Brand Eating

Review: Corner Bakery - Chicken Pesto Sandwich and Asian Wonton Salad

2013-05-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

I got half a Corner Bakery's Chicken Pesto Sandwich and side Asian Wonton Salad as a Corner Combo where you can mix and match sandwiches, salads, and soups to create your own combo.

The price came out to $7.99.

The Chicken Pesto comes on ciabatta ficelle with all-natural roasted chicken, arugula, tomatoes, sweet and spicy vinaigrette and pesto mayo. It comes with a pickle wedge to help cleanse the palate.

The chicken was tender, juicy, and flavorful. The bread was soft and fairly standard. The vinaigrette adds a burst of flavor but the pesto mayo was a bit lacking. I was hoping for more pesto flavor and it ended up tasting more like a well-made ordinary chicken sandwich rather than a chicken pesto sandwich.

The Asian Wonton Salad comes with all-natural roasted chicken, edamame (soy beans), cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers, carrots, green onions, cilantro, crispy wonton strips, mixed greens, cabbage, and ginger soy dressing.

There was a lot going on with the salad; it was fresh and sported quite a few flavors and textures with all the ingredients in the mix. Among the stronger flavors was the cilantro, which may be off-putting for some. The ginger soy dressing was very ginger-y, but I liked the overall effect of it and I enjoyed the salad very much.

Overall, the Chicken Pesto sandwich was good, but misses on the pesto front. The Asian Wonton Salad was excellent with a distinguished mix of flavors and textures that worked really well together.

Nutritional Info - Corner Bakery Chicken Pesto Half Sandwich
Calories - 340 (from Fat - 110)
Fat - 12g (Saturated Fat - 3)
Sodium - 890mg
Carbs - 37g (Sugar - 3g)
Protein - 20g

Nutritional Info - Corner Bakery Cafe Asian Wonton Salad - Combo Size
Calories - 270 (from Fat - 70)
Fat - 8g (Saturated Fat - .5)
Sodium - 960mg
Carbs - 33g (Sugar - 14g)
Protein - 20g

News: McDonald's - New Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie

2013-05-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

The latest addition to McDonald's smoothie line-up, the new Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie, makes its appearance this month.

It features blueberry and raspberries purees with pomegranate juice as part of a smoothie base mix, plus ice and lowfat yogurt, blended all together.

Pricing is in line with other smoothies in the McCafe line-up, which starts at $2.29 for a 12-ounce small in my area.

Nutritional Info - McDonald's Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie - Small (12 fl oz)
Calories - 220 (Calories from Fat - 5)
Fat - .5g (Saturated Fat - 0g)
Sodium - 40mg
Carbs - 50g (Sugar - 44g)
Protein - 2g

Around the World: Burger King Malaysia's New Breakfast Line-Up Adopts a Gangland Flair

2013-05-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Burger King Malaysia takes a gangland theme for the nomenclature of their new "Boss of Breakfast" line up. The menu sports names like "The Hit," "Swiss Joe," and, of course, "The Boss." Some of the names leave you to wonder what's actually in the sandwiches, but at least you know there's egg in the "Big Egg-O."

Here's a breakdown of the menu:

Since pork sausage isn't too popular in the largely Muslim country (although rival McDonald's does offer chicken sausage in Malaysia), you'll find plenty of deep-fried chicken patties instead.

"The Hit" is a chicken patty, American cheese, and mayo, on an English muffin.

"Big Egg-O" consist of a fried egg, chicken patty, and mayo, on an English muffin.

"Sunny Swiss" features sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, a fried egg (but, inexplicably, not a sunny side up one), and mayo, on an English muffin.

"Joe Swiss" is the same, but with a chicken patty instead of egg.

Finally, ordering "The Boss" gives you the kitchen sink option with a chicken patty, American cheese, egg, slice of smoked chicken ham, and mayo, on an English muffin.

To hammer home the theme, the tagline for the menu is "The Offer You Can't Refuse," and the visual advertisements show the sandwiches in a line up complete with height markings and name plates.

The new menu is offered at select Burger King locations in Malaysia.

News: Baskin-Robbins - New Sherbet Flavored Bars for Retail Stores

2013-05-18T05:56:00.002-07:00

Baskin-Robbins looks to expand beyond their scoop shops and have licensed their brand to Jel Sert to produce new Sherbet Flavored Freezer Bars to be sold in supermarkets and drugstores.

The new bars are available in two varieties: Rock 'N Pop Swirl and Rainbow Sherbet.

Rock 'N Pop Swirl features a side-by-side combo of grape and green apple flavors, while Rainbow Sherbet pairs orange and raspberry in the same fashion.

They're available at participating supermarket and drug stores nationwide in very bright and colorful 12-count boxes with a suggested retail price of $2.99 to $3.49.

Frozen Friday: Klondike - Original Choco Tacos

2013-05-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

Klondike's Choco Tacos are basically sundae cones fashioned into the shape of a taco. The "taco's" shell is made of sugar cone. It's filled with light vanilla ice cream with a chocolate-flavored swirl and topped with a milk chocolate-flavored coating and chopped peanuts.

A 14 fl-oz box of four Choco Tacos goes for around $3.99 in my area.

I've always wanted to try these since I was a little kid and saw them on the ice cream truck menu, but they were a bit pricey (my quarters!) so I always got something cheaper.

While it's a nice novelty, it lacked a fair bit in the quality compared to a Nestle Drumstick sundae cone. The chocolate coating is thin with a cheap chocolaty flavor and the ice cream inside lacks the rich creaminess of better ice creams.

The "taco" itself was soft rather than crispy or crunchy and was not quite filled with ice cream inside. The chocolate-flavor swirl was not too apparent visually or in taste. The peanuts didn't add much in crunch or flavor.

While it's a nice novelty, especially for kids (or the kid-at-heart), Klondike's Choco Tacos came off feeling a bit cheap to me and I'm not talking about the price. While it's still ice cream (and therefore, at least somewhat enjoyable), other competing sundae cones offer a better experience for around the same price.

Nutritional Info - Klondike Original Choco Tacos
Serving Size - 1 taco (73g)
Calories - 240 (from Fat - 110)
Fat - 12g (Saturated Fat - 9g)
Sodium - 110mg
Carbs - 31g (Sugar - 20g)
Protein - 3g

Around the World: McDonald's Arabia Offers "The French" Burger

2013-05-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Offering a "taste of the world" is a common promotion for McDonald's. Not in the US, but globally, menus, or menu items, inspired by other locales and countries seem to pop up quite a lot. Currently, McDonald's Arabia is offering "The French," which is a hamburger patty in a black pepper sauce (like a pan sauce maybe?), served simply with slivered onions on a bun. I think they're going to a steak au poivre kind of feel.

Previously, McDonald's Arabia offered similarly-themed burgers with names like "The Asian," "The Mexican," and "The Turkish."

The ad continues a motif of using dubbed-over scenes from movies with this remake of a scene from The Pink Panther with Inspector Jacques Clouseau:

You can check out the original scene here with Peter Sellers as the Inspector:

Review: Taco Bell - Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla

2013-05-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Taco Bell's new Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla is part of their new, updated $1 Cravings Menu test and offers hope to those who aren't fond of the more citrusy chicken offered at Taco Bell. It features marinated shredded chicken, along with a 3-cheese blend folded, and pressed inside a small flour tortilla (think soft taco-sized)

Like the rest of the menu, a Shredded Chicken Mini Quesadilla will set you back $1.

Unlike the regular quesadilla, these come wrapped in foil, and then wax paper (although that could be just for the test and it might be that they don't have specific bags for these yet):

If you've had a chicken quesadilla from Taco Bell before, the shredded chicken mini version doesn't represent a marked departure from it. The only difference is the size and the chicken.

The chicken is moist and tender with a flavor profile more similar to the old chicken and Taco Bell's seasoned beef. It's a bit too salty for me though and the cheese and flour tortilla aren't enough to buffer, but that probably varies depending on how much chicken they put inside. I point out that, should this make it out of test, you can substitute it into any Taco Bell menu item, which is nice if you don't like the citrus-herb marinade of the current chicken.

The rest is pretty standard with the soft flour tortilla and the melty, but not particularly flavorful cheese. There might be a jalapeno creamy sauce in there like the regular quesadillas, but I didn't get any sense of it.

Overall, this was just okay for me. It's not bad, but not great either. Still, it hits the spot when you just want a quesadilla on the cheap. I'd like a bit more cheese to balance out the salt of the chicken.