Category: Dry

Simply Asia Rice Noodle Soup Bowl

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Simply Asia Rice Noodle Bowl

Looks: The noodles and broth are much yellower than pictured, and all of the vegetable pieces sank to the bottom when I stirred it. Also, no chopsticks! Do they think I just keep chopsticks around my house? I had to settle for using Q-Tips. 4 out of 5

Taste: It doesn’t really have one. The broth is non-offensive, and vaguely reminds one of chicken soup, and the noodles are filling, but tasteless. If you’re looking for a quick warm bowl of something to chew on, this is it, but if you want something tasty, look elsewhere. 2 out of 5

Knorr Rice Sides (Chicken)

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Knorr Chicken Rice Sides

Looks: The texture and rice grain size are right on, but the little orange bits on the package are really brown, and the whole dish has a slightly yellowish-green (more yellow than green) tinge that I only see when looking at it side-by-side with the packaging. 4 out of 5

Taste: There’s nothing wrong with the taste – the rice is soft but not too soft, the sauce is just the right consistency (although it took 14 minutes to cook instead of 7), but the dish doesn’t really taste of chicken. I think it tastes how “chicken flavor” is supposed to taste; much like how “blue raspberry” flavoring doesn’t taste like raspberry, but it’s a taste that is universally recognized as blue raspberry. Where was I? Oh right, it’s a pleasing dish, a good complement to a chicken entree. 4 out of 5

Weight Watchers Oatmeal and Raisin Cookie

Today, we have our first reader submission. Thanks Anne for sending in the photo and description below!

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(Oatmeal and Raisin variety pictured on the left.)

Weight Watchers Oatmeal and Raisin Cookie

“The other Weight Watcher snack products closely match the picture, so I was surprised to see such a discrepancy. The package does say that the picture is enlarged to show texture, but there isn’t much texture to begin with, nor were any of the cookies chock full of raisins either. As a cookie lover, I might as well just spring for the bad fatty oatmeal cookies or make my own with raisins a-plenty, as this package of 9 cookies was $3.49 Canadian. A poor value.”

Looks: If half of your product name is “raisin,” half of your product better be raisins. 3 out of 5

(If you’d like to submit your own Food IRL, head on over to the Reader Submission Form. Include a photo, and optionally (but ideally), a description of how the food tasted.)

Kellogg’s Special K Bar

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Special K Bar

Looks: It’s pretty close to the packaging. A few things are off: the color is a bit dark, the chocolate drizzle isn’t as uniform as advertised, and the bar’s edges are kind of rounded off. Over all though, it’s ok. 4.5 out of 5

Taste: First, I have to say, this bar is small. It’s only four inches long, and weighs in at 0.8 oz. (It’s so light that you might actually weigh less after eating it.) That put aside, it tastes surprisingly good for 90 calories. It’s chewy, with a nice, almost caramel-y flavor (although there’s no caramel in the bar), and the scent of the chocolate wafts nicely up to your nose even before you start eating it. It’s good for about four bites, so if you’re looking to get filled up, you’d be better off with a banana or an apple, but for a low-calorie sweet treat, it does the job. 4 out of 5