REVIEW: Burger King Honey Mustard BK Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich

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I paid $11.49 for this Burger King Honey Mustard BK Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich.

Yes, just the sandwich.

Granted, I purchased it in a somewhat remote town 40 miles away from another Burger King location and any Walmart. Was it worth $11.49? Well, paying double digits for a fast food sandwich that’s three to four dollars cheaper at most other locations will leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. But I would buy it again if I could purchase it in a range closer to its advertised price because I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The limited time offering features a crispy white meat breast fillet topped with honey mustard, Swiss cheese, bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes on a toasted potato bun.

Much like the crispy chicken fillet in the BK Royal Crispy Wrap, the crispiness was mainly on the breading’s edges. And with the wrap, I was okay with the fillet’s lack of thickness since it was in a thin tortilla blanket. However, in the sandwich, it’s much more noticeable since it sits between several layers of topping, condiments, and the fluffy bun. Its thickness makes it look like it should be in a value chicken sandwich. That said, the poultry was tender and had some flavor from the breading that was noticeable with all the other ingredients.

But what made this tasty was the combination of the honey mustard’s sweetness and bacon’s smoky and porky flavors, giving the menu item a nice sweet and savory punch. Thankfully, there were generous portions of both. There were several half-slices of bacon, and honey mustard was slathered on the top and bottom buns.

Speaking of the potato bun, much like the condiment, it also provides some sweetness, and despite all the sauce and liquid from the tomatoes, it didn’t fall apart while I ate it. I’m not sure the Swiss cheese did anything to help with flavor, but it was the glue that prevented the bacon from falling out. As for the vegetables, the lettuce provided a little crunch, and the tomato gave a pleasant acidic kick.

Burger King’s Honey Mustard BK Royal Crispy Chicken Sandwich is a tasty addition to the chain’s premium chicken sandwich line. While it may not be worth it if you pay double digit dollars, it is if you can get it at a significantly lower selling price.

Purchased Price: $11.49*
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 570 calories, 27 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1330 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of carbohydrates, 9 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 31 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: Wendy’s Queso Fries

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Every 3-4 months, I try to dig through our freezer to ensure nothing gets lost to the dread “back of the freezer.” These ventures sometimes yield gems of forgotten food, but more often than not, it’s random stuff past me thought future me would want. Wendy’s newest offering, Queso Fries, feels like someone in its research & development team found a container labeled “QUESO-2017” in the back of the freezer and decided to bring it back to restaurants.

In 2017, Wendy’s released Bacon Queso Fries as a companion side to its Bacon Queso Burger. Six years later, we now have Queso Fries as a companion to the chain’s Loaded Nacho Cheeseburger. The fast food side is a simple item with three ingredients: fries, shredded cheddar cheese, and poblano queso.

As a fan of the Baconator Fries, I had extremely high hopes. Unfortunately, they started out “pretty good,” but by the end of eating them, they were a solid “eh.” The first bite was a perfect little bit of everything: crispy fries, gooey queso, and slightly melted shredded cheese. Thanks to the mild but flavorful poblano peppers, the queso had a balanced spiciness.

The topping is a blend of various cheeses (American, cheddar, Monterey jack) that offer that savory cheese flavor without being too strong. The shredded cheddar was virtually lost to the other flavors and textures. Wendy’s fries offer a good starch base, but I would have liked to have had something else to give more texture (maybe the crunchy strips on Wendy’s Loaded Nacho Cheeseburger?). But I enjoyed my initial few bites of the fries.

However, time doesn’t stand still for any food item, and within five minutes, the queso had cooled into a thick, paste-like texture. Normally, I don’t have many issues with food texture, but something about the globbiness of the cheesy topping made me extremely uninterested in finishing the item. It had such a good flavor that this metamorphosis into cold goo was a bummer. Thankfully, my husband had no issue with the oobleck queso, so he finished the fries.

Wendy’s isn’t afraid to bring flavorful items to its menu, and I appreciate that. The Queso Fries are flavorful without being overly spicy. While they were initially quite good, they cooled down into a textural nightmare item I couldn’t finish. If you try them, just make sure to have someone around who will eat the rest when the cheese sauce turns to gak.

Purchased Price: $3.49
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 390 calories, 20 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 940 milligrams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 1 grams of sugar, and 9 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Domino’s Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread

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Domino's Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread Top with cheese and a single pepperoni slice

When you combine bread, cheese, and meat, there’s no possible way to go wrong, right? That’s what I believed before writing this review. But unfortunately, the new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread from Domino’s was disappointing in more ways than one.

I have to admit, I first opened my box to quite the pretty picture — a thick golden loaf featuring rivulets of scorched cheese dripping from every crevice, densely-sprinkled flecks of garlic and Parmesan, and a single ruby-hued piece of pepperoni smack dab in the middle, like a beautiful ribbon hinting at the even more beautiful present within.

Domino's Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread Side. It's like the Battlestar Galactica if it was made of bread and cheese.

If you place your order through the Domino’s website like I did, you’ll notice this side dish and/or entrée is specifically described as “8-Piece Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread.” But I should note that mine was barely perforated, so ripping apart a single piece was not the cleanest endeavor. Upon tearing off a hunk (which, due to said difficulties, I think technically constituted two pieces), I was greeted by my first hint that this bread might not be all I’d chalked it up to be.

Innards of the Domino's Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread. It's mostly bread. There's so little cheese that a mouse will probably walk right by.

Peering at the cross-section, the innards didn’t look that different from a regular load of bread. There was the slightest clue of mozzarella cheese seeping out from the center and a thin slip of red that signaled the presence of pepperoni, but the fillings certainly weren’t as jam-packed as the word “stuffed” would imply.

A different looks at the innards of the Domino's Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread. There aren't many pepperoni, but slightly more than there is cheese.

Unfolding my slice confirmed that, yes, there was a small amount of fluffy mozzarella and the telltale gleam of orange grease (Domino’s website also mentions cheddar, but it looked and tasted like part of the cheese melted on top), but there were only two limp pieces of pepperoni sitting side-by-side. That ratio was pretty consistent throughout the rest of my meal, and it just doesn’t feel right that it would only contain eight measly single-layered pieces throughout the dang thing.

Unfortunately, this tasted pretty much just how that inside looked: like bland bread that was crispy on top and soft on the inside, with only the occasional faint suggestion of spicy pepperoni or sweet cheese. When the cheese did shine through, it pleasantly reminded me of what’s in the stuffed crust from Papa John’s… and reignited my decades-long desire for Domino’s to introduce their own stuffed crust pizza, but I guess that’s a different story. I also got a strangely earthy aftertaste that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but it wasn’t great.

Honestly, I got some of the garlic Parmesan seasoning on my hand when I was opening this, and it’s sad to say that licking that off was the most flavorful part of this meal by far.

When my dad is disappointed by junk food that he’d been looking forward to, he’ll lament that “It wasn’t worth the calories,” and that’s exactly how I felt here; maybe you won’t hate this, but if you’re planning on eating something bready, cheesy, and meaty anyway, you definitely can—and should!—do a lot better.

Purchased Price: $9.24
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 1 piece) 170 calories, 8 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 310 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of sugar, and 7 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso

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Starbucks Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso Cup

Despite the heat here in the Midwest, Starbucks has its jeans and hoodie on and is ready for fall. Yes, the Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back, but we can’t forget another fall flavor favorite: apple. A new drink on the menu is the Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso.

Does it sound a little familiar to you? Well, neither the apple crisp flavor nor pairing it with Oatmilk is new for Starbucks, as they’ve done it in years past with the Apple Crisp Macchiato in 2021 and the Apple Crisp Oatmilk Macchiato in 2022. But this is the first time it’s been with the popular shaken espresso. And let me tell you, I’m here for it.

Starbucks Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso syrup layer

This drink is smooth. This drink is subtle. This drink is cozy. If you’re not a pumpkin fan but want fall in a cup AND some caffeine, this drink is for you. One thing I’d like to note right off the bat is the apple brown sugar syrup DOES pool at the very bottom of the drink. I highly recommend you give it a quick shake or stir to evenly distribute the flavor.

Starbucks Iced Apple Crisp Oatmilk Shaken Espresso ice

At first sip, it was mellow – not too sweet at all and the apple flavor came in as a nice aftertaste. The flavor of the espresso shots (there are two shots in a tall) is definitely masked by the rest of the drink, so if you’re not super into a strong coffee taste, this is a good drink to try. I love oatmilk in my coffee as it gives a drink a nice creaminess, and I definitely experienced that here. I’ve mentioned before that I can be a slow sipper of iced beverages, so over the course of the two hours or so I had this, the flavor held up.

I’m always a little surprised when the price of a tall creeps up over $5, but this one is worth it. It’s a great fall drink I will be getting again.

Purchased Price: $5.45
Size: Tall
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 130 calories, 3.5 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 140 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of total carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 15 grams of total sugars, 1 gram of protein, and 170 milligrams of caffeine.

REVIEW: Starbucks Summer Remix Iced Chai Tea Latte with Matcha Cream Cold Foam

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I’ve been having a rough go with the Starbucks app lately. It’s completely my fault, but I just can’t seem to grasp its payment options. It’s like my brain resets after every order I successfully get through. I had a few bucks left on a gift card, and while ordering a cold brew, I somehow managed to refill said gift card with $50. I should know how to use the app by now, but I always seem to mess this up.

Long story short, I had to go back and forth with Starbucks customer service to get my money back, but every single time I opened the app to check if my balance was clear, I noticed something – the new “Summer Remix” *insert air horn blast here* Iced Chai Tea Latte with Matcha Cream Cold Foam.

While the fact it was an “app exclusive” was a little daunting to me, an apparently 97-year-old tech-challenged man, I knew I had to try that two-toned beauty, even if it meant yet again messing up the payment.

I’m not exactly a stranger to chai, but I’ve somehow never gotten it from Starbucks. If I’m there, I want coffee. That being said, I might start getting chai, because man, this latte hit the spot. You might tell me your local coffee spot does chai better, but I really liked how smooth and sweet Starbucks made it. Actually, if I’m being honest, it may have been a tad too sweet, but it worked because of the nice nutty, not quite gingery, almost nutmeg heavy eggnog-like flavor to it.

That alone would have been just fine, but the matcha cold foam is what sets this apart. I really like matcha, but sometimes I think it tastes like straight-up dirt. This did not taste like dirt. I don’t know if matcha cream cold foam has always been around at Starbucks, but it was a revelation to me. It was as if they took some green tea ice cream and threw it in a milk frother.

The texture was as good as any whipped cream I can recall having in a long time, and it added a nice little green tea offset to the black tea chai. It was the best of both worlds. Also, unlike Dunkin’s cold foam, this matcha fluff had legs. It lasted the entire length of the drink. I was able to take a sip, then lift the straw and get a hit of foam every time. That’s unprecedented. If this was sold in cans, I’d stay stocked up and probably take a few rips a day from the nozzle.

I loved it, and kept coming back to thinking that the whole thing tasted like a light eggnog-based latte, while somehow not making me think of winter. Does that make sense? It’s as if they translated eggnog into a cool summer drink.

I’m a big fan. It’s pretty expensive even for Starbucks, so maybe I shoulda just let the $50 ride, because I can definitely see myself getting this latte a few more times before the summer is out.

Purchased Price: $4.95 + 1.25 for the foam. (She had to ring it up separately b/c as mentioned, I’m bad with the app)
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Not available due to this being an existing drink with customizations.

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