Looks: Mushrooms are MIA. Sauce is much too watery. Chicken-to-noodle ratio is far too low. 3 out of 5
Taste: Bland, but the chicken was nice and juicy. The vegetables were still quite crisp, which somewhat made up for the overcooked and mushy noodles. Not a keeper. 2 out of 5
Looks: Everything’s on the up-and-up, except for the usual problem that the directions instruct you to stir the meal, but the meal on the box is obviously not stirred. Come on! 4.5 out of 5
Taste: When I saw “five-spice” on the box, I expected something spicy. (Five-spicy, to be exact.) But the sauce had no spice, only sweetness – it tasted and smelled like gingerbread cookies. Also, the beef was dry, as most microwave beef is, and the rest of the ingredients had no taste except for the overwhelming sauce. (Note: the ingredients list does not list “beef”; it lists “cooked beef and binder product.” Take that for what you will.) 2.5 out of 5
Looks: Small differences: the eggs are not so cheesy in real life, and the apples lack any sort of sauce or extra moisture. If you squint, the two pictures look pretty much the same. 4 out of 5
Taste: Good, and good for you!
Just kidding. The eggs were dry and uncheesy; the potatoes were rubbery and tasteless. The sad little apple pieces were actually the best part of this meal, but that’s not saying much at all. Nothing tasted terrible, and if I was in a hurry and really needed to get my cholesterol levels up, this would be an ok choice. Other than that exact situation, I can’t see ever eating this again. 1.5 out of 5
Looks: The chicken pieces aren’t as large or as plentiful as pictured, and the sauce is much more prominent. The vegetables and overall portion size are close enough. 4 out of 5
Taste: I liked this one a lot – the rice was cooked just so, and the chicken was juicy. The vegetables were just the right amount of crunchy, but he sauce was maybe a little too sweet. (Although, in all my years, I’ve never tasted the “sour” of “sweet and sour” chicken. Is there something wrong with me?) 4.5 out of 5
Preaching truth to packaging. Pictures of packaged food, cooked to specifications, compared to the photo on the box.
