Z. Cioccolato

Update Review, 2022

Z.Cioccolato is a landmark to me in North Beach.  I think I discovered it during one of my first visits, and, given that it is an emporium of chocolate, candy, and, zomg, popcorn (specifically, fresh caramel corn), it just stands out in my mind.  I finally visited again after several years, and must remember to do so again, as the products really are quite good. 

Caramel Corn. (Complimentary).

As I noted in my original review, the aroma when you walk in to Z. Cioccolato is *amazing*.  And that aroma?  The caramel corn.  Sure, I didn't love it before, but I was still thrilled to discover that my order included ... a bonus bag of caramel corn.  Since I had ordered online, it was not hot and fresh however.

As before, it was decent enough caramel corn.  Well coated, deep enough caramel flavor.  Not caramel *kettle* corn, no salty component to it, just regular caramel corn. 

Basically, good enough, but not particularly notable actually, which is surprising given just how good it smells.

***.

Caramel Corn. (Complimentary).

Another day, another order, another bag of free caramel corn automatically included with my order.

This time it came in a classic paper popcorn bag.

I always find this sweet, with rich flavored caramel, nicely crispy but ... somehow lackluster.  At room temp that is.

Then I pop it in my freezer, and DEVOUR it in one sitting a few days later.  Not sure what it is, but this one gets dramatically better once frozen.

But yes, very sweet, sooooo much caramel, and not caramel corn. **** when frozen.

Chocolates

The caramel corn however is not actually the focus of the shop.  They carry a wide range of candy, including tons of homemade taffy and fudge, along with chocolates, and chocolate dipped things.  Only some of the chocolate items are made in-house.

Dark Chocolate Creamy PB Cup $4.25.

I was seriously impressed when I saw the peanut butter cups.  Yes, huge.  Enrobed in what looked like quality shiny dark chocolate.  And all that sea salt on top?  YES.

Dark Chocolate Creamy PB Cup (Side View).

"HUGE Hand-Dipped, not machine packaged Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups."

They are not joking when they say this is HUGE.  My photo isn't great, but, um, this the the deepest peanut butter cup I've ever seen.  Like, 1/2 cup of peanut butter.  No joke.

The chocolate shell was good.  Very thick, smooth, dark chocolate.  A slightly sweeter style.  The touch of salt accented the peanut butter inside quite well.

I couldn't wait to get into it.

Dark Chocolate Creamy PB Cup: Inside.

"Hand Made with our own secret PB Filling recipe in our shop in North Beach."

The inside was ... well, peanut butter.  Sooo much peanut butter.

It was fairly thick peanut butter, smooth not chunky, but didn't seem particularly creamy.  It was fine, it was peanut butter after all, but, it didn't really compare to my favorite peanut butters.

On their own, these were all "fine" components, not extraordinary, but the end result was really pretty tasty, and fun to eat just due to its sheer size.

****, and I'd get this again.

Strawberry Truffle. $3.50.

"Summer fields of strawberries warmed by the sun. Nothing is better than fresh fruit picked off the vine. We’ve taken our favorite flavor, blended it with white chocolate ganache and wrapped it in a dazzling dark shell. Temptation is great and there is not a soul that can resist the abundance of a summer harvest. This combination of freshness and silkiness is a morsel of sunshine."

I actually pre-ordered a cherries jubilee truffle, but ... apparently they were out of those, so the guy substituted a strawberry truffle.  Not what I would have picked, at all.  Many of the other truffles sounded great, but strawberry?  Eh.  Oh well.  He also gave me some cherry cordials to make up for it.

This turned out to be pretty awesome, but not at all what I expected.  And not actually made by Z. Cioccolato. A little quick internet research led me to Le Grand Confectionary, in Sacramento, as the source.

Inside was smooth, creamy, white chocolate ganache, with subtle strawberry flavor, layered with some swirls of chocolate.  The shell, dark chocolate, was glossy, had a great snap, high quality.

The strawberry flavor wasn't particularly strong, and there was no obvious strawberry, no goo, no gel, etc, but, it did have a fruity sweetness to it, and the texture of the ganache was fabulous.

This is a fairly massive piece, hard to see in this photo, but certainly not just a few bites.  I liked it, but would really love to try a flavor I picked instead.

***+.

Cherry Cordials (Complimentary).

Inside my box was also bonus cherry cordials, one each, dark and milk.

It turns out, the cherry cordials are exactly what I was hoping for from the sold out Cherries Jubilee truffle, so, I was quite pleased when I (cautiously) bit in.

Dark Chocolate:

Inside was a juicy maraschino cherry, in a sweet cherry syrup.  Intense cherry flavor, intense sweetness.  The dark chocolate shell was a bit thicker than I expected, but likely necessary insurance against the insides pouring out too easily.  A sweeter dark chocolate style.

Overall, well, just a classic cherry cordial, and I enjoyed it. ***.

Milk Chocolate:

Very similar to the dark chocolate, although there seemed to be far less syrup inside, less of a flow of sweetness as I bit in.  Milk chocolate was average, not particularly notable.

Overall, kinda boring really.  **+.

Original Review, August 2016

If you've walked through North Beach, you've likely passed by Z.Cioccolato.  And if you were me, you'd obviously be drawn in.  Why?  Well, for one, the smell of fresh caramel corn floats out onto the side.  Second, also out on that sidewalk is a big sign saying "Free Fudge Samples!"  And third, if you peak inside, all you see is candy and sweets.  Oh yes.

Z. Cioccolato is a candy shop, self proclaimed "The Sweetest Spot in North Beach", which is likely true.  They have a vast array of candy, bins and bins of candy, mostly priced by the pound.  They also have bins and bins of taffy, that they make in house, in more varieties than you can imagine.  The front counter also includes an assortment of chocolate items, like giant peanut butter cups and many varieties of chocolate bark, and of course, the fudge with samples.  Oh, and gelato.

I've visited many times to pick up candy, and to uh, try some fudge samples (I mean, how do you not?)  They also used to encourage you to try all the taffy you wanted while in the store, a very dangerous offer given how long I'd spend browsing.  I always left with a ridiculous sugar high.

Anyway, the fudge is all fine, as is the taffy, but, I don't think I ever took notes on that stuff.  Its just candy.  But ... the caramel corn, that is another story.  You know how much I love snacks, and, popcorn in particular!

Caramel Corn.  Free!

When you enter Z. Cioccolato, there is an amazing aroma.  It is what drew me in the first time, as it wafted down the street outside.  Caramel corn.  Fresh popped caramel corn.  ZOMG.

I was really tempted to purchase a bag of it, as they had sealed bags of caramel corn displayed all around the shop, $3 each.  But I know that I'm a complete caramel corn snob, and I figured it wouldn't live up to my desires, and there were too many other sweets that I wanted instead.

But, luckily for me, it turns out, they give you a free small bag of fresh popped caramel corn with a $5 purchase.  Yes!

It was totally hot and fresh, literally right out of the popper.  Which, wasn't just lucky timing on my part, they actually pop it fresh every 15 minutes.  Clearly they realized the smell draws people in, and whatever isn't purchased immediately, they bag up, forming the bags I saw all over the place.  So, protip, don't ever get one of the pre-bagged ones, you can always get it fresher if you want it.

Anyway, it was decent caramel corn.  The caramel was a bit more on the burnt tasting side than I prefer, and it didn't have that strong of a buttery flavor, but the kernels were well coated, and it was hot, fresh, and free.  Hard to disagree with that.  I'm glad I decided not to splurge and get the $3 bag though, I would have been disappointed.  I won't buy it again, but if I'm offered a free bag again in the future, I'd obviously take it.

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Dianda's Italian American Pastry

Dianda's is a fairly well known Italian bakery in San Francico, opened in 1962, by Mr. and Mrs. Dianda.  I believe it was originally in North Beach, but now is located in the Mission, with a second site in San Mateo.  It is still family owned.

"Dianda's specializes in traditional Italian baking at it's finest. "

They are known for Italian cakes (all the classics, like Napoleons, tiramisu, black forest, etc), cookies-by-the-pound, and eclairs and cream puffs, however they also make a large lineup of croissants, danishes, turnovers, muffins, and more.  As a lover of baked goods, it is these items that I tried, but after learning more about Dianda's, I definitely want to try their cakes (particularly one from their tres leches lineup - like, mango!)

Visit #1: July 2021

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag:
Apple Turnover, Croissant, Raspberry Ring, Apricot Almond Shortbread.

I didn't actually visit Dianda's myself - my goodies came from Le Sandwich, a sandwich shop in North Beach, that carries pastries from Dianda's. 

I got my goodies using Too Good To Go, the service that lets you reserve a mystery bag for discounted price, to "rescue" food that may otherwise go to waste.  In this case, it was $4.99 for an assortment of pastries, and I needed to collect it after 1pm, when folks generally stop picking up breakfast pastries.  Still freshly made that morning by Dianda's.

My mystery bag was 4 massive pastries, all of which shared some similar attributes: clearly slightly not fresh, massive, and far above average quality.   Flaky, flaky, flaky, and sooo messy, but so very good.

I instantly wanted to learn more about Dianda's.

Croissant.

Dianda's makes several kinds of filled croissants, such as the twice baked almond croissant with frangipane inside, and a pain au chocolat, but my mystery bag contained a plain croissant.  It looked rather unassuming, aside from being a bit large, and I wasn't particularly excited by it.

But the moment I ripped off a chunk I realized I shouldn't have judged the simple croissant just based on its exterior.  It was a very good croissant.  Yes, just a plain croissant, but one of the most well made I've had in ages.  It had a lovely shine on top as well.

Croissant: Cross Section.

Here you can see a cross section of the croissant.  This what the interior of a croissant *should* look like.  Perfectly laminated.  It was this cross section that really showed me that Dianda's is not messing around!  It left flakes behind, just like it should.

Quality croissant, far above average for the US, ****.

Raspberry Twist Ring.

The next item I was actually most excited by, thrilled that it wound up in my mystery bag.  A traditional Italian pastry, the raspberry twist ring.  I wish I had another item in the photo for scale to show how big this was, the diameter was quite impressive.

It was crazy flaky, and made a huge mess as I cut off a chunk.  So buttery.  So flaky.  Again, quality pastry.  The raspberry filling was twisted in, fruity, but kinda too sweet.  It somewhat reminded me of the filling in a jelly donut.  It also had some streusel like bits.

Overall I felt slightly let down by this, as it looked so amazing, but I felt a bit bored by it.  Clearly, it was well made, again, sooooo flaky, but it seemed a bit dry, and, well, like it needed to be paired with a coffee, or perhaps a scoop of ice cream to tame the sweetness.

***.

Apple Turnover.

Next was another stunner, a lovely glaze on top, mighty size, and, serious heft.  A turnover, which turned out to be apple.  Picking this up was a shock: it was quite heavy, a reflection of both its oversized nature, and just how generously stuffed with apple it was.

The pastry was, simply put, perfection.  Epically flaky.  Epically messy.  The layers.  Oh the layers.  Such quality pastry.  I liked the sweet glaze too of course.

It had a little peekaboo hole that revealed the apple filling inside, chunks of apple, in a goo, well spiced.  The apples had a nice bite too them, not too soft.  It was very generously filled too, no skimping here.

Apple turnovers, or turnovers in general, aren't really items I get all that excited by, but this was a far above average version.  Even better when I warmed it up a bit, and added vanilla ice cream ... mmm, flaky apple pie a la mode!

***+.

Apricot Almond Shortbread Tartlet.

My final item I was slightly unsure of.  From the top, it looked like it should be a danish or tart.  But, it seemed to be a cookie.  A thick cookie.  With fruit filling?  And a ring?  And sliced almonds?

My research leads me to believe this is called a "shortbread tartlet", basically a thick, crumbly, buttery shortbread base, that could easily be a complete dessert on its own, a fabulous shortbread cookie, but then, a generous amount of sweet apricot preserves, like you'd find in a danish, a scattering of sliced almonds for crunch, and, a sorta crispy shortbread ring around the top?

It is certainly unlike anything I've had before, it reminded me a jam thumbprint cookie in spirt, except totally and completely taken to the max.  The cookie was huge, the filling was significant, it just seemed, like the turnover, ring, and croissant before it, supersized.

I was pretty fascinated by this, and enjoyed the quality shortbread and fruity filling, always a good pairing.  I wouldn't ever seek out a shortbread cookie, but, if I were to, I'd certainly be pleased with this one.

***+.

Visit #2: September 2021

My next visit was again actually to Le Sandwich, and was again through Too Good To Go.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.

My Too Good To Go "mystery bag" was again 4 large size pastries, selected for me by the owner.

This time I got 3 croissants (plain, almond, chocolate) and a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  Of the assortment, only the plain croissant was a repeat from my prior visit, and I was glad to try new items.

All were again high quality, and tasted quite fresh this time.  The croissants were comically massive.  $4.99 for the loot was a great value, and I was quite pleased, although I preferred the treats in my previous bag more.

Plain Croissant.

The only repeat item I had, a plain croissant.

It tasted even fresher this time, but was otherwise the same - a light, fluffy, soft style, not a harder flaky style like more classic french croissants (you know the kind, they make a huge mess!).  It had a lovely buttery flavor to it.

Side note: I think, technically, this is a cornetto, not a croissant, as it seems to be the softer Italian style, not crispy flaky French style, and, well, is made by an Italian bakery.

***, a nice item, good for dunking in coffee, or making a breakfast sandwich on.

Almond Croissant.

The almond croissant was just slightly over-baked - the top a touch too dark, and the slivers of almond on top had a slightly burnt taste.  But otherwise, this was much like the plain croissant: light, fluffy, buttery, a decent base croissant.  It was also ridiculously large, bigger than the standard pastry bag it came quasi-contained within.

Inside was almond paste, which gave a nice subtle almond flavor, but was mostly just quite sweet.  There was no bits of almonds nor grit, it was a smooth paste, and there was quite a lot of it.

Overall, a fine item, but I usually prefer the "twice baked" style of almond croissant with far more generous filling and topping.

***.

Chocolate Croissant.

Dianda's makes two chocolate croissant items ... one, a pain au chocolate, that is not a crescent shape, and is filled with the expected batons of chocolate, and this one, which looked much like the almond version, just with a little bit of chocolate drizzled on top.

Again, much like the almond and plain versions, it was soft, fluffy, and buttery, and tasted quite fresh.  It was even BIGGER than the previous two.  I wish I had something to show the scale, but, this is easily the size of 2, if not 3, regular sized croissants.

I was curious what I'd find inside, given that I knew Dianda's made the traditional pain au chocolate too, and this had little embellishment on top.

Chocolate Croissant: Inside.

The outside of this croissant looked pretty boring, just a light drizzle of chocolate, so I cut into it, and found the expected chocolate filling.

The chocolate was not distinct bars like you sometimes find, and was ... fine?  I instantly knew that this would be better warmed up though.

Chocolate Croissant: Deeper Inside.

I cut off another section to heat it up, and was met with great surprise.

Oh wow.  They were not messing around with the chocolate!  It honestly looked like a brownie inside.

Since this item was sooo massive, it had sections that could appeal to those with different tastes - the very end was more plain, the center more filled.  I've never seen a chocolate croissant with quite this much filling.

***.

Chocolate Cake with fudge frosting.

The slice of cake was a nice change from the croissants, but it was a fairly lackluster cake.

Light, fluffy, not dried out, but not particularly deep flavor, and the chocolate fudge frosting isn't the style I prefer (I'm a buttercream girl!).

A fine item though, and I served it warm a la mode at home, so the frosting turned into more like hot fudge, and that worked quite nicely.

***.

Visits #3 and #4, March and October 2022

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.
March 2022.

After many months of not using Too Good To Go, I had a rare day off, the sun was shining, and I decided to take advantage of both to venture back to Le Sandwich to get some more baked goods.

Since my last visit, Le Sandwich had introduced new baked goods to the menu: Swedish buns, known as "fika", that they get through a local supplier who makes these and only these.  Reviewers love them, so I was hopeful my bag would contain some.  Note: while Le Sandwich, and the local baker, call them "fika", that term doesn't actually refer to a specific baked good ... but I'm going to use the nomenclature they do, just for ease.

I was delighted to look in my mystery bag.  I did indeed have not only one, but two different fika buns, plus a special hot cross bun (it was nearly Easter), and a big fluffy croissant (which I had before).  The croissant, and I think the hot cross bun, are produced by Dianda's.

Too Good To Go Mystery Bag. $4.99.
October 2022.

Again, many months passed, but I was in the mood for pastries, and selected Le Sandwich as my TGTG destination again.

As he handed me my bag, Elias, the owner, told me he put a fika in the bag, which I definitely appreciated.  I'd already seen him grab the croissant and pain au chocolate, and was pleased to get to try a muffin for the first time.

Croissant (March)

Every mystery bag I've gotten from Le Sandwich has contained a plain croissant, and this one was no different.  Again a nice item, not the flaky messy french style, but fluffy and buttery, and the flavor really shines.

Great for making breakfast sandwiches or even lunch sandwiches, or, as I tend to do, stuffing with ice cream or a fun spread like ube jam.

Reliable, fresh tasting, great buttery flavor.  ***+.

Croissant (October).

My next mystery bag ... yup, another croissant.  Like I said, he includes one in basically every TGTG bag.  this one seemed even more massive than the others, if that is possible, and was nicely golden.  Again, not a flaky style, but still quite buttery, and perfect for breakfast egg sandwiches, lunch sandwiches, or ice cream sandwiches.  I suppose probably good just toasted and spread with butter/jam/nutella/whatever, but I never tried that.  ***+.

Pain au Chocolat (October).

This was my first time getting the pain au chocolate - previously I had the chocolate croissant, which was a chocolate drizzled crescent shaped one, that was absolutely stuffed full of chocolate.  This was more the style I am used to, with 2 bars of chocolate running along the inside.

This was the first pastry from Le Sandwich that seemed noticeably rather stale.  The pastry was a bit chewy, and just not that fresh tasting.  I think if I had toasted it it probably would have been much better, but, I wanted the chocolate right away.  It was pretty average, clearly older, and I preferred the other chocolate croissant more, as it was so insanely loaded with chocolate.

I consider this a downside of TGTG though, and not necessarily a mark against Dianda's.

**+.

Blueberry Bran Muffin (October).

A muffin!  I hadn't ever gotten a muffin before from Le Sandwich/Dianda's.  And, while some might not be excited for bran, I was.

It was a good muffin.  Nice grit from the bran, few pops of blueberries, moist.  Not a great bran muffin, that distinction I'd reserve for one with a more complex flavor to the base, better distribution of blueberries, but, certainly a good one, and better than average cafe quality.  I'd get it again if in the mood for a bran muffin.

***+.

Hot Cross Bun (March).

Ah, the hot cross bun.  An item that reminds me a bit of fruitcake, in that it comes out only once a year, no one really seems to love it, and, well, dried fruit are an essential element.  And one that sometimes I do kinda like.

The hot cross bun, which I'm fairly certain is from Dianda's, was really a lovely specimen.  It had a great shine to the outside, a little light glaze, and was loaded with all sorts of dried fruits (currants, even what seemed to be some candied glace fruits?).  The cross on top seemed to be a custard, rather than traditional flour based marking.  It was fluffy, had a nice chew, lots of flavors.

Best warm, with a warm cup of beverage of your choice.

***+ for a hot cross bun, not an item I'm crazy about, but this really was a nicely made one.

Fika - Swedish Baked Goods

"Fika [fee-ka] is Swedish - a coffee break accompanied with baked goods; a moment of quality time to appreciate the good things in life! It's to pause, reflect and savor the moment! That is what fika is about. Take fika time."

I was not familiar with the concept of fika, but, I definitely am in support of it.  Le Sandwich carries a few kinds of fika - traditional buns, and, depending on the day of the week, cakes and crumble.

"I use Organic Cane Sugar, Organic flour, Premium European style Butter, Himalayan Salt, Yeast, Eggs from happy free-range chickens in Sonoma County.  Dark  Chocolate.  Always freshly ground spices.

I live and bake in San Francisco, and hope to send you a taste of Sweden!"

The fika are made by LoveFika, a San Francisco based baker, who uses quality ingredients and traditional Swedish recipes handed down from their family.  The buns come in 3 varieties: cinnamon, cardamom, and chocolate.  I was able to try two, and, well, loved them.

Chocolate Fika Bun. $4.75. (March).

"Bun with chocolate chips."

The buns are stunning looking.  Unlike an American bun that is simply rolled, these are twisted into a more complex shape.  At first I wasn't sure what kind this was, as I thought the white specs on top were large salt crystals, but they were in fact pearl sugar.  It had a lovely shine. 

This bun was unlike anything I've had before.  The edges where pieces connected were lightly caramelized and crisp, in a way that reminded me of a kouign amann.  The exterior was lightly crisp, inside was soft, but also layered.  It was like ... a croissant made with sweet enriched dough instead.  And between the folds was little chocolate chips.

It was fascinating, it was delicious, and even better when lightly warmed up.  If you are really looking for a chocolate forward dessert, this isn't it, as the chips were fairly minimal, but it was still a lovely, and unique to me item, and I greatly enjoyed it.

****.

Cardamom Fika Bun. $4.75. (March).

"A taste sensation."

Next I had the more traditional bun, cardamom.  It did not have the pearl sugar on top, and you could more clearly see the layers.  Really, something to admire.

Now, I'll admit, I am not normally much for cardamom, although the Dad's Cardamom flavor from Three Twins did grow on me.  And the cardamom here was strong.  But it was actually lovely.  It was complex, intense, and yet light at the same time.  Such a unique flavor.

The makeup of this bun was much like the other - slightly caramelized crispy exterior, amazing folds of enriched sweet dough, and just a delight to eat.  It too was best warmed up a bit.

I think it would pair amazingly with a scoop of pistachio ice cream.

I'm not sure which of the two buns I liked more, each had its unique aspects, and I'd gladly have either again.

****.

Cardamom Fika Bun.  $4.75. (October)

My next visit, my bag also contained another fika.  "I slipped a fika in there", said Elias with a smile.  I thanked him, and told him about my Swedish friend, and how much I liked it before.

It was again pretty glorious.  Still quite fresh, soft and moist sweet dough, lightly crispy exterior, fascinating flavor from the cardamom.  I couldn't resist getting into it right then, but I think it would be even better if I'd had a bit of restraint and warmed it up.  While I still don't love cardamom, this just just so good and so unique, I enjoy it quite a bit.

****.

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Senor Sisig

Senor Sisig is a very well known food truck around San Francisco, one of the early pioneers in the now vibrant food truck scene.  The concept is fusion, in a very San Francisco way: fusion burritos.  The main influence however is Filipino street food, which makes it a unique offering.

"A DELICIOUSLY NEW EVOLUTION IN FILIPINO STREET FOOD. FROM ORIGINAL FAMILY RECIPES MADE SAN FRANCISCO STYLE."

The story behind it is exactly the cute kind of success story that makes you smile - two friends bought a food truck on Craigslist, one of them is a chef who grew up eating sisig, and they started a concept all around it, filling burritos and tacos with it.  They added chicken and tofu versions as well, to appeal to the masses.  Let's just say, SF was ready for a novel approach to tacos and burritos, and it took off.  They now have a fleet of 4 trucks, and two physical stores.

"IT'S NOT ASIAN, IT'S NOT MEXICAN, IT'S SEÑOR SISIG" - GUY FIERI, FOOD NETWORK

Yeah, yeah, I just quoted Guy Fieri on my blog.  The menu has stayed true to the original roots, with several varitions on sisig, served in the form of tacos, burritos, rice bowls, salad, nachos, or fries.

Food Truck

The location I visited was a food truck, but one with a permanent home, at Spark Social.

Senor Sisig is located in the back side of Spark Social, well past all the other trucks, but, the folks seek it out.  While other trucks had lines too, Senor Sisig definitely had a steady flow, all afternoon long. It is clearly one of the most popular businesses.

Ube Coconut Alfajores. $3.

"Sweet filling spread between two South American shortbread cookies (flavor availability varies)."

I had eyes for one thing at Senor Sisig, and it wasn't any of their very popular burritos.  Nope, I was there for dessert, and in particular, for a cookie.  Yup, me, for a cookie.  You see, they had ube cookies, and, while I'm not usually huge on alfajores, I had these described as being more like polvoron than real shortbreads, and thus, I was definitely interested.

This was good.  The cookie was indeed soft, much like a polvoron, and actually quite strong ube flavor. Lightly sweet, buttery, and it crumbled well.  A nice cookie, really.  And then, the filling.  It was not traditional caramel that you find in an alfajores, but rather, it too was ube flavored.  Sweet, and it had the consistency of caramel, a slight pull to it.  Basically, well, ube caramel.  It was all rolled in coconut flakes.

Each component was nicely done, and it definitely worked together well.  A nice, actually ube forward, treat.

****.

Chile Lime Peanuts. $4.

As a grab-n-go snack, Senor Sisig has housemade flavored peanuts, available in both garlic and chile lime.  I had seen people rave about these, so, totally as an impulse buy, I grabbed an order of these too.

The nuts were, well, nuts.  Peanuts, skin on.  They were reasonably well coated in a bit of seasoning.  It wasn't particularly spicy, but, the touch of acid from the lime was a nice touch.  Tasty enough to nibble on, and more interesting than plain roasted peanuts, but I wouldn't really go out of my way to get them.  $4 for the full container was a very reasonable price.  ***.

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Ultimate Cookie

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and purchase baked goods at local coffee shops (that aren't made in house), chances are high that somewhere along the way you have encountered treats from Ultimate Cookie.

Ultimate Cookie is a wholesale bakery located in San Francisco (yes, actually, in the city, not far from where I live actually).  They make, well, cookies obviously, but also biscotti, brownies, bars (including tons of healthy style protein and vegan bars, alongside classics like lemon squares, pecan chewy bars), cakes, cupcakes, and rice crispy treats.  They supply many cafes, upscale markets, caterers, and the like.  They have been in business since 1978, so, clearly, they are doing something right.

Ultimate Cookie put their name on the map with a signature item: "Oat Cakes".  It was these oat cakes that actually caused me to pay attention to their brand.

Famous Oat Cakes

"They only look like hockey pucks!"

Yup, that is their tag line.

Oat cakes are ... interesting.  They really do look like hard, dense hockey pucks.  They look healthy.  They taste healthy.  And they are pretty healthy, fat-free, high fiber, high protein (although they still have 400-500 calories each, and nearly 30 grams of sugar, so, not a light item).

I'm not entirely sure when you are supposed to want an oat cake.  For breakfast, rather than a scone or muffin?  For breakfast, rather than a bowl of oats?  For a snack (albeit a very calorie dense one), instead of a granola bar?  On a hike?  Dessert, instead of a oatmeal cookie?  They kinda work for any of these situations I guess.

Ultimate Cookie makes oat cakes in 3 varieties: apricot, cranberry orange, and cinnamon apple. People love these things.  While most of their products are only available wholesale, individual consumers can actually mail order these.

Apple Cinnamon Oat Cake.

"Dried apples, applesauce and spices... Delicious!"

The apple cinnamon is the flavor that most Yelpers rave about. Made with dried apples, spices, and applesauce.  At room temperature, it was kinda just dry and crumbly, but with decent spicing, and chunks of apple.  But it seemed like just a super dry granola bar. 

People online recommended heating it up, so I tried that.  It was even more dry that way.  I slathered in in jam, but it didn't help.  I did not enjoy it.  

I think that perhaps warm with butter it would have worked, but I kinda think I just got a stale one, and the spicing wasn't really the type I enjoy.  Would not get again. **.

I froze half of it originally, and when I pulled it out of the freezer, I warmed it up, wrapped in foil so it wouldn't lose moisture.  And, of course, added the butter I thought it needed.  It wasn't any better.  Just strangely dense and gummy, and the spicing tasted like soap. 

Apricot Oat Cake.

"The ULTIMATE Oat Cake... Our hottest seller.  Tangy dried apricots and raisins in a healthy oat cake."

The next one I tried came with dried apricots and raisins.

It was a lot more moist than the apple cinnamon, perhaps because it was fresher?  Moist is a relative term of course, as this is still a pretty dry, dense "puck", not a scone.  It seemed like the base should have been the same as the other variety, but this one wasn't nearly as crumbly and chalky.  It also had a lovely sweet flavor to it.  I enjoyed it just as it was, plain and at room temperature.

I got strangely addicted to it.  It was still very dense and hearty tasting, and almost too healthy/boring tasting, but then it had this sweetness on the finish that was really delightful.  It almost seemed like maple?  The chunks of apricot gave it a nice chew as well.

It was like eating a bowl of oatmeal, where you mixed in some dried fruit, and drizzled with maple syrup or perhaps brown sugar, except ... in a puck.  I really don't know how else to describe it.  It was nothing like a granola bar, nothing like an oatmeal cookie, and nothing like a scone, and those are all the things I'd expect it to resemble.  Imagine taking a bowl of oatmeal, and dehydrating and compressing it?  Doesn't that sound appealing?

They say it is their best seller, which was interesting, as people didn't seem to talk about it much, but I enjoyed it. ****.

I froze half of this as well, and warmed it up, wrapped in foil so it wouldn't lose moisture.  It wasn't nearly as good this way.  Unlike the apple cinnamon, it really did not benefit from added butter.

Update: I've since had many more of these.  The texture certainly depends on how fresh they are, which is hard to know when you purchase from a coffee shop.  They have week long shelf life at room temp, 2 weeks refrigerated, and, who knows how the individual place stores them.  But when you get them seemingly fresher, softer, they are great.

I'm always blown away by how much I like them when I get a fairly fresh batch.  So dense.  So hearty. With such an amazing sweetness that I can't explain.  And I love the chew from the bits of apricot.  I shouldn't love these, but, I do. ****.

Crumb Cakes

"Our famous Crumb Cakes are so good they have quickly risen to be just about our top selling dessert. They are light but full of natural flavor. The Cinnamon Crumb is a classic… and the rest of the flavors are all wonderfully delicious."

Crumb cakes are available in 5 flavors: cinnamon, wild blueberry, raspberry ripple, caramelized apple, and New York.

Besides the oat cakes, these are the second most common Ultimate Cookie item I see around town, likely due to their full week shelf life.

New York.

"Our delicious cake with a thick topping of streusel and dusted with powdered sugar. A New York Classic!."

The cake here was fairly boring, kinda plain sweet pound cake.  That part I could do without.

But the topping was decent.   Huge chunks of sweet streusel.  Tons of powdered sugar.  It broke off in big chunks.

I liked the topping, but I wouldn't want the cake itself again. ***.

Wild Blueberry.

"We toss wild blueberries in cinnamon and sugar and gently mix them into OUR FAMOUS Crumb Cake. Top this off with our brown sugar topping and you have a delicious new breakfast offering."

Next I tried the wild blueberry cake, made with tiny little wild blueberries, and the same crumb topping they use on the cinnamon crumb cake, rather than the decadent New York style.  The berries were mixed in and scattered on top, and there was a generous brown sugar crumb layer as well.

The cake was moist and flavorful, and the berries gave little pops of flavor.  Not tons, but, little bits.  The topping was crispy and sweet, not as interesting as the big chunks in the New York style, but, still good.

Overall, this was good too. ***.

Raspberry Ripple Crumb Cake. (2018).

"Swirls of raspberry jam and fresh raspberries, topped with a sprinkling of raspberries and sugary crumbs."

Moving on to the raspberry ripple.

Major eh.  This didn't even look great, but I was really in the mood for coffee cake.

I did not like, at all.  Boring, sweet cake.  Crumb topping basically just dark color bits.  Tiny bit of raspberry swirl.  If you like boring pound cakes, perhaps you'd like this.  *+.

Raspberry Ripple Crumb Cake. (2019).

I guess I had forgotten my distaste for this, when I encountered it again, again at a time when I was craving coffee cake, and when the raspberry and crumble topping drew me in.

I didn't dislike it quite as much, but, I found nothing very interesting about it.  Just rich buttery pound cake, slightly spongy/oily in an odd way, with some not crispy crumble and berry goo on top.  **.

Cookies

"Our gourmet cookies are what made us famous. We proudly offer about 20 delicious varieties. Of course they are all hand-made and freshly baked using only the finest ingredients. Try them dipped in dark or white chocolate — wonderfully decadent!"

Given that they are the namesake, I obviously had to try a cookie, even though I'm not generally one for cookies.  Ultimate Cookie makes a wide range, as you'd expect.

Russian Tea Cakes.

"Buttery ball full of nuts, rolled in powdered sugar." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"A buttery mound full of nuts and rolled in powdered sugar." -- Ultimate Cookie

I opted for the #6 best seller, a speciality cookie, the Russian Tea Cake.

These were ... pretty standard Russian tea cakes.  The most notable aspect was the MORE than generous powered sugar coating.  Seriously loaded up with it.  Which is a good thing.

Inside was ground nuts, and I suspect butter, flour, and more sugar.  Kinda crumbly, decent texture, but not exciting really.  Average quality.  ***.

Other

The Ultimate Cookies makes a wide range of other items, including brownies and bars, sheet cakes and cupcakes, turnovers, and breakfast breads.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Cupcake.

"Moist pumpkin cupcake with a cream cheese filling."

It was fall, and pumpkin was in full force.  This cupcake, even if slightly abnormal looking, called out ot me.

This was almost good.  It was moist, and it was pumpkin spiced.  The cream cheese filling was sweetened and added more moisture.

But ... it wasn't really a cupcake to me.  More appropriate to call it a muffin.  Or just a cupcake shaped spice cake.  I was expecting some more dessert-like, and this didn't meet my dessert needs.  But for a *muffin* it was absolutely fine.

***.

Classic Crispy.

"Rice Krispies and marshmellow all melted together." (sic)

These were ... exactly the rice krispie treats that you likely grew up with.  Sticky, gooey, basic Rice Krispies and marshmallow.  No more, no less.

And thus ... entirely boring to me. **+.

They also make a chocolate topped version, and one with mini M&Ms on top.

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Ramenwell

Ramen.  Not something I seek out.  Not even when in Tokyo.  But San Francisco has a decent ramen scene, although, again, not really what I seek out.  And yet I sought out Ramenwell, a ramen restaurant in the Mission.

"San Francisco's source for delicious ramen, beer, and sake. Best Ramen in the Mission."

I don't think Ramenwell would make it to the top of lists of best ramen in SF, as there are too many others that are far better known such as Ippudo, Mensho, Marufuku, Hinodeya (very good agadashi tofu, fyi), Waraku (which, by the way, has excellent takoyaki!), and more.  But, per their claim, it could be the best in Mission, as most others are in Japantown or further out.  Yelpers seem to like it, with 4 stars overall, and in particular, folks love that they have both vegan and gluten-free options.

The menu at Ramenwell obviously features ramen as the main attraction, available in signature pork ramen, but also a vegetarian mushroom one, and even a vegan version.  The base recipes for each bowl include some toppings, but you can add more on as you choose.  Or you can just get the add-ins on the side, which, um, of course I did.  There were more than 20 additions available, ranging from wakame to garlic confit to three different kinds of noodles (vegan, regular egg, gluten-free) and many, many more.  The thing is, even if ramen is what the restaurant is known for, it isn't really something I like all that much.  The rest of the menu however called out to me instantly.  I wanted tons of things, even from the relatively small menu.

For those who want something before their ramen, or, like me, wanted something other than ramen, there are a couple appetizer options, including basic edamame to munch on, or more exciting things like takoyaki, "fries with eyes" (yes, fried smelt), two kinds of bao, katsu chicken, and dumplings.  Besides the chicken, all sounded good to me.  I also don't understand how it fits in to the menu at all, but they also randomly have macaroni salad ... vegan macaroni salad at that.

And then, of course, you know me, no meal is complete without dessert.  And what a stunning dessert lineup they have.  Small, but, um, so very good.  First up, pudding.  But not just any pudding.  Rice pudding.  And not just any rice pudding.  *Ube* horchata rice pudding.  Zomg.  And then, soft serve ice cream.  And not just any soft serve ice cream.  *Taro* soft serve.  Double ZOMG.  If you know me, you know I love pudding, you know I love soft serve, and you know I love both ube and taro.  Seriously, ZOMG.

I didn't actually venture to the restaurant though, and opted for delivery, via Door Dash.  While ordering was easy, and I loved that they had all the extras available a la carte, including tons of sauces too, the delivery experience was pretty abysmal.  My Dasher got very, very lost, and spent 35 minutes circling my neighborhood.  And then got lost in my building.  Etc, etc.  It meant that more than an hour elapsed between the time he picked it up and I got it, and thus, it was clearly stone cold (at least I didn't order the soft serve ... I wanted to, but decided not to at last minute just due to delivery concerns ... it would have been such a disaster!).  My order was also missing an item, and missing the utensils I had requested.  So, um, delivery experience, not great.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
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• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
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• Allset ($5 off) [ Pickup only ]
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• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

App: Dumplings. $8.34.

"Scallop, pork, shrimp, fried garlic, scallion, cilantro, side spicy sesame soy garlic sauce."

Rather than ramen, I opted for dumplings.  Technically an appetizer, they came 5 to an order.  Because of my loooong delivery time, the dumplings sadly were stone cold when they arrived, and completely stuck together.  Thus, I know my experience is not the same as if I had them actually at the restaurant, or even delivered in a reasonable time frame.   Once I dug them apart, I ended up re-steaming them, and even tossed one in my panini press try it crispy.

The dumplings were fine.  Average.  Well formed, sealed, and stuffed with a filling that was a mix of scallop, pork, and shrimp, all ground.  The mix worked well actually, and I liked how some bites tasted more like a classic pork dumpling, and others had a fishy nature.  The wrappers were reasonable thickness.  There didn't seem to be any herbs or seasoning in them, so, although the mix of proteins was interesting, they were a bit bland.

The toppings, pickled red onion, scallions, and fried garlic were a bit lost due to my needing to reheat the dumplings - the fried garlic had long since gotten soggy anyway.  The sauce on the side wasn't particularly great, but it was slightly spicy, slightly soy, and had sesame seeds in it.  I didn't taste any garlic.

I'd call these highly average, and I wished for a bit more flavor, either to the filling, or to the sauce.  I jazzed them up at home with more fried garlic and onion, and some chili crisp.  I don't see a reason to get these again, but if I ever wound up at the restaurant and wanted dumplings, I'd consider them.  The price was reasonable for 5 big dumplings.

***.

Side: Vegan Macaroni Salad. $4.74.

I really don't understand why Ramenwell has macaroni salad on the menu, as I can't imagine pairing ramen and macaroni salad, but, I love macaroni salad (even cheap mass produced deli ones), so I was thrilled to see it on the menu.  I ordered it to go with my lunch the next day.

The portion was quite reasonable, and I used a scoop per day for two days alongside my lunch.  It was fine macaroni salad.  The pasta was not too soft, it was creamy but not over dressed.  I did hope that it would have some kind of interesting element to it, a Japanese twist, even a sprinkle of furikake, or chopped up bits of Japanese pickles or something, but it was fairly plain.  I needed to jazz it up a bit. ***.

Interestingly, they choose to make this vegan, again, just like the existence of the macaroni salad on the menu in the first place, it seems like an odd choice.  I didn't mind though, as it didn't taste like "fake mayo".

The Door Dash price of $4.75 still seemed reasonable given the generous portion, but it is only $3.95 at the restaurant.

Side: Fried Enoki Mushrooms. $3.54.

Ramenwell has more than 20 extras you can add on to ramen bowls, or, even just get as a side.  I kinda love extras, and wanted many of them, including at least 4-5 of the sauces.  I settled on just one random extra to add to my order though: fried enoki mushrooms.  I'm so glad I did, as these were the highlight of my meal.

These were super crispy.  All stuck together, but in a good way, it made them fun to eat.   Really well seasoned, salty, "chef's palette" level of salt.  You could see salt glistening on them.  Clearly fried, greasy in a good way.  Did I mention, so crispy? 

Basically, just a joy to munch on, satisfying my immediate desire to eat something while I heated up my dumplings, but also very satisfying in a fried sense, and a super salty sense.  Comforting, slightly unique, and quite tasty.  It seems like it would be a shame to submerge these in ramen, and I think they were tasty just to munch on, or, as I did with a few, crumble on top of my dumplings and macaroni salad for a bit of texture and salt.

I'd definitely get these again, and would even probably make it a double order so I'd have more for the next day.  ****+.

The portion was small, but it was just an add-on, not a real dish.  The Door Dash price of $3.54 did seem a touch high, and they are only $2.95 directly from the restaurant.

Dessert: Ube Horchata Rice Pudding. $7.14.

And then, of course, my dessert.  While I really did want the taro soft serve, and people rave about it, I knew better than to get soft serve delivered.  Plus, I do love pudding, and rice pudding, and people do rave about the ube horchata rice pudding too.  It sounded like perfect comfort food.

I took my first few bites, and was underwhelmed.  The ube flavor was really quite mild.  It also seemed most likely to come from either powder or possibly extract, as there was no real visible ube in it, and it was too purple to be the real deal.  Most ube or taro milk tea has considerably more flavor.  I was really expecting, and hoping for, something far more intense in the ube department, and I had hoped for chunks of ube too.  So, the ube part?  Definitely a let down.  At least it wasn't cloying sweet.

The "horchata" part was also underwhelming, but that I didn't mind.  I thought the cinnamon would clash with the ube anyway.  I think the only cinnamon was just what you could see on top.

And then, the rice pudding itself.  It was a slightly odd style, made of chopped bits of rice, no full grains.  Tiny bits of rice.  Slightly al dente, which I did appreciate, but I wanted bigger grains of rice.  It wasn't a thick and rich and creamy pudding, rather, more of a thin style.  Almost frothy on top.  

I mostly just found it boring.  No strong ube, nor other, flavor.  No thick creamy pudding.  No interesting texture.  It just ate kinda plain.  I jazzed it up, adding fresh kiwi, white chocolate crispearls, whipped cream, and hunks of waffle cone, and then did enjoy it, but, on its own, just, plain.  I probably wouldn't get it again. ***.

The portion was reasonable, and only $5.95 at the restaurant, but it felt small for the delivery price of $7.14.

Tamano Hikari Junmai Ginjo. $14.40.

Since Ramenwell prides itself on the beer and sake selection, it was no surprise they had a good lineup available for takeout.  I fairly randomly just picked a mid-priced ginjo from the lineup.

I'm not sure if it was cold when my Dasher got it, but, by the time it got to me, my can was room temp.

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