McVitie's Hobnobs Dark Chocolate Flavour Chips Oaty Cookies (Sainsbury’s) By @Cinabar

You can’t beat a mug of hot chocolate and a new biscuit for dunking. That was the plan when I spotted these McVitie's Hobnobs Dark Chocolate Flavour Chips Oaty Cookies on the shelf in Sainsbury’s. The only clue that they were new was the little label on the shelf edge, as the packet itself didn’t shout about it.

Back at home, I put the kettle on and opened the packet. The aroma was instantly inviting, that classic Hobnob oaty smell with a good hit of chocolate. They looked promising, and I dunked one straight into my hot chocolate. Disaster. The biscuit gave up, crumbling into a mess of oat and chocolate specks. I gave it a second chance, this time without dunking, and found the texture still crumbly, but at least intact on its own.

Texture aside, the flavour is spot on. They have that wholesome Hobnob taste with plenty of oat, balanced by little bursts of dark chocolate. Not overly sweet, with the cocoa adding a slightly richer, grown-up edge. I found them very moreish, despite the mess they make. So yes, these are a dunking disaster, but eaten dry they’re absolutely divine.

Nissin Demae Ramen - Sesame [@NLi10]

 For lunch today I had Ramen, it's been a rainy day and so noodles are great.

I picked up these 'authentic' noodles a while back but planned to give them to a visiting teen.  That didn't happen so eventually I've worked my way through them all.

That's a lot of words for a block of noodles and a sachet

Turns out there was a 2nd sachet in the pan under the noodles.  Oops.

I didn't take a bowl picture - but then it would just look like noodles - I make sure I end up with as little sauce as possible.

The sesame flavour and powder are great and the quality of the noodles is bigger than the Maggi ones I usually have with their lovely masala powder.  I'll have to replenish my stocks from the Asian grocery shops.

Shipyard Low Tide Ale (Morrisons) By @SpectreUK

Back in the day I used to have a crafty half and a packet of crisps, whilst on a break at work. I'd sit in a pub somewhere and have a half a pint of beer and a packet of Ready Salted Crisps or pork scratchings. Gone are those days now, but I fancied a pint with my lunch this afternoon.

I had a beef sandwich, and some Walkers Ready Salted Crisps, and I needed something to wash it down with. The amount of rum missing from my latest bottle shows I've probably been drinking too much lately. Not for sorrows, just because I like the taste with my meals. This Shipyard Low Tide is 0.5% in volume, so it should wash my lunch down rather well, without the worry of too much alcohol per week.

Shipyard was established in Portland Maine, USA, and is produced by Carlsberg Breweries, in the UK. At 65 calories, Low Tide, is an American style low alcohol pale ale. Its tropical and citrus hops should go rather well with my lunch.

I haven't had a beer blowup on me for a long while. This Shipyard Low Tide was quite spectacular and surprised me. After opening the bottle and mopping up the kitchen counter surface, I found there was a sweet malted barley aroma with light tropical hops.

On taste the sweet barley was dominant, with crispy tropical and citrus hops followed by the creaminess from the milk, added in the brewing, into the aftertaste. A feisty beer to start with, this flavoursome low alcohol beer went perfectly with my sandwich and crisps at lunchtime. Cheers.

Bournville Salted Caramel (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Bournville Hazelnut and mentioned how much of a treat it is when we get a new Bournville product. I even said I wished there were more varieties using Cadbury’s dark chocolate. Well, my chocolate wish must have been granted, because here we are with another new bar. Don’t get me wrong, my wish for a million pounds would have been nice too, but I’ll have to settle for more chocolate.

This new edition pairs Bournville’s classic dark chocolate with a salted caramel filling. On unwrapping the bar, the neat squares each had a smart ‘B’ stamped on them, and when I broke one open I was pleased to see a decent amount of caramel inside.

Bournville is a sweeter dark chocolate, not particularly high in cocoa, but I like that about it. It has just the right balance for my sweet tooth. The chocolate shell was satisfyingly thick, giving a good crack before releasing the gooey caramel onto my palate.

The caramel itself was smooth and tasty, more sweet than salty. If you’re looking for a big salty hit, you might find it a little tame, but I thought it worked really well. The combination of the mellow dark chocolate and soft caramel made it far too easy to keep going back for another piece.

Overall, this was a lovely, moreish treat, and I really do hope it stays around. Yum.

Walkers Sticky Teriyaki (Tesco) By @Cinabar

If the rumours are true, these new crisps from Walkers aren’t just another fun limited edition but could be a permanent addition to the UK crisp range.

The flavour is Sticky Teriyaki, inspired by the Japanese sauce. The thing with sauce-based flavours is that they often miss the meaty element you’d usually expect to go with them. I’ll admit I prefer meaty crisps, so that was already on my mind when opening the bag.

Inside, they looked like regular Walkers crisps: thin cut with a good coating of seasoning. On first taste they were bold and sweet, with a flavour that reminded me of barbecue sauce but with an extra kick of Asian spices. It was more Teriyaki-meets-sweet-barbecue than pure Teriyaki, and yes, there was that lack of meatiness I’d been expecting.

The flavour is okay, but not something I’d rush out to buy again. If Walkers decide to make this a permanent flavour, I won’t complain, but I also wouldn’t miss it if it had stayed as just a limited edition.