[REVIEW] Canada Dry Black Cherry Wishniak

Wishniak?

Is this a drink made by that guy who co-founded Apple?

Whoa! Don't blame me for this!

I was mesmerized by the thought of a cherry soda and immediately thought it would be more like the flavored ginger ales that have been put out by Canada Dry every year around the holidays.

If you're like me, you have no clue what a Wishniak is. So let me tell you:

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[REVIEW] AriZona Cherry Lime Rickey

Ghetto-licious

Lost in the ghetto.

That's how I stumbled upon this entry. I was in the DC area with my son's cub scout pack, so we could look at the stars through a telescope. We had left and I was driving in the ghetto looking for a gas station. Instead, I found 7-11. I entered through the doors and was sure that I was going to be robbed.


Anyway, I had heard about this drink recently and being a sucker for all things cherry/lime I was looking forward to getting it....but they didn't have any in the cooler. So I grabbed an iced tea and started towards the register, when there it was, a full display of AriZona Cherry Lime Rickey just waiting to be bought.

I bought one, but it was not cold. I would have to take it home.

At the checkout the guy behind me dropped the F bomb, and then immediately apologized to me "Sorry man, I didn't see yo little man wit you"...."No problem"

I paid and got outta dodge fast.

The curiously white top.

Finally collapsing in my bed, I made a mental note to put the drink in the fridge at work the next day to enjoy.

Upon opening my cold new drink, I was greeted by the aroma of....nothing. I could smell no discernible cherry or lime flavor. Nor could I smell rickey (What does rickey smell like anyway?) Maybe it was just that I've been ill and stuffed up a little bit.

I took a sip - EEWWWWWW nasty lime flavor washed over me - not the good sweet lime like I was expecting, it definitely tasted like real lime. That's not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. The other dominant taste was....Pear?

I looked at the ingredients list and pear juice is quite prominent, along with mango puree, before we even get to the cherry part of this drink. I'm not sure how they mix these juices up and come up with completely different flavors, but I've seen it done better with other products. I could barely taste cherry and even then, it tasted almost like a light cough-syrup style cherry rather than fresh, like the lime taste.

Also checking the ingredients, I see that there is also the presence of Ace-K and Sucralose. Both of these are my mortal enemies in the sweetener world and I would rather go without ANY sweetener than have to taste these, but amazingly, I did not get the normal aftertaste that you get from these sweeteners.

If I had to describe the overall taste though, it would be LIME. From beginning to end, that's what you get from this drink. The aftertaste is even kind of bitter like a fresh lime would be. A little extra sugar would not be a bad thing in this case.

At 99 cents, I find it hard to pass up most of the AriZona products, you get good value for the money, although the health benefits of a large can of sugar water could be debated.

This drink can only be found at 7-11, and I'm presuming it's for a limited time.

Nutritional facts, for those of you who worry about that stuff.

Rough life in the ghetto.

Would Chuck eat it again? YES

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[REVIEW] Denny's Hawaiian Tropical Pancake Puppies

On a whim I decided to order these.

I've been on a coconut pineapple kick lately. I blame it all on the Haagen Daas people. So, when I walked into Denny's and saw these on the menu, I decided they must be mine.

I had not seen any ads for these nor any reviews online, so I decided to blog my thoughts.

If you've ever had standard pancake puppies then you know they are basically donut holes with a lighter consistency. Nothing spectacular but decent.

The description on my placemat said that these had white chocolate chips and pineapple, and coconut. The actual product? 1/3 of the ingredients didn't cut it.

I only tasted coconut, and I think it was just flavoring added to the powdered sugar that they dusted the puppies with. They were, thankfully, not burnt (I've had to deal with that on more than one occasion). No taste of chocolate at all and no discernable chunks of pineapple or even a smell or taste of the delicious yellow fruit.

It tasted like a regular old pancake puppy with coconut powder. Not bad, but kind of a let down.

As I left the manager asked me what I thought of them. I told her quite honestly and her response was "I know, that's what everyone tells me..."

Chuck might eat it again...but they need to up the pineapple content.

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[REVIEW] Lays Limón Chips

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww.

Chuck would NOT eat these again.

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[REVIEW] McDonalds Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

I was blessed by the coupon fairy this week, and decided to go use my coupon for a free frozen strawberry lemonade.

My 7 year old already had one last week and told me it was too sour.

He wasn't lieing.

First sip was pucker inducing. Second sip was sickly sweet.

I stirred it up a little and took the third sip...it was bitter. Not better... bitter.

It basically appears to be a lemon slurpee with strawberry sundae topping in it.

Would Chuck eat it? I have another free coupon, and I would NOT eat it again. Yuck.

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Dennys Maple Bacon Sundae [REVIEW]

With trepidation I placed the order.

Do I dare eat this frankenstein dessert?

Marcus, my waiter, said "Really?", like I was the first sucker he's seen order this. 

"Yeah, what the hell!" I said.

I am sitting here wondering what I just got myself into.

"Um, enjoy," said Marcus. I think he walked around the corner and watched to see if I would really eat it.

First spoonful: sweet vanilla ice cream. Ooooh crunchy bit! No bacon flav....oooh smoky!

Second spoonful: chewy...salty...smoky then vanilla again.

With that I dug in and eventually hit the maple syrup....and that's where it fell apart.

It was too hot and not only was it rapidly melting my ice cream (see photos) , it was sickly sweet and on top of the ice cream the warmth and sweetness made my stomach start to turn.

I ended up drinking the rest of this vile concoction because it was basically a milkshake after 4 spoonfuls. But I could not drink the bottom 2 inches of warm maple syrup. Eeeew.

Twenty minutes later and I still am experiencing a churning stomach and the sweats...

Maple Bacon Sundae
Bought at Denny's
Price: $2.99
Would Chuck eat it again? NO.

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Grilled Cheese & Co [REVIEW]

Before I start this review, I want to make it perfectly clear, this is not a grilled cheese blog, I just happen to eat them a lot.

There's a recession, you know.

A little background:

Five years ago I happened to reconnect with some old friends that I hadn't seen for many years. It happened to be on Cinco de Mayo - so now, we've made it an annual holiday for ourselves each year. This year, we celebrated on Ocho de Mayo because we're responsible (!) adults and had to work on Cinco.

Before the seriously heavy drinking got underway, we decided to go to Grilled Cheese & Co in lovely Catonsville, Maryland. It's not the first restaurant of its kind, but it's the first one in my neck of the woods.




First impression when we walked in - ummm.... REALLY small. Seriously, there were eight of us that strolled in, and I think we may have violated a fire code just by walking in the door. We literally took up half of the dining room area.

When we planned this, we didn't actually have time to scope it out first to see how small it was, or we probably would have made different arrangements. As it was, we just decided to make ourselves at home and took up our half of the restaurant, where we proceeded to curse like sailors and probably ruin at least one persons lunch. Welcome to Bawlmer Hon!





The food is all freshly made when you order it (of course, a grilled cheese under a heat lamp would be be akin to treason) and everything smelled really good.

I ordered "The Sweetest Thing" sandwich. It contained Brie, raspberry flavored mascarpone cheese, and chocolate chips, grilled between two slices of challah bread. I upgraded to a meal for an extra two bucks, and got some french fries and a soda.

The fries were rubbish. That's all I'm going to say. If you feel the need to have a combo, I would suggest trying the sweet potato fries or a bag of chips. Otherwise, let the star of their menu stand alone.



I have to admit, it looked incredible.

First impression was that it had no real discernible smell. Also, the bread didn't look like challah to me, it was more like a sourdough, which was actually ok. It was *perfectly* grilled, although a bit greasy. Still, it's a grilled cheese, and it's supposed to be greasy, being fried in butter and all.



The taste is where this sandwich came alive. It was, in retrospect, probably a poor choice for dinner, especially with lots and lots...and lots of alcohol that was to come on top of it. It would make an INCREDIBLE breakfast entree, and I plan on trying to make one at home for breakfast some day.

Brie is a mild cheese but I loved the combination with the raspberry mascarpone, and it was a nice creamy, sweet, and fruity taste all together. I don't think you could replicate it with jam (although I am going to try). Everything was melted together nicely and it provided a pleasant smooth combination in between the slightly crispy bread.



If this sandwich had a weak spot, it was the chocolate chips...there was too much chocolate in it, and the more you ate, the more the chocolate overpowered the other flavors. It might be better with less chips, or even better, a cup of chocolate to dunk it in so you could regulate your own chocolate experience.

After going back to the website, I discovered that I could have ordered a smaller size of this sandwich as a desert, and had I realized that at the restaurant, I would have done so and ordered the traditional grilled cheese or one of their other combination's. The menu in the store may have said that, but the place was very cramped and I obviously missed it.

Later, I had this awful drink called a beergarita - you have to be three sheets to the wind to order it. It haunts me now, days later. This has nothing to do with the restaurant, I just thought I'd share the moment that things went wrong. :)


Grilled Cheese & Co
500 Edmondson Ave
Catonsville, MD 21228
410-747-2610
Open Daily 11-9
www.ilovegrilledcheese.com

Price paid: $7.50 + $2.00 combo upgrade.
Would Chuck eat it again? Yes, but probably only carryout, unless I went with a smaller group or by myself.



(Thanks to my 'brother from another mother' Jaye for these photos - yes, he is opening a hot dog business soon, I will not be reviewing it because if I did, no one would believe it's a real review since we're friends)

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