Bloem ‘n Sugar

I heard the news yesterday and I am still in denial. They better not be closed for good or I am going to cry.
Let’s just stay in denial for now…
Best liege waffle ever! When you go there get the speculoos waffle! This is a liege waffle which is kind of like an eggo waffle that is a thicker and bigger but is way more awesome and delicious. On top is biscoff spread which is made of biscoff crackers that are the equivalent of a European graham cracker. It is so good and sweet, perfect for the people with a sweet tooth. Then biscoff crackers are sprinkled onto the waffle and finally whipped cream is added as the final ingredient. The combination of the warm waffle, sweet biscoff spread, crunchy cookies and the cool whipped cream create this wonderful goodness that you will forever crave.
I really hope they aren’t closed forever because I really want a speculoos waffle right about now.

I plotted for months — months! — to get my paws on one of these waffles. I read review after review and thought about how how awesome these European sweet treats would be on my tongue and in my belly. So, imagine my disappointment when day after day, my plans were foiled by weather, time constraints and aimless wanderings around the streets of San Francisco.
But, as the great sage, Kwame from Captain Planet, always said: do not lose heart (and, yes, it was Kwame, not Ma-​Ti, who uttered those words… despite Ma-Ti’s ishtty ring; for real, I would have given that junk back to Gaia. Oh wait, sorry. Review commencing). After an extended lunch time of great conversation, filling food, lovely weather, and intoxicating green space, it dawned on me that I had time and stomach capital to spend on getting my dessert dreams fulfilled.
But, it almost didn’t happen. No one told me that the Westfield San Francisco Centre was a labyrinth of legendary proportions. How the h#ll do people find anything in this Escher painting? Luckily, I had a native New Yorker with me. New Yorkers are born with an innate sense of direction that allows them to roam anywhere with pinpoint accuracy. As I walked in circles, ZB led me to my pot of gold! There it was: my liege waffle with nutella, nuts, bananas, and whipped cream. It was a thing of beauty. But, before I could eat it, I had to return to the office to parade it around my co-​workers and make them envious.
What can I say? I’m a giver.

Find this little waffle counter
at the entrance to Westfield mall, BART Powell station level.
The name Bloem = flour, in Dutch.
The menu
features many signature combinations, or create your own with assorted toppings.
It’s currently the only SF shop that makes 2 types of Belgian waffles ($ 4 each): Brussels (rectangle, light and crispy) and Liege waffles (dense and sweet).
Liege waffles are made in advance and reheated, because they take longer to cook.
The Brussels style are always made to order. They also have mini waffles for $ 1.50 each (choice of 2 toppings).
So far I’ve tried the Very Berry Belgian (my favorite) on a Brussels waffle ($ 7.50)
and the Bananutella Liege waffle ($ 5.50).
My only complain is that there are NO nearby chairs or tables. A while ago, Westfield removed all the communal seating in front of Panda Express. Booo!!! So now your only options are to either sit on the nearby stairs to eat, or take a long walk to the food court dining area on the left side of the mall.
Also don’t wait too long to eat your waffle, if u got fresh whipped cream it’ll start to deflate soon after (that’s normal, only artificial stuff like Cool Whip stays unchanged).

Waffle smoothies! I think they were invented here and I daresay they’re better than pie milkshakes. They have two kinds of waffle smoothies in three sizes.
* Bohemdream ($ 3.25): vanilla ice cream with blended in Liege waffle bits, a luscious, thick, amazing smoothie with the sweetness of caramelized waffle bits
Their Belgian waffles (Liege or the lighter Brussels style, $ 4) are excellent even outside of the blender. You can enjoy them plain or with toppings (cookies, marshmallows, ice cream, nuts, marshmallows, fruit, whipped cream, chips, syrup).
Mini Belgian waffles ($ 1 — $ 1.50) are premade but warmed on griddle for you. The exterior is sweet, warm, caramelized. Available plain or with toppings.
They also sell imported Belgian cookies, Biscoff spread, and coffee.
Note, B & S isn’t inside the mall. They’re by the entrance to the old part of mall, in the Powell St. station.

Waffles made fresh to order, yes please! They opened at 7am and I needed to catch the BART by 7:30am, which would be no problem because they are located steps way from the BART entrance.
I was hoping to get a Leige waffle but it was too early in the am for the liege dough to be ready. Dough needs to raise or something. I was slightly bummed about that. So I went with my only option, a Brussels waffle BerryBerry style. Which was more than an amazing. I have only had traditional waffles, but this was beyond traditional. It was golden brown on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. I attribute it’s tastiness to it being made to order… just for me. Topped with fresh berries, banana and almonds then drizzled with honey.
I could not have started my day any better.

To find this place, just walk INTO the Bart station, turn around, and it’ll be on the left (across from Starbucks).
I walked in thinking I would order this bacon waffle that so many people have mentioned but then immediately got distracted by all the other tasty looking options. I ended up with the Very Berry Liege waffle ($ 7.50), which had strawberry ice cream, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce. They were out of raspberry so I got extra strawberries instead.
All in all, freshly made and tasty but my waffle seemed small under the mountain of toppings I had. I was also very pleasantly surprised that the chocolate sauce is more like a light fudge so it gets thicker on ice cream rather than runny like regular chocolate sauce.
As a final note, if you love those Biscoff cookies you get on airplanes, they sell whole jars of «Biscoff Spread» here for $ 8! I personally don’t enjoy Biscoff unless I’m flying (mostly for work so I’ve now permanently associated the two) but I was veeery amused that such a spread existed. Definitely ask for a taste sample if you’re interested. It still doesn’t come close to competing with Nutella though.

SO GOOD.
Brussels waffle + Powdered Sugar + Nutella + Strawberries + 1 Scoop of Ice Cream = Heaven.
I have been wanting to try this place for the longest time and when I had the chance, I jumped to it. It’s definitely a must try for those that love their sweets and desserts.
They do take about 10 minutes to do your entire order and that’s only because they cook the waffle fresh, at least for my boyfriend and I they did. They poured the batter into the waffle maker. The girl that helped us opened a new bottle of Nutella, hehe. Their ice cream scoops are rather small but it’s locally made from Double Rainbow. And the strawberries, are fresh! Even better.
I don’t know why I waited so long to try it. The only sad thing about it is that there is no seating. My boyfriend and I ate ours at the Emporium in Westfield because there were no seating around, they took out all the seating in the Concourse of the mall.

Eh.
I got off BART and walked into the SF Centre and passed by this place… I went to run my errands and then I couldn’t stop thinking about the waffles I had in Vancouver a couple months back, so I stopped by even though I was on my way to a big dinner, I just HAD to try it.
When I first walked in there, the people working there were socializing with friends that were in the store and there was a dog in the restaurant! It was super cute, but totally cannot be sanitary. The dog kept jumping on me too and I couldn’t get to the side where the display was because there were people busy talking on that side. From where I stood, I did see there were mini waffles, which was great for what I wanted, just a small tasting. I went ahead and ordered 2. One for me and one for my dining partner. I was sad to see that they had them premade and they just put them on the wafflemaker to re-​heat. I was also sad to see that she kept touching it with her bare hands just to see if they were heated enough.
Another girl had come in and ordered the same thing, two mini waffles, she was trying to ask the person working the counter how much they were but she was busy talking to her friend, so I answered all her questions for her (lol). After the first set of waffles were done, the person handed HER the waffles, even though I had come in about 5 minutes before her. The waffles were just okay, and mine was cold in the middle.

Am I the only one that was in complete awe when my waffle total came up to just $ 6? I mean for the size… the toppings… the quality… I felt like I just committed a robbery on these waffle folk.
I decided to build my own Belgian waffle because I was enticed by the unlimited toppings option for just $ 2.
There was a good variety of fruits, nuts, and sauces to choose from. OH and they have BACON too. Just saying. and while you’re at it, SPECULOOS SPREAD is a MUST HAVE. If you have any addiction to nutella, you’ll definitely love Speculoos! Instead of hazelnut, its European cookie spread — kind of reminded me of ginger cinnamon snap cookies. Ask them for a sample, you won’t regret it.
I hafta admit our orders took a while to complete since there was only one girl working there at the time. But she (Symone?) made our orders with a lot of care and was generous with the toppings. She even made a fresh hot batch of waffles for our orders. What a sweetheart! Another downer was that there wasn’t seating, unfortunate I had to waltz over to the food court so I could begin digging in. However, what really matters is the taste! Plenty good, and definitely filling! The Brussels waffle wasn’t as crispy anymore since the toppings got the best of it. It The waffle itself was more crêpe-​like. (I’d say go for the liege waffle if you’d prefer the sweet taste). The speculoos spread makes up for a lot of the flavor and goes well with the fruits.
Overall; good portions, cleanly atmosphere, friendly service, and a tasty experience. I’ll definitely be coming back for you, speculoos!

I became an instant fan my first time here. My mistake that time was coming in not that hungry. I only had the chance to have a mini liege. So from then I find myself making an extra stop on my way home from BART so I can share at home.
Liege waffles with nutella and fresh strawberries. mMmm. They have a lot more toppings to add on, and some day I may try something different, but like they say… if it ain’t broke dont fix it.
So simple yet so satisfying. I’m totally guilty of making my own at home. But I’m the type of person that thinks its better when someone else makes it. And I keep coming back for more…

I haven’t had a Belgian waffle since… the time I was in Belgium (for like half a day, five years ago). I don’t even know if this is authentic or not since I honestly don’t remember how it was when I first had it, but that doesn’t matter because the one at Bloem was delicious. The waffle was light and crispy on the outside, hot and soft on the inside. It’s $ 4 for the waffle and $ 0.50 for each topping or $ 2 for unlimited toppings or you can get one of their Signature waffle creations. I chose nutella and sweet strawberries (the kind that’s been soaked in syrup), and the girl kindly added some whipped cream on top. It has similar taste to a crêpe but with much more substance due to the approx. 1 inch high waffle. It was a good thing I shared the waffle with a buddy ‘cuz it comes in a generous portion (including toppings). I’ll be back.
Oh, once you pick up your waffle you can walk back in to the food court to find a seat as there is no sitting area at Bloem.

The 4 stars is for their Lieges (kinda looks like my name hehe) waffle! It was absolutely delicious. I got it topped with strawberry and the biscoff spread which really went well together. The biscoff spread filled up the waffle pockets :) It’s like a graham cracker flavored peanut butter spread. I give it minus 1 star because the waffle wasn’t fresh (it wasn’t hot or even warm) — they pre-​made the waffles and reheat them. Which is bad, especially when there is no line of people! Note to the store owners — try to keep them fresh and hot before serving.

I have been craving Belgian waffles ever since I had Wafels & Dinges in NYC. I was ecstatic when I saw Bloem ‘n Sugar’s half off campaign at PopSugar.
This store is fairly new. Opened only for a few months. It is (inconveniently) located right at the BART exit to the Westfield Shopping Center (Nordstrom side older wing) opposite to Starbuck. There are no seats or bar/​counter area for ‘dine in’. Your best bet is to eat your waffles at the Food Emporium nearby. I would not recommend bringing your waffles home. They are best when they are fresh.
These waffles are not bad. I have tried both their full size signature Lieges and Brussels. I can’t help but compare them to Wafels & Dinges since my memories are still fresh. The batter they use here is lighter overall. The Brussels is not as crispy. Definitely not my favorite Brussels. The lighter batter is more suited for the Liege though. The texture is dense but still airy and chewy.
Their signature waffles come with a lot of toppings! If not for the PopSugar deal I would probably just go for a basic one with 1 or 2 toppings at most. I recommend getting just the speculoos spread + fruits. The ice creams are just average. The flavors are quite bland.

Just another place where I think to myself, «damnnn, why didn’t I think of this?» I remember when I was younger, having sleepovers with my cousins and trying out the waffle maker and topping it off with anything, from caramel, fruits, chocolate down to a sundae… FOR BREAKFAST! haha Yess, my cousins laughed… then joined on in!
Bloem ‘n Sugar, same concept. Two types of waffles; the Brussel and Liege. The Brussel (batter based) is more crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside. The Liege (dough based) is much more dense and in my opinion, has a tendency to be dry. My only complaint is that they reheat the waffles, so if you’re not in a rush– ask them to make it fresh!
Take your pick, Brussel or Liege. You can choose to eat it plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or choose from several options of toppings such as sliced fruits, ice cream, peanut butter, Nutella, bacon, butter, chocolate syrup, maple syrup, honey, nuts, marshmallows, choco chips, whipped cream and the list goes on… and on…
Two topping options are the Biscoff spread or Biscoff crumbs also called Speculoos, from Belgium. My sister turned me onto these things and at one time, were only available online. They’re now available at Safeway and Biscoff now has a coffee shop at Pier 39. They’re similar to ginger snaps, but minus the ginger and with a more brown sugar or caramel flavor. I love how they melt in your mouth, and I can go through these things about 2 packs a week. No lie. The spread is the consistency of peanut butter, so try to go light on it if it’s one of your toppings.
The hours and location, convenient. Opens at 7am on a weekday– I can take Bart, grab a Brussel and get to work… Then on the way home, get off Bart and grab an after work dessert/​snack!

Pardon my French (or is it Flemish?), but this is really an awful location for this sweet, little Belgian waffle stand. Technically part of the Westfield Food Express court (code term for the cheapo side of the mall), you have to ask a couple of disengaged employees where it is before landing on it by accident unless you happen to be pouring out of the Powell Station BART and looking sideways. But there it is with those waffle irons standing alert and the batter ready to pour. The Brussels Metro should be so lucky to have a Bloen ‘n Sugar near their token booth.
You get to choose between the lighter Brussels waffle and its denser cousin, the Liege waffle, which as anyone whose been to the Waffle Mania Truck knows, is denser and sweeter. Jamie W. and I have been here twice so far, and we favor the Brussels variety for the illusion of getting more waffle for the money. Besides, the larger divets allow for more toppings in my delusional opinion. We have tried the $ 7 Classic, which is layered with sliced strawberries and bananas and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, then ladled with Belgian chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream (see photo). As Ina would say, how easy was that?
Less than a week later, we came back without reservation and invested fifty cents more for the Very Berry Belgian, which throws in blueberries and raspberries into the mix and replaces the vanilla with strawberry ice cream. Ah but the same Belgian chocolate sauce runs through it with the whipped cream on top (see photo). Once you get it, the big dilemma is where you eat it. On BART? Don’t sit next to me. At a table at Café Bellini? Well, can’t you read the sign on the table? No, you have to go back to the Food Emporium on the other side of the mall if you want to park yourself to enjoy the sweetness. It’s worth the trek.
WAFFLES — 4 stars… sweet tooth satisfier and not as saccharine as you would think
AMBIANCE — 2.5 stars… it’s in a BART station, enough said
SERVICE — 4 stars… very nice with a lot of attention to detail
TOTAL — 4 stars… the world can’t have enough Belgian waffles, can it?

When one is on the search for the perfect sweet snack, everyone better clear out.
Well, until I found out that the crêpe truck I was aiming for did not open until much later so it was the power of Unilocal to come to our rescue. Since we had missed the waffle man at the local Farmers Market, my friend’s suggestion won me over. Bloem n’ Sugar it was.
I usually try to steer clear of most spots located in a mall but since we were jumping on BART right on Powell, it made sense. In addition, it reminded me of the stops along the Shinkansen in Japan, and jumping off for a quick snack of ramen in 5 minutes.
So apparently there are two types of waffles: the Liege and the Brussels style. The Brussels is the standard that EGGO went and exploited to a the freezer section of your local grocery market. Crunchy and light. The Liege has a little bit more sugar in the slightly more doughy batter and comes out chewier and denser, with a caramelized surface.
I had to go for the old standby, tried and true: Nutella, Bananas, and Whipped Cream. The waffle itself was amazingly light and airy, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I consumed the entire thing.
I tried a bite of my friend’s order of the Liege and while it is pretty amazing, slightly too dense for my tastes. Let’s put it this way. Order this on an empty stomach. I had just finished off three slices of pizza so it was my loss.
On top of the great service and amazing waffles, we were even able to spend a few minutes chatting with the owner of the establishment. I’d have to say the experience was priceless indeed!

Wow. Now I know how Eve felt when Satan whispered in her ear to eat the forbidden fruit.
I pass this amazing new wafflery everyday while exiting Powell Street. I might need to find another exit. The smell of sugar wafting through the air is enough to raise your blood sugar. The sign outside promising a waffle and coffee for five dollars tempted my cheap side and was enough to tip the scales in favor of indulging.
What would the devil do? There’s the lighter Brussels waffle and the denser liege waffle. You choose one and build from there. I chose the former and had it slathered with nutella. The devil was snickering, but that snickering was interrupted by my own ‘Hallelujahs’ and «Amens». This is a damn good waffle. The coffee was only an afterthought, but it went well with the fluffy waffle and thick nutella.
I’m not sure if the employees are angels or devils for offering such tempting treats accompanied by their cordial and inviting personalities, but if they are devils in disguise they are fooling me. With their charm and delicious waffles, I believe that Bloem is the incarnation of some kind of divinity, perhaps of the patron saint of sugar and love?

(See pics)
Finally a real sugar and caffeine joint in the mall and conveniently located by Powell MUNI to fix you up in the morning for the Liège waffle. So much for eating healthy. Lighter on caramelized sugar but unfortunately it’s slightly undercooked for those couple times I had been there. It’s also somewhat pre-​made and was put back to be reheated. But ask them to keep it on the grill a bit longer and it would probably taste better.
The shop only carries Liege and classic styles, and coffee. It is gonna be hard to survive with its slightly hidden spot.

The waffles smell like Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Bloem n Sugar is a newly opened waffle joint located at Powell Station, right at the entrance to the older side of Westfield Center. Tucked away in its tiny corner, Bloem & Sugar may easily be missed, but this place is worth the hunt.
«Build your Belgian…»
Select between:
— the Brussel (ancestor of the original Belgian) Waffle or the Liege (doughy, more heavy) Waffle ($ 4 each). My preference? The Brussel for its lighter, less dense consistency
— ice cream flavors ($ 1.50)
— various toppings ($ 0.50 each, $ 2 unlimited!)
OR:
— enjoy your waffle of choice au natural with a dust of powered sugar ($ 4)
Preset «Signature Waffle» offerings, which range between $ 5 — $ 7.50, are also available.
Delicious waffles + great service = winning combination in my book! Let’s hope Bloem n Sugar is here to stay!

That one spot at the entrance of the old Westfield Shopping Center and directly across from Starbuck’s in the basement of Powell Street Station had Surf City Smoothies then a Border’s Express. Both were great businesses and great location when they were there. But unfortunately, they are both gone and put in its current spot comes a Belgian Waffle place in its current spot.
Only opened since the beginning of April, this waffle place makes signature waffles with a choice of two kinds of different waffles: Brussels and Liege (Lee-​age).
For $ 7.00, I had the popular «Classic» Waffle. And that waffle had sliced strawberries, bananas, cloud of whipped cream and a drizzle of warm Belgian Chocolate Sauce. I also get a small scoop of Double Rainbow Vanilla Ice Cream in a separate container. And I got to tell you this is one delightful treat. The Belgian waffle was light and fluffy with the aforesaid key ingredients.
You can also add more topping (s) to the signature waffle or create your own.
No dining area here. Thus everything is to go.
I would definitely prefer a Belgian Waffle from here oppose to a crêpe from elsewhere any given day.
This place also opens at 7am. What a way to start your morning!
I love this waffle place. And I hope this place succeed with permanent longevity unlike the previous businesses at that spot.