Specialty’s

Best Cookies Ever

The other morning, Josh and I were looking for guaranteed satisfaction in the department of coffee and pastries. We had spent the morning sampling several coffee shops in Seattle, and had saved what we thought to be the best for last. We’ve gone to Specialty’s several times before, and had always had a wonderful experience there. Background story: I am not a mocha drinker. Typically, I like my coffee strong and rich and not sweet at all. My first time at Specialty’s, Josh ordered a mocha and had me taste it… I sheepishly realized about ten minutes later that I had polished it off. It was that good. We’ve had Saturday mornings when we will drive the 30 miles or so to get a mocha and amazing pastries from Specialty’s. Josh works nearby, and will frequent them during the day, occasionally bringing treats home for me. For Christmas, we had cookies shipped to family in Washington DC. You get the picture. We love them.

Inside Specialty's

Sadly, today was our first disappointing experience there. We ordered a mocha to share, and our usual favorite cookies: Semisweet for Josh, Black and White for me, and a new try: Wheatgerm Chocolate Chip just out of curiosity. The barista that took our order was a bit unsure – she remade it halfway through because she wasn’t sure if she had made it decaf (that bit was a bonus – I’m grateful when someone will go out of their way to make sure our coffee is decaf). But when I tasted the mocha she finished, it wasn’t very nice…. we couldn’t quite place what was wrong, but for one thing it tasted like there was no chocolate in it. I brought it back and asked for a bit more chocolate. When we tried it this time, it was way too sweet. The foam had collapsed on top from the chocolate being stirred in, and I don’t think the milk was stretched and textured correctly to begin with, because all we were left with was hot milk – no thick foam, no texture. It was very disappointing. We actually ended up leaving most of the drink there.

Mocha From Specialty's

Thankfully, the cookies were amazing as usual – they’re baked fresh, and are melt-in-your-mouth amazing. The semisweet is your classic chocolate chip cookie, but with large chunks of semisweet chocolate, so it’s not overpoweringly sweet. I love the black and white – a chocolate cookie loaded with chunks of white chocolate. Specialty’s never puts dainty little chocolate chips in cookies – they’re chunks. Chunks of goodness. Mmmm…. The wheatgerm was a delightful surprise as well – ordering it made you feel like you were being good and getting the healthy cookie on the rack. Eating it made you feel like you were splurging. The texture of the wheatgerm added a nice fullness to the cookie, but it was still the same wonderful chocolate chunk treat.

Best Cookies Ever

Outside of Specialty's

Overall, this is a place we would recommend in a heartbeat – but we have to be honest and say that this particular experience was a bit of a disappointment. However, we’ve been here several times (Josh almost daily!) and this is the first time we’ve left shrugging our shoulders. We’ll be back for sure, ready to enjoy our usual favorites. Specialty’s has several locations in the Seattle area, (including Chicago and the Bay area) and they serve several kinds of sandwiches and salads as well. I’ve never tried any of these, but I do like their quiche muffins when they’re available. Go to www.specialtysdirect.com for more info, to send a cookie gram, or to sign up for warm cookie alerts!

[where: 505 5th Ave. S. Seattle WA 98104]

Tags: Coffee, Pastries, Seattle Restaurants

This entry was posted on March 11th, 2008 and is filed under Restaurants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.