The Food & Drink Thread

[Moonface]

You're right, they did have a blackberry one I think. Probably a seasonal thing since they don't serve that right now.

[Frank]

I'm a very adventurous eater, although there is a whole category of food I do not like... Seafood!!

I love Calamari and can tolerate shrimp sometimes, but besides that, I'm out. I hate that fishy smell!

[Moonface]

Yesterday I noticed my box of Frosted Flakes said on the front that there was a Spider-Man figure inside the box, and upon finding it I don't think I've ever been so disappointed by a cereal box prize.



Not remotely what I was expecting if I'm honest. I guess it's because you need to scan it with your phone for some mobile game, but I feel like there would've been a time in days gone where you'd have received an actual 3D figure with a small card that you would scan instead, so that you have something to play with in an active way rather than your only option being to eat a breakfast and proceed to sit in front of a screen.

I hope this was just a one off thing and not really the way prizes are in cereal boxes nowadays. Getting actual toys and even CD's was where the real shit was at.

[ShiraNoMai]

I'm a very adventurous eater, although there is a whole category of food I do not like... Seafood!!

I love Calamari and can tolerate shrimp sometimes, but besides that, I'm out. I hate that fishy smell!

That's more seafood than I'm willing to eat. I'm a strict no to all seafood.

[Mr EliteL]

Man, those used to be the days, getting small physical items in cereal boxes. Waiting until you pour it out, or cheat and find out where it is in the bag and get it out then. I don't remember any of the prizes I did get, though. Never knew they were still a thing, or I don't pay attention enough.

Forgot to add to my drinks list is fruit juice that come in cartons or bottles. Apple, Orange, Apple & Mango, Cranberry, Red Grape, Pineapple, Blueberry are all good for my taste.

[Kyng]

I'm a very adventurous eater, although there is a whole category of food I do not like... Seafood!!

I love Calamari and can tolerate shrimp sometimes, but besides that, I'm out. I hate that fishy smell!

That's more seafood than I'm willing to eat. I'm a strict no to all seafood.

I'm not the biggest fan of seafood either. Maybe it's because much of it comes with an oily taste which I find to be unpleasant, or maybe it's because I had fish and chips so often in my younger years that I just got bored of it >_< . 

I mean, I'll eat some seafood, but scampi and chips is pretty much the only meal I'll eat with any enthusiasm  . Outside of that, I'm unlikely to choose it if I'm the one deciding what to eat.

[Moonface]

I can never find breaded scampi in stores in the US like I could in the UK. It seems everywhere just sells shrimp scampi which isn't what I want.

Since I know this one will have very varied responses due to both tastes and locations, what are peoples favourite crisps/chips for both brands and flavours?
I think my most loved flavour is sour cream and onion/cheese and onion (slightly different from each other but similar enough I tend to just lump them together), but I also like the Lay's flavours of honey barbecue (a flavour the UK lacks that it needs to get), barbecue (why did the UK get rid of this one?!), and Sweet Southern Heat Barbecue. They don't really do as many flavours here as they do in the UK (under the name of Walker's), the ones of which I like are beef and onion, prawn cocktail, roast chicken, and smokey bacon. I see they also made some new flavours since I left the UK, and I am dying to get my hands on some of their BBQ pulled pork crisps!

Walker's Quavers and Square's are awesome too, and neither of those are sold in the US.
Pringles are something I got back into recently too, and their best flavours are sour cream and onion, and their wavy sweet barbecue flavour.
Looking at the Asda website to refresh my memory of other crisps the UK has and I just remembered that McCoys are a thing (gah!), and I had a brief brain fart and forgot about Hula Hoops too despite having a pack of those in the house here (thanks mum!). Oh man I just came across Skips too, although they tend to be a fancy rather than a constant want. XD

Also, I prefer the pack sizes of UK crisps compared to US ones. For anyone not in the US, all the bag sizes here are basically the big share size ones, and the small ones that you find in the UK multi-packs are very rare to find here. Most of the bags are just large ones. Which is fine, but I dislike it because it's harder to portion yourself, and also it really limits the number of flavours you can buy since a multi-pack can give you up to six different flavours and take up as much space as two of the large bags the US does.
Since looking at the Asda website, I've also determined that the variety of crisps in the US is shit in comparison to the UK. We have more flavours and more brands.

[Kyng]

Funny thing is, I quite like sour cream and onion, but I've never been a fan of cheese and onion. (I'm sure Brannigan's used to make some nice sour cream and onion crisps, but after doing a Google search, I couldn't find any evidence of these . Come to think of it, I haven't seen any flavours of Brannigan's in a while...)

My favourite flavours are black pepper, sweet chilli, and the ever-polarising Marmite. Paprika's fine too, but not one of my favourites. As for the brands, McCoy's are one of my favourites (they're owned by the same company as Brannigan's IIRC), and I also liked Highlander (which seems to have dropped off the face of the Earth )

And, yeah, when I got the big sharing packs, I always sucked at making appropriate portions for myself . Little individual bags FTW.

[Moonface]

The only good use for a sharing pack is to pour it in a bowl for a party. Ain't nobody buying a share pack to actually offer the bag to someone else, because the bag will be empty by the time they get the idea to share it or before anyone else is around to share it with.

[Mr EliteL]

For crisps, there's quite a lot I like. I'll just try and think of them as I go along.

Lay's Honey Barbecue, discovering when I went to Florida for first time was bliss. I needed that entire bag to myself, and bought two of them just in case. My second bag I took a while to get through as I didn't want to eat it all so quick, had it when I returned to UK.

I always was meaning to try out the new Walkers BBQ Pulled Pork flavour, and after Moony mentioning it, I finally have. One of the best flavours for me from Walkers anyway. Cheese & Onion, Roast Chicken, Smokey Bacon and Prawn Cocktail are really good too.

I should've really started with this, but my all time favourite crisps is Monster Munch Flamin' Hot. Nothing's beaten that for me, the thick shape of a single hand is so good to eat with the flavour. Pickled Onion is decent, Roast Beef however is terrible and do not understand why that got a sharing pack with the standard Pickled Onion, yet Flamin' Hot I've never seen as a large single bag.

Doritos Tangy Cheese/Nacho Cheese would be my second favourite of all time. There was a Pizza flavour I believe there was being sold here ages ago, like 2000's time possibly. They're probably still sold somewhere else in the world as I see them in Google Images, and may have changed the taste. It's possible the Pizza flavour became Salsa as both are in a green coloured pack, yet I tried Salsa and isn't as good. When I used to eat it, the Pizza flavour was to die for. Might need to try Salsa again though.

McCoys, oh man McCoys. Flame Grilled Steak is awesome. Cheddar & Onion is also very good, Bacon Sizzler and Chargrilled Chicken are just good in a selection multipack. Although the Mighty Meaty multipack now has Thai Sweet Chicken, which is OK but I miss the Chargrilled Chicken one.

Hula Hoops, Mini Cheddars, Pringles, many flavours from these I enjoy. Quavers, Skips, Walker's Sensation Chicken & Thyme, French Fries Cheese & Onion...starting to run out of types, may have forgotten some. Nik Naks, Wheat Crunchies Crispy Bacon, Pom-Bear, Chipsticks/Frazzles and Space Raiders are fine when the offer for other brands isn't available.

Ready Salted and Salt & Vinegar are flavours I tend to avoid as they're the most boring. Although Hula Hoops' I'll gladly have (also will be fine eating others, Hula Hoops seem to be the best for me with those two kinds), as well as Pringles Original. Hula Hoops' Flavarings are poor, as they have the same texture as a Wotsit, and if I wanted that I'd get Wotsits instead. Flavours don't mean anything to me as I think other brands will do them better. Speaking of, I do like some Wotsits but isn't one I tend to get when buying a selection of snacks, as others take priority.

I don't always have crisps, well I have definitely stopped having one every day so my purchasing of them isn't as it used to be. Usually three bags of multipacks, plus maybe a share bag with them (depends if I had bought that before I got my selection) can keep me going for a month.
Ah, rarely but I do enjoy doing it, is that I grab many different types of crisps I may have available in my house and pour them into a container so I can eat a mixture (not all at once). Sometimes it's either of the same brand with different flavours, or just different brands. If I am hungry enough, I may go on a binge too. Me do like my crisps.

This turned into a long post, and rightly so.

[Moonface]

Lay's Honey Barbecue, discovering when I went to Florida for first time was bliss. I needed that entire bag to myself, and bought two of them just in case. My second bag I took a while to get through as I didn't want to eat it all so quick, had it when I returned to UK.

I could always send some over when I post things to my parents in future.

I always was meaning to try out the new Walkers BBQ Pulled Pork flavour, and after Moony mentioning it, I finally have. One of the best flavours for me from Walkers anyway. Cheese & Onion, Roast Chicken, Smokey Bacon and Prawn Cocktail are really good too.

Stop! Now you're making me really wish I could get them right now. OnO

Dorito's I forgot about since I've only recently started eating them, although the only flavour I've tried so far is Cool Ranch (it's something else in the UK but I think it still has the blue bag).

Not too fussed about the loss of McCoy's Chargrilled Chicken since I found that to be their worst meaty flavour. Mostly because it wasn't on par with Walker's Roast Chicken, so it just felt like a poor man's flavour on a rich man's crisp equivalent. XD

I had a salad last night when I went out to eat at Longhorn and initially unbeknownst to me they put Honey Mustard dressing on it instead of White Balsamic. Turned out to be pretty OK and might end up being the only flavour other than the latter that I like for salad dressings. Most of them have never really appealed to me by name to want to try them out.

[Mr EliteL]

I could always send some over when I post things to my parents in future.  

Dorito's I forgot about since I've only recently started eating them, although the only flavour I've tried so far is Cool Ranch (it's something else in the UK but I think it still has the blue bag).

Not too fussed about the loss of McCoy's Chargrilled Chicken since I found that to be their worst meaty flavour. Mostly because it wasn't on par with Walker's Roast Chicken, so it just felt like a poor man's flavour on a rich man's crisp equivalent. XD

I had a salad last night when I went out to eat at Longhorn and initially unbeknownst to me they put Honey Mustard dressing on it instead of White Balsamic. Turned out to be pretty OK and might end up being the only flavour other than the latter that I like for salad dressings. Most of them have never really appealed to me by name to want to try them out.

Only if I get a craving for the Honey BBQ, perhaps I'll request for one pack, but at the moment I can live without it. Plenty of other crisps to enjoy. Thanks for the offer though, and will consider it if I indeed suddenly must have it immediately, right this instance, gimme gimme! However, that time has not happened yet, and isn't currently after this recent reminder of it.

Just a word swap out, Cool Original. Kinda prefer Ranch though, as I normally associate "original" flavour with Ready Salted, like Pringles do, and Doritos' flavour has got more to it. OK, there's the "Cool" bit, but nothing to associate cool with other than not a hot spicy flavour.

Not too fussed about the loss of McCoy's Chargrilled Chicken since I found that to be their worst meaty flavour. Mostly because it wasn't on par with Walker's Roast Chicken, so it just felt like a poor man's flavour on a rich man's crisp equivalent. XD
I felt the same about it really when it was included, and would still gladly eat it to get it out of the way and have the better flavours later. After trying the Thai Sweet Chicken again, I've grown accustomed to it now, and thus not too bothered anymore about the change.


What about desserts?! Afters. Pudding. CAAAAAAAKE. Ice cream. Etc.

[Moonface]

Desserts in the US are lacking in terms of visual variety I find. Most ice creams fall into one of these categories: ice cream bar, ice cream sandwich, ice cream cone, tubbed ice cream. Sure, the UK ice creams could probably get categorised in a similar fashion, but the difference is that the majority of ice cream bars here is literally just shove a flavour on a stick with every single one resembling the shape of a magnum bar, and calling it a day. There are some outliers on that design, but not a notable number. My beef basically is everything looks very samey, and lacking in variety visually. Nothing really stands out on the shelf in a way that makes me want to pick that one over someone else's.

Wall's as a brand exists as Good Humour here, and they sell literally only about five ice creams, which are all just "x on a stick" variants, and Magnum. No Calippo, Cornetto, Solero, Feast, Twister, Vienetta, Mini Milks, it's just what I mentioned. Nestle at least here cover the bases of Cornetto with Drumstick, which while not the literal same style (excluding one type in particular) are just essentially a Cornetto in regards to ice cream + chocolate + nuts + cone.

I will say that the overall number of ice cream tub flavours here is far more diverse though. Also, I don't want to seem like US ice cream sucks, it's perfectly fine. It just feels lacking when I compare it to UK ice creams in regards to novelty ice creams.

[Kyng]

Yeah, if I ever end up living in the USA, I'm probably going to end up missing those 'novelty' ice creams, assuming they haven't made it over there by then . Solero, especially: I've seen quite a bit of hate for it, and I don't really understand why, because it's one of my favourites!

Though, if I want a fancier flavour of regular ice cream, I'll probably just head to my local gelato shop. Granted, it's way more expensive than the tubbed ice cream in a shop, but they do have a great range of flavours: Ferrero Rocher, Red Bull sorbet, and the like .

[Moonface]

Solero can't be that hated; it was always a very good seller when I worked frozen food in Asda.

The US has an ice cream called Solero but it's not the same product; however, they are still fruit bars. Thinking on it, there's actually a lot of fruit bars here compared to the UK.

Oh, and thinking of the flavors you can get for those, I just remembered that black currant doesn't exist as a flavor in the States at all. Instead they have the garbage known as grape flavor.