Snacks! Reviews/'reviews' welcome

Anyone had those McCain skin on fries? I ask because if you haven't you need to try them as they are quality!

I am a big fan of the potato wedge. . .

I'm doubling up on this one!

Magnum Double Raspberry

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The worryingly tiny-yet-expensive ice cream is back with a new twist, presumably because the six thousand and twenty one other previous twists on the formula were no longer selling well enough.

Pros:

• Absolutely delicious
  
• Good in the warm weather
  

Cons:

• As always with Magnums, ridiculously expensive
  
• Still not quite as tasty as actual raspberries
  

Mmmm rating: 9/10

On the other hand...

Marmite Rice Cakes

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This is written from the perspective of someone who lands on the "No" side of the Marmite fence.

Pros:

• Less than 3% fat
  
• Quite filling
  

Cons:

• Tastes like the Devil's meat sweats blended with rabid hyena fur and tarmac
  
• Only sold in multipacks
  

Mmmm rating: /10

Bang on with both of those.  Marmite's the devil's faeces, distilled into a liquid, but without much of the viscosity removed.

I love those random new Magnum ice creams, and the raspberry ones are as good as anything.

I can't agree with the Marmite attitude there. Mind you, my opinion might be nonsense, as I'm going to bat for

Off the Eaten Path Saled Popped Rice Chips

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We got a bag of these as a promo thingy - I would have never bought them deliberately. But:

Pro:

• They are genuinely delicious - I'm not always fussed about crisps and other savoury snacks in the same way I am e.g. chocolate, but they're genuinely great
  
• They do actually taste of peas, and it's surprisingly nice
  
• Probably good for you. Compared with crisps, or, I dunno, ethanol

Con:

• Relatively expensive
  
• "Off the Eaten Path" is a clever brand name, but even I though I like your product, I now assume you're arseholes

Graphics 6/10 - crazy colours, but could be off-putting
Sounds 9/10 - Crunch like a good crisp should - no background music at any time, though
Gameplay 1/10 - No clear button prompts

Overall 9/10

Tesco Free From White Choc Bar

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Now that Drunka no longer works for The Big T, I feel able to lay into some of their products. Totally not a spoiler, there.

Pros:

• Free from gluten, wheat and milk
  
• Suitable for vegetarians and vegans
  

Cons:

• Fails to capture the taste of white chocolate spectacularly
  
• One bar contains 9% of your daily energy
  

Mmmm rating: 4/10

Oh, I hope you weren't holding your tongue on Tesco previously! They are a vast and evil corporation who treat humans like a not particularly valuable resource and they sell a whole lot of crap for economically unsustainable prices.

I still think they do the best range of lunchtime wraps out of all the supermarkets.

Tesco basically has a vice grip on at least half of Leicester's student population, so I can't help but pour my money down their foul corporate throats. Their meal deals options are myriad and often above average, however I've felt cheated ever since I learned Morrisons does their meal deal at £2.50 instead of the internationally agreed £3.

Another double feature from the man who can't stop eating.

Orange Daim Bar

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Ordinary Daim bars are precious difficult to find these days - at least in the shops I frequent - so a limited edition one has got to be worth something, right?

Pros:

• Orange and chocolate go together as well as ever
  
• Very flat, so you can have a tasty chocolate treat without stuffing yourself
  

Cons:

• Coats your teeth with its innards, just like the regular Daim bar
  
• I thought they were called 'Dime' bars
  

Mmmm rating: 5/10

On the other hand...

McVitie's Mini Gingerbread Men

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Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Pros:

• Not as unhealthy as you might think (per pack, at least)
  
• Cute
  

Cons:

• Packaging is a bit unusual
  
• Gingerbread haters need not apply
  

Mmmm rating: 9/10

ZeroJones wrote:

I thought they were called 'Dime' bars

I think they were, once upon a time, but maybe its all just Mandela Effect?
Anyway, I love daim bars and am very intrigued by this orange edition. I also love ginger. . .

I'm not sure how serious the above comments are, but yeah, they were Dime bars, then they disappeared for a bit, then we got the European name (see also Snickers and Cif).

No, I genuinely was interested.

Balla Cooks Breakfast



Pros:

• Sainsbury's Taste the Difference pork and apple sausages. They are basically one of the best things ever.
  
• Contained hash browns. Just basic hash browns, but 'just basic hash browns' are still pretty great.
  
• No mushrooms, or black pudding. I'm not fond of black pudding, sorry all! I'm sure I've upset someone, but I just can't get on with them.
  
• Cooked tomatoes allow you to pretend there's some health value in this, and you don't just want a tummy full of grease. (You do though.)
  
• Served with Bloody Mary ketchup. Surprisingly nice!
  
• I think the bacon is probably a pretty good variety...

Cons:

• ...not that I'd know because I burned it.
  
• Mucked up one of the fried eggs. The yolk ran over everything else.
  
• Dropped another one of the eggs all over my kitchen floor.
  
• Two of the fried eggs were cooked for long enough to go brown and crispy on the bottom. Nobody deserves their eggs to be like that.
  
• No beans. Not a big disappointment, the egg yolk and ketchup made it moist enough, but faintly annoying.
  
• No toast. Egg should go on toast. It's the law or something.

Mmmm rating: 7/10
Great ingredients, shame about the chef.

Right, it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise the pictured breakfast was not the one you were talking about. Now I believe your seemingly spurious claims.

Egg is a nightmare to clean up, isn't it?

It does have slightly burned-looking bacon, but those eggs are definitely neater than mine!

Must be honest: my part in that was mostly trying to get the other eggs into the pan, while The Lady cleaned up my mess. For which I was eternally grateful. If it is a nightmare, then I'm even more grateful.

Lack of beans => no higher than a 5 for me.

Mars Protein Bar

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These were winking at me from one of the shelves in a local newsagent. As a fan of Mars bars and protein, it was my lucky day!

Pros:

• Loaded with protein, grrr
  
• Novelty factor
  

Cons:

• Very dense, so hard to just eat
  
• Tastes like butts... and not nice butts, either
  

Mmmm rating: 2/10

Yottayuri's Japanese Cake Adventures

Blah blah, storied history. Yadda yadda, culture and technology. The real exciting thing about travelling to Japan is obviously the prospect of eating lots of amazing cake! Here are the first two of what I'm sure will be many waistline-ruining delectable delicacies.

Pablo Mini Plain Cheesecake



I started uploading pictures from Japan and was immediately met with a message from my friend Holly. She insisted that I get on and try the "wobbly cheesecakes" here in Japan. Well, when I went for a stroll that very evening, I came across a stand selling no less than fresh Pablo cheesecakes. I just went for the one, and a plain one at that. Plain is not the word!

PROS

• Delicious, crispy and sweet crust
  
• Creamy, flavourful cheese filling
  
• Perfect texture, light but full-bodied, with a delightfully crunchy case

CONS

• Literally nothing
  
• It was finite, I'm not still eating it
  
• I will still inevitably die, and this might have brought me a little closer

NO, ACTUALLY, PROS AGAIN

• The fleeting nature of mortal existence only makes the moment more beautiful. If the gods walked the Earth and tasted this cheesecake, the endless expanse of time would dull the flavour. My experience is sharpened by its limit, my joy enhanced by the sacrifice it cost me
  
• Only 200 yen

FINE, HERE'S A CON

• It was listed as 175 yen and I'm still not quite used to the way listed prices don't always include tax here.

10/10, obviously
I have died and gone to creamy cheesecake heaven.

Strawberry and Cream Cake Sandwich



I was buying up supplies one morning at the Konbini (convenience store. Oddly, full-size supermarkets don't seem to be a thing and nobody seems to shop in bulk) and spotted what seemed to be a strawberry and cream sandwich. It seemed odd, but I'm game to try anything once. I ate it at lunch time that very day, and was surprised to find that far from being white bread with the crusts off, that was in fact sponge cake. Suddenly, the strawberry and cream filling made a lot more sense.

PROS

• Wonderfully soft and fluffy cake
  
• Fresh tasting cream and strawberries
  
• Cheap and convenient

CONS

• The strawberries are all front loaded, there aren't any more than the ones you can see in the packet
  
• Impossible to eat without making a mess
  
• Not a healthy and sensible lunch, in hindsight

8/10
Tasty and novel.

I've got a chocolate version of the cake sandwich in the fridge, and I know to be on the lookout for cheesecakes now.

First the ramen and now this?

I'm wondering whether you'll come across some of the stranger Kit-Kat flavours on your travels.  I have a sadly limited food imagination.

(reads other thread) Ah. Not sure if strange enough, but a good starting point!

There are lots of lovely and unusual Kit-Kat flavours in Japan - we've still got a good few at home, including matcha green tea ones. One of my biggest regrets whilst over there is leaving some of the raspberry ones - that we'd not seen elsewhere - on the train home from a place we didn't have time in the schedule to go back to.

Anyway! To darker things.

Greggs Cheese and Onion Bake

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On Saturday I found myself in town and in desperate need of food, so I popped into Greggs - my first mistake. As for my second mistake... well, read on.

Pros:

• Contains nourishment... I think
  
• Suitable for vegetarians
  

Cons:

• Tastes like koala vomit mixed with iron filings
  
• 30g of fat
  

Mmmm rating: 1/10

The thing about Greggs is that none of it is actually good, but sometimes the prospect of hot food for such a low price is just too good to pass up.

Their sausage roll, indeed, is famous around these parts for it...

Whilst I'll defend their breakfast stuff to the death I've thought for a while now their standard range of pastries were total garbage but I had a Steak Bake for the first time on a while last week and it was heavenly. I did however work an 8 hour shift that day without a break so perhaps it was influenced by that.

Leafcutter Ants



My own picture, sadly doesn't really do justice to this snack.  You can't see the heads and legs with such clarity as I could in the restaurant.

Pros:

• Crunchy;
  
• Salty;
  
• Wasabi-y?
  
• Allows me to say I've eaten insects and therefore be all alternative and cool.

Cons:

• Aftertaste of ants;
  
• Appearance of ants;
  
• The immutable knowledge that you are eating ants.

Mmmmarks out of ten: 5

I ate a candied cricket at a Hallowe'en party once. The feelers got stuck in my teeth. Hope you fared better, sir.