Sweet Lu, Sydney

When I visit Sydney, I often find myself having the opportunity to order cake for my co-workers.  This important task ranges from smaller 20 person parties, to those of about 100 or so.  At this point, when the locals see me in the office, they ask when cake day is.  Yes, I have a reputation.  Over the years, I have sourced the goods from a variety of places, having settled on Saga Bakery the past few years for the true show stoppers.  Before that, when Uncle Tetsu first opened in Sydney, I introduced my team to that style of cheesecake.  This time, when I visited, it was time to introduce my co-workers to another trendy dessert: crepe cakes.

I was talking to one of my teammates based in Sydney, and he mentioned never having a crepe cake before.  I explained that the trend had taken off in the US a few years prior, and Sydney, with all its trendy desserts, must clearly be on board.  I immediately started looking and found very few places offering crepe cakes, only two actually. I was surprised, because the dessert game in general is so strong in Sydney.  Give it another year?

Anyway, one of the two choices was Sweet Lu, with a convenient location in Chinatown.  I went to visit my first night in town to scope it out, and the lines were long, the place was bustling.  Definitely a good sign.  

"Treats for every occasion bringing warmth and sweetness to your life."

Sweet Lu is not just a bakery, it is a "Boutique Dessert House", offering cakes, filled croissants, and their signature item, little egg tarts with interesting toppings, such as durian marshmallow or boba pearls, in addition to the crepe cakes I was seeking out.  I am *very* curious about the tarts, particularly as I have a hard time imagining the durian and marshmallow combination ...

"Handmade with love using premium ingredients showcasing the best our local farmers have on offer. Perfect for any occasion!"

Sweet Lu has been in business since 1997, and prides itself on quality, local ingredients.  I tried a number of items, and every single one seemed like it had been baked fresh that morning, the fruity elements were perfectly ripe, and the cream was rich in all the right ways.

Delivery Packaging.

Since I ordered multiple full size cakes, I had them delivered, which was easy to arrange directly through the bakery online.  My jaw dropped when I saw the cakes lined up in my building reception.  Each one came on a sturdy base, with a clear plastic box around it, bound by ribbon, with a custom cake serving set on top.  They were remarkably well packaged and displayed, and I really appreciated that I didn't need to transfer to another tray or platter to serve.

Party Kit (included, or $15 additional).

"Big gathering? Create the perfect place setting for your celebration. Each pack contains our premium signature Sweet Lu serving knife, candle, plates (x5) and forks (x5)."

Each cake came complete with a party kit, with 5 tiny little plates and 2 prong forks, a birthday crown, candles, and matches, and a serving knife.  While I didn't need the birthday components, and the plates were far too tiny for our desired portion sizes, the cake cutter in particular was a very welcome addition.  The server and forks all had custom Sweet Lu branding.  

Awesome to have this included, and you can purchase extra sets for $15. 

Chiffon Cakes

Sweet Lu does not just make the crepe cakes I had sought out, they also make chiffon cakes (and I suspect made those long before introducing crepe cakes).

"Light as air Chiffon cakes laced with fresh whipped cream in a range of flavours. Perfect to enjoy for everyone!"

Sweet Lu's chiffon cakes are all elaborately decorated, with interesting fillings and flavors.  On the fruity side there is wintermelon, blueberry, strawberry, rose and lychee, and fig and berry.  Chocolate lovers have the Oreo chocolate, and for the truly over the top there is the earl grey milk tea cake with "oozing molten earl grey lava custard centre".  I was tempted to get the later for my group, but, I worried it would be too messy.

I got one full size chiffon cake for my group, along with 2 additional slices for myself.

Strawberry. $12.80.

"Our Signature Strawberry chiffon cake layered with fresh strawberries and clouds of fresh whipped cream."

The most boring, and lightest, of the cakes was the strawberry chiffon, with layers of plain chiffon cake, strawberries, and whipped cream.  The cake was light and airy, chiffon style, not a dense American style butter or sponge cake.  The whipped cream was fresh and fluffy.  The strawberries were juicy and ripe.  It reminded me a bit of strawberry shortcake when people make it using an angel food cake rather than biscuit base.  The ratios of cake to cream were exactly as I wanted.  

The elements of this were all good, but its not a cake I'd pick for myself, as when I want cake, I want dense buttery sponge cake with copious buttercream, not something light like this, and when I want fruit and cream, I want a shortcake biscuit with it, not chiffon cake.  But nothing to fault with the execution of the cake, just a preference thing.  My least favorite, but still a good cake.  ***+.

Rose Lychee. $12.80.

"Pillowy soft chiffon cake with Lychee and finished with Rose Cream."

Next up was the rose lychee chiffon cake I had considered getting for my group, as it sounded great to me, but, no one else was interested in rose and lychee flavors, so, I got a slice just for myself.

The construction of this cake was less perfect than the previous, with some layers of the chiffon cake thicker than others, and quite a bit of back frosting/cream.  The cake however was much the same, light and moist, same with the cream.  In with the cream was sweet and fruity fresh lychee, and everything had a subtle, floral, lovely rose flavor.  This one ate a bit sweeter than the strawberry cake, but still wasn't an overly sweet cake.  The lychee added nice texture as well.

The rose and lychee were a sophisticated and inviting flavor mix, and I liked this one considerably more than the strawberry cake, even though, on the surface, they were much the same.  ****.

Fig & Berry Cake. 8 inch. $169.00.

"Fresh figs topping pillowy soft chiffon cake layered with fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries encased with cheese and raspberry fresh cream." 

For my group, I went for a crowd pleasing non-controversial flavor that still sounded good to me, the Fig & Berry cake, which sounded much like the strawberry cake, but, with raspberries, blueberries, and figs on the top, and instead of just plain whipped cream, it had cheese and raspberry cream.  It was a beautifully decorated cake, dusted with icing sugar as well.  It was however lacking any of the promised figs.

This was our highest priced cake, at $169, but, it was clear more effort went into the decorating of this one.

Berry Cake: Cross Section.

Here you can see the construction of the cake.  Again, three layers of light, moist chiffon cake, with plenty of raspberry whipped cream all around and in-between the layers.  The fresh fruit element (berries only, no figs!) was the decoration on top, and continued in the center of the cake between the layers. 

I felt much the same way about this as I did the strawberry cake.  Yes, the chiffon cake was a nice chiffon cake, and the cream was so fresh, but ... that's just boring to me.  The fresh fruit was nice, and all perfectly ripe, but it would have been better to have the berries not just in the center, and more distributed to the edges between the layers.  I didn't taste the listed cheese element in the cream either.

So, not quite as described on the menu (no fig, no cheese), and a touch boring, but nothing really to fault with the execution of what it was.  I liked it slightly more than the one with just strawberry, ***+.

Crepe Cakes

"Alternating layers of delicate golden handmade crepes and fresh pastry cream to create a light mille crepe cake. Elegant and delicious!"

Crepe cakes are available in a variety of flavors, none very "vanilla", as the most basic is the soy custard flavor, and the variety ranges from light and floral rose or osmanthus, to the risky like durian.  No taro, black sesame, or pistachio though, which let me down, as those are my top picks for crepe cake flavors in general.  My group picked the earl gray as their top choice, which wasn't my top choice, so I also got myself individual slices of others.

The crepe cakes were all very consistently well made.  Paper thin layers of fresh, not dry, crepes, the right balance of cream between the layers.  The flavors were more subtle than other brands of crepe cake I've had.  Definitely not too sweet.  But I've been spoiled by having Lady M crepe cakes, and, well, they are a reason they are so famous.  Others can be really well executed, like these, but, Lady M is just a class apart.  

Earl Grey. 8 Inch. $118.

"Earl Grey crepe cake, fresh cream infused with Earl Grey tea layered with Earl Grey tea jelly." 

Earl grey is certainly not the flavor I'd ever pick, but my co-workers all had this as their top pick, so I got it for the group.  Of course, I did still try it.

The full cake was $118, in AUD, so much cheaper than Lady M.  Individual slices are $12.80 each.

Earl Grey.

The crepes themselves were clearly fresh, not dried out, delicate.  The cream was faintly earl grey flavored, lightly sweet.  Construction was well done, lots of layers, perfect balance of crepe and cream.  The jelly on top had a slightly stronger earl grey flavor, although it too wasn't all that strong.  

Overall, a well made crepe cake, but flavor was very mild.  My least favorite of the four flavors I tried.  **** for construction, **+ for flavor, ***+ overall.

Osmanthus.

"Aromatic osmanthus crepe cake with fresh floral notes topped with fresh whipped cream and an osmanthus glaze."

One of my co-worker's second pick was osmanthus.  Again, not what I'd pick, but I got him a slice, and of course I still tried it.  Again, the construction was well done, perfect balance of cream and crepe, and all was clearly fresh.  The flavor was lightly floral and lightly bitter, which, I guess is what osmanthus is?  I'll admit I haven't had much osmanthus flavored stuff in my life.  The jelly on top was again more flavorful than the creme layers.

Overall, another **** execution, *** for the interesting but mild flavor, ***+ overall, and above the earl grey for me because the flavor was more complex and novel.

Rose.

"Elegant rose cream with rose lychee jelly vanilla crepe cake."

Next was a slice for me of my top pick of the crepe cakes that Sweet Lu offers: rose cake.  This was a lovely cake, again, nice construction, clearly fresh, good layers.  The lychee jellies added a touch of sweetness and a bit of a textural focal point.  The rose flavor was reasonably strong, I don't think I'd want it stronger because rose is so powerful.  It was the sweetest of the cakes I tried, mostly due to the lychee jellies.  The jelly on top, again, a nice extra burst of flavor, and flower petal garnish made it look quite elegant.

That all said, the rose crepe cake from Lady M really was another notch above this, with more delicate crepes, thinner layers, and stronger flavor.  There is a reason Lady M is so well known.

This was my favorite of the crepe cakes from Sweet Lu, and I'd gladly get it again.  ****.

Soy Custard.

"Golden vanilla crepe cake with soy cheese custard garnished with clouds of fresh whipped cream dusted with roasted soy bean powder."

My last slice was the soy custard, which I got mostly out of curiosity.  It sounded simple and plain, but, I do really like the flavor of soy, and "soy cheese custard" was just too interesting to turn down.

It was fairly hard to describe, certainly the most plain, but somewhat stronger tasting, if that makes any sense.  I wouldn't identify the taste as particularly soy nor cheese, but it was more like the taste of the custard from creme brulee?  The filling between the layers seemed thicker, more custard like in this, than the others that seemed more like whipped cream.

I enjoyed this, again due to the excellent construction, but I did want fresh fruit to jazz it up a bit.  ***+.

Other Cakes

In addition to the crepe and chiffon cakes, Sweet Lu also makes some hybrid cakes, sponge cakes, and, for those who love Durian, and cheesecake, a durian cheesecake, topped with big hunks of fresh Musang King durian.  Sadly, I could not convince anyone else to go that route.

Strawberry Matcha Crepe Chiffon.

"Double your enjoyment with both crepe and chiffon cake! Premium grade matcha crepe layered with matcha infused cream on top of layered chocolate cream and chocolate chiffon cake with strawberries and garnished with pistachios."

If you can't decide between chiffon or crepe cake, get both!  And throw in a chocolate cream layer as well.  That is what you get with the strawberry matcha crepe chiffon cake.  It has a chocolate chiffon cake base, a matcha crepe middle layer, and chocolate cream top, along with fresh whipped cream, strawberries, and pistachios.

I'll admit that this seemed like too many competing elements.  Chiffon cake and pudding and crepes?  Matcha and chocolate and strawberries and pistachios?  That's ... a lot.  The matcha and chocolate in particular I just couldn't imagine going well together.

It actually worked fine, although some elements simply faded away into the background.  I saw the dusting of pistachio crumble on top, but didn't taste it at all.  The single strawberry was just garnish on top.  Likewise, the chocolate chiffon cake was entirely lost for me.  So, they didn't compete, but were pretty lost.

The matcha crepe cake layer was excellent, again, really nice execution on the crepe cake, and the matcha flavor was intense.  I liked the chocolate cream too, rich, mild milk chocolate flavor.  They were ok together, but, I do think I'd enjoy them more separately.  

Overall, an interesting cake with many components, and I enjoyed it, but likely wouldn't get again.  ***+.

Taro Cake. 8 inch. $139.

"Taro cake layered with coconut jelly and sea salt cream, garnished with coconut and nut flakes."

And finally, even though no one else wanted it, I got the cake I was most interested in, the taro cake.  I love taro, I like coconut jellies, and I love sea salt cream, so, this sounded pretty perfect to me.  It was a square cake rather than round, and came garnished with coconuts and seeds, and a few bits of gold leaf.  Definitely a less stunning presentation than the others, but it was, hands down, my favorite.

Taro Cake: Cross Section.

The cake was again a light chiffon I believe, thinner layers than the other cakes.  It mostly just served to provide a touch of structure to the cake, and little else, which I didn't mind.  

That is because the main component was the two taro layers.  Beautiful purple color, creamy, fabulous real taro flavor.  I believe it was sweetened mashed taro, perhaps with some cream in the mix too.  Truly delightful.  It was frosted with white cream frosting, which Sweet Lu described as sea salt, but I didn't detect much of.  The cream was a great compliment to the rest of the cake.  The coconut and seed garnish was great for a touch of texture.  I never found any of the coconut jellies that the menu said it would have.

Overall, a great cake.  Such wonderful taro flavor, and yay for cream.  I'd get this one again and again, no question.  ****+.

Signature Favorites Tasting Set.  $118.

"ONLINE EXCLUSIVE combination 10 of Sweet Lu's most popular cake slices.

The Tasting Set features a variety of one to three slices each of our favourite cakes available on the day. This may include Signature Strawberry cake, Strawberry Matcha Chiffon cake, Rose Crepe cake, Soy Custard Crepe cake, Earl Grey Tea Crepe cake, Rose Lychee cake. "

Sweet Lu is kinda my hero.  They make a full size cake that is made up of slices of their signature cakes.  Cheaper than getting 10 slices by the slice, and far more fun than getting a whole cake of just one flavor.   Our set came with two each of the strawberry and rose lychee chiffon cakes, and two of the rose crepe cake, along with slices of osmanthus, earl grey, soy custard, and the strawberry matcha chiffon.  It gave me a great chance to try several I wouldn't have normally picked.  I'm all for frankencakes.

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Chaat Corner

Update Review, 2024

I've never been that much of a fan of Chaat Corner, but it is the closest Indian restaurant to my house, and sometimes, I just want Indian cuisine.

Or, I just want dessert.  Or I have a freebie to redeem.  All three were true one day, which led me to Chat Corner (also sold as "Damn, Dosa!" on some delivery platforms ...) to pick up a free dessert.

Rasmalai. $3.95.

Well ... I didn't have high expectations, as reviews basically said "meh", "not the best", etc, but it was a very, very random craving of mine.  I wanted rasmalai.

These however were fairly awful.  The balls literally tasted like generic white bread.  Sure, the milky syrup was kinda tasty, in that it was sweet and creamy, but it had no actual flavor going on, no pistachio sprinkled on top, no cardamom, just, nothing.

Fairly certain these are frozen item, not fresh, and, well, just truly, truly lackluster. *, at most.

I drank all the sweet milk though ...

Yogurt (side). $0.99.

I also got a side of yogurt, to use with my breakfast the next day.  It was just strained, thick style, yogurt, but it is what I wanted.  ***.

Update Review, March 2020

Another Shelter in Place meal, another chance to help nearby restaurants continue to have some business ...

I wasn't particularly impressed with Chaat Corner, the "local" Indian restaurant on my street last time I visited, but, they were still open, and I decided to check out the other salad I almost ordered last time.

I was pleased with the pickup experience - I ordered online in advance (delivery.com, although they are listed on nearly every delivery platform), and it was ready for me to pick up (contactless!), when I arrived.  Everything was nicely packaged, nothing was missing, and my requested utensils were provided.

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

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Ritual ($6 off) [ Pickup only ]
• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]

Caesar Salad (Separate Packaging). $7.99.

"Romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese and croutons tossed with a zesty mint Caesar dressing."

Since I wasn't planning to eat my salad right away, I asked to at least have the dressing on the side, and, ideally the croutons (so they wouldn't get soggy).  My requests were easily handled.

As with my first time at Chaat Corner, I was also thrilled with the packaging of everything - separate, but also, in the right kind of vessel for the item, and, anything potentially messy was additionally wrapped in foil.

I can't say the salad was nearly as exciting as it sounded (zesty!), but, I was pleased with the care put into the assembly.

Romaine Base.

The first time I ordered from here, I was amused by the giant box of greens that was my salad, but this time I knew to expect it, and, I think it was even more generously filled.

It was just romaine of course, but, this was really pretty fantastic.  Super fresh, super crisp, and they used all parts - the left hand side of the box is the leafier pieces, the right hand side the hearts.  All were torn/cut into large size chunks, making it very moorish.

It is just romaine, but, I was really pleased with the portion, freshness, and prep.  Was it $7.99 worth of romaine?  Well, clearly not, but consider ... $1 for dressing, $1 for cheese and croutons ... ok, yeah, still not $5.99 worth of romaine either.  But, I was pleased.  ***+.

Croutons & Parmesan Cheese.

I asked in my notes for the croutons to be packaged separately, assuming it would be done like the chaat salad before, but instead the croutons came in a larger, soup/deli style container, along with the shredded parmesan cheese.  This was fine, I mostly just didn't want them to get soggy with the lettuce.

The croutons were entirely standard, average croutons.  Super crispy.  Not really seasoned much.  I had hoped they'd do something more ... inspired like naan croutons, or at least have some Indian spicing on them?

The shredded parm was fine, not much to say there.  Basic caesar salad ingredients, no more, no less.  ***.

 Zesty Mint Caesar Dressing.

Just like last time, the dressing came wrapped in foil, so it wouldn't make a mess.  I continue to laud them for this.  So appreciated.

The "zesty mint caesar" dressing certainly sounded interesting, but, it really ... wasn't.  I would not call it "zesty", nor would I call it "caesar" ... and I can't say I tasted mint.

It was ... a slightly herby mayo.  Really, it tasted like mayo.  It did not taste anything like Caesar dressing - no anchovy, no cheese, no tang ... it just tasted like mayo.

I actually liked it for other things (of course I saved it!), and used it as a spread in wraps, and as an aioli with some fries, but, a dressing?  It was super thick, and just mayo.  ***.

The portion was also a bit small - they used their 4 ounce container and filled it less than halfway, which didn't seem like enough, had I used it on the salad.

Tandoori Shrimp Add-On. $4.

To my salad, I could add on chicken breast, chicken kebab, or paneer for $2, or tandoori salmon, tandoori shrimp, or sheekh kebab for $4.

I wanted some protein, and, had been eating a lot of paneer recently, so, I opted for shrimp, a bit hesitantly.  I do like well cooked shrimp, but ... so often shrimp is not well prepared - not properly cleaned, rubbery, etc.  I was hopeful that the tandoori treatment would be successful.

Sadly, this was not well prepared shrimp.  It was hot, the spices were fine, but ... it was incredibly chewy.  Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew.  I've never experienced such chewy shrimp.  It also wasn't really cleaned, and certainly wasn't deveined.

It was fairly horrible, sadly, and after trying (chew, chew, chew, chew) a few pieces, I gave up and tossed it.  $4 for 6 shrimp would have been fine I guess ... if it was decently prepared. *.

Raita. $0.99.

I didn't actually get this to go with my salad, but, I had a spinach roti wrap at home, and I really wanted some raita to pair with it, so, I also added on a side of raita (4 ounces) for $0.99.  They also sell 12 ounces for $2.99, and offer plain yogurt and curry in this way as well.

The raita was ... well, super watery and thin.  It did have plenty of spicing though.  I was glad to have it, but it wasn't remarkable. **+.

Like the dressing, it came wrapped in foil, so it didn't make a mess. I really appreciate their packaging, and the price was good for the serving size.

Tamarind Chutney, Mint Chutney. (Complimentary).

I also asked for tamarind and mint chutney, to jazz up the flavors in my salad, and, of course, to use with my roti wrap.

I've had these before, as they are the "dressing" that comes with the chat salad, and my opinion was the same this time around.  Definitely generic, and not made in house, but, useful to add flavor.

The tamarind one however was more sweet than I remembered.

Combined with the raita they did form a nice set of sauces for my wrap, and, also kinda worked as a salad dressing, but, I certainly wouldn't call these remarkable in any way.  **+.

Original Review, May 2017

I've walked by Chaat Corner more times than I can possibly count.

I used to live a block away.  I walked by it daily on my way to work.  I walked by it every night on the way home.  Yet I never went, even when it was the only place open in the neighborhood.  Chaat Corner is open every day, and that area does not have many options on Sundays.  They are open until midnight every night, and it certainly isn't an area with late night options.  They are open for lunch, starting as early as 11am.  Yet these things still never encouraged me to visit.

Even since I moved down the street, I still walk by several times a month.  It has managed to stay around for years now, which should be a sign of something.  And I still never visit.  Why?  I have no idea.  I like Indian cuisine, and I'm always looking for good indian food in the city.  But this place just never jumped out at me.

Chaat Corner recently opened a second location near Union Square.  That too should indicate that they are doing well.  But Yelp reviews are fairly mediocre.  No one I know has ever mentioned going there.  "Meh", I thought.

And then one day I was at home and really, really wanted salad.  And naan.  And something with spice.  I quickly looked online at menus of indian places nearby, and saw that the intersection of naan and salad is fairly limited, but Chaat Corner had several salads that sounded interesting (Indian ceasar? Grilled paneer topped salad?), and a huge assortment of breads, so, Chaat Corner it was.

I placed my order online, and headed the few blocks to pick it up.  My order was completed soon after I arrived.

Setting

Chaat Corner is really quite large.  I was shocked by how much seating and open space they had inside.  It was 5:15pm when I arrived, and it was mostly empty.

It isn't fancy.  It has basically no charm whatsoever.  I was glad to be getting takeout.

Cashier at Front.

Right inside the door is a cashier station, with a menu board on the wall.  This surprised me a bit as I thought this was a regular full service restaurant, so I think they must do a lot of takeout (unless tables order and pay up front too?)

On the side is also a cooler with canned/bottled drinks (do tables get cans too?)

Seating.

Decor is not particularly interesting, fairly low end, lots of shiny materials and faux stone.

Bar.

There is a small bar with counter seating, where I was invited to sit while I waited for my takeout.  I could have watched TV while I waited.

Food

The menu is large, all standard indian offerings.  I didn't explore it much, as I had my eyes on exactly two things: salad and bread.  That said, they had an extensive selection of pakora, and I almost threw some battered fried onions into the mix too ...

Sometimes, you just need 2 spoons and a fork?

Things started going downhill as I opened up my packaging.

I was provided a fork and 2 spoons.  No knife.  Luckily, I was bringing it home anyway.

Tandoori Roti. $1.99.

I'll admit, I was overwhelmed by the bread selection.  I thought I knew indian breads, but, once I started reading the list, I realized I'm still uncertain.  One section was titled naan, with 13 different options, including 10 types of naan (plain, butter, garlic, garlic pesto, paneer, cauliflower, potato, onion, chicken pesto, ground lamb), plus tava roti, bhatura, and tandoori roti.  Then, another section, labelled paranthas, with 8 more options (plain, laccha, potato, cheese, onion, cauliflower, ground lamb, chicken).  Why were the roti and bhatura listed as naan?  And what is tava roti vs tandoori roti?

I fairly randomly picked the tandoori roti, thinking that tandoori items are usually nicely smoky, and, I like roti.

It turned out to be basically ... whole wheat naan?  Hearty tasting, but, very boring.  Dry, no butter.  Crispy bottom.

I guess fine, but highly, highly boring, although I suspect it was supposed to be?  **+.

Chaat Salad. $6.99

"Romaine lettuce, lentil chips, spicy chickpea noodles, cilantro and spices tossed in
tamarind and mint sauces."

For salads, I could pick the interesting sounding caesar (zesty mint caesar dressing!) or the chaat salad (lentil chips and spicy chickpea noodles!).  I opted for the later, based entirely on the promise of fun crispy things on top.  Since I had other food at home to finish, I decided not to add a protein topping, but I could have added chicken breast, chicken kebab, tandoori salmon, shrimp, seekh kebab, or paneer on top.

Since I got it to go, my salad came disassembled.  I appreciated this so it wouldn't get soggy.  The dry toppings came in separate containers, and the wet sauces even came with an extra protective foil wrapped around them.  Points for this.

Chaat Salad: Lettuce.  $6.99.

I did have to laugh when I opened my box though.  It was ... lettuce.  Just lettuce.  It seemed freshly chopped, not wilted, very crisp.  A decent base.

The menu said there should be cilantro too, and other people seemed to have tomato and cucumber in theirs (in the photos I saw), but mine?  Just lettuce. ***.

Lentil Chips, "Spicy Chickpea Noodles".

Things got more amusing as I opened my other containers.

I quickly discovered the "spicy chickpea noodles" were ... just chickpeas.  Not toasted, no spicing.  Just chickpeas.  They seemed like they came from a can.  I had seen photos of this salad from others, and they did have chickpea noodles.

Since I actually hate chickpeas, I tried one, recognized that it was watery, slimy, and like from a can, and threw these out.  Chickpea noodles would have been nice. *.

The lentil chips were tasty though.  While I don't like lentils, I do like lentil chips (and likely would have liked chickpea noodles!)  I really liked the crunchy element, and the promise of the crunchy things is what made me order this in the first place. ***+.

I added a bunch of the lentil chips, but it looked like there was a bunch of rubble left in the bottom of the cup.  It was only later that I realized this is where the spices were added.  Doh.  I missed out on a lot of spice and flavor by missing this.  Not their fault though.

Tamarind and Mint Sauces.

The dressing for the salad is a mix of standard tamarind and mint sauces, like you use to dip samosa.  It was pretty strange putting these onto my salad as if they were dressing, but, actually, the result was good.  Obviously, normally it comes dressed for you, which seems less ideal, as you can't get the right balance of flavor that way.  I liked that I could add different amounts of each to create my preferred flavor (heavier on the herby mint, less of the sweet tamarind).

Both sauces were pretty standard, though I doubt housemade.  They didn't have that kind of freshness about them.  Still, it was nice to have some left to dip my naan in.  ***.

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Core Bar

I tend to have a kinda love-hate relationship with snack bars.  I like them in theory, very convenient, good way to get reasonable snack or breakfast replacement with protein.  And I'm definitely drawn to the flavors ... again, in theory.  So many of them sound decadent and dessert-like: "chocolate drizzled cookie dough", "white chocolate macadamia indulgence", "coconut key lime pie", etc, etc.  But then ... I rarely actually like them.  The textures are odd, they rely too heavily on healthy replacements like dates for sweetness, or they include whey protein isolate to bulk up the protein, and my stomach really doesn't get along with that ... And yet, I keep trying different brands, because I really do appreciate them, when I find a good one.  My current favorites are still Perfect Bars, but I was pretty happy with the Core bars I recently tried.

"CORE Bars are the breath of fresh air those stale, old nutrition bars needed. We’ve pushed the limits of what a nutrition bar can do and designed a bar with fiber for fullness, vitamins for wellness and probiotics for gut health.

Plus, the only thing dry about us is our sense of humor. The fridge freshness provides the softest texture you’ve ever tried."

The bars are plant based, non-GMO, natural ingredients, etc.  They seem to have dropped the product line that I tried, and now offer 5 others: oat bars with probiotics, keto bars (also with probiotics), smaller keto bites, crunchy oat bites, and "truffles".  All are refrigerated products, bar form.  All but the oat bars require refrigeration for storage (due to lack of preservatives), but are fine for a week out of the fridge.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.

"Let’s hear it for this dynamic duo. A little bit salty, a little bit sweet, a lotta bit delicious!"

The flavor I went for?  Of course the one that sounded the most like candy.  Chocolate peanut butter.

This was a decent bar.  The chocolate and peanut butter elements were both fairly strong, unlike so many healthy bars where they put so little of those "decadent" items in, they are barely noticeable.  This had a clear peanut butter flavor in the base, and reasonably large chunks of dark chocolate studded throughout.  I didn't think I was eating a peanut butter cup, but, it was enjoyable.

The rest of the base was made up of oats that made it pleasantly chewy, dates for a touch of sweetness (but were minimal enough it didn't taste overly healthy), and, a surprise to me, almonds, cashews, coconut, and chia seeds, none of which I really tasted, but I assume added to the texture.  Overall, it ate well, reasonably true to the chocolate peanut butter promise, nice chew, no odd nor off flavors.  There was prebiotic starch and probiotics hiding in there, but I didn't notice those either.  At 230 calories, 7g protein, 10g fat, a pretty reasonable snack bar.

***+.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.
(2024).

"Our CORE Peanut Butter Chocolate Superior Nutrition Bar is our best-selling bar, a little salty and a little sweet, this classic combo will get you ready to take on any challenge."

I didn't realize I had tried this before, but I guess there is a reason it is their best selling bar - I too was drawn in (again!) to the peanut butter and chocolate combo.

Interestingly, my review is pretty different from last time.  This time, I lamented that I didn't really taste any chocolate.  The peanut butter flavor was great, but the chocolate did not deliver, so I had to pair it with my own piece of dark chocolate (I know, such a hardship).  It was a good peanut butter bar, don't get me wrong, but, not peanut butter *chocolate*.  The texture was decent, a bit chewy, a bit crumbly.  It seemed somewhat made of nut bits (which, it is).  

I enjoyed the bar, but if you are looking for a real peanut butter cup inspired experience, be prepared with your own additional chocolate.  ***+.

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Holy Nata

I'll admit, that prior to 2016 when I first visited Portugal, I don't think I knew that a *Portuguese* egg tart, e.g. a pastel de nata, was a different thing than say a traditional Chinese egg tart.  I think I always just thought some were eggier and denser than others, some had flakier or shorter crusts than others, some seemed burnt on top, etc, but didn't realize they were fundamentally different things.  

And then I visited Lisbon, and discovered pastel de nata in their natural habitat, and my understanding of this glorious treat was greatly deepened. Let me also say that I've actually had the Pastel de Belem from Pastéis de Belém in Lisbon, which is widely regarded as the best in the world (and, yes, wow, mind-blowing.  I described them as "life changing" at the time).  I also had plenty of average versions from other bakeries in Lisbon, such as A Padaria Portuguesa.  And of course, I've since had them from plenty in other venues around the world since (although the only other version that really was memorable was recently at BTWN, the restaurant at the brand new W hotel in Sydney where they source from a local bakery, Sonoma Bakery).

This is all just the backstory to say that I consider myself relatively educated about pastel de nata, and I certainly enjoy them, so I was excited to try the offerings from local San Francisco based Holy Nata.

"Come try the divinely delicious Pastel de Nata, at Holy Nata! The 100% artisanal Pasteis de Nata are crafted using a family recipe. Flaky puff pastry dough, creamy custard filling... Do we need to say more?"

Holy Nata is fairly new, it opened in August 2023, and is the only place I know of specializing in this treat in the Bay Area.

Holy Nata makes only one product, the egg tarts, and only the traditional flavor most days, but on Thursdays only, does a special flavor (currently Nutella).  Specialization, I have to respect that.

Pastel de Nata. $3.50.

The offering from Holy Nata has all the right pedigree and look: flaky crust, burnt top, sprinkled with cinnamon.  Besides being a touch small, at first inspection, this seemed very legit.

I tried a bite of it at room temperature first, and found the crust quite chewy, but once I warmed it up lightly in the toaster oven, it got crispier and was considerably better.  The crust was very layered pastry, very good.

The filling was remarkably smooth and creamy, definitely more in the pudding direction than custard, borderline even perhaps a bit too runny.  Basically zero eggy taste, just, sweet vanilla pudding.  It did eat far sweeter than most that I remember.  I didn't mind the sweetness, but this was pretty far in the sweet dessert direction.

Overall, it was good.  I like pastry, I like pudding, I like sweet things.  Worth going out of my way for though?  No.  And not really better than any other I've had since Lisbon.  But, enjoyable for sure.  ***+.

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Pizza @ Tony's Pizza Napoletana

Update Review, April 2024

Tony's Pizza Napoletana.  Probably the most hyped pizza place in SF.  And it has been that way for years now.  So many awards won.  Always lines.  Yadda yadda.  I visited back in 2012 and wasn't blown away, but after a dozen more years of living here, I finally tried it again (although for delivery this time, not dine-in).

Tony's has 11 different styles of pizza.  No, I don't mean 11 varieties of pizza, e.g. just topping differences, but, 11 entirely different styles of pizza.  Each style is cooked in a specific kind of oven (gas, wood, coal, electric, etc) at a specific temperature (535*, 575*, 900*, 570*, 1000*, etc, etc) with a specific style of crust (hand tossed rustic medium? Stone ground multigrain? Thin? Sicilian pan? Wafer thin and crispy?), type of sauce (vine-ripened, hand-crushed, slightly sweet, etc) and cheese blend (romano plus the mozzarella?  Brick cheese? With garlic butter?).  Oh, and they come in only one size per style, which can range from 11 inch to 20.  So many styles.  And frankly, even for someone who writes a food blog, with a dedicated pizza label on it, so much to wrap your head around.  

Once you pick your style, then you need to pick what kind of pizza toppings you actually want.  The choices are highly curated and opinionated, with some styles offering up only two or three options, others up to 8.  The topping configurations are not repeated between styles, and you can't just build your own.

Like I said, this is highly opinionated pizza.  I recommend checking out the menu, even just to satisfy your curiosity.

Our group ordered 3, of assorted styles.  One was a runaway hit.  I now understand the hype, and would seek Tony's out again.

Classic Italian Style

Craving pizza in the true Italian style?  Go for a classic Italian.

"Classic Italian pizzas have vine-ripened tomato sauce and a hand tossed rustic medium crust unless noted. All pizzas are finished with romano, oregano and garlic oil. "

These are further broken down into two categories, some are cooked in a 535 degree oven and are 12-13 inch, others are slightly smaller (11 inch) and cooked at a higher temp (575 degrees).  There are 4 in each style offered, we tried one.

Cal Italia. $32.

"Asiago, mozzarella, Italian Gorgonzola, croatian sweet fig preserve, prosciutto di parma, parmigiano, and balsamic reduction."

I didn't actually expect to try this pie, as the other two we ordered that we got sounded more my style, but when there was extra left, I went for it.  And I'm so glad I did!  It was my favorite of the pies I tried.

The crust was fairly, un, classic Italian style for lack of better description.  Good chew to it, not as thin as a "Californian" pizza, but not as thick as a New York style.  It was the least interesting part of this pizza, but it was good.

The toppings were well crafted, and each served to elevate the others.  When people make "the sum of the parts" sort of statements, this is what they mean.  Yes, each element was good, but together?  Magic.  The prosciutto was wafer thin and added a savory saltiness, the four cheeses all worked together harmoniously, and the sweetness from the fig preserves and drizzle of balsamic ... over the top.  Really excellent toppings, a fascinating blend of sweet, salty, and savory.  One of the best pizzas I've had in years.  I'd gladly get this again.  ****+.

Coal Fired

If you want to go big, go for a coal fired.

"19-20 inches • SERVES 2-4 • Topped with romano, oregano & garlic oil."

There were 8 choices in this style as well.  According to one of my co-workers, "coal fired is the best", so we doubled up on coal fired selections.

The New Yorker. $38.

"(Gold medal winner, Las Vegas 2013) Mozzarella, hand crushed tomato sauce, natural casing pepperoni, sliced italian fennel sausage, ricotta, chopped garlic, and oregano."

The crowd favorite was the award winning New Yorker.  It came topped with mounds of ricotta and slices of sausage and pepperoni, all in about equal parts, and all reasonably well distributed.  It wasn't the style of tidy toppings in even rows, and some slices had far more of one element than other, but most bites included at least one of the three primary toppings.

The crust was a highlight here - it had a nice flavor, was super crisp and lightly charred, and had a bit of grit to it.  The toppings were fine, but not particularly compelling to me.  The tomato sauce seemed fairly average, there wasn't much mozzarella, I didn't taste the garlic, the sausage was kinda ... bouncy (although nicely spicy).  The ricotta blobs were fine but dominated, the pepperoni was good, slightly curled up.  This just didn't seem particularly special, besides the nice crust.  ***.

New Haven Lou. $36.

"Mozzarella di buffala blend, ricotta, spinach, garlic, and crushed red pepper."

And finally, a vegetarian option, also featuring big blobs of ricotta.

I felt kinda similarly about it as the New Yorker, although this was better.  Good crust, dominant ricotta.  There was a good garlic level to this one, and more mozzarella.  I still felt the topping felt a bit flat, and frankly, the similar style cheesy garlic shroom I had a few days prior from Escape from New York pizza was better, topping-wise (the crust is no comparison though).  

Another ***.

Original Review, April 2012

Tonight, we finally made it to Tony's Pizza Napoletana, to try out the famous pizza.  "Everyone" says it is supposed to be the best pizza in the city.  They make 10 (yes, 10!) totally different styles of pizza, ranging from thin crust to New York to deep dish, using all different flours, sauces (sweet, chunky, etc), cheeses AND different ovens (coal, gas, electric, wood) for each type.  The owner has won all sorts of competitions, both abroad (including a win in Italy for his margherita pizza, of which they make only 73 per day and always sell out early in the day) and domestically (on Food network, he won for a pizza with asiago, mozzarella, imported italian gorgonzola, croatian sweet fig preserve, prosciutto di parma, parmesan, balsamic, no tomato sauce.  Apparently a great mix of sweet and savory and salty).

They don't take reservations, and the waits are known to be epic.  And since we knew they only make 73 of the famous pizzas per day, we tried to go early and hopefully get one of the pizzas and avoid the waits.  We arrived a little before 6pm, but still had an hour long wait (which is apparently fairly short), and they were out of the pizza.  Fail!  But, it was a beautiful day, and we spent our time waiting sitting in the park, enjoying the last of the sunlight.

The restaurant seemed like a pretty classic pizza joint, booths and all.  Smaller than I expected, with only 5 booths, a table, and 16 seats at the bar.  There was also additional outdoor seating on the sidewalk, and I think possibly more space next door?  I couldn't quite tell if it was part of the restaurant.

Service was fine.  The hostess takes you name and phone number, and will call you when your table is finally available.  Plates were changed out between appetizers and pizza.  When we were leaving, the hostess called out a thank you, including my name.  I was shocked that she'd remembered it, and it was a nice touch.

The menu is huge, literally.  They have a slew of pizzas in each style, along with a bunch of appetizers, salads, pastas, sides, burgers, even a kids menu.  But we were mostly there for the pizza!

The pizzas we got weren't that great (full reviews below), but I'd be interested in coming back to try some of the other styles, particularly the Italian and the New York.  Have you been to Tony's, and if so, do you have a recommended style?  We also didn't get to really experience the famous margarita, so I'd like to do that.  And I am really interested in the Cal-Italia pizza (the one with all the cheeses, fig, proscuitto, and balsamic that has also won awards).

Dipping oils: picante pepper, plain, pesto.

Complimentary bread and oil showed up almost immediately.  The oils used a good quality, flavorful olive oil as a base.  The picante pepper was fairly sweet, flavorful, and was pretty good. The pesto was garlicky and really good.  I enjoyed dipping my pizza crust into these as well.

Bread to go with oil.

The oils came with a tomato can full of bread, a cute touch.  The bread was not very good, fairly generic, and somewhat stale tasting.  I'm glad it was so bad, because I would have been way to tempted to stuff myself full of the bread and oil while waiting for the pizza.

MEATBALL GIGANTE: blend of veal, pork and beef.  Topped with burrata.  $13.

Tony's is known for their exclusive items, like the famous pizza.  And the giant meatballs, of which they make only 25 per day.  Luckily for us, they had some still available.

The giant meatballs are available with a variety of toppings: marinera sauce, marinera and burrata, wild mushroom, pancetta, and robiola, or farm egg and calabrese.  I'd read great reviews of the meatball, and in particular of the mushroom and cheese sauce version, but the mushroom and cheese sauce version included truffle, and we had a diner who doesn't like truffle.  We settled on the burrata version.

The meatball was made of a blend of veal, pork, and beef.  The meat was fairly flavorful and well seasoned.  It was surprisingly moist, and cooked very consistently throughout.  I actually would have preferred some variation in the cooking, perhaps seared on the outside to have a nice crust on it, or more rare on the inside, or something, as it got a little boring like this.  We all agreed it was decently done, but that it reminded us of meatloaf, just not as good as meatloaf since it was lacking the fillers that can add flavor and dimension.  By being this size and cooked in this way, it just seemed like you missed out on what can make a tasty burger or meatball, but didn't get any benefit from it.

There was tons of marinera sauce, which we weren't expecting, as it was listed as just "burrata with sea salt" on the menu, and marinera was a separate choice.  One diner doesn't care for marinera sauce, so she was disappointed by this.  The sauce was really tangy and slightly sweet.  Nothing memorable, but good, and it went well with the meat.

The burrata was my favorite part of the dish.  So soft and creamy.  Delicious.  It was almost melting into the meat and sauce.  They have some pizzas with burrata on them, I'd love to try those next time.

The meatball was indeed gigante.  It was kinda too much for only three of us to share.  It was good, but we were all ready to be done with it by the end.  I'm not entirely sure how big it was, but I've heard it was a full pound, which does seem about right.  That would mean that we started our meal with 1/3 pound of meat each, which is bigger than your average burger.  I recommend this, and would get it again, but I'd want to share it with more people.  I also really, really want to try the mushroom and cream sauce version, as that sounds fantastic!  $13, for that much meat, seemed like a good deal.

MARGHERITA: san marzano tomatoes D.O.P., sea salt, mozzarella fior di latte,  fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil. $16.

So, we couldn't get the famous margherita, that is made with a special flour and dough, but, we could get a similar pizza, with regular dough.  900 Degree Wood Fired.

The crust was ok, pretty standard tasting, with a nice chewiness to it.  I would have preferred it to  crisper, and more charred, which I think means I just prefer a slightly different style, as this seemed to be how it was designed to come out.

The sauce was very similar to the sauce with the meatball, tangy, slightly sweet.

The mozzarella was pretty standard fio di latte, a little bit rubbery.

The basil added some good flavor.

Overall, this was just a really standard margherita pizza.  Not a single dimension stood out.  I'm interested to try the really special version, just because its supposed to be so great, but I wouldn't order this one again.

HONEY PIE: North Beach honey, calabrese peppers, scallions, mozzarella,  piave cheese, fried caramelized onions, serrano peppers. $19.

This came from the California style section of the menu, meaning it was cooked in the wood oven, like the margherita.  We were kinda overwhelmed by the menu, and most of the pizzas I'd read about were not vegetarian, and we had a vegetarian with us, so we made a somewhat rush decision on this one.  In retrospect, I wish we'd picked one of the different styles, as this was really similar to the margherita.

This pizza was strange.  None of us liked it, but for totally different reasons.

The crust was exactly the same as the margherita, made using caputo flour, since we weren't able to get one of the special margheritas with the fancy crust.  Just the like margherita, I thought it had a decent chew to it, but I would have preferred a thinner, crispier crust, with some more char on it.

There was no sauce.

The peppers gave it a really nice spicy kick, I really enjoyed them.  There weren't nearly enough on the pizza!

The honey was from bees on their rooftop.  It paired surprisingly well with the peppers.  I liked the sweetness, but found very little of it in my slice.  One of the other diners really didn't like this pizza because he said it was far too sweet, and all he got was honey.  I think it must have been really inconsistently drizzled on, as neither slice I had had much at all.

The base layer of the pizza was melted mozzarella cheese, that I really didn't like.  There was tons of it, and it just totally dominated the other flavors.  I also just really didn't like the flavor of it at all.  This cheese didn't bother anyone else.

The shards of piave cheese were tasty and paired well with the onions, a nice touch, but each slice had only one on it.

The onions were really disappointing.  I read "fried caramelized onions" and just pictured something else.  These were tiny, tiny little chunks of onion, coated in batter, and fried.  I actually think many of the pieces were just fried batter.  It took us a long time to figure out that this was onions, we had to go remember the menu in order to determine this.  It really was just mostly little tiny oily chunks of fry.  Larger chunks of onion, more like onion straws, would have been much better, but really, I think I just wanted caramelized onions.  Either way, I would have wanted to taste the onions, rather than just oil.

So altogether, this pizza just didn't really work.  I didn't love the crust, and in most bites, all I tasted was the mozzarella and oily fried bits.  Would not order again.

Tiramisu.  $8.

I hadn't really read anything about desserts at Tony's, and wasn't intending on ordering any, but one person wanted the tiramisu, so we got it.  It was a pretty poor execution.  Generic ladyfingers, with a small portion of them soaked in espresso, moist enough.  Not much espresso or boozy flavor came through.  The cream was sweet, dominating, and just not good at all. I can't pinpoint what it was, but there was just nothing good about it.  Topped with mediocre shredded milk chocolate.

I'd certainly never get this again.

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