SS Frutas Plantain Chips

SS Frutas is an international food importer and distributor.  They work with farms in South America to harvest "exotic" fruits to bring to other countries.  Their main products are plantain and yucca chips.

As a lover all snack foods, and chips in particular, I was eager to try them.  I didn't find the yucca variety, which would be my top pick, but I did try the plantain chips in several varieties.

"Gluten-free, nutritious and delicious vegan plantain crisps. They are a good source of potassium without artificial colors, added flavors nor preservatives."

If this matters, yes, they are vegan, gluten-free, etc, etc.  They market them as a healthy snack, but I was fairly surprised to see that the single serve bags had 440 calories in them, much, much higher than your average bag of potato chips.  Interestingly, the Naturally Sweet ones have considerably more protein (and sugar obviously), than the other varieties.

SS Frutas makes 3 varieties: Salted, Spicy, and "Naturally Sweet". They all contain simple ingredients: plantains and oil for the Naturally Sweet, plantains, oil, and salt for the Salted, and plantains, oil, salt, and spices for the Spicy.

The result?  Yup, plantain chips.  No more, no less.

Salted.

The salted were ...  well, plantain chips, salty ones.  Crispy, banana-like yet starchy, fried.  Decent thickness, not broken up, not too oily.  Salty.  Not much to say here.  I think my favorite of the two kinds I tried, but I really needed something to dip them in to satisfy.

Naturally Sweet.

The naturally sweet were ... well, sweeter plantain chips that weren't salted?  I'm not sure what I was expecting really.  Again, just crispy, fried, banana-eque chips.  Kinda sweet.  But not dessert.  Not sure where these would fit into my life.  Not sweet enough to be a dessert item, but certainly not what I wanted with a savory meal.  Meh?

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Queues de Castor / BeaverTails, Montreal

I arrived in Montreal, for a very quick 2 day business trip, driven by my parents from their home in New Hampshire, since I was visiting them prior.  The plan was to drop me at hotel, get a snack, and for them to get back on the road, with a 3.5 hour drive ahead of them.  I presented a few options to my mom, all the things I wanted to check out, that I thought might appeal to them.  Poutine.  BeaverTails.  Soft serve dips.  Both my mom and dad were very clear.  They wanted the BeaverTails.  Soft serve they have all the time.  They really were not into the idea of poutine.  But fried dough?  That was their style (and, in fact, when I was at their house, they quasi-seriously proposed driving to the nearby town, 35 minutes away, to attend the summer fair, each pay $10 to get in, *just* to get fried dough.  Its a very rare treat for them).

Entrance.

So, to BeaverTails we went, called Queues de Castor in Quebec, because, French.  The location we visited was in Old Town, hence the stone front.

What is a BeaverTail?  Yes, it is just fried dough.  No different from what you find at any fair, beach boardwalk, amusement park, or ballgame concession stand.  The inspiration for the "Snowshoe" desserts I had my first time to Canada, at The Crazy Canuck, in Waterloo.  But not something they have easy access to in rural NH.  And with a name that makes my mom giggle.  "I just want to say I ate a BeaverTail!", she said, several times excitedly.  

BeaverTails is a chain throughout Canada, started in the 1970s in Ottawa, for a fair.  It is now a large franchise, with about 140 locations, mostly throughout Canada, and a few in the US.  BeaverTails does have a few other items on the menu, all things I do like: fries, poutine (of course), and "Beaverdogs", pastry wrapped hot dogs, but from what I can tell, most people don't get those things.  BeaverTails and nothing else.  Or maybe ice cream, from the co-located ZooMoo ice cream parlour, with gelato, hard ice cream, frozen yogurt, and vanilla/chocolate soft serve.

I'll admit I was tempted by the sundae option though, with ice cream base, sauces and other toppings, and, balls of fried dough surrounding them.  I nearly went for that option, but decided I had no reason to believe their soft serve would be any good.  BeaverTails it was.

Trio of BeaverTails: Avalanche (minus Skor), Classic, Apple Cinnamon.

We each ordered one BeaverTail, and sampled each others.  There were only 9 options, no ability to craft your own, nor to add your own toppings.  That was always my favorite thing at the summer fair, loading on the powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, and Bavarian cream to different sections as I pleased.  Here I had to pick just one, and someone else would do it for me.

I really didn't know which to select, as options ranged from very simple cinnamon and sugar to creations with spreads and toppings, and the classic things I grew up with, powdered sugar and Bavarian cream, were not options.  Many had chocolate hazelnut spread or chocolate components, which I didn't opt for, since I didn't want caffeine.  I was fairly tempted by the "Coco Vanil", which is actually the Oreo one, not for the crushed Oreos on top, nor the drizzle of chocolate sauce, but for the vanilla icing.  I saw one kid nearby with it, and it looked melty and tasty, and I considered getting it just without Oreos and chocolate sauce, if they'd let me.  I was also tempted by the "Killaloe Sunries", classic cinnamon and sugar, but also, lemon to boost it up a bit.  But that seemed boring, and I knew my father would go Classic, and share.

They were handed over immediately after I completed payment, topped to order, the pastries fairly fresh, as there was a steady stream of guests.  We each sampled all three, but mostly stuck to our own choices.

All were fine.  Not memorable.  I don't see a reason to return.

Outdoor Seating.

There is no seating inside, but outside are a handful of tables.  It was very windy when we were there, and our napkins, and those of everyone else around us, kept flying away.

Classic: Cinnamon & Sugar.

"A sprinkle of cinnamon & sugar."

My father is a traditional man, and his food choices are not adventurous.  Cinnamon and sugar was all he wanted.  He made a good choice, and my mom admitted she wished she had followed his lead.  It was well coated with cinnamon and sugar.

It also gives the best view of the pastry, oblong, not too thick, not too fried, not bad like the base funnel cake at California's Great America theme park.  Just very basic, very generic, fried dough.  No reason to rave about it, no reason to take a bite and throw it out.  It was what it was.

Apple Cinnamon.

 "Apple pie filling with whole apple slices and caramel sauce."

My mother opted for the one that sounded the least good to me: apple cinnamon.  I expected apple gloop from a can, and, well, that is exactly what it was.  Exactly like my horrible experience being lead astray by the Yelpers who encouraged me to get the Apple Pie version at the funnel cake stand at the Santa Cruz boardwalk.  Lots of goo, soft mushy generic apple slices.  Tons of toppings, very sweet, and totally dominated the pastry.

She was clearly quite disappointed, and tried to be a trooper, saying "it tastes like apple pie ...", and, after sampling it myself, I said, "yeah, like gas station apple pies!", and she sadly said yes.  She didn't finish it, and gave it to my dad, who clearly didn't want it either.

This was the loser of the group.

Avalanche (Minus the Skor®).

"Cheesecake spread, Skor® bits, and caramel sauce."

I went for the "Avalanche", the most crazy sounding, at least by name.  I was seconds away from ordering the Oreo one just for the vanilla icing, and realized that I could get this one without the Skor instead, and still have a creamy sweet white topping, plus caramel.  I was trying for something as close to Bavarian cream as I could get!  The person taking my order didn't seem phased at all by my asking to have the Skor left off (which I only did because of the chocolate, I do love toffee!).

Mine was ... ok.  I'll admit I was fairly sad at first, but it grew on me.

The bare ends and edges gave me a chance to sample the pastry on its own.  I appreciated that was it was decently warm (not super fresh and piping hot, but not cold), and that it really wasn't too oily.  It almost had a hearty taste to it, which surprised me.  It was thin and not super puffy inside nor crispy outside, but it was fine.

The "cheesecake spread" was the part that needed some expectations re-setting before I started liking it.  It didn't taste anything like cheesecake.  It tasted just like sweet frosting.  Which, since I was tempted to get the Oreo one with its vanilla icing, really wasn't a problem.  Sweet frosting, sure.  Generic drizzle of sweet caramel? Sure.  Much like my mother's, it was loaded up with topping, and very sweet.  Once I was ready for sweet, and "generic sweet", I liked it, but it certainly wasn't cheesecake, and it certainly wasn't high quality.

So overall, fine.  I think my favorite of the three, although the cinnamon sugar was a close second, just, totally different.

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Graze, UK

I first tried Graze snacks a few years ago, when they attempted to make an inroads in the US, offering customized subscription snack boxes.  I found the concept fascinating, as I'm an avid snacker, but I quickly forgot about it.

But in the UK, Graze is unavoidable.  Not just the subscription boxes, but they are in every convenience store, every grocery store, just ... everywhere.  Sweet snacks, savory snacks, spicy snacks, nuts, seeds, veggies, gluten-free, high protein, high fiber, breakfast snacks, post-workout protein bites ... they have it all.  And the product line is constantly evolving.

I tried an assortment of snack boxes, and I must say, I see why they are successful.  Some of them were really, really good!

Dips & Dippers

I'm a big fan of dipping things.  Ok, I'm a fan of sauces in general.  And of crunchy chip-like things in general.  So, the Graze Dippers line seriously appeals.

They use all sorts of things for the dipping element, like soy rice crackers, flavored crackers, pretzels, shortbreads, even jerky.  Dips run the spectrum from savory onion marmalade to sweet white chocolate or toffee sauces.  Some sound incredible, like cinnamon pretzels with cookie butter dip!

Protein peanut butter dipper with baked hemp sticks.

"Wholesome pure peanut butter dip, served with lightly salted hemp pretzel sticks."

"Our thick and creamy peanut butter is made from whole peanuts and nothing else. It’s the ideal pairing for these baked hemp pretzel sticks, and each serving packs a whopping 5.9g of protein!"

I selected this for one of the components, and I assure you, it didn't have "hemp" in the name.

And yet ... the part I liked?  Yup, the hemp pretzel sticks.  They were crispy, slightly salty, and had a slightly hearty flavor from the hemp.  Perfectly tasty just to munch on, actually.

But the peanut butter.  That should be the star right?  I love peanut butter!  But ... this peanut butter I did not love.  And I'm not sure why.  It was creamy.  It was pure peanuts (no additives).  The flavor just wasn't great for me though.

Overall, I liked the dippers, discarded the peanut butter.

Savory

I'm usually one to rave about sweets, but, in the crunchy munchy snack department, savory certainly has its place.  And wow, graze has an amazing lineup.  They, uh, even have one called "smoky hotdog", which is supposed to recreate the flavors of a hotdog, through hickory smoked almonds, mustard breadsticks, and cheese croutons.

Seriously Spicy Thai Sriracha with chili and garlic:
Thai sriracha flavored peas / half popped corn / jumbo salted corn.

"We can't get enough of the deliciously satisfying spicy crunch in our spicy Thai sriracha peas. We've coated half-popped corn kernels and green peas in a Thai classic; sriracha sauce. Our sriracha is a perfect balance of medium heat from the chilli, garlic to round out the flavour, and sweetness to leave you wanting more."

Ok, this was awesome.

A mix of three different crunchy elements: coated peas, large corn kernels, and "kern pops", half-popped exploded kernels of corn.  Each was good, and I appreciated different aspects of each of them.  The jumbo corn was the crunchiest and saltiest, the kern pops the most jaggy and lightest, and the peas had the best coating.

The flavoring though is what set this apart, besides just being well selected crunchy munchies.  It tasted like ... well, Thai sriracha.  I laughed when I read the description and thought, "What does that even mean", and then realized that I had no better way to describe it either.  I found it fascinating how the spicy sriracha came through, but didn't overpower the chili and garlic.  And there was even a slight sweetness.

It was addicting.  It was satisfying.  It was spicy without overpowering.  It would make a great bar snack ... with nearly every bite, I kept thinking how good a cocktail or glass of red wine would be alongside.

It is a good thing this was portion controlled.

Sweet

Of course, I also tried some sweet ones.  Here too, there are fun concepts like "jam doughnut", recreated through raspberry fruit strings and vanilla sponge drops.

White Chocolate & Raspberry: white chocolate buttons / blanched almonds / whole hazelnuts / raspberry fruit strings.

"There’s nothing quite like the summer flavours of white chocolate and raspberry. This clever creation fuses the sweet taste of Belgian white chocolate with juicy raspberry fruit strings, mixed with the crunch of almonds and hazelnuts. This is a delicious dessert-flavoured snack you can feel good about enjoying!"

Graze is right, white chocolate and raspberry are a great combination, as are, it turns out, white chocolate and hazelnut.  This was actually a fairly enjoyable mix.

The almonds were the most boring, just plain, white, blanched almonds.  They were also the component with the largest quantity, although the raspberry fruit strings were close behind.   The strings were like little tiny chewy fruity chews, like a fruit roll up, made into strings.  Fine, but not super exciting.

What I really liked were the large white chocolate drops.  Creamy, smooth, sweet white chocolate.  And the hazelnuts, just standard hazelnuts, but crunchy and flavorful, great with the white chocolate.

Overall, enjoyable, and a nice balanced mix of sweet, crunchy, creamy, and, some protein from the nuts.

Milk Chocolate and Salted Caramel: Pecans / Belgian milk chocolate and salted caramel buttons / pumpkin seeds / amaretti drops.

"We love our salted caramel buttons! Especially when they're combined with crisp pecans, amaretti drops and crunchy pumpkin seeds. This mixture perfectly satisfies any salted caramel craving, with the added bonus of vitamins, minerals and fibre!"

This was very good.

The pecans and pumpkin seeds were basic but good.  I liked the texture of the slightly chewy amaretti drops, basically like ity bity macaroons, good almond flavor.  The milk chocolate buttons were a surprise, filled with gooey caramel.  I thought they were just big chocolate drops, and that the salted caramel would show up elsewhere.  The chocolate was smooth and good too.

Overall, I liked every single component, and I liked them even more when all combined.  A satisfying snack, could very easily feel a bit like dessert (particularly with some whipped cream?), and was good alongside a cup of coffee.  Wining mix!

Flapjacks

"Our flapjacks come from family bakers in the Cotswolds, who make these oaty delights from a trusted 30 year old family recipe that’s been handed down through a discerning generation or two! They’re handmade from the very best rustic rolled British oats and baked in small batches so each one is crafted to our deliciously high standards."

Back in 2014 I had my first ever British style flapjack, and it happened to be from Graze, the US version.  I wasn't that excited by it, mostly because the flavor was so plain.  Since then, I've tried other brands of flapjacks, but not the real ones from the UK Graze.

Graze makes a slew of flapjacks, as they are their signature, and most popular, product.  They even make high protein varieties, or bite sized offerings.

Full On Fruity Flapjack.

"Whole British oats, juicy apricot, vine fruits & seeds."

"Our original fruity flapjack was our first foray into flapjacks. We wanted to develop a flapjack that packed a fruity punch with classic country flavours. We’ve squeezed 5 fruits into the recipe combined with seeds to give it a great texture."

I tried the "Full On Fruity" version, as it was shared with me, not because I would pick that variety.

Well, it wasn't boring like the previous kind I had tried.  It was indeed loaded with all the things - raisins, sultanas, and currants, bits of chopped dates and apricots, and sunflower seeds.  I guess, it was "full on fruity".  Which, I didn't care for.

The base soft sweetened oats were fine, but, this was just all about the dried fruit, and I am not a dried fruit lover.  The sunflower seeds were bitter.

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Honey Stinger Waffles

Honey Stinger makes a variety of snacks for athletes (cyclists in particular), designed to be used either before, during, or after sports.  Most are not interesting to me: energy chews, protein bars, energy bars, energy gels, and the like.

"Utilizing an ingredient engineered by nature as opposed to in a laboratory has its benefits, like higher quality and no additional flavoring or coloring. We use honey, a natural form of energy and antioxidants, as the main carbohydrate source for all products. Research in endurance athletes has proven that a mixture of carbohydrates is better tolerated by the body, prevents fatigue and enhances performance more than a single carbohydrate form."

But one product is ... waffles.

Depending on what aspects of Honey Stinger Waffles you consider, these could be something I'd love, or, they could just as well be something I hate.

Waffles?  Excellent.  You know I have a thing for waffles.

Excuses to eat dessert at times other than after a meal, because, they are for sports?  Awesome.

But ... honey is rarely a draw for me.  And I've never found stroopwafel that I actually like, even though I've tried quite a few, like Lady Walton's or Bay Area favorites Rip Van Wafel.

Of course I still tried them though.  The results were surprising, to say the least.

Individual Packaging.

"For years, similar waffles have been sold on street corners throughout Europe and eaten by professional cyclists, so we decided to create our own by sandwiching honey between two thin waffles. Honey Stinger Organic Waffles are easy to digest, certified organic and available in a single-serving wrapper."

The waffles are packaged individually, in colors to match the flavor (here, pink for strawberry).

Waffle: Top.

Each waffle is a round disk, standard stroopwafel shape.  Standard hard yet slightly soft form, designed to be placed over your coffee cup to soften it.

I, uh, of course took a bite first.

Regular Waffles

The regular waffles come in 7 flavors: honey, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, and gingersnap.  I tried several.

The waffles are .. well, dry hardish cookie-like things that I didn't care for at all.  I didn't like the honey flavor present in all of them.

I basically hated them all.

Strawberry Waffle: Side.

"A thin layer of our classic honey with natural strawberry flavor sandwiched between two thin waffles. Sure to satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

I expected it to have more strawberry filling, but actually, there was very little, as you can see from the cross section, and what was there was mixed with the aforementioned honey.

It did taste strawberry however.  Which I didn't like at all.  A softish, crumblyish, staleish strawberry tasting thing?  Serious meh for me.

For me, this was just the opposite of what I'd ever want, not the form, flavor, nor texture I like.  And certainly not a waffle.

I disliked the strawberry so much that I didn't bother trying the warmed up version over my cup, and just tossed it.

Chocolate.

"A thin layer of honey infused with natural cocoa flavor and sandwiched between two thin waffles. The delicious taste of chocolate and honey will satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

A friend gave me several flavors to try, so, even though I wasn't excited for it, I also tried the chocolate.

It was marginally better, in that chocolate made more sense as a waffle, but I still did not like the honey notes, and just don't care for the stroopwafel concept in general.

Gluten-Free Waffles

And then, because I truly am insane, I tried the gluten-free one.  Because, if the regular one isn't good, try the gluten-free?  Ha.

Gluten-free waffles are available in 5, different, flavors: vanilla & chocolate, chocolate mint, salted caramel, cinnamon, and of course, honey.  Their flavors at least sounded better.

But the real shocker?  I liked this one.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon.

"A thin layer of honey infused with delicious cinnamon sandwiched between two thin waffles. The gluten free all-time classic flavor of cinnamon combined with honey will satisfy your taste buds and keep you going as an afternoon snack, during your favorite activity or go great with your cup of coffee or tea."

The one I was given was the not very exciting sounding cinnamon variety.  I had zero hopes of liking this, given my history with stroopwafel in general, with the brand, with gluten free, and with the flavor choice (so boring!).

It looked just like all the others.  I felt guilty, honestly, even bothering trying it, as I thought it would be headed into the trash.

But ... um, I liked it?

The honey flavor wasn't nearly as strong as in the others, nearly nonexistent actually, and since that was an element I didn't care for, this was a great improvement for me.  So, first taste, it didn't have the honey forward nature I was expecting.

The texture was basically the same as the regular, and although it definitely had the distinctive taste of gluten free flour blends, it actually worked here, creating a slightly hearty taste.  I think the honey and other sweeteners balanced it out nicely.

And the cinnamon, while boring, also worked.

Overall, um, it all worked.  I still don't really just think of these as an item I want alongside (on top of) a coffee, but I like the idea of dunking them in whipped cream, or using as a garnish on ice cream.  Or, making ice cream sandwiches with these thin crispy waffles as the cookies, as they really are like sweeter, chewier waffle cones!

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Vejoes Vegetarian Food Truck, Sydney

I discovered an amazing food truck.  A vegetarian food truck.  In Sydney.

Vejoes is a food truck run by Joe.  (Actually, the truck is named Sofia.  Vejoes is the business.  Ve-joes, as in, vegetarian Joes.  Get it?)  Per Joe:

"Everything I serve has been prepared by me (with love), with many of the fresh ingredients sourced directly from my garden. If it didn't grow in my backyard, I've chosen the best quality, freshest ingredients available."

I can't say I had any expectations going into this, but I was blow away by how much I enjoyed my meal.  If only Vejoes was a bit more accessible to me regularly!  Not only is it on the other side of the world from where I live (Sydney), it also doesn't have a brick and mortar location, available only for catering, events, food festivals, and pop-ups around town.  Doh.

I found Vejoes at a winter festival in July (since, that is winter in the southern hemisphere ...).  It was my second food truck stop of the day, after disappointing yum cha from Let's Do Yum Cha that left me wanting something before I moved on to the waffle truck for dessert, and, uh, the chocolate fountain.  I didn't expect to have such an amazing meal from Vejoes, and wished I had skipped the first truck entirely!

I highly recommend, if you ever have the opportunity.

The Menu (and Joe!)

The menu was handwritten on a chalkboard, with only three options, all vegetarian obviously, one vegan.

Three Cheese Quesadilla: The classic Mexican dish, Vejoes style.Cajun black beans, grilled corn, caramelised onion, melted feta, cheddar, smoked haloumi w/ sour cream & el curtido salad.
The Haloumi Burger: The crowd pleaser.Grilled haloumi, smoked mushrooms, home-made green chilli & pumpkin jam, caramelised onion, mayo and mixed salad leaves.
Grilled Eggplant Burger (Vegan).Eggplant steak, smoked mushrooms, veganaise, chili BBQ sauce, onions, mixed leaves, pickles.

I'm not normally one to head for the vegetarian truck, particularly given so many other options, particularly given the wait times Vejoes was giving.  But.  Haloumi.

We just don't get enough haloumi in the US, and when we do, its always just mediocre.  In Australia, they know how to haloumi.  I had high hopes.

Orders did take a while, which we were warned when we ordered.  Joe worked alone in the kitchen, making each dish to order, all of which used his single grill top.  He worked in batches somewhat, doing 2-3 at a time almost, but never more than that.

Patience was rewarded however.

The Haloumi Burger (Salad option).

"Grilled haloumi, smoked mushrooms, home-made green chilli & pumpkin jam, caramelised onion, mayo and mixed salad leaves."

I ordered the haloumi burger, and asked to have it bunless.  I am not gluten-free nor carb adverse, but, I had my eyes on the waffle truck for dessert, and had yum cha / dim sum already from the first truck I stopped at, so, I really didn't want to fill up on bread.  I was offered to do it as a salad, which I accepted, although really, I would have been happy with just no bun and nothing else changed.  I was assured that the yummy toppings would all be included, which, to be honest, drew me in as much, if not more, than the haloumi itself.

So, what did I have?  A base of mixed greens.  Simple mixed greens, but super fresh.  They soaked up all the flavors from above amazingly well.  I ended up absolutely loving my salad base, particularly the spinach and rocket, mixed with those toppings.

So yeah, those toppings.  Wowzer.

The smoked mushrooms were just button mushrooms, and didn't really seem smoked, and thus were the only component I wasn't happy with.

The caramelized onion was amazing, you can't see it here because it is under the haloumi, but there was tons and tons of this, chopped onions, super caramelized, super flavorful, and I think with balsamic? Crazy good, and the juices ran out of it into the greens.

The green chili & pumpkin jam was mixed with the caramelised onion, again, great flavor, awesomeness that just infused the salad and haloumi.  The whole thing was drizzled *very* generously with mayo, which when I saw it my eyes went wide, but it was really good, again, it just combined perfectly with those other sauces and leaves.

So, even without the haloumi, this was insanely delicious and satisfying.  I kinda couldn't believe it.

And then there was the massive slices of fresh grilled haloumi.  Grilled to order, served to me moments after it came off the grill.  Talk about delicious.  No squeaky cheese here.  The slices were thick too, as designed to be a burger.  There were no knives, so it was actually a bit comical to eat, as I couldn't cut it with my plastic fork, and it was covered in sauces and so was quite messy.  But it was kinda perfect, well seasoned, well cooked.  I suspect the burger normally comes with only one of these massive haloumi patties, and I was given two for the salad?

Not pictured is the extra sauces I also added.  Vejoes had condiments on the side, one was a watermelon hot sauce (! danger! Julie allergic!), but another was mandarin orange, and the third was berry hot sauce, and I added some of that too.  I can't say it was needed given all the other flavorful wonderful components, but, I liked it too.

Overall, a total winner, I'd get this again in a heartbeat.  Even just the salad with toppings was insanely good, which is such a crazy thing for me to say.

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barkTHINS Snacking Chocolate

Chocolate. Snacks.  Yes.  These are things I like.

Snacking chocolate?  Sounds good to me.  Sadly, barkTHINS didn't really do it for me.

"barkTHINS are snackable slivers of dark chocolate paired with real, simple ingredientsfor a completely original take on snacking. It's Snacking. Elevated."

Packaging.

"Every bite is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. With an array of delightful ingredients and delicious dark chocolate, there’s a flavor for everyone."

barkTHINS sounded like a great product for me.  All made with dark chocolate.  As a binder for crunchy things.  Most have a salt component. Yes.

All come packaged in re-sealable bags.  Perfect.

I would have been happy to try just about any flavor.  Studded with peanuts? Sure! Pumpkin seeds? Why not!  Chunks of peppermint?  Yes!  Coconut? Sure!

Dark Chocolate Pretzel w. Sea Salt.

"Indulgent dark chocolate meets a classic salty snack. It's snacking chocolate with a twist."

I settled on the dark chocolate pretzel.

And ... I was let down.

The dark chocolate was fine, but, not particularly notable.  And the pretzels?  Eh.  They provided texture, but overwhelmed the bar.  It didn't look like it should be unbalanced, as there was plenty of dark chocolate, but, all I could really taste was sadly pretzel.  And not much salt.

I didn't try any further flavors.

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Streets Ice Cream, Australia

Ah, ice cream.  One of my favorite things.  It should come as no surprise that when I visit another country, I get ridiculously excited to try out their ice cream treats.  And I don't actually mean trying all the fancy, high-end, artisan ice cream hand-crafted scoop-at-a-time using liquid nitrogen and all organic ingredients either (although, yes, last week I wrote about my favorite gelato in Sydney, Messina!)  No, I'm talking about the basic, classic, packaged ice cream treats you can get in any convenience store anywhere.  Which in Australia, is Streets.

Yes, Streets is basically just the Australian version of Nestlé ice cream, which, as you may recall from my reviews, I didn't ever really like.  More accurately, it is their version of Good Humor, as both are owned by Unilever, just like Heartbrand, which I reviewed after visiting Zurich.

Anyway, probably to most Australian adults, these aren't anything exciting.  But to me, they were something new to try, and, spoiler, some are actually quite good!

The Magical Ice Cream Freezer.

The office I was working in had ice cream freezers scattered about.  Nearly every day, they were filled with new treats.  The first time I visited Sydney, this really was the highlight of my day.  And back then, the variety was huge and the freezers never seemed to run out.  On my recent visit, the selection was less varied, and you had to time it perfectly in order to get one of the "good" treats, but still, it was quite exciting to have these freezers all over the office.

Magnum

Magnum is a line of ice cream bar, on a stick, covered in coating.  The classic flavor is just vanilla ice cream with milk chocolate coating, but like any successful product, a slew of other varieties are now available, with different flavors of ice cream (salted caramel, strawberry, chocolate), different coatings (milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, with almonds, with bits of honeycomb, with bits of "vanilla pieces"), and assorted swirls (caramel, chocolate).  They are available in full size or miniature.

Magnums have been sold in other countries for years, but only came to the US in 2011.  Of course, I've never bothered purchase one here in the US, but, when I was in Australia, I tried many varieties.  I also tried a few in Zurich.  I didn't actually care for the ice cream component of any of them, it was never as creamy as I'd like, but the coatings were really quite good.  They need to leave the ice cream business and just make chocolate confections.

Strawberry White Crumble Magnum.

"Creamy strawberry flavoured ice cream covered in cracking white chocolate and crunchy vanilla pieces."

Now, I don’t care for strawberry ice cream in general, and this tasted a lot like strawberry flavored Carnation Instant Breakfast, aka, a bit fake.  The ice cream itself wasn't great either, not very creamy.

This sounds all negative.  And, I really didn't like the ice cream.  But ... the white chocolate coating was the perfect thickness, and was pleasantly sweet.  I really loved the crunch from the "crunchy vanilla pieces" mixed throughout.

Just the coating would make for a nice white chocolate confection.  I wish I could get that, and leave the ice cream behind.

Salted Caramel Magnum.

"Creamy vanilla with a salted caramel swirl, coated in cracking Magnum milk chocolate with a silver finish."

The silver finish was stunning.  Under the silver paint was a milk chocolate layer of the perfect thickness to give it a great snap as you bit into it.  They really do have the coating thickness nailed on these treats.

Salted Caramel: inside.

Inside was fairly creamy vanilla ice cream, with a salted caramel swirl throughout.  It was sweet, but I didn't really detect the promised salty aspect.  I didn't love it, but it was better than the strawberry ice cream.

Overall, this was fine, but not particularly interesting.

Ego Caramel Magnum.

“Premium creamy vanilla ice cream covered in two layers of thick cracking Magnum chocolate encasing a thick caramel sauce.”

Wow, I finally, finally found a Magnum that I really enjoyed!

Yes, it was the same basic vanilla ice cream inside that isn’t particularly remarkable, but it is what surrounded it that made it great.

Ego Caramel: Inside.

There were three layers of coating.  Each alone was fine, but together, they were a magic trifecta.

The outermost was a classic thick milk chocolate shell.  Inside was a thick layer of caramel, and finally a dark chocolate layer.

The layers were crunchy, so sweet, and just totally delicious.

Like with the strawberry white crumble, I would have even been happy eating just the coating.  In this case, I really think it would work, a 3 layer chocolate bar?  Totally.  The ice cream was totally unnecessary.

Honeycomb Crunch.

"Smooth and creamy honeycomb ice cream covered in a thick layer of Magnum cracking milk chocolate and crunchy honeycomb bits."

Ok, now this one I was super excited for.  I love honeycomb.  Why the US doesn't really have honeycomb I'll never understand.  But it shows up everywhere in Australia.  Apparently, even in the ice cream.

Honeycomb Crunch: Inside.

The honeycomb flavored ice cream was very, very sweet, but more interesting than the standard vanilla.  Still not very creamy though.

The milk chocolate shell had the perfect snap as always, but was even better  because it had crunchy bits of honeycomb inside.

This was solid, probably my second favorite flavor I tried, but, actually, too sweet for me overall.

Magnum White.

"Vanilla bean ice cream dipped in white chocolate."

I actually kinda enjoyed this, which is surprising given how simple it is.   Yes, just vanilla ice cream coated in white chocolate.  No extra fun elements to add crunch in the coating, no core of decadent caramel, just vanilla and white chocolate.

But I let it get nicely melty, and the ice cream was decently creamy.  The white chocolate was sweet.  I had it alongside a black coffee, and it was the perfect combination, almost like an affogado.  I'd do it again.

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Peppermint Magnum.

"Premium peppermint ice cream covered in thick cracking Magnum dark chocolate. "

I love minty things, but this was just basic green mint ice cream, again, not creamy.  The coating was decent dark chocolate.  Overall, not very interesting.

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Magnum Almond.

"Vanilla bean ice cream dipped in milk chocolate and almonds."

The plain vanilla ice cream never does it for me, and the milk chocolate shell was pretty boring.  The slivered almonds added crunch, but weren't enough to save this one for me.

Cornetto

Cornetto is the line of packaged ice cream cones.  As far as I can tell, they are just Australia's version of a Drumstick, which I've reviewed before.  I've also reviewed the fancier packaged Cornettos found in Zurich.

I only tried a few basic flavors in Australia, but in general, I thought they were better than their American counterparts, and the ice cream itself was better than inside the Magnums.

Classic: Vanilla & Choc Nut.

"Delicious vanilla ice cream with chocolate and nuts, crunchy wafer and of course the chocolatey tip!"

Yup, classic.

The vanilla ice cream was basic, but got nicely creamy as it melted.  The cone had a chocolate layer inside so it stayed crispy against the ice cream.  The nuts and chocolate on top seemed just like token offerings, not substantial enough to add much.

A very basic treat, but good enough for what it was.  Much better than a Drumstick, as the cone held up better.

Classic Supreme Chocolate

"A creamy mixture of milk and dark chocolate, topped with white chocolate, hazelnuts and meringue balls."

I liked this much more than the classic vanilla.

The chocolate ice cream was a decent chocolate flavor, decently creamy.  Much better than the ice cream inside the Mangums, but not remarkable.

The toppings were tasty though, I liked the crunch of the white chocolate and the nuts, although I didn't really notice the meringues.  Better than vanilla, but not particularly notable.

Other

I also tried a handful of other assorted treats.  I'll just group them all here together.  While the Cornetto and Magnum lines are the most extensive, I think these are more classics.  Or at least, I got that impression from my Australian friends.

Golden Gaytime.

"Toffee and vanilla-flavoured centre, dipped in a scrumptious chocolate coating and covered in crunchy biscuit pieces".

Ok, yes. It is called a Golden Gaytime. And the tagline is "It's hard to have a Gaytime on your own." It a classic, been around since 1959. It has staying power!

I've had a number of these over the years, but I never love them. I almost love the crumble coating, but, it isn't actually "crunchy biscuit pieces", and always seems a bit soggy or mushy to me. I want more crunch. The chocolate layer isn't thick like a Magnum, so it pales in comparison. And the ice cream? Also not remarkable. The ice cream is clearly two different flavors, and one is vanilla, but the other is just sweet, and I wouldn't identify it as toffee.

Every time I have one of these it tends to make me grumpy. The coating is *almost* really tasty, but the toffee ice cream is just way too sweet.

Golden Gaytime Sanga.

"Toffee flavoured reduced fat ice cream sandwiched between two biscuit layers, partially dipped in compound chocolate and topped with biscuit crumbs."

Well, Streets is on board the "Golden Gaytime all the things" trend.  Since I don't actually like Golden Gaytimes very much, I was hopeful this might be more to my liking.

It was a fairly innovative item, not just because it was yet another spin on a Golden Gaytime.  

The novel part to me was the fact that only one half had the biscuit layers, the other half was sans biscuit, just with chocolate coating.  I really thought the whole thing would be a real ice cream sandwich, and the half with chocolate would dip the entire thing.  Be warned, because if you grab it from the chocolate side, you'll quickly find it doesn't have the desired structural integrity.

Anyway.  I think I liked it marginally more than a regular Golden Gaytime.  

The problem is that I just don't like their toffee ice cream.  It is far too sweet.  The vanilla stripe in the middle was fine, but the orange toffee parts were just way, way too sweet.

The biscuits were ... eh?  Not particularly good, no real flavor to them, not even really any texture to them.  Very plain.

The chocolate dip and biscuit crumbs tasted rather stale.

So, yeah.  Too sweet ice cream, boring biscuits, stale chocolate.  Not really a winner for me.

Bubble O' Bill.

"An Australian Icon! Bubble O' Bill is a classic blend of strawberry, chocolate and caramel ice confection, with a mega bubblegum nose, and a bullet hole through his hat."

Sooo creamy.

I like the chocolate quite a bit.  The caramel was the same as Gaytime caramel to me, too sweet and fake tasting.  Strawberry also too fake.  But the chocolate was very enjoyable, as was the chocolate coating on the back.

The bubble gum nose?  CRAZY SWEET.

Calippo Raspberry Pineapple.

"A juicy and tangy raspberry & pineapple refreshment."
One day, the ice cream freezer only had these.  They didn't look exciting, but, hey, I wanted something, so I grabbed one.  I had no idea what was going to be inside my tube.

Calippo Raspberry Pineapple: Inside.

It was basically a push-up pop.

The raspberry and pineapple were both quite strong flavors.  It was very sweet, but refreshing enough on a hot day, and it made me feel like a kid again.  They also come in lemon and cola lemonade flavors.

Banana Paddle Pop.

Ok, next up, the paddle pop.  These were always the last to go from the ice cream freezer.  Magnums and Cornettos disappeared fast, but, Paddle Pops were clearly the rejects.  And another classic, these have been around even longer than Golden Gaytimes, Paddle Pops were launched in 1953.

Available in chocolate, banana, and rainbow.

These are the most basic ice cream treat you can get, just an ice cream bar, on a stick.  So simple, but it sometimes just really hits the spot.

The ice cream is low fat, but it melts really nicely, and I thought it was the creamiest of all of their treats.  The banana flavor is nice, not super fake tasting, although it obviously is.  Really quite pleasant, although it isn't anything fancy.

The chocolate version is like our fudgicles, not something I ever really love, so I always went for the other flavors.

Rainbow Paddle Pop.

I'm not really sure what the different flavors of the rainbow paddle pop are supposed to be, but it is very similar to the banana version, just with a pink swirled color as well.  Again, just not very interesting.

Update Review: I tried one on my next visit as well.  It didn't get creamy and melty like I wanted it to, likely because it wasn't a hot day, and non-melty ice cream just isn't nearly as satisfying.  I really think I liked these at some point, but, it wasn't on either of these visits.

Pine-Lime Splice.

"First launched in the 1950s, Splice was the original fruit and vanilla split on a stick. For decades it has brought Australians 'the taste of summer' with its delicious range of tangy fruit products, all made with real fruit juice. The combination of creamy vanilla and refreshing fruit ice shell will delight your senses and take you away on a tropical escape."

I saved the best for last.  The Splice is the item I fell in love with on my first visit to Australia.  It is, hands down, still my favorite.  On this recent trip however, the ice cream fridge never contained any Splices, so, we had to go seek them out ourselves.  As you can tell, everyone was quite happy to get them!

So, the Splice.  Simple vanilla ice cream core, on a stick, coated in fruity ice.  Available in raspberry or "pine-lime".  Apparently that is a flavor that makes sense in Australia.  I think it means pineapple and lime?

I know this doesn't sound like it should be anything special.  But ... it is.  Seriously, the most perfect treat for a hot day.  The icy outside is sweet, yet refreshing.  The inside is smooth, creamy, and mellow.  It melts perfectly.  You have to eat it pretty fast on a hot or sunny day, but that is just part of the experience.  I love how the textures combine.

This reminds me of a treat I used to have at the local ice cream stand in my hometown, where they had Slush Puppies (aka, flavored icy drinks) and soft serve ice cream, and you could order a creation that was a Slush Puppy with vanilla ice cream swirled on top.  I always got this (blue raspberry flavored ice, vanilla ice cream), and loved it for the contrast of sweet ice and creamy ice cream, exactly like you have with a Splice.  Splices are also similar to Solero bars in many countries by Unilever, which I've reviewed before.

I love these things.  

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