Amy's: Chinese Noodles & Veggies

Tonight, I took a break from making fresh food to try this ready meal from Amy's. I had heard this was vegan and it said so on the ingredients list...which I should have read as it contains mushrooms which I'm really not a fan of. That being said, I barely noticed them. That's partly because there are quite a few different veggies in this, carrots, beans, broccoli, and onions, plus cashews, sesame seeds and tofu! One thing this got right is the balance of wet/dry, and I was surprised it that it tasted slightly fresher and richer than I had expected. The sauce has a good balance of flavours, it's worth stirring it up as much of my sauce seemed to be at the base so initially I thought it was quite plain. One thing though that might stop me from buying it again was that experience you sometimes get with a meal, where it starts off really nice and enjoyable, but then for no apparent reason you don't want anymore. That was how I felt after I had finished, and it wasn't a big portion. Again, I'm not sure why this was, I did enjoy it and there was nothing wrong with it. Perhaps it was the mushrooms, they really do gross me out, which sucks because I wish I liked all vegetables (yes they're fungi). So...I'd say given it's a frozen ready meal, maybe a 3/5, it would definitely be a solid 4 if it weren't for those mushrooms, but that's just me!

Shambhu's: Mint Choc Chip Cheesecake

Ok another top thing you need to go out and buy, this cheesecake. Possibly the best cheesecake I've eaten. There's a nice texture to the smooth biscuit base, and just the right ratio of 'cheese' to biscuit. Plus is has chocolate chips on top! And the mint flavour is dead on (I'm not explaining this very well) its just well balanced and sweet. Really, really moorish! I want to eat this again, I just want moarh! 5/5

Pudology: Banoffee Pud

Today I am enjoying this potted dessert from Pudology. The tubs are a bit small but the pudding is quite rich and they're worth getting for the taste. This banoffee one comes with 3 layers; a biscuit layer at the base, a banana/toffee layer, and a chocolate top. It's hard to really tell what the biscuit layer tastes like because the chocolate and banana are quite strong but I think it's really there for texture anyway. The banana toffee layer is my favourite part. It's very rich and creamy smooth. If you like the taste of banoffee pie this will be enjoyable for you also. The chocolate top tastes quite dark and tastes like the richest layer. It's ok on it's own, but for me the layers are best when eaten together! There are also other flavours available but I haven't tried those. It's almost a five, a really nice vegan treat 4/5.

Nakd: New Flavour Bars

Nakd Bars, which I have reviewed before - have released a couple of new flavours. These are 'Rhubarb & Custard' and Caffé Mocha. I haven't tried the mocha one yet because I'm not much into coffee - but the Rhubarb one is really good. It has a distinct flavour from the other ones which is more rhubarb than custard, but it is sweet and very tasty! Maybe I'll try the mocha one later...

Eskal: Noble Choice - Mint

I'm quite impressed with this one, a lot of the vegan chocolate out there is dark (which some people may or may not like) - this is dark too but it's quite creamy and doesn't have that bitter after taste. The mint isn't just a flavour either, there are small pieces of crunchy mint chips inside (not like choc chips, I think they're white kind of sugar ones). The triangle shape is little annoying but that's me. So if you like chocolate and mint - this bar is ace 4/5.

Meridian: Korma Cooking Sauce

Not seen any other vegan korma sauces yet, but I have had this Meridian one a few times so should be able to make a good review. The jar is enough for 2 if you've got some other bits to eat, and slightly more than a normal portion if it's just you. If you make this with just some rice and mock chicken then it's not too bad, tastes like a shop ready meal. Taste is quite nice, its got some flavour, with a range of different mild spices and a slight sweet taste to it. It's also got a few small pieces of blitzed veg in there like onion I think. It's quite thick too which is nice until the end of the meal. What I mean is that it doesn't taste as good cold/luke warm. And it seems to taste the same cooked in a pan or microwaved, though I'd pan it if you cooking mock chicken etc that way. It's also less good at the end because it's one of those foods that taste's nice at the start but after you've eaten a lot of it kind of tastes less appealing, a bit sweet sicky (though this one isn't that bad). That's why I'd recommend having just half a portion and making some other bits like samosa's. One of the main problems is that it does taste shop bought and not fresh at all. So mixed feelings really, it's not something I want to have every week, but I'll buy again at some point. High 3, low 4? 4/5

Lovemore: Jammy Wheels

These dodger type biscuits are a great deal more fun that most of the other shop biscuits you can buy which are vegan friendly, usually the plainest ones. I never ate too many jammy biscuits before I went vegan, but tbh they taste... really good. They are sweet, have a nice smooth texture which is crisp but melts in the mouth. So the biscuit part alone is good, then the rich jam flavour just makes them even more moreish. You get 8 in a pack, and can get them at Waitrose and some online stores so far as I know there are probably others. So get some. 4/5

Tesco: Free From Creamy Original Spread

So, reviewing another free from cheese from Tesco. Maybe this one will be my last. Tesco have a few varieties of this cream cheese creation, there's a garlic and herb one, something else and plain. I went for the plain this time. Now texture wise, quite good, compared to some kind of non-vegan cheese the colour is more matte. I'm not sure that's relevant though, flavour is. It's not for me, I had one bite on some nice baguette and I wished I hadn't. I didn't spit it out like that medium cheddar, like it wasn't making me wretch, but still not nice for me. Cream cheese is probably hard to make vegan, although Le Sojami's seemed quite alright, perhaps I need to try their plain there version. To me, I don't like it partly because it doesn't taste like cream cheese, but mainly the flavour is too strong, and it's the wrong flavour to begin with. I couldn't eat it on it's own, and with bread I'd rather just eat bread. 2/5

Orgran: Mini Outback Animals (Vanilla Cookies)

This little cardboard lunchbox comes with 2 packets of vanilla cookies, that are pressed into animal shapes. They taste kind of like cookies, kind of like biscuits. With a strong cereal flavour. They're free from a lot things so quite good I guess if you have an allergy. Texture is quite soft, and like cereal too. The flavour of vanilla isn't too strong, well actually I couldn't really taste it, tasted like a plain biscuit. They look quite fun though and they're healthy(er). Not sure I would buy them again, for me, but they would be nice is a kids lunchbox or something like that. 3/5

Nakd: Raw Fruit and Nut Bars

In this review I'll be covering all 7 editions of the nakd bar. All of them have a similar texture but the taste varies a lot even though the ingredients are fairly consistent with dates and cashews etc. These bars are cold pressed and despite the small size each one counts as 1 of the '5 a day'. Overall I'll give them a 5/5 but I like some of them a lot more than others.

Cocoa Delight - This bar is really nice, just a chocolate flavour with fruit? I managed to convince two people it was a brownie so it's worth trying even if you don't like dates or that dried fruit taste. 5/5

Ginger Bread - This one is quite nice, it's less chewy than the others, but the ginger doesn't overpower it luckily. The nuts go well with the flavour. 5/5

Berry Delight - Berry has a really fruity flavour, well like berries. It's a nice contrast the others which all have a non-fruit flavour. 5/5

Cashew Cookie - This one is ok but not my favourite, for me the other ones are just better. I'm not sure the flavour works as well or is as moreish. 3/5

Cocoa Orange - The Orange just as good as the cocoa one, and if you like an orange zing its even nicer. Just adds that extra dimension to it. 5/5

Pecan Pie - Pecan flavour is quite nice, it works well texture of the bar. But it's less moreish, and I'm not sure why (personal taste perhaps?) 4/5

Cocoa Mint - The Mint and the Orange are my favourites, the mint is different in that it takes the cocoa and tastes more healthy (even though that makes no sense). If you're not sure about chocolate and mint combo, I would still recommend it as its not a dark chocolate taste with strong mint, its toned down and quite sweet (in a non sugar way). 5/5

Against The Grain: Chocolate & Orange Cookies

A quick review now of Against The Grain's chocolate orange cookies. These cookies are more of the top end in terms of packaging and price, but there isn't a great deal to chose from in the vegan biscuit arena so I decided to buy them. And I'm glad I did. These are... amazing. The flavour is really packed in, a strong but not overpowering chocolate orange taste. Texture is hard and crispy, so not soft cookie type, that said next time I will try and microwave them and see what happens. Hard is the wrong word actually, they break very easily, brittle perhaps well I mean they're not soft.

The only bad thing is there's only 9 in a box :/

5/5