Pizza Express - Pizzaiolo Specials - Marry Me Chicken [@NLi10]

 Pizza Express at home is quite a fun deal.  Often there are special offers, and with that you get a just about restaurant quality pizza, for a just above home price.

I spotted this interesting flavour - "Marry Me Chicken" - apparently the sauce is so good you propose to the pizza.

Typical professional box and nicely packaged pizza.

And some kind of loyalty for the restaurant app. Nice touch - onboarding but with freebies.

And while I don't want to marry the pizza, the fresh bits are very tasty, the meat luxurious and big chunks.  The sauce could be a little more saucy, but cooking pizza at home you never quite get the heat/time right for these.  

Overall though this (and the accompanying veggie one) were greatly enjoyed and I hope that Sainsbury's still has the deal on next week.

KFC Summer - New Upgrades to Meals, Dirty Chips & Kwench Krush [@NLi10]

 We had a late lunch this week - and a movie at 4pm so dinner would be late - so I went larger than large and had a full box meal.  What have I let myself in for!

It doesn't look so bad here.

But - I upgraded the fries to 'dirty loaded' and the drink to 'Krush' which is essentially a bubble tea pop thing

The important detail here is that it's 1566 Kcal, which is generally considered a large lunch.

And nearly £15 which is officially too much for fast food lunch.

I'm a fan of the 'Supercharger' dip which I usually get donated by my friend too, but here I had my own - and the chips had three colours of sauce - but also oddly popcorn chicken too.

I added in my own popcorn chicken from the meal to use all the sauce and dipped in the one solo fillet you get too.  I even had a little tub of beans to eat with them. This part of the meal was a hit - even the sadness of popcorn chicken couldn't ruin these wonderfully saucy fries.  This was the highlight - get this £2 upgrade and ignore all previous instructions.  They are £4 solo, the charger dip is 60p and small beans is a mad £2.

The cherry refresh Krush has a lovely flavour with the lemonade base, and the popping bits were decent quality - and then - it was gone!

You can't tell that well here, but the cup was 60% ice.  And not crushed ice like a slush puppy, but hard solid useless ice.  Your large drink is actually a small cup.  And with a saucy salty meal - that's not enough.  Luckily I had some water with me but for £1.50 extra on top of a normal drink this is a mugging in fruit form.  Stick to the Lipton tea options and hold the ice.  Actually - I wonder if you can hold the ice on a solo order of this and actually get a drink?  Just checked on the app - sadly no.  

Oddly these are only 10p more than the large drinks in the solo app, so the upgrade prices of 1.50 must be vs the regular size one.  It's still a £1 upgrade on the large which is evil.

After finishing all the sides I eventually made it to the sad burger, who hadn't had any innovations so was merely fine.  Honestly - I didn't need it but ate it anyway as it was there.

Overall then - I think you could build your own meal quite successfully without it costing £15.  You'd want some kind of wrap or fillet & dip, and the Dirty Fries and a drink that isn't a solid.  Even that version of the Twister Wrap box meal comes out at £12 though!  Without the beans and bonus fillet it's £10 and a more reasonable 1000 Kcal...  

TGI Fridays @ Iceland UK - Boneless Chicken Wings & Chilli Jam [@Nli10]

 I'm growing to love my trips to Iceland - they have a load of things you can buy, forget about, and then really enjoy when you get to them.

Case in point is these bright red boneless chicken wings - essentially nuggets but made with chopped meat like in a Chinese restaurant not mince like nuggets.

Thew bright redness is the sachet of sticky chilli sauce you get with them - but guess who forgot to take those pictures again - so just imagine a boring bag of red sauce, and some cold looking chicken lumps

It's the good sauce, with the vinegar base like Buffalo sauce should be - I have a couple of versions in the house already

And it's an easy cook - oven for a bit, melt the sauce mix the two in a bowl then add to veg and pasta and pour remaining sauce over the top.

I expected it to be an imitation version of the restaurant ones, but frankly my only complaint was the portion size.  10 chunks is too many for one person, but not enough for two portions.  I know they have to scale to the round Iceland pricing, but this was a sad one.  Two more lumps and it'd be perfect.

The sauce was sticky, tangy and spicy, nut not aggressive. The chicken and crumb were balanced and flavourful even with the sauce.  Definitely one to add to the freezer if your family is into this Korean style spicy chicken.  Another win. Each success jut makes me more likely to go into Iceland first and then finish off in the bigger shops instead of the reverse.

KFC Hot Honey Drip Meal (burger & wings) [@NLi10]

 I get excited whenever I see a new thing appear at KFC, as the last few have turned out great.  As part of a series of three Honey themed reviews this fits in nicely too.

So - the large box meal was £12 which is insane for a lunch, but I skipped dinner later so that balanced out.

Then they brought over the wrong meal and looked confused that I minded and actually wanted my burger.

Then the burger wasn't exactly the warmest...

Looks pretty good though, just a sweet chilli version of the red-stranger things burger that I enjoyed.

Unfortunately though - this is not it.  The sauce is odd, it's not really adding to anything other than making it harder to eat.  The buns are heading to McDonalds quality so they disintegrate on contact.  The chicken was fine, but I really didn't feel like I got my money's worth - the wings were skimpy, and  coated in the sauce of disappointment.

As my colleague isn't a fan of the spicy mayo I usually get given that to use as a dip, and that's decent (if sub-nandos) but it was more of a sugar glaze than a hot sauce.

I double checked the windows to make sure we hadn't gone to McDonalds by mistake - but no - this is a rare fail from KFC.

Chips decent as usual, and the Lipton tea continues to be a pleasure - but on a cold, cold day I really wanted a nice spicy chicken burger, and for the price I paid I'm sure I could have got one from Nandos.  Ah well.

KFC Stranger Things Burger of Redness [@NLi10]

 All the fast food places are on themed promotions in the UK at the moment.  McDonlds has their terrible international menu, but KFC have the TV show that thinks it's a movie - Stranger Things.

I've never seen the show as we didn't have Netflix when it came out, and now - well there is just so much content out there - We'll get around to it.  I played red-box D&D in the actual 80s so I mean I've basically lived through it.

Here we have the nice KFC chips, and the tea as the drink because the sugar rules are different here.

But - what's in the box?

It's a burger - but red - and at KFC where the burgers are the least exciting menu option.  It's not even upside down, which would have been a fun thing to do.

What's the burger?

Sticky red chicken! The sauce has a really odd consistency like it's all cornflour or something.  The chicken was the normal decent chicken, and the spicy sauce added to it nicely.  It's a faff to eat though and I'd rather have just dipped the chicken into the sauce.  The slaw was fine too.

The red burger is more off-putting than a feature, but it does look fun.

Overall this is a fine meal - but a little pricey at £11 for a large- but I'd consider having this again unlike the McDonalds Canadian burger.  The wrap of the day with the nice chips and the ice-tea is still probably preferable and cheaper too.

Kokoro Wolverhampton - Delicious Korean-Style Food [@NLi10]

 I eat in Wolverhampton after work quite often - but we tend to go for big meals not snacks so have avoided Kokoro until now.  We didn't know they had a seating area upstairs either which helps. 

They are a franchised out Korean style food place, that makes to-go food ready for quick gettaways, but also nourishing food bowls for those of us willing to wait.

Some of these take-away options looked ace.

My colleague went for the Katsu - which was a pretty generous portion but the chicken was pre-prepared

My Beef thing had to be made fresh - guess it's less popular.  I wanted something 'not spicy' but I think the KimChi rice (£1.50 extra) added the spice back in.  At a level that was great for me though

The Mogu Mogu grape drink was more than enough to quench this and at £1.90 was premium but not import tax prices.  

A great mix of flavours, and veggies, and the rice was not boring (hooray!) so we will be visiting again.

And as they have veggie things my partner is excited, and they will deliver to Nannas house too.

.

Planted - not chicken - Lemon & Herb vegan fry-up [@NLi10]

 I like having a back-up veggie protein option to chuck into meals when they look a little sparse.  I added these to the basket and kept them for a rainy day.

The Planted range appears to have a few options, but Lemon & Herb felt the most versatile

Decently nutritious, and seems to have all the eco credentials you'd expect

Comes all sealed up

And it looked far too realistic for my partner to want to eat so I get the whole tasty box!

Essentially its got a lovely light smell and taste which is perfect for Italian food so I mixed it up with some pasta and sun-dried tomatoes from the Lidl Spanish range and it was great.

No one is going to confuse this with cooked chicken - but it crisped up really well when lightly fried and still kept the texture and taste.  I think that it'd work really well in a sauce too so I'll be trying that another time too.

Great to have more quality options!

Walkers Roast Chicken and Mayonnaise Crisps (Iceland) By @Cinabar

I take chicken crisps more seriously than most. I, dear readers, am a connoisseur. Chicken crisps are my favourite of all the flavours, and as such, this new offering from Walkers totally caught my eye. Here we have Walkers Roast Chicken and Mayonnaise Crisps.

The first quirk here is the description of the flavour. The picture shows a chicken sandwich, which is significant because with the other new 'sausage sarnie’ flavour, you could really taste the bead. The flavour of these crisps is just Roast Chicken with Mayo; unlike the sausage variety, these crisps are missing the word 'sarnie’ from the title. 

I gave one of the crisps a try, and there was a very definite taste of roast chicken, then there was a little spice like black pepper and a creamy finish from the mayo. These were good, tasty chicken crisps. I still have to say I prefer the usual Walkers Chicken crisps, which I reckon is just because they are my go-to variety. I’m still unclear whether these Walkers Roast Chicken and Mayonnaise Crisps should have a bread flavour mixed in too, which I couldn’t pick up on. I do, however, have no regrets over buying two multipacks of this flavour, as they are really good crisps. 

Peperami Lunchbox Chicken Tikka Bites [@NLi10]

 The junk food place had lots of spare packages of these so I figured I'd give one a shot.

I think they come from a multipack

And they are designed for children's lunchboxes - which is surprising as I didn't think small kids liked chicken tikka, and I didn't think big kids...

...would appreciate the tiny portions!

I almost put some money in shot for scale here - but I figured that it's obvious enough.

These are spicy little chicken chunks, but no matter how small your small person is I think they'd need a sandwich or similar alongside them.  Maybe these are more to replace the crisps in the lunchbox.

Roosters Gastro Brie and Cranberry Chicken Kiev (Aldi) By @Cinabar

I was browsing Aldi’s new products; they are starting to get a few special and luxury items, presumably for the upcoming season. I couldn’t resist picking up a box of these new Roosters Gastro Brie and Cranberry Chicken Kievs. They looked like the perfect Friday night dinner. I love cheese in pretty much any format, but mixing it with cranberries and chicken sounded perfect.

These cook from frozen, so after the oven had warmed up, I got them cooking. They cook for 41 minutes. It is times like this that I know I’m on the spectrum because 41 minutes bothered me more than it should. Surely cooking times are always to the nearest 5 minutes. The other part of being on the spectrum made me set the oven timer for exactly 41 minutes because, well, that is what you do.

Anyway, once it was cooked, the breadcrumbs were lovely and golden. I cut in, and the gorgeous, cheesy filling oozed out. This meal was mainly about the cheese; that wonderful brie flavour with the chicken was delicious. The cranberry is there, but not too strong, just adding a little tang of berries. Again, it was nice, and it added just a bit of edge to the flavour. This is a perfect Friday night tea, and I can’t wait to see what else is in the new Aldi range.

Co-Op British Chicken, Boxing Day Feast Christmas Sandwich [@NLi10]

 Christmas Sandwich number 3 has appeared - and it's another themed one - Leftovers!

It's not in the premium range like the Christmas market one so is far less filled 

But it's a charity themed one which is nice - why should just Christmas Cards benefit good causes when there are plenty of other seasonal things?

The ingredients are as usual not simple, there are so many things going on! Spiced fruit chutney?!

Ah - there it is - spread on the bread.  This does indeed look like leftovers. No turkey mind.

Thing is - this one is awesome.  If you've had boxing day dinner with the extra sauces and all the cold bits of Christmas Dinner then you know what to expect here.  And because they've focused on the sauces spread on the bread it really works.  Although this is a lot less filling and exciting than the German market sandwich I think this is a lot more 'lunchy' and certainly easier to eat on the go.

Co-op have done great so far this year and I'm hoping to see them more through the month before they disappear again forever.

Social Media's Twisted Hunter's Chicken Waffle Fries from Iceland [@NLi10]

 Continuing the season of food targeted at influencers and impressionable teens on sale at Iceland (the store) we have Twisted - Hunter's Chicken Waffle Fries.  Apparently it's featured on social media - so my guess is that the rogue apostrophe in Hunter's was deliberate to cause comments and engagement.

That said - this looked like a perfect meal for one box so I was happy to give it a try.

If you are a parent looking to teach a teen how to cook in the year remaining before they vanish off to Uni then this is a great option.  They need to use both the oven and the microwave and time everything so they have crispy waffles and non frozen meats.  As both the chicken and the hidden bits of bacon are pre-cooked they shouldn't be able to give themselves food poisoning either and if you suggest a side of baked beans then that's almost a healthy meal! 

Looks a little sparce on opening though - I could eat two of these.

That said - the waffles browned and crisped with no effort from me - and this is in an old creaky oven not a fancy air-frier.

And once you've persuaded all the sauce to part with the plastic container (might have been better to take it out as a frozen lump and microwave it in a bowl - top cooking tips! You can lump one on top of the other and have dinner!

It wasn't exactly gourmet, and I'd have had double the chicken mix to the decent amount of fries, but this tasted and textured like the real thing.  I'd say this was a hit.  And in the 3 for £10 section of Iceland (I think) then I could justify getting two of these, splitting the waffles with my partner and having twice the chicken and letting her have all the cheese for her waffles.

What it has done is make me trust the Twisted range, so I'll be exploring those on next week's visit to the Iceland - once I've cleared space in the freezer at least.

Bagel Spot & Shake It Well - Birmingham [@NLi10] @bagel_spot

 I try not to go out and buy lunch when in the office - it can get expensive! I bumped into a friend who was unexpectedly on site today and we made lunch plans.  A new Bagel shop has opened near work that's just a little too far to get to and back in a normal quick lunch so we made a special trip.

The shop is small but exactly what you need - and it looked like you could eat in too at the back

And look at those juice varieties - I've only had about half of these before so will have to keep popping back.

£5.99 gets you a stacked bagel of your choosing, and a large portion of freshly cooked fries - a good size for a lunch.  I opted for the jerk chicken - taking a risk on the heat levels by adding spicy mayo.  All perfect - great flavours, definitely worth the walk.

In addition to the can with my meal I picked up a Shake It Well juice - Guava Berry Bravo Juice - which appears to be another Birmingham based juice company (what can I say - we need all the Tropical we can get!).  This was a great companion to the meal and I want to try more of these flavours too.

All-in-all a successful trip - It'll take a great effort to stop this becoming a weekly visit!

PUKKA Pies - Chip Shop Chicken Curry Pie (@NLi10)

Pukka Pies are usually pretty reliable, filling and with decent flavours and quality ingredients.  I’m always happy to try new ones - so seeing this chip-shop curry variety was a treat

Essentially (at least in Britain) Chip-Shop curry is just spicy gravy - which is essentially the Japanese Curry ‘Katsu’.  This means that it lacks a kick, but does have. A lovely warm flavour to it.

I mean it doesn’t have that much inside - chicken & potato - but I’m ok with that.  Ordinarily I’d get chips on the side too - that’s the main thing I’m lacking here!

Instead we get crispy potato things, and a few frozen veg - a balanced and healthy meal.

And yeah - there is a lot of ‘growing room’ in the pie here, but in this price category you aren’t usually going to manage to beat Pukka for value.

The pie tastes like a chip-shop chicken curry.  I could have eaten two without much effort - but with the sides it worked well.  Although I really did want chips with it.