28 February 2010

{via @Nli10} Croatia Airways In Flight Meal, & EURO Jaffa Jagoda (Strawberry)


Recently I spent a week in Croatia on holiday and thought in the interests of the site I would check out the local snack foods and report on the most interesting ones.

First up on the main flight out from the UK to Zagreb we were served a rather unusual light lunch. I had thought it was in keeping with local foods, until I got to Croatia and discovered that the local foods were actually quite nice. First up we have a pasta salad with penne pasta and some kind of layered meat. The flavour of the pasta sauce wasn't bad being quite rich, but the meat tasted like it had been sterilised to prevent any bacteria getting onto the plane. The bread roll was quite nice, and I think the cottage cheese in the little pot may have been ok, but I don't tend to like that kind of thing so didn't even go as far as to pick the ham off it. The small pastry was an unusual flavour being somewhat nutty inside but was a bit dry. It was still easily the best part of the snack.

I'm quite happy to be woken up on plane journeys to be fed and given tea, but the majority of people on the flight didn't seem to eat much of this particular selection either. I do wonder whether the budget airlines idea of saving money by not giving you food and then charging for what you require would be better in some cases. I'd much rather just have a light snack and a nice drink. The flight back had better food, but one of the air stewards knocked my tea over my lap so on balance they were about as enjoyable.

They did however give out biscuits on all four flights but I will discuss those another day.


When wandering about on holiday it's nice to have something to munch on so from a local CONSUM store (the equivalent of a Tesco in size) I picked up some Jagoda (Strawberry) Jaffa cakes. Unusually for Jaffa style products these were a lot harder than our usual spongy variant and after they had been opened for a day a lot crispier. The flavour was unusual and not as sweet as the English version of artificial strawberry. While these were quite nice, some of the box made it home as they were not as moreish as our McVitties versions.

27 February 2010

Bacchus Belgian Cherry Beer {via Spectre} (Sainsbury's)


Okay, it’s official. Cinabar’s trying to kill me… Not in a decent womanly exercise type fashion, but with weird flavoured beer! She bought me this bottle back from a local store all wrapped up in posh paper. An instant strange almost lunatic idea crossed my mind once handed it that this was just a heavy liquid enveloped by a particularly tough water resistant paper. Then I became slightly concerned that this could be the messiest drinks container I’ve ever opened…

Now it’s no secret that women like chocolate, especially in cake form, and I’ve never met a woman who didn’t like a decent Black Forest Gateaux. What’s the most significant ingredient in any Black Forest Gateaux? Okay, okay… Chocolate! What’s the next? It has to be cherries. It’s official, dump all dating manuals now. If you want a girl to kiss you; the best thing to taste of is Black Forest Gateaux. Not necessarily beer, and there’s no chocolate in this, though cherry beer may help move things along a bit. The most unfortunate thing is that I hate cherries. No, really… HATE THEM! I don’t like anything that tastes like real cherries, artificial cherries or has had cherries passed by it at a considerable distance in some previous life. I’ve even been known to pick cherries out of fruit cake until I got bored and just munched the slab with a face like a smacked arse. With this in mind, the disastrous Banana Beer incident, as well as the vain hope of a good snog after drinking, I apprehensively pulled at the paper. I was slightly disappointed to find the usual glass bottle inside. Oh, well. When will they put beer in something different? Like a ready filled tankard or throwaway beer-hat? And what no label? The liquid smelt of cherries. It tasted of cherries. It was even red like cherries to really stick the boot in. This is like some grown up version of Cherry Coke, tasting of a rich beery morello wine instead of some morbid excuse to spruce up an otherwise boring Cola. If you guzzle lots of this you’ll still lose all your teeth and get fat, but at least you’ll be really dizzy. Sadly you probably won’t notice if someone kisses you. Fortunately I downed the bottle whilst holding my nose to dull the taste, and guess what? I did get quite dizzy, but mainly from lack of oxygen, and a kiss just waiting for me after my gulp of hell.

26 February 2010

Sweet Peri-Peri Chilli Sauce (Nando's)


I just wanted to start by saying a big thank you to those lovely people at Nando's for sending me this new sauce to try.
The bottle claims that it is a very versatile sauce, and even works well with mash. This led me to trying it with fish cakes and mash potato, not the most natural of combinations but it seemed the best way to test the sauce.
I really liked the smell of this sauce, rich red pepper and a rich sweetness. The flavour of it very well put together too. The sauce is sweet, full of the flavour of red bell peppers, and has a good warmth from the chilli. It complements the fish cakes perfectly, and its bright red colour means it looks attractive too. I thought it worked well with the mash too, adding flavour and a lovely kick. Spectre is a complete convert to mash and this sauce, and I think this bottle will be brought out of the cupboard as standard with mash potato. Those who prefer to try it with more traditional fishcakes, or as a dip for nibbles, I can confirm the spice is level is perfect, the flavour full and the sauce rather moreish.

25 February 2010

Dairy Milk - Berry Fruit and Vanilla Shortcake “Bar of Plenty” [Cadbury]


This is the third and last of the new variety of Bar of Plenty bars. This one is filled with berries and biscuit pieces, which sounds like a rather good combination. Opening the pack, and the aroma wasn’t particularly different to regular Dairy Milk, except for a very slight sweet sharper smell which was only just noticeable.
Looking at the back of bar there seemed to be quite a few biscuit pieces mixed in, and not much in the way of berries. I don’t know if I just got an unlucky bar, but there was an awful lot of small round chunks of biscuit bits and not much fruit.
Tucking in the bar was crunchy from the vanilla biscuit which was rather tasty, but the fruit wasn’t very perceptible. I certainly couldn’t pick up on the rather lovely looking selection of strawberries, cranberries etc shown on the wrapper. Those pieces that did contain fruit were sweet, a little chewy and slightly sharp but I couldn’t pick out the specific fruit flavours.
In principle I think this bar has a lot of potential, and I am willing to believe I perhaps just got a poorly mixed combination. If anyone else has tried this and could spot all the wonderful zesty fruit flavours, do leave a comment below.

Other bars in the range:
Toffee Apple
Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews

24 February 2010

Dairy Milk - Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews “Bar of Plenty” [Cadbury]


Yesterday I wrote about the Dairy Milk Toffee Apple bar, and today we continue that range with another new flavour, this time Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews. Opening the pack this time I tested the aroma, and found I could pick up on no other flavour than that of a regular Dairy Milk bar. I guess this isn’t that surprising as you wouldn’t expect the ingredients to have strong smells.
There is a good portion of nuts mixed within the bar, although the predominant ingredient appears to be hazelnut. The cashew nut is present but the flavour isn’t as pronounced, and the honey coating adds a very light crunch and sweetness, but nothing significant. I have to say this bar is rather like a ‘posh’ version of Dairy Milk Whole Nut, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Nuts and chocolate are one of my favourite combinations, and despite it not being an adventurous flavour, I enjoyed every bit of it!

Other bars in the range:
Toffee Apple
Berry Fruit and Vanilla Shortcake

23 February 2010

Dairy Milk - Toffee Apple “Bar of Plenty” [Cadbury]


I just wanted to say a thank you to the nice people at Cadbury’s for sending me some samples of their new bars. I have now also started to see adverts for them in magazines etc, so I suspect they will become a bit more wildly available shortly. Keep your eyes peeled.
The bars are a new range called “Bar of Plenty” and consist of Dairy Milk generously filled with added goodies.
First up we have Toffee Apple, and sure enough when I opened back the wrapper I had a wonderful aroma of apple followed by a hint of cinnamon. Now I want to make a comment about cinnamon, I do rather like the spice, but I felt it was inappropriate in trying to recreate a Toffee Apple flavour. Toffee Apples do not contain cinnamon, apple pie might well do, but this bar is not apple pie flavoured. I’m not for a minute trying to say the cinnamon taste doesn’t work with apple, because it does work even in this bar, I just don’t see a place for it in this context.
Moving on, and the chocolate itself has a mix of crunchy toffee pieces and apple bits. I liked the toffee, as the chunks were quite big and shattered easily when bitten. The apple was fruity, cinnamon infused and tasty, but I thought the pieces were a little chewy. I liked how the fruit and toffee were mixed into the chocolate, meaning every bite is slightly different, and the flavours were pleasant, but the toffee made the bar sweet and the cinnamon seemed out of place.
In summary though, if you like your cinnamon and apple flavours you really ought to give this a try. It seems a shame that Cadburys didn’t releases this back in November though, as I tend to associate Toffee Apples with Bonfire night... or is that just me?
I’m looking forward to trying the other new bars too. So nice to see some bars that are a little bit different on the market.

Other bars to follow:
  • Berry Fruit and Vanilla Shortcake
  • Roast Hazelnut & Honey Roast Cashews

22 February 2010

Bonne Maman: Galettes Chocolat [Chocolate Butter Crunch Biscuits] (Waitrose)


Following on from the Crunchy Chocolate Twists last week, I have also discovered another new (chocolate) biscuit in the Bonne Maman range.
These biscuits come in a more traditional box, inside which are segments of stacked biscuits just waiting to be tried. Each one is surprisingly thin and a little smaller than I expected as it is approximately two thirds the size of a digestive biscuit. The biscuits have one side coated in milk chocolate with a ripple effect on top.
Tucking in, the main flavour is very much butter, and they are quite rich, but the chocolate flavours then kick in to add contrast and clear the palette. These biscuits are rather flavoursome, with a good crunch and it would be hard to dislike them. The base of the biscuit is thinner, but similar in taste to butter shortbread. They may not be the most adventurous new product on the market, but there is no way to deny that they are a tasty treat.

21 February 2010

Wanchai Ferry, Bo Luo Pork Recipe Kit {via @Nli10} (Asda)



Following on from last year's(week's) 'Chinese New Year' post I decided to try one of the recipe kits that I've seen floating around as a cook-your-own take-away set. These boxes are a little pricy for what you get but it makes it all a lot faster to prepare and make - especially if you pair it with cheap 'casserole cuts' of cheap own brand pork like I did. The presentation of these packs is magnificent though and it feels more like unboxing an iPod than making food.

Essentially the first two steps are preparing the ingredients - coating the meat & chopping the veg (not all of which is included). All step 3 requires is to open the sachets in the correct order and to add them to the wok. This is easy and well timed out on the box. The provided noodles are of a good quality and their cooking is also factored in to the time.

The flavours are really interesting, a more tangy sweet & sour sauce with a strong tomato and ginger flavour that nicely complements the provided pineapple chunks. There is also a feint spiciness which is similar in strength to that of the little ketchups you find in Pot Noodle packets.

The box says that it serves three, but we ate it as a nicely full two. I'd happily try the Bo Luo sauce again, but would save the meal box for a special occasion as it would work out quite expensive as a regular meal.

20 February 2010

Suchard [Christmas Always Together] Navidades Siempre Juntos (The 99p Store)


Many thanks to DavidH who was spotted this bar, and let me know about it.
I would like to start by pointing out the obvious then, that there is a Father Christmas on the packaging. The sell by date though is well into 2011(!), so this leaves me with a question to which I do not have an answer. Is this from old 2009 Christmas stock with a ridiculously long best-before date, or is this a ludicrously early 2010 Christmas bar? Either way it’s is a bit hard to tell, and it is a strange find for February.
Let me get onto the bar. When I opened it, I found it very strangely packed, including an extra clear plastic tray that it was almost stuck too.


The Suchards logo was still visible in the chocolate, but this is one very soft bar.
I broke a piece off and the most overwhelming taste is pure sweetness, followed by hazelnut and then chocolate. There are rice crispies mixed in the bar, which do add texture, but apart from that it is very smooth and soft product.
This bar would probably be too sweet for most, but if the idea of eating Nutella out of a jar with a spoon appeals (and it does to me) then this may well be the bar for you.

19 February 2010

Fridge Raiders Mexican Chilli (Morrison’s)


A few months back I had a post about my discovery of Fridge Raiders, where I tried a good selection of the flavours. Today while shopping a shiny label caught my eye on one of their packets. To be honest this isn’t a new flavour as such but an improved hotter recipe, either way I couldn’t resist!
Well I have to say that the flavour of these really snuck up on me. I bit in, and the first thing you notice is the juicy moist chicken, and the flavour of roast chicken, followed by a medley of interesting spices such as paprika etc. I was just thinking that they weren’t at all hot, when this strange warmth came from nowhere and a small amount of chilli heated my mouth, this gradually developed into a decent burn, and was really tasty. They are right this is very much a ‘hot’ recipe and they have a proper chilli kick, even if they do lull you into a false sense of security for a minute or so! Well worth seeking out!

18 February 2010

Blue Riband Dark [New] (Asda)


Blue Riband chocolate wafer bars have been around for a very long time, in fact since 1936. Recently though they have had a bit of a re-launch, and now this dark chocolate variety has been made available. Nestle have a whole range of biscuit bars that are 99 calories and I’m very pleased to say that these fit into that category.
I thought that these wafer bars had surprisingly good rich dark chocolate on them, with a good full flavour. The wafer itself is vanilla flavoured and crispy and light. The bar is more substantial feeling that indicated by the size, and more than cured my mid afternoon chocolate craving.
A rather tasty bar, and low calorie too so that’s a bonus! There are nine bars in the multi-pack, and I have to say I’m rather looking forward to popping them in my lunch box at work for the next few days!

17 February 2010

Bonne Maman: Crunchy Chocolate Twists (Waitrose)


The company famed for their red and white checked lid jams, now have biscuits in their range. Naturally I opted to try the ones with the most chocolate first!
These biscuits look a little like Twiglets in shape, but I’m happy to report they are sweet not savoury. The packet describes the shape as being twists, but to be pedantic they are more of a biscuit wiggle!
Each one consists of a vanilla flavoured lightly crunchy biscuit, coated in a cocoa rich chocolate. The main taste that comes thorough is very much the chocolate, which is not a bad thing! They are rather tasty and easy to eat; they’d be ideal for sharing with friends! It is just a shame the bag was a little hard to open, and after I had accidently torn it to pieces, it wasn’t exactly easy to re-seal. I went with the obvious solution to that problem... we rather enjoyed finishing them off, purely out of necessity you understand! ;-)

16 February 2010

Bear: Tropical Crunch [Baked Granola Nibbles]


I would like to start by saying a big thank you to Bear for sending me these samples of the Tropical Crunch Granola, it is much appreciated.
Towards the end of last year I wrote about the Cocoa Cherry Pie Granola, and rather enjoyed it, but found the pieces rather large and crunchy. I was pleased to see that the granola pieces in this bag were a little smaller and more manageable, but still maintaining the crunch.
The main flavour that comes through with these is a wonderful natural coconut taste, that is rather moreish, what then follows is the flavours from the oats. Mixed in too are pieces of pineapple. I have no idea how Bear have managed to get pineapple in this form, as it is ever so slightly crisp, but then it comes to life and melts in the mouth and releases all the flavour, its genius. I would love to have had more in the bag though, 9% may seem that a decent amount, but I really would have liked some extra.
So in conclusion, Bear have come up with a product that definitely tastes Tropical with its coconut and pineapple flavours, and is a healthy snack food too. Lovely, but that pineapple is so good I think you should increase the contents!

15 February 2010

Snickers Pods (Cybercandy)


I first tried the Twix version of these ‘Pods’ back last October, and have finally managed to track down this Snickers variety.
Essentially this product consists of a cone of biscuit, not dissimilar to wafer from a Cornetto cone, then filled with the ingredients of a Snickers bar.
The base of this product is lovely, crunchy but with rich tones of flavour. Immediately the peanut flavour from the Snickers bar then hits you, and the warm flavour from the caramel and chocolate. What is so pleasing about this product is that it is so noticeably a Snickers bar, and as regular readers are aware anything with peanut flavour is a complete bonus to me. Each item is bite sized and tastes lovely, but because it disappears so quickly in the mouth, you find yourself reaching for another, then another. Let’s just say it is rather easy to eat multiple! Yum!

14 February 2010

Handmade Valentines Biscuit


I just wanted to show you all this wonderful handmade and hand iced Valentines biscuit, made by Tim at my mum’s place of work. Nothing beats homemade biscuits, and Tim more than has the knack. Beautifully decorated and rather tasty too! Thanks Tim!!!

Lee Kum Kee: Plum Sauce & Pandan Rice Cakes { via @Nli10} (Sing Fat, Birmingham)


"Kung Hei Fat Choi, Fung Bao Giam Loi" - for today marks the start of the Chinese New Year of the Tiger.

I decided to make an authentic style Chinese meal last night to mark this occasion, and because I haven't had decent homemade Chinese in a while. I used the plum sauce on Quorn pieces (due to a vegetarian partner) and served with fresh Shanghai noodles (pretty much the same as Udon noodles but a little more floury) and a few leafy greens.

I've never tried the plum sauce variety from Lee Kum Kee - they do a very wide range of sauces and accompaniments - but I am familiar with the flavour from many take-aways. I'd say that a fair few of them may well have been using this exact sauce as it is of take-away standard. I haven't seen many of these sauces in the normal supermarkets, but they are well worth hunting down as they always seem to provide the definitive version.

For afters I bought the Pandan Rice Cakes. These are glutinous rice based snacks covered in flour. They were available in a variety of colours but I chose the green ones. I remember eating similar at university, but without added colours and with a centre of something like peanut or jam. These did not taste the same.

On opening the packet I got an odd vegetable based smell wafting up and although the texture and feel of them was identical to the ones I remember, the flavour was really off-putting. Between the two of us we didn't manage to finish one. I'm sure that it's just my delicate western palate rejecting new and unusual flavours, and I think that the version I had previously may have been a Japanese one made to a different recipe.

13 February 2010

Wells Banana Bread Beer (Morrison’s) [via Spectre]


Introducing Spectre's first post on this blog...

I am very enthusiastic about trying new and interesting beers and I’ve literally asked Cinabar to let me write a blog on beer on maybe one occasion. I can’t remember when that was, but she made me do it! Okay... Bananas!! After extremely long debates with varying people (brief moan at Cinabar), I seem to be in a minority: Bananas ruin everything. Don’t get me wrong, I like bananas... no really. Give me a real banana (to eat) and I’m happy, but mix it with something or cook it and it tastes rank. Banana ice cream is okay. Banana milkshakes are bearable. But Banoffee pie is horrid. Barbecued chocolate banana surprise (don’t ask) was just revolting. And what smoothie in history hasn’t been violated with the pungent taste of mashed, crushed and regurgitated banana. I even had a cup of tea ruined in a coffee shop (I won’t mention the shop... okay, I will: Cafe Nero) when they put banana flavoured milk in the mug by mistake! Bastards...
Rant over... We were in a new Morrison’s the other day browsing through the beer section, when Cinabar picked up this bottle for me to try. I said no, of course. Then some banana beer salesman in a Morrison’s uniform came up to me and said I should try it as it tastes so good. I didn’t believe him. He disappeared and then he came back with another similarly dressed banana beer salesman who said in a long drawn out speech how much he liked the beer and how he was going to get some more on leaving work. We bought some.
Cinabar seems to talk about the packaging first in these reviews. It’s in a bottle. Moving on. I’ve naturally avoided drinking this for a couple of days. I even had a beer before it to get in the mood. Perhaps I should have had ten. On opening the bottle with the “devil’s bottle opener”, it will hence forward be named... I could instantly smell the one thing I dreaded: Bananas. Like the previously mentioned tea debacle; the more you drink, the more you smell bananas, the more you taste bananas. It’s like a morbid vicious circle. After the mad sales pitch, the forlorn hope that something with bananas in it would taste good for a change, this product did not do it for me. But, let’s face it... I’m in a minority aren’t I? If you like banana violated smoothies, sticky banana pies and even a badly charred banana wrapped in tin foil with a wasted Cadbury’s flake shoved unceremoniously inside it, the chances are you’ll like this banana abused beverage. If you like beer and you like bananas, by all means go for it. If not and you’re offered it at a friend’s party, drink everything you can get your hands on first before you do. Otherwise, watch out for banana beer salesmen dressed in Morrison’s uniforms. They lie.

12 February 2010

Yoplait - Perle Del Lait Lemon Yoghurt (Asda)


Well I recently wrote about the very enjoyable coconut version of this yoghurt, and Nadia recommended that I try the lemon version if I could find it. I’m very pleased I was recommended this variety too. The flavour is fresh and zesty although not overly sweet, and the aftertaste from the yoghurt is wonderfully creamy and mellow.
The yoghurts in this range are really very smooth, and don’t have the sharp aftertaste that often follows with regular yoghurts.
I thoroughly enjoyed the lemon version, but I preferred the coconut as I felt the sweet creamy flavour of coconut complimented the creamy yoghurt. The zingy lemon taste, although lovely and refreshing did very slightly over power the creamy soft taste.

11 February 2010

Munchies Mini Bites (Sainsbury’s)


This box of Munchies were found in the cake section of the supermarket, so it won’t surprise you to hear that I thought that they may have some sponge cake in them, but they do not. I was also a little confused by the name. Regular Munchies are around a centimetre big, and these items are nearer four centimetres, and yet they are called ‘mini’ bites... I don’t get it! Munchies Giant Bites would have worked better!
The base of these consists of solid chocolate with biscuit chunks set into it, this makes each item quite hard to bite, but does still give the expected Munchies flavour. The caramel also has the rich tones from the original confectionary, and the milk chocolate adds sweetness and brings it all together. I rather enjoyed them, but am still confused by the word ‘mini’ in the name! ;-)

10 February 2010

Milka Choco Minis Stars [Biscuits] (Cybercandy)



I was so pleased to discover that Cybercandy had started stocking a few (and it is only a few) items of Milka, I just had to get these biscuits when I saw them. I chose the biscuit as it is something new to me, I have tried quite a few Milka chocolate bars, but not their biscuits before.
They came in a lunch box sized mini roll, with six biscuits stacked in the pack. The packaging shows them to have a layer of creamy biscuit, a layer of thick fluffy mallow and a star shape of Milka chocolate decorating the top (see the first photograph). What I found them to have was similar, except that the fluffy layer of mallow was just a thin sheet (see second photograph).
These biscuits tasted pleasant enough, the Milka chocolate shone through, but the shortbread and the mallow were nothing special. They were nice enough to eat, but didn’t warrant the excitement I had when I first saw them. Although nicely decorated, I wouldn’t rush out to buy them again. I do hope Cybercandy get a few more interesting items for me to try.

9 February 2010

Milk Chocolate with Tonka Bean (Thornton’s)


I noticed this chocolate recently in Thornton’s mainly because of its shiny award on the wrapper, but secondly because of its interesting ingredients. I have to say, before seeing this bar I had no idea what Tonka beans were, but apparently they have a mild almond flavour.
The chocolate within this bar is a milk chocolate with 38% cocoa, and has a good creamy, thick full flavour. I thought that there might be pieces of bean within the chocolate, but the ingredient is finely mixed in and consistency of the chocolate is very smooth.
The bar is rather flavoursome, the cocoa tones are rich, and there is a wonderful aftertaste of vanilla, and very mild almond, which I assume comes from the bean. The chocolate is clearly of a very good quality, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well worth giving a try, if you fancy something a little different.

8 February 2010

Galaxy Bubbles [New] (Local Newsagent)


I think Galaxy may well have spotted the success of Wispa and thought that they would have a go at aerated chocolate themselves. This bar is a standard Galaxy bar in size, making up five pieces within the pack. The edges of the wrapper are tipped in baby pink. Using the obvious stereotypical colourings, I suspect this is aimed at the female market, but to be honest I know of two guys that have tried it and didn’t even notice the pink colour.
The chocolate itself if the usual silky, smooth, rich, sweet and creamy galaxy chocolate. I do like Galaxy chocolate, so I have no complaints in terms of flavour of this bar. However I did think that the chunks are a little too thin. One of the most pleasurable things about eating aerated chocolate is that it feels really chunky, but it actually very smooth to eat. As the pieces of the Galaxy Bubbles bar were quite thin, I didn’t feel that it maximised it's potential for the bubbly texture. Still the added air reduces the calorie content, so does make for a healthier ‘portion controlled’ snack!

7 February 2010

Butlers Chocolate Eggs (Waitrose)


Here is another Easter gift item, but not a singular egg as is tradition . Inside this pretty clear box are golden wrapped chocolate eggs, ideal for sharing (or not as the case may be).
Each egg consists of a milk chocolate case, a soft chocolate truffle and the bit that I didn’t think worked, a thick hard chocolate centre.
This centre part makes it difficult to bite in, as my teeth got stuck on the solid contents. This was my only niggle with the product as the ingredients that make up the eggs were obviously of the finest
quality. The milk chocolate was sweet and smooth, and the truffle was flavoursome with a good chocolate tone. So I enjoyed the eggs greatly, once I had discovered and got used to the solid centre.

6 February 2010

Kellogg’s Dark Chocolate and Almond Fibre Plus Bar (Waitrose)


To be honest I wasn’t expecting much from this product. Items that claim to have added fibre, make me end up thinking that they are going to be stodgy or lacking taste.
I was very pleasantly surprised when I tried these then. I thought that the bar had a lovely flavour, not very sweet, but full of rich cocoa tones and a good underlying nutty flavour. What I liked best about this bar was the consistency. It was firm, but the mixed texture from the grains and nuts made it feel nice to eat.
I have to say the added fibre meant that I didn’t feel particularly hungry until lunch time, which is quite impressive as this is all I had for my breakfast. There is a strange warning on the packet about increasing your fibre intake gradually... so, err you ‘stay regular’... just don’t eat too many on day one! ;-)

5 February 2010

Yoplait - Perle Del Lait Coconut Yoghurt (Waitrose)


There is something rather pure about this yoghurt, it is bright white and has a wonderful fresh taste. The coconut flavour tastes natural and is lovely and creamy.
It is marketed as being softer tasting than regular yoghurt products, and I have to agree that it does have a really creamy texture and flavour, with no sharpness. The only disappointing thing about this yoghurt is that because it is coconut flavoured, the makers have put a small amount of fine coconut pieces in the contents, and this is a shame. They are only minimal bits of coconut, but they distract from the smooth texture.
It is so hard to describe this as the it is both creamy and yet rather refreshing, not two things that normally go together, but it works. I really enjoyed this, I understand that there is also a lemon variety available, which I have my eye out for.

4 February 2010

Werthers Original Chocolate Milk (Waitrose)



This flavour is the other new variety of Werthers that has recently become available, it is very similar in its packaging to the Caramel sweets I wrote about a couple of days ago. Unlike them they don’t have a filling as such, instead each chocolate is marbled with a creamy milky solid fondant.
I thought the chocolates were presented nicely and that the marbled effect made them look quite pretty. Each item is easy to bite into and not at all hard like a toffee. I really enjoyed the flavour of these, and felt that I could pick up on the nutty alpine tones within the chocolate. The flavour that is with the chocolate is creamy and tastes mildly of toffee, it is very pleasant and not overly sweet. As per the caramel variety it would have been nice to have a bit more of the golden Werthers flavour which we associate with their hard boiled sweets, but all in all I thoroughly enjoyed these chocolates.

3 February 2010

Choc On Choc: Chocolate Eggs Gift Set (Waitrose)


I think this is my first official proper Easter write up. These chocolates are so pretty in the box, and yet again I wish that my photography skills could do them justice. You can just about tell from the picture, but not only is each one hand painted, it is also dusted with edible glitter. They are just so cute!
Each chocolate consists of a half egg, on a white chocolate base. To be honest when I first bit in I was expecting some sort of praline filling, but they were so tough to bite I soon discovered that they were actually solid chocolate! There are two varieties in the pack, a dark chocolate half egg on a white base, and a white chocolate (coloured pink) egg on a white base. The dark chocolate is very flavoursome, with lovely dark rich cocoa tones mellowed by the creamy base. The pink eggs, and sweet and creamy, and you can tell that they are of a very good quality with a nicely defined cocoa butter flavour.
This is an absolutely beautiful selection of chocolates. They are so pretty, you actually feel a little guilty eating them. The chocolate is of a good quality too, so I can’t see how anyone would be disappointed to receive them as a gift, they are just lovely.

2 February 2010

Werthers Original Chocolate Caramel (Waitrose)



It is difficult not to simply associate Werthers with rather rich sweet hard toffees. I do like them, but finding that they had released a selection of chocolates was a bit of a surprise.
These chocolates are individually wrapped milk chocolate filled with a liquid caramel.
The coating is quite soft and breaks easily, but having said that it does have a nice nutty taste with the cocoa and does deliver a pleasant chocolate flavour. The contents is a rich golden thick but runny liquid caramel. The centre is tasty, and sweet, but isn’t quite as creamy tasting as the usual Werthers Originals, which was a bit of a shame.
Having said that, each chocolate produces a very pleasant sweet caramel and chocolate hit, it doesn’t last long in the mouth and leaves you immediately wanting another, so it is far from being bad! It just would have been nice to pick up on that expected Werthers flavour a little more.

1 February 2010

Velvet Crunch Sweet Potato Snacks – Sea Salt and Malt Vinegar (Nisa)


I was first aware of these snacks when I saw an advert for them in a women’s magazine. They are a low calorie snack, meant to be a crisp replacement, possibly trying to appeal to the post Christmas healthy eaters.
I was intrigued by the fact they contained sweet potato, but found the base flavour to be rather mild and sadly indistinguishable. They do have a nice flavour though, but it is mainly from the seasoning of salt and vinegar. The texture is rather pleasing, they initially crunch when you bit it, and then smoothly melt away, it is clear this is how the product got its name! They are circular in shape, with risen edges making them almost bowl shaped. I feel this would make them perfect for eating with a (low fat) sour cream dip!
I would certainly buy these to have with my lunch at work, they are crunchy, well seasoned and filled a gap. As they are low calorie they make for a guilt free extra in the lunch box too. So if you are looking for a healthier alternative I would recommend giving these a try.