Crispy Fruit - All Mango

I thought this was pretty good but maybe not my favorite crispy fruit. Dry mango is just so odd, even though I really like mango as a fruit. It loses a bit of flavor being dry, so that it's just OK.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 5/10

Azie

I went here with the Swarthmore ling dept. It looks like an asian fusion type of place, so I was really worried allergy-wise, but they actually don't seem to use nuts in things. Maybe more of a Japanese resto? I might even like to try it again someday when I'm in a smaller group. I got the chicken fried rice, which was fine but I didn't add the soy sauce for fish allergy reasons (long story). So it was a bit bland but would be probably very good with soy sauce added. I also got a Yard's Pale Ale, which was good. The prices seemed decent and all the desserts looked tasty. I was stressed out because we were a big group, but this place seemed nice.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Signature Cafe Amish-Style Macaroni Salad

My container wasn't this big, but I picked up a side of that Amish Mac Salad from my local Acme. This was a fairly classic rendition of Amish Mac Salad. You know it's proper if it has that gross tangy sharp/sour aftertaste, which this totally did. Nice. I like the creamy sauce and the tiny egg bits. This works great instead of mayo on a deli sandwich, any kind of deli sandwich will do!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 7/10

Seltzer's Sweet Lebanon Bologna

Sweet sweet baloney! This is from my hometown, so I might be tinged with nostalgia, but I'm happy I can buy this in my DE grocery store. It's very sweet meat, and truly unique among deli meats. It has the texture of Oscar Meyer Bologna (but not the gross taste), the appearance of salami, but a taste of sweet, oily meat. Kinda weird if you aren't used to it, I bet! Goes great on its own, or with miracle whip (don't kill me) or I guess cheese. Also goes with mac salad and potato salad. Solid stuff, very fun.




Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

High Brew Coffee - Double Espresso (multi-use)

So, I've had this before in a can, and I thought it was pretty good, especially for the calorie count, but I don't really like coffee (or anything) in a can. This is in a 4-ish serving size fridge bottle made of cardboard or plastic or paper or something like that (I'm not a doctor of materials). I got this when I was sick, so sadly I can't give a super accurate taste rating. But I did end up drinking it all, so I think it was decent. I also like the convenience of having coffee at home that is cold and tastes good, but it's from my home and costs about 1$ per serving. Decent.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Maruchan Beef Ramen

So, this is the most barebones noodle thing ever, and you still have to do all the work of boiling it like a regular noodle, and so I basically never get this. But I had cabbage and didn't know what to do with it, so I fried the cabbage and then added it to this ramen! Wow! The cabbage was a game changer. Made it a lot more ~asian~, which I love. This ramen was fine, but considering it cost 25 cents, it was amazing!



Overall
Cost: 10/10
Taste: 6/10

2017 Sidekick Merlot

Merlot is very classic. This one was fine - I had a headache and drinking this sadly didn't make my headache go away, but it didn't get worse either. The smell (the "nose"?) was really nice; the taste was very tangy/bitter at first, but I did get into it eventually. And of course the bottle art is very cute. Good ethos.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Mrs. T's Pierogies - Broccoli & Aged Cheddar

I thought these were pretty good! Not as potatoey as most flavors. I wish there was even more broccoli inside! But there is a tangible amount.

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10

Vegan Rob's Brand Spinach & Matcha Kettle Chips

Usually I can't eat vegan stuff because it's got all sorts of grains and seeds I'm allergic to, but this was safe! I thought that matcha was basically just green tea, but this macha was randomly sweet! It tasted a little bit like the sweet maui onion chips. There was a little bit of spinach flavor, a little bit of sweetness, but not really any tea flavor that I could pick out. Mostly it was like normal chips with a little sweet and spinach. It was OK!






Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Red Baron Classic Crust - Special Deluxe Pizza

First, I recently noticed this is on SUPER CLEARANCE at my grocery store (like 2$) so it might be discontinued. Also I'm not sure if I got this exact one, but it had sausage, roni, olives, and peppers, so close enough. And of course it was nice and cheap, with good sauce and decent crust and cheese. However, I hate olives and the sausage was SO SO BAD, so I should NOT get supreme in the future! Also, half of this is plenty for a full meal, so do not eat more! Otherwise this was decent. Get a different flavor though.




Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10

Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies

These are a classic little cookie. This package actually wasn't as good as I remembered, I think I was expecting more of a "Chessman" vibe, but these weren't as buttery. Still, a fine treat, though mild, plain, and filling. Just a light shortbread.


Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Manitou Trading Company - Truffle Parmesan & Black Garlic Seasoning

Ehh, this was fine. Somehow I had a feeling I wouldn't love this, and the feeling came true. I was hoping this would be like a parmesan cheese mix basically, but instead it was kind of gritty weird tasting powder. Not sure what it would go good with, either. Not chicken and veg, it turns out! But it wasn't horrible, just a bit neutral. Not the point of a seasoning mix though, is it!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 5/10

Partner's Snack Crackers - Olive Oil & Herb

Whew, do I have a story behind these crackers. So, originally I got a box of the plain flavor in the mail, and started eating them, as you do. They didn't have any nut allergy warning on the box. Then I went to the website to get info on the company, and the allergy info for them on the website says "made on nut equipment" basically. I was like "!!!!!!" and of course started to panic that I was dying. So I threw out the box, chugged some Benadryl, and sent a freaked-out angry email to the company saying they should make their packaging consistent with their website nutrition info. Then I forgot about it for a while.

A few weeks later, I got a nice email from a guy at Partners who apologized and told me that actually, the website is wrong, and no nuts are involved. I was like "Oh, that's great, but you should change the website then!" -- to this date, months later, they have not changed the website -- and he said there was some tech trouble with it or something, who knows. But he offered to ship me out a purportedly nut-free flavor of my choice, which of course I wouldn't refuse, so I got these Olive Oil & Herb crackers to actually try. And lots of them!

My review will try to abstract away from their tumultuous origin story, though. So - these crackers were fine. Good size and thin, crispy texture. A fairly unique taste, which is herby but not overmuch. Would go well with cheese. I mainly ate them on their own. My boyf was a bigger fan than I was and thought they were really good. I think he prefers blander food than I do, so that might be a factor. I would eat them again, but only once they update the website!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Touch Organic Mango Green Tea

Tea is surprisingly difficult for me to enjoy, because I'm allergic to licorice/anise which is in a randomly large amount of non-plain teas. But not in this one, which has only mango flavor! And it tasted fine, basically just like plain tea but with a little bit of a fruity note. It wasn't super strong, but it was comforting enough.

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 6/10

Milk Duds

I don't think these are duds! They're pretty good. Especially good as a movie candy, because this is very FIRM caramel that takes a while to chew, so they last forever. The taste is good, but honestly the texture is a little frustrating, especially in a non-movie context. Also good when mixed with hot popcorn. The chocolate coating is not very tasty, I think it's just there to keep the caramel contained. A solid sweet chewy package though.

Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 7/10

Stone Balloon Ale House

I'm so surprised I haven't reviewed Stone Balloon yet, since I've been there quite a few times! They used to be called the 16 Mile Taphouse (taproom?) for like a random year a few years ago, but they always have had pretty much the same ethos. Good fun and lots of fun drink options. I love their beer menu, it's like a tiny version of the Federal Taphouse's massive drink menu, with lots of options and info. They also have a decent selection of 5$ all day cocktails, and lots of good expensive cocktails too. As for the food, I've only ever gotten burger, chicken sandwich, side salad, and side of mac n cheese, but they are all wonderful. They do have some stuff with nuts on the menu. Once I went for a surprise brunch and mentioned my allergies when I ordered the chicken sandwich (just in case yanno) and they brought out monkey bread as the bunch app bread thing, and I didn't eat it and the waitress came back and said it was nut free, without me asking! I was like :O she remembered :O :O what a great waitress, what a great place. I have fond memories of going here with my department buds after colloqs, too. I even ate here with Lars's parents and dog once! Weird!

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 8/10

Rigby's Bar & Grill

Turns out all the restaurants I've been to at Rehoboth have since shut down, so we walked all the way west until we hit this generic looking resto! Apparently it was a gay hot spot, which is cool(?) but  the other diners looked at me, a woman, suspiciously. They also complained incessantly about the service to the one tiny waiter working, and I felt like he was just doing his best! But then . . . was he? My boyf ordered the salmon and a salad and they said "there's an upcharge for the salmon" and he was like "OK?" and then he got a salad with salmon on it, which is not what was desired, but because we are meek/good he didn't say anything. I think the salmon salad was really bad. I got the pasta primavera, which was some nice oily angelhair with decent oily veg in it. It didn't make me ill, but it was rather wet. I thought it was solid. I also got a corona or some generic beer like that. It was a weird experience, because it felt totally detached from the rest of Rehoby's party atmosphere, and everyone there was old and cranky (and gay!!) except us and the tragic waiter. To be clear -- I support the gays, I just didn't realise I would feel like such an outsider at this resto!

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10

Peeps

Peeps are a classic nut-free candy! I recently had one on a Peeps Donut and I thought "I like peeps". But after eating 10 of them, I'm not so sure if I really LIKE like peeps. Or maybe the donut version was somehow superior. I do like their soft, pliable texture, and they're obviously adorable, but the marshmallow isn't that nice creamy thick type (like a good marshmallow egg), it's more gritty and thin. So, it's not amazing, but it's still a safe candy.



Overall
Cost: 7/10
Taste: 6/10

Whoppers Robin Eggs

Very cute. But really, I'm not sure why I get these every easter, because I never liked whoppers. But it's a safe (nut free) candy, it's eastery and seasonal, the box is cute and small, and they taste sweet. I guess that's why. They're OK, but it's not like chocolate, it's like a malt ball. Do you like a malt ball? Then you will like this malt egg.

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 5/10

Enjoy Life Breakfast Ovals - Berry Medley

I ended up eating this a month past the "best by" date, but it was still good. This is just one big oval, which surprised me since their cookies are so small, and since the packaging says "ovalS". But it was very thick, and pretty moist. The taste was oaty and fairly sweet, with only light berry notes. I enjoyed it even though the oat bits, which are sizeable, reminded me a bit of almond slivers or some other spooky nut or seed, which weirds me out, but I know it's totally safe so I didn't feel itchy or panicky or anything. Anyway, this is a filling snack. It wasn't as crunchy as the banana one. I think I liked the flavor of the banana one more, but this was still pleasant and I'd get it again.


Overall
Cost: 4/10
Taste: 7/10