Sprinkles Cupcakes

Update Reviews, 2019

Yes, I know I've never cared for Sprinkles cupcakes before, and have reviewed several times.

Abandoned Box of Cupcakes ...

But, when you find an abandoned box of cupcakes in the microkitchen at work ...

So many to try!

Yes, the cupcakes were a bit ... let's just say, handled?  People clearly had decided to cut them all up to try many kinds.  Which, I was fully behind, and decided to try all 5 kinds that remained, not knowing what any were as I tried them, but they were fairly easy to identify once I tasted them.

Front row:

Chocolate Marshmallow (bottom)
"Gather 'round the campfire for a spooky tale,
Of a dark chocolate cupcake lost on a haunted trail!
He noticed a shadow creeping and let out a scream,
There appeared a ghost of fluffy white marshmallow cream!
He ran so fast, his frosting could not take the heat
And melted into a ganache, so rich and bittersweet!"

There was only a tiny chunk of this left, and I can safely say that I didn't really get to appreciate it fully.  The cake was a dark chocolate, fairly moist, and I only got a tiny dollop of marshmallow cream and chocolate ganache, clearly the most important elements of the cupcake.  I can't fairly evaluate this one.

Black and White (middle)
"Yin and yang explains that light cannot exist without darkness, hot without cold, and chocolate without vanilla. Sprinkles Black and White cupcakes create a harmonious balance between Belgian dark chocolate cake and creamy vanilla frosting. As the proverb goes, two parts united together give rise to something better!"

This was fine, but not particularly novel.  The cake was a bit dry, not the most intense chocolate cake.  The vanilla frosting was sweet and fairly tasty, but, very one note, just, sweet.  A standard, decent enough, basic cupcake, but I didn't care for a second bite.

Peanut Butter Chocolate (top)
"As a child, you discovered how to dunk chocolate into the peanut butter jar and became convinced you invented a new food. Sprinkles pays tribute to your ingenuity with our Peanut Butter Chocolate cupcakes. This chocolate chip-studded cake is made with creamy, all-natural peanut butter and topped with fudgy milk chocolate cream cheese frosting. With just the right combination of salty and sweet, you should brace yourself for the onslaught of fan mail!"

Um.  I didn't know what this was when I tried it, but I was immediately in love.  This was amazing.

The best part was the intense peanut butter flavor in the cake.  I loved the tiny chocolate chips throughout the base, for texture, and for, well, chocolate.  And for the magic of chocolate and peanut butter together, of course.  It was like chocolate chip cookie dough, cake, and delicious spoonful of peanut butter all wound into one.  Loved it.

Oh yeah, and then there was frosting too.  Thick, creamy, chocolate cream cheese frosting, which was very rich, and went well with the peanut butter flavors.

Definitely a winner, and I turned right back around to claim the rest of this one.  The best Sprinkles cupcake I've ever had.

Salty Caramel.

"Sprinkles Salty Caramel cupcakes are an irresistible salty-sweet flavor combination using fleur de sel crystals hand harvested from the pristine seas off Brittany, France. These fleur de sel granules are a delightful complement to the sweet, buttery caramel which flavors both the cake and frosting. Taste the rich, delicious complexity of Sprinkles take on this classic French duo."

I didn't read my notes before diving into these, but, wow, my notes this time completely match the other two times I tried this cupcake.  I do NOT like it.

It was just way too sweet for me - the frosting was just sweet, sweet, sweet, and, given Sprinkles’ generous application of frosting, was too much.  The cake was fairly dry, and just sweet too.  Did not care for this at all.

Carrot.

"Children may run upon hearing a vegetable has made its way into their cupcake, but do you know the secret? Carrots' hidden sugar content make them a baker's ally! Our recipe blends fragrant spices with freshly grated carrots and toasted walnuts. Coated with a generous heap of cinnamon cream cheese frosting, you might even convince the kids to eat their vegetables!"
And finally, a classic, carrot cake.

The cake part was ... fine.  The cake was fairly moist, and the carrots were quite obvious, good sized gratings.  I liked the crunch from the walnuts, and they were well distributed.  But the cake was a little too spiced for me.  Still, fine, but not great.

The frosting is where this one lost me.  I didn't like the cinnamon and other spices in it, just too much spicing for my taste, and I didn't taste cream cheese at all.

Not a fan.

Update Review, December 2018

Sprinkle: Birthday cake topped with vanilla buttercream and colorful non pareil sprinkles.

"This cheery birthday cake is loaded with rainbow sprinkles and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. Adorned with crunchy rainbow non-pareils, your only birthday wish will be for many more!"

It has been years since I've reviewed Sprinkles cupcakes, because, well, I never really liked them before.

But I recently attended an event where the only sweet item was mini Sprinkles cupcakes, and they had a flavor I never tried before, so, I gave them a try.  I went for the most exciting flavor: sprinkle!

I pulled off the garnish on top, and, uh, I really loved it.  Yes, just printed on fondant, but it was sweet, crispy, and, well, totally what I wanted it seems.

This was a good sign?

The frosting was quite sweet, and I think I liked it.  It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't particularly good.  I mean, it was sweet, and there was lots of it, so, that was good?  I think I was indifferent to the frosting.  I did love the crunchy non-pareils on top.

Sprinkle: Inside.

The cake was "birthday cake", so, funfetti style, little pops of rainbow color throughout but no flavor from the colors, no texture difference either.  The cake had a decent crumb to it, but I didn't care for the flavor, it tasted slightly stale to me.

So, overall ... yeah, still not into these cupcakes.  Nothing *wrong* with it, but really not a particularly good cupcake.

Original Review, February 2015

I love desserts, you know this.  But cupcakes are rarely near the top of my list.  Even during the height of the cupcake craze, they never did it for me.  Believe me, I tried, but all the top places on Yelp in the area failed me, like Sibby's Cupcakery, Cup and Cake's Bakery, Cako, or Delessio.

Sprinkles was one of the originators of that craze, credited with being one of the first cupcake bakeries in the US, and certainly the first on the West Coast.  It took a while for them to reach the Bay Area, and even though the general cupcake fad had passed, I remember people being very excited for the Palo Alto location opening.   They even make cupcake ATMs.  I figured if any cupcakes were going to be good, these would be it.

Spoiler: I didn't like them.  The cake was always too dry, and the cupcakes were all homogenous throughout, lacking the moist interior and crispy exterior I prefer.  The frostings were all too sweet, and there was too much applied.

I won't be trying more.

Salty Caramel.

"These fleur de sel granules are a delightful complement to the sweet, buttery caramel which flavors both the cake and frosting."

I didn't care for the cake at all.  It was fairly dry, and I really didn't taste caramel.

The frosting was super sweet, I guess caramely, and it seemed a bit cream cheesy.  The salt crystals on top were really good however, and complemented the sweet well.

[ Subsequent review: I again found the cake really dry and uninteresting.  The frosting however was nicely sweet, and I certainly detected cream cheese in it.  The edible decoration was also tasty. ]

Red Velvet.

"Southern style light chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting."

This is their signature flavor, made with Callebaut chocolate.  Also available in gluten-free or sugar free, although, if you want a gluten-free cupcake, I recommend the vanilla ones from Kara's Cupcakes.

I'm never a big fan of red velvet.  This was no exception.  It had a decent chocolate flavor to it, but way too much sweet cream cheese icing.  Meh.  My least favorite of the flavors I tried.

Strawberry.

"This juicy cupcake is made with ripe, succulent strawberries pureed into both its cake and frosting."

This sounded promising.

But ... the cake was still a dry, consistent style that I don't really like, and it didn't have any flavor.   Where were the strawberries pureed in it?

The frosting was really lovely however, with a strong strawberry flavor, although still a bit too sweet.  The strawberry flavor in the icing was very ... fruit forward!

Read More...

A Yogurt Cow, Sydney

Another day, another new yogurt drink shop popping up in Sydney.  And of course I wanted to try as many as possible, as I'm very into the fad.

Setting

A Yogurt Cow is pretty new, right in Haymarket on the main drag.

Ordering Counter.

When you enter A Yogurt Cow, it looks like every other tea/yogurt/boba drink shop: ordering counter, displays with photos of signature drinks, promos for special new items.

Decorated Side.

One side of the shop looks reasonably nice, with backlit shelving.

Uh, Seating?

The other side is entirely vacant.  I imagine this is where some seating or a counter will go?  There is absolutely no where to enjoy your treat or even really linger for a moment to take your Instagram photo.

Uh ... work in progress?

And then the final section, milk crates and a dolly.

They have been open a few months ...

Drinks

Menu.

The menu is broken down into 3 sections, all featuring yogurt, as this is a yogurt-only shop, not a general bubble tea venue that has expanded into yogurt drinks.  Multi-grain, Fruit Smoothies, and Yogurt Frappes are your choices.  The first two are blended drinks, and I think both use the same yogurt base, one series just mixes in grains (purple rice, oats) with things like jujube, and the other is fruit based (pineapple, strawberry, passion fruit, etc) and have whipped cream on top.

I asked what the Yogurt Frappes were, and was told they are bowls of frozen yogurt with nuts and fruit toppings (this ... is not a frappe?).  I'm not sure if they use soft or hard serve yogurt, I didn't see a soft serve machine.

No additional list of toppings, or customization to any, but I imagine you could ask?

Mango Yogurt Smoothie.

I was there because I was craving two things: yogurt and mango.  Thus, mango yogurt smoothie it was.  No customization offered (I did ask for less sweet though) and no mix-ins (they don't have boba or anything actually).  It came by default with whipped cream (no cheese foam here).  It was described as "yogurt whipped cream".

It ... was just a smoothie.  A healthy style drink, appropriate for after the gym or something, although I guess it had the whip on top.  Very very blended, smooth, thinner style than others. 

Sweet even though I got less sweet. Very, very little mango flavor.  No mango chunks.  Just ... a smoothie.

The whipped cream on top was yogurt whipped cream, which, when I tried it with the smoothie just tasted like regular whipped cream, but later I had more and it did have some yogurt flavor to it.  It was fine.

Overall, this was clearly not the item for me.  I didn't want a very blended yogurt smoothie - I wanted drinking yogurt, thicker, richer, more interesting, and I wanted to taste mango.

I ended up throwing most of it out and heading elsewhere.

Read More...

Lotus, Barangaroo

Sydney has a lot of excellent food, as you know from all my posts on the dining scene, chronicled here.  Strengths are in the Thai and Asian food in particular, with close proximity, the ability to source ingredients, and a lot of local talent, that just blows away their counterparts in the US where I live.  So when I'm in Sydney, rather than explore high end fine dining (which Sydney has too of course), I generally opt for more casual places that highlight the strengths of the city.

On this visit though, I went mid-range, but, in a non-traditional way.

Let me explain.

Lotus Barangaroo is a member of the Lotus Dining Group, which has a number of well known establishments in town (many under the Lotus brand, but also Madame Changhai, Bund, and Bings).  It is the newest, and one of the anchor tenants along the harbor in the new Barangaroo renewal project.

Seating.

The space is beautiful, with considerably (covered) outdoor dining, along with inside spaces.  It has an elegant yet casual vibe to it, which matches the free flowing, well light, bright space.

Open for lunch and dinner, my visit was evening during the week.

However, I did not choose to dine in, rather, I opted to just get takeout.  I was on business travel, had a lot to do that night for work, and was solo, but really just wanted something delicious.  I knew I could get quality takeout, stopping there on my way from the office to the hotel, and either stop to dine along the harbourfront, or just walk the few blocks to my hotel.  I knew it would stuffer slightly, particularly in the aesthetics and plating, but I was optimistic that I could eat quickly after getting it.

My plan worked out very well logistically: I placed my order at the host stand, it took barely 10 minutes, during which time I took a quick stroll around the block, found an amazing spot to sit right along the water a few feet away.  My food was nicely packaged, I was able to eat and be on my way to hotel all within 30 minutes of arriving.  And it was clearly significantly better than traditional fast-dine options.

Menu.

"Lotus Barangaroo offers live fish and seafood in addition to the main menu. Our dumpling master Benny will create dumplings using produce that is native to the local land and sea."

Yup, this is why I was excited about Lotus.  Dumplings and seafood.  Yes!

The food menu is extensive, full of dumplings, other starters, seafood/poultry& pork/beef & lamb main dishes, rice and noodle dishes, vegetarian mains and sides, and of course, desserts.  The price point is on the higher side for the atmosphere, but that is due to the quality of the seafood used, and, the labor intensive process of much of the menu.

I narrowed my choices down to just two items: one kind of dumpling, and one seafood item.  The dumplings were an easy enough choice, although I had many options for dumplings (10 kinds, ranging from steamed to fried, veggie, seafood, poultry, etc), I was there in particular for one kind of dumpling I had read great things about: squid ink dumplings loaded with seafood.  Oh yes.

The other dish though was hard to choose.  I almost just opted for small plates; they had fun starters like an ice plant salad, a lovely looked smoked salmon salad, salt and pepper calamari (always a favorite), and, the other dish I thought I'd get, grilled octopus with sambal.  I adore octopus, and when I set out to Lotus, this is the dish I planned to get.  But ... I was looking through their Intagram on the way, and a few other dishes jumped out.  The seafood lineup is strong, with lobster, snow crab, and mud crab served in whatever style you prefer (work fried with XO, or chilli and black bean, or ginger in salat, or done salt & pepper style), but those all require 24 hour advance notice.  The pipis menu doesn't require advance notice, and I almost went for them, just because they are such a thing in Sydney.  But I decided to go for another more uniquely regional dish: Moreton Bay bugs!  They just looked so good on Instagram, and, I already did have pipis on this trip a few days prior.

Squid ink, blue swimmer crab and scallop dumplings. $24.

.

I couldn't wait to dig into my dumplings.  I read great things about these.  I was so excited for them. I adore crab, scallop, and squid ink.  I had been craving dumplings and spicy sauce all week.  People say these are some of the best dumplings they've ever had.

I ... well, didn't care for them.

The wrappers did have squid ink flavor to them, but were otherwise just ... bland.  I can't say they were too thick, nor too thin, nor dried out, nor anything in particular wrong with them, but ... I just wasn't into them, which really surprised me.

But the inside is what made me sad.  Crab and scallops, I should have loved this!  They were generously stuffed with seafood.  No fillers.  But ... the seafood was mushy.  Like it was overcooked? So mushy.  I tried all 4 dumplings, but each one was mushy inside.  There were also shells in my filling.

I was pretty sad that I didn't like these, and the sauce provided was just very spicy chili sauce.  I wanted some soy or vinegar to mix in (which I'd have at restaurant I think?).

At $24, this was a bit of a pricey disappointment.

Wok fried Moreton Bay bugs with black pepper butter and cavolo nero. $44.

And then my main dish, the one that totally randomly drew me in.  Of course, I've had Moreton Bay bugs before (even in the Qantas First class lounge!), so this wasn't novel to me, but it was the sauce, and the base, that in the photo I saw online just looked so very good.

Of course the plating suffered for takeout, and I expected that.  I can't say it *looked* tasty when handed over, just a blob of brown, with way too much cilantro on top.

It ... was ok.  A mixed success.  A hot wok fried dish, plenty of seafood, the portion of bugs was quite generous (which, as a $44 main dish, it should be).

The Moreton Bay bugs were a bit soft, almost over cooked it seemed, much like the dumplings.  They were battered slightly, but were soggy since submerged in sauce.  

The sauce was fascinating, "black pepper butter" says the menu.  It was rich, thick, spicy, and really quite interesting. I'm sure crazy unhealthy, but it was tasty, particularly with the greens.

However, the kale was literally just two pieces in the base, that soaked up tons of sauce.  The kale was *delicious* and I really wanted more.  Juicy greens in that sauce is a definite winning combo.  

On top was a tiny bit of pork floss, saffron, and cilantro (meh cilantro!).

Overall, this was so much seafood, expensive seafood, but I wasn't particularly impressed with the experience of eating it.  I ate it because it was expensive, and I wanted protein, but ... yeah, meh to the seafood.  That said, I used some leftover sauce the next day with a sweet asian bun, and that was a nice combination.

I wouldn't get this again, nor really return to Lotus.

Read More...

Ippudo, Sydney

#underwhelming

That could be my entire review of my Ippudo experience.  

I don't think I need to give much preamble to Ippudo, right?  Chain, famous for ramen, yadda yadda.  

I didn't go for ramen, and I didn't go to dine-in however.  I visited the Westfield Mall location in Sydney, for takeout, at lunchtime.

Small Takeout Meal.

I got my food for takeout, since I didn't feel like dealing with table service.  The location was right next to my hotel AND in a food court, so it was easy to just walk 3 feet away and sit at a table and be left alone, or I could have crossed the street back to my hotel.

I really wanted to try the "Japanesian Coleslaw", with hakusai cabbage, native herbs, and yuzukosho dressing, but alas, not on the limited takeout menu, and, no exceptions.

My items took about 15 minutes, which seemed a bit long, but I think they were prepared fresh.

Yamaimo Fries. $8.

"Japanese yam fries, soy mayonnaise."

Well, sadly, these were not good.  And I was so excited for them!

On the plus side, they were clearly freshly made to order, piping hot.  But they were greasy, crisp but not crispy if that makes sense, and didn't really taste like much.  The batter really looked like it should be great, but alas, they weren't.

The soy mayo at least would be great right?  Nope.  Not sure what it was about it, but I actually really, really disliked the flavor.  It was honestly repulsive to me.

I kept trying the fries, thinking as they cooled maybe I'd like more, but they got worse, spongy as the oil all absorbed in.  I tried dunking in other dips, but alas, just nothing worked.

At least the portion was meager.  Clearly would not get again.

Prawn Katsu Bun. $6.

"Fried prawn cutlet, sweet chilli sauce."

I can't say I was impressed by the looks of my bun.  It was pretty much falling apart.  It had very little cabbage, and very little sauce.  It looked like a fast food item.
able
But it was decent.  The bun was soft, slightly sweet, fluffy.  Nicely steamed.  Clearly, they do a nice job with the buns.

The prawn cutlet was ... ok.  It was juicy, it had plenty of prawn, it was nicely coated and fried.  Not particularly exciting, but fine.

Really, what made this kinda sad was the garnish.  The sprinkle of cabbage really was laughable.  The tiny smear of sweet chili sauce wasn't nearly enough.  I had other sauces with me that I used, but otherwise I would have been pretty grumpy.

So overall, I saw promise, but it wasn't amazing.

Read More...

Mango Coco, Sydney

OMG.

Yup, that is all I have to say about Mango Coco.  A new Thai dessert cafe opened in Sydney.  OMG.

Yes, it has all the makings of something I'd love: desserts galore.  Ingredients like taro and pandan abound.  Very trendy smoothie drinks.  Asian baked goods. Ridiculous plated desserts.  Seriously, looking through the (many page) menu was like a dream come true.

But ... but how often do these sort of places live up?  Particularly brand new ones.  Why would I expect this place with virtually no reviews to be good?

I took a gamble.  It paid off.

My last two days in Sydney: as much Mango Coco as I could consume!

I wish I stopped in sooner.  I had only one night and one day left in Sydney, but I pulled off two quick visits.  I will be back, and in particular, I will make it to the full sit down restaurant.  Please, please, don't close on me before I return Mango Coco!

Setting

Mango Coco is located in Thai town, right next to my familiar haunts (my Thai hawker dessert cart is literally 2 doors down, Chat Thai where I often grab desserts has a location around the corner, Boon Cafe is next door ...), on Pitt St.  I discovered it by accident, while en route to my Thai hawker.

Note: I'm unlikely to venture *anywhere* else in Sydney for a Thai dessert in the future. I want more Mango Coco, and I want it now!

Thai Desserts.

At first glance, Mango Coco doesn't look much different than any of the other establishments in the area.  After all, Thai dessert carts line the streets, really.  And all seem to feature the same types of packaged desserts, likely even sourced from the same place.

Sure, the storefront is more appealing than most, but these goods don't look particularly unique.

And then ... and then you realize the epic creations that wait inside.  Mango Coco is like no other on the street (or in Sydney), or anywhere I've been ...

Cakes.

Want to get drawn in further?  Display cases full of bright colors of assorted cakes, easily available togo.

The cake lineup has all sorts of ... "monsters". Like the Foithong Monster (available in two sizes, the larger one is called the "mommy"). Pandan and durian make appearances too.

I think the most famous one of the moment is the Miss Durian, which, is supposed to look like a durian, thorns and all, and yes it has plenty of durian mousse inside.

Takeaway Ordering Area.

Ordering just drinks to take away, or picking up packaged items is easy, and, unlike many shops, there is no question where you are supposed to order.  Right here!

Seating Area.

For the main attractions, full on dessert cafe mode, there is a beautiful seating area.  Well lit, nicely decorated, and the yellow theme dominates.  Consistent look and feel to the entire place.  They even make exposed light bulbs look good!

Drinks

The drink lineup at Mango Coco is actually only a fraction of the menu, but it is where I started.  You can get drinks to dine-in, or to go, and the setup is actually designed for them to be primarily takeaway.

The drink menu is broken into 6 categories: mango smoothies, coconut smoothies, yogurt smoothies, and Sparkling Drinks, teas, and "Thai Drinks" (you know, lychee butterfly pea smoothies, thai tea frappes, and the like). 

I went straight for the decadent looking smoothies.   Not that they are made with junk food or anything, but these are not healthy smoothies.  These are intense.

The mango smoothies are made with mango puree and fresh mango, and come blended with many different options: coconut sago on top, young coconut or pearls at the base, blended with coconut cream and purple sticky rice, topped with cheese foam, and more.  Maybe these are reasonably healthy?

The coconut versions are what caught my eye however, made with coconut cream.  I wanted ... most of them.  Taro coconut, which looked loaded with taro pase.  The coconut sago super mango, with small sago blended with the coconut cream, and tons of mango on top.  Um, the coconut creamy pandan.  The salted egg coco smoothie (!).

Foi Thong Pandan Coconut Smoothie with Taro Balls (+Purple Sticky Rice). $9.80.

But I went for the most decadent looking one of all: the foi thong pandan coconut smoothie with taro balls.  The photo boosted a creamy coconut smoothie, topped with pandan cream, lovely purple taro balls, and a nest of foi thong.  And because I'm crazy, I added purple sticky rice as well (note: they don't really support add-ins, unlike most drink shops, they have only a preset menu, no toppings menu, or structure for charging for additions.  But they are new, and did it for me).

My drink was very carefully made to order, the purple sticky rice, coconut cream, and ice blended up nicely.  And then, beautiful green pandan cream scooped on top, a mound of foi thong added, and taro balls somehow perched on top without them falling in.  A pandan leaf finished it off.  It really didn't take that long to assemble, but it was clear that care was put into it.

I was extremely impressed with my drink (er, dessert, who are we kidding, this is not a drink!), but I do admit that my addition of purple sticky rice actually wasn't a great decision.

The coconut smoothie was very good - it was creamy, rich, indulgent, refreshing, and quite coconut-y.  It was extremely well blended, icy in the right way.  I think it did have some pandan in the smoothie too?  The sticky rice was good - it was al dente the way I like, and was very well blended.  I actually really liked how it got a bit icy as the drink sat a bit, and it was exposed to the icy filling.  But ... as I said, I think it detracted.  I tasted it, and although I liked the chew, I actually just wanted to taste the pure flavors better, the pandan, the coconut cream, the taro.  Because they were good, and the rice kinda muddled it.  Definitely my fault on that one.  It was still good, don't get me wrong, but I'd leave it off in the future.

The smoothie was good, but the toppings were ... fabulous.  The pandan cream was extraordinary.  Such strong pandan flavor, such rich cream.  I think it might have been coconut based too?  The drink came with plenty of it, and, nutrition concerns aside, I was thrilled.  It made me immediately want to try the pandan crepes, as they come with a big dollop of it on top.

The taro balls however were the showstopper.  Simply the best I've ever had.  Soft yet not mushy, pliable in the right way, and lovely taro flavor.  These were just incredible.  Slightly out of place perched on top here, but I didn't care.  I loved them.  The taro balls are featured in a number of other desserts on the menu (including the combo mango sticky rice which has just about everything delicious imaginable in it).  I must get them in another application, stat!

Finally, the foi thong, which was fine, and slightly savory-ish, a nice compliment to the sweeter ingredients.  I did get the smoothie not sweet (50% or 100% were the choices), but it was definitely still quite sweet.

Overall, this was delicious, and made me instantly vow to return the next day, and made me wish I was there with a group to try many, many more things.

Taro Coconut Smoothie (+ Pandan Cream). $7.80 + $1.

I did literally return the next day.  I'll admit that I was craving a yogurt drink, and taro in particular, so Mango Coco wasn't really the best choice of venue (they do have some yogurt items, but, it isn't the feature, and I think likely coconut yogurt?), and they have only one item with taro, but ... I dunno, I couldn't get that pandan cream out of my head.

So I got the one taro drink on the menu, the taro coconut smoothie, and, uh, added pandan cream on top.  This time I was charged $1 for the addition, and was rewarded with a pretty serious mound of pandan cream.

The pandan cream was just as amazing as the previous day.  Such lovely pandan flavor, so fluffy, just, incredible.  Move over cheese foam toppings, you have met your match!  I do still love savory fluffy cheese foam toppings but ... this was pretty fantastic.

The smoothie though ... well, I guess it wasn't what I was in the mood for.  I also didn't realize it wouldn't be more taro forward, and that it wouldn't have any mashed or cubed taro in it.  Like I said, I was craving taro ...  The smoothie base was just coconut cream and ice blended, like all the coconut smoothies.  It was really well made, the ice pulverized, nicely icy, but ... it was very strongly coconut, and that wasn't what I was in the mood for.

The taro layer was on top, and ... I just didn't really taste it at all, even though it was a vibrant purple.  I think it was blended with coconut too?  I wanted more taro, and more texture.

So, this let me down, but not because it was poorly made.  I wanted a taro forward item, with chunks or paste, and didn't really want coconut ... my bad for not just going to get the taro yogurt from Koomi like I was intending ... but that pandan cream was so good I almost didn't care.

Food

And then there is the food lineup, sweet, savory, full meals, epic desserts, packaged grab n go ...

Savory

There is actually a full Thai savory food menu, with traditional Thai offerings (e.g your basic curries, noodle dishes, fried rice) but also fusion dishes, like tom yum spaghetti.  I wished they had some appetizers or smaller plates, because I would like to be able to get a small bite of savory before diving into a dessert fest, but alas, they seem to only do main dishes (or a papaya salad I guess).

Breads

The front counter has some assorted bakery items, I'm not sure if they make them themselves or not.  None looked particularly exciting, but I almost grabbed a pork floss bun (with chili jam or mayo), or a loaf of pork floss bread, so I'd have something savory.  At last minute, I grabbed some sweet buns "for later", or just in case my sweet treat wasn't appealing.

Pandan Custard Buns. $3.90.

Buns come in 4 flavors: pandan custard, Thai tea, butter sugar, or cream.  The sugar coated ones did look good, but, clearly, there was only one option: pandan!

Buns come 2 to a container, and, tbh, didn't actually look particularly special.  Even Breadtop  and 85* Bakery Cafe look better.

But still, come on, pandan custard was too tempting to pass up.  It was easy to know which one was pandan, with the bright green cream spilling out.

Pandan Custard Filling.

I eagerly ripped into one.

The bread was soft, fluffy, slightly sweet.  It would be better warm, or toasted (like with the lava toast or toast hot pots), but I really just wanted a vessel for pandan custard, and it served that purpose.  I did warm the second bun in my mini-oven, and as I expected, it was even better warm.

The pandan custard was not quite what I think of as a custard, as it was much looser.  It was very different from their pandan cream from the drinks, grainier, more concentrated, but also not quite as strongly flavored, if that makes any sense?  It was very very sweet.  The color was very bright green.

And there was tons of it.  The buns were stuffed to the brim.  Almost too much given how sweet it was, but when I added some of the more mild pandan cream as well, it tempered it nicely.

This custard I believe is the same that is found inside the pandan crepes.

I enjoyed the buns, and I liked them more than anything from the Asian bakeries around, but if I were getting just one thing, I wouldn't pick them.  They were great for a take-home item though.

Plated Desserts

The dessert lineup, for dine-in desserts, is, simply put, epic.  Pages and pages and pages of offerings.  And it is all illustrated, to make it *that* much harder to pick.

Sooo many lava toasts, including a durian one, with durian ice cream, durian lava, durian sauce, sticky rice, mango pearls, and fresh fruit ...  Pages of bingsu, like the Coconut Lod Chong Bingsu, with pandan rice flour droplets, coconut cream, coconut jelly, coconut palm sugar sauce.  Churros with dipping sauces.  Filled crepes (with mango and sticky rice inside, or durian, pandan custard!).  

And then, the puddings.  Coconut pudding, mango pudding, thai tea pudding, but, they are not just puddings.  Take the mango one for example.  Sure, there is mango pudding, but it comes with coconut ice cream, taro balls, coconut sticky rice, fresh mango, and coconut cream sauce.  Or just fresh mango, milk sago, and rich mango sauce if you want the simple version.  Or paired with a mango sticky rice crepe and mango sorbet, if you just can't make up your mind, and opt for the Mango Paradise.  Same with the coconut pudding.  Yes, there is a base of coconut pudding, but also young coconut meat, fresh mango, mango jelly, mango sauce, sago, and coconut creamy sauce.

It is enough to cause even a good decision maker decision paralysis.  Oh, wait, there is also crème brûlée.  Coconut and pandan version of course.  And it comes with berries, mango pearls, and coconut gelato.

But alas, I never got a chance to dine in for these epic things, mostly because they really aren't designed for a solo person. 

Packaged Desserts

Along with the bakery breads and cakes, Mango Coco also has some Thai desserts packaged up near the register.  Most looked like exactly the same as found at every other shop on the street, same containers even, and I don't think they make them there.

But they also had one clearly Mango Coco branded item.  Placed strategically all along the front counter, clearly designed to be an impulse buy item, and, hey, I succumbed.

Mango Sticky Rice To-go. $8.

"Mango sticky rice is a traditional Thai dessert made with glutinous rice, fresh mango and coconut milk."

While the real dessert menu has a slew of creations with mango and sticky rice in them (seriously, the combo one with mango pudding, coconut ice cream, taro balls, coconut sticky rice, fresh mango, coconut cream sauce ...),  they also have pre-packaged simple ones available for grab and go at the counter.

Of course I grabbed one.  The packaging was well done: a base was coconut sticky rice, above that was cubes of fresh mango, and the coconut milk was in a separate container.  Proportions seemed spot on.

This was definitely very good.  Many Thai places around have mango sticky rice, and I often get it as takeaway, and none have ever been this good.  The quality of the mango is what sets it apart.  So very juicy, so very ripe.  Seriously fantastic mango.

The rice was good, coconut milk infused, good chew to it, slightly sticky.  I wanted it warm, so I warmed it up myself at the hotel in my portable oven, and it was better than way.  The rice was good, but not remarkable.

The coconut milk/cream was pretty standard, I almost wanted it to be salted or something to jazz it up, but, this was just classic coconut milk and completed the traditional style of the dish.

To my (now warm) rice and mango, I added a dollop of pandan cream from my smoothie, and some of the coconut icey slush from my smoothie, and really adored my more fully composed creation.  It was almost like one of their own restaurant creations!  But even just as it was, room temp, the quality of the mango really made it a tasty enough item as served, and it would be a good choice for a quick grab n go.

Packaged Snacks

And finally, there are a few packaged snacks, not made by Mango Coco (I later realized when I saw the labels said "It's Time for Thai", and listed Newtown as the location).  I grabbed a few of these as well.

Golden Bird's Nest. $5.

Another impulse buy on my part.  I didn't really know what Golden Bird's Nest was, or why I'd want it exactly, but it looked like a crunchy snack?

Which, it was.  Made from threads of sweet potato, sugar, salt, oil.  It was super crispy, but very sweet.  I wasn't sure when I was supposed to want it.  It wasn't really a dessert, but it also wasn't really a snack as it was so sweet.

I could imagine using it as part of a dessert, sprinkling it on things, or even sprinkled on a spicy curry to cool it?

Crispy .... Something?

I also grabbed the other snack item, this one not labelled.

I asked if it was sweet or savory, and was told it was savory.  I think she even said it was made from beans or chickpeas.

But it was not savory.   It was sweet.  Kinda like a waffle cone, studded with black sesame seeds, and coated in sugar.  Very sweet, very crispy, and would be fun on an ice cream sundae.  But totally not what I was expecting.

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Lotus

Biscoff.  Or, depending on what country you are in, perhaps you know it was Speculoos.  Or perhaps you don't know the base at all, but you know of something called "cookie butter" or "biscoff spread" or "speculoos butter".  Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about?

I'll start with the basics.  Lotus is a Belgian bakery, founded in 1932, known for their biscuits - hard style, slightly spiced, shortcrust biscuits: Speculoos biscuits (or, Biscoff in the UK and US).  Biscoff = "biscuit" + "coffee", as the biscuits are designed to go alongside your coffee.

The biscuits are ... well, boring, honestly.  Sure, I guess they go nicely with a cup of coffee, and are served with coffee and espresso in many places in Europe (and on some flights), but ... why?  They are boring, really.

But a few years ago, someone realized you can grind them up into a paste, add more vegetable oil and sugar, and turn them into a butter-like spread, much like peanut butter, but with just the biscuits as a base.  "Cookie Butter".  Let's just say, this stuff got popular fast, particularly when Trader Joe's introduced a version.

Given that I was never into the cookies, er, biscuits, and I don't like things like Nutella in general, the cookie butter fad never really hit me.  I didn't know what I'd do with it really, and the few times I did have it, it always just felt too rich (and, um, it is.  Don't look at the nutrition stats).  Remember the time I had it slathered inside the otherwise delicious fried chimney cake cone soft serve ice cream from Turn Dough in Venice?

I guess people use cookie butter nearly anywhere you might use peanut butter, in sandwiches, globbed on ice cream sundaes, on waffles or pancakes, etc, but yeah, it just hasn't ever struck me as something I really want.

But I also love trying new snacks, particularly when people recommend them to me, so when a friend recommended a grab-n-go snack pack featuring Biscoff spread ... I couldn't resist.

I'm glad I didn't.  I think I have been missing out on some cookie butter fun.

Biscoff & Go Cookie Butter and Breadsticks.

"Enjoy your Biscoff on a go with this individually packed of breadsticks and Biscoff Cookie Butter dip. Perfect for lunch box, party favors, snacks."

"Cookie butter and breadsticks".  I'll admit, this certainly didn't sound very exciting.  Breadsticks?

The packaging looked like Dunkaroos (does those still exist?), or cheese spread and crackers.  You pull pack a foil top to reveal a compartment with the item to dunk, and a compartment with the dip.

Cookie Butter & Breadsticks.

"Enjoy the great taste of the famous Lotus Biscoff Cookies crushed into a smooth spread and served in a snack pack with crunchy breadsticks. To create this irresistibly smooth spread, we crush the Lotus Biscoff cookies finely after baking. That's how we keep all the goodness of their unique flavor. Take this snack pack wherever you go!"

The breadsticks looked as boring as I thought they might.  They certainly are not something I'd call "breadsticks" as they are not soft and doughy, but I don't have a better name for them either.  Hard, bland style not sweet cookie sticks that taste a lot like hard bread?  Yeah.  The breadsticks alone are not exactly a tasty item, although I certainly can't claim they taste *bad* either.  I think they'd dunk equally well in a cheese sauce, pesto, or anything else you might dip, well, breadsticks into.

And then the sidecar of cookie butter.  Spreadable caramelized biscuits.  Consistency like peanut butter.  Very sweet, with a depth of flavor from brown sugar and a touch of spicing.  So very rich.

It turns out, the bland breadsticks are what you need to combat the richness of the spread.  While a spoonful of the spread is quite delicious, much more than that just isn't actually appealing.

I enjoyed dunking them several at a time into the spread, and getting a big glob on the end of my sticks.

Breadstick + Cookie Butter + Toffee Bits.

And then I started dunking the sticks, with cookie butter, into more toppings.  Toffee bits were first.  I liked adding more texture, but they weren't quite what I wanted with the cookie butter.

I enjoyed them even more when I pulled out my can of whipped cream and a shaker of rainbow sprinkles, and made creations with several breadsticks, a generous glob of cookie butter, far too much whipped cream, and some sprinkles just for fun.

I wanted to do a version with breadstick + cookie butter + cacao nibs, and started to come up with many other great ideas, but then I looked down, and alas, the entire package was gone.  Doh.

Turns out, I liked these things.

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Happy Lemon Bubble Tea Catering

"ENJOY FRESHLY BREWED TEA & SHARE THE HAPPINESS!"

Happy Lemon is a worldwide bubble tea sensation, established in China in 2006, with 1500+ locations already, spanning China, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietname, Philippines, Japan, UAE, UK, Canada, and the US.

The menu is not nearly as extensive as many other shops, although when you visit a shop in person, there are plenty of customization: pick your drink base, your size, your sweetness, ice level, type of milk, and toppings.  They have a standard lineup of green or black tea bases for fruity or milk teas, smoothies, and a fairly small, but good, lineup of regular toppings (boba, pudding, aloe vera, lychee jelly, taro balls), and the slightly less standard Oreo mix-in, "puff cream" and very trendy cheese foam.  Notable, at least to me, is that there is no taro milk tea and no fresh taro chunks.

I did not visit a shop in person however, so my options were more limited, as we had them cater a private party.

Catering Setup.

For the catering setup, they brought only green tea, black tea, and milk tea (black) base, only boba for a mix in, and cheese foam for a topping.  There was no option to customize sweetness nor milk (green tea was unsweet, no milk, same with black, and the milk tea was non-dairy creamer and condensed milk, quite sweet, and used black tea).  These were made to order thought.

In addition, they brought a non-caffeinated option that came pre-packaged, Okinawa Milk tea, with either whole milk or soy milk, no mix-ins or toppings available, as they came sealed. 

I adore, adore, adore cheese topping on bubble tea (often known as "cheese foam", "creama", or "cheezo"), here called "salted cheese", so I was delighted that even with the limited options, we had that one.  For those unfamiliar, no, it is not like they dump cheddar cheese into your milk tea, rather, it is a fluffy topping, made from whipped cream and cream cheese (or, powders), and is usually salted, rather than sweet.  You may read all about it in many other forms that I've enjoyed: like Bubble Nini Tea in Sydney's Purple Rice Blended with Yogurt + Taro Pearls + Pink Salt Cheese Milk Foam, the Ube Marble creation from Boba Lab in Santa Monica with red bean, berry boba, lychee jelly, pudding, salted cheese foam, the simple version on my taro milk tea in Sydney at Chatime, the Royal Sesame Taro Milk + Red Rice with Cheese from the Original Royaltea also in Sydney and many, many more.

Extras!

After the serving time ended, they left all the extras (since we paid for them), so I got to try quite a few.

I was overall pleased, although there wasn't anything particularly extraordinary about their offerings.

Okinawa Fresh Milk (Soy).

The only decaf option they had was the Okinawa fresh milk, which is basically just sweet milk.  In the base of the cup was a sweet caramel like syrup, and other than that, it is just milk.  Instructions were to shake to mix it up.

Since these were pre-packaged offsite, they had no option to include boba or cheese foam.  They had both soy milk and whole milk options.  There were many of these left at the end, so I grabbed a few to stick in the fridge to try later - the Happy Lemon staff encouraged it, saying that since they didn't have boba, they'd keep fine.

I started with a soy version, as I do love soy milk.  I know I was told to shake it up, but I wanted to try it separate first.

The milk was ... uh, just milk.  It was not very soy prominent actually, less than a normal soy milk in my opinion.  As I love soy milk flavor, this was a bit of a letdown, as I wanted to taste more soy.  The syrup at the base was *extremely* sweet, and sorta reminded me of the syrup that boba comes in.  I did take a full sip of that, and wow, cloying, and not good.

Once I shook it up, the sweetness balanced out, but it was still very sweet, and the end result was basically just sweet milk, with no distinguishable soy flavor.  I was not particularly happy with this.

Okinawa Fresh Milk (Whole Milk).

Next up was the regular whole milk.  Again, syrup in the base, instructed to shake.  Here you can see the result of shaking, it looks like a black milk tea, due to all the syrup.

It tasted very similar to the soy, just more plain.  Again, very sweet, in a brown sugar sort of way.  I did like it, it was sweet and creamy, but more than a few sips quickly left me bored.  I wanted mix-ins, I wanted toppings.

I ended up using it with my morning cereal, which worked great - sweet cereal milk!

Jasmine Green Tea with Boba, Salted Cheese Foam, Matcha Powder.

For the drink that I ordered, I wanted to minimize caffeine, but didn't want just boring milk, so I went for the green tea option.  There was no milk option for this, but that was fine with me.  I added boba and cheese foam of course, and the server added matcha powder without asking.

The cheese foam, the part I was most exited for, was fine.  It wasn't as fluffy as other places, and wasn't as salty or, uh, cheesy and savory, but it also wasn't too rich, and the consistency was good.  It was good, but not extraordinary.

Green tea is something I rarely get, but I did like it - far more refreshing than I remembered, and it combined actually really nicely with the cheese foam.  It was not bitter at all.  I see why this is their most popular drink, it really does work.  You could use the straw to get a sip of just refreshing tea, or drink through the hole and get a bit of both.  I enjoyed it.

And finally, the boba.  The texture was decent, nicely chewy, although they were a bit hard, and were kinda clumped together.  Perhaps this is due to catering setup?  The boba was also extremely sweet, soak in sweet syrup, a lot of which was added with the boba.  Decent quality, a bit sweet, but worth getting if you want it.

So overall, a decent drink, and I was pretty happy with mine, and, to be honest, it was to get forced outside my standard order of taro milk.  This was my favorite of the drinks I tried.

Milk Tea (black) with Boba, Salted Cheese Foam, Matcha Powder.

When the event ended, we still had plenty pre-paid, so I tried another, this time, I went all in: the milk tea.  Made with black tea base, non-dairy creamer, and sweetened with condensed milk.  Again with the sweetened boba, and of course, cheese foam.  Basically, as decadent as you could get, and very different from the green tea.

It was very sweet.  It was very creamy.  It was ... liquid dessert.  Caffeinated liquid dessert!  Another style of drink I don't normally order, but it reminded me a lot of Thai iced tea that I used to get regularly, just with the fun additions of boba and foam.  Enjoyable for sure, although so very sweet, and it was another nice "forced" going outside my norm.  My second favorite drink.

Ice Cream Sundae with Boba & Cheese Foam!

A few hours later, after lunch, I had a bowl of ice cream.  Vanilla and chocolate.  I went to add some standard toppings, hot fudge, sprinkles, etc, etc, and realized ... the boba tea setup was still going strong.  While I didn't want another bubble tea ... I did want a bubble tea ice cream sundae!

I approached a bit sheepishly, and said something like "so, uh, I have this lovely bowl of ice cream ..." and the server was on to me in no time, "oooh, do you want boba on top?  And cheese foam?"  I was delighted that she didn't find me weird, and she told me that one of their locations is right next to a froyo shop, and people come in with froyo all the time and just order toppings for it.  Heh.

I loved my creation.  The boba, while too sweet for what I really wanted in my drinks, was perfect in all its syrup on top of my ice ream.  It added a sauce (the syrup) and a fun texture, all at once.  And the cheese foam?  Still not as lofty or thick as I wished it was, but it totally sealed the deal.  I added sprinkles too, I was so very proud of myself for this.  I loved it.

And no, I don't credit really for thinking of this ... I was drawing off my own experiences with boba sundaes, which I've had before at Devon Cafe in Sydney (both a taro soft serve version with coconut foam, boba, tapioca pudding, taro syrup, and more, and a salted caramel soft serve wit cheese foam and uh churro) and TP Tea in Tokyo (milk tea soft serve with boba).

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