What have I been up to? I’ve been eating oatmeal.
I’ve had quite a bit of the Starbucks’ Perfect Oatmeal. I wish I liked it more than I do. At its best it’s passable. But sometimes its watery, sometimes lukewarm. Sometimes it comes with the nuts, sometimes not. The price is decent, and I’m not morally opposed to instant oatmeal, but overall it seems like a pretty high risk affair. Full disclosure: I still own some SBUX which may be coloring my experience.
I ate at the same diner in San Francisco, Cafe Mason, quite a bit late last month. I would be eating there still if they produced their best on a consistent basis. Instead, each breakfast was something of an adventure. Will they have brown sugar? Will the oatmeal be too watery? Passable.
A couple of weeks ago I bought some McCann’s Fast Cooking Irish Oatmeal at WFMI. So freaking good. That’s it above. You can see I’ve added some berries and brown sugar to it. Fantastic. Yes the berries were frozen and then thawed. Like I said: I’m not opposed to instant.
But the absolute best oatmeal ever was the week before last. I hotwired the Intercontinental on Howard. One morning was insanely busy so I ordered room service, which is apparently cooked up by the staff of Luce their in house restaurant. Let me tell you, if you have $25.02 to spend on breakfast, and you happen to already be staying at this place, I would recommend it. Beautifully cooked, incredible fresh berries on top, perfect condiments — this list goes on. That was some good oatmeal. And although I’ve been referring to it at the $25 oatmeal, I should point out that it included some fantastic coffee and standard issue room service charges. My only regret on this is that the second time I tried to order it — at 4a before heading to the airport — it wasn’t ready. They couldn’t send it.
Two other entrants. The Blue Mermaid’s oatmeal was average although it included currants which are a plus. Maxwell’s was decent both times – currants, raisins, brown sugar — very decent.
So that’s where I am. I’m looking for suggestions if you have any.
3 comments ↓
Sonny and I have oatmeal just about every day. We buy the bulk organic rolled oats (not instant) from WF. It takes a little while to cook, and you have to stir it and keep it on a medium flame, but it’s pretty much always yummy. We add local honey to sweeten it and a touch of salt while it’s cooking. The only times it’s not great is when the bulk bin is stocked with inferior oats, When cooked, they look more like instant, with bits of oats rather than whole ovals. It can taste chalky. But when the oats are higher quality (most of the time), it’s delicious.
I’m with you on the McCann’s. Fabulous. I found the quick cook to be as delicious as the regular, which is a huge plus with Irish oats. They take forever to cook if you use the regular.
Happy oatmeal makes happy people. Yum yum.
Wow, you really are serious about this Oatmeal thing. I have not done the steel cut oats for a while. I have seen the quick cook ones in TJ’s. I guess I need to try them.
Maybe they will give you a sponsorship for your blog. hee hee.
LOL Yeah that would be amusing. I suspect they are looking for a broader audience but you never know.
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