Looks: Looks like a big tub o’ goo, as if the spaghetti in the picture was stepped on by a wet boot. 2 out of 5
Taste: Looks are deceiving in this case; it’s actually very tasty. Most microwave spaghetti tends to become either over-dry and crunchy or overcooked and mushy. However, this pasta was neither too dry nor too soft, and the sauce tasted fresher than it should be allowed. 4 out of 5
Looks: The chicken is soggy, not crispy, and there aren’t any sesame seeds on it. Additionally (or subtractionally), there aren’t as many vegetables in the noodles as the box pictures. Everything else is pretty close, except that I couldn’t find the chopsticks in the box and had to go buy my own. 3.5 out of 5
Taste: The main detriment to this meal is the soggy chicken breading. It would be close to perfect if not for that, although I don’t think I’ve ever had crispy chicken come out of a microwave. The noodles are substantial, but they don’t have much of a flavor, and I would have liked to see (and taste) more vegetables. (The plum sauce beneath the chicken and noodles was surprisingly good though.) 3.5 out of 5
Looks: Once again, the box fails to account for the directions instructing the preparer to stir the meal together. When will these companies learn? Also, the noodles look more like extruded Play-Doh than the spaghetti on the packaging. 3 out of 5
Taste: Absolutely disgusting. The noodles fell apart as if I had cooked them for twice their instructed cooking time, causing the whole meal to feel like pig slop. Half of the meatballs were spongy; the other half were hard. All of them were tasteless, making me wonder just what ratio of breadcrumbs to meat Michelina’s is using in their recipe. The sauce had no redeeming qualities. There are not many meals that I can’t bear to finish, but this was definitely one of them. 0 out of 5
Preaching truth to packaging. Pictures of packaged food, cooked to specifications, compared to the photo on the box.
