Wheaty: Spacebar Pumpkin Seed Sausage

I suppose the idea of pumpkin seed sausage is quite weird. This bar is quite nice though. It has an essence of the chorizo one, by that I mean you can tell it's made by the same people - it has a similar meaty texture and a similar, although toned down flavour. I was expecting it to be disappointing in comparison to the chorizo, but honestly it's really good. The flavour is broader, like a herb sausage served cold. There is some texture differences, namely seeds, but don't get the idea that this is like eating seeds, they seem to be far between and blended in. I'd buy them again, perhaps a nicer alternative if you didn't want to destroy your breathe with chorizo. 4/5

Primal Strips: Texas BBQ

One last extension to the previous review as this is the only other flavour I have, but there are 3 others - Mesquite Lime, Hot & Spicy and Hickory Smoked. So here goes... I'd recommend using scissors, they're pretty easy to open but it can go a bit to one side... It's quite good, I think a little bit more to it than the teriyaki one but actually not quite as full on as the thai. I should have reviewed them all together really - next time. So yeah kind of the same, definitely has a nice BBQ taste, texture is same too maybe a little harder. 4/5

Fry's Vegetarian: Hearty Vegetarian Cottage Pie

I need to write some more Fry's reviews, so here's another. Tonight I'm having this ready meal, their cottage pie, as I try to save time for an essay I'm writing. So yes, ready meals aren't bad, it's nice to have the option to not cook your dinner at home. But how good is this one? Well first thing I have to say is that it's quite small, if I was serving myself up a portion of homemade cottage pie this would be about half that size so bear that in mind - get some garlic bread or something. But you have the choice of oven or microwave which is cool, and this time microwaving it still tastes fine. The mash is ok, there isn't really any praise for the mash it alone doesn't have much flavour or taste creamy or anything. The flavour all comes underneath in the mince layer, which is just thinner than the mash (the mash being about 1cm high - so its pretty flat). The mince has a strong peppery taste, and includes carrots and peas etc, with their mince which if you haven't tried tastes much the same as their burgers. The texture is good too, and really helps that the vegetables are there with the veggie mince. So rating wise, in terms of how it tastes against how good I think it could taste its probably about 3.5/5, but the small size (like a kids meal) means there is another element for improvement. The mash should be a bit creamier to counter the pepper taste (the pepper taste is nice btw). So it's 3/5 (but I would still recommend this for when you just want an easy hot meal that isn't soup)

Primal Strips: Teriyaki

Here's my review of the Thai Peanut version which this one is just going to comment on. It's the same texture pretty much, but I don't think this one is quite as good as the peanut one. It tastes fairly similar, without any hint of peanut obviously, but the flavour isn't quite as strong. Which means it tastes a bit less meaty and once you've almost finished chewing the flavour runs out a bit faster. I'd still have to give it 4 stars though, it is really nice, but slightly short on the thai peanut. 4/5

Primal Strips: Thai Peanut

These are essentially a vegan jerky, that come in a range of flavours, and today I'm eating the Thai Peanut (others to come later in the week). I haven't tried these before and I'm going for the peanut one as I think it will be my least favourite. Once you open the packet the strip feels very bendy but fear not they aren't that soft. You can see the strip on the rear side and it looks like braised tofu, the smell is like peanut butter and spices I think (I can't really breathe through my nose at the moment), and the taste is... much nicer than I had anticipated. It has a nice strong flavour which is spicy but not too hot at all, with a subtle hint of peanut. Texture wise this thing is really strange. By that I mean tastes very much like meat, not quite in a way that some beef jerky does but its tough like some overcooked chicken might be or beef (sorry for that description) but quite juicy. And it takes some chewing, but you get after a short while. I think I would like to see it a bit harder so that the bar lasts a bit longer but other than that I would have to recommend them and I can't wait to try the others. 4/5

Wheaty: Spacebar Chorizo Sausage

These are awesome. The texture is good, and the flavour is really strong (won't do your breath much good). It's quite hard to find a mock meat that you can just eat on it's own and still taste nice, and these are really moorish. Not sure how healthy they are but I don't really care. It's basically a vegan version of a popular meat snack. Packaging on these can be annoying, the plastic has little slits to tear but they sometimes just bend, so sharp teeth or scissors might be needed. They are also housed in a small amount of oil so plan on eating it near a bin. And finally, make sure you eat it fridge cold. At room temp they're only half as good, they go a bit soft and it's odd. I haven't tried the other styles of Spacebar yet, as I doubt they will be as nice as this one but reviews will be up some point in the future. Another 5/5, one of them days.

Fry's Vegetarian: Vegan Pops

Fry's make some of the best mock meat style products around, especially the 'chicken-style' ones. Today I'll just be writing a quick review of their popcorn style version with chutney. Firstly, it does state on the back that you can microwave them - DON'T. The best way to cook these is shallow fry with a small amount of oil, this blends the powder in nicely and they go nice and golden brown. If you microwave them they go soggy and weird. I've only eaten them as a snack, but they would be great for BBQ's or when you are trying to recreate your own vegan fast food chain with chips and other unhealthy delights.

For what they taste like alone, I would rate them 4/5, but I will rate them 5/5 because in terms of what they are trying to be I'm not sure they could be improved.