"The nose knows," the proverbial "they" say. The thing about Waffled is that you can be on the other side of the outdoor Station Park mall and smell this buttery dough aroma wafting all around you. It's intoxicating and you involuntarily start taking out your wallet to throw bills at anyone who can turn that smell into a full-fledged sensory-overload experience.
My stomach angrily growled at me yesterday as my boyfriend and I sat outside Waffled, warming ourselves in front of a fire while waiting for the rest of our party. It was an exercise in self-mortification. I mean, how long can I contain myself before I run into the food pavilion and order one of everything twice? You can only hold me down so long before I start foaming at the mouth, incoherently murmuring "butter, butter, butter."
I finally convinced him to go look at the menu with me and OH MY DEAR GOODNESS GRACIOUS, the menu! I had casually glanced at it once before and seen a subheader that read "Stuffed Waffles." That's just toying with my emotions. STUFFED WITH WHAT?!?! TELL ME FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING GOOD AND TRUE! The response from the menu was a declamatory "We have savory waffles!" Did you read that?! THEY HAVE SAVORY STUFFED GARLIC AND HERB WAFFLES, JAM-PACKED WITH CHEESE AND MEAT AND CHEESE AND SOME MORE CHEESE. This was too much to handle and the promise of chicken breast with a layer of melty Muenster and pesto drove me to the point of distraction. With very little prodding, I convinced my boyfriend that this is what we'd been born for, this is what we'd been waiting for our whole lives, this was me being melodramatic for the purpose of persuasion. He agreed to it with the caveat that we would also need to add a side of roasted red pepper and tomato soup. Who am I to stomp out the fire of a dream? I allowed it.
When the sweet sound of my name rang out announcing that our order was up, I ran with childlike wonder up to the window and this overwhelming fragrance of a really incredible slice of cheese pizza smacked me across the face. By the time we got ourselves a place to sit, however, both the soup and the sandwich were anything but piping hot. The food pavilions have limited seating and on a super cold December day, everyone and their mom is looking for a reason to sneak inside someplace to warm their booties for a spell. I am not deducting any points for this because it's Utah in the winter and I have a heart, people. The points get deducted, rather, for the sweetness of the soup, which was a little TOO sweet for my taste. The flavors are good, but I like a hearty tomato with enough salt to remind me that it's soup and not a smoothie. I'm guessing the addition of roasted peppers, which are on the sweet side, wasn't accounted for when measuring out the salt. No huge loss for me, though, as the soup was for the boyfriend anyway. He seemed to love it. After we tore into the cheesy stuffed waffle and I had crumbs all over my face and coat and anything else that was stationary, I had a few critiques.
The flavor of the waffle was great, but it was slightly odd in texture. I was expecting a crispy, slightly burnt cheesy-end burst of flavor. Instead, I got a very flavorful . . . sponge. I'm not sure if that's typical of the consistency, but it was a little surprising. My boyfriend's chief complaint was the fact that the waffle wasn't savory enough. I concurred with that judgement, but I was willing to overlook it if the filling was going to compensate. But, again, we were just a bit off on expectation vs. reality. I mean, chicken, cheese, pesto--how could we go wrong here? There was no wrong, really--just a possibility for "better"! The chicken was almost imperceptible. The pesto was . . . well, it was green. The cheese was good, but like the rest of the sandwich, I felt like it could've been sharper. The flavors sorta took a back seat to texture.
I really fell in absolute stupid love with the idea of a savory waffle sandwich and I'd like to try one again from Waffled. Next time, though, I need some chocolate and whipped cream and diabetes.
UPDATE: Immediately after I posted, Bethany T. left a comment, and I really appreciate that quick response and ownership of her company's work. I always intended to go back to Waffled, but now, I absolutely will. Because I don't live in Utah, it may not be for a while, but I'm happy and proud to patronize a place that cares about doing things well and taking care of their customers. Thank you, Bethany! I'm looking forward to visiting your shop again! read more