Golden Chocolate Oreos

My friend Paul thinks that any Oreo cookie other than the original - chocolate cookies with white creme filling - is an abomination. He’s unwilling to eat any other variety of Oreo. I’m a bit more open minded. Yes, classic Oreos are delicious. But so are Golden Oreos, as I described in my review of them way back in 2004. There’s also a variety of Golden Oreos with chocolate creme in the middle, called Golden Chocolate Oreos. I bought a bag recently to try them for the first time. Let me just say that the cookies didn’t last very long. Yea, the whole bag was gone by the next day. I’m not sure that I like them quite as much as Golden Oreos, but they’re pretty close. The chocolate creme has a nice flavor and the cookies go really well with a glass of milk. Sure, original Oreos still reign supreme, but Chocolate Crème Oreos aren’t that far behind. Come on Paul, give ‘em a try! You might just like them.

Phoood rating:

Carl's Jr. Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger

This was a total shot in the dark. I am firmly in favor of pineapple on my pizza, but would I be in favor of it on my burger?

Let me begin by saying that this burger is messy, but that doesn't make it a bad burger, just be careful in the car. At first I was not sure if the combination of flame broiled beef, Teriyaki sauce, grilled pineapple, Swiss cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato and mayo was going to terrify my taste buds or thrill them. Turns out it was a little of both. First of all, you have to like the taste of Teriyaki sauce; if that's a "yes" then you are going to like this burger. It was a nice break from the typical burgers that everyone else has, but not something I'd order every time. Carl's Jr's strength is in the variety on the menu. They don’t just copy what everyone else is doing, they try different things. Some work, some don't. This one does.

I give it a "Good" rating. I thought the mayo made the burger WAY too sloppy.

Phoood rating:

Cheetos Mighty Zingers Sharp Cheddar & Salsa Picante

Readers of this blog know that I am a Cheetos enthusiast. I can’t get enough of them, especially the crunchy variety. Well, there’s a new Cheetos for me to enjoy – Cheetos Mighty Zingers. I bought a bag of the Sharp Cheddar & Salsa Picante flavor to try (there’s also Ragin’ Canjun & Tangy Ranch flavor). They are small, crunchy Cheetos pieces about the size of popcorn. Both the size of the Cheetos and their flavor didn’t appeal to me at first, but I liked them more and more as I ate them. By the time the bag was finished, I was really liking them. The salsa picante pieces by themselves aren’t great, but when mixed with the cheddar pieces the resulting flavor is surprisingly good. Eating them with you fingers can be tedious because of their small size, which is probably why the bag they come in has a great feature that allows you to tear the corner of the bag off cleanly, without ripping the whole bag apart. The resulting aperture is perfect for pouring the Mighty Zingers into your mouth. Sit down, tip your head back, and enjoy.

Phoood rating:

Sonic Ched 'R' Peppers

Sonic Drive In is a recent discovery for me. Being a Michigan native, I would drool over the commercials every time they would air. Now that I have one just up the street, I am making it my goal to try everything on the menu. Today's experiment is the Ched 'R' Peppers, Sonic's take on jalapeno poppers. I can hear you now "jalapenos? No, no, no ... too spicy." Not true! You get a fantastic pepper and cheddar cheese flavor without the blistering heat you would normally expect. They come 4 to an order, a perfect amount for either a snack, or to add a little extra to your order. Plus they were piping hot, right from the fryer.

Phoood rating:

Baby Ruth Crisp

Baby Ruth is probably my favorite candy bar. So, when I saw new Baby Ruth Crisp at the local Kwik-E-Mart, I was curious and hesitant at the same time. I didn’t want to be disappointed by a failed attempt to recreate a classic candy bar like I have many times in the past. I bought one anyway and am glad that I did. Although the crispy wafers make it a very different eating experience compared to a regular Baby Ruth, it still has the Baby Ruth flavor that I love so much. Some crispy-type candy bars are so light and airy that they don’t have enough substance to satisfy my generous appetite. I didn’t have this complaint with Baby Ruth Crisp. I think that the Baby Ruth Crisp is so tasty that I’ll go out on a limb and say that it’s as good as the original.

Phoood rating:

Carl’s Jr. Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger

The Carl’s Jr. Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger attempts to combine two things I love, a grilled cheese sandwich and a hamburger, into one glorious cheese/bacon/hamburger sandwich. It pretty much succeeds, but not for the reason you may think. As a grilled cheese sandwich with a burger inside, it just doesn’t work. I find that grilled cheese sandwiches are so delicious because of their simplicity and how the buttered, toasted bread goes so well with the gooey, melted cheese. Adding a hamburger patty and bacon to a grilled cheese sandwich only distracts from the magic. However, part of the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger is really good – the hamburger patty, two slices of bacon, and four slices of cheese (Swiss and American). Eating them reminded me of the nirvana that is the Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack in the Box. The weakest part of the Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger is the grilled bread slices. They didn’t have much flavor and were soggy messes by the time I got the burger home to eat it (a trip of less than 5 minutes). The Grilled Cheese Bacon Burger would be better if it had a normal hamburger bun. It wouldn’t be a grilled cheese, but it would be a mighty fine hamburger.

Phoood rating:

HK Anderson Peanut Butter Filled Nuggets Original

Regardless of whether you like them or not, I think most people can appreciate the pretzel. They are easy to consume with minimal cleanup and are a foundation of the salty snack market. This widespread appeal has caused many pretzel brands and varieties to try to capture a segment of the vast market. Recently I tried one of these new varieties – well, at least new to me – and felt obligated to report the results on the premier snack review website. The product is HK Anderson Peanut Butter Filled Nuggets Original. This is not my first experience with peanut butter and pretzels. Peanut butter filled pretzel Combos were a staple of my childhood and although I enjoyed them in my youth, they're at most average peanut butter wrapped in their less-than-great pretzels, and so didn’t stick with me through the years. On the other hand, HK Anderson’s certainly will. The pretzel outside is of a perfect consistency with just the right amount of salt. Once you get through the pretzel shell, the moist peanut butter will simple melt in your mouth. Pop one in and suck on it until it dissolves in your mouth or grab a handful and throw them into your mouth – either way you can’t go wrong.

Phoood rating:

Sun Chips Peppercorn Ranch

The whole business model behind Sun Chips has always seemed a little funny to me. They market themselves as the healthy chip, which is pretty much an oxymoron, but apparently an effective strategy seeing as how they have come to be a major player in the chip market. There has always been one thing that has stopped me from jumping on their bandwagon, and that is taste. It’s not that their chips taste bad per se, it is just that they lack the flavor punch of many of their competitor’s chips. One resulting benefit of this is that their chips don’t leave your breath tasting as bad as some of the more pungent flavors their competitors deploy. With all that being said, the new Peppercorn Ranch Sun Chips stays true to their theme of providing a healthy chip that might lack the flavor of a competitor’s similarly flavored chip. The Peppercorn Ranch chips have an initial mild ranch flavor that then reveals a hint of pepper and finishes with an aftertaste that is very similar to their Sun Chip Original chip. I think the best way I can describe its true flavor is to imagine the taste of a peppercorn ranch chip and then make it diet. For a guy that loves the flavor-packed punch of a Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream or a Doritos Cool Ranch, I can’t fully endorse Sun Chips' unusual new flavor.

Phoood rating: