The Hub Restaurant & Lounge - Dessert Review

Restaurant: The Hub Restaurant & Lounge - Dessert review

Cuisine: American/Pub food
Last visited: December 1, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1165 Mainland Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Chocolate Chip Pazookie: 6
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 3

This review is only for the Chocolate Chip Pazookie because it was that good. Simple recipe, but the execution is what made it 6/6.

The idea was adapted, I think from the UK, but The Hub could be first to introduce the “Pazookie” to Vancouver. I’m so glad that they did because it’s brilliant. I will come here just for this, and in the last week since having it I’ve dreamt about it at least 6X’s and brought it up randomly because I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s rich, it’s indulgent, it’s comfort/go-to/break-up/reliable dessert that all ages would enjoy. It’s a cookie that’s so soft you eat it with a spoon.

For my full review on The Hub

On the table:

• **Chocolate Chip Pazookie 6/6
• Served piping hot in a cast iron pan, vanilla gelato $7

• Seriously…a dessert you’ll moan over…replacement for a...ok I’ll stop there. One of the best cookies/inventions. It’s a giant chocolate chip cookie, probably 6 inches in diameter that is freshly baked in house and upon order.

• What’s so different and great about this cookie is that it’s baked right in an iron skillet. The whole skillet goes into the oven and because it’s an iron skillet it retains heat. Therefore you get a cookie right out of the oven and it keeps tasting like it’s right out of the because of the skillet.
• It tastes like a half baked cookie…it’s a cross between a cookie and a brownie. It’s chewy, tender, VERY soft and moist and melt in your mouth delicious. I want it now…seriously. The cookie dough itself tastes like those English Bay chocolate chip cookies...it actually could be, but I don't know...
• To top off this cookie they put a scoop of vanilla gelato on top! It’s PERFECT! Who doesn’t like ice cream with their cookies?!? It was like a cookie/brownie/ice cream sandwich all in one. What more could you ask for?!?...except for maybe another order.

For my full review on The Hub

Society - Dessert: Junk Food Platter

Restaurant: Society - Dessert Junk Food Platter

Cuisine: American
Last visited: November 18, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1257 Hamilton Street
Price Range: $10-20

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Junk Food Platter: 4
Savoury Food: 2
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:

• Comfort food with a twist
• Executive Chef Brandon Thordarson
• Attracts trendy crowd - Glowbal feel
• Great decor/playful and contemporary ambiance
• Better for drinks/desserts
• Part of the Glowbal Group family
• Heated patio, outdoor seating
• Open 11:30am-12am
• Open 4:30pm Sat/Sun

**Recommendation: Junk food platter

This review is focused on Society's dessert: The Junk Food Platter

There was too much to review on this huge platter so I had to split it up. The menu says it serves 2, but really it can serve between 4-6. Everything comes in 2, but you'll be pretty full if you ate everything. It's pretty big. For $18 I would order it again - however some things were better than others. I think the ice cream sandwiches were the best.

The platter is full of old-fashioned/circus/carnival desserts or "junk food": cotton candy, caramel corn, chocolate cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches, Oreo milkshake, doughnut holes, cookies and rice crispy squares. Overall it's a fun/playful idea, very well-presented and suits the restaurant and what they aim to do.

For my review on the savoury dishes: http://tinyurl.com/yg3ok8k

On the table:

• Junk Food Platter 4/6
• Cotton candy, caramel corn, chocolate cupcakes, ice cream sandwiches, Oreo milkshake, doughnut holes, cookies and rice crispy squares $18
• Cotton Candy 4/6
• The cotton candy is fresh and really good. It's really fun and never really been done at a restaurant. Better than the stuff you get an carnivals. You get quite a bit, but it's just spun sugar so it doesn't cost much to make.
• Caramel Corn 1/6
• This was found in the cup that was holding the cotton candy up.
• They burnt the caramel so the caramel corn was bitter and hard. It was really crunchy and they were in clumps, so it was more like brittle than it was caramel corn. This was better at carnivals.
• Doughnut Holes 2.5/6
  
• I think they make a version of these at Trattoria too. You can order these separately for $8.
• They taste really good, except they're filled with a cream anglaise that is much too sweet. On top, they're covered with white icing sugar so it makes them very sweet. They're served warm though so I liked that.
• It come with this pink "white chocolate" dip - which was not good at all. It was flavourless. It looks like Pepto-Bismol and I tried it on it's own. It tastes like pure sugar watered down and dyed pink. I enjoyed the doughnuts better without the dip.
• Ice Cream Sandwiches 4/6
• These were fantastic! Gone first. It was homemade.
• The cookie part tasted like chocolate brownies more than they did cookies. It wasn't the best brownie ever or anything, but it was still good. It was really fresh, soft and chewy. There's vanilla ice cream in the middle, which is not homemade I'm pretty sure. But overall the whole thing is yummy. I wish you could order them separately.
• Rice Crispies 3/6
  
• These were just your regular rice crispy squares. Not too buttery, not to sweet. a little harder than I'd like. I like them soft and chewy.
• Chocolate Cupcakes 3/6
• These reminded me of gourmet Ding Dongs. They were chocolate cupcakes filled with marshmallow cream and covered in chocolate ganache. These were nice and moist - a very decadent chocolatey treat.
• Oreo Milkshake 3/6
  
• This tasted great (how an Oreo milkshake would taste), but it wasn't a thick milkshake. It was definitely more milk based than ice cream based. I wonder if their other milkshakes are as thin as this one was...?
• They top it off with whipped cream and chocolate cookie crumbs. I wish they used Oreo cookie crumbs instead. They could easily make that switch with the help of a food processor.
• Cookies 2/6
• There were 2 mini chocolate chip cookies inside the mini white doggy bag.
• I have a feeling they started off warm, soft and chewy...but because I got to them last they were hard and not chewy. It was really too bad. Just because a cookie cools down it doesn't mean it has to be hard - but it happened to these ones which was disappointing.