San Francisco is supposedly known for its good food, but I wouldn't know. I'm a picky eater by nature, and something about eating garlicky, cheesy lunches and walking all day was taking away my appetite (for anything but ice cream), which made it hard to get excited about expensive restaurants where everything on the menu was, well, not ice cream. We ended up eating mostly at national chains the whole trip. The first night it was Cheesecake Factory, just for cheesecake, though I later picked up some beans & cheese at an authentic California chain—Del Taco, which was a dead ringer for Taco Bell. Sunday night was California Pizza Kitchen--At least that one has California in its name. Lunch at In & Out burger, while a slightly more novel experience, was hardly what I'd call a San Francisco gourmet treat. Monday night, we actually ate someplace I've never heard of before, called The Mango, or something like that. But they messed up my order so bad I refused to eat it and ended up having Ben & Jerry's to fill the void. Tuesday's lunch was probably the closest I came to having a San Francisco food experience, and that was when I had soup at Boudin Sourdough. I love sourdough, so that was a great way to do lunch, although as a vegetarian, I was unable to fill my bread bowl with clam chowder, but instead chose the boring roasted tomato soup (I'm also not a fan of roasted tomato, but at least I could eat it). For dinner on our last evening, I had a Ghirardelli sundae—yes, that was my dinner. What can I say, I only had eyes for ice cream.
And, of course, Giant Cookies. With no more days to describe and 2 more Giant Cookies to review, it's time to get crumbling!
 |
| The two cookies being reviewed today are the ones on the bottom center and bottom right. The others were reviewed in previous posts. |
Biscoff Cookie
Rico had good things to say about Biscoff, but the cookie didn't do much for me. It looked like it was going to be great, but I was disappointed as soon as I broke into it, by the unbelievably hard edges, which managed to be both tough and crumbly at the same time! However, the middle of the cookie was a much more pleasant texture, and the big ol' chunks of chocolate were like chunks of heaven itself. I'll wager this cookie, with its tough exterior, was what we in the foodie field call an overcookie, and it's too bad that my only experience with Biscoff had to be an accident.The Bottom Line:
Taste: 4 stars
Texture: 2 stars
Price: 2 stars (at 2.12¢ per gram)
Bristol Farms Peanut Butter Chocolate cookie
Sometimes you know as soon as you look at a cookie that it's going to be delicious. Such was the case when I ran across this Giant Cookie while killing time at Bristol Farms (which struck us as a lot like Whole Foods) before our flight. It was heavy and substantial, and looked to be overflowing with chocolate. I couldn't wait to devour (I mean review) it, but I responsibly saved it until last. And then I enjoyed myself thoroughly.There are times when I get tired of peanut butter cookies, but I don't think I'd ever get tired of this one. It tasted scrumptious! And although it did crumble everywhere, it was the sort of doughy crumble that is born of not having too much egg in the batter (in other words, a good crumble). It was almost like eating straight-up cookie dough, except with a bit of crunch. And, as I ascertained just from looking, they didn't skimp on the chocolate. My only regret is that there are no Bristol Farms stores in my area, or I would try their chocolate chip cookie!
Now, I paid $3.49 for this cookie, which I think is some kind of a Giant Cookie record. But that $3.49 was divided up into 180 grams, for a price of 1.93¢ a gram. They won't be winning any cheapness awards, but with this cookie, every 1.93¢ is well spent.
The Bottom Line:
Taste:5 stars
Texture: 5 stars
Price: 4 stars
0 comments: