Trader Joe's Fiberful Bar: Fruit & Veggie

As you've no doubt noticed if you're a regular reader, I have been on a bit of a hiatus from reviews as of late.

It's not that I don't love you guys. It's not that I have burned out. And it's certainly not for lack of items to review. It is because due to some new medications I have to take, my taste buds haven't been up to snuff lately.

Oh, I can still taste. But the more subtle flavor notes are currently lost on me, and some things just have weird metallic notes to them -- and I know it's not the food, it's me. So with that in mind, I have felt that it would not be fair to review much, since I could risk giving a good product a bad review -- or, maybe worse, recommending something that is less than good.

But standing in line at Trader Joe's this afternoon, I noticed a new product that I thought might actually benefit from my lack of fully functional taste buds. I am quite the fan of TJ's dried fruit bars, and when I saw a new green and blue label I got quite excited. Well, it turns out this bar is indeed new, and it is a combination fruit and veggie bar. Sort of a chewable Green Machine.



The bar has carrots, apples, pumpkin, beets, broccoli, celery, and lots of fiber. And, in a very uncharacteristic turn of events, the Trader Joe's cashier gave the bar the old side-eye and implied that I was being rather brave for buying it. I will grant you that I like all of those ingredients -- yes, I even like beets -- it's just that I am not sure I like the thought of them all together at once. And honestly, maybe, just maybe, the lack of nuanced tasting ability might be to my advantage here.

In appearance, the bar is typical TJ's fruit leather. It's a long and decently thick slab. It's a neutral brownish color and smells vaguely like apples.

Taste wise? The strongest single taste seemed to be the celery. There is a sweetness, too -- kind of like apples, but mostly it as if like someone took vegetable stock and made leather out of it. I will grant you that is probably not the most appealing description, but I found it oddly tasty. I kept hoping it would be a little saltier -- again, so it would be more like a solid, chewy vegetable soup.



I can't say I will probably ever start buying these en masse, but there was something about it that was just so bad it was actually good.

I am not comfortable putting a rating number on this because of my current taste bud situation, so take my words with a grain of salt when trying it yourself. I might be missing out on the best or worst parts of the flavor. (Chris tried a piece, and he was -- to put it kindly -- not impressed.)

PURCHASED FROM:
Trader Joe's

PRICE:
$.89

CALORIES:
70 calories per bar.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
traderjoes.com

Nong Shim Bowl Noodle Soup: Kimchi Flavor

Hey all,

Since my tastebuds are not quite back to par yet, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging, Chris decided to take one for the team, and I am handing over the review to him for today.

Gigi

Aah, ramen! Who doesn't love the convenience, the ultra-cheap price tag, and -- yes, we must admit it -- the almost frighteningly unnatural flavors? Well, here we have yet another offering in that department. This one, however, isn't Japanese. Nong Shim is a South Korea-based company that makes a number of food products, one of which is ramen -- or, as the Koreans call it, "ramyun." Not surprisingly, Nong Shim's products appeal primarily to Korean tastes. And this particular item features that most emblematic Korean flavor of all: kimchi.

Kimchi, if you're not familiar with it, is sometimes described as Korean sauerkraut. That's an oversimplification, really, although both are cabbage-based and both are fermented for a period of time before they're eaten. But beyond that, they're quite different.

In its most common form, kimchi usually contains (along with the chopped cabbage) a generous quantity of hot red pepper, plus things like garlic, daikon or radish, green onions, and there's often shredded ginger. So, in addition to the sour/salty base of pickled cabbage, you get a strong rush of heat and spice as well. Sometimes pulverized shrimp or fish are also added. Or not. Sometimes nothing is added. Sometimes it's not even cabbage based. There are probably as many variants of kimchi as there are people who eat it...and in Korea everybody eats it, pretty much daily. It's a frequent ingredient in soups and stews, and there's also kimchi fried rice. Additionally, kimchi is nearly always offered as a side dish. In fact, Koreans are so wild about kimchi that they've actually built a kimchi museum in Seoul. Clearly, the stuff's got something going for it, even if Westerners often find that it's an acquired taste. (For everything else you might possibly want to know about kimchi, click here).

All right, we know that kimchi is very adaptable. But how well does it adapt itself to a ramen-type instant noodle soup product? Let's find out...

To prepare it, all you do is open the lid halfway, add the contents of the flavor packet, pour in some boiling water, wait for three minutes, then stir and eat. (According to a tiny little graphic on the label, you should not microwave it. And given the foil lining inside the lid, you'd probably get some pretty amazing electrical arcing if you tried. Which might make for a good show, at least. I'll not speculate on the collateral damage. )

I won't bother to describe the noodles, as they're standard issue ramen, and as such are absolutely unremarkable on their own. If you've ever had ramen -- any ramen whatsoever -- then you know exactly what these noodles are like.

The broth, however, was really, really good. It's a cheerful reddish orange color, and -- delicate palates, beware! -- it packs a powerful heat punch from the red pepper. It's also got strong hints of garlic and ginger, along with little bits of carrot and green onion (which re-hydrated very well). You can also taste a dried fish note, similar to that of miso. In fact, that's pretty much what this broth tastes like: miso soup. Imagine miso soup, liberally spiked with hot pepper and spices, and you've nailed it. There's only one flavor missing here -- and the missing flavor, unfortunately, is the kimchi itself. Perhaps kimchi simply doesn't survive such processing? I don't know, but its absence is conspicuous.

So, the bottom line is that if you were hoping for an honest (or even semi-honest) kimchi munchie, this stuff will disappoint you big time. On the other hand, it's seriously tasty nonetheless. I bet it would be fantastic mixed with some actual kimchi from my local Asian market.

All of the above presents me with a rating dilemma. Therefore, I'm going to rate it twice -- a practice which Gigi usually frowns upon, but since I am guesting this review I'm gonna do it anyway, and deal with the ass kicking I'll get later...

Anyway, if rated as an allegedly KIMCHI flavored product, it's an epic fail. From that perspective I can only give it, at best...and I think I'm actually being lenient here...



...but conversely, if you think of it not as kimchi flavored, but as a really spicy miso-like flavor, it's terrific. In fact, it's about the best tasting ramen bowl I've ever had, no matter what the intended flavor. And based purely upon that, it merits:



Sorry if that seems a tad schizophrenic -- but life ain't always as cut and dried as ramen itself is.

~Chris

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertson's Supermarket

PRICE:
$1.19

CALORIES:
190 calories per half bowl.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains wheat, fish, shellfish, and soybeans. Manufactured in a facility that also processes eggs and milk.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
eng.nongshim.com

New reviews coming soon!

Hey guys, I just wanted to apologize for the lack of reviews in the last couple weeks.

I've had some health issues and my new meds have messed with my tastebuds. I didn't feel it was fair to review things with my senses being off -- but things are clearing up now, so we should have some new pieces up this week.

Thank you for understanding and I promise to make it up to you!

I also have the very first in a new line of features: Food Death Match, coming up!

So stay tuned!

Gigi

Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby Chocolates

Since I very seldom get to a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop, I am a little slow to get around to reviewing any of the candy items that Ben & Jerry are now making and selling in said shops (and in the Waterbury, Vermont factory where I first saw them). I kicked myself after leaving Vermont for not having made room in my suitcase to take some chocolate home. But I was able to pick up this box of Chubby Hubby chocolates at my local Scoop Shop.

The Chubby Hubby box contains a huge chunk of milk chocolate matrix that binds together a generous mix of malted milk balls, pretzels, peanut butter, and dark chocolate chunks -- just like the classic ice cream flavor.



Breaking off a piece is its own challenge. I have to admit we just broke down and used a knife. I liked the malt balls. They are huge and airy, yet crispy -- and there is a ton of them. The pretzels are indeed salty and crunchy. As for the peanut butter...well, you can certainly taste it, but it's rarer to find. I liked the bits of dark chocolate mixed in, as they helped to balance the way, way too sweet milk chocolate.

And again, it's enormous. It's roughly the diameter (and the height) of a Big Mac. In the picture below is a U.S. quarter coin placed alongside for size comparison.



I often bag on Ben & Jerry for using fudge instead of real chocolate in the ice cream, but they do in fact use real chocolate here. It's intensely sweet -- as I said, a tad too sweet for my taste -- but it is milky and it melts very smoothly.



I'm not going to lie: I vastly prefer the Chubby Hubby chunks in the Chubby Hubby ice cream to this candy. Not really sure why,as all the same elements are there. Maybe it's just that I like the actual ice cream that encompasses the chunks so much that it's hard for me to fully enjoy the chunks alone.



All told, it's not bad. Would I buy it again? Truthfully, probably not. But it's hardly something I'd toss in the trash either -- it's just that it didn't wow me. However, if you're one of those people who pull the chunks out of Chubby Hubby ice cream to eat first and then finish the ice cream itself almost as an afterthought (yes, there are such people, I know you're out there!), then you'd probably love this.



PURCHASED FROM:
Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop

PRICE:
$5.50

CALORIES:
250 Calories per 1/4 piece of hunk (or 46g).

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Produced in a facility that uses milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat and eggs.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Archway Frosty Lemon Cookies

Minus cookies that I may have on hand to review, cookies are seldom kept in my house. There's no real reason for this, aside from the fact that when I snack for non-review purposes the choices are usually kind of boring or repetitive. Much like a little kid, I will get on a kick for something, and that may be my only snack for weeks. (At the moment I am obsessed with frozen pineapple juice bars.)

But way, way, waaaaaayyyy back in the dark and ancient days before I had this blog, one of the things I liked to do on the night before my day off was to pick up a box of these Frosty Lemon cookies and play The Sims. (We're talking the first version here, people. Gawd, I am dating myself.) But at some point between then and now, I moved to an area that didn't seem to carry the Archway brand. And then for a short while, Archway cookies were off the shelf entirely. (There is a long story, but the company that then owned both Archway and Mother's brand cookies went under. Archway has since been bought out and restored to shelves by its new owner, Lance -- and I have since moved back to Southern California.)



So after many a long year, I finally have a package of Archway Frosty Lemon Cookies in my hands. Are they as good as I remember them to be? I can't wait to find out.

Each cookie is about the diameter of a large coaster. They are soft in texture and a sunny, pale yellow in color. There is a thin glaze of frosting on the top.

I love it when good things end up being exactly as you remembered them! The bite is soft and cakelike. The flavor is bright, mellow lemon that is neither too sweet or too tart. The frosting adds a little sugary pop. Basically, it is the perfect lemon cookie.



I love these cookies so much I did something I normally do not do: I have refused to share them with anyone. MINE MINE MINE, ALLLLL MIIIIINNNE!!!

Now if you will excuse me, I am going to put myself into time-out and grab a nap with my blankie.



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company

CALORIES:
110 calories per cookie.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains wheat, eggs, milk, and soy.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
archwaycookies.com

Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate lava cake -- or molten chocolate cake, as it is also known -- actually has something of an interesting background. I think most of us think of it as something that, somewhere back in the mid-nineties, chain restaurants decided that they really liked, and pushed it upon us en masse. However, long before TGIMcFunster's started giving it dumb names and forcing overworked and underpaid servers to up-sell it to us, both Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Jacques Torres were already fighting over who had invented it. And for all I know, they are still going at it like chocolate saber wielding Jedi.

Regardless of who started it, I have the Trader Joe's version in front of me. According to the wordsmiths who write TJ's copy, the dessert is "a delicate chocolate cake with a creamy chocolate center." Thanks, guys, I couldn't have guessed that...

There are two small (a little under four ounces each) cakes in the package. You can microwave them, but -- as things like these are always better when baked -- I chose not to. As per the instructions, I baked them in the oven for roughly 17 minutes, and by then my house smelled as if I'd been toiling away at the stove for hours making a chocolate cake from scratch. I love getting that smell and not dealing with the mountain of dishes that otherwise result.



The cake itself is sort of no frills. In fact, it looks pretty much like a chocolate hockey puck. The outer surface looks remarkably like that of an ordinary brownie.



The outer cake also tastes pretty much like a standard brownie. The strongest flavor is the semi-liquid center. It's sort of pudding textured, and tastes like dark chocolate and strong coffee.



Overall, this is very rich and and intensely chocolaty. If you were going to serve it to guests, you might want to pretty it up with some whipped cream or sauce. But for a frozen, fast baked dessert it was really good. As stated though, it is extremely rich. You could easily share a single cake, as small as it is, and be completely satisfied.

I'll definitely buy these again.



PURCHASED FROM:
Trader Joe's

PRICE:
$3.49

CALORIES:
360 per cake.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Made on shared equipment with tree nuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
traderjoes.com

Carl's Jr. Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger

Every single time I see ads for this sandwich, all I can think of is the Big Kahuna Burger that has been featured in probably every Quentin Tarantino movie (and some of Robert Rodriguez's, as well). And Samuel L. Jackson did say that it was a mighty tasty burger. Who am I to argue with Motherfarking Samuel L. Jackson? When Samuel says something is good, you take his motherfarking word for it, motherfarker!

Unless you're me, and then you still try it for yourself -- risking life, limb, and likely a motherfarking pimp slap.

Carl's Jr. offers several versions of this burger, including single, double, and Six Dollar version. Since the only meat from Carl's that I really like is the Six Dollar burger, that's what I got.



The burger is served on a sesame seed bun with teriyaki glaze, grilled pineapple, two slices of Swiss cheese, red onion, lettuce, tomato and (normally) mayo. Sorry guys, just like when I reviewed the Chicken Teriyaki sandwich, I just can't hang with the idea of mayo and teriyaki sauce together. I know this sort of goes against my review-it-as-it-comes mantra -- but I have made peace with it, and so should you.



The lettuce, of course, is the standard fast food Iceberg, so there's some crunch. The tomatoes added a nice, juicy bite. The Swiss cheese...well, it's there, and it's a cheese-type product. It's not bad, it's not good, it's just sort of there. As for the bread, I always like Carl's buns. They toast well and hold up to even the goopiest of toppings.



Much like the chicken version, the pineapple is canned, but it is sweet and juicy. The teriyaki sauce really stands up well to the Six Dollar patty -- which is thicker and more peppery than the "normal" patties. It's salty, but the meat cuts it better than the chicken version did. And yes, like the chicken version, once the sandwich cools down the sauce does seem more intense. It's true that this burger is every bit as messy as it looks on TV, but that's OK because it is also every bit as good as you would hope.



PURCHASED FROM:
Carl's Jr.

CALORIES:
840 calories per sandwich.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
carlsjr.com

Necco Sweethearts: New Moon Fire & Ice Special Editions

Here's something that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. As everyone who doesn't live under a rock knows, Eclipse -- the third film entry into the Twilight saga -- comes out on June 30th. And with that in mind, there has actually not been quite the merchandising push prior to its release as there was with New Moon. I am not sure if there won't be as many Eclipse-related items, or if they are just releasing them closer to the actual movie.

Necco has been the chief candy maker for all of the Twilight confections since the first movie. And when I saw these at the store, I found myself wondering if it was a product I'd overlooked around the time of New Moon's release -- and it turns out that it was. The Fire & Ice Sweethearts were apparently introduced at TwiCon last summer (don't get too excited and start making plans to go -- apparently there will be no 2010 events run by TwiCon). In any event, it seems they are back just in time for Eclipse. (In fact, these boxes are dated 2010.)

Unlike the Forbidden Fruits Sweethearts mixes -- which featured three different boxes, each with a different main character on it, but the same candy inside -- the Fire & Ice mixes are completely different.

The boxes have Jacob representing Fire, and Edward representing Ice. Even though the candy is still branded as New Moon, the Fire & Ice comparisons actually come directly from a chapter in Eclipse. How do I even know that? "Gigi!" you might be screaming at your computer, to the horror or amusement of co-workers, family or friends -- "you didn't actually read the books, did you?"

DON'T JUDGE ME, DAMMIT! I decided a few months ago that if I was going to bag on the series relentlessly, I should at least read it and make educated disparaging remarks. I still say I have read better-written pamphlets from the pharmacy -- but yes, I did actually end up liking the story itself. I know, I know...even I am kind of ashamed of myself.

Anyway, let's get to the review before I embarrass myself further. The boxes are marked "1 of 2" and "2 of 2," with Fire being placed first. So that's the order we'll review them in.

Texture-wise, these hearts are the same as every other Necco heart made since the dawn of time. It's pressed dextrose...so there is only so much we can reasonably expect. They are chalky and crumbly when you bite into them; grainy and slow to melt if you hold them on your tongue.

So how did they taste?...


FIRE:



The Jacob-inspired Fire mix consists of two flavors: "Steamy Chocolate" and "Hotter Than Apple Pie." Kind of a weird combo if you ask me (and they didn't), but whatever...

The flavors are supposed to have an "intense surge of heat," according to the box. Also unlike the Forbidden Fruits mix, these hearts are not sparkly -- but that makes sense, as Jacob is a wolf and the sparkling is restricted to the vampires.



Like all other Sweethearts Necco makes, each heart is branded with little words or sayings. Mine said things like "Team Jacob" and "Howl." The printing is just plain unreadable or missing off of most of the pieces.

"Steamy Hot Chocolate": This heart has a flavor that I can best describe as "essence of chocolate syrup." If you have ever been so desperate for a chocolate fix that you hit that bottle of syrup that had been lurking in the fridge for far too long...well, it sort of tastes like that. It's clear that chocolate is the flavor they are aiming for, but it's more like the idea of chocolate than the real thing. It does indeed get a little warm in your mouth. Not sure why, though it's vaguely cinnamony. And it's not all that interesting, let alone intense.



"Hotter Than Apple Pie": You know those horrible cinnamon-apple scents some stores use in their restrooms? Imagine sucking on that. It's mostly a cinnamon taste -- think cinnamon from uncooked instant oatmeal. As for the apple, it's fake, chemical-tasting, but mercifully it's barely noticeable.The only redeeming thing about this flavor was eventually the aftertaste died. (But it took its sweet time.) Absolutely horrible.

I am sincerely hoping for better luck with the Ice mix...



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$0.99

CALORIES:
160 calories per 40 pieces.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Processed in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and soy.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
necco.com




ICE:



Ice is mascotted by Edward, with his fashionably mussed-up hair and slightly tortured emo gaze. He's sensitive, damn it! And you stonehearted bastards don't care!! (Well, at least he doesn't whine like a certain young Anakin Skywalker we could mention. Yes, folks, I am still bitter about whiny teenage Skywalker from Episode II.) These hearts do sparkle -- like Edward -- and also have nearly unreadable sayings like "Risky" and "Bite me."



The two flavors are "Raspberry Freezeout" and "Lime Frostbite." And the box smells like a convenience store Squishy gone horribly wrong.

"Raspberry Freezeout": Like all modern raspberry flavored items, it's a frosty blue rather than a reddish hue. This one starts off pretty good. For the first few seconds it's like every "blue" squishy on the planet...and then the aftertaste kicks in. I don't know how many old ladies' perfumes they had to swipe to make this flavor, but if Bubbe or Grandma asks for a bottle for her next gift-getting occasion...well, I have a good idea as to why. I actually could not finish an entire heart. Talk about sucking.



"Lime Frostbite": This was hands down the best flavor in the bunch. It tasted as if they'd made candy out of lime "juice" mix. It's a little tangy, a little sweet. It's very artificial, but it still tasted pretty good. These I would actually eat on their own.

This mix is getting a higher rating only because of the lime.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$0.99

CALORIES:
160 calories per 40 pieces.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Processed in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and soy.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
necco.com

McVitie's Mini Hobnobs

Once again, a round of thanks to Cinnabar of Food Stuff Finds for sending me goodies from across the sea.

Hobnobs -- or in this case, Mini Hobnobs (and as everyone knows, almost everything is cuter when done in a mini version) -- are a beloved U.K. treat. Hobnobs are a digestive biscuit that is enrobed in milk chocolate.



The biscuit (or cookie, to those of us on this side of the pond) is a hard, oat-based cake. Each Mini Hobnob is about the diameter of a U.S. half dollar coin. I dunno, something about them just makes me feel like I should be watching a Hugh Grant movie (I am thinking "About a Boy").

So how do they taste? Pretty darn addictive is how! The milk chocolate layer sits on top of the biscuit. It's very smooth and cool on the tongue. It's creamy and sweet, but it manages not to get too sweet.



The biscuit itself reminded me of a cross between a graham cracker and an oatmeal cookie. It's crunchy, yet airy...and I said it before, addictive!



I really love these! They are very simple, and that's what largely what makes them so good. Oats and chocolate -- and that's it. And it's a combination that works brilliantly.





PURCHASED FROM:
Gift from Cinabar of Food Stuff Finds

CALORIES:
194 calories per snack pack.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains milk, soy, and gluten. May contain nuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
mcvities.com

King Leo Peppermint Bark Bites

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you probably know that I love love looooove me some peppermint bark. Sadly for me, peppermint bark seems to be one of those things that a lot of people love, but that you only really see out en masse around the winter holidays...

Well, maybe not. Because tucked inside the enormous box of loot the good folks at Quality Candy sent me was this nice box of King Leo Peppermint Bark. Peppermint Bark in June?! SCORE!

Reading the blurb on the box, I was also quite happy to see that this is one of the products King Leo breaks out the real chocolate for -- and not only was it actual chocolate, but according to the box "only the richest chocolate" was used to make it. Woohoo, no mockolate! We're off to a promising start here!

Since it's a tried and true fact that King Leo does indeed make some of the best peppermint out there, let's see how we did with the bark.



First off, I like that the peppermint chunks are huge. You know from the moment you open the box that the bark is going to be chock full of peppermint. You can smell it even before you open the cellophane bag the candy is packaged in.

The slab is a thick layer of dark chocolate followed by a thinner layer of white chocolate, which is topped with crushed peppermints.



The chocolate: in the case of the dark chocolate, it is indeed real chocolate -- and it also has real vanilla as well. Maybe it's just the strength of the peppermint, but the chocolate doesn't have the most assertive taste. If anything, the whole thing tastes (minus the peppermint on top) like like a big slab of Andes Mints. That's by no means a bad taste; it's just kind of generic. The texture of the chocolate is oily. It does melt in your mouth rather than seize into a lump, but it's not the rich, creamy melt I was hoping for.

As for the white chocolate, it's very understated. You can hardly taste it at all...which in my book is a good thing, as I don't care for white chocolate anyway.



The star of this bark is really the crushed peppermint on top. As I said at the start, the pieces are large and plentiful. It's fresh, it's sweet, it's bold. And I love crushing the shards with my teeth.

Bottom line, the peppermint is very nice and the chocolate is...well, forgettable at best.



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company

CALORIES:
130 calories per 1 oz piece.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Made on equipment shared with peanuts, tree nuts, soybeans, milk, eggs and wheat.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
qcandy.com

Chocomize Custom Candy Bar: Currying Flavor

Once again, guys, I am going to indulge my love of creating custom candy concoctions (say that five times fast) by reviewing another bar that the nice folks over at Chocomize let me create.

I love Indian food. This was not always the case. In fact, as I have said in previous reviews, it really took the chef/owner of a sadly now-closed Indian restaurant in northern Georgia to bring me around -- but once he did, I was hooked. (Ken, wherever you may be, I would kill for an Indian crabcake). In addition to loving not only traditional Indian (and Indian fusion) dishes, I also just like the spices and ingredients that go into them.



"Currying Flavor" was inspired by my love of all things Indian. (And I'm hard core here. I even have my own copy of the Bollywood musical version of Fight Club.) As I do with all my custom bars, I am only rating the bar based on the individual ingredients and NOT the overall taste of the bar. Because I put the combination together myself, the ingredients could be top-notch on their own, but maybe never should have been put together -- and if that's the case, the fault is mine and not Chocomize's, so I won't ding them for it.



Anyway, Currying Flavor contains:

A milk chocolate base
Crystallized rose petals
Hot curry powder
Roasted pistachios
Diced mango

I liked the milk chocolate base more in this bar than I did in the first review I tried it with (the "Sugar High" bar). It's still very milky and a little sweeter than I prefer -- but in this case, the sweetness balances the heat and spice from the curry and the mango perfectly, and it just works really well.

The mango chunks are exactly what you'd expect of dried mango. They are generously sized and are a little chewy. The flavor is fresh and it has that nice, light warmth that mango has. The mango pieces are good enough to snack on by themselves!

The pistachios are on the small side, but they whole and very fresh. They were still nice and crunchy, though I would have liked for them to have been salted a bit more. But they were good either way.



The curry powder is liberally sprinkled on the top of the chocolate. There is enough so that you see it and you definitely taste it...but not so much that you feel like it's flocked like a cheap Christmas tree. I like it because it adds just enough curry to wake you up and let you know it's there, but not so much that you wonder what demon ever possessed you to put curry in with chocolate.

The rose petals were a pleasant surprise. Honestly, I was expecting them to simply taste like sugar. And while they certainly do have a sugary edge and crunch to them, you can actually taste the rose! I love that!

All in all, every single one of the ingredients on its own was pretty good. Yes, the milk chocolate is still sweeter than I liked, but when paired with everything else it just worked.

While I will not be rating the bar on the overall taste, I wish I could -- everything just paired up much better than I could have hoped for.

If you would like to try this bar (or create your own), the nice folks over at Chocomize have given my readers a generous 10% off coupon. If you use coupon code "Gigi" at checkout, you get 10% off your order! How can ya say no to that?

This bar was just really, incredibly good!



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company

CALORIES:
133 Calories per 1/5th bar.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains nuts. May contain traces of milk, nuts and gluten.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
chocomize.com