Reviews – Page 525 – The Impulsive Buy

REVIEW: McDonald’s CBO (Canada)

Michael / February 9, 2015 / Reviews / 20 Comments

McDonald’s Canada is pushing the CBO pretty hard. Where I live, at least, there are billboards all over town proudly proclaiming this sandwich to be “the next legend.” Obviously, McDonald’s has high hopes.

I should probably note that the Canadian CBO is, oddly enough, different than the CBO introduced in the States a couple of years ago. This one is a chicken sandwich, topped with CBO sauce, lettuce, bacon, and crispy onions, served on an onion bun.

The most noteworthy thing about this sandwich is probably the weirdly hard time I had ordering one.

At the first McDonald’s I visited (yes, there was more than one), I ordered it, sat down, opened the box, and found that a few of the crispy onions had fallen out of the sandwich. They were green, which I found odd; even odder was how spicy they were. Clearly, these were not crispy onions at all, but crispy jalapeños.

I brought this to the attention of the confused-looking girl behind the register. A manager emerged from the back. Eventually, he told me that they ran out of crispy onions and decided to sub in the jalapeños instead.

That strikes me as an odd decision, since crispy onions and jalapeños taste completely different, but hey, I don’t run a McDonald’s. What do I know?

He offered to make me another sandwich without the jalapeños. I told him no, I needed to try the sandwich as it’s supposed to be. He stared at me plaintively. “Man, I’m going to have to throw it out!” Though I was tempted to ask him how, exactly, that was my problem, I instead politely apologized and eventually wound up with some cash in my pocket, on my way to a second McDonald’s.

Thankfully, there were no jalapeño shenanigans to be found at the second location, so I was able to try the real, non-adulterated CBO. The End.

Oh wait, I guess not The End, this is a review, isn’t it? I still have to tell you about the actual sandwich.

It’s fine, if a bit boring. Honestly, my jalapeño-related mishaps were probably more interesting than the sandwich itself.

I’m not sure if the chicken patty is the same one they use in the McChicken; I suspect that it isn’t (it looks a little different, at least), but it tastes very similar. As far as reconstituted chicken sandwiches go, I’ve certainly had worse, but there really isn’t much that pops out about it. It’s pretty bland.

I will say, however, that chicken in my sandwich was piping hot, and clearly freshly cooked. That’s basically the McDonald’s equivalent of finding a four-leaf clover, so that was fun.

McDonald’s describes the CBO sauce as a “creamy pepper sauce,” and it basically just tastes like regular mayo with flecks of pepper in it. If you told me it was McChicken sauce, I’d have no reason not to believe you.

As for the bacon, it’s actually bacon pieces instead of actual slices of bacon, which was probably not a great idea — the soft little bits get lost among the other elements of the CBO, and add almost nothing to the sandwich, other than a vague saltiness.

Happily, the crispy onions that I worked so hard to try suited the sandwich pretty well, and were probably the CBO’s most assertive flavour. Between that and the onion bun, this sandwich definitely earns the O in CBO.

That pretty much sums this sandwich up, in fact — it tastes like an oniony McChicken. But I guess Oniony McChicken doesn’t quite have the same ring as CBO, so here we are.

I’m honestly a little bit baffled that McDonald’s is giving a sandwich as boring as the CBO such a strong marketing push. It isn’t bad, but there’s just nothing about it that’s particularly memorable.

(Nutrition Facts – 680 calories, 36 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 0.4 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1160 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 10 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of protein.)

Item: McDonald’s CBO (Canada)
Purchased Price: $5.99
Size: N/A
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Tasty crispy onions. Decent quality chicken.
Cons: Boring sandwich. Soft, pointless bacon bits. Plain sauce. McDonald’s running out of ingredients and making random substitutions.

REVIEW: Pringles Food Truck Flavors Kickin’ Chicken Taco

Adam / February 5, 2015 / Reviews / 8 Comments

Unless you were living on the planet Uranus and happened to miss the Super Bowl and all of its commercials, you no doubt know that a truck can change the way people feel about a guy. But can a truck also change the way people feel about a chicken taco-flavored crisp which is approximately only 42 percent potato?

Such is the question posed by the latest Pringles innovation, Food Truck Flavors Kickin’ Chicken Taco.

To give you some perspective, I guess I should start out by saying I like, but do not love, Pringles. I’ve always found them a serviceable crisp, but let’s be honest, anything you can buy in a can for under two bucks probably isn’t going to conjure up adjectives like “artisan” and “game-changing.” The plainer flavors tend to have an off and fake potato aftertaste, while inconsistent spice coverage always seems to leave the more inventive seasoned crisps falling short.

Yes, a chicken taco from a food truck sounds great, but could chicken taco be any more ambiguous? I mean, chicken taco encompasses quite a spectrum of possibilities; anything ranging from Taco Bell’s “grilled” chicken in a hard shell with iceberg and cheap cheddar cheese to fried and crispy breast tenderloins doused in a bulgogi-style sauce from an up-and-coming fusion chef. The vagueness of it all is enough to make a guy wonder if it’s just another variation of sour cream and onion with a dash of back heat.

Julius K. Pringle clearly had other ideas in designing these crisps because they more than lived up to the unique mashup of flavors that make food trucks such a hit. The first flavor to hit my tongue is the unmistakable taste of braised and specifically dark meat chicken. Intrepid and worldly snackers have seen chicken-flavored crisps before, but unlike Lay’s somewhat recent rendition of Chicken & Waffles, the deep, unmistakably meaty taste isn’t offensive or fowl, at least not as foul as the egregious poultry-themed pun I seamlessly worked into this review.

After the initial blast of braised chicken, a veritable Williams-Sonoma catalog of spices hits me. At first there’s a strong taste of cumin and coriander, with a peppery, cayenne-like back heat which slowly builds. The heat reaches a crescendo, however, and gives way to a slightly floral and acidic note. I hesitate to proclaim it cilantro (or is it parsley?), but there’s definitely an element of relief from the earthy heat of the spices in the seasoning powder. That seasoning gets good coverage overall, appearing on both sides of the crisps.

They end on a distinctly citrusy and curiously sour note, in this case the unmistakable association of a squirt of fresh lime or lemon juice. Maybe the best part is that overly fake potato flake taste is completely absent.

Needless to say, my taste buds have been blown away. There are multiple influences of street food at play on each crisp, ranging from the aggressive spices and slow roasting of the Middle East’s shawarma, to the classic back heat and citrusy relief of your more traditional shredded chicken tacos from Latin America. If combining those two influences in a fusion-style taco was their goal (and seriously, I can pull up a Google search of dozens of food trucks around the country doing this) then Pringles has nailed the flavor with uncanny accuracy.

In 26 years of Pringles eating, this is, unequivocally, the most complex Pringle I have ever tasted, and probably the most realistic mashup of the fusion-inspired food truck flavors a snack food could ever hope to capture. It’s definitely changed the way I feel about Pringles, but is it for the better?

Truth be told my taste buds are confused, caught off guard by flavors I probably wouldn’t seek out had I known they’d be so authentic. Whether or not you find them satisfyingly addictive or unnervingly too accurate probably will depend on your attraction to the combination of assertive Latin and Middle Eastern spices, but one thing’s for sure. This ain’t a trip through the drive-thru and it will definitely leave you with a new perspective on Pringles.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 oz./about 15 crisps – 150 calories, 80 calories from fat, 9 grams of fat, 2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 170 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, less than 1 grams of sugar, and 1 gram of protein..)

Item: Pringles Food Truck Flavors Kickin’ Chicken Taco
Purchased Price: $1.50
Size: 5.96 oz. can
Purchased at: Harris Teeter
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Multilayer seasoning shows evolution in flavors from meaty to earthy to piquant to cooling. Strong poultry taste reminds me of pulled adobo marinated chicken thighs. Uncanny resemblance to Middle Eastern and Latin fusion flavors in taco form. Everything’s better with a truck.
Cons: Not the most craveable flavor. Lacks broad appeal of “simpler” seasoning. Could probably be better as a Pringles Tortilla flavor. Tastes about 0.5 percent potato.

Chips Pringles

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch Peanut Butter Half Baked Ice Cream

Trevor / February 4, 2015 / Reviews / 3 Comments

There are only a few combinations that can excite me as much as binge watching Netflix documentaries while lounging in my UGG slippers, and peanut butter and chocolate is one of them. It can be in the form of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (although I’m boycotting Hershey right now over this whole Cadbury ordeal), some kind of pastry, ice cream, anything really. Heck, I’d be happy smearing peanut butter from a jar onto a chocolate bar.

It’s hard to go wrong with PB and chocolate. It’s also hard to let it go. Whenever that last bite occurs and our time together comes to an end, I’m left alone, with a longing for more as Player’s “Baby Come Back” plays softly in my head.

Even though the loneliness and longing follows, I had to give Ben & Jerry’s Peanut Butter Half Baked Ice Cream a try. It’s kind of an obvious twist on a classic that I’m honestly surprised is just now being done. But obviousness is trumped by deliciousness, which is the case here.

The vanilla ice cream and cookie dough in the original Half Baked are replaced by peanut butter ice cream and peanut butter cookie dough. And I’ll state right now that I’m not going to say one is better than the other, but since this is a Limited Batch I don’t think the ice cream gurus at Ben and Jerry’s will be taking the original Half Baked out behind the shed and putting it out of its misery.

Anyways, the peanut butter and chocolate ice creams blend together quite nicely – shocker. The peanut butter ice cream is a bit richer than it normally is in Ben and Jerry’s, and it packs a big flavor.

However, while the flavors blended well, I found the ice cream mix to be a bit inconsistent. I had two pints, and both times I found that there’s always some point in my and my spoon’s journey to the bottom of the container where the chocolate ice cream becomes the dominant presence, and peanut butter takes a backseat.

This was vexing, since it’s nice to have the consistent opportunity to get a bite that is equal parts PB and chocolate ice creams. Thankfully this problem doesn’t resonate with the brownie pieces and cookie dough globs. They are quite common throughout the pint, and if anybody is complaining there wasn’t enough… Well, then they’re a Greedy Greg.

The peanut butter cookie dough is hands down the highlight of the ice cream. It tastes like those simple yet delicious peanut butter cookies we’ve all had at one point, and they are huge. And I mean HUGE. Like, huge where you’ll wonder if the cookie dough was injected with some kind of steroid. Though we know it’s not, since Ben and Jerry’s is all about fair trade, using eggs from cage-free chickens, and rBGH-free milk. But, in the offshoot chance there was a steroid injection, I’m not complaining.

The brownies are also good-sized as well. They have a rich, fudge-y flavor and are softer and chewier than I remember the original Half Baked ones to be.

I told myself not to get attached to this one, since, being a Limited Batch, it’s merely a fleeting affair, but damn it, we can only be so strong! I’ve allowed Peanut Butter Half Baked not only into my life, but into my soul, my very being. I’ve morphed into a modern Sméagol, with a pint of ice cream serving as The One Ring. I haven’t had a pint in a couple days now, and I’m feeling it. I break out in cold sweats, get all itchy, and punch people in random fits of anger.

Yep, time for a return trip to ice cream rehab.

(Nutrition Facts – 1/2 cup – 280 calories, 130 calories from fat, 14 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 25 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein, 8% vitamin A, 10% calcium, and 8% iron.)

Item: Ben & Jerry’s Limited Batch Peanut Butter Half Baked Ice Cream
Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: 1 pint
Purchased at: Wegmans
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Ice creams blend well together. Brownie and peanut butter cookie dough are plentiful, and cookie dough pieces are HUGE. Watching Netflix documentaries while lounging in UGG slippers.
Cons: Chocolate ice cream can be dominating at times. Is a limited batch. Getting cold turkey symptoms from ice cream withdrawal. Hershey denying us Cadbury chocolate.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

REVIEW: Nabisco Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreo Cookies

Marvo / February 3, 2015 / Reviews / 25 Comments

Red velvet cake is a dessert with cocoa undertones, cream cheese frosting, and has enough red food coloring to make the Kool-Aid Man bust through the wall of a bakery and say, “Oh no!”

Red velvet cake has seen a significant rise in popularity among companies that don’t make actual red velvet cakes. With each Valentine’s season there have been more and more red velvet-flavored products. There have been red velvet (Insert products here, I’m pretty sure they exist). It’s gotten to the point when St. Valentine’s Day should also be known as Red Velvetine’s Day. One of the products you can buy this season to celebrate Red Velvetine’s Day is the Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreo Cookies.

After opening its package, I was greeted with a sweet and tangy, but slightly weird aroma. As I inhaled more, I could get more of the cocoa notes and it was as this point I thought, “This is probably what a red velvet Yankee Candle smells like.”

I love the look of these cookies. Nabisco pumped enough Red 40 dye into the cookie dough to turn the iconic chocolate Oreo wafer from dark brown to this luxurious dark red. It’s the first new Oreo color and flavor since the Golden Oreo. Sandwiched between the two red cookies is an off-white cream cheese-flavored creme, and on the edges of the creme are crumbs from the cookie. I’m not sure if the crumbs were intentional or the result of being transported thousands of miles, but it does add to the looks of these cookies.

As I mentioned before, the red chocolate cookies are not just a different color than the standard Oreo chocolate cookie, they also have a different flavor. The red Oreo wafer has a more subdued cocoa flavor and doesn’t have the slight bitterness the original Oreo wafer has.

With its sweetness and tanginess, the cream cheese-flavored creme does a good job of emulating red velvet cake’s cream cheese frosting. But, at times, while licking the creme, I could’ve sworn the cream cheese-flavor morphed into an artificial butter flavor. So if you’re an obsessive Oreo creme licker, you have been warned. But when I eat a cookie whole, I don’t notice any artificial butter flavor.

I really like the Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreo Cookies, but I don’t love them enough that I would buy a package every year, if they’re brought back. But they do a very good job at imitating the flavors (and colors) of a red velvet cake, and if you’re a fan of red velvet cake, I think these will bring you happiness.

Disclosure: I received a free Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreo Cookies sample from Nabisco. Receiving a free sample did not influence my review. I was not monetarily compensated for this review and you should not trust blogs that are monetarily compensated for reviews.

(Nutrition Facts – 2 cookies – 140 calories, 60 calories from fat, 7 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 60 milligrams of sodium, 50 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 13 grams of sugar, and less than 1 gram of protein.)

Item: Nabisco Limited Edition Red Velvet Oreo Cookies
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 10.7 oz.
Purchased at: Received from Nabisco
Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Very good job at imitating the flavors and colors of a red velvet cake. Red wafers lack the slight bitterness regular Oreo wafers have. New cookie flavor and color.
Cons: Package is 10.7 oz instead of the 12.2 ounces with other limited edition Oreo. At times, when being licked, the creme might taste like artificial butter flavoring. Some might think it’s not too different in flavor from regular Oreo cookies. Not shaped like hearts.

Cookies Nabisco Oreo

REVIEW: Yoplait Original Cookies ‘n Cream Yogurt

Marvo / February 2, 2015 / Reviews / 4 Comments

Yoplait has a habit of turning desserts into yogurt flavors. However, the desserts are almost always cakes, pies, and other baked goods.

Off the top of my head that’s filled with useless information, Yoplait offers Key Lime Pie, Boston Creme Pie, Raspberry Cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake, Red Velvet Cupcake, Cinnamon Roll, Lemon Cream Pie, Blueberry Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Black Forest Cake, and Cherry Cobbler flavored yogurts.

While there are a lot of baked goods flavors, there aren’t many Yoplait flavors based on ice cream. There’s just Orange Creme and now the new Yoplait Original Cookies ‘n Cream Yogurt.

After I peeled back the foil lid, it was as if I was staring at the fur of the unluckiest Dalmatian ever. There are tiny dark specks in the yogurt that have no texture, but I’m not sure what they are. The ingredients list doesn’t show anything that would suggest there’s chocolate cookie crumbs. But vanilla bean is listed. So those dark specks could be tiny bits of vanilla bean.

The yogurt smells like vanilla ice cream, but when I take a spoonful, I don’t instantly think of cookies ‘n cream. Instead, I think of regular vanilla yogurt. But if I think harder, it does begin to taste like vanilla ice cream. But, no matter how hard I try, I couldn’t taste chocolate cookies. The yogurt does have a light artificial banana-ish aftertaste, but that’s not cookies.

I’m surprised Yoplait didn’t include chocolate cookie crumbs in this yogurt to make the cookie flavor stand out. If this was a Yoplait Light Yogurt, I would understand it probably has something to do with fat, sugar, and calories. But this isn’t a Yoplait Light, this is sugary, YOLO Yoplait Original Yogurt. Sugar be damned!

Of course, chocolate cookie crumbs might get soggy sitting in yogurt for weeks. But if we can put a man on the moon, create computers that fit into our pockets, and make breakfast cereal that will remain crunchy weeks after it’s been opened, I’m sure it’s possible to make chocolate cookie crumbs that don’t get soggy in yogurt.

Yoplait Original Cookies ‘n Cream Yogurt is okay, but with its lack of chocolate cookie flavor, it really should’ve been called Yoplait Original Vanilla Milkshake Yogurt.

(Nutrition Facts – 170 calories, 15 calories from fat, 1.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 85 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein, 15% vitamin A, 20% vitamin D, 20% calcium, and 15% phosphorus.)

Item: Yoplait Original Cookies ‘n Cream Yogurt
Purchased Price: 74 cents
Size: 6 oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 6 out of 10
Pros: Made with vanilla bean. Smells like vanilla ice cream and at times tastes like vanilla ice cream. No HFCS.
Cons: Doesn’t taste like cookies ‘n cream because it lacks chocolate cookie flavor. Dark specks have no texture. Odd to have a light artificial banana aftertaste. No chocolate cookie crumbs.

Yogurt Yoplait