REVIEW: Wendy’s Under the Sea Pineapple Frosty

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If you plan to get Wendy’s Krabby Patty Kollab Meal because of the Pineapple Under the Sea Frosty, let me save you some money and tell you that you should skip the meal and just get the Frosty a la carte. The tropical-flavored dessert is leagues more satisfying than the Krabby Patty Kollab Burger, which is just a Dave’s Single with the mayo swapped out for a Thousand Island dressing-like sauce.

The meal comes with a small Frosty by default, and Wendy’s describes it as a Vanilla Frosty with a pineapple puree on the bottom. While the chain calls it a “puree,” don’t expect your Frosty to have any tiny fruit bits floating in it. It’s a sauce. Because mine came in a compostable paper cup instead of a clear plastic cup, I couldn’t see the sauce clinging to the sides of the cup like it does in the promotional drawings.

Actually, with my order, I didn’t see many yellow swirls of pineapple puree, even while trying to excavate it from the bottom of the cup. This somewhat worried me that I might’ve ended up with a dessert that tastes mostly like a Vanilla Frosty. It’s not a horrible predicament, but it’s not what I paid good money for and not what I want after having to say Krabby Patty Kollab Meal out loud.

However, my fears were quelled after putting the first spoonful into my mouth. I tasted a slightly tart but fully delicious pineapple flavor with an underlying creaminess from vanilla Frosty. After that initial taste, everything else was a blur that resulted in me shoveling half the small Frosty into my mouth with a bit of it dripping from my chin. I don’t know how many seconds passed, but I do know my taste buds were thoroughly satisfied. But I might be biased because I’m a pineapple-phile and have given positive reviews for a number of pineapple products over the years. After catching my breath and wiping away whatever was on my chin, I finished the rest and thought this Frosty was as delightful as the Orange Creamsicle one from earlier this year.

However, my sugar high was brought down a bit by the thought that when this limited time only offering is gone, I may never be able to taste it again. I hope you bring it back, Wendy’s.

Again, skip the Wendy’s Krabby Patty Kollab Meal and just get the Frosty. Better yet, use the money you’ll save from not getting the meal and put it towards getting a large Under the Sea Pineapple Frosty.

Purchased Price: $12.19 (combo)
Size: Small Frosty
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 8 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 52 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.

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REVIEW: Popeyes Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich

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It’s almost Halloween, so it’s the most appropriate time for fast food chains to spook our taste buds with ghost pepper products. We’ve seen Burger King and Dunkin’ get into the Halloween mood over the past few years, and this year, Carl’s Jr.’s Ghost Burger appeared.

Popeyes, which always looks like it’s celebrating Halloween, is getting into the holiday spirit with its new Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich. It features the chain’s buttermilk-battered, all-white meat chicken breast fillet, barrel-cured pickles, and a new Ghost Pepper Sauce on a butter-toasted brioche bun. So it’s basically a regular Popeyes Chicken Sandwich, but with the mayo swapped out for the spicy sauce. There’s also a Bacon & Cheese version that also includes three half slices of hickory smoked bacon and a slice of white Havarti cheese.

The ghost pepper was once the hottest in the world. Of course, that was many years ago, and it’s been surpassed by many much spicier peppers. So, the once proud pepper has been relegated to an ingredient for fast food condiments. However, from what I’ve experienced, the heat that fast food ghost pepper products have had is a far cry from the actual pepper, and that’s what we have here with Popeyes’ Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich.

The first thing I did after opening the sleeve the sandwich came in was to try the sauce on its own, which was applied to both buns. My quick taste test resulted in me coughing from the peppers. Its flavor kind of reminded me of taco seasoning, and its heat was at a level that I’d consider surprisingly mild. But that was when I tasted it by itself. That heat and flavor were even less noticeable when chewed with the other sandwich components. So, I guess the new Ghost Pepper Sauce isn’t as scary as it seems. After finishing the sandwich, I felt a lingering peppery heat in my mouth and on my lips. But it wasn’t anything that made me want to order a Popeyes iced tea or lemonade.

As for the rest of the sandwich, it was everything that I’ve experienced with the dozen or so other Popeyes Chicken Sandwiches I’ve eaten over the past few years. It’s still great. Poultry is still juicy; breading is still pleasantly crunchy; the pickles still bring a tasty tang, and the lightly sweet brioche bun still holds everything together.

With that said, Popeyes’ Ghost Pepper Chicken Sandwich is my least favorite Popeyes Chicken Sandwich variation. The sauce didn’t wow me with its flavor, and it has a level of heat that’s disappointing for a ghost pepper product.

Purchased Price: $7.49*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 631 calories, 35 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 2 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 1990 milligrams of sodium, 50 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 29 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

REVIEW: Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger

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It’s been a while since I last had to come close to unhinging my jaw to fit food into my mouth. But that was the case with the new Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger stacked with an all-beef patty, bacon, crispy onion strings, American cheese, pickles, and smoky BBQ sauce on a toasted brioche bun.

It joins the Deluxe and Big Cheesy Bacon Burgers on the Arby’s menu. Burgers are selling well enough that the meat chain made them permanent additions to the menu earlier this year, and I imagine we’ll be seeing more variations in the future.

I’ve never had an Arby’s burger before, not even the limited time Wagyu Steakhouse one, so everything was new to me, but this new one looked delicious. What caught my eye after seeing its height and how good it looked was the beef patty’s thickness, which was the primary reason I had to stretch my mandible muscles. It was a patty I’d expect from places like Ruby Tuesday, Chili’s, Applebee’s, TGI Fridays, or other casual dining chains that end with an apostrophe S or have a day in their name.

While it had a nice thickness, it was a bit dry. However, it had a decent meaty flavor and a nice char. But that was when I ate the beef by itself.

My burger was thick but also messy, thanks to the generous heaping of smoky and sweet barbecue sauce that was so plentiful that I needed five napkins to clean my mouth and hands after eating most of it. I don’t know if that’s the usual amount or if the person who made mine wanted to be the Oprah of sauce philanthropy.

There was enough of it that it drowned out the flavors of most of the ingredients. Other than the pickles, everything else pretty much tasted like barbecue sauce. No smokiness from the bacon. No pungent flavors from the crispy onion strings. No cheesiness from the American cheese. And no meatiness from the beef patty. I thought I lost my sense of taste, but after letting my wife take a few bites and asking her what she thought without mentioning my issues with it, she said it mostly tasted like barbecue sauce.

While it looks delicious, Arby’s BBQ Bacon Burger wasn’t as tasty as it looked. I’m not sure it was worth straining my mouth to make it fit in there.

Purchased Price: $10.49*
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 711 calories, 41 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 1821 milligrams of sodium, 50 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 37 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Arby’s Pumpkin Pie Turnover

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Because Arby’s has the meats, it’ll always have turkey. But if you want to make that turkey sandwich from Arby’s feel more like a Thanksgiving meal, you can now get a pumpkin pie at the fast food chain for a limited time. Okay, not an actual slice, but a flaky turnover with a sweet pumpkin pie filling and topped with cream cheese icing.

However, it would’ve been better if Arby’s offered pie slices because its Pumpkin Pie Turnover doesn’t put me in a festive mood.

The pastry’s exterior is pleasantly flaky, slightly buttery, and pretty good for a fast food offering, but it’s the orange goo inside that doesn’t work for me. Maybe my expectations were too high. But shouldn’t expecting its flavor to unquestionably and instantly be recognizable as sweet pumpkin pie with delicious warm spices be the minimum? However, that’s not the case with the Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

The dessert’s usual warm spices are there, but they lack that oomph of flavor that I’ve experienced with almost every pumpkin pie I’ve stuffed into my pie hole. It’s like a lite pumpkin pie, with the squash flavor standing out more. I have not been this disappointed in a pumpkin pie product since eating a Kirkland Signature Pumpkin Pie years ago. I don’t know if it’s still the case, but that gigantic pie tastes bland.

The cream cheese icing on top, which I think is supposed to look like laces on a football, has a mild tanginess, and it was nice to taste it on its own. But it’s not enough to help turn around this turnover.

When I received my order, the cashier asked me if I had the Pumpkin Pie Turnover before. She said she has yet to try it. I told her I haven’t. But now I want to drive back to Arby’s and tell that cashier it’s disappointing. Arby’s may have the meats, but it doesn’t have a very good Pumpkin Pie Turnover.

Purchased Price: $2.69
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 347 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 4 milligrams of cholesterol, 261 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 21 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Domino’s 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese

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Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese 1.

In my humble opinion, pizza and mac and cheese are the two greatest foods ever created. That’s why I was thrilled to learn that Domino’s, famed purveyor of the former, is now also offering the latter in the form of its new 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese (which is also available in Spicy Buffalo, though I opted for the basic version).

What differentiates this from the other cheesy pasta Domino’s peddles is that the penne pasta is topped with a blend of American, Parmesan-Asiago, cheddar, Alfredo sauce, and mozzarella blend. Based on the ingredients listed on the website, this appears to be the same blend as the chain’s 5-Cheese Dip, so if you’ve ever tried that but thought it could use more pasta, this is great news for you! (If, however, you were hoping to dunk your 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese into some 5-Cheese Dip to create an unprecedented 10-Cheese titan, this similarity is not-so-great news, sorry!)

Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese 2.

The mac and cheese is served in a round aluminum foil container inside an adorably tiny pizza box. Peeling back the lid, I was greeted by a treasure trove of cheese sauce (if you can even call it that, seeing as it’s practically solid) that was appropriately hearty for a dish that brags about its quantity of cheese in its very name. There was a gloppy, melty base layer of white that I assume was the Alfredo sauce and mozzarella blend, and in it swam swirls of darker orange and studs of toasty brown.

Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese 3.

For how dense the cheese was, it didn’t cling very tightly to the pasta—the majority blobbed together rather than adhering to the noodles, leaving most of the pasta pieces with only light, fairly un-uniform smatterings of sauce. (However, the blobbiness did make for some pretty impressive cheese pulls!) The lack of coherence from the cheese sauce can be mitigated by simply eating a mouthful of both pasta and cheese blobs together, but if you’re craving a consistent coating, just know that’s not what you’re in for here.

Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese 4.

As far as taste goes, it was… pretty good. Nothing ground-breaking, but pleasant. The five cheeses played together nicely for a rich, buttery experience punctuated by notes of savory sharpness. Between the al dente pasta, gooey and chewy cheese, and crispy burnt bits, the distinct textures might have been even more fun than the taste.

Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese 5.

My biggest issue comes down to semantics: despite being perfectly palatable, this meal just didn’t feel like mac and cheese to me. As someone who eats more than enough of the stuff to have a strong opinion on it, my definition involves elbow noodles in a smooth, creamy sauce. While I’m open to more creative takes, a dish that doesn’t include either of those key qualities just strikes me as mere pasta with cheese. I enjoyed eating this, but next time I want what I consider true mac and cheese, I expect I’ll look elsewhere. At least Domino’s can still hold its head high knowing it’s mastered the other of man’s greatest meals.

Purchased Price: $13.08
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 830 calories, 50 grams of fat, 31 grams of saturated fat, 1680 milligrams of sodium, 64 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of sugar, and 30 grams of protein.

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