Sticky Toffee Pudding Co

When I was in London, I got a bit obsessed with finding good sticky toffee pudding, after having a really decent version on my Virgin Atlantic flight.  Sadly, most of the sticky toffee I had didn't really live up, even though I went for the famed version from Hawksmoore, an to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant, Heddon Street Kitchen, specifically for it.  They were goo, but not great, and I kinda even liked the vegan version from Tibits more.

But my quest didn't end once I returned to the US.  I also ordered it when I was in Costa Mesa, CA a few weeks later and saw the hotel restaurant, the Silver Trumpet, had it on the menu.  A totally random choice, but it actually was good, but not awesome.

My quest continued.  I didn't exactly expect to find amazing sticky toffee pudding from a distributor from Austin, Texas.  But I did.

My quest needs no continuation: The Sticky Toffee Pudding Company makes pretty much the perfect product.

Individual Sticky Toffee Puddings.

"Our scrumptious Sticky Toffee Puddings are baked in small batches using all natural ingredients as you would find in your home pantry. Nothing artificial and no preservatives are used. The result is flavors and textures of home-baking."

The puddings are available in individual portions at retail stores (my local Whole Foods carries them for $4.99 each), or through wholesale distributors in large formats.  They are available direct to you from their website as well.  The shelf life is decent: 2 weeks un-refrigerated, 3 months refrigerated, and 1 year frozen.

"These puddings are a collection of moist sponge cakes each one with an accompanying luscious sauce which bring back memories of home-baking."

In addition to the signature sticky toffee puddings (with sticky toffee sauce, obviously), the company also make molten chocolate fudge cake (with fudge sauce), tart lemon pudding (with lemon curd sauce), and a sticky ginger pudding.

The company also makes a couple "sticky bars", seasonal specialties (like Christmas plum pudding), and jars of brandy butter, and, yes, you can also just purchase their amazing toffee sauce.

"British" ... but made in Texas.

I laughed when I saw the warning on their packaging:

"Our Puddings are intended to be a luxurious treat, they are not a dietetic product! They are however made with all natural ingredients with no preservatives, chemicals, trans-fats by artisanal bakers with great care. Enjoy!"

Curious how, uh, not dietetic they could be, I pulled up the stats for the sticky toffee pud.  660 calories each.  For the individual 5 ounce serving.  That doesn't include the clotted cream or ice cream you should serve it with!  No wonder they are delicious.

Packaging.

I appreciate that the company says right on them to serve them warm, with cream, ice cream, or creme fraiche.  My kind of people.  Do it right, don't worry about nutrition stats.  Yes!

The puddings are individually packaged in plastic containers, easy to zap in the microwave or pop in the oven if you have a bit more time.

To serve, just tip upside down and plate up ...

Sticky Toffee Pudding, 5 Ounce.

"Scrumptious moist cake made with fresh pureed dates, espresso, and vanilla in a buttery pecan toffee sauce." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Scrumptious moist cake made with fresh dates, espresso and vanilla in a buttery toffee sauce!" -- Sticky Toffee Pudding Co

The first time I had one, I had it warm, from the oven, which was perfection.  They also microwave like a dream, if you are in a pinch.

It was classic, textbook, ideal sticky toffee pudding.  Super moist cake, with plenty of flavor from the pureed dates, which also added a bit of chew to the cake.  There was a slight bitterness from espresso, which added to the depth of flavor.

The toffee sauce, simple brown sugar/butter/cream - gooey, sticky, sweet, and delightful.  So much sticky sauce.

It was sweet, indulgent, and everything that sticky toffee pudding should be.  Incredible.  And yes, even better paired with fresh whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream, ideally.

*****.

Sticky Toffee Pudding for Days!

As the one who ordered for my catered "comfort foods" dinners at work, I got to pick the desserts, and let me assure you, once I discovered these, they became frequent fixtures on our line up.  I've had them a zillion times at this point, and they are always incredible.

Soft, sweet, flavorful, gooey, and just oh so perfect when warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Indulgence at its finest!

*****.

Sticky Ginger Pudding.

"Fragrant ginger, fresh apple and cinnamon sponge cake with a golden ginger toffee sauce." -- GourmetXpress, Distributor

"Baked with fresh, ground and candied ginger and fresh apple cake with a toffee sauce!" -- Sticky Toffee Pudding Co

After the success of the sticky toffee pudding, I was excited to try another variety, and opted for the sticky ginger pudding.  I thought it would be very similar, but ginger flavored.

The cakes are actually fairly different.  The sticky toffee cake is made with dates, which give it a chew and distinct flavor, and also had espresso for a hint of bitterness. The ginger cake on the other hand has neither of these ingredients, and is made with apple and three forms of ginger (pureed, candied, ground), plus molasses and brown sugar for the depth of flavor, and more spices (cinnamon, all spice, black pepper).  It was a sweeter cake, and certainly more full of flavor.  I liked the ginger, and appreciated the bits of ginger in there for texture, but I did prefer the traditional date based cake.

The sauce is the same brown sugar/butter/cream base, but also had ginger in it, although I didn't really taste the ginger there.

I liked this one more with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream, alongside.  And, obviously, it was best served warm.

Overall, good, but, the traditional sticky toffee was better.  Ginger fans adored this.

****.

More Sticky Ginger Pudding.

While I like the sticky toffee more, I do really like the sticky ginger too, and worked them into my regular rotation.  Like the sticky toffee, they are super reliable, always good.  I mean really, look at that sauce!!!

Very ginger forward.  Love the sticky sauce.  Best warm.

But ... the sticky toffee are 1000x better.

****.

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Heddon Street Kitchen, London

Most trips I take seem to settle on a culinary theme, even if I don't quite intend it to be that way. 

During my more recent trip to Tokyo, that became convenience store dining and milk soft serve (see my guide!).  In London, it was a quest for sticky toffee pudding.

My quest began, totally not intentionally, on my Virgin Atlantic flight, where I actually really enjoyed the sticky toffee pudding served with dinner.  Sticky toffee pudding isn't a dessert that we see much of in the US, so I wasn't particularly seeking it out or noticing it when I was doing research on restaurants, but somehow, it just kept coming back to my mind.

So, the first night I was in London, a dragged a group to Hawksmoor, for cocktails and sticky toffee pudding.  It was highly mediocre, even though the internet had told me it was "the best" in town.  The next night I took a break to seek out "the best" bread pudding (which I certainly did not find at The English Restaurant), but the following two nights were back to sticky toffee pudding at Tibits (vegan versions, which I really liked the first night).  Another quick break from sticky toffee to try out mince pie from Pret a Manger (yeah, not a winner), and I was ready for more.

I did more research.  And my research lead me back to Heddon Street Kitchen, which was already on my list for other reasons.  Like ... being a Gordon Ramsey restaurant.

Heddon Street Kitchen is a casual place, with a menu full of Gordon Ramsey classics.  I really wished I was able to visit with a group so we could get the very famous beef wellington, but, alas, they only serve it for 2 people, it is very pricey, and takes 45 mins to prepare.  The fish & chips is also well known.  As is ... yup, the sticky toffee pudding.  Hence, my visit. 

#adultLife.

I ventured there as a solo diner, mid-week.

I had a really great time.  I had a savory snack, a good cocktail, and of course, the pudding.  Everything was good.  Not great, but certainly good, and certainly better than similar things I had on the trip.  Service was friendly but my server was kinda clueless.  Overall, just, quite enjoyable.

I'd like to return to try more of the "real" food.

Setting

Exterior.

Heddon Street Kitchen is located on ... Heddon Street, a small almost-alley off of Regent Street, right near Piccadilly.  It looks calm and peaceful here, but, the hustle and bustle is not far away.

Like all the restaurants on this street, they have a large outside seating area, which still makes no sense to me given that it was always "freezing" to me outside.  But, then again, the outside areas were usually filled with a least a few patrons, all who seemed to value being able to smoke over being warm.

Interior.

Inside is the main restaurant, a wide open space.  I think that there is an upper floor as well, but I didn't explore.

My Personal Bar.

The bar was a small space that could seat about 4 people, but it wasn't really set up to have diners.  Adjacent to the bar are a few low tables that were occupied, but the host asked if I wanted a bar seat (since I was alone) and I said sure.  So he re-arranged some stuff and suddenly a comfy bar stool emerged.

It was kinda fun to have a personal bar.

Bathroom Shrine?

I only review bathrooms when they are particularly interesting.  I think this one counts?  Sure, the wood paneling, the artwork, the unique oval design were all novel enough on their own, but, uh, there was a framed Gordon Ramsey in the middle of it all.  Which is ... um ... yeah.  No comment.

Food & Drink

Negroni. £10.

To get started, I wanted a cocktail.  I was given a cocktail menu with a slew of interesting sounding drinks.  I asked my server (who wasn't actually a bartender, which I didn't realize at first) for a recommendation, saying I wanted gin or whiskey or tequila, and not sweet.

He started suggesting drinks, which really seemed like he was just throwing a dart at the page.  The first one he suggested was rum based (recall, I said gin or whiskey or tequila ...).  The next one he suggested, leading with, "its very sweet, but ...".  Um ... thanks (again, I said *not* sweet ...).

In the end, I ordered one of the special cocktails, the "Twelve Monkeys", only to find out they were out of an ingredient.

I gave up, and just asked for a negroni.  I thought the orange accents would pair nicely with my upcoming dessert.

The negroni was well made, a classic.  It also seemed to gain me some cred with assorted members of the staff, several of whom stopped by saying, "a negroni? Nice. I like your style.", and similar things.

Triple Cooked Chips. £5.

Because I didn't want to jump *right* into dessert, I went for something savory to start. 

The bar menu had a few interesting sounding nibbles, like salt & pepper squid and 'nduja stuffed gnocchi, but when I tried to ask my server about them, he was fairly clueless.  A theme.

I know people really respect the fish & chips at Heddon Street, and although I wasn't quite up for the full order, I figured just the chips would be a safe bet, available as a side.

The chips arrived very quickly.  They were piping hot.  I had to slow down, and kept almost burning myself on them.

They were very classic, very good chips.

Thick, large chips.  Very crispy exterior, fluffy interior.  Greasy for sure, you can see them glistening, but not gross.  They didn't seem particularly seasoned though, as in, not salted?

Still, far above average, and much, much, much better than the chips we had a Hawksmoor a few nights prior.  I was a bit surprised to find them under-seasoned however, that isn't the Gordon way!

Triple Cooked Chips w/ Ketchup & Tartar Sauce.

The chips don't normally come with it, but I asked if I could order tartar sauce to dunk them in.  It seemed to be no problem, and I wasn't even charged for it.

I was also provided ketchup, a cute personal Heinz.  That is one way to solve the annoying ketchup bottle problem!

It turned out, I liked the ketchup more than the tartar sauce with these particular chips anyway.  The tartar sauce was fine, creamy, herby, probably amazing with the fish, but with the chips it didn't quite compliment it.  Turns out, simple ketchup worked great.

Sticky Toffee Pudding w/ Clotted Cream. £6.50.

But I was really there for one thing really: sticky toffee pudding.

At this point, the assorted staff were pretty amused by me.  "Sticky toffee pudding and a negroni? You are awesome", said one woman as she walked by.  "Sticky toffee and a negroni?  Sounds like my kind of night!", said another.  Hey, I know what I like and what I wanted, ok?  No need to pretend otherwise.

So, that pudding.

It came served warm, a large square of slightly spiced cake, smothered in sauce, in a bowl with plenty more to lap up.  The plating with the clotted cream off to the side was a bit strange, and I wondered if it was supposed to be on top and slid off?

Anyway, it was good.  Not amazing, and I honestly think I liked the version on my flight even more, but much better than the Hawksmoor version, and better than the Tibits versions.  Ok, yes, I consumed a lot of sticky toffee pudding on this trip.

The cake could have used more spicing, could have been more moist, but the toffee sauce basically masked all of that.  The toffee sauce was good, sweet, almost too sweet, but I dunked nearly every bite in more sauce.

Overall, good.  A warm bite, with plenty of toffee sauce and a bit of cream was a nice thing.  But just nice, not ground breaking.

Aftermath.

The sticky toffee pudding was a large serving.  There was sooo much of that toffee sauce.  It was certainly meant for sharing.  But ... I was alone.  I couldn't let dessert go to waste!

And, uh, I didn't.

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Dessert @ The English Restaurant, London

On previous trips to London, I really enjoyed some of the food.  On this trip though ... not so much.  Not sure why, but I was really let down, and really dissatisfied.

When I'm food-grumpy, I turn to desserts, er, puddings.  The British are known for some good desserts, like sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding, and mince pies (which, were in season!).  I went one night to Hawksmoor to obtain what I had read about as the best sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream and ... found it highly lackluster.  The one on my Virgin Atlantic flight was better.  I went to Borough Market and had what I had read was the best mince pie from Konditor & Cook.  Again, meh.  My hotel in Sydney had better!

It was also "freezing", at least for me, so all quests for cold desserts were out.  Which left one more item to seek out the "best" of: bread and butter pudding.  This one I could certainly get behind, as I adore a good bread pudding (as we know it in the States).  The internet pointed me at one place that said they no longer carry it (so glad I called ahead!), with The English Restaurant, near Spitalfields Market, in a close second place.  Boring restaurant name aside, I decided to seek it out, even though annoyingly far away.

Interior.

The restaurant is family owned, and is housed in a super old building.  It is cozy and quaint, and seemed like a locals sort of place.

I had no trouble getting a table for one in the white tablecloth restaurant, although I could have chosen to just eat in the bar area as well.

Menu.

I was also still kinda on a quest to find good sticky toffee pudding, but, the bread and butter pudding is why I was there, so, I barely glanced at the menu when it was provided.  The single page menu also had all the sides and mains as well.

When I told the server I was there for the bread and butter pudding because it was supposed to be the best, he told me that they have a table that comes every morning, a group of 10 friends, and they only get the bread pudding.  For breakfast.  This seemed like a great endorsement.  I was in.

Dumbwaiter!

My dessert was prepared quickly, and emerged via a dumbwaiter, which was novel and amusing to me.  This place had character at least.

Bread and butter pudding with custard. £7.50.

And ... here it was.  A hunk, served in a pool of custard.

It was ... ok.

I will back up and say that I like a certain style of bread pudding.  I like it moist and custardy, which, this was.  I like it warm, which again, this was.  But I like a crispy top, and distinct chunks of bread, which this wasn't.  In the UK, if you order "bread pudding" it is often a dense slice, definitely not the style I like, so this was closer to the style I like, but missing a few key elements.

The pudding was pretty bland, just plain bread, with a few juicy raisins.  I kinda liked the raisins, mostly because they were ... something.  But the pudding ... very bo-ring.

That said, the custard was great.  Sweet, creamy but thin, vanilla-y.  I easily polished off all the custard.

I probably could have just gone to the grocery store and bought some custard and called it a day?

I wouldn't return obviously.

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Balboa Cafe

Balboa Cafe is relatively well known in San Francisco, although I'll admit I was only vaguely aware of it until recently.  

"Since 1913, Balboa Cafe has served as one of San Francisco's oldest restaurant where it all started as a working-man’s saloon. Now it’s a cherished neighborhood establishment where people from all corners of the Bay Area and beyond come for community and our beloved classics, like the Balboa Burger on a baguette, the Wednesday Chicken Paillard special, and the famed Espressotini. Despite our city's evolution, Balboa Cafe remains a timeless destination for those seeking a taste of San Francisco's nostalgia."

It has a firm place in SF history, as its been around since 1913, and has been in operation the entire time, lasting through all sorts of interesting eras of history (Prohibition, the Great Depression, the '89 earthquake, Covid pandemic, etc).  Ownership has changed, interior modified, menu evolved, but, at its roots, the same establishment. 

"The evolution of the espresso martini is steeped in the genius of marrying two favorite pastimes - coffee and cocktails. The popularity of the iconic Balboa Espressotini gained traction early on, and our bartenders were challenged to keep up with the demand. In 2017, we partnered with Shane from Top Hat Provisions, who blended a proprietary, single-origin cold brew coffee that we could mix with our signature blend of spirits in a nitro tank to create an ice-cold espressotini tha’s shaken to frothy perfection."

The recent-ish rise to fame for Balboa Cafe is their Espressotini, which they introduced in 2017, and they now have on tap.  They definitely take credit for introducing SF to this phenomenon.  The current popularity seems to be as a boozy brunch scene on weekends, and nighttime watering hole, with some focus on the food, and the overall hospitality, but the primary focus is definitely the bar program.  As I don't frequent the Marina, nor do I generally go for boozy brunch, it hasn't really been on my radar.

I also assumed that it was rather hype-y, and commercialized ... after all, um, they have a lot of merch for sale, banded canned Espressotinis, and the like.  I was pleased to see that wasn't the case when I visited for weekend brunch one day.  There really was a fair amount of charm to the place, the host was remarkably hospitable, and the place just felt nicely worn in, comfortable, and authentic.  The food?  Well, eh.  But I did have my first espressotini, and that alone was a novel win.

Setting

Balboa Cafe is located right on Fillmore Street in a busy area of the Marina.

Entrance

The entrance is fairly charming, with a slightly shabby look of elegant time's past.

Bar.

The look extends inside to the long bar that is a central point of the restaurant.  So much old wood, mirrors, and just old school vibes.  It feels remarkably comfortable, as it is so clearly comfortable with itself.

Sidewalk Seating.

There are tables inside as well, but the coveted spots, at least for weekend brunch on a sunny day, are the outdoor tables.  They aren't a fancy setup, but by mid-afternoon, this is where the crowds definitely wanted to be, and the entire place was packed.

Drinks

Every patron at Balboa Cafe had an alcoholic drink in front of them, at 1:30pm on Saturday.  Again, clearly, people are here to drink, even during the day. Most everyone had the exact same drink: the espressotini, although there was a stray glass of rose at one end of the bar, and I saw a few beers get poured from the tap.  But mostly, that cocktail list, and certainly the wines (besides rose/sparkling), didn't seem to be something anyone took notice of.  

Drink Menu.

The reason people are at Balboa Cafe is the vibe, and the drinks.  The brunch menu called out a few cocktails in particular (obviously, their signature espressotini, along with the default brunch drinks of mimosa, bellini, or bloody mary, and the cadillac), but a full drink list, including beer, wine, ciders, and many more cocktails was provided.

Balboa Espressotini (decaf). $19.

"Stoli vanilla, kahlua, top hat cold brew espresso."

Clearly, I had to order the espressotini, right?  I mean, if everyone else is doing it, AND it is what they are known for ... 

I'll admit this was my first espressotini.  The reason is pretty simple: I don't drink caffeine after about 10am, I limit even decaf coffee and chocolate until about 2pm, and never have anything with any caffeine later than that.  Although I drink a glass of wine with dinner nearly every night, and enjoy a cocktail when I go out, I rarely day drink.  So ... the espressotini really just doesn't have much place in my lifestyle.  But I see why they are so popular: they jazz you up, AND make you tipsy, AND taste like dessert?  Winner, winner, and danger, danger.

But anyway, yes, espressotinis are fairly popular these days, but why such a BIG THING at Balboa Cafe in particular?  I think because they were a bit ahead of the trend, and introduced them in 2017, and, well, for the younger Marina crowd, this was a very fitting drink for their lifestyles.  And so it took off, making Balboa a destination for folks.  They couldn't keep up with the demand of making so many of them (pulling shots, shaking, etc), so they worked with a coffee producer to make a super concentrated cold brew that they could put on tap to use for the base of the drink, eliminating much of the manual work.  The bartenders churn out a lot of these daily, and do so with incredible throughput. 

I however wanted decaf, knowing that super concentrated coffee at 2pm was not an ok idea for me.  Luckily, Balboa Cafe *does* offer a decaf version, but it definitely isn't the same recipe as the regular.  My bartender needed to actually brew a decaf shot and mix the old fashioned way in a shaker to produce the decaf version.  When it was sat down in front of me, it didn't look nearly as good as the ones everyone else had (I didn't see anyone else get decaf, just me, the lame old person ...). It was all mixed up and foggy, as you can see here.

Balboa Espressotino: once settled.

But then it settled, and looked much like everyone else's.  It really is an attractive drink once it settles, frothy on top, deep and rich below.  

And, sigh, it really is remarkably delicious.  Sweet from the vanilla Stoli and Kahlua.  Super frothy.  Nice bitterness from espresso.  Amps you up, gets you drunk, AND is like a dessert all in one.  I instantly understood why everyone loves these.  Yes, yes, this was totally delicious (but such a bad idea! Did I get old somewhere along the way?).

****.

Side note: You can now even buy a nitro canned version of the espressotini from Balboa Cafe directly to take home, if you must.

House Sparkling Water (complimentary).

I asked for sparkling water, and was originally given tap ice water.  I asked again, and this time was given sparkling water from the soda dispenser in the bar.  It came attractively served, with a lime wedge, but, I hated the taste.  Not filtered, and just not good.  In the future I'd remember to ask for bottled sparkling.

Food

As I mentioned, Balboa Cafe is very popular.  It is very well known.  But it is not because of the food.  That was clear to me from my research before visiting, but extremely clear once I actually had my first bite.  The food was highly mediocre, mostly below average for even a generic boring restaurant.  You do not go there for the food.

Brunch Menu.

The brunch menu has a combination of items from their weekday lunch menu, their dinner menu classics, and some more breakfast appropriate dishes.

I was interested in most of the seafood options (ahi tuna cones, fried calamari, mussels mariniere), but also was a bit skeptical that a place known for the espressotini and not really for the food would do a decent job with seafood.  Most people around me seemed to be getting burgers and fries (if anything, plenty were there just for drinks).  I opted for one starter, one salad, one entree, and of course desserts, intending to take whatever was leftover home.

Buttermilk Fried Calamari. $19.

"Spicy marinara, house tartar sauce."

Well, my meal didn't start off very well.  The calamari was highly, highly mediocre.

On the plus side, it had a good distribution of rings and tentacles, and was served warm.  I appreciated the lemon wedges.  

But, the rings in particular were quite chewy, some pieces tasted fishy, and the coating wasn't particularly flavorful nor crisp.  The "spicy" marinara was not spicy at all and tasted like a jar tomato sauce, the tartar was average, mostly mayo.  It is nice that they offered both sauces, I'm definitely one for the tartar (or really, cocktail), but I know many people like the Italian style marinara sauce with theirs.

**.  I would not get this again, and did not even come close to finishing it (even the leftovers air fried at home to make crispy just weren't tasty as they were far too chewy and just ... not good tasting).

Grilled Veggie Salad. $22.
No goat cheese, "dressing on the side", add shrimp (+$8)

"Grilled asparagus, summer squash & red onion, romaine, raddicchio, carrots, radish, basil, sunflower seeds, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese, herbed champagne vinaigrette."

I moved on to a salad. I asked for no goat cheese, dressing on the side, and added shrimp.  My order was initially taken by a server who was just memorizing it all, but as soon as I made modifications, he pulled out a napkin and wrote it down.  Unfortunately, that napkin didn't seem to serve him, or me, well.

When my salad was placed in front of me, I thought I had gotten someone else's order.  Clearly this wasn't mine, right?  Because ...  I asked for dressing on the side, to start. But also, when this was brought out, I really thought it was another salad, not the grilled veggie salad.  The server assured me it was the grilled veggie salad.  And I guess it was, but, it WAS dressed when I asked for it not to be, and, well, I certainly expected it to have more grilled vegetables.

The base was fine - torn romaine and radicchio, very fresh and crisp.  Matchstick carrots were fine too, and I liked the big slices of radish.  Cherry tomatoes were flavorful and not mealy.  So actually, a pretty decent base.  ***+.

But where were those grilled vegetables?  I had exactly four very small pieces of zucchini that seemed raw, zero red onion that was listed in the description, and a few small shaved pieces of asparagus.  I was looking forward to big juicy asparagus spears, chunks of summer squash, and some lovely grilled onions.  The components that were there were good, but, just not what I was expecting, and really quite minimal for a "grilled veggie" named salad.  ***+.

The real issue was the dressing.  I wanted it on the side as I don't like vinaigrettes, and this was really, really, really dressed in it.  Very tangy, and just not what I like at all.  Booo.  I didn't bother correcting the situation though.  I truly disliked the dressing.

The salad lacked any seasoning, but luckily pepper and salt were on the table, and the pepper in particular really helped.

For $8 I added shrimp, which was a portion of 6.  The shrimp were large, juicy, properly deveined and cleaned.  Great bounce to them, not rubbery.  Better than average / expected.  Definitely worth the $8. ***+.

Overall, if the dressing had been left off as I wanted, I would have liked it, and just been sad it wasn't more grilled veggie forward, but as served, it was a miss for me entirely.  *** besides the dressing, but ** with.  Also, really, a $30 salad?  (add also 4% SF tax, 8.625% state tax, and at least 20% tip, and this becomes a $40.50 salad.  Um, craziness).

Pulled Pork Sandwich.  $22.

"Remoulade, onion ring, fresno chilies, pickled onion slaw, brioche bun."

I tried to order the mussels as my main dish, but I was told I couldn't take home any leftovers because it was shellfish.  I've never been told you can't take shellfish home before, but, that was their policy.  They said the mussels were the only dish that couldn't be taken as leftovers.  Um, ok.

So I went with my third choice, the pulled pork.  The menu did not say that it came with fries, but it did.  The fries were very mediocre, thin, crispy, but not very well seasoned, and not very actually flavorful.  I would have preferred another side choice, and I saw others asked if they wanted fries or salad with their sandwiches, so not sure why I wasn't asked, nor why the menu didn't specify the side (it only lists the fries as coming with the burger). ** fries.  The ketchup tasted odd.

The pulled pork sandwich was decent though.  Glossy brioche bun that was lightly toasted inside.  The top bun was smothered with remoulade which seemed unnecessary with the already sauced pork.  I'm all for mayo sauces, but this seemed a bit overkill.  Under that was a big juicy onion ring.  I liked how hefty it was.  It made me wish onion rings were actually on the menu - if they can make one here, couldn't they make a basket of rings as an appetizer or side?  They have a nice lineup other sides, including fried items, so it doesn't seem like a fryer space problem ... I'd love to order onion rings with remoulade to dip them in! 

The pulled pork was a good portion, and all well shredded.  Well sauced in a fairly sweet sauce, slight bbq notes.  Moist.  Under that was the slaw, a vinegar style, very tart.  Nice for a bit of freshness, but a touch too high on the acid for me.  I never found any fresno chiles.

So overall, a decent enough pulled pork sandwich, ***.  Not something I'd go back for, but, it was decent enough.

Dessert Menu.

After a fairly lackluster meal, I still asked to see the dessert menu, as my sweet tooth always needs satisfying (although, to be honest, the espressotini really did serve as a pretty decent dessert item!).

The options all sounded decent - none that were totally amazing, but all ones I'd be happy to try: an ice cream sundae, chocolate lava cake, sticky toffee pudding, creme brûlée.  Nothing earth shattering, but standard crowd pleasing desserts, and ones I have dedicated labels for on my blog.

I asked my server how the desserts were, and he said they were good.  I asked his favorite, and he told me he doesn't actually like sweets.  Well, ok ... I tried to ask what other people seem to like, and he simply told me that the ice cream sundae was really large and would be too much for me.  He quasi suggested the sticky toffee pudding, but not in a convincing way at all.

Sticky Toffee Pudding.  $15.

"Medjool dates, toffee sauce, vanilla gelato." 

So, I went for the semi-recommended sticky toffee pudding.  I do love a good sticky toffee pudding, and went on an epic quest last time I was in London to try it essentially everywhere (including an average version at Heddon Street Kitchen, an awful version at Hawksmoor Seven Dials, and my favorite, amusingly from the buffet restaurant, Tibits).

This though .... wow, what a letdown.  Where to start.

It was:

1. Cold, not warm. Who serves sticky toffee pudding not warmed up?
2. Hard.  What is sticky toffee pudding without gooey, moist, softness?
3. Dry.  Entirely, um, not sticky?  There was literally no signature sticky toffee sauce at all, only a little drizzle of caramel on top of the gelato.  None on the cake.  Um, what?

The cake was basically just dry, hard, and tasted like dates.  Not sticky toffee pudding, and not enjoyable. *.

The gelato was fine.  The caramel drizzle was fine, but seemed likely not house made, just the kind from a squirt bottle.  *** gelato and sauce.

* star overall, sorry, this was just not sticky toffee pudding.

Vanilla Creme Brûlée. $12.

"Anis biscotti."

I hedged my bets though and also got another favorite of mine: creme brûlée.  As you know, I love all puddings, and have a label on my blog just for creme brûlée, so I was excited for this.

Sigh.  Another letdown.

It *did* pass the tap test.  Lovely caramelization on top.  But the body of the creme brûlée was not well set; it was remarkably runny.  Flavor trended too high in the egginess too.  It basically was like a creme anglaise sauce, just with a caramelized top.

Overall, good top, but meh overall.  I also wanted a few fresh berries or something.  **.

Biscotti: this was fine, crispy, good anise flavor.  ***.

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Tibits, London

I went to a buffet.  A vegetarian buffet.  A largely vegan buffet at that.  In London of all places (obviously, pre-COVID).

And I recommend you do the same.  Seriously.  Ok, but with caveats of course.

I discovered Tibits on my way to Borough Market, it caught my eye as I walked by.  I poked my head in and was ... intrigued.  It was mid-day, and the place seemed to be a coffee shop, with a large menu of coffee and tea drinks, plus fresh juices and smoothies, and assorted baked goods along a counter.  But ... it was also a huge buffet.  A nice buffet.  Hot items, cold items, desserts.

Further examination just left me more interested.  A cocktail list.  Hot buttered rum.  What was this place?  I wanted to know more, and try it out, but, I was on the way to a food mecca, so, I took note, grabbed a business card, and went on my way.

I looked it up online later though.

The answer is: a higher end buffet (known as their "Food Boat"), entirely vegetarian (80% vegan actually), serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Available to dine-in, or takeway.

"Every day you can choose from a selection of 40 vegetarian and vegan salads, hot dishes and desserts on our food boat. Everything is freshly homemade, several times a day. We cook with the season, using the best of the season’s produce. "

This is no ordinary buffet.  It is ... a boat, as they say.   Everything from the Boat is pay-by-weight. They also offer made to order items, baked goods, and drinks appropriate for the time of your visit.  Tuesdays are entirely vegan.  They use majority organic, local, seasonal produce.  Most stuff is pretty healthy.  Everything is clearly labelled with dish names, ingredients, and if it is Vegan/Lacto/Ovo, or if it has common allergens (gluten, nuts, soy, even onions or garlic), if it is spicy, and if it has much sugar.  If you have any food restrictions, this place is likely a dream come true.

It turned out to be for me too, even though I'm not vegetarian, and eat far, far, far more butter, cream, and cheese than the average person.  And I loved it ... the first day.  I liked it the second.  I did go back, literally, two days in a row, which is saying something, right?

Tibits has (er, had, sadly, they were a victim of COVID closures) two locations in London, the Bankside location I walked by that day, and a location right near Piccadilly that I later visited (twice).  And a bunch of locations in Switzerland and Germany, which *do* remain open.  Even more interesting!

The Setup

The concept is a buffet, known as the "Boat".

You fill your plate, get it weighed, pay.  The price is cheaper for takeway than dine-in, cheaper for lunch than dinner (although the same menu?).

The boat is double layered, with cold dishes on bottom, and hot dishes on top.  The hot dishes change out daily, the cold dishes are more fixed and seasonal.

You can return as many times as you wish, but, you must do separate transactions each time, no way to have a tab open for a table, which was a bit annoying if dining there.  The wisdom I read was to take a sample round of tiny portions, then go back for what you really wanted.  And to wait to have dessert, er, pudding, separate, so you could have the warm desserts warm.

I visited twice, once on the weekend for lunch, once during the week for dinner.  The sign at the entrance instructed me to wait to be seated, but, once I asked someone for a seat, they told me to seat myself ... at least, my first visit.  My second visit was at dinner when it was more crowded, and I was seated by the host.

Upstairs Seating.

The host seated us upstairs, the same floor as the bar and buffet.  Nearly everyone was seated in this area.

Seating.

But downstairs was a lovely oasis,  mostly vacant, comfortable bench seating.  It also had a kids play area, so I'm sure it doesn't stay an oasis, but on my second visit, I had the space to myself at first, and was only joined by a few other solo diners later on.

My second visit this area was also totally empty, but the host didn't offer it to us, but I sat there anyway.

Baked Goods.

Most of the cuisine is pay-by-weight from the buffet, but they do have an assortment of baked goods near the registers to order a la carte (including a vegan sausage roll ...).  I tried the mango coconut cake, and it was fairly dry and boring, although it had good mango flavor.

Chips, olives, and nuts were also available a la carte.

Drinks.

The drink lineup is huge, ranging from fresh juices and smoothies, to homemade soft drinks, to hot espresso and tea drinks (including more novel items like turmeric lattes and rooibos cappuccino), to beer, wine, and cocktails (alcoholic and not).

Really, something for everyone, no matter the time of day.  Drinks are ordered at the register when you weigh your food (or separately, but then, yet another transaction).

Hot Buttered Rum. 8.50.

"Havana club, spices, orange juice, & butter."

My second visit was a blustery cold night, and I really wanted a warming beverage.  I could have easily selected from the large range of tea drinks, but, the hot cocktails caught my eye.  I gleefully ordered a hot buttered rum.

And then things went downhill.  I ordered when I paid for my main meal, which was mostly hot food this time around.  And then I waited.  And waited.  The person who handled my payment told me to wait there while it was being made (rather than to take a seat and have it delivered, as I had seen done the previous day).

I waited.  And waited more.  My dining companion was slower than me at working the buffet, but he finally filled his plate, ordered a cappuccino, got his cappuccino, and went to sit without me.

My food was getting cold.  And colder.  And I was waiting.  And waiting.

During this time, the person making my drink was looking around confused.  He clearly had no idea how to make the drink.  He asked someone else, who said they didn't know either, and pulled out a recipe card.  Oooph.

So he started following the instructions.  Added one ingredient, walked back across the bar to the recipe card.  Walked back, added the next thing.  Again and again.  I wished I could cancel it.  My food was stone cold by this point.

And still I waited.  Eventually, after an excruciating long wait, my drink was handed over.

It. Was. Awful.

It tasted like water.  I didn't taste rum.  I didn't taste spices.  I didn't taste butter.  I did taste orange.  Basically, warm orange water, with a huge cinnamon stick poking out of it.

I stirred it.  I tried again.  Still just mildly warm, mildly orange, water.

Not good at all.  And, my food suffered greatly as a result.

Buffet

And now, for the buffet.

My visits were two days apart, Sunday lunch and Monday dinner, but most of the hot foods were entirely different between the two days.

Cold Items

Cold items were the bottom row of the buffet, on ice.  The cold items were unchanged for the most part between the days.

The first day, I went for mostly cold items.  They were certainly the stars.

Salad base & Dressing.

The buffet starts out fairly simple, with basic salad making ingredients, lettuce and rocket, assorted dressings, cottage cheese, tofu, seasonings.  Also on top here was crispy fried onions (yum) and teriyaki spiced seed mix (super tasty).

More Cold Salads.

More basics came next (shredded carrot, cucumbers), before moving into some grains and composed salads (Indian spiced dal, barley salad, Za'atar hummus, Kale-Swede Salad, and Beetroot Salad.  All the composed salads had descriptions, dressings and seasonings, and interesting ingredients.

More Cold Salads.

A few more cold composed salads were next,  both with walnuts (Persimmon or Dried Beans), and then a vegetable based tartar.

I really liked both the persimmon and dried beans salad, but not the vegetable tartar.

 More Cold Salads, Dips, Chutneys, Bread.

Rounding the corner was curried quinoa salad, pumpkin salad, wakame and glass noodle salad, asian slaw, and panzanella, along with dips and chutneys.  I tried most of this.

On top was a bread assortment, with gluten-free options in a separate location.

Antipasti.

The rest of the cold area was sorta antipasti style: marinated olives, marinated artichoke hearts, tofu and avocado salad, orecchiette salad, and edamame salad.

This merged into the final section, fruit and desserts, starting with pineapple, grapes, and figs.  Keep reading to find out more about the "real" desserts.

Dips!

I was thrilled to see all the sauces and dips at the end.  I'm all about sauces.

This section had sweet chili sauce, lingonberry chutney, tomato ketchup, and caramelized onion chutney.  I tried them all.

Sauces.

More sauces, only 3 were labelled though: tzatziki, sambal, cocktail sauce.  I tried all these too.

Hot Foods

Hot foods formed the upper level, under heat lamps to stay warm.

These changed almost entirely between my two visits.  I think less than half the items were the same, although they had a similar format.  I focused on this section more on my second visit, just to mix it up.

The hot foods were mostly, well, what you'd expect from a buffet.  Salads do better in buffets than hot foods, but, one signature item is the onion rings, and those were glorious both times.

Vegetable moussaka, Onoe Alla Arrabbiata.

Day one, the hot foods started with feta based veggie moussaka, and slightly spicy pasta with tomato sauce, neither of which I tried.

Kale-Persimmon Bake, Saffron Spaghetti.

In their slots the next day, a hot persimmon dish, and a different pasta, both of which I tried.

Savoy cabbage, Thai-tofu-curry.

Next on day one was veggies (savoy cabbage) and tofu curry, both of which I skipped.

Brussels Sprouts, Pumpkin.

The next day, the green veggie of the day was brussels sprouts, and next was mashed pumpkin, which I did try.

Brown Rice, Roast Beetroot.

And then basic grains and more veggies (beets), which both showed up the next day too.

Spinach-kale falafel, Beer battered onion rings.

The segue between the healthy veggie warm dishes and the decedent began with falafel, which made way for their signature beer battered onion rings.

These all came with the recommendation to try the chutneys with them.  Like I needed that advice!

These were both on the menu both days, and the onion rings were the hit of the buffet both days.

Breaded Mushrooms, Sour Cream Stuffed Jalapeños.

More fried, battered goodies came next, breaded mushrooms and cream stuffed jalapeños the first day.

I went for the mushrooms.

Okra Tempura, Sour Cream Stuffed Jalapeños.

Rounding the corner the second day was fried food again, this time, okra tempura and the same fried sour cream filled jalapeños.

I went for okra, and somehow never managed to grab a jalapeño.  I'm not sure why.

Mashed potatoes, Sicilian Focaccia, Boston Baked Beans.

And finally, the hot foods were rounded off by mashed potatoes, focaccia based pizza, and baked beans the first day.  I tried just the mash.

Carrot-ginger Quiche, Brown Basmati Rice, Swedish Kottbullar, Mashed Potatoes.

The second day a quiche with puff pastry crust replaced the pizza, the brown rice and mashed potatoes were there again just in different order, and some Swedish Kottbullar ("Meatballs") were introduced.  I tried the later.

The Food

So, I took the advice I read, and made a sampler platter to start, both times.  I felt a bit silly taking a bite or two of all the best looking stuff, but, this approach made sense.  I returned to get more of what I liked, and try a few new things.  Then, I went for desserts.

The first day, I wanted all the desserts.  Seriously.  You know what a dessert person I am in general, but these also were just awesome selections.  So I packed up the cold ones to go, and had the hot ones as dine in, along with a drink.  

So, one meal, three separate transactions, a bit annoying.  I still recommend this approach though.  I saw families doing annoying individual transactions too, like one parent getting a platter for themselves while the other sat with child, and then swapping, each needing to separately wait in payment line, weight, and pay.  I wish they allowed per table tabs!

By the second visit, I had tried many of the items already, so, I was able to consolidate down into only two transactions: sampler round, and then final savory + desserts in one.

Sampler Platter, Day 1, Round 1.

I know my sampler plate looked silly. I assume they see this sort of thing all the time though, and stopped judging people long ago?

I had all the dips and sauces.  Yes, every single one.  All the fried things.  Several salads.  Some of the salad toppings.

And?  I mostly really liked it.

The breaded fried mushroom was the least successful, just a slimy wet mushroom inside the crispy shell.  The onion rings were glorious, and I was glad I took a pile on my first round.  They somehow were crispy, even though in a buffet.

Of course, I loved dunking the fried items into sauces and dips.  The sambal was a bit spicy, the tomato ketchup and sweet-chili sauce pretty standard.  The cocktail sauce "Tibits secret recipe" was probably my favorite, a creamy blend of ... something.  The lingonberry chutney was sweet and fruity and unique.  I liked the flavors in the caramelized onion chutney, but I didn't really have a use for it.

The only other hot item I tried this round was a bit of mashed potato, fine, but not particularly interesting.

The panzanella was a letdown, some pieces of the bread way too soggy, others way too hard, and the tomatoes not very ripe nor flavorful.

Asian slaw was a bit boring, it had carrot, daikon, cabbage, ginger, and sesame but was fairly flavorless.

The pumpkin salad was similarly kinda bland, although healthy tasting, with white balsamic vinegar, walnut oil, and roasted sesame seeds.

The wakame salad was the surprise hit, mixed with glass noodles, and really great flavors and textures.  My favorite savory item, by far.

The vegetable tartar was super boring. Just red mush.  It said it had pickled gherkin, carrot, parsnip, and capers, but, it was pretty bland.

I tried the kale and swede salad because I wasn't familiar with swede.  Or so I thought.  Turns out, it is rutabega.  This one was very bitter, and the bitter walnuts didn't help.  The only thing I didn't finish.

The persimmon salad was great, super ripe large chunks of persimmion with sambal and more walnuts.  I was shocked by the number of dishes with walnuts or walnut oil.  Beware if you have a walnut allergy.

Finally, I liked the the crispy fried onions and the teriyaki seed mix, both of which were tasty things to nibble on.  I'd totally buy that seed mix as a snack.

I went back for much more of the wakame salad, tons more fried things and sauces, and persimmon salad.  I also tried the dried bean salad with walnuts + coriander dressing, and really liked it.  The green beans were soft and seemed roasted, but perhaps they really were just dried?  There was a lot of flavor to it, and I really enjoyed it.

The first day, I was thrilled with my choices.

Sampler Platter, Day 2, Round 1.

The second day, I got the wakame and glass noodle salad again, as I had liked it before.  It was fine, but I liked it less this time.  There seemed to be more glass noodles?

I also got the persimmon salad again, and again really liked it, and went back for more.  Ripe, fresh, crisp persimmon.  Very tasty.  Same with the teriyaki seeds and fried shallots, yummy tasty little nibbles.  Everything else, besides the dips, that I tried was hot this time.

For hot items, I went right for the fascinating hot kale-persimmon bake with cap mushrooms, but, discovered I don't really care for cooked persimmon.  The crisp sweet freshness is apparently part of the appeal to me.

The pasta this time was saffron spaghetti with kelp, capers, and white wine, in a creamy sauce.  It looked, and sounded pretty good, but, alas, it was basically just, uh, buffet food.  Kinda mushy.

For a veggie, I went for the mashed pumpkin with sweet paprika sauce and terriyaki seeds.  It was ... fine?  The toppings were interesting at least.

For protein, a Swedish Kottbullar, which I paired with the lingonberry chutney.  I knew I would find a good use for that chutney!  I have no idea what the meatball was made from, clearly soy protein or something like that, but I didn't like it.  The cream sauce was fine.

And finally, the fried okra was better than the mushroom as it wasn't as slimy, but I didn't actually love it.  The onion rings on the other hand though ... I again *loved* those!  When I returned for seconds, they were the first thing I went for.  I did like the cocktail sauce better this time too.

Overall, I was less enamored this time around.  I think the salads were certainly better than the hot foods, but also, I think my expectations were likely higher this time.

Desserts / Puddings

And finally ... desserts galore.  So many desserts.  Sorry, puddings.  All the puddings.  Hot and cold.  Healthy and ... not.

These items were about half the same between my visits.

Puddings, Day 1.

The hot items were a fruit crisp and their signature sticky toffee pudding.

Down below was the aforementioned fruit, vegan gummy bears, chai-chocolate cream pudding, raspberry cream pudding, creme caramel, tiramisu, vegan cream, and fruity bircher muesli.

Something for everyone, right?

Cold Puddings: Day Two.

The second day the chai-chocolate cream was replaced by mocha cream, and the flan by cheesecake.  The fruit and raspberry cream remained the same.

More Cold, Day 2.

The gummy bears, tiramisu, berry bircher muesli, and vegan cream remained the second day, but ... real double cream was added!  Where was this the day before??!!

Hot Puddings Day 2.

For the hot puddings, the fruit crisp turned into Orange-Ginger bake, and the signature sticky toffee pudding remained.

Coffee and Dessert, Day 1.

The first day, I got ... everything.  Ok, everything but the grapes and pineapple.  Literally.

I also ordered a decaf Americano to go with it, which was made to order.

I intended to eat the hot items there, and bring the cold ones takeaway, so I boxed up the cold ones, and put the warm ones on a plate.  But I couldn't resist trying a bite of each, and, well, nearly finished the whole thing there.  Ooops.

The coffee was actually quite good, not decaf funky, not acidic, not bitter.  Best coffee of my trip actually.

The hot puddings were a berry crumble and their famous sticky toffee pudding.  I plated these with vegan cream on the side.

The crumble was the only dessert I didn't like.  The fruit was decent, but the base was total mush, not quite sure what it was, but I hated the flavor and texture.  The crumble on top was crispy, but again, I didn't care for the flavor at all.

But its friend, the sticky toffee pudding ... swoon.  This was good.  Very good.  Moist.  Rich.  Great toffee sauce.  Studded with bits of dates and walnuts.  A bit of ginger for spice.  Warm.  It was everything I was looking for in a sticky toffee pudding.  It beat the pants off the supposed "Best" sticky toffee pudding in London that I had at Hawksmoor Seven Dials a couple nights prior.  It was vegan even.  It didn't even *need* clotted cream topping, which is good, as the vegan cream was ... lackluster.  Hands down, best of the puddings.

The creme caramel was no slouch though, pretty classic, smooth eggy rich custard, plenty of very sweet sauce.  The tiramisu too was good, the ladyfingers soaked in plenty of espresso base, so very moist, and the cream on top was thick and rich.

The raspberry cream was ... ok.  Very fruity, with real raspberries inside.  The chai-chocolate cream was similar, a bit bitter, but a really nice fluffy consistency.  I didn't really taste chai.  It was vegan though, so, impressive.

The figs were fine, a good healthy option.  I did skip the grapes and pineapple, and bircher muesli, as in, the real healthy options.

The gummy bears were more like jellies, I guess since vegetarian they didn't use gelatin, and thus were a different texture than I'm used to.

I was thrilled with my coffee and sticky toffee pudding, and loved that I could make up a dessert platter like this.

Traditional Cheesecake with Walnuts.

The second time I visited, I tried the cheesecake, hoping it would be as good as the creme caramel.  It wasn't.  Neither I nor my dining companion finished our portions.

The crust was similar to the mush under the crumble that I disliked, and the cheesecake wasn't rich, it wasn't cream cheesy, and I was really surprised this was actually traditional cheesecake.  It tasted like a vegan gluten-free item, if you know what I mean. Like tofu, with strange texture to the cheesecake, and mushy horrible crust.

Worst of the desserts by far.

Sticky Toffee Pudding: Day 2.

As I was standing around the dessert bar making my selections, the sad looking portion of sticky toffee pudding was whisked away. It had 2-3 quasi chunks left in it, and clearly had been there a while.  But I still wanted sticky toffee pudding, as it was *so* good the first day.  I asked, "are you bringing a fresh one?", intending to grab the remnants if they weren't.  Luckily, they were, and I was rewarded with a full fresh batch.

Except ... it wasn't great.  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't nearly as magical as the day before.  Warm-ish, but not very flavorful, not nearly as much sticky toffee sauce.

Vegan Cream & Double Cream.

The real double cream was better, but still, this was just ... ok.  Maybe I was sick of sticky toffee pudding 3 days in a row?

I also tried the bircher muesli, but it was just soggy mushy cold oatmeal, with berries, nuts, coconut, and apple in it.  Meh.

Orange Ginger Bake.

The orange ginger bake was not great, just a dry cake, more like a quick bread, with orange and ginger flavors, powdered sugar on top.  Still, better than the crisp.

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