Cheez-Its

Cheez-it.  You know, the square, orange, fake-cheesy, thin, baked crackers.  Not an item I have ever liked.  Not as a child, not as an adult, just, not my thing.  At all.  

They come in several flavors now, besides the "original", and they come in larger size if you please, but none of those have ever appealed to me either.  I've entirely ignored this brand basically my entire life.

But when they came out with a new line, "Grooves", in 2020, I decided to give them a try.

Grooves

"Bold Flavor, Big Crunch."

Grooves don't look particularly like Cheez-Its, besides being square, as they are bigger, a bit thicker, and are, well, grooved.  They come in 4 flavors: Bold Cheddar, Sharp White Cheddar, Zesty Cheddar Ranch, and trendy Scorchin' Hot Cheddar.

Sharp White Cheddar.

"Cheez-It Grooves® bring you deep flavor and deep crunch, with huge white cheddar grooves. Cheez-It Grooves® Sharp White Cheddar crispy snack crackers are made with 100% real cheese to bring you that irresistibly cheesy, sharp white cheddar flavor!"

I tried the sharp white cheddar, and liked them more than any other Cheez-Its, or, really, than any other cheesy snack in recent memory.

The Grooves form factor really is better: crispier, crunchier, yet lighter at the same time.  The white cheddar flavor was decently sharp, and had a slight "grown up" taste to it.  These aren't your child's Cheez-its, is what they seem to be saying.

Would I go purchase them?  No.  But did I finish my bag, and find myself kinda drawn to them?  Yup.

***+.

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Delicious Alchemy

Baked goods.  You know how much I love them.  But ... gluten-free baked goods?  Skeptical.  Or vegan baked goods?  Yup, skeptical.  Or, uh, British desserts actually being good?  Same.  All of the above are usually not my thing, as I'm #teambutter #teamcream and care about the texture of my baked goods ... and yet here I am, talking about Delicious Alchemy, a gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan health food company based in the UK that makes baked goods.

"As coeliacs, gluten free converts, foodies and fanatics, we know it can be hard to find delicious food without the gluten. That’s why we created Delicious Alchemy, a place for the most delicious food crafted without gluten, dairy or anything unsavory."

Delicious Alchemy is a pretty successful company at this point, just over 10 years old, with a product line that includes cereals, baking mixes, and porridge, but they previously made mini-loafs, rolls, pizza bases, cookies, and more.  They also produced a line for Sainsbury's.  Last time I was visiting London, I got a chance to try them out.

 Apple & Sultana Cookies.

To make my adventure with Delicious Alchemy even more amusing, the product I picked to try?  Apple & sultana cookies.  Add more strikes to the list: baked goods at the bottom of my list?  Yup, that would be cookies.  And worst thing to put in a cookie?  I'm looking at you raisins (sultanas).  And yet, here I was.

These ... weren't bad.  They had more of a "healthy" taste to them, much like an oatmeal raisin cookie, but one that isn't loaded with sugar.

However, they weren't exactly a health food.  The first ingredient?  Margarine.  Lol.  And there were no oats, even though my brain swore I tasted it.  The base was rice flour, maize flour, potato starch, rice starch, millet flake, dried egg, and coconut, which, somehow, my brain translated into oat, because that is the only similar thing it knew.

The cookie texture was crispy and a bit crumbly.  I didn't taste apple, but, there was puree in there I guess?  There certainly were not chunks of dried apple.  The sultanas were dried, and weren't offensive.

Overall, this was better than I expected.  I easily finished one, and hesitated before giving the second one away to a friend.  But, at the end of the day, I'm just not that into cookies.

Overall, honestly a surprise, and I think these would have a place in my life is as ... healthy breakfast cookies, just not as treats.

***.

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Lahore Karahi

Update Review, 2021 Visits

It had been nearly 10 years (!) since I last visited, and reviewed, Lahore Karahi, an Indian restaurant in the Tenderloin.  The neighborhood isn't one I necessarily seek out, but, they have plenty of Indian restaurants, and some are really quite good.  My visits this time were in the depths of the pandemic, when I wanted some reason to get out of the house, get something tasty, and help support local businesses.

I placed all my orders online in advance, and although they were never ready when I arrived, they were prepared fresh to order.  The single staff member was friendly and seemed to be running the entire place (no dine-in service at the time).  I was impressed with the quality of my simple items, and I'll gladly return to get a full meal sometime.

Sweet Naan. $3.99.

"Sugar, coconut and raisins added to baked naan."

This was fascinating!!!

I had sweet naan once before in my life, and I didn't really like it then (my review, from Al Hamra), but also I had no idea what to expect then, and sought it out for dessert, which, it wasn't.

This version I also didn't know what to expect exactly, and I knew people said that it was different from most other sweet naan styles, so that made it even harder to reason about.  In particular, most other sweet naan has cherries, at least from what I've seen on menus, and this did not.

Anyway.  It was handed over piping hot.  Freshly made.  The foil literally almost too hot to touch.  I appreciated that they wrapped it up to keep it warm.

From the outside, it almost looked like regular naan, although it had some pockmarks.  

The naan itself was ok.  Not remarkable, and a bit chewy and thin.  I had it pretty fresh, so I don't think this was from being wrapped up a few minutes?  The chew didn't seem quite right, and I kinda wanted it fluffier, although maybe that isn't how it is done for sweet naan?

There was a little char on the bottom that was good.

But this was about the insides, anyway.  That is where it got really, really interesting.

Sweet Naan: Inside.

Yeah, inside.  *What* was inside?  I honestly don't know.

The menu said "sugar, coconut, and raisins", yes, those were all present.  The coconut was shredded dried coconut, the raisins were golden raisins left whole throughout.  And the filling had a sweetness.

But there was clearly much more going on.  In addition to the sweet fruitiness is a ... nutty earthiness?  I believe there is a substantial amount of sesame seeds.  Maybe some almond paste?  And there was bits of something orange and candied, some other dried fruit I think?  But it didn't seem to be cherry like others.

And then ... a touch of something else savory.  Garlic? Onion?  Curry powder?  I'm not sure, but it was subtle, and there, creating a balance unlike anything I've had before.

It was just really, really fascinating.  Sweet, yes, but there was also so much savoriness to it.

I sought it out thinking I'd use it for a dessert item, or, I thought it might just be like a soft, puffy, white bread with raisins in it, and I'd toast it/eat it warm slathered with cream cheese for breakfast.  But after a few bites I imagined it going great with a spicy curry, or with yogurt (raita) too.

I greatly enjoyed it, just as is, for an afternoon snack (I bet great with chai!), and had another hunk the next morning, warmed up in toaster oven, for breakfast.  It was great for breakfast too, sweet, but not too sweet.  If I had more, I'd try it for dessert dunked in whipped cream or stuffed with mango ice cream.  It seems really versatile.

I'd love to learn more about sweet naan styles so I can figure out how to best pair it in the future.

***+.

Pappadam. $2.

"Crispy spiced lentil wafers. Served with homemade mint and tamarind chutney."

I ordered the pappadam just because I remembered that their chutney is so delicious.  If I ordered pappadam, I'd get chutney.  I think the chutney is made in house.

The pappadam itself was fine, crispy, good lentil flavor, not stale. ***.

It came with only mint chutney (not tamarind as it was supposed to), but I received 3 of the fantastic mint chutney, so I was pretty happy.   I adore this spicy chutney, but I don't think it goes all that great with the pappadam - the pappadam is better with raita or mango chutney (or, just dunked in curry). 

Housemade Mint Chutney. 

The mint chutney is really, really good.  I love it drizzled on roast veggies, with grilled paneer cubes, or really, with just about anything, including using as a salad dressing.  Spicy and flavorful.

****.

Update review: I got it again.  It was quite good, really spicy actually, and fresh tasting. Again, I believe them when they say homemade.  ****.

Mango Chutney. $2.99.

"Indian-style spiced mango chutney."

I also ordered the mango chutney, available separately.  It was fairly standard mango chutney.  Slight sweet, slightly sour.   I suspect not made in house.

Not much to say, but nice to have to pair with things (particularly with samosa!).

***.

Raita. $2.99.

"Homemade yogurt with cucumber."

Yup, more dips, I also got the raita. 

The raita was actually quite nice, which, honestly surprised me.  It seemed legit house made, a quality product.  In particular, it was quite thick, like labne, which I really enjoyed (usually raita, or at least the raita I seem to wind up getting places, is runnier?).

Anyway, I really liked it.  Awesome to dunk crudite into in particular.

****.

Original Review, December 2012

I've been on a quest to find some indian food I like in San Francisco.  I've been to plenty of places that have been mediocre, but no where that I really find myself wanting to go back to.  So when I recently got some more GoPago credits, I decided to use them to gamble and try out another Indian place.

I decided on Lahore Karahi, a place with fantastic Yelp reviews ... until a few months ago.  I read that it was sold recently, and people are very unhappy with the new ownership.  But I still gave it a try, since I figured that some of the negativity was just people not dealing well with change.

It is a very small place in the Tenderloin, with a somewhat strange model.  Normally, you order at the register, but they bring the food out to you when it is ready.  They seemed to mostly do take-out, and have several online ordering systems, like GoPago, which I used.  I liked that they had a dine-in option available through GoPago.

This is not somewhere you go for decor or ambiance.  The tablecloths were all dirty, stained, and wrinkled.  They then had a plastic layer on top of them, so it seemed really strange that they were so dirty, given the protectors on top.

The staff weren't unfriendly exactly, but said very few words.  On one side of the room was an area with water and unlabeled carafes, with a big sign saying "Self Service".  Luckily, I'd read about this beforehand, so I knew that I could help myself to some hot chai, but I got the impression that no one would have told me about this otherwise.

Overall, it wasn't really good nor bad, just fairly unremarkable.  But, it was definitely the cheapest indian food I've had, and was a fantastic value for the money.  I'd consider going back, but wouldn't go out of my way for it, and will continue my quest to find somewhere I like more!

Chai.  Complimentary.

As I mentioned, there were some unlabeled carafes over on the side, with paper cups next to them.  They were filled with piping hot chai.  It was unsweetened, but there was also sugar you could add in to taste.  It wasn't really remarkable, very milky and barely tea flavored, and almost soapy tasting, but I liked having a nice hot drink, and the price sure was right!

***.

Shahi Paneer.: Lightly fried cheese cooked with nuts in tomato sauce.  $7.99.

My shahi paneer arrived piping hot, within just a few minutes of my ordering.  It stayed incredibly hot the entire time I was eating, with steam continuing to rise from it, even when I was finished.

The sauce was very creamy, clearly made with a lot of heavy cream.  It was also glistening with oil.  A little too heavy for my taste, but I somewhat expected that.  It was pretty flavorful, with decent spicing, and large chunks of spices throughout, including whole leaves.

The paneer was a bit of a disappointment   It was mushy, kinda rubbery, and not really fried on the edges.  It did have a nice flavor however.

The portion size was generous, with a lot of paneer, far more than anywhere else I've been.  And for only $7.99 this was a really good value.  I'd consider getting this again, but it wasn't particularly remarkable.

***.

Naan.  $1.

The naan was freshly made to order.  I saw it being kneaded out after I ordered.  It was actually a really nice size, smaller than many places, which I liked.  Slathered with some oil, and cut into quarters.

It was decent naan.  I wouldn't rave about it, but it was better than most.  Hot, fresh, fluffy, with a good char in a few places.  And only $1?  Very good value, and I'd love to try some of the other flavored/filled naan next time.

***+.

Kheer: Special rice cooked with milk and sugar, served cold with pistachios.  $2. 

And, time for dessert! The rice pudding wasn't anything special.  Tiny bits of rice, sweet milky base, some spicing, a few sliced nuts, and a total of 2 raisins in my entire portion.  I added cinnamon and blueberries to it when I got home, and enjoyed it much more.

This was a small little container, but just the right amount for one person, and not bad for $2.  I wish all restaurants offered up small little desserts like this!

Anyway, this wasn't bad, but it wasn't good.  I wouldn't get again.

***.

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Merci Chocolate

"merci offers a thoughtful collection of rich, European chocolates made from the finest ingredients available. Known as Europe’s famous gift-giving chocolate, merci offers something for everyone and is sure to be warmly received."

You can probably guess how I discovered merci.

Indeed, "Europe's famous gift-giving chocolate" was given as a gift to a co-worker, who immediately ditched the box, providing me plenty of content for a chocolate review!  I wouldn't exactly consider these premium chocolates, as it turns out you can buy this box in Walmart or Target in the US too, but, hey, content for you that is *quite* accessible!  (Our box was actually from Germany ... I think?)

merci Finest Selection Box.

"Each slim, stylish box of merci Finest Assortment of European Chocolates contains eight unique, individually wrapped flavors, including Milk Chocolate, Coffee and Cream, Hazelnut-Almond, Hazelnut-Creme, Marzipan, Dark Cream, Dark Mousse, and Praline-Creme."

Our box was the "Finest Selection", a mix of different milk, dark, and white pieces, all bar shaped.  Merci also makes a mousse and a milk & creamy assortment, each with only 4 flavors.

Guide.

The box came with a handy guide on the back, which was nice, since our box really did seem to be from Germany, and the pieces were labelled in several languages.

Individual Wrapping.

Each piece was individually wrapped, thin long-ish bars, kinda like the shape of a single Kit Kat piece.

They were labelled in multiple languages - I could at least find French, German, and English on them.

Praline-Creme: Inside.

"Luscious milk chocolate with a smooth chocolate praline center."

I started with a milk chocolate selection, never my favorite type of chocolate, but, I was drawn in by the "Praline-Creme".

As I kinda feared, the chocolate was very mediocre boring milk chocolate, smooth enough, but, nothing special.

The filling though?  Really strange.  I didn't really think of it as praline, nor as "creme", it was more just like a gritty paste.  Meh.

**.

Hazelnut Almond.

"Delicate pieces of hazelnuts and almonds in smooth milk chocolate."

The next was not much better.

The texture of the nuts was nice, but the milk chocolate very mediocre, and the nuts seemed bitter.

**+.

Hazelnut Creme.

"Milk chocolate filled with a smooth, creamy hazelnut cream."

The hazelnut creme?  Alsono better.

Same mediocre milk chocolate, same strange cream filling.  **.

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Dark Mousse.

"Fluffy chocolate mousse wrapped in rich dark chocolate."

So I went for the next best sounding one: Dark Mousse!  I prefer dark chocolate, and, um, yes to mousse?

Like the Praline-Creme, it was a filled bar.  The dark chocolate was ... barely dark chocolate.  It was very sweet, creamy, and smooth, not really what I think of as dark chocolate at all.  For those of you who think Hershey "Special Dark" is dark chocolate, then this is for you.

The dark chocolate was also just a very thin layer, the inside filling was the majority of the bar, a milk chocolate "mousse", again, just more sweet filling.  Not interesting in any way.

**.

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The Collective Dairy

The Collective is a dairy brand found in the UK, but originally started in New Zealand.  They produce mostly yogurt (including drinkable kefir, and a non-dairy line).

"Fresh, natural, vegetarian friendly with no added nasties or other tricky stuff. No artificial colours, preservatives so you won't be finding any weird numbers amongst our ingredients, honest!"

While they have plenty of healthy, simple offerings, I was drawn in by the flavors of the premium line, which includes dessert worthy varieties like one with layers of fudge (yes, really), along with your standard fruity offerings.   You may recall a similar draw in for Müller Dairy, another UK based dairy producer that I reviewed last week for their banoffee pie "corner".  Yup, the to have its share of dessert-as-yogurt offerings.

Banoffi.

"Thick and creamy live yogurt with a double layer of delicious banana and toffee sauce".

Unlike the Müller offering of banoffee that included crispy bits, I knew this would be just yogurt, but still, banoffee!  I love banoffee.

Really though, this was .... just banana yogurt with some sweet caramel on top.  Still yogurt.  No texture.  It didn't really channel banoffee for me in any way as it entirely lacked the biscuit component.  

Meh. **.

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Gus's Community Market

Once upon a time (in 1981 to be exact), a family of immigrants opened a produce market, Haight-Ashbury Produce, that did quite well.  Well enough that the family opened a second location, Noriega Produce.  And then, after further expansion to the Haight location to add a deli and meat department (and rebranding as Haight Street Market), a third location, Gus's Market, sprung up in the Mission. And then another, in Mission Bay.  

Guy's Community Market: Mission Bay

Eventually, all adopted the Gus's branding.  And yes, Gus was the real human involved in the expansion and success.

 "Gus’s Market has been a local neighborhood staple for almost 40 years. In all that time, we’ve worked out how to serve best: you like to find the highest quality version of what you’re looking for, at great prices. Our family still heads out on the floor to make sure you’ve got everything you need, because we don’t just call ourselves mom n’ pop – we strive to make you part of our family."

In addition to being a well curated neighborhood grocery store featuring many local vendors, Gus's Market has a deli/cafe with made-to-order sandwiches, salads, desserts, etc.  They also offer catering, which is how I was able to try a few items.

For breakfast catering, which is what I had, Gus's offers just the basics: bagels and spreads, pastries, a salmon platter, fruit, and overnight oats.  The event I attended had the bagels (from House of Bagels), along with overnight oats bowls and fresh fruit.  Everything was individually packaged to be extra COVID friendly.

I was quite pleased with the quality, and plan to seek out Gus's sometime on my own.

Peanut Butter, Blueberry, Banana Overnight Oats.

"Oat Milk, Rolled Oats, Peanut Butter, Banana Chips, Maple Syrup and Black Chia Seeds."

The first overnight oat bowl I grabbed had what looked like a blueberry topping, so I went for it.  I had no idea what else was it in, besides the obviously banana chips on top.

The banana chips were a great element in that they stayed perfectly crisp, and added nice crunch factor to the bowl.  (Note: I did save half my bowl for the next morning, and by then, the banana chips were soft, as I would have expected.  They weren't bad, just a slightly different eating experience.

The berry element was two forms - a blueberry compote on top, and then, whole berries throughout.  I really like blueberries so I was pleased by the berries, although I think strawberry would be a better match given the other ingredients in the bowl (banana, peanut butter).

PB, Blueberry, Banana Oats: Side.

Below the toppings was the real surprise.  It looked like just some chia and some kind of dairy (or non-dairy), and some mushy oats?  I wasn't particularly excited for it.

But one bite, not even, one tiny tiny taste, and I realized that these were not just chia-oats!  The flavor was intensely peanut butter.  Mmm, peanut butter.  The base was very creamy, and I liked the soft mushy overnight oats, and wasn't bothered by the chia (I'm not a huge chia fan).

I love peanut butter, and this was basically a fun play on a pb & j meets pb & banana, two wonderful sandwich combos, but, as a overnight oat bowl.  I wished the "j" was strawberry though, even though I like blueberries more in general.  That said, the peanut butter was quite rich, and this wasn't a bowl that made you feel healthy, rather, it really weighed me down.  A half a bowl really was plenty, although I found it addicting in small doses.

****.

Strawberry Almond Overnight Oats: Top.

Next, I grabbed one that looked to have strawberry and sliced almonds on top.  Again, I didn't know quite what lay beneath.

The strawberry compote was even more generous on top of this one compared to the blueberry on the other.  It was fruity, sweet, and seemed made from real fruit.  This bowl did not have fresh berries in it in addition.

The almonds on top were thin sliced, and much like the banana chips in the previous bowl added a great crunch.

Strawberry Almond Overnight Oats: Side View.

Once I dug under the fruity layer, I found another base of creamy mushy oats with chia, again a really pleasant texture.  And this time, no surprise peanut butter.

But instead ... surprise almond butter!  The almond butter complimented the almonds on top and the berries quite well.  Again though, the nut butter did make this a very heavy bowl.  These are clearly not diet food bowls, but rather, will keep you powered up and sustained for hours, if you eat one all at once.  The almond butter flavor was good, but, I prefer peanut butter.

This one also seemed to have a final layer at the base, a ground almond crumble.

I enjoyed this combo too, and honestly, I can imagine squirting some whipped cream on top and calling it dessert, it really is sweet, creamy, and decadent.

I preferred the blueberry/pb/banana bowl because I like peanut butter more than almond, but again, what I really wanted was the pb/banana elements of the first bowl, with the strawberry compote from this one.

Gus's also makes an "Apple Pie a la Mode" version, which I'd love to try as well.

***+.

Fancy Fruit Salad.

"At Gus’s Fresh Produce is everything to us. We hand select the finest fruit from the season and cut it, mix it and portion it into 5 ounce portions."

We had a large variety of fruit bowls to pick from, some with more melons, others with tons of berries, others entirely without berries, and some even had nectarines!  Really, every one was quite different.  I appreciated the variety, and it didn't seem random.

The fruit was all far above average.  All perfectly ripe, juicy, and quite flavorful.  For March, this was quite a feat.

****+.

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Rural Route 1 Popcorn

Popcorn, popcorn, glorious popcorn.  If you read my blog with any regularity, particular my Friday posts (Snack Foods Friday!), you know full well how much I adore popcorn, both sweet and savory, and how I like to, uh, freeze it.  Yes, it has a dedicated label on my blog, and yes, it really is one of my favorite things ever.

But enough about me and popcorn.  Today we move to a Wisconsin based gourmet popcorn maker: Rural Route 1 Popcorn.  Unlike many in the gourmet popcorn business, their background is actually quite unique.  Most enter the space after making kettle corn and selling at farmer's markets, that sort of thing.  But Rural Route 1 Popcorn actually came in from the grain producing industry, a pivot they made when demand was dramatically decreasing for their primary crop: seed corn.  So they experimented with making popcorn, using many of the fields and infrastructure they already had for harvesting and processing seed corn.  The rest, I guess, is history.  

"Attention to detail and quality are the keys to the success of Rural Route 1 Popcorn, which is ear harvested and then hand sorted to select the most perfect ears. And, rather than choosing corn hybrids that have the highest yields, varieties are selected based primarily on taste and tenderness. This attention to quality, not quantity, assures excellent taste and delicate tenderness for the ultimate in gourmet popcorn."

This is a unique story because it means that Rural Route 1 Popcorn really focuses on the variety of corn and production of the base corn, which, well, is ultimately critical for good popcorn.

Today, Rural Route 1 Popcorn produces a large range of popcorn, including microwave popcorn, and assorted flavors of pre-popped popcorn, ranging from savory cheese flavors, to classic caramel corn, to all sorts of dessert concoctions with chocolate and nuts.  Popcorn is available in bags, buckets, tins, etc.

"The most popular specialty is Ivory Almond K'Nuckle, a creamy medley of popcorn, almonds and luscious white fudge. The success of this recipe has led to 3 other fudge covered delicacies, C.C.Winkle, R.C. Snakle and the latest, S.S Dunkle."

Some of the flavors have rather ... unique names. 

R.C. Snakle Popcorn.

"Sweet popcorn and cranberry bits (with a hint of raspberry) is blended into a creamy white fudge".

I received a box of the R.C. Snakle in a holiday package, so, cranberry was a good seasonal match.  I'm not a big fan of cranberry, but, white chocolate sounded good.

I really did not like it.

The popcorn was a bit soggy.  The coating was sweet ... but that is about it.  Just, sweet.  The little bits of cranberry were flavorful and it was interesting to have a chewy element in there, but ... yeah.  Would not get again.

**.

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