Mallorca Mondays!

Well, hello there. You may have noticed that I've been a bit silent for the past few weeks. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, I've just been traveling - to Spain, Zurich, and London! And, like any good food blogger, I was busy documenting all the interesting foods I consumed during my travels. And yes, there were Michelin stars.  And foie gras.  Lots of foie gras.

Since I have a large line up of travel posts for Travelin' Tuesdays: Tokyo Edition, I've decided to give the regular Monday lineup up chain restaurants/food trucks a brief break, and I present you with a new special series: Mallorca Mondays!

Mallorca, or Majorca, is an island off the coast of Barcelona, the largest of the Balearic Islands.  While not a gastronomic destination, it does have 5 restaurants with Michelin stars, and it wasn't exactly a coincidence that the villa we rented just happened to be right down the street from one of them.

So, stay tuned for the new few Mondays, as we journey to Mallorca.

We'll begin with my very first experience on British Airways, flying First Class no less, from San Francisco to London.  Dining on a plane may not normally be all that exciting, but in First Class, dining is a serious part of the experience.  Next, you'll get a peak at the afternoon tea service, served aboard a British Airways flight from London to Barcelona, business class (or, Club Europe as they call it).

And then, time to dine on Mallorca!  Ok, first we need to discover our local beach bar, Playero, but then we'll head with a long lunch at Michelin-stared Jardín, followed by a late lunch at the stunning Restaurante Golf Alcanada, and sample the Mallorca pastry ensaïmada.

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New Rubio's Enchiladas

I know, I know, I have reviewed Rubio's a bunch of times already.  But Rubio's is one of the only casual dining establishments within a mile or so of my house that is open on weekends, at a good price point, and actually tastes good.  Besides high end dining, my only other choices are McDonald's or Panera.

When I want something simple, fast, and tasty, I go to Rubio's.  I won't claim it is the best Mexican place in the city.  I won't say it is authentic.  But, it is reliable.  And, they regularly add items to the menu, so there are frequently new things for me to try out, like the chimichuri that was added last May.  I like that they are willing to experiment with new items, although the chimichuri is no longer on the menu, so I guess I was not alone in my dislike for it.  There are also seasonal offerings, like the langostino lobster, available only during a short period in early winter, as a burrito, or a taco.

Thus, I keep returning.  This time, it was for another new menu option, enchiladas.  Not something I'd normally order, but I was invited in for a free tasting, so I decided to give it a go.

Shrimp Enchilada with Verde Sauce.

There was only one seafood option available: shrimp.  Since I'm a seafood girl, I went for it, described as "sustainable, pan-seared shrimp, a blend of three melted cheeses and cilantro/onion wrapped in toasted corn tortillas. Topped with verde enchilada sauce, salsa fresca and a drizzle of white sauce."

It sounded a lot like the enchilada version of the salsa verde shrimp taco, which I've had twice before, made from the same shrimp, cheeses, and cilantro/onion mix, although the taco has the zestier creamy chipotle sauce rather than the simple white sauce, cabbage instead of salsa fresca, and added avocado.

I really wasn't sure how Rubio's would do enchiladas.  Not that I'm an expert, but I thought they are usually baked, not exactly the format for a fast-casual restaurant.  And indeed, these didn't seem baked.  I'm also used to enchiladas smothered in sauce, and topped with melted cheese.  While the Rubio's version was topped with sauce, it certainly wasn't smothered in it, and while it had cheese inside, there was none melted on top.  So, just based on looks, this didn't quite seem like an enchilada to me.

It was rolled like an enchilada however, in a corn tortilla.  I'm not sure if these are the exact same tortillas they use for the tacos, but it seemed like it, although, are the taco tortillas really this big?  The tortilla was moist and unremarkable.

Inside was the shrimp and cheese.  I remember when I had the salsa verde shrimp tacos, I never really tasted the cheese.  That was not the case here.  All I could taste was cheese.  There was tons of it, and it completely overpowered the shrimp.  And, unfortunately for me, I'm pretty sure the three cheese blend contained jack, my absolute least favorite cheese.  I really didn't like the cheese.

So I pulled out the shrimp.  Like all Rubio's shrimp preparations, they are "marinated in ancho chiles, garlic, cilantro and a touch of olive oil and pan-seared on an authentic comal."  And like always, I was impressed by the shrimp.  They somehow never come out rubbery or fishy, and the marinate really imparts a lot of flavor.  But, inside the enchilada with all that cheese, you certainly couldn't taste the shrimp.

The description said there was also cilantro/onion inside, which I never found.

There are two areas that Rubio's always impresses me with: the quality and execution of the seafood, and, the flavorful sauces.  As usual, I was looking forward to the sauces.

On top was the verde enchilada sauce, which unfortunately reminded me of the tomatillo salsa from the salsa bar, flavorless, far too mild, and watery.  It offered nothing to the enchilada, and I had to add Roasted Chipotle Salsa from the salsa bar to give the enchilada any kick.  I'm not sure why they use the verde sauce here, rather than the traditional enchilada sauce used on the others.  I'm sure I could ask for it that way instead, if I wanted an enchilada again.

There was also the white sauce, which I appreciated for the creamy factor as always, but, given how mild the other flavors were, I would have preferred the creamy chipotle sauce, like they use for the tacos, which again, I'm sure I could ask for instead.

And finally, the salsa fresca, "made fresh daily and features diced Roma tomatoes, diced white onions, freshly chopped cilantro, jalapeño and Serrano chiles, lime zest, oregano and a pinch of salt."  The salsa fresca was fresh and flavorful, and as always, I was impressed by the quality of the tomatoes.  I appreciated having the chunky and fresh component to the enchilada, although, I wouldn't normally put this on my enchilada.

So, as you can tell, it was not a winner for me, and I don't think it is just because I don't normally order enchiladas.  While I liked the shrimp, there was little else here that was successful: too much cheese overwhelmed the entire thing, the sauces were not flavorful enough, and, it really wasn't a traditional enchilada.  I wouldn't get one again.

Grilled Steak Enchilada with Fire Roasted Sauce.

The non-seafood enchilada choices are chicken, steak, or plain cheese.

Ojan's picked the steak, "made with grilled steak, a blend of three melted cheeses and cilantro/onion wrapped in toasted corn tortillas. Topped with fire-roasted enchilada sauce, salsa fresca and a drizzle of white sauce."

So, basically the same as my shrimp version, except using the same grilled steak that they use for burritos and tacos, and topped with a more classic enchilada sauce instead of verde sauce.

I did not taste the steak, but it is advertised as "marinated with garlic, savory spices and cilantro and grilled over an open flame", and Ojan said it was better than he expected, and, better than the steak we have in our cafe at our office.

I did try the "fire-roasted enchilada sauce".  While I didn't really grasp the fire-roasted nature of it, it seemed like traditional enchilada sauce, and I greatly preferred it to my verde sauce.  If I were to order another enchilada, I'd get this sauce.

This was far more of a classic enchilada, but it was still not baked, and although the sauce was more standard, it was not smothered like I'm accustomed to.  Not something I'd order again.

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Cadbury Chocolate

I devoted my last chocolate review to the classic American Hershey candies.  This week, I'm featuring chocolate from what is basically the British andAustralian version of Hershey: Cadbury.  As I learned during my time in Sydney, it turns out, they make more than just the creme eggs (and fact, in the US, those creme eggs are actually made by none other than Hershey!)

During my few month stay in Syndey, I tried a huge assortment of their chocolates.  Unfortunately, I lost most of the notes I took during that time.  This is just a smattering of what I could find.  None were particularly good, but it was novel to try out another country's common chocolates.

Moro.

 "Whipped nougat and caramel centre, covered in chocolate." 

Apparently Cadbury makes a bunch of different bars and calls them all the Moro.  What you get depends on which country you buy it in.  I got mine as part of the Cadbury Favorites mix in Australia.  I didn’t pick up on the nougat.  The caramel was a hard variety.  The chocolate coating was low quality and uninteresting.  Meh.

Update: just thick chocolately caramel, I don’t really like this at all.

Crunchie.

"A golden honeycombed centre surrounded by delicious Cadbury milk chocolate".

Another classic, around since 1929.  The honeycomb was sweet, with a good crunch.  The milk chocolate on the outside was standard, smooth Cadbury, that just isn’t my style.  I would have preferred just to have the honeycomb.

Update: Very sweet filling that is crunchy, but … not complex, just sweet.

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• Boost: "A smooth textured chocolate flavoured centre with crunchy biscuit pieces surrounded in flowing caramel, all covered in Cadbury’s world famous Cadbury Dairy Milk® milk chocolate".  Tasting notes: Probably the best one I've had yet, but not particularly memorable, caramel and biscuit covered in chocolate.  Something in the biscuit was a bit stale tasting.
• Cherry Ripe: "Ripe juicy cherries and moist coconut smothered in rich Old Gold® dark chocolate". Tasting notes: This is apparently Australia's oldest chocolate bar.  It sounded great to me, who doesn't love coconut, cherry, and dark chocolate? Yum!
• Flake: "Delicate strands of crumbly, Cadbury Dairy Milk® milk chocolate".  Tasting notes: Just milk chocolate, nothing special.  Not as flaky as I expected.
• Fudge: "Bar of soft fudge covered in delicious Cadbury milk chocolate." Tasting notes: This is a UK product. Gross milk chocolate outside, I have no idea what the filling was.  Not good.
• Picnic: "Milk chocolate and peanuts, covering chewy nougat, caramel, biscuit and puffed rice." Tasting notes: I guess I couldn't make my mind up on this one!  All my tasting notes are different :)  Meh, seems cheap, low quality chocolate, peanut flavor boring [ I really liked it!  Yummy peanuts, crispy rice, milky chocolate.  Great combo. ] [ Quality of chocolate really low, rice part not actually crispy, no real peanut flavor. ]
• Turkish Delight: "Exotic taste sensation with soft eating Turkish Delight jelly centre covered in milk chocolate." Tasting notes: Gross. (Gee, thanks self, you made some real meaningful notes there ... )

Chocolate Creme Egg.

From the outside, the chocolate creme egg looks just like a regular Cadbury creme egg.  The shell is made from standard Cadbury milk chocolate, smooth and creamy, but unremarkable.

Inside the egg.

But ... inside is nothing like a classic creme egg.  Besides having no creamy white part, there is also no ‘yolk’. The inside is just pure chocolate fudge.  They call it chocolate creme, but it wasn’t really creamy, it was thick like a chocolate caramel.  The only similarity to the traditional creme egg is that this too was cloyingly sweet.  I'm not sure how they made chocolate that sweet, but, ugh, I couldn't finish this.  At least with the regular egg it has the novelty of looking like an egg, whereas this one was just sweet overload, with no fun factor.

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Dips, by Dipin

I Love Snacking is a company that produces Mediterranean snacks, aimed primarily at airlines and vending machines, but some of their products are available in supermarkets too.  Each product line has its own label, so you likely haven't heard of the parent company before.

One line is Oloves, flavored olives.  I saw them once on a plane, I think Virgin America?  Another is Stuff'd, rice stuffed dolmas.  Fruity Pie is a new line not yet available.  I haven't tried any of these, but I did try their Dipin line, made up of assorted Mediterranean dips.

All are gluten-free, vegan.  Since I love sauces, and dips in general, I was excited to try these out.  Sadly, I didn't love any of them, as they really didn't seem all that fresh, clearly packaged, preserved items.  The flavors were also too strong, at least for me, partially due to the fact that many included ingredients that I don't like much to begin with, so having them accented was the opposite of what I wanted.

I like the idea of having healthy, pre-packaged, Mediterranean snacks, but these didn't really live up to my standards.

Pepper & Artichoke Bruscetta.

I started with the pepper & artichoke bruschetta: "grilled peppers, artichokes, fresh garlic, tomato, and a delicate dash of herbs."

As a dip, it didn't quite work for me.  I didn't taste the artichoke, which didn't bother me since I don't care for artichoke, but I was surprised by how prevalent the tomato flavor was, given that it wasn't part of the product name.  It was also a bit mushy and oily.  But my biggest issue is that it just didn't seem fresh.

I think it would have been decent spread on some bread, like real bruscetta, but I'm not sure what I'd want to just dip into it.  Sadly, it was my favorite of the dips.

Black Olive Tapenade.

Next, I went for the tapenade: "black olives, extra virgin olive oil, and a smattering of mountain herbs".

Well, you ask for black olive, and you get it.  This was soo incredibly olive-y.  Like the bruscetta, it was too oily for me.  It was also very salty.  And again, I'm not sure what I'd want to dip in it, I think they need to re-brand as spreads, not dips.

I liked it best when combined with the hummus, as the two very strong flavors helped mellow each other out a bit.  My second favorite of the dips, but I wouldn't try it again.

Classic Hummus.

Lastly, the hummus: "chick peas, tahini, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and a smidge of cumin".

I don't generally like hummus, since I don't like chickpeas.  But I at least wanted to try it.

I know they say this is "classic", but is adding tahini actually a standard thing?  I didn't think it was, but I certainly don't have much experience with hummus.  As I feared, it was very chickpea-y, but did also have the taste of tahini to it.  Very smooth and creamy.  But, for me, just too much chickpea.  It was best mixed with the tapenade to mellow both of the intense flavors out.

My least favorite.

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Paladar Cafe Cubano

Paladar is a Cuban cafe in the Financial District.  Cuban isn't a cuisine I generally gravitate towards, but sometimes, I really start to crave yuca and plantains, so I decided to check it out.

Paladar is a cute looking place, with table seating, but I got my dishes to go.  They are up to date with modern mobile payment systems, offering both Paypal and LevelUp.

Unfortunately, I really did not like any of the dishes I got.  While not exactly the same style, it was about on par with Destino, a Peruvian restaurant, where my dining companions and I actually left after eating our appetizers, as we decided it wasn't worth ordering anything else.  Just like Destino, everything at Paladar was overly oily and completely flavorless (besides the strong oil flavor).

Charanga’s Yuca Frita & Chipotle Aioli. $6.

"Classic crispy cassava served with mildly spicy sauce"

I've been seriously craving yuca lately.  I was so exited for this.

Unfortunately, it was awful.

Visually, it didn't look great: the pieces of yuca were tiny little chunks, which was a bit disappointing.  They also looked really greasy.  But I still dug in.

They were nasty. So incredibly oily.  I did not taste the yuca at all.  Honestly, all you could taste was oil.  They were  hot, and crispy, but really not good at all.

I love dipping sauces, so I actually went for a third chunk, even after my initial dislike of the first two, excited to at least slather it in the dipping sauce.  I didn't like the sauce either.  It just tasted ... strange.

Limon Rotisserie  definitely had better yuca fries, and far, far better sauces.

$6 for the full size portion of just a few chunks (this photo is before I had any!) really seemed incredibly overpriced.  I clearly would never get this again.

Mariquitas & Mojo.  Small size.  $2.75.

"House-made plantain chips with garlic dipping sauce".

After the fail with the fried yuca, I decided to try out the plantain chips, another favorite of mine.

Just like the yuca, the plantain chips were overly oily, and didn't have much flavor to them besides the oil.  They also weren't very well salted.  I did like how crispy they were, and how large the slices were.

The mojo was incredibly disappointing.  I'm a dips girl, so I wanted it to be good, but it really wasn't.  Watery, slightly garlic-y, slight citrus tang, but really not much going on.

La Mar Cebicheria definitely had both better plantain chips, and far superior sauces.

The $2.75 price for a small was fine, but I would not get this again.

Plátanos Maduros, half-portion. $2.75. 

As a quasi-dessert, I also got the maduros, fried sweet plantains.  They were much better than the yuca.  Sweet, decent flavor.  Not good exactly, as they were kinda soggy, and a bit oily.

I wouldn't get this dish again, but it wasn't horrible.  $2.75 for the half portion was a fine price.

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Hershey Candy

Today's chocolate review is a little different from the norm, in that I'm pretty sure that 100% of people reading this have enjoyed their products before.  Ok, perhaps not enjoyed, but certainly tried!  This chocolate maker needs no introduction.  This is America's default chocolate: Hershey.

I'm including them here for completeness, and because I encountered a lot of Hershey chocolate over Halloween, so I have tried a lot of it recently.  It is pretty much exactly what I remember.

Hershey Kisses

• Air Delight:  "Milk chocolate gently blended into a light, airy texture." Tasting notes: Not good milk chocolate, strange airy texture.
• Special Dark: Tasting notes: Not complex dark chocolate, but decent bitterness to it.  Very creamy for a dark.
• Mint Truffle: "Sweet mint truffle center surrounded by classic Hershey chocolate".  Tasting notes:  Milk chocolate was standard forgettable Hershey, center has minty filling but mostly just sweet.  Not interesting.
• Hugs: “Milk chocolate hugged by sweet white cream. "  Tasting notes: Tasteless milk chocolate, tasteless white milk chocolate, meh.
• Caramel: "Milk Chocolates Filled with Caramel." Tasting notes: Too sweet, poor quality chocolate, meh.

Hershey Bars

• Milk Chocolate with Almonds: Tasting notes: Really, their chocolate is just not good.  Waxy, no chocolate flavor, meh.  At least the mouthfeel is decent?  The almonds were fairly flavorful, and there were a generous amount in the bar.  But this was just not very good.

Hershey Miniatures

• Special Dark: "Mildly sweet chocolate bar".  Tasting notes: Very smooth, fairly chocolatey, but not much going on here.  Not complex.  Slight chemical flavor on the finish. [ "dark"?  Seriously.  This is a very sweet piece of chocolate, no dark chocolate complexity at all.  Pleasant, not offensive, but certainly not dark chocolate. ]
• mr. Goodbar: "Crunchy blend of freshly roasted peanuts and chocolate candy."  Tasting notes: This really had no flavor.  Lots of tiny chunks of peanuts, but no peanut flavor.  Chocolate not creamy or really very good.  These used to be my favorite of all of the miniatures! [ I love all the bits of crunch, but, this is very boring chocolate. ]

Reese's

• Reese's Pieces: "Peanut butter in crunchy candy shell."  Tasting notes: Pretty tasty, I want them in a sundea with hot fudge, peanut butter sauce, and whipped cream though :)
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: "Peanut butter surrounded by milk chocolate." Tasting notes: I used to love these.  They still hold a pretty special place in my heart.  Is the peanut butter filling more fillers than peanuts?  Probably.  Is the milk chocolate coating the same generic stuff Hershey uses in all of their products?  Yes. But ... can you really resist the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, even if they aren't exactly high quality?  I can't.  The filling is creamy, has enough peanut butter flavor so that you know what you are eating, and the chocolate, while crappy, combines perfectly.  Sure I'd prefer a higher end version of this, but sometimes, a Reese's peanut butter cup really hits the spot.  And they go great on froyo. [ Yes, low quality ingredients, but totally irresistible! ]
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Dark: "Classic peanut butter smothered in rich, dark chocolate".  Tasting notes: I thought this would be good, as I like dark chocolate far more than milk chocolate.  And I enjoyed my last peanut butter cup.  But, this wasn't very good.  The dark chocolate was not complex and it overshadowed the peanut butter, so all you tasted was not very good dark chocoalte.  Meh.

Other Chocolate Candy

Whoppers.

"Malted milk balls covered with a chocolate-flavored coating".

Not very flavorful malted center, crappy milk chocolate coating, very sweet.  I do like how the center melts in your mouth! [  I used to love these, or so I thought.  Hmm.  Again, crappy chocolate coating.  Inside just sweet and not as malty/interesting as i remember ... I thought it disentegrated all interestingly, but this was kinda just boring. ] [ These just are not good! The chocolate was horrible, and the inside was just ... there.  MEH. ]

Take 5.

"A unique taste experience by combining pretzels, caramel, peanuts and peanut butter, and covering it all with chocolate". 

Very crunchy!  But crappy chocolate.  Pretzels were kinda stale tasting.  Didn't really detect much caramel nor peanut butter.  This sounded like a great combo of sweet and salty, but didn't really come through. [ Majority of this bar is just pretzel.  And not goods ones at that.  And then lots of  crappy chocolate.  Not sure where the peanuts, caramel, or peanut butter were.  Sounds good, but isn't. ]

Rolo.

"Chewy caramels in milk chocolate"

Meh, not very good chocolate, not very good caramel.  Do not like.

Almond Joy.

"Coconut and crunchy almonds in creamy milk chocolate."

Milk chocolate coating, sweet mushy coconut inside, almond.  Just kinda sweet, crappy chocolate, almond did have decent flavor.  I’m clearly spoiled by eating macarons. [ Crappy chocolate.  crappy coconut.  just not good at all. ] [ Crappy milk chocolate, gooey coconut that doesn’t taste all that much like coconut, a single almond that doesn’t have much flavor … I want to like this, as I love all the components, but it is just too low quality. ] [ Just mushy coconut filling that isn't that great, cheap chocolate, flavorless nut.  Meh. ]

Heath Bar.

"Toffee coated in milk chocolate."

Very hard to bite into, solid toffee.  Toffee not very flavorful.  Milk chocolate is generic crappy Hershey.  Not very good at at all :( [ Crap chocolate crap toffee.] [ Hard, not very good, meh.  Maybe good crumbled on ice cream? ] [ I adore this mixed into my soft serve ice cream! ]

York Peppermint Patty.

"The cool, refreshing taste of mint dipped in smooth dark chocolate."

I remember loving these when I was younger, I always liked the strong mint taste and the dark chocolate.  But now ... I don't find them minty enough at all.  And the chocolate I thought was super dark is really just mediocre chocolate, without a deep flavor.  Meh to this.

I also used to love freezing these, but, even freezing them doesn't save them for me anymore.

Non-Chocolate Candy

Twizzlers.

"Strawberry flavored licorice twists." 

Chewy texture is nice, but I swear these used to actually be more flavorful, where is the strawberry flavor?

Subsequent notes: They kinda taste like plastic.  But I enjoy the chew.

Jolly Rancher.

• Hard Candy Doubles: orange/green apple.  Tasting notes: not classic jolly rancher shape, this was a round hard candy.  Liked green apple half but not orange.
• Fruit Chews: Tasting notes: tasted like plastic.  Horrible.

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LÄRABAR

As you know, I'm always on a quest to find tasty snack bars to stuff in my purse.  I have found some winners, but, generally, I dislike them.  Granola bars are always dry and boring, protein bars tend to tasty funky, and the only ones I tend to like are soft baked breakfast-style bars.  But I keep trying.

LÄRABAR is rather near the top of my dislike list.  They make several product lines: the classic LÄRABAR, ALT protein bars, über snack bars, and Jŏcalat chocolate bars.  I've only tried the originals and the über bars.

Original LÄRABAR

LÄRABAR is their original line, made from unsweetened fruits, nuts, and spices.  Each bar has fewer than 9 ingredients.  Most use dates as the base.

The names of the bars sound like decadent desserts.  They always tempt me, with their names alone.  Spoiler: they don't remotely resemble their namesakes.  They aren't tasty.

Apple Pie LÄRABAR.

Made from apples and dates, almonds and walnuts, and spiced with cinnamon and raisins.

The aroma on this was really lovely.  It smelt like a well spiced apple pie.  So far, so good.

But ... I did not like the taste at all.  The apples were mushy, and although the dates provided a bit of sweetness, the nuts were sour and bitter.

This was nothing remotely like an apple pie!

Blueberry Muffin.

Made from a base of blueberries and dates, with walnuts, lemon juice, and vanilla.

Now, I like blueberry muffins.  But after the "apple pie", you'd think that I'd be prepared for the Blueberry Muffin LÄRABAR to not remotely resemble a blueberry muffin.  But ... I was foolish, and still somehow thought that I'd find blueberry muffin inside.

Instead I found ... surprise, nuts and dates.  This time, with some blueberries, yes, but the dominant flavor was still dates, and the texture was all mushy.  I didn't even want a second bite of this.

Cashew Cookie.

Basically just cashews and dates.  This was certainly nothing like a cookie.  Did not like. Gross, gross.

Peanut Butter Cookie.

Same as the cashew "cookie", but with peanuts.  I liked the peanut flavor, but, overwhelmed with date flavor.  I just do not like these.  And why, why, why do they name it "cookie"?

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip.  

Another base of dates, with peanuts and chocolate chips.

Peanuts are good.  Chocolate is good.  Together they are better.  I thought that would save the fact that it is still a date based bar but ... no such luck.  I just do not like the date base, and thought it tasted really strange against the peanut flavors.  And the texture was all wrong.  Do not like.

 über Bars

The über line is their fun snacks, a mix of sweet and salty, made from fruits and nuts.

Bananas Foster über Bar.

Made from almonds, walnuts, and pecans, along with dried bananas, sweetened with brown rice syrup and honey, held together with dates, and spiced with salt and cinnamon. 

This sounded very fascinating.  Who doesn't love bananas foster?  I was hoping for a sweet, nutty, banana-y treat.  Instead, it really was just a bunch of nuts glued together, with a bit of a banana aftertaste.  I think the name of it just made me expect, and want, something very different, so I didn't end up liking it very much.  I could imagine it perhaps being good melted over some vanilla ice cream?  But ... not just as a bar.

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Roasted Nut Roll.

Made from almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, sweetened with brown rice syrup and honey, held together with dates.

Basically a bunch of mixed nuts stuck together with a slightly sweet date paste, salty too. Not bad … almost really good.

Subsequent tasting notes:  Great mix of nuts, sweet, but satisfying.  [ Just a bunch of nuts and sweet binder, not particularly good nor bad. ] [ Salty, good nuts. ] [ Good mix of nuts, nice sweetness, yum ] [ Love this thing.  Great nuts, great sweetness, yum yum yum .]

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