M&S Marks And Spencer Rhubarb Gooey Middle Teacakes [@NLi10]

I love teacakes, and while Tunnocks are the default the ones I actually grew up on were the M&S versions because that's what my Grandma Evelyn bought.  We'd have all the varieties, especially those with jam in them, and because they are reviving these and have a whole range of luxury bag/boxes (with only 6 in) they deserved a pick up - even at service station prices. Behold the roof of our lovely blue car. 

And these are huge!  While it's hard to get scale I'd say these are 50% larger than a standard Tunnocks and much more similar to how I remembered them.  In terms of bites they are a par three.

That said - a Tunnocks is 24g so this is only 6g heavier even with the size difference - and I think that's because of the biscuit which here is quite light.

Consequently eating these in the back of a car was a messy affair and I didn't get a picture - and a box of 6 doesn't last long with 4 of us.

The jam didn't hit as much as I'd expected, but I could taste the rhubarb, and the mallow was very floaty and sticky.  The pack mentioned no meaty ingredients but didn't flag them as veggie which is a worrying trend.  Surely grown-ups don't get upset if something is veggie/halal ?

Eitherway these are ace.  And if I am near an M&S I'll be trying the whole range (I'll snap better pictures then - the service station was busy). 

Pago Pineapple (Caffe Corretto) By @SpectreUK

Okay, so Pago is not new and possibly not that interesting. However, I’ve never tried it before. We worked on my toy stall at Gloucester Quays all weekend. The toilet was half a mile away in a shopping centre. I had to keep popping into the nearest coffee shop, Caffe Corretto, to do my business, which was much closer.

Each time I went in the coffee shop to go, I bought a drink as I left, which in retrospect probably made the issue worse. Unfortunately they didn’t have the strawberry flavour Cinabar recommended. So, I tried this Pago Pineapple, as i love pineapple juice. It seems to be pretty much 100% pineapple juice and tasted superb. A proper thirst quencher over a hot weekend.

Green & Black's Organic Hazelnut and Currant 50% Dark Chocolate Bar (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Sometimes you just fancy a really good fruit and nut chocolate bar, and I decided to go all out with this posh Green & Black's Organic Hazelnut and Currant 50% Dark Chocolate Bar. It's essentially fruit and nut, right?

I opened the bar and immediately liked the packaging. It comes in a paper wrapper with foil underneath, which felt properly old school in the best possible way.

The aroma was rich and chocolatey, and I could already see plenty of hazelnuts packed throughout the bar.

The first taste was excellent. Although it's a 50% dark chocolate, it is still smooth, creamy and sweet enough to be approachable. There's a rich cocoa flavour with an almost floral edge that makes it taste a little more sophisticated than your average chocolate bar.

The hazelnuts are fairly finely chopped, so you get their lovely nutty flavour in every bite rather than huge crunchy chunks. The currants add little bursts of fruity sweetness that balance the richness of the chocolate really well.

Sometimes you just need a classic flavour done properly, and Green & Black's have absolutely delivered here.

Strawberry Candyfloss Frappé (McDonald’s) By @Cinabar

Oh my word, how cute is this McDonald’s Strawberry Candyfloss Frappé? I spotted it advertised in a service station and realised this was exactly the drink I needed as a little pick-me-up. When it arrived, it had an almost glitter-like topping, which sadly doesn’t show too well in the photo, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Full marks for cuteness!

I took a sip and was surprised to find it tasted like I was drinking a strawberry thick shake. Weird. It was lovely and sweet and fruity, but there was no obvious candy floss flavour, and it tasted suspiciously similar to their normal strawberry shake.

I decided to try the topping, and that’s where the candy floss flavour was hiding. The topping is thick and sugary, with that classic candy floss taste, but in a texture that reminded me a little of Angel Delight. It was delicious and definitely added the fun element I was expecting from the drink. 

Overall, it was exactly the pick-me-up I needed. Spectre had a black coffee. Each to their own!

Chaiiwala on the Road - Indian Streetfood Now In Service Stations?! [@NLi10]

 We have a Chaiiwala, it's at the top of the big hill by my house which prevents me from being a regular, but I have the app and I'm willing to make trips.  On the way back from Saltaire (pretty, near Bradford) we stopped at a fairly ordinary Roadchef services that's apparently at Sandbach.

It's always a disappointment to stop somewhere that doesn't have our favourite foods, or a farm shop.  So - imagine my glee when I see this little shed tacked on the outside.  So new that it's not on the google map, or the Chaiiwala app (no points!!) because it literally opened yesterday.  It's the second one in the country, apparently there is one at Watford Gap?

Being short on time and just wanting something small we had a samosa each - which is actually a first for me.  The wraps & bowls usually get all my attention.  At £1.75 a samosa it feels expensive if you are up Cape Hill, but at the motorway thats a steal.

Very crispy, kept warm in the heater thing.  No dip offered, but I'm very white so it wouldn't be expected that I'd know the wonders of the brown dip.

And it's fairly standard generous samosa inside.  Couldn't see the whole spices like the ones I like from the highstreet, but I could taste all the right things.  A few whole peas hiding at the bottom, good crust and big enough that you'd not want two unless it was a meal.

We had a car full of drinks and the father-in-law was paying so I didn't get us a round of karak chaii but maybe I should have just got a large one to share.

Overall - I'm not going to stop having the paratha wraps and the chaat bowls, but it's amazing to be able to get actual Indian streetfood at a dodgy services.  The plan is to roll these out UK wide, so I'm overjoyed.  Lots of similarly fanatical people to me were taking pictures to send to people who wouldn't believe that their choices are no longer Greggs or McD.