herbie’s

Herbie’s!

by Stephanie on April 13, 2012

in American, Dinner, french

Good morning! Remember when I visited Herbie’s for Week 9 of the Bread Pudding Challenge? Let me refresh your memory:

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If you remember my review, you’ll recall that I wasn’t a huge fan of this bread pudding.

Thankfully, I had a few other things at Herbie’s that made up for the subpar BP. A friend joined me that night for a delicious dinner!

Herbie’s is a cute bistro in the Central West End neighborhood in St. Louis. I loved the French theme of this restaurant. I’ve never been to France, but I almost felt like I was there!

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Ooooh la la!

Enough of the scenery. Let’s get down to business! I took a quick look at the drink menu to see if anything popped out.

 

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The Sage N’ Stormy immediately caught my eye; dark rum, apple spice ginger liquor, simple syrup, lime, and sage? Sign me up!

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This was deliciously refreshing, and not too strong at all. I loved the apple spice ginger liquor; anything with ginger in it is guaranteed to be a winner with me!

On to the food. The menu was full of interesting dishes (The Jerk Chicken sounded delicious!), but in the end, I settled with Lobster Mac & Cheese.

 

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This was chock full of lobster tail meat, corn, four cheese mornay, truffle oil, and asiago gratin. It was super rich; I could only eat a few bites! But each bite was absolutely amazing; it was so flavorful!

My friend went with the Peppercorn & Coriander Encrusted Yellowfin Tuna:

 

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This was served with an edamame and shiitake mushroom risotto, tempura bok choy, and a wasabi soy sauce. I tried a bite and it was fantastic!

Finally, it was time for dessert. Of course, I ordered the bread pudding, and you already know how I feel about that, so I won’t revisit it. Winking smile

But our lovely waiter brought out something else for us to try!

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Any guesses? Winking smile

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What about now?

It was a Chocolate Fritter! Dark chocolate dipped in Bailey’s Irish Crème batter. This was amazing; the rich chocolate paired perfectly with the crisp outer shell of the fritter.

Overall, I’d recommend Herbie’s. The price was a little steep (so this would be a special occasion type place), but the food was fantastic. Two thumbs up!

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The best bread pudding in St. Louis is…

by Stephanie on April 4, 2012

in Bread Pudding

The votes are in! You voted on my Facebook page. You voted on Jess’s Facebook page. And we’ve tallied up the votes:

Remy’s: 2

McCormick & Schmick’s: 3

Annie Gunn’s: 12

Herbie’s: 12

That’s right – it’s a tie! Congrats to Annie Gunn’s & Herbie’s!

Now that the announcement is out of the way, we can move on to my thoughts (this is my blog after all, right?).

I’ve kept this bottled up inside for the past week, because I didn’t want to influence anyone’s vote. But I wanted Remy’s to win. Don’t get me wrong – each of the finalists had good bread pudding. But there was just something about the golden raisin bread pudding at Remy’s that stole my heart upon first bite. And nothing has been able to compare, in my opinion.

And look – Remy’s placed last! I guess it just goes to show that everyone’s tastes are different.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. Congrats again to Annie Gunn’s and Herbie’s!

I’m already thinking about my next food challenge…any ideas? I have a few up my sleeve…Winking smile

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Bread Pudding Challenge: Jess’s Top 3!

by Stephanie on March 28, 2012

in Bread Pudding

Hey friends! Stephanie here. So you read my overview of the Bread Pudding Challenge this morning, right? Now it’s time for my buddy Jess (and her blogging partner in crime) at Show Me The Sugar to share her thoughts! Thanks again, Jess, for doing this challenge with me — it’s been so much fun to get a different take on this amazing dessert.

With no further ado, here’s Jess’s take on the Bread Pudding Challenge, as well as her top 3 picks.

laconfectionista

After ten weeks of tasty Bread Puddings all over town, our heads are spinning in brioche, whiskey sauces and whipped creams!  For those of you who don’t know, we over at Show Me The Sugar do NOT normally share our opinions on desserts, we just try to describe them as objectively as possible so YOU can be the critic.  But today we are taking off the “objective hat” just for a tad to share our honest opinions of some of St. Louis’ most popular bread puddings.  Though I should note there are probably tens if not hundreds of puddings we haven’t tried, so in no way is this the conclusive list.  But without further ado we present our synopsis of yum. In the order we tried them.

Remy’s

Remys bread pudding

This one was a strong bready classic.  We loved the hardened brandy sauce, though I wish it were stronger in flavor.  Also our bread pudding didn’t arrive warm enough to melt it, so we were eating chunks of it.  It had lots of apples and raisins, which translates to “Stuff-in-the-stuff” for me personally.   It was very cinnamony, not too mushy, and a solid traditional.

Café Eau

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I apologize for the confusion in advance.  Because if you read Steph’s opinion of this you have a clear picture painted and, it isn’t pretty.  Then here I come with the following…  “We loved it!”  Now I will admit, I didn’t think it was the greatest representation of Bread Pudding, in fact they could’ve called it something else entirely and I wouldn’t have thought of bread pudding at all. Also for those who hate the creamy custardy texture, you wouldn’t like it. That being said it was smooth and creamy and tangy and just crisp on the outside, and we devoured it.

Harvest

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Definitely on the more bready side of bread pudding, but not dry. Like BREAD pudding.   Firm and filling. Good brioche base and we liked the sauce (though it could’ve been stronger).  The currants didn’t add much or take away, but I personally liked that there were no add ins. This was the kind of bread pudding I would serve to a friend who had never heard of Bread pudding, so they could start with a good basis, simple and classic.

Bridge Tap House

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This was another case of, “if they’d called it something else…”   If they called it a banana bread cake, I would’ve really liked it.  Very moist and dense, but I didn’t really get the “Bread Pudding impression” as I ate it.  Very banana-y flavored, and it had the caramelized bananas on top.  The coffee flavor scared me (not much of a coffee drinker) but it wasn’t strong at all.  It wasn’t bad, but I must say the whole team LOVED the brownie and the chocolate cake there.

Cyrano’s

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It’s a restaurant famed for its dessert.  This cute café is home to a bread pudding that’s a lot more on the pudding side. Like bread PUDDING.  Very buttery and “caramelly” and the cherry Bourbon sauce was a nice addition.  No other add-ins, but lots of fresh fluffy whipped cream.

Annie Gunn’s

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All I can say is I swear they are not paying me for this. Maker’s Mark caramel sauce…a lot (of both sauce and booze).  Moist, thick, rich, dense, whole slices of bread (rather than pieces). Well balanced flavors and generous sizing made for a great treat the next day too! If you hate bananas, they didn’t go crazy with them, but I love them so booze-soaked bananas were a plus.

Eleven Eleven Mississippi

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We missed the white chocolate on this pudding.  But we really thought the caramel sauce stood out here. Like the caramel sauce on popcorn, unique and yummy.  This was a bready pudding that was moister on the outside.

McCormick & Schmick’s

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This was a smooth creamy chocolate Bread Pudding.  It had to be good to make Stephanie break her “no chain” rule.  This was worth breaking rules and diets alike.  It reminded me of what would happen if you combined bread pudding and chocolate soufflé.

Herbie’s Vintage 72

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This was crispy on the outside, and melty and moist in the inside. It was generously spiked with Bailey’s.  It had no sauce, but just a drizzle of chocolate.  Not too dry, not too soggy.  Yum…just yum

Frazer’s

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We liked that it was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.  The sauce was pretty thin and not very strongly flavored, but the pudding could stand on its own.

Overall I think our top 3 are

Annie Gunn’s

Herbie’s Vintage 72

And I’m torn between Café Eau and McCormick & Schmick’s, neither is a very traditional version, but new and different.  I think I’ll say McCormick’s for number 3.  And I’ll give Café Eau a shout out for most unique take.

There you have it St. Louis, that’s our take, what do you think? Who wins the crown of “best BP” in town?

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Bread Pudding Challenge: My top 3!

by Stephanie on March 28, 2012

in Bread Pudding

Good morning and happy Wednesday! How are you doing? Ready to chat about food?

So ever since I finished up Week 10 of the Bread Pudding Challenge, there’s been one question that folks have been asking me:

When are you going to announce the winner?

It makes me smile that people are so excited about the Bread Pudding Challenge — I’ve had so much fun doing it, and I know Jess has too. We’re just as excited to announce the top 3 as you are to hear who they are!

Did you catch that? That’s right — Jess and I aren’t picking the winner (although we both have our favorites, trust me!); you are. This week, we’re announcing our top 3 choices; we’re each going to put up polls on our Facebook pages. The poll will be up for at least a week; during this time, we invite you to check out our top 3 choices for bread pudding and vote for your favorite.

This time next week, we’ll announce the winner for the best bread pudding in St. Louis. Sound good? Alright. :)

Before I announce my top three choices for bread pudding, I’ll do a quick rundown of each place I visited (in order). Ready? Let’s go!

Week 1: Remy’s

Who could forget Remy’s Warm Apple and Golden Raisin Bread Pudding?

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This decadent creation was definitely one of my favorites; I couldn’t resist the sugary sweet caramel and brandy hard sauce! Even though I’m not a huge fan of "stuff" in my bread pudding, this was so good that I didn’t mind the raisins and apples. Did I mention that the texture of this BP was pretty darn perfect?

Week 2: Cafe Eau

Oh, Cafe Eau. Or is it Cafe No? I was not a fan of this Gooey Butter Bread Pudding at all.

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I’m big on texture, and this BP failed big time. It was crispy on the outside and — true to its name — gooey in the middle. Not good. Aside from the texture, I wasn’t crazy about the flavor of this bread pudding; it was quite bitter!

Week 3: Harvest

Ahh, Harvest. When it comes to bread pudding in St. Louis, Harvest is often at the top of the list. They are definitely known for their bread pudding, and for good reason — the stuff is awesome.

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The french toast-like texture makes my toes curl, and the bourbon sauce? To die for! I’m not a huge fan of the currants that garnish this BP, but since it’s not baked into the dessert, they’re easy to avoid.

Week 4: Bridge Tap House

Another winner! For a while, the Banana Espresso Bread Pudding at Bridge was near the top of my list.

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I love how dense and rich this bread pudding is. If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll go nuts for this BP. There was a strong banana flavor in this bread pudding, which was nice; the caramelized sliced banana on top of the BP added to the awesomeness of this dessert. If you don’t like your bread pudding swimming in caramel sauce, this is the one for you.

Week 5: Cyrano’s

Once upon a time, before I really became a bread pudding fanatic, I adored the Caramel Brioche Bread Pudding at Cyrano’s. And so did the rest of St. Louis; it’s consistently at the top of many ‘Best Bread Pudding’ lists.

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Sadly, which the bread pudding at Cyrano’s is decent, it’s no longer one of my favorites. The texture was off, and this bread pudding was approaching that custard-like stage that I’m not a fan of. The flavor was good, but there are much better bread puddings out there, in my opinion. Sorry, Cyrano’s!

Week 6: Annie Gunn’s

Week six was a turning point in the Bread Pudding Challenge for me. After I took a bite of Annie’s Banana Bread Pudding, I realized that picking a winner was going to be difficult. This was perfect, in every sense of the word.

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The texture? Spot on — I love BP with a french toast texture. The flavor? Amazing; the Maker’s Mark caramel sauce was like nothing I’ve ever tasted, and the BP was swimming in it! If I could marry this bread pudding, I would. Can someone make that legal?

Week 7: Eleven Eleven Mississippi

Another great week of bread pudding. The White Chocolate and Pecan Bread Pudding at Eleven Eleven rocked my world.

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Although I couldn’t taste any hints of white chocolate in this BP, the texture (perfectly firm) and taste (caramel!) made me one happy chick. The standout in this bread pudding was the caramel sauce; it didn’t have a thin and runny consistency like the others. No — this was thick and sticky. So good.

Week 8: McCormick & Schmick’s

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I operate by two rules: 1. Always keep it real (even when my opinion is unpopular!), and 2. No chains. Well, I had to break the second rule during Week 8. Sorry, friends — I’ll do just about anything for good BP! And boy, did McCormick & Schmick’s deliver! Their Chocolate Bailey’s Bread Pudding was some of the best bread pudding I’ve ever had in my life.

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As I was eating this chocolatey creation, I almost felt like I was cheating on ‘traditional’ BP. Why? This tasted like a rich brownie. The texture of this bread pudding was a little softer than I usually prefer, but I almost preferred it that way. I can’t put into words how delicious this bread pudding was!

Week 9: Herbie’s

After Week 8′s amazing BP adventure, I knew that Week 9 at Herbie’s was going to have some big shoes to fill. I ordered their bread pudding with high hopes.

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Unfortunately, while this bread pudding was decent, it wasn’t my favorite. While I do enjoy a firmer bread pudding, this was almost too firm. In fact, it was dry! Nothing about the flavor of this bread pudding wowed me, either. I’d skip this one if I were you!

Week 10: Frazer’s

And finally — Week 10! I was hoping to go out with a bang with Frazer’s BP, but I was sorely disappointed.

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This time, it was a flavor and texture issue. The flavor wasn’t remarkable — the chocolate tasted a bit bitter — and the texture? It was crispy on the top, but way too custard-y in the center. Not good! I wasn’t impressed by this at all.

So what are my top 3 choices? This was so hard to narrow down, but I did it:

1. Remy’s

2. McCormick & Schmick’s

3. Annie Gunn’s

So there you have it! 10 long weeks, thousands of calories worth of bread pudding consumed, and lots and lots of caramel. It’s a tough job, but someone had to do it, right? ;)

I invite you to make a visit to my top 3 choices; I promise you won’t be disappointed. After you decide who your favorite is, cast your vote on my Facebook page!

Later this afternoon, I’ll post Jess’s thoughts on each BP, as well as her top 3. Stay tuned!

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Bread Pudding Challenge, Week 9: Herbie’s!

by Stephanie on March 7, 2012

in American, Bread Pudding, Dessert, Dinner

Happy Wednesday! Happy March! I hate to be one of those folks that comments on the weather constantly, but I’m going to do it anyway: this weather is amazing! Yesterday’s high was in the low 70’s, and today should be the same. I could definitely get used to this. Smile

Moving on. This week is Week 9 of the Bread Pudding Challenge! I can’t believe this challenge is coming to an end. Next week is the final week! Next week, I’ll explain more about how Jess and I will pick the winner. But for now, let’s talk BP!

Herbie’s is a nice restaurant located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis. It was dimly lit, a little romantic, and definitely had a bit of a French flair.

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Love it!

I had dinner at Herbie’s as well, but I’ll review that at a later date. For now, let’s talk about dessert!

I had high hopes for this bread pudding. According to the menu, it contained Bailey’s, chocolate chips, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce. Sounds delicious, right?

 

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It looked pretty tasty as well. I quickly dug in.

The first thing I noticed about this bread pudding was the texture. It was definitely not custard-y, which was a plus in my book. However, it was dry; almost too dry. In fact, it was so dry that the texture seemed tough and chewy. I wasn’t a fan of that at all. Was this bread pudding made with a croissant? It sure tasted like it. 

Taste-wise, the bread pudding was spot on. The vanilla ice cream had a lot to do with it; it was creamy, rich, and amazing! The BP itself had a bit of a chocolatey flavor due to the chocolate chips. I couldn’t taste any hint of Bailey’s, however.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of this bread pudding. The flavor was decent, but it wasn’t mindblowing. And the texture was just too tough for me to fully enjoy this dessert. This bread pudding was better than Cyrano’s and Café Eau’s, but just barely.

Let’s take a look at my new runnings:

1. McCormick & Schmick’s

2. Remy’s

3. Annie Gunn’s

4. Eleven Eleven Mississippi

5. Bridge Tap House

6. Harvest

7. Herbie’s

8. Cyrano’s

9. Café Eau

Just one more week of bread pudding left. Where will our last stop be? You’ll have to wait until next week to find out! Maybe Jess will drop a hint on her Facebook page. Or maybe I’ll drop a hint on mine! Keep checking in. See you in a few days! Winking smile

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