Bellevue's Popcorn Pavilion Delivers Quality Corn!

Back in December, I received a press release (one of the cool things about blogging!) informing me of the opening of a new gourmet popcorn store called Popcorn Pavilion in the Bellevue Square Mall. I wrote it off as just another huge franchise bringing another homogenized food product to the masses at your local McMall.

Like any good PR firm they followed up with me last week, asking if I would like a complimentary sample pack to try out some of their popcorn. Looking a little bit deeper into the company, I found that this is the one and only Popcorn Pavilion and that it was founded by local Bellevue residents Grant and Ashley Jones, and having enjoyed my fair share of popcorn, figured why not!

The sample pack arrived at my doorstep in Redmond this morning (just two days late for me to celebrate National Popcorn Day!) and I quickly opened the box to see which of the 18 different popcorn flavors they had sent me. They have some pretty exotic flavors like Green Tea & Sea Salt, Seattle Style with Cappuccino flavored popcorn and their winter seasonal Peppermint Cocoa.

In the attractive sample box, I found Chicago Style, a combination of Caramel Corn and Cheddar Cheese popcorn, an enticing Jalapeno White Cheddar and the frightening Sweet Banana. I dug into each bag and was very surprised with the freshness and quality of the popcorn. They even go so far as to have the date the popcorn was popped and the name of the popper handwritten on the back of the bag. All the kernels were big, dense and crunchy, with each 16oz bag seeming quite heavy for its size. The Jalapeno White Cheddar flavor was my favorite with its cheesiness (think gourmet SmartFood) and a touch of fruity Jalapeno spice on the back end. The Sweet Banana flavor turned out to be pretty interesting. The flavor definitely resembled those banana shaped Runts candy you find in quarter vending machines, but the banana chips that were mixed in with the popcorn gave just enough contrast to make it enjoyable.

I would love to see the nutritional values for some of their flavors, as I can't imagine this incarnation of popcorn is a healthy snack. Additionally, I would be curious to know why Popcorn Pavilion chooses to use Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil to pop (ed. note: they use Canola oil for popping) in some of their corns, when there are likely healthier options available.

If you happen to be shopping at the Bellevue Square Mall or are looking for a unique gift, check out Popcorn Pavilion.