Taste Test - Egloo, Duck Donuts, BooQoo Beignets

So I'm definitely looking at interesting companies who are innovating with Donuts these days because, why not? I mean Dunkin Donuts exists as do all of the local markets in the area. The quality is pretty much iffy all of the time and none of them are really noteworthy. I tried B Doughnut earlier this year and there are a couple more Baltimore area places I would like to try, but DC is bubbling with the things. One of the companies I was interested in trying at the Emporiyum was Duck Donuts.

Duck Donuts is a company that makes cake donuts sort of like The Fractured Prune. While they didn't bring a full set up, they do something similar with toppings and flavors. We got some to go, Vanilla, Cinnamon and sugar, chocolate frosted. The ingredients are definitely of good quality and pretty fresh, even two days later when I got around to the chocolate. The cake batter itself is just good, and when heated up the cinnamon and sugar was really good. They are worth checking out.


Now BooQoo Beignets was one of the first things we checked out. I will admit, I have always wanted to have some beignets and never have had the opportunity to find a place that has them. These were good, a cross between funnel cake and a doughnut with a layering of powdered sugar on the top. We ordered the Creole Vanilla Caramel as well. Now my wife was not a fan because the caramel has a hint of pepper to it, but I loved it. The little bit of of a kick that it gives is really good and interesting. With the beignets, it works very well.



I finished up with Eggloo, a waffle dessert shop that makes a bubbly waffle with ice cream, some condensed milk, fruity pebbles and pocky. The waffles themselves were good. The texture was chewy, soft, and had a good texture and bite to it. It didn't fall apart and had a nice moisture to it. The ice cream was good and taken with the waffle it was a nice dessert. While using the pocky to taste the ice cream, the chocolate gave a nice contrast to the strawberry ice cream we chose. Overall it was a nice treat, if a bit over valued, but at this kind of event it's fine at that price.

These three places were really good and a great example of the kind of things you can find at The Emporiyum. High quality ingredients and a nice twist on what you may be used to make it worth checking out. Also, I would look for one of these spots if I was in the area and recommend others go and check them out if they are looking for a new place and an excursion on a weekend. FYI you can also order the caramel sauces from the BooQoo Beignets website.

Rating:
BooQoo Beignets  4/5
Duck Donuts 3.5/5
Eggloo 3.5/5

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Taste Test - Ramenburger

If you're into food and the latest trends in what's hot, you probably have seen the original Ramen Burger, a beef patty with sauce and some greens between two patties made up of ramen noodles. Now like any successful fad, there are copycats and you can find them in a few more places as other chefs of course pick up on it and remake it. That's life, but as far as I know, there is no where near me that actually sells a similar burger unless you go to DC and catch the original Ramen burger at a pop up shop.


This weekend, at the Emporiyum in DC I had my opportunity and you cold tell it was a hot commodity. There was a nice long line for the Ramen burger, but it moved quickly as the process is well oiled by now. Grilled burgers and pre-made ramen buns are prepped assembly style for your consumption.


The bun is just regular ramen, but the thing is, it can be hard to eat because ramen isn't prone to sticking to anything. When you add in the generous slathering of a teriyaki/soy sauce combination that isn't too wild or far out there. It is actually much more tame than I was expecting honestly. The beef patty is just that. It wasn't the best one I have ever had and I guess I expected the entire thing to have some sort of new or slick innovation. I sort of imagine a Five guys patty being much better in it's place and adding a little depth to it.


Overall I can say that I have experienced the Ramen Burger. Was it worth it? Sure why not, you only live once. Would I run to go and find one now if they were popping up again? I doubt it. It just didn't taste that good in order to justify it for me. It's an interesting thing to do but it wasn't wowing in the way I expected. Some of that is my own fault for build-up for sure, but at the end of the day it was just a decent burger...on ramen noodles.


Rating: 2.5/5

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Taste Test- Fatty Sundays

Fatty Sundays pretzels were a brand I was interested in taking a look at. This company has been featured in both magazines and on TV with their inventive covered pretzels. It's not the most glamorous item right, but look at their packaging and it screams out "buy me".

Honestly, I can't say much except I think that the pretzels might be too salty.even when combined with the sweet coverings and flavors. I tried both Birthday cake and Cookies and cream. The pretzels are very crispy and the coatings seemed to be a little bit underwhelming but it might be because the salt is so strong on the pretzels. The pretzels aren't the "best" I've ever had, and yes there are differences between hard pretzels, but it's alright.

The packaging and marketing however are great with Fatty Sundays and their selection and website are winners. Sometimes, that's just what it takes.


Review: 3/5

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Taste Test - MagPies and Fluffed Up Desserts

So in my next post recapping my weekend at the Emporiyum I'd like to focus on two brands that I identified before I attended that I knew that I had to try and I would like to say I was not disappointed at all. So let's get into it.

First off the Magpies are pretty much an upscale, higher quality version of pop tarts. As I sit here writing this I am eating one that got beat up a little bit and is crumbling and falling apart but that is a good thing and I'll tell you why. As you look into the package and see it crumbled in my case, you can see the real ingredients. Munching on this Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Magpie, the crust is soft and has a wonderful flaky butteriness to it. This dough that they use is so perfect. The filling is good and not too much. Strawberry is also delicious and has a bright fresh flavor you just can't get from tarts made by Kelloggs. I compared these to the mini ones from Iron Rooster and Megpies has them beat.

If you live in the New York area, there are several places to get your fix and elsewhere you will have to order online. Check out their website here MagPies NYC for more information. A 6 count box is a little pricey, but this is a small company and the quality is very high. The only thing is that the tarts are a little on the small side for a greedy person like myself.

Rating: 4.5/5

Fluffed Up Desserts  aka  F.U.D. is a company that makes mini-smores packs in the DC area. These desserts  are awesome, a great little bite of graham cracker, marshmallow, and flavor. Each bite sized dessert is about the size of that picture right above and a package contains 6 of the 60 calorie bites. Biting into it, the marshmallow is fluffy with the right amount of give and chewiness. The cracker could use a little bit more flavor to it possibly but it's hard to find a fault with these other than they are so small you're likely to run through the package by accident.

Rating: 4/5

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Taste Test- Bmore Tasteful Pies

Dangerously delicious isn't the only pie shop in Baltimore. Though they might be the most famous due to the personality of their owner and the pies of the Baltimore Orioles' Adam Jones and his post-game celebrations, they are not alone when looking at the city's growing foodie scene. B'More Tasteful was something I got this past weekend at The Emporiyum after tasting the lemon chess pie and my wife tasting the sweet potato. We just had to get some to take home so we purchased more of the sweet potato and I grabbed the chocolate peanut butter chess pie to give a whirl in the confines of my own home.


Let me tell you, forget Pattie Pies because these mini sweet potato pies are delicious. I ate mine straight out of the fridge. The crust is regular pie crust, but the filling was awesome. On the whole it had a good balance and taste and because of this it didn't last but for 3 minutes before it was gone.

I also ate the chocolate peanut butter chess pie which is like eating a Reese's Cup. The peanut butter also has crunchy peanut bits to brings a little extra to it. I liked that part actually. I wasn't so crazy about the normal pie crust, but I don't see any other way of doing this off hand where you wouldn't overload the senses with sweetness so it works as what it is, a base for the other flavors.

I plan on getting something for the holidays from or at any point I see them at an event posted up somewhere. You can order from them at http://www.bmoretasteful.com .

Rating: 4/5

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The Emporiyum

This doesn't really have a category but my wife and I went to an event called The Emporiyum here in Baltimore. This is a marketplace event for a bunch of food vendors to come together in one place to be sampled and offer up their items for sale.This is the first time we have attended such an event and I for one had a great time. It was so great I told my mother and she had me take her on Sunday along with my son who didn't go on Saturday.

Held in the old Best Buy at the inner harbor, the venue was cool, and the decorations were there but not really needed when you took a break from the sampling to get a view of the inner harbor through the windows. It was fairly crowded on both days with a line to get in at your appointed entry time but things flowed very quickly and the scanning of tickets on the smartphones went really fast considering how those things can sometimes work.

It was a great joy to see so many independent and local brands on display and just about everyone had somethings that was good to great. The independent food scene is popping, alive and well. I'll be doing some special more thorough and singled out reviews on some of the items I purchased but I needed to make sure I shouted out the entire event as a whole.

A couple of my favorite items, The Hot Chocolate from Max Brenner which was crazily rich, yet smooth and creamy. My wife and mother both enjoyed Hoop Tea which is a brand from Ocean City, MD of "hard tea" that doesn't have a strong kick to it from what I was told. Bmore Tasteful pies are also worth seeking out for the Sweet Potato Pie. If you went out looking for a Pattie Pie then you need to get at Bmore Tasteful honestly. Finishing up my over view is the candied bacon from Iron Rooster which is sweet, salty, and has the perfect hit of spicy kick to it at the end. It's wildly delicious and a treat.

The Emporiyum, if you get the chance, you just have to go. Now I just have to figure if I'm going to drive to DC for the next one.

Rating: 5/5

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