Oloves Chili & Oregano (@DegustaboxUK) By @SpectreUK

I always have a tomato with my sandwich and crisps at work, so this makes for a change! And no it’s not a spelling mistake. Believe me I stared at the packet for quite a while. These “Oloves” natural green pitted olives are flavoured with chilli and oregano. Although it does sneakily mention garlic on the back of the packet, so people may regret sitting too close to me in meetings after lunch! They are naturally free of gluten and an all-round low calorie snack in a small packet that’s easy to fit into a lunchbox.
On opening there was quite a few green pitted olives filling the packet, which were covered in sunflower oil, and an oregano, garlic and chilli type flecked sauce. On taste there was the instant finely oiled green olive flavour mixed with the herby oregano taste followed by a subtle sweetness and the garlic. This mild garlic taste was quickly merged with a medium heat from the red flecks of chilli. The chilli left a pleasant medium tingle in my mouth during the aftertaste.
These Oloves made for a very tasty alternative to my regular tomato. Also being ‘pitted’ means they’re not too messy with having to spit out stones in front of your colleagues in the canteen, however if you don’t want to get your fingers oily, I’d recommend a small spoon, fork or cocktail stick..

Information on the packet;
The 30g packet contains 53 calories, 18.4g of fat, 0.3g of sugar, and 2.5g of salt. Ingredients included; pitted green olives (96%), sunflower oil, chilli (0.6%), oregano (0.3%), garlic powder, garlic aroma, salt, distilled vinegar, lactic acid, and citric acid.

Walkers Sensations: Chargrilled Steak and Chimichurri Crisps (Ocado) By @Cinabar

On some of these new crisps you can easily imagine the flavour appearing on the menu of a smart restaurant, rather than just being a new variety of snack flavouring. These Chargrilled Steak and Chimichurri flavour are Walkers crisps too, but admittedly in their posher Sensations range.
I opened up the bag to share and the blast of herbs was incredibly appetising. They have to be one of the nicest aromas from a bag of crisps I’ve tried in ages. We shared some out with sandwiches at lunch.
The crisps had a decent sprinkle of herbs visually and flavour wise that was also very true. The taste was impressive, there was so many flavoursome herbs mixed in, and a lovely tang of vinegar. The oregano was the star, and what followed in the taste was a nice smokiness that gradually developed into the beefy steak flavour. For me the herbs and mix of tastes that make up Chimichurri were a winner, and I loved every one of these crisps. The only negative is that the steak part is slightly sidelined, but I’d be loathed if they change the balance of flavours as they are so darned moreish as they are.

Chocolate Orange Marmalade (Hotel Chocolat via Ocado) By @Cinabar

I was actually looking for strawberry jam when I found this curious sounding spread. For a change we had an Ocado online grocery order, and their selection of jams included those by Hotel Chocolat. I got distracted and stumbled across this Chocolate Orange Marmalade which made its way into my virtual basket.
I tried this out for breakfast spread on toast. I popped open the jar and the contents looked a lot more like chocolate spread than marmalade, and for a minute or so I thought this might be a bit rich. I went to spread it and realised that the texture was much lighter then a chocolate spread and was it back in jam territory despite the colour.
The flavour was far more complex than I had been expecting. The taste is mostly orange marmalade, and it is a particularly sharp bitter orange flavour. The cocoa mixed with is it delivers a little sweetness, but mainly has darker tones giving this a very mature flavour. The more I ate the more I enjoyed the intricacies of all the tastes. I loved the lightly sweetened flavour mixed with the stronger bitter orange and deep cocoa. A very grown up taste, but one that left me craving another piece of toast with Chocolate Orange Marmalade.

Yutaka speedy Ramen at home, Ton Kotsu or Miso (@NLi10)

A while ago we were contacted about trying some of the Yutaka brand Ramen at home kits.  As this was something I'd been talking about with friends (the total lack of kits for ramen that were not just a cardboard bowl with cheap noodles) we jumped at the chance, picked them up from the parcel depot and then stashed them in the cupboard for a cold lunchtime to try them on.

Now it's November, and we aren't out all the time those weekend lunchtimes are certainly here!  The only difference in the kits is the paste you receive so we are only going to talk about one of them.  Maybe if I pick up some Japanese greens to go on top (or tempura flakes like I always had at the Japan cultural centre in London 15 years ago).

I decided on the Ton Kotsu - but as mentioned the noodles are the same in both.  You also get two bundles per person which is generous, and the quality is great.

They separate and boil really nicely

And when you turn the paste into the sauce you can choose your own level of soupiness.

I don't like it when it's mostly water and the noodles hide at the bottom, mainly because I struggle to eat it!  The noodles were a fab quality, as you'd expect from Yutaka, and once you've boiled the kettle it essentially takes 5 mins to make.  The paste is strong and tasty - very mouthwatering and has the same distinctive flavour that you'd get if you ordered this from a restaurant.

Quality and easy to make - I look forwards to working my way through the other portions!

Medusa Beer (Aldi) @SpectreUK

I always enjoyed watching mythology films like Clash of the Titans, and Jason and the Argonauts when I was younger. I've watched them both recently and still get a kick out them. I do like the various plastiscine looking monsters such as the Hydra and Medusa. Whereas Medusa was a high priestess of Athena and had been turned into a gorgon and cursed with asps for hair and golden wings and skin after a particularly unfortunate encounter with Poseidon, the sea-god, and was made famous in Clash of the Titans. Poseidon came across rather helpful instead in a scene in Jason and the Argonauts.

This Medusa ruby red ale from Harper's Brewery is sported on the label as having a mix of chocolate, roasted coffee and fruitless in its aroma, with a smoky coffee and toffee apple taste. On opening I'd certainly agree with the list of aromas, but with a dominance of dark chocolate. This leant to a weightier presence of chocolate malt in the brewing, which can bring out dark chocolate and roasted coffee flavours. On pouring this deep mahogany red almost brown ale, I must admit from its smell I was expecting a much darker colour, even though the label had described it as 'ruby red'.

In taste there was the chocolate malt that gave a quick blast of dark chocolate only to be replaced by a smoky roasted coffee as the malted barley began to overtake my tastebuds. There was then a mild fruity bitterness from the hops followed by a sweetness akin to toffee from the crystal malt. This is certainly a very tasty beer and I'd agree with the lamb or beef roast dinner recommendation on the bottle, but don't forget there is always place for roast pork (… in my belly), especially with the sweet apple fruitiness within the ale. With its references to chocolate and coffee it could also be considered a pudding beer, and could either complement a chocolate fudge cake or a strong cheese board, but don't forget the chaser of port on the side!