Really, really satisfies
By KENJI ALT | September 19, 2007
At Pops, everything on the menu is a clever reinterpretation of classic American comfort dishes — try chicken wings with a spicy sambal glaze ($7.50) instead of Buffalo wings, or truffled gnocchi with bacon ($14) instead of macaroni-and-cheese. Thus, you might expect what’s described on the menu as “Tempura Snickers Bar” to be a modified and modernized dissection of a candy bar. A peanut croquant in a cocoa-scented tempura batter with a caramel foam, perhaps. But in this case, the dish is exactly what the menu describes.
We all know what a Snickers bar is: salty roasted peanuts covered in soft caramel and coated in milk chocolate. Add to this a crisp but none-too-light deep-fried coating, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and drizzle the whole thing with buttery caramel, and you’ve got what is possibly the most indulgently sweet and gooey dessert ever conceived. Did I mention the Snickers bar is cut in half lengthwise to increase the amount of fried tempura batter you can fit on it? If the banana semifreddo that comes on the side sounds like it might cleanse your palate of the thick, sugary, chocolatey coating the warm candy bar’s left behind, think again. Made with rich mascarpone cheese, the semifreddo is the perfect partner for this double-whammy of extravagance. This one should come with a disclaimer — “Warning: reckless enjoyment of empty calories ahead.”
Available for $7 at Pops, 560 Tremont Street, in Boston. Call 617.695.1250.
Related:
A Man Named Pearl, Holiday 'tails, Code yellow, More 
- A Man Named Pearl
The film makes up for its lack of conflict with the quiet power of its imagery: a descendant of sharecroppers coaxing scrubby brush into great green gumdrops and sculptural swirls.
- Holiday 'tails
The holidays are all about indulging — and just as we temporarily trade in our carrot sticks and cottage cheese for sugary treats, we swap our tried-and-true vodka tonics for more sumptuous seasonal beverages.
- Code yellow
It’s well known that Marshmallow Peeps can be eaten in any number of ways: fresh out of the box, frozen, desiccated for months until their skin hardens into a chewy carapace, even microwaved or flame roasted.
- Pete Burr
4 am bar closings; drop martial law; bring Buddy back.
- Patton Oswalt
Oswalt takes aim at Middle American targets in a conversational manner that suggests he knows he’s among friends.
- Eating, my words
In 2008, I’m going to eat less meat.
- Beard Papa’s cream puffs
If there’s one thing that the Japanese excel at, it’s taking an existing product and beating it into its most perfect form.
- Craigie Street Bistrot’s ragoût of venison sausage and mushrooms with slow-cooked egg
Surely, you think, this is the end of the rainbow. Not at Craigie Street.
- Measuring up
As I tucked in to the roast chicken at Hamersley’s Bistro recently, I chided myself for ordering it.
- Duffy’s
As one of those elusive places on the collective restaurant radar for those of us north of Narragansett, Duffy’s Tavern nonetheless receives the generally universal nod of approval.
- Temple Downtown
When plans were made to convert the abandoned shell of the Masonic Temple into the upscale Renaissance Hotel, what chance was there that a restaurant in the basement would be, well, adorably funky?
- Less
Topics:
Hot Plate
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Foods, Ethnic Cuisines, Italian Food and Cooking, Asian Food and Cooking, Japanese Food and Cooking, Chocolate, Convenience and Fast Foods, Candy, Less
