Robot Claw

Let’s try this mad creation:

Australia loves it’s honeycomb, and there’s several products available that include it. The most well known is probably Violet Crumble bars, but whoever thought of turning them into a drink?!?

I was apprehensive pouring it, since as a rule I don’t like drinking milk unless it’s strawberry flavoured. And let’s be honest: this doesn’t look great:

Fearing coffee or something equally nasty I took a slug. I immediately disliked it, although it tasted nothing like Violet Crumble and instead just tasted of chocolate. Mum was curious and had a glass herself…

Here’s her review: “Tasty but no Violet Crumble taste. It’s just a chocolate milkshake! I wouldn’t buy it again and I’ll score it 4/10.”

As for me, it’s a solid 0/10 since I despise chocolate milk, and I’ll also penalize it a further point (down to -1/10) for having not even a trace of honeycomb taste!

It’s time for the last of the Southern Hemisphere chicken noodle reviews. Did my search of local supermarket shelves reveal a worthy product at last?

Suimin Noodles with Chicken (1440 kJ, 13.7 g fat, 1600 mg sodium)

Aside from my hyperbole and possible exaggeration, one common denominator in my reviews of the Australian chicken noodles is the taste (or lack thereof) descriptions. To my sensitive palate, many of these have tasted nearly identical, and that’s not a good thing.

Suimin joins the club: an earthy and dirty taste coupled with thick sticky noodles. It’s a hearty cup to be true, but not one I’d ever voluntarily eat: 0/10

Fantastic Gluten Free Chicken Noodles (671 kJ, <1 g fat, 856 mg sodium)

I’ll start by acknowledging that this product caters to a specific audience, and should be commended for it’s low fat and sodium. That said, this is another ‘Fantastic’ brand noodle product and the two I’ve already reviewed from them are amongst the worst I’ve ever tasted.

Let’s not flog a dead horse: ‘gluten free’ here essentially means ‘taste free’ which ironically makes this slightly better than the other Fantastic ones which tasted horrible. Still a woeful noodle: 1/10

Yoodles Brown Rice Chicken Noodles (1140 kJ, 3.4 g fat, 1260 mg sodium)

This one screamed ‘hipster’ and I was scared of it. As a result I left it for last, and when I opened it, saw the plastic-looking noodles and the bounteous flavor packets my dread increased. But I had to try it, so I did…

It was easy to prepare, but I chose to omit the ‘fat packet’ since adding oil or grease to these things turns my stomach. So strictly speaking I tried a modified version of the product. And it was fantastic! By a very wide margin this is the best chicken noodle I’ve tried here in Oz! Delicious noodles that resemble spaghetti coupled with a subtle but chickeny taste meant I ate the whole thing even though I wasn’t even hungry. If I lived in Australia, I’d fill my cupboards with these: 8/10

Over the past two years I’ve reviewed a total of 48 plain chicken noodle products. In doing this I’ve tasted good and bad and even found one so great I eat it almost daily! I’m not aware of any other products I’ve yet to try, so maybe – finally – it’s time for this series to go on a hiatus for a while…

Today I went for a big long walk. I saw many things and the weather was beautiful. But you don’t want to hear about my 32k steps or the guy that accidentally burned to death, since something much more important happened today!

My lunch today was a hamburger, small fries and a small frozen coke. A delicious meal, and only $5. I enjoyed it, as I did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, and the three days before that.

Yes my friends, I ate the exact same lunch seven days in a row! I set myself this challenge after having done it for four days, and it is with no small amount of pride that I can now say I completed it!

Philistines may say this isn’t any sort of an achievement, just the no-talent-required result of handing over $35 to a charming McDonald’s employee. While they are obviously wrong, I’ll concede that my particular achievement is more special than it may at first seem. I didn’t just eat the same lunch for a week, I ate the same lunch every day for a week at seven different McDonald’s!

In order, they were purchased from the Myer Food Court Sydney, George Street Sydney, Kotara, Jilliby, Newcastle, Broadmeadow and Charlestown. I daresay I’m the only person in the world that has completed this challenge.

At first this was easy, but after a while it became a true challenge. By day five I dared to dream I’d be able complete this, but the last two days in particular were a real trial. Now it’s done I’m sure you’ll agree this is a phenomenal achievement, and a true showcase of my strength of will and culinary focus.

While congratulations aren’t necessary, I’ll thank you in advance for sharing you opinions in the comments. As for myself, I felt I needed to do something to acknowledge my victory. I gave it some thought, and in the end felt only one thing was appropriate: a quick stop at Maccas for an apple pie and a frozen coke 🙂