Dessert at the Mandarin Oriental

The Mandarin Oriental’s M Bar has intrigued me for some time. Its posh hotel setting and swanky décor suggest a certain restricted luxury, while its street-facing window/wall – enabling occupants and passersby to observe one another – hints at a curious openness. So, I found myself on the inside of the wall this past Friday. My good experience was not limited to delicious drinks and an enviable window perch; the bar had a very tempting dessert menu! Take a look at the treats (with interloping cocktails) below.

The dessert on the left is a creatively-executed apple crisp. I usually prefer tight, well-packed fruit desserts, but M Bar’s deconstructed version was remarkable. To start, the apples were cut in cube-like chunks rather than the usual slices. The conventional-tasting fruit (Golden Delicious?) was tossed in a thin cinnamon-caramel sauce, and the resultant mixture made me think of an especially chunky fruit soup. The crumbles covering the apples were large and cereal-like; I admired their remaining crunchy amidst their moist surroundings. Typical crumble flavors (cinnamon, butter, brown sugar) were assertive in the granola-y medium. I really appreciated the generous application of this topping! The remaining dessert components were unconventional and unanticipated. I finally tasted molecular gastronomy in action, enjoying a caramel foam that covered the crisp. The foam was every bit as flavorful as a standard caramel drizzle, but with a predictably lighter mouthfeel. The tiny, pale-cream bubbles stayed intact as I made my way through the dessert. Next up was a dollop of Calvados-flavored ice cream. The alcohol was barely noticeable, but the sharp apple and brandy notes were strong. The ice cream melted quickly and added a perky flavor to the chunky “soup” below. Lastly, three paper-thin apple chips were poised in the ice cream. Brightly-flavored and crisp, I enjoyed eating them dipped in the caramel foam. So, both the individual components and the dessert as a whole were great!

A “bento box” of three flavored crèmes brulees plus chocolate sorbet is on the right. The ginger crème had a sweeter ginger flavor, which was disappointingly diluted – if any dessert medium could benefit from a helping of bold flavor, it would be the already-sweet and milky crème brulee! The hazelnut version tasted average, though its pale-brown color was rather pretty. The orange was by far the best of the three, with a fresh citrus zing that cut through the creaminess. The dark chocolate sorbet was a tasty, if fairly common, palate cleanser.

M Bar’s menu had many other interesting desserts that may require sampling – for example, I had a hard time choosing between the apple crisp and their orange cheesecake. If you’re looking for a fancy night out at a bar with good drinks and sweet treats, put this place on your list!

Portsmouth Pleasures

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Portsmouth, NH two weekends in a row! I love this seaside town for its cheerful downtown, seaside park, cute and eclectic shops, and fun food. Of course, two of my favorite food vendors are dessert shops.

Annabelle’s Ice Cream is served in a cheerful basement off a waterfront side street. Their all-natural ice cream has a certain creamy, thick solidity that really packs a punch in a small volume. Because of its density, I find that it tastes best after being out of the freezer for a few minutes. Flavors are fairly common mixed creations that are made unique by the foundation ice cream’s quality.

• Peanut Butter Fantasy – sweet peanut butter ice cream is swirled with fudge and small chunks of peanut butter cups. The base ice cream is rather like sweet cream ice cream with peanut butter mixed in; I prefer this approach to the more extreme scoop of frozen peanut butter. Thick ribbons of fudge are mixed throughout this flavor, but there are rather few candy chunks.
• Mocha Mud Pie – chocolate chips and crumbled Oreos are mixed into a robust mocha ice cream. The signature Annabelle’s creaminess is great in this base flavor, as it really approximates a frozen version of my favorite espresso beverage. As with the Peanut Butter Fantasy, I wish there had been more mixers, but all in all this is a solid flavor that I would order again.

Our party enjoyed certain bolder flavors as well, like Ginger Fruit (sweet cream and crystallized ginger). I hear it was pungent yet refreshing!

Byrne & Carlson Chocolatier and Confectioner, a relatively recent find, has a one-room, antique-looking shop in a Portsmouth brownstone. The high ceilings, cream walls, dark wood cabinetry filled with candies, and clean, old-fashioned label type make me feel as though I have stepped into a treat shop of yore – a very fine one, mind you. Truffles and dark chocolate bars are their specialty, though in my two visits I sampled a range of their product.

• Chocolate-covered sea salt caramels – a nearly one-inch-square cube of stiff, sugary caramel is enrobed in a thin layer of dark chocolate and dusted with large crystals of fleur de sel. The salt lingered in my mouth after the chocolate coating had melted, so it blended nicely with the sweet caramel. I would have preferred a thicker layer of chocolate, or even a milder variety that would have been less distinct from the caramel; I would have guessed the percent cacao was around 70.
• Chipotle sea salt bar – I was intrigued by the variety of flavors in this bar, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. I think the 75% cacao content is too much bitterness for a bar with two savory components. The fleur de sel was robust and slightly smoky, and the chipotle pepper asserted itself with a spicy burn that lasted long after the chocolate had melted. The chocolate, as with all their offerings, was even and silky, and I may have been able to enjoy it as a pure chocolate bar, but I really needed something sweet to counter the salt and pepper! Lovers of intense dark chocolate, this bar is probably exactly what you need.
• Malted milk balls – I couldn’t get enough of these, they were so delicious! (Please keep in mind, this is coming from the girl who pouted if some unsuspecting neighbor gave out boxes of Whoppers for Halloween – so, praise indeed.) B&C’s Ultimate MMB has a small malted-milk center, followed by layers of dark, milk, and white chocolate. A speckled tan candy shell coats the treat. There were so many delicious chocolates in each bite, arranged in an ideal flavor progression, and the rough malted milk was surprisingly sweet and texturally satisfying against the smooth, bitter dark chocolate neighboring it.
• Truffle eggs – yes, eggs; we couldn’t ignore the corner of Easter remainders. Each miniature truffle egg has a sweet, slightly tangy truffle filling enrobed in creamy milk chocolate. The eggs instantly softened in my mouth, and melted into a buttercream-like chocolate paste that was pure decadence but not nearly enough volume. These treats lasted too briefly! I’ll seriously have to consider supplementing next year’s Fannie May Easter candy with a haul from Byrne & Carlson.

I have already decided that whenever I’m next in town, I will have to sample more milk chocolate, a different type of malted milk ball (there were several!), and maybe even a truffle. Care to join me?