Tag: Fast Food

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Honey Garlic Sriracha Crispy Chicken Wings

Marvo Leave a comment

Jack in the Box’s Crispy Chicken Wings are back! Thank goodness. I was afraid they were discontinued because they disappeared off the menu so quickly that I didn’t even get to eat them again after enjoying them earlier this year. This time, along with the Classic, Buffalo, and Garlic Parmesan varieties, there’s a new sauce — Honey Garlic Sriracha.

I’m a little surprised that these weren’t hot honey flavored because that seems to be the hottest flavor at the moment. But it’s spicy and has honey, so I guess it’s close enough.

If you missed Jack’s Crispy Chicken Wings the first time, you missed one of the year’s surprisingly great fast food products, at least to me. Yes, Jack in the Box is a burger place, but for some magical reason, it does chicken wings surprisingly well. The exterior has a pleasant crispiness even when sauced, and the meat inside is actually juicy. However, I wish the wings were coated better in their sauces, even with this Honey Garlic Sriracha order.

There’s a bit of a Panda Express vibe going on with the sauce, although it isn’t as gloopy as anything from the popular wok chain. It’s not as hot as actual sriracha because the honey and garlic distract my taste buds from the heat. The sauce overall tastes ever so slightly watered down, which is the best way I can describe it. The sweet, garlicky, and peppery flavors are there but don’t pop. As for the heat, it starts off very mild, but it does build up a little while eating more. However, I didn’t need a Witch Please Shake or water to cool down my mouth.

Jack in the Box’s Honey Garlic Sriracha Crispy Chicken Wings are good, but I feel the others are better tasting. If I went to someone’s house to watch a football game (someone, please invite me over) and these were being offered, I would gladly eat them. But if I’m staring at the Jack in the Box menu all by myself and want chicken wings, if they’re still around, I’d probably pick any of the other varieties.

Purchased Price: $8.99*
Size: 6-piece order
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 500 calories. Other nutritional numbers aren’t available on the Jack in the Box 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: Jack in the Box Mummy Wrapped Monster Taco

Marvo 8 Comments

Jack in the Box’s Monster Taco has been a monster success for the chain. Actually, I don’t know this because I’m not privy to the company’s internal numbers, but it’s been around for several years, so I assume it’s a popular item. For the Halloween season, the chain has pulled out from a sarcophagus the Mummy Wrapped Monster Taco.

It’s a Monster Taco topped with the usual American cheese, shredded lettuce, and taco sauce that’s “mummy wrapped’ in a cheese sauce and bacon-stuffed warm flour tortilla.

If you’re reading this review, you’re probably familiar with the taste of Jack in the Box’s tacos, so I’m not going to mention much about it. While I enjoy them, this version is disappointing.

Adding the flour tortilla, cheese sauce, and bacon bits adds a noticeable amount of heft to the Monster Taco, making it a bit more monstrous. However, the cheese sauce and its warmth are trapped under the flour tortilla, making the taco’s center even soggier than a regular Monster Taco. Thankfully, that’s kind of okay because the tortilla prevents any leakage from happening.

However, I don’t know if mine was made with more cheese sauce than the kitchen instructions say, but I felt there was too much of it in my order, and it made things overwhelmingly cheesy. While that sounds nice for fondue, a cheeseburger, or Wisconsin, it’s not in this case because it also makes the menu item too salty. Yes, water is wet, and fast food is salty, but this was particularly so sodium-heavy that my taste buds started to wonder if they should tap out after getting halfway through. I eventually had to convince myself to finish the last three bites.

Besides the overwhelming cheesiness and saltiness, there is also an underlying smokiness from the bacon and the usual mild kick of pepperiness and heat from taco sauce and the seasoned meat. But I wonder if those pork bits also contribute to this being too salty.

While a clever idea, Jack in the Box’s Mummy Wrapped Monster Taco is a monster disappointment. I don’t plan on ordering it again, and I think it should be placed back in its sarcophagus and buried in the tomb of fast food ideas. Or it should have less cheese sauce.

Purchased Price: $3.00
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 580 calories. No other nutritional numbers are available on the Jack in the Box website.

REVIEW: Jack in the Box Witch Please Shake

Marvo 2 Comments

I’m not sure how familiar the general public is with the purple yam called ube. Sure, Trader Joe’s has rolled out several ube-flavored products over the past few years, but for the most part I feel it’s still a little known flavor.

However, on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, it’s a common option with pastries and desserts. Even our local 7-Eleven locations had an ube-flavored Slurpee. I guess you could say it’s ubequitous here. I apologize.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s sweet and a bit coconut-like. And it has found its way into Jack in the Box’s latest dessert, the Witch Please Shake. It’s an Oreo shake mixed with ube flavors and topped with more Oreo pieces and whipped topping. The ube gives it a pleasant lavender color, but it’s not dark enough to bring witches to my mind. It replaces the Basic Witch Shake that showed up on Jack’s menu board the past two fall seasons. That was a pumpkin spice shake with Oreo pieces.

The sweet coconutty taste is boldly there with every sip, but it’s the only flavor I taste. While I can see and feel the Oreo pieces floating in the ice cream, they only offer texture as I don’t taste their slightly bitter chocolate, even when I come across a decent-sized cookie chunk. This lack of cookie was also the case with the Basic Witch Shake. Although a little chocolate would’ve been nice, not noticing the cookie pieces is not a completely bad thing because it allows the ube to stand out, and that flavor is so delightful.

Jack in the Box’s Witch Please Shake is a delicious follow-up to the Basic Witch Shake. For those who have never tried ube, it’ll be a tasty introduction to the purple yam. For those who are familiar, I recommend sipping on this seasonal shake while you can because it’s witch-ed good. Ubetcha.

Purchased Price: $6.29*
Size: Regular
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 770 calories. Other nutrition number aren’t available on the Jack in the Box 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 Mtn Dew Baja Blast Gelato

Holly 3 Comments

Twenty years ago, I was sitting at Taco Bell after school when a guy I liked offered me a taste of his “delicious toilet bowl water” (his nickname for the drink because of its bright blue-green color). I took my first sip of the newly released Mountain Dew Baja Blast, which was unlike anything I had ever tried. The lime-tropical flavor was much more enjoyable than the traditional Mountain Dew. It was refreshing and sweet but not overly so. Baja Blast is the perfect addition to any Taco Bell meal.

To keep evolving the flavor, Taco Bell did a one-restaurant test in Southern California of a new item: Mtn Dew Baja Blast Gelato. The limited run was met with positive reactions and an announcement it would have a wide release to coincide with the soda’s 20th anniversary. The dessert is available through mobile order only to Taco Bell Rewards members, and you can order up to four.

Considering the chatter around the treat, I was half expecting Popeyes Chicken Sandwich-level chaos surrounding this drop. Instead, I showed up at an empty Taco Bell, where I was informed I was the “first person to get it.” Much to my disappointment, there was no banner or celebration of that fact.

I had a bit of sticker shock at the $4.99 price. The item was also a lot smaller than I had anticipated. I understand that 3.6 ounces isn’t much, but it wasn’t until I was handed the container that I realized how small it was. No matter. I was still very excited to try it.

Opening the package, I pulled out the purple spoon nestled into the top of the lid and removed the protective film to reveal the familiar Baja Blast color. The light, fragrant smell of the drink was the next thing I noticed. I scraped some of the top layer off and took a bite. The expected texture of gelato is creamy, dense, almost velvety smooth, but this was icy and light, more akin to Taco Bell’s frozen drinks.

I thought I was too distracted by the texture to notice the flavor, but with my next few bites, I found the flavor to be incredibly faint. It was almost like taking the last sip of a watered-down Baja Blast. I decided to let it sit out for a few minutes, and maybe it would get to its “optimal enjoyment temperature.” While this made it a little more enjoyable (less icy), it was still not the gelato experience I expected. This would have been better off marketed as a sorbet as it shared more characteristics with that frozen treat.

As much as it pains me to say, the Mtn Dew Baja Blast Gelato did not live up to the hype. The middle-of-the-road quality and light flavor didn’t justify the high price tag to me and was overall a letdown.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: 3.6 oz
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 70 calories, 0.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 14 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Panda Express Hot Ones Blazing Bourbon Chicken

Marvo 6 Comments

Panda Express calls its new Hot Ones Blazing Bourbon Chicken the spiciest dish the chain has ever offered, thanks to its sauce being made with the Hot Ones’ infamous Last Dap Apollo Hot Sauce.

While it does have a good tongue-poking amount of heat, I can’t say I’m 100 percent sure it’s the spiciest ever because there might’ve been a Panda Express entree that was so devastatingly hot that my mind and mouth wiped any memory about it. While I’m not sure it burns the most, it does make up for the mild Hot Orange Chicken from a few months ago.

The limited time entree features crispy boneless chicken bites, onions, bell peppers, and chili peppers in an extra spicy and sweet bourbon sauce that’s sprinkled with sesame seeds. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Panda Express knows how to make a great sweet and savory sauce, and that’s the case with Blazing Bourbon Chicken.

But let’s start with the heat. If you’re expecting a reaction that’s similar to the ones on the Hot Ones talk show, where celebrities have their sweat, tear, or salivary glands, or any combination of the three get forced into bodily fluid production overdrive, your glands need not worry, if you likey the spicy. After finishing off a small a la carte container of the chicken, the top of my head and the back of my neck were sweating a bit. But it’s not as blazing as I expected it to be with a sauce made from the Apollo Hot Sauce, and, despite the sweating, I didn’t feel compelled to extinguish the burn in my mouth. But that’s not a bad thing because the heat doesn’t overwhelm the great tasting bourbon-flavored coating.

As for that wonderful sauce, I get a hint of bourbon flavor, but for the most part, I notice a level of umami that reminds me of soy sauce and a sweetness that could be from honey or brown sugar. I’ve never had the Last Dab before, so I can’t say if I taste it here, but my brave taste buds don’t notice anything that could be considered the flavor of a hot pepper, just the spiciness from one. Speaking of peppers, the vegetables in the entree bring a different crisp texture than the chicken’s coating, and they help temper the sauce’s heat. The chili peppers, surprisingly, didn’t seem to elevate the dish’s burn.

Panda Express’ Hot Ones Blazing Bourbon Chicken has the right amounts of savoriness, sweetness, and spiciness. It’s so good that I could see myself swapping it with my beloved Orange Chicken a few times while it’s on the menu.

Purchased Price: $5.40
Size: Small container
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (5.5 oz serving) 400 calories, 5 grams of saturated fat, 40 grams of carbohydrates, and 14 grams of protein.

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