Category: Reviews

REVIEW: Domino’s 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese

Jenna 8 Comments

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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REVIEW: Blue Bell Chocolate Brownie Truffle Ice Cream

Brandon 4 Comments

The term “one of the most delightful things I’ve ever put in my mouth” gets thrown around a lot these days. Well, that, or I’m prone to exaggeration. But believe me when I tell you that Blue Bell’s new Chocolate Brownie Truffle Ice Cream is one of the most delightful things I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Having said this, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m by no means an ice cream snob; I’ll just as soon happily consume a pint of “frozen dairy dessert” or whatever lots of brands sell these days that can’t qualify as actual “ice cream.” So maybe it’s just me– maybe all Blue Bell is this great. (I don’t know that I’ve had a ton of it, truthfully, though I did try and really enjoy the recent Cinnamon Twist variety. Also, let it be entered into the record that I am a cinnamon ice cream fiend, particularly when said cinnamon ice cream contains chunks of a) cinnamon roll dough or b) churros.

Anyway, how can you go wrong with chocolate ice cream teeming with chunks of brownie and hunks of chocolate truffles? The ice cream itself is creamy and silky. The brownies are slightly chewy and decadent. The truffles are… well, okay, if I have one beef, it’s that the chocolate shell of the truffle pieces is pretty thick. In its frozen state, it’s a pretty jarring textural disposition. It’s, “mmm, chewy brownie, yum, silky soft ice cream, BOOM, molar rattling truffle.” Truly, though, it’s a minor complaint– “Boo-hoo, I wish this delicious chocolate truffle shell was a bit thinner.”

Okay, but if you’ll permit me another minor complaint— and again, it feels as silly as complaining about a singular errant brush stroke on a masterpiece of a painting— it’s that this ice cream is rich. My sweet tooth is strong, and I rarely find things to be too much, but a regular serving of this stuff wears me out. But honestly, that’s probably not the worst thing from a waistline standpoint. It’s fall treat/pumpkin spice season, and I’m starting to look like the subject of a Francisco Botero work. (To continue the Fine Arts theme for the art nerds in the house.)

Purchased Price: $8.32
Size: Half-gallon
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 Cup) 280 calories, 14 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 34 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 30 grams of sugar, including 25 grams of added sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Carl’s Jr. The Ghost Burger

Marvo 3 Comments

Carl’s Jr. is getting into the Halloween spirit with its new Ghost Burger. It features a charbroiled all-beef patty, ghost pepper cheese, two slices of bacon, sliced onion, lettuce, sliced tomato, pickles, and a soul-scorching sauce on a sesame seed bun. Unfortunately, mine didn’t come with bacon. Or maybe, because I couldn’t see, smell, or taste it, it came with ghost bacon.

Even if mine came with actual bacon, I don’t think it would’ve been enough to overcome what I believe is a mildly disappointing burger.

With having a “soul-scorching” sauce AND ghost pepper cheese, I expected this to pack a prickly spicy punch that would make my mouth need some fruit punch. But with every bite I took from the burger, I wondered if the heat would at some point scare my mouth with an inferno and a BOO. But it never got there. Boo. The sauce didn’t scorch my soul. Instead, it had some heat equivalent to lighting incense to purify my soul.

Oddly, I found the ghost pepper cheese more soul-scorching than the sauce. It had green specks throughout, which I assume are the ghost peppers, and just nibbling on a tiny piece lit a small fire in my mouth. However, eating the cheese on its own made me realize that the variety of vegetables between the fragile sesame seed bun was somewhat hot-blocking the full spiciness of the cheese and sauce, especially the onions, pickles, and head lettuce leaf.

The sauce’s flavor was surprisingly a bit bland. Its lack of fire could’ve been forgiven a little if it had a nice flavor, but other than some pepperiness, it didn’t have much taste despite being slathered on both buns. Heck, the cheese seemed to be more flavorful.

The Ghost Burger from Carl’s Jr. does not taste awful; it’s just a bit ho-hum. Besides the cheese and sauce, the single patty had a nice meatiness with a bit of char, and the vegetables were fresh and crisp. But if you want a burger with a lot of flavor and heat, you might be disappointed, like trick-or-treaters receiving only Smarties and SweeTarts on Halloween. Booooo!

Purchased Price: $8.49*
Size: Single
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 720 calories. No other nutritional information was available on Carl’s Jr.’s website.

*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: Taco Bell Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme with Two Big Cheez-It Crackers

Marvo 2 Comments

I was a little underwhelmed with Taco Bell’s Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme when it first came out earlier this year. The giant cracker that Taco Bell claimed was 16 times larger, cheesier, and crunchier than a regular Cheez-It wasn’t 16 times cheesier or crunchier, according to my mouth. It didn’t seem like it wasn’t even close to two times cheesier or crunchier.

But the Big Cheez-It Crunchwrap Supreme is back with Version 2.0, which comes with TWO Big Cheez-It Crackers, seasoned beef, nacho cheese sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream in a flour tortilla. That second cracker adds a dollar to what the original version cost. So, does the second cracker make the Cheez-It more noticeable?

Yes, it does.

However, it didn’t have a Cheez-It flavor or crunch as big as the cracker itself. But it’s better than what was offered during the original release. With the first rollout, due to the cracker being pulverized with heat and moisture while trapped in a flour tortilla, its crunch was nonexistent with almost every bite. With this updated version, they’re still being pulverized in the tortilla, but having two crackers to support each other helps delay the inevitable sogginess. When I got to sink my teeth into it, the two crackers still had a slight crunch. It wasn’t there with every bite, maybe about half, but it was noticeable with more bites than I remember with Version 1.0. As for the Cheez-It flavor, it also got a boost from the second cracker, but not enough to make it seem like they were a headlining ingredient. With that said, the addition of the second cracker did make an improvement.

However, I don’t know much about Taco Bell engineering, but wouldn’t it have been better if the two crackers were sandwiching the other ingredients in the flour tortilla? The crackers would be the first thing the mouth experiences when taking a bite. Yes, there’s the flour tortilla, but its mild flavor wouldn’t get in the way of the crackers like all the other ingredients.

Maybe that’ll happen if there’s a Version 3.0.

Purchased Price: $6.49*
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 670 calories, 27 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 1720 milligrams of sodium, 87 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams of fiber, 7 grams of sugar (including 4 grams of added sugar), and 20 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: Dunkin’ Pumpkin Vanilla Oatmilk Iced Latte

Erin Leave a comment

The realm of fall coffee beverages is very much a thing, and there is a hierarchy in it. Starbucks has long dominated with its iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte, but there’s always room at the table for a new and interesting take on caffeinated squash. This year, Dunkin’ says they’re “Uppin’ the pumpkin” with its Pumpkin Vanilla Oatmilk Iced Latte – a blend of espresso, pumpkin swirl, vanilla flavor, and oatmilk over ice. This sounds pretty straightforward, and as someone who hasn’t been counting down the days until I can put up a 16-foot skeleton in my yard, all I was looking for was a good standard coffee that hinted at the change of seasons.

There are no whipped cream or cookie crumble additions here to make this photo-worthy; it’s just a regular tan-colored iced latte. The best things are sometimes the simplest, though, and I hoped this might have the sincerity of Linus waiting in the patch for the Great Pumpkin to come. Unfortunately, there is no Great Pumpkin here. Oddly, there is hardly any pumpkin at all. I know that pumpkin is a fairly mild flavor on its own and needs a boost of spice to become what we all associate with “Fall,” but I expected to taste a little more of it here. Or really, a little more of anything.

This drink is very sweet and not very flavorful. The espresso gets lost, and the oatmilk lends a nice creaminess, but it’s too sweet for me to enjoy as a coffee, and it lacks the flavor to make it a fun Fall indulgence. I don’t think there’s anything truly wrong with it, and it isn’t offensive, but at almost six dollars and 300 calories for a medium, I can’t see myself being inspired to purchase this again and I’m not sure why it exists. I suppose it’s an easy way to order an oatmilk beverage without having to customize your order, but I almost feel like that’s doing the oatmilk a disservice. If you’re looking for a coffee to get you into the Halloween spirit, I would look elsewhere because the only thing you’ll be haunted by here is a lack of pumpkin.

Purchased Price: $5.78
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 300 calories, 4 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of total carbs, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 42 grams of total sugar, and 5 grams of protein.