food reviews

REVIEW: Quest Bar Rocky Road

/ seansskillet / 1 Comment

Earlier this year Quest announced that it would be rolling out three new flavors of cheat clean goodness over the course of four months and the big bad finale is finally upon us. Following the success of imitating a cookie with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and a muffin, with Blueberry Muffin, the Quest brand has chosen to take on imitating Rocky Road ice cream.  The classic flavors of chocolate, nuts, and sweet marshmallow lend themselves well to a portable protein bar, but how does it stack up against the others in the Quest-verse?

Rocky Road’s biggest strength is the same as the two that came before it, and that is in its chunky prominence.  Quest have quickly solidified themselves as the king of the chunk and while new competitors pop up seemingly every month, Quest has found a way to keep itself relevant and desirable in the vast field of protein bars.  Every bite of Rocky Road has ample pieces of crunchy almonds and sweet marshmallow; the bar has some of the most equal chunk distribution I’ve seen from Quest and that keeps the bar interesting from start to finish. The chocolate base, like most Quest bars, has a strong sucralose flavor that drives the sweetness of each bite. As long as you’re okay with the fake sweet taste the overall experience is pretty true to a good scoop of rocky road ice cream. Almond is the dominant flavor over marshmallow, which gets lost just a bit in the general sweetness of the bar as a whole, but you see them and their presence is at least felt texturally.

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Rocky Road is essentially a nutty crunchy version of one of their best bars already on the market – Double Chocolate Chunk. While there are no pieces of dark chocolate lurking in the protein base, the ample amounts of almonds and marshmallows make this an intriguing bite on the go. Not as good as the two that came before it but still better than or equal to the other top Quest bars already available.

Rating: 7/10

REVIEW: Baskin Robbin’s Trick Oreo Treat Dark

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At Baskin Robbins the season of the spook remains the season of the scoop. From festive seasonal flavors like candy corn and the decadent pumpkin cheesecake, the 31 plus arsenal’s most consistent autumn offering highlights all kiddies’ favorite past time in October – trick or treating.  BR’s Trick Oreo Treat debuted in 2011 and for the first time, in 2016, the iconic flavor gets an upgrade.

Trick Oreo Treat Dark builds on the success of its predecessor, which combined vanilla ice cream with spooky orange creme Oreos, Baby Ruth bars, and Butterfinger pieces. The dark twist is the same mischievous concoction of goodies, only this time housed in rich dark chocolate and enrobed by a silky fudge ribbon. TOT version 2.0 – it WORKS.

While I am generally a bigger fan of lighter bases (vanilla, caramel, etc) the chocolate base in this ice cream absolutely blows away the flavor of the original. Its rich cocoa notes and velvety texture are taken to the next level by the ample fudge ribbon. Periodically making its way onto your spoon in gooey gobs, the ribbon helps the ice cream eat more like a sundae and adds a nice textural contrast to the chunks of candy you will inevitably run into as you continue to dig.

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What some folks may find challenging, and I actually love, are the candy pieces themselves. The Butterfinger generally gets dispersed evenly in thin little flakes of buttery goodness with an occasional big chunk, but the Baby Ruth pieces tend to be larger and as a result, harder. Apparently the combination of peanuts, caramel, and chocolate nougat doesn’t freeze well (even though it’s fine in the BR Snickers flavor) and at times you’ll encounter a candy piece your teeth can’t quite handle. Luckily, if you allow the Ruth to sit in your mouth for a couple of seconds and gently chew, the caramel will get soft again and the reward will be worth the risk. What’s the fun in a treat without a little trick anyway?

The only area where the dark version of this ice cream takes a step back from the original is the pop of the Oreo cookies themselves. The flavor of the wafer gets lost a bit in the sea of chocolate, but still adds a nice dusty texture and orange colorful contrast to the overall experience. The chocolate on chocolate onslaught reminds me of one of my favorite limited Baskin Robbins flavors in recent memory, last years’ Oreo Malt Madness, and I’ll take that homage over standard cookies and cream any day.

Rating: 8.5/10