New Galaxy Orange & Shortcake (Sainsbury’s)

Well I never, a second new Galaxy bar has found its way onto the shelves! Earlier in the month we found the Tesco exclusive Smooth Truffle bar, so I wasn’t expecting to see another new product from this company for a little while. It was only yesterday that I mentioned that there were too many generic caramel or vanilla bars on the market, and today I find a new interesting fruity orange flavour bar, which was a wonderful surprise.
This new product consist of a base of smooth sweet Galaxy chocolate, and embedded in it are pieces of shortcake biscuit and soft orange. The biscuit adds a lovely crunch, and delivers a surprisingly flavoursome buttery taste. The orange pieces are a bit more like a gummy sweet than actual orange, but they add a really fresh orange taste to the proceedings. It is a well balanced, sweet and zesty bar, and the orange flavour which runs through it adds a warmth to the taste, which is beautifully counter balanced by the buttery biscuit.
This bar was a surprise when I found it, but it was absolutely gorgeous. I thoroughly enjoyed the fruity flavours and texture of this bar, it is very definitely my current favourite in the Galaxy range.

Lindt Magical Milk (WH Smiths)

I have to say this bar reminded me of the new Dairy Milk Bliss in concept. Sadly on first thoughts this meant that it didn’t seem very exciting. Finding what is essentially another vanilla bar, is about one step up from finding another caramel bar on the market. What follows is a short rant about caramel Kit Kats: Here in the UK, Kit Kat Caramel came into existence, it was so popular that Kit Kat Chunky Peanut Butter was replaced with Kit Kat Caramel Chunky. Then a few weeks ago Kit Kat Sense Hazelnut was taken off the shelves and replaced with, wait for it, Kit Kat Senses Caramel. We now have no nut flavour UK Kit Kats, but three different varieties of caramel Kit Kat, which is overkill if you ask me.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like vanilla and caramel flavours, but I do wish one of the confectionary companies would step up and release something crazy. I am aware that we are in a recession and as such ‘safe’ is the name of the game at the minute. I guess caramel is an easy sell, and to be fair I know Spectre loves the stuff!
Rant over, I will stop digressing, and get back to the Lindt bar in question.
The packet states that it is milk chocolate covering a creamy milk filling. The centre is a bright white colour, and is just about solid by which I mean it is thicker than a mouse, but with a soft feel. The milk chocolate covering it is thick with a sweet creamy rich taste. There is a lovely taste from the cocoa that compliments the centre too.
The filling has quite a complex flavour, there are good hints of vanilla, and it has aspects of white chocolate in taste with a hint of malt kicking in towards the end. I really enjoyed this bar, and I felt it had the edge of the Bliss bar. It may not be an adventurous bar of chocolate, but it has at least been well executed in its production, and I have to admit that I rather enjoyed it.

Channa Chaat {by @NLi10} (Hall Green Hindu Temple)

As part of local Diwali celebrations I visited Hall Green Hindu temple. After giving thanks to Lakshmi we were escorted to the food tent where there was a choice of seasonal dishes. I decided to go for the Channa Chaat as it had pomegranate sprinkled on the top. The Mountain Dew energy drink is none traditional, but I hadn't had chance to try it yet. The snack itself is multi layered and has crispy pastry, mint, yogurt, as well as lots of other mysterious things. While there is a spicy hit, the flavours are fantastic and the mixtures of textures are great. I managed to finish it with no issues, and my side of samosa that I had too. Thanks to Vijay for inviting me. :)

by @NLi10

Nando’s Nuts [Mixed & Cashew] (Morrison’s) [By Spectre]

Nando’s restaurant is a favourite haunt of mine and I’ve recently found out that a new restaurant is opening nearby in Wolverhampton. It’s a great place for a big group of people or just for two to eat spicy chicken, drink refillable soft drinks and slurp healthy flavoured frozen yoghurt for dessert. For starters we usually share a side of Peri-Peri nuts and a side of mixed olives. Looks like they’ve brought out the nuts into the open market and not before time!



Peri-Peri Mixed Nuts – Medium

It states on the front of the bag that these nuts are the same as in the restaurant. They are an assortment of mixed almonds, cashews and macadamias. The warning notice on the back of the packet states that the African Bird’s Eye Chilli flavouring on the nuts may make you need a drink after eating. Apparently a stranger had suggested they put their restaurant nuts in a bag as they are so good. I believe there was more than one stranger that suggested selling them outside the restaurant as anyone who tastes the nuts in Nando’s would probably be desperate to eat them any time.

Having said that, these don’t seem to have exactly the same spicy flavour as the nuts in the restaurant though, I don’t know whether my mind was playing tricks on me as I ate them at my desk in the office, but they just didn’t taste the same. I couldn’t see how it could simply be the atmosphere of the restaurant missing in the taste of the nuts, and when I think about it, I could actually taste the flavour of the nuts. In the restaurant nuts you can’t really taste the nuts, just the tangy Peri-Peri flavour. I’m sure there is more paprika and a touch of garlic in the flavour too. Checking the back of the packet it doesn’t mention paprika or garlic. Therefore I don’t think I was missing the restaurant, although half a grilled medium spiced Peri-Peri chicken with some Peri-Peri fries and a side of coleslaw would have gone down very well, I just think they forgot to add some extra spice!



Peri-Peri Cashews – Hot

The back of the packet states that if you like eating hot coals, you’ll like eating these nuts. I’ve tried Nando’s Hot flavoured crisps and they make your mouth burn. They are a great snack with a cool beer and a good film, so hopefully these nuts live up to that taste for a bit of diversity in snacking. Sadly, stuck at work, I didn’t have a beer or a good film to watch, so I figured that I’d just have to sweat these nuts out during my lunch hour.

Saying “I’ll sweat these nuts out” was a serious over estimation. On first taste I didn’t get any heat or feel an even slightly uncomfortable tingle. I ate a few more, but just couldn’t stand their dull spice-less taste. I even sucked on some for a while to try and magic up some chilli heat, but sadly no luck. These nuts were a big disappointment and an emergency return to the drawing board for Nando’s is needed here.

Nando’s crisp flavours are some of my favourite crisps on the market. They came from no where with their big paprika and chilli tastes. They waltzed passed big brands like Walkers, Kettle and McCoys to produce top quality moreish crispy hot chilli snacks. So what went wrong with these nuts? They have the Medium flavour to a tee in the restaurant nuts, but not in the bag. I’m sure some of the spices were missing? The Hot Cashews have no heat or spice and are simply not to my taste. Yet Nando’s have proved that they are experts in tangy spicy heat from their glorious range of sauces and other products.

As a stranger had suggested Nando’s bag their Medium flavoured nuts, here’s a stranger suggesting they box up and sell their side of mixed olives. This is a healthy tasty snack that goes like magic with their Peri-Peri nuts. Who knows, maybe that was what I was missing with the Medium nuts? But the Hot flavoured nuts needs a rethink… consult the Hot flavoured crisps as they know best.

By Spectre

BURTS Hand Fried Potato Chips: Firecracker Lobster

These crisps go a long way to explain that they are from a Devonshire company. They even proudly state that even the chillies used in the recipe are from Devon too. This leads me to question the name of the product, why is such an obviously English product known as ‘chips’ not ‘crisps’. I know this isn’t the first time this has been mentioned on this website, but the word ‘chips’ is just very American to me. It just seems strange from a company so proud to be English everywhere on its packaging, “Made In Devon” is even emblazoned across the front of the bag.
This variety of ‘Firecracker Lobster’ sounded as if it might be similar to a spicy prawn cocktail flavour, but when I opened the bag I realised at once I was mistaken. These crisps have a spicy aroma, and were lacking the sweet tomato edge you’d expect in prawn cocktail.
The texture of each crisp is of a moderate thickness, thicker than Walkers, but not a crunchy as Kettle Chips. The flavour is salty and spicy, and does surprisingly recreate a lobster seafood taste remarkably well. When you finish each crisp you are left with a nice tingle from the chilli, but it is a gentle non offensive heat, leaving just a light buzz on the taste buds.
The salty nature of these crisps makes them very moreish, and easy to eat, and I thoroughly enjoyed the bag. Several of their other flavours they make sound rather appetising too – so I think I will be making an attempt to hunt down their Hot Chilli Lemon as well.

Not suitable for vegetarians.

Big thanks to Lorraine for kindly finding these for me, it is much appreciated. :-)