Taste Test - Calbee Whole Cuts

You remember potato sticks? I do. There were small strips of potatoes cut in a shoestring style mimicking the fries you sometimes see, or used to in some restaurants. They were small and only in regular salted varieties. I saw these snacks and it brought back nostalgia since I haven't seen those in a while. These aren't in a can but I feel like it is the same main idea.

Let's start with the packaging, these ain't ya momma's potato sticks. These come in a nice new foil bag and on the front you will notice the bevy of 'health' information such as the fact that these are Gluten free. This is a big deal because instead of having to fight for space in the aisle with chips and cheetos, these stand out when worked in with the other Gluten Free items. Opening it up you can see it's a little less than half filled, and while I could punish an entire bag easily, it's actually not a bad size. Break them up into baggies or eat a few at a time and it works just fine, and that's almost certainly because these are pretty much regular sized fries.

That's a good thing about these. You get a really good crunch and bite. It's almost like the best part of a kettle cooked chip with less difficulty eating them. I know several people who aren't fans of kettle chips because they find them hard to eat, harsh on the teeth and inside of the mouth. These are really satisfying in a lot of ways.

As for flavors, we tried Salt and Vinegar and Bacon Cheddar varieties. I have to say we all preferred the salt and vinegar because they had more flavor. It's a real balancing act with a product like this that seems to be trying to be somewhat healthy for you in some ways and since they are doing that, the flavor powder has to be managed carefully. With that the bacon cheddar has the faintest hint of smokiness and maybe a little bit of cheese taste. It's too muted for my liking. The salt and vinegar isn't as imposing as some salt and vinegar can be but provides more of what you want and works well with the potato.


At almost 3 bucks for regular price, these aren't the worst deal you can get in the category but on sale for 2 bucks it works out fine. The original sea salt is probably a good flavor because salt works in general. If you're a decent enough fan of salt and vinegar you shouldn't be disappointed by that either. The Bacon and Cheddar overall is a miss for me and that brings the grade down somewhat.


Rating: 4/5

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Taste Test - Yoplait 'Oui' French Style Yogurt

Yoplait is trying to step up and not get beat anymore in the Yogurt wars. They were late to the party on the Greek train and it has been rolling along for some time now. Since us Americans apparently act like we like food from other places, they have dropped French style yogurt on us to try and get some attention and thunder from the other brands like Chobani that have been kicking their butt.

The first thing that you notice is the glass jar that the yogurt comes in with it's unique foil label. It is designed to stand out and get your attention immediately. Like some of the new plastic cups you can see the fruit mix-ins if those are the varieties that you choose to try.

Opening it up, the yogurt itself is slightly different than a normal Yoplait cup. It's almost like there is a touch of the whipped style that they also sell, but it isn't all of the way there. It's a 'heartier' consistency for those who aren't fond of whipped yogurt. The taste is also a little bit different. I feel as though it straddles the line between our "American" style and Greek yogurt. It's not as sweet as the normal Yoplait and not as tangy as Greek and that is a good thing to me. I dislike Greek yogurt because I don't like the taste although I think that people like the benefit of less sugar and higher protein from it.

As something different, it fits the bill and seems like it could be a good move in direction, but maybe for all the traditional Yoplait, not as it's own category. I'm not sure how well this will go over especially when looking at the fact it also seems to be less friendly to the environment because it comes in the glass jar. I am already saving mine to recycle somehow because it seems like a waste of material. The taste is fine if for some reason you don't like regular yogurt or Greek. Try it while you have coupons and the offers are out there to get one for free if you're really interested.


Rating: 2.5/5

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Taste Test - Biena Chickpea Snacks - Honey Roasted

Healthy snacking is the thing we are all looking for right, less salt, more protein, different flavors right? What's more unique than chickpeas which are a staple of today's snack world with the massive varieties of hummus that are in your local store's cases these days. You can even get hummus in the snack aisle with small sets of Pita chips perfect for lunches. Why not try a new snack that seems to be bridging the gap for people as they move into healthier and more varied lifestyles. To that end, these Chickpea snacks caught my attention and the flavor varieties made me interested enough to give them a try.


Now, I'm not a guy who eats chickpeas on any regular basis, or ever at this point so this is an entirely new experience for me to try these. For nutrition, a serving contains 5 grams of protein which means as a snack it will fill you up for a little bit longer than say chips. It also includes some fiber and the package says they have less fat than peanuts. It would be easy to blow through the entire bag because they are very poppable and crunchy. The honey roasted flavor is very good and present in every single bite. These aren't just drizzled with honey and roasted, they are fully covered and that is a tremendous positive.

Now for the one negative that I have before I wrap up, these chickpeas are a little bit gritty as you chew them up. Now when you eat them, I think the issue is that they do have less fat than comparable peanuts or cashews. Those fats aren't necessarily a bad thing and I feel like the chickpeas could benefit from them slightly which would make them a little bit smoother to eat. With that said, I haven't stopped eating them since I picked up the bag so something is working. With a large variety of flavors from Honey Roasted, Barbecue, Habanero, Cinnamon Crunch, and Ranch, there is something for everyone. They are also releasing chocolate covered varieties soon. I think they are worth a try.


Rating: 3/5

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Taste Test - Ice and Pan Rolled Ice Cream

I'm a little bit late on this trend but I was in the area and there was a place that makes one of the new hot trends of the dessert world, rolled ice cream. Rolled ice cream is cool mainly because of the way it looks both as its made and as you take it and eat it. I wondered if there was any noticeable difference in taste and I will say not particularly.

Ice and Pan is in Town town center locally and they also have smoothies and bubble tea. I was there for one reason and chose to get strawberry cheesecake flavored ice cream. The biggest fun is watching them spread and mix the cream and items together on the cold drum. My daughter got a birthday cake flavor and they mixed in vanilla base and sprinkles. The proces takes about 5 minutes and then you're allowed three toppings from the bar. I got strawberries and frosted flakes.

The ice cream itself is fine. It's nothing great and it's not bad. It's just regular ice cream and while the products may be somewhat freshly made, the freezing process makes a lot of that not matter. At the end of the day, it was a decent cup of ice cream, it looks cool and it's not too expensive at 5 bucks.

Rating:3/5

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Taste Test - Cool Haus Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Sandwich

Coolhaus is one of the hippest new craft ice cream companies and as they grow, items that have been maybe in other locations are starting to make their way here. Enter the Coolhaus Ice cream sandwich, which I must say is a pricey summer treat if you can find it. In my area, they are only at Harris Teeter and regular price for a single one is over 5 dollars! Catching it on sale I had to grab one and give it the once over and see what it tastes like.


The Ice cream sandwich is actually a nice size upon further reflection on it. It is packed with more ice cream than a traditional chipwich. The ice cream layer is nice and thick and it is high quality vanilla bean ice cream. The cookie is thin and chewy, which is good. Some of the cookie ice cream sandwiches can be too hard and thick to be useful. However, it's not all good. The cookie is pretty much flavorless as are the chocolate chips which means you don't get anything to enhance, or balance the vanilla ice cream. That leaves me with a treat that is 85% of the way there but missing one thing that would make it really stand out and that's a little bit unfortunate. Truthfully for the price, the cookie needs to be a little bit more special, with some chunks and sea salt to enhance the ice cream.

Rating: 3/5

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Taste Test - Sunset Raw Acai Bowl and Smoothies

This is a sort of an odd review. It is a hybrid restaurant review, a little bit, and a taste test of the products at this new entry to the eateries in Owings Mills, Maryland's Foundry Row development. Unlike a lot of the shops over at Foundry Row, this is a smaller business that isn't a huge corporation. I was excited to be able to come in and try these bowls because I have seen them on instagram but never had a place to go and actually try one until now.

Sunset Raw is sparse on the interior but it also seems to fit with the healthy concept. There is a bar seating area for ordering and enjoying as well as a few tables and chairs both inside and outside. They also have a cooler for their prepared juices which you can buy to go and looking at their social media pages, they have been successful with that part of the business for sure. Ordering was quick and painless and I chose to try the sunshine acai bowl while my kids both went with mango smoothies.

My son for some reason had a problem with his drink, I wouldn't put much stock in it however because he still drank it. I think it was the idea that dates are in it and he doesn't know what they actually are. My daughter who is the smoothie expert said the smoothie was filling and good, however she still prefers Tropical smoothie cafe and another local place, The Flying Avocado better. I ordered the sunshine acai bowl which comes with bananas, blueberries, strawberries, coconut flakes and granola. I passed on the coconut but had everything else.

It's always a big question when trying something you have never had when you don't know what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised by this. The acai berry mixture reminds me of a slightly "grape" flavored strawberry concoction. It tastes good, and just very normal. The granola settled in just underneath the layer of fruit and you get some with every spoonful of acai. It's weird, just because this is pretty much a smoothie, but you're using a spoon. The fruit was fresh and blended well with the 'smoothie' mixture. That's the biggest rub for me, it's kind of hard to eat, especially in this large container. I live maybe 5 minutes away and the melt by the time I got home was a little bit much. There is also no way to really save it for later, I have it in the freezer, but I don't want it to completely freeze. This might be a good item to share with another, especially when coupled with the prices which are a bit high for a smoothie concoction. Acai bowls are about $10-$12 and smoothies are close to 9 bucks starting out. It's not a budget friendly item. However, other than that, everything was solid overall.


Rating: 4/5

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Taste Test - Store brand Lava Cake

I picked this product up just wandering through the aisles of Giant food, however it isn't unique to this chain. There are also variations on this every from Harris Teeter to Safeway. It's a smart move by the stores to get a simple version of popular desserts for those who aren't the most inclined to break out the cookbook and a mixer. Just grab one of these bags, pour and bake and by the time your favorite show goes onto their first commercial break, you have dessert.

Now aside from Salted Caramel Lava cakes, there is a chocolate lava cake option available but I haven't seen it in stock at my local Giant recently. A third variety, your basic chocolate brownie also exists though I haven't ever tried that. As for the chocolate lava cake and the salted caramel variety, they are incredibly simple to use. Preheat your oven, grease your muffin pan and cut open the bag and pour, but only after squeezing it for a little while to make sure the ingredients haven't settled. In ten minutes, you have a nice dessert that might normally take an hour or so to mix and bake altogether. Now I have made chocolate lava cakes before and the chocolate variety from this bag is decent, if not completely as 'fresh' and bright as from scratch is. Also, making them from scratch gives you a slightly more molten core than these do.

As for the salted caramel, they taste just fine if maybe slightly dull. You would expect the salt to pop a little more and the caramel to be a little bit 'lighter' but we are looking at a prepackaged dessert here. I have never made a salted caramel cake, though I have made salted caramel to go on top of cupcakes and for icing so I can't say whether or not the cake itself should have more or less flavor but the filling I feel like could have had more differentiation and taste to it. As it stands these are a nice quick stand in for people who aren't cooks or who want something that is extremely quick. You can't beat ten minutes and one pan getting dirty when it comes to opportunity cost. Pair with some ice cream and you are good to go. If you have some cherries and whipped cream and you have just capped off a great meal with minimal work and that raises the rating on this.

Rating: 3.5/5

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Taste Test - DRINKmaple Pure Maple Water

So I heard about this on a food marketing podcast and filed it away to take a look around and taste it if possible. I first tried some of the stores more known for the organic and varied selections like Harris Teeter and Wegmans. I also checked shoppers which surprisingly has a lot of new items almost as soon as they hit the shelves. No luck until i happened to amble down the organic section at my local Giant food and well, score one for the hometown leader. I grabbed the bottle and figured I'll get everyone to try it or just use it around a day at the track.

We didn't get that far. My wife tried a Core watermelon juice or something and didn't like it. It was the Stevia. My son ended up drinking it...because juice. So after that I grabbed the maple water out of the fridge and passed it around for a taste. Now, it is interesting. I mean it's water, so there isn't a lot of flavor to it and there is only one ingredient, pure maple water. You know what you're getting. It does taste fresh...like fresh tree, with a hint of maple. It's just odd. Now we didn't drink it all, and I still plan to go and try it during a workout and see what it does but just as a beverage....I don't see it. It's just too odd, and maybe thats double for me because I dislike flavored water in general but I could see how when thirsty, the maple in this could be helpful to when trying to recharge the muscles. Otherwise, I couldn't see myself using this in any other context.


Rating: 2/5

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Taste Test - Quaker Overnight Oats

If you have any semi-health conscious friends you most likely have heard or seen something about overnight oats somewhere. One of the latest trends in health and nutrition, you will see plenty of options and recipes on pinterest for add-ins and methods. Why not, it's simple, takes little work and on the surface makes a lot of sense. Not content to just sell you regular oatmeal, the Quaker company has decided to make it even easier for you by packaging their oatmeal and some toppings for you. For those of us who are skeptical, this might make some sense, especially if you don't normally keep oatmeal around, so here is a review of Quaker overnight oats, Raisin, Walnut, & Honey Heaven.


These small Quaker cups will be found in the cereal aisle and tied in somewhere around the dairy at a lot of stores. There are four flavor combinations, Orchard Peach Pecan perfection, Blueberry Banana and Vanilla Bliss, Toasted Coconut and Almond Crunch, and the aforementioned Raisin Walnut & Honey Heaven. None of these is too crazy and should fit into the mass market of the health conscious pretty easily. I do wonder what the need is for the adjectives at the end of each flavor set.




At 2.61 ounces, each cup is a single serving of 300 calories (before dairy). Instructions are simple, add your choice of milk or yogurt, let sit overnight, at least 6 hours and enjoy at your leisure. I must admit, cold oats is an odd sensation at first when your mind has you used to warm/hot oatmeal. Now, you can warm this up in the microwave if you want to take some of the chill off but you don't want to 'cook' it by heating it too much. Here is why, after trying these I realize that you get a firmer texture when you haven't cooked the oats and broken them down. It is a very satisfying feeling to chew on and once you get past the temperature it's actually very good. After trying it I get it. Now as for the flavor of this particular brand, maybe I didn't mix it well but it seemed a little bit dull for the most part. The bottom seemed to have more taste to it and the raisins and walnuts bring something to it but are a little bit skimpy. It also isn't going to fill you up at this size.


I never really thought that I would like overnight oats but Quaker has managed to bring me into the folkd with an easy way to give it a try without too much work. While it isn't enough to replace a breakfast, as a meal combination of some sort, or to have a few sitting around as a mid-day snack if you take them to work, these cups aren't a bad idea, even if the value probably isn't the highest. I do wonder how they will taste with maybe yogurt, I don't really do soy or almond milk but they can probably bring something else to the table. I might not fill it up to the line the next time either because it was slightly more watery than I would have liked but that was fine in the end. If you're scared to try overnight oats, maybe give Quaker a try.


Rating: 3.5/5

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Taste Test - Dooby's Donuts

Local restaurant Dooby's is a local Korean inspired breakfast place in central Baltimore. Now I haven't been to experience the full menu but there is one thing that they have started that has had me running to their stand at the Farmer's Market on Sundays in downtown Baltimore, their special donuts. They call it "Sunday's bakehouse" and they create sweets that are limited for the restaurant. One trend that I am loving, is these new independent donut makers so I had to make sure I got a chance to try these out.

Overall all of Dooby's donuts start with the same base, a yeast donut with some filling and at times an iced topping. The first variety that I had the pleasure of tasting was French Toast. This was a donut with simple sugar and cinnamon on the top and a sweet pastry cream filling that was excellent. They also had a Dirty Chai tea flavor which my sister and mother both said were excellent.




This past week I was looking forward to trying their oatmeal cream pie variety but they weren't available at the farmer's market (it might behoove me to actually head to the restaurant). However I was able to get the Dunkaroos and Cosmic Brownie varieties as the theme this week was a visit to the childhood of a kid who grew up in the 90's. The dunkaroos donut was pretty good, a cinnamon and sugar donut with cream that was to be just like the frosting from the kid's snack. Now, for me the cream was a little bit off. This was more cream cheese and the dunkaroos I remember was more Duncan and Hines cake frosting taste. It wasn't bad but it was off just slightly. The Cosmic Brownie was good especially if you like chocolate, and I was especially fond of the milk chocolate mousse-like filling. It paired well with the other flavors.

Now I don't want to forget the actual donut itself. The donuts are fluffy and springy. They have a nice bite to them and just a hint of both doughiness and flavor. It's really hard to describe and quantify, but it serves as a good base for whatever flavor they want to throw onto them.


The flavors can vary wildly at times but I think that most of the time there is something for everyone at Dooby's when they decide to make donuts. If you're ever at the Farmer's Market on a Sunday be sure to stop by and pick up a couple and maybe even be better than me and actually head over to Dooby's for a full meal.

Rating: 4/5

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Restaurant Review - Matchbox American Kitchen

There are a lot of smaller local chains that are around these days. Restauranteurs are getting much better with getting a concept up and running and having the process worked out much more quickly in the past. This allows them to try and stay around with economies of scale and to return some of the money to investor much more quickly. Matchbox American kitchen fits into that mold. With not more than a handful of locations, they are prevalent enough to be accessible, yet somewhat special. At least that's the goal.

Matchbox fits right into the mold of too many new restaurants. Exposed steel, reclaimed wood, very hipster chic. I get why, it looks clean and nice, and is less expensive than other designs. However, at this point, it's not a really good way to separate yourself visually from the swaths of other restaurants selling new age 'pub fare' or bar food. This particular location located in Rockville, MD was fine, but it didn't seem too inviting overall. For comparison, I would look to Iron Rooster which is very similar but has more down home colors that bring it some warmth as opposed to the red of Matchbox.


Outside of the decor, the menu is standard fare and my wife started with cream of crab soup. The soup was nice in it's flavor and the amount of crab. No complaints. However it did come out lukewarm, for her that's fine but if I had ordered it I would want it to be actually a hot bowl. I ordered a double pepperoni brick oven pizza. My wife ordered a burger which came with a ridiculous mountain of onion straws. The onions were good though, nice flavor and texture but in my mind the presentation was crazy overdone. I don't need that many onion straws, it seems like it could be very wasteful. They also put a little bit too much arugula on the burger itself. My pizza was somewhat disappointing. The pepperoni was very good. It definitely was the star of the show because the sauce was boring and the crust was bland as well. Regarding the preparation, the crust wasn't as crispy as I would like it to be in the middle.


Matchbox might have had an off day in terms of preparation. That happens. However I don't know if the food itself warrants giving them a second chance. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't groundbreaking either. For my pizza I would prefer to go to Blaze or somewhere like that which is less expensive but tastes better to me. The soup was good, but lukewarm and the burger, while presented nice, and decent flavor, doesn't do enough to warrant a repeated visit. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and other times...it just is. This was one of those times. The one thing that does still interest me, is the opportunity to try their short ribs....I am there for that.


Rating: 3/5

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Taste Test - Jeni's Splendid Ice cream

It's been way too long but I'm back and with a good one. The small batch ice cream wars are in full effect. Much like the boom in micro-brews in the beer space, small artisan ice cream manufacturers are around in a great abundance. Using better, more local ingredients, they often have more unique flavors and less of the 'bad' things in them. I mean it is ice cream so it isn't going to be 'healhy' per se, but their size allows them to focus more on each container. Jeni's is a brand from Ohio I have always wanted to order but haven't just because of the logistics and timing of an ice cream delivery. Thus i was incredibly excited when I saw it in my local Wegmans.

Now the flavor selection of course is smaller in Wegmans than if I went directly to the site and ordered it but that's fine. Now the one thing that I might have done is chosen a flavor that seemed to be the hardest one to really rate, Vanilla. See for the most part vanilla is kind of the same everywhere and somewhat plain, however, as a base you can learn a lot about a brand with this one simple flavor. No one dislikes vanilla and some of the other flavors can sometimes lead to decisions based on that set of flavors and  I wanted to get a feel for how Jeni's just tastes on it's own. Also, be clear, this isn't just plain vanilla, this is Ndali Estate Vanilla.

Now, this one pint is a bit expensive at 7.99, but it is a premium brand and needs to be compared as such. To compare, the same size container goes for $12 on Jeni's website, which has an absolute smorgasboard of flavors. So with this I'm comparing Jeni's to Ben and Jerrys and Haagen Daz's for example. This is a good vanilla ice cream. It's not overly "vanilla beaned" where you see beans all over the place. It is strong in the beginning yet it fades nicely and gets really subtle at the end with a hint of nuttiness. It has a nice texture as well. Let me compare to Haagen Daz which can be slightly overwhelming and too sweet and strong. They are overly rich, while Jeni's gives you a nicer balance. Now trust me, I wasn't born knowing the difference, but just tasting Jeni's, some haagen daz recently, and my old mainstream favorite Green's ice cream you start to be able to pick out some things.


For myself, this is one of the better premium ice creams out there. I think it would pair well in a cherry coke float (yeah I don't drink root beer) and some kinds of apple pie. I was impressed at how it didn't coat my tongue over like some other premium brands do with extra richness. There was a good balance of flavors here which leads me to be sure I'm going to try the other flavors that are available locally.


Rating: 4.5/5

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Taste Test - Southern Culture Artisan Foods Pancakes

In my internet travels I happened upon this company one day and was immediately intrigued by the items that they sell. I first saw their southern grits on a website but not long after, came upon their wide variety of pancake mix flavors. The site was amazing looking so I decided to give them an order and check them out. (Let that be a lesson, presentation matters). I realized later that the founder had been on Shark Tank and the Sunday I tried my first two varieties, the episode with the founder came on CNBC, it must be destiny!

So this week, I tried the Banana pudding and strawberry shortcake flavors. I also have in my cabinet, regular Vanilla and Bourbon Salted Pecan which I have to try. Now I mention these four flavors because the line of pre-made pancake and waffle mixes that Southern Culture offers is pretty large. Check out their shop and just see how many they have, you could be trying them out for months, I will have a link to them below.

The canisters that I received were the smaller sizes and each is good for about 12 pancakes which means a family of four can each have a short stack for sunday breakfast. Now compared to the Aunt Jemima's of the world, it seems to be a bit pricey. These were each about 8 bucks before shipping. However, that would be cheaper than IHOP or most other chains and restaurants that have flavored pancakes. The other positive is that many of the flavors can also be made in an acceptable manner for Vegans.

After all of that, let's talk about the pancakes themselves, the formula is pretty simple, add eggs, butter, and milk if you choose to go the traditional route and drop them onto your griddle. The one thing that I didn't expect was the little bits and pieces that are in the mix. The strawberry shortcake pancakes show you little pieces of strawberries that you taste once you bite into them. The banana pudding variety has little pieces of vanilla wafers maybe, or something that gives you a slight little flavor kick. Unfortunately, I do mean 'slight'. The one issue that I have with these pancakes is that the flavor profile is very subtle. Now some of that can be attributed to the natural ingredients, sure, they don't come through as prominently as artificial ones, but it just seemed to lack a little bit of punch on their own. Now I could see a scenario where one would take the Banana Pudding pancakes, make them and then top with some sliced bananas and whipped cream and have something really special, but just for myself I did expect it to stand out a little more.


In the end I didn't think that the Shortstacks Pancake and Waffle Mix was bad, it did let me down somewhat and maybe that was my own faulty expectations. With two down and two to go I have a better frame of what to expect even if I would still like a larger hit of flavor and ability to really taste something different. I also still have a desire to try the other southern favorites like grits and fried chicken batter. If you are bringing the family together with some toppings and some time, it can be a great party where the pancakes are the center of the family. However, just eating them they didn't bring the quite what I was expecting and that's unfortunate.

Rating: 2.5/5

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Restaurant Review - Chicken Shak

So There is a nice little location in Reisterstown that has been home to several small restaurants over the past few years. I couldn't tell you why so many don't last other than the fact that most restaurants in general fail. However, I have high hopes for the latest tenant in the space, Chicken Shak, a mix of Peruvian style charcoal chicken, and local style "pit" meat sandwiches. My wife and I went in recently to check it out.

First of all Chicken Shak is not to be confused with a small Michigan based chain called Chicken Shack. This is a brand new idea that mixes one of the new hot sensations at least in this area, of Peruvian charbroiled chicken and a Maryland staple of pit beef, turkey, and pulled chicken. The menu is a little bit large and includes Whole, Quarter, and Half chickens, chicken tacos, salads, salmon, and the aforementioned pit beef and turkey. Then there are the sides which are pretty numerous with cole slaw, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli, and different kinds of rice.

For our meal My wife and I split a chicken which is cooked nicely, it has great charcoal and smoke flavor through the meat and the white meat is moist which can be tricky with chicken. My wife was especially impressed with the seasoning blend on the skin of the chicken. My chicken had some extra sauce on it which I dipped my chicken in and it was good and enhanced the flavor. It tastes like the seasoning blend from the chicken in a liquid form. I like the broccoli as well which wasn't mushy and did have some flavor to it. The cole slaw wasn't my wife's favorite, it was a bit tart for her.

For the kids they had BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches. The chicken was the same as the charbroil chicken that I had but pulled apart and put together like a traditional pulled chicken sandwich. The sauce is sweet and reminds of something like Sweet Baby Ray's. But mixed with the good flavor of the chicken it works really well. it is served with home made kettle style chips. They are thick cut and a little on the burnt side, which I like, but they weren't even mine and I might have eaten too many. They could cut back on how many they give, and maybe cook a little lighter, but it wasn't bad.

Chicken Shak is a nice new restaurant with a good product. I will be going back to give the pit sandwiches a try and to see what they do with the Salmon. They are just getting started so there are some service kinks, however when they get over that hump things should be good for them. The food I tasted was good and unique and a worthy competitor to the places already in the market. The restaurant has a nice clean design and incorporates a lot of the modern design that is going on in the market place.


Rating: 4/5

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Taste Test - Blue Bunny Bunny Snacks

With Spring right around the corner, Blue Bunny has brought out their latest creation, a set of ice cream treats perfectly made as individual servings for parties or just to hang out and chow down on as a little treat now and then. Blue Bunny mixes their high quality ice cream with hard shell toppings and cookies for a sundae experience within a couple of bites.

The two varieties I grabbed this week were salty caramel pretzel cookies and cream. Let's talk about the cookies and cream first, the shell that is on the outside of the snacks is pretty good. It has a nice taste to it as well as crunch. it also doesn't melt really fast which is an excellent thing in a snack like this. The one issue that I do have is that the cookie portion over shadows the cookies and cream ice cream. It feels overdone and the balance is slightly off.

The Salted Caramel Pretzel is also pretty good. It reminds me of the older Snickers Ice Cream bars a lot. The pretzels and salted caramel do a good job of replacing the peanuts in those. In this snack the balance is a lot better to me. The ice cream fills out the snack and has a nice smoothness and flavor to it. It's nothing that's great and overwhelming but it's a solid product.

The packaging is unique as well and it is worth noting. The bags stand up in the freezer and have a zipper to close them for simple portion control snacking. that makes them good for single adults, couples, and people with kids whom they are monitoring. They could be good for a party as well as they come individually wrapped, and at about $1,25 each, it's not too bad of a price per each.


Rating: 3.5/5

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Taste Test - Snyders Wholey Cheese Crackers

Casual snacking is always going to be competitive, with that said Snyders of Hanover, an East Coast brand that primarily focuses on pretzels has started to move a bit further out of their niche. To that end they have developed a new competitor for Cheez-its with this new snack cracker.

The snyder's wholey cheese has three varieties Cheddar, smoked gouda, and what has to be my favorite of any chip varieties in years, swiss and black pepper. The crackers are light and airy (and somewhat fragile). They are also full of flavor. The smoked Gouda are pretty good, with solid flavor, although it is slightly a bit salty and should be slightly more smoky for my tastes. Each cracker gets covered in dust unlike a lot of snacks these days. They offer up a satisfying crunch and encourage more eating.

The crackers are pretty much the size as advertised on the bag, and I would have pictures but I absolutely inhaled the Swiss and Black pepper. The cheese flavor is good and the black pepper sets it off so well. One of the things I look for in a good flavored cracker or chip, is dust on the fingertips. For me it shows there is a lot of flavor packed in and I'm not being robbed. These crackers fit the bill.

There isn't really much to talk about when describing a chip most of the time, especially one when it is good and as perfect as theses. All I can say is that the Swiss and Black pepper will be in my cart almost every week from now on until I get sick of eating them and even afterward I will keep a bag on hand just in case. Snyders has a win with this one. Oh yes, they are also Gluten-free if you're into that thing.


Rating: 5/5

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