Kev's Pick & Mix! - Seabrooks Curry Crisps, Montezuma's Great British Pudding Bars, Hello Kitty Milkshake...

Welcome to another edition of Kev's Pick & Mix: an assortment of mini snack reviews! All these snacks have been in my archive for a long time now...too long in fact, so I thought it about time I gave them the review treatment! Do let me know if you've tried any of these particular snacks via the comments...

Seabrooks Chicken Karahi Curry Crisps Limited Edition:

These Chicken Karahi Curry Crisps were developed by Seabrooks exclusively with Akbar's restaurants and available as a limited edition last year. They were tasty, although nothing groundbreaking as far as curry flavoured crisps go. 6 out of 10.

Marks & Spencer Golden Honeycomb Chocolate Crunch:

I bought these along with the Snow Ball Crunch popcorn I reviewed last Christmas, and was very disappointed. When paying good money for M&S goods I expect top-notch quality, but unfortunately these were sickly sweet and very bog-standard as far as honeycomb and chocolate goes. Give me a Cadbury's Crunchie any day! 6 out of 10.

Morrisons Signature Caramel & Raspberry White Chocolate Bar:

I was very excited to find this new chocolate amongst Morrisons revamped "Signature" range last year, but it was very disappointing. The white chocolate tasted cheap and overly sweet, whilst the caramel tasted like crunchy brown sugar and the raspberry was sickly. Overall the combination was too sweet and sickly and didn't work. I had to throw most of it away which is very unlike me! 5 out of 10.

Amadeo Solo Banana Filled Milk Chocolate:

After reading about this bar on Grocery Gems I just had to seek it out, but it eluded me for quite some time. I eventually found a bar but was a little disappointed with the cheap, synthetic flavour of the banana filling. It was very strong but also quite artificial and not to my liking at all. 4 out of 10.

Montezuma's Great British Summer Pudding Bar:

When I found some Monetzuma's bars reduced in a local organic store I couldn't resist buying a few, especially as they were from their Great British range. I had high hopes since Monetzum'as are known for quality chocolate. Alas, I was very disappointed! Both bars tasted nothing like the puddings they were named after, which is kind of to be expected I guess, but worse than that this Summer Pudding variety contained very little dried fruit and it added little flavour to the bar. The chocolate was neither here nor there quality-wise, which surprised me. Overall, I was extremely disappointed. 5 out of 10.

Monetzuma's Great British Treacle Tart Pudding Bar:

This treacle tart pudding bar was equally as disappointing as the Summer Fruit Pudding Bar. It contained toffee and hazelnut nibs to provide the treacle tart flavour, but just ended up tasting a bit weird rather than of toffee. I wasn't impressed - they should have just added some real treacle sauce in the bar. 5 out of 10.

Schmerling's of Switzerland Rosemarie Harmony Praline Filled White Chocolate:

I spotted this in the imported foods section at Tesco and couldn't resist giving it a try since I'm a fan of both white chocolate and praline...the two together sounded heavenly! The bar was a bit pricey at £2.45 for 100g and I'm not sure it was really worth it - it tasted nice enough, the white chocolate was very creamy and the praline tasted smooth and nutty, and both combined made a lovely synergy. But it wasn't all that special, distinctive or great quality either. For a more comprehensive review of this bar check out Something To Look Forward To. 6 out of 10.

Hello Kitty Strawberry Milkshake:

One day I fancied making a "bubble tea" version of strawberry milkshake, so bought this Hello Kitty strawberry milkshake from Discount UK. I'm not fussed on the Hello Kitty product trend and only really bought it because it was cheap and sounded similar to Nesquik. Taste-wise, it was pleasant enough but a little overly sweet and nowhere near as good as real strawberry Nesquik. It made for a decent base for my bubble milkshake though! 6 out of 10.

Walkers' Nonsuch Creamy Toffee Banana Split Eclair:

I picked up this toffee from Home Bargains for something like 20p; I really couldn't day no at such a cheap price. I'd never tried Walker's toffee before despite always seeing it in shops for years. It sounded delicious and indeed it was! Biting into it, it was kind of crunchy initially but then revealed a lovely creamy banana white chocolate filling. I thoroughly enjoyed it! 8 out of 10.

Manija Almond Bar:

I found this chocolate bar in my local Czech/Polish import store and assumed it was some kind of Snickers ripoff. It's made by Kraft Foods and contains a layer of nougat with caramel and almonds, and certainly looked very similar to a Snickers. I'm not sure of the country of origin. It tasted rather nice, although very sweet and not quite as good as a Snickers. Still it was pretty good snack for 49p! 7 out of 10.

Nestlé Orion Margot Rum (Rozikami) and Mango (Manga):

When I first started this blog I reviewed the Orion Magot Artemis Bar and didn't like it much at all, so I was hesitant to try these limited edition rum and mango varieties. However in a fit of new snacks excitement I decided to just go for it since they were only about 49p each... but wish I hadn't bothered! They both tasted artificial, stale and unpleasant and I still don't understand why they are popular. 4 out of 10.

Nestlé Orion Nugeta Peanut Chocolate Spread:

I found this Orion Nugeta in the same import store and it's basically a peanut chocolate spread - kind of like a peanut version of Nutella! I was very excited to try it but unfortunately it tasted nowhere near as good as Nutella. It was milkier and with added fillers, and the peanut flavour was rather weak. 6 out of 10.

Ülker Ҫikolata Pistachio Milk Chocolate Bar  (Turkish):

I found this in a local Turkish store and being a fan of pistachios thought I would give it a try. The chocolate tasted tasted nice enough but unfortunately the pistachios weren't very strong in flavour and so didn't add much to the bar. 5 out of 10.

Klover Lys Kokesjokolade:

I was convinced into buying this "Kokosjokolade" (try saying that when you're drunk!) by a market trader who claimed it was "as good as Dairy Milk". For a mere 39p I couldn't say no and took a bar with me to Costa. As expected it turned out I'd been told nonsense - this was merely a cheap chocolate bar similar in quality to Sainsbury's Basics or Tesco Value milk chocolate! To be fair it tasted a tad creamier and nicer than those bars, but it was still decidedly "cheap". 5 out of 10.

Wonka Double Dipped Nerds Lemonade, Wild Cherry, Apple & Watermelon:

I found these Double Dipped Nerds in my local Tesco Express during a late-night snacks binge...(what is it with Tesco Express selling American sweets? They're hardly a neccesity like milk and bread to have on every street corner...does anyone else find this odd?) Anyway I thought I'd give them a try as I hadn't eaten Nerds since I was a kid. They were all pleasant enough, but very sweet and artificial-tasting; reminding me why I stopped eating Nerds in the first place! 5 out of 10.

Chupa Chups Melody Pops Strawberry:

I also bought this Melody Pops lolly during my snacks binge, just for nostalgia reasons really! It tasted pretty much as I remember - very sweet and that's about all, but of course the real fun was whistling on it! Sadly it didn't last for long once I'd crunched into it. This is a nice novelty but best left in the past I think! 6 out of 10.

Fruittella Crunchies:

I spotted these in the kiddies section in Asda and thought I'd give them a try. They looked a bit like a crunchy Skittles style sweet and that's pretty much what they were! They tasted almost identical to Skittles but larger and sweeter, and of course inferior. They were nice enough but there's much better sweets out there. 6 out of 10.

Fruittella UFO's:

I also bought these Fruittella UFO's...just for fun. Like the Fruittella Crunchies these also turned out to be identical in taste and texture to Skittles, but much inferior. I suppose the theme is fun and they're aimed at kids so I shouldn't grumble too much! 6 out of 10.

Well, that's it for this today's Pick & Mix! I hope you've all enjoyed this rundown of mini snacks reviews...stay tuned for more in future!