Wagamama Seared Nuoc Chan Tuna review

Sooo.... long time no posts! Unfortunately life got in the way and I had to take a break from reviewing new products but now things are a bit calmer I'm hoping to be able to post a bit more regularly again starting with this revised dish from the Wagamama menu. This dish is made up of a tuna steak on who now, stir fried kale, sweet potato, peppers, edamame beans, onions and sprinkled with coriander on top.

The dish came after a short wait and in all honesty I was very impressed.  I rarely have a tuna steak was cooked perfectly. It was juicy and just slightly pink to the very centre and a good sized portion. There were plenty of soft sweet potato chunks which the small pieces of quinoa all seemed to stick to. I never thought I would say this but due to the oils and dressings even the soft kale had a delicious flavour. The peppers and onions were also in large chunks adding a crunchy texture as well as some strong flavours to the dish. I would definitely get this dish again and am so pleased that something this healthy can be so tasty!

Hula Hoops Puft Sweet Chilli review

Hula Hoops Puft's initially came out around a year or so ago with the intention of being a lighter and healthier version of the original snack. I tried a few different flavours when they were released and thought that they were a fairly decent snack but I wasn't overly impressed and I cant say that I found them particularly filling. Having said that, when I saw the new sweet chilli flavour was released I was more than happy to give them a try seeing as each bag contains only 71 calories, contain no artificial flavours, colours or MSG and are cooked with sunflower oil.

I opened the bag and saw that like the other varieties there were "pufft" up hoops inside. There wasn't a massive amount in the 15g bag but then again for only 71 calories I didn't expect there to be. They had a light slightly red dusting from the sweet chilli flavour and there was a subtly spicy smell.

Onto the flavour, to be fair these tasted pretty good. Like the other flavours, these are probably the wrong snack to reach for if your feeling a bit hungry, however if your just fancying the taste of a savoury snack then these are pretty ideal. The sweet chilli flavour was fairly prominent and although these were far from spicy there was a gentle heat that I enjoyed. Although I'm not racing out to buy these again, I cant say that I wouldn't be tempted to pick them up again in the future, especially if they were on offer! If you're a hula hoop fan who likes sweet chilli flavour and are keen to try out a slightly healthier snack then I would recommend trying these out. These would probably also be an ideal snack for kids if they don't mind a slight bit of heat. Overall I was fairly impressed with these and they are a nice addition to the Hula Hoops brand.

Kaspa's UK Banoffee Cookie Dough review

Banoffee and cookie dough.... 2 desserts that make me salivate at the mouth and so just the thought of the combination of these treats got me more than a little excited. Kaspa's is an American themed dessert diner serving ice creams, crepes, waffles, milkshakes and more. Their large menu is the stuff of dreams for anyone with a sweet tooth like mine, however as I previously mentioned a Banoffee cookie dough sounded just too good to pass up!

Served with fresh vanilla ice cream, this dessert cost £5.50 and although it did take a little while to arrive, when it came it looked well worth the wait. The portion was very generous and my cookie dough was topped with plenty of toffee sauce and milk chocolate curls. I took a bite and it was just warm and gooey with melted chocolate chips throughout. The bottom of the dessert had sliced banana pieces that went well with the sweet and gooey chocolate chipped cookie dough. This wasn't boiling hot but just warm enough that I could tuck straight in without burning my mouth. The whippy vanilla ice cream that came alongside it was also light and tasty, complimenting the rich cookie dough flavour and heavy, gooey texture. This dessert could easily be split between 2 but I have to admit I polished it off myself quite happily! My only complaint is that there wasn't really that much of a banoffee flavour. It was basically a standard cookie dough with a few pieces of sliced banana at the bottom. Although delicious, I think the cookie dough itself could have done with a little banoffee or toffee flavour to truly make this an amazing dessert. Having said that, I will certainly be returning to Kaspa's to try out some of their other very tempting sounding goodies!

Propercorn Chocolate review

I am  a massive fan of the entire Propercorn range and so couldn't wait to try out this new chocolate variety. With only 1wy calories per 26g bag, these are also a pretty guilt free snack. This fairtrade opcorn is gluten free, suitable for vegetarians, made from all natural seasonings and dusted with cocoa and demerara sugar.

I opened the bag to see plenty of dark brown popcorn pieces. There was a slightly earthy cocoa smell which wasn't what I expected but then again having never tasted chocolate popcorn, I didn't really know what to expect! This bag of popcorn had the usual crunchiness that I know i can always count on Peppercorn for. The flavour however was quite surprising because it was nowhere near as sweet as I imagined a chocolate flavoured popcorn would be. The flavour was more of a raw cocoa and so although not unpleasant, it just wasn't the sweet chocolatey snack that I imagined this would be.

In all honesty this is probably my least favourite flavour from the Peppercorn range bit even so I happily finished off the bag. It wasn't sweet but it also wasn't savoury so I'm just not sure where this fits. Although slightly more-ish I can't say that I am rushing to pick this up again. Having said that, I think that anyone who is a fan of rich and authentic cocoa flavours would love this and even though it wasn't my favourite variety, I'm still glad I tried it and it made for a bit of a novelty treat!

Marks & Spencer's Coconut Chicken & Mango Sunshine Wrap review

Around this time of year, M&S always release a new range of summer themed wraps and I have been keeping my eye out for them. This year, one of the new additions is this coconut chicken and mango wrap. Although I'm not the biggest fan of mango, my love for both coconut and M&S meant that I had no hesitation on picking this up when I needed an easy on the go lunch. Consisting of a pumpkin tortilla, chicken, coconut chutney, spinach and a coconut & lime mayonnaise it didn't even sound like the mango was a dominant flavour in this wrap and I was looking forward to trying it.

Opening the packaging up I think the mixture of bright, vibrant colours explains why this is labelled a "sunshine" wrap. It was also filled with mixed beans, some mango salsa and couscous. Its fair to say that M&S did not scrimp on the filling as the wrap was packed and I was impressed by the large chunks of juicy chicken. The best way to describe the flavour of this wrap, is to liken it to a Thai green curry. It didn't taste as I expected it to but it was still delicious and the more I ate, the more I realised it tasted exactly like a Thai green curry in a wrap.

I loved the combination of all of the different ingredients from the beans and chicken which provided a little heat, to the cool coconut lime mayonnaise and sweet mango chutney. All of the ingredients tasted fresh and this even count towards one of your five a day! The ingredients are also all sourced from Great Britain but even with all of these extra bonus's aside, this was a filling and tasty lunch that I cant wait to have again. I highly recommend trying this whilst its around and it is an ideal flavoursome lunch for a hot (and rare) summers day.

Prezzo Monte Bianco Black Pizza review

Having seen this Black base pizza advertised on all the Prezzo posters, it's fair to say that I was more than curious to try it. Made from activated charcal dough, thus pizza is topped with a bechamel sauce base, mozzrella and truffle oil. It is supposed to come with rocket on top too but I asked for it without since I am not a big rocket fan.

The pizza cane promptly and I was impressed with how large it Was. It was very strange to see the black base but I was interested to see how it would taste. I took my first bite and didn' really know what to make of it. It wasn't massively different to a standard pizza base but it did have a slightly more earth-y flavour. It was really crispy and far from un-enjoyable but I don' know if I would order it again. The mozzrella and bechamel sauce made for a slightly overwhelmingly cheesy flavour so I did feel slightly queasy by the end of it however I'm still really glad I got to try it. It's a bit of a novelty but it did have a slightly deeper and more interesting flavour. This is also definitely one for any cheese lovers out there and I only wish that I did like rocket because I think the sharp, peppery flavour of the rocket was needed against the strong and creamy cheese toppings.

Costa UK Vanilla Milk Whip review

I never thought I would see the day that I went into Costa and ordered a non-coffee related drink, however after already having 2 latte's and the blazing sun beating down on me, this did indeed happen over the hot weekend! I opted for a vanilla milk whip which sounds essentially like a vanilla milkshake. I didn't realise when I ordered this drink that it is made from whipping skimmed milk into a mousse like texture and so is a lower calorie option. I'm not sure if these drinks are aimed at children or not but who doesn't love a milkshake!

The drink came and I took my first sip and am happy to say that I really enjoyed it. It was sweet with a strong vanilla flavour and the foam-y, mousse-y texture that topped the drink made for a nice change to a standard milk drink. I would never have known that this was made from skimmed milk or that it was a lower calorie option. If I'm honest this would probably have stopped me trying it since I normally avoid skimmed milk at all costs so I'm really glad that I tried it without knowing. I would happily order this again if I fancied a sweet milky drink over summer and this drink is one to be enjoyed by both children as well as any adults with a sweet tooth like myself.