REVIEW: Arby's Ultimate Angus Philly

Pros: thickly-cut beef, melted cheese, not paper-thin bacon, nice heft

Cons: really salty beef, omission of the advertised green peppers & onions

Rating: 3.5/5

Overall Thoughts: I paid $5.66 with tax included. Price-wise, it's comparable to Portillo's Italian beef. In taste, it was fairly good, but the beef was too salty and it was lacking the advertised green peppers & onions. I won't be buying this again. There are better lunch options.

REVIEW: Jeni's Splendid Malted Milk CollaBARation Bar

 

Jeni's Splendid ice creams are epic, so when I came across this chocolate bar collaboration that they did with the Askinosie Chocolate company, I had to try it, although the $9.95 price made me balk. I found this item at The Goddess & Grocer, a small deli/grocery chain store in Chicago. The product info on their website described the flavor as:

floral notes met with strawberry, vanilla, and a barley malt sweetness. Creamy, velvety smooth.

I'm just an average gal with a sweet tooth, no world-class palate here. I couldn't taste the strawberry. I got a teeny hint of malt, kinda, or maybe it was wishful thinking from my wallet.

Pros: really cute packaging

Cons: mediocre taste, expensive

Rating: 2.5/5

Price: $9.95 for 3 oz.

Overall Thoughts: I rated it higher than a 2 because it didn't taste bad, but it didn't deserve a 3 because of its price. Nothing in the taste distinguished it from a $2-$3 "artisan" chocolate bar readily available at a grocery store.

*Along with this item, I had purchased Vosges Haut-Chocolat's Mo Bacon Bar. That was supremely delicious with flavorful tidbits of crunchy bacon. If memory recalls, it cost around $7. Unfortunately, we ate it all before remembering to take pictures of it haha.

REVIEW: Jeni's Splendid Brown Butter Almond Brittle

After trying & absolutely loving Jeni's Splendid Hummingbird Cake, and then their Brambleberry Crisp, I was excited to try their Brown Butter Almond Brittle. I would have tried it earlier if it weren't for the price tag of $11 per pint T_T.

Pros: massive chunks of delicious almond brittle. The brittle didn't shatter my teeth either; I could bite and chew it with no problems. Plentiful amount of almonds in the brittle. The caramel sauce was a much welcome addition that made this flavor even more awesome. And the ice cream base was a perfect creamy consistency with a flavor that complemented and helped showcase the main attraction, which were the mix-ins.

Cons: None, except the price.

Rating: 5/5

Overall Thoughts: the price is a deterrent, but for the high quality and unique flavors, this is definitely worth trying. I highly recommend this. I feel that Jeni's Splendid could do no wrong with their ice creams.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk

I'm a fan of oatmeal cookies, except for the raisins, so I was happy to learn that Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk omitted them haha.

Pros: the oatmeal cookie chunks and the sheer amount & heft of them. Wow. I was impressed from the first bite, and it got better as I dug in.

Cons: Absolutely none!

Rating: 6/5

Overall Thoughts: I read that this flavor is only offered in some states. Thank gawd that I was able to score a pint at Dominick's. A must-try flavor. I would rather have this ice cream than eat an oatmeal cookie; it's THAT good.

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy

With a name like this, it was fated that I would try this ice cream flavor. And then I read the flavor description: 

chocolate ice cream with 

chocolate cookies & swirls 

of chocolate pudding ice cream

...and into the cart it went lol.

Pros: satisfying on so many levels--the flavor of the dense ice cream base, luscious swirl, and my favorite part, plentiful brownie-like chunks.

Cons: None

Rating: 5/5

Overall Thoughts: Perfect as it is. Quintessential flavor for the chocolate-fanatic. Bravo Ben & Jerry's!

REVIEW: Ben & Jerry's Banana Cream Pie: Walmart Exclusive

I came across this flavor on one of my favorite food blogs, TheIceCreamInformant. I love banana cream pie, so I absolutely had to try Ben & Jerry's ice cream rendition. Luckily, I was able to find the last pint at the 2nd Walmart location I visited.

Pros: perfectly captured the banana cream pie flavor, from the flavor of the ice cream base down to the custard swirl and pie crust chunks. The pie crust chunks were fairly plentiful. A good balance to the ice cream where I wasn't left with a dissatisfying sense of not enough mix-ins or where the mix-ins overpowered the base.

Cons: None

Rating: 5/5

Overall Thoughts: Perfect as it is. I definitely ate more than one serving in one sitting.

REVIEW: Talenti's Sea Salt Caramel Gelato

Caramel is one of my favorite sweet thangs. I can eat Trader Joe's sea salt caramel sauce by the spoonful, which is why I withhold from buying it 99% of the time haha. So it was fated that I would try Talenti's Sea Salt Caramel gelato, especially after I had come across several stellar reviews for it.

Pros: excellent caramel flavor. Short ingredients list. Definitely liked the chocolate-covered caramel mini cubes because the caramel wasn't rock-hard, but rather had a nice chew to it.

Cons: my pint needed more mix-ins. Expensive at $4.99 a pint.

Rating: 4.5/5

Overall Thoughts: Very good. I was close to assigning it a 5 star rating, but it needed more mix-ins at that price. Also, I want to be cautious in assigning 5 & 6 star ratings. And another thing, a few months had passed since I last tried this pint, and I never felt a strong compulsion or craving to repurchase this, even when it went on sale for $3. I wasn't impressed at all by Talenti's Caramel Cooking Crunch gelato (wayyy too few mix-ins), but I would highly recommend their Sea Salt Caramel.