixed seaweeds with sesame seeds, the kind that gets stuck in your teeth.  For the crab, I asked for two scoops, which were given without any hesitation or extra fees.  The benefits of fake crab!  I expected the crab to have mayo mixed in, crab salad style, but it was seemingly just shredded surimi.  I desperately wanted something creamy to mix in, and since I didn't like their creamy sauces, I added my own mayo and mixed it with the traditional sauce once I got home.  This improved things, but plain shredded surimi is pretty boring.

Moving on to the rest of my toppings.  I added corn, pickled ginger, shredded carrot, purple cabbage.  All fairly standard.  This was actually like 5 servings of purple cabbage, because I really wanted a lot, I love the crunch it adds, and I kept saying "lots of cabbage!" "More cabbage" and finally got what I wanted.  The other veggies were added ... sparingly.

And of course, I wnated tons of crunch.  I gave the same guidance for the wasabi peas and crispy onions.  "Lots!"  "More!" "Could I please have another handful? I love crunch!"  Eventually I got as many as I wanted.  These too were fine, fairly standard, good crunch.

So overall, this was ... well, "fine".  Decent quality seafood, decent quality toppings.  If the sauces were better, or the octopus, I'd consider returning, but as it was, I have no desire to go back.

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