M&S Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Sandwiches

I quite like smoked salmon and these were reduced to half price so I thought I'd try them as they looked really nice.

The salmon was lovely and tender, with a subtle smoked flavour. There was far too much of both the cream cheese and salmon though; the salmon was very thickly cut and there was  too much cream cheese - it was far too rich and overwhelming. 

The salmon needs to be cut much more thinly with a thin layer of cream cheese for this to work. 

Price: £3.30

Rating: 2/5

M&S Lemon & White Chocolate Shortbread Crunch Thins

These looked delicious, so I decided to give them a try to see if they were any good. 

The shortbread was very crunchy, with a noticeable lemon flavour. If my eyes weren't deceiving me, there was real lemon zest in the shortbread, so it had a strong lemon flavour. I couldn't taste any of the rich butter flavour, though as the lemon flavour was a little too overpowering. The white chocolate was delicious and creamy, but I thought the shortbread was too crunchy and dry. Perhaps a thicker shortbread would work better, and a little less lemon to get the rich taste of the butter. 

Overall, not bad, but could do with some improvements. Worth a try if you're a lemon/white chocolate fan.

Price: £2.20 for nine

Rating: 3/5

M&S Cheesy Pizza Fries

I really liked the idea of these, but despite cooking for longer than stated, the chips were so thick they just wouldn't cook through properly. They had been in the oven for 45 minutes but were still raw in the middle. There wasn't much cheese, either.

A great concept but the recipe needs improvement. Perhaps thinner chips and more cheese would work better.

Price: £3.00

Rating: 2/5

M&S Millionaire's Shortbread Dessert

A very indulgent dessert, layered with chocolate ganache, caramel mousse, toffee sauce and a shortbread biscuit base. The ganache was silky and chocolatey- not too rich, just right. The caramel mousse was very light and creamy with a delicate caramel flavour. The toffee sauce was delicious and smooth. The shortbread biscuit base was a bit of a let down, though. It was far too dry and crumbly - I felt it needed more butter to hold it together. Nonetheless, this dessert was still very nice and I would buy it again.

Price: £3.20 for two

Rating: 4/5

M&S Cornish Clotted Cream Lemon Curd Dairy Ice Cream

This ice-cream was simply divine. The best ice-cream I have ever tasted. Deliciously creamy with a silky texture, the clotted cream and lemon zest worked perfectly together. The lemon flavour was just right; not too tangy or sweet. A must try!

Price: £2.60

Rating: 5/5

M&S Roast Beef & Onion Crisps

These crisps had an unpleasant beef flavour and I couldn't taste any of the onion. These are supposed to be from the 'full on flavour' range but I thought they were rather bland. Not recommended.

Price: £2.00

Rating: 1/5

M&S Salted Caramel Teacakes

A new product for M&S, these salted caramel teacakes looked amazing. The milk chocolate was nice and creamy, the mallow was  light and fluffy, the biscuit base was crunchy. However, the salted caramel was almost non-existent. I could barely taste it as there was just a thin layer in the centre. Perhaps due to the sweetness of the chocolate, mallow and biscuit base, it just didn't work, the flavour didn't come together. I felt like it needed to have a more tangy, contrasting filling; like lemon or orange to offset the sweetness of the other flavours.

Although the teacake itself was nice, I was a little disappointed at the lack of salted caramel flavour. Not much difference between these and the original milk chocolate teacakes, in my opinion.

Price: £1.50 for 16

Rating: 3/5

M&S Chicken and Parmesan Fettuccine

This is another firm favourite of mine, along with the fruity chicken curry and Gastropub Moussaka (see previous posts).

This meal is bursting with flavour and so tasty. The marinated garlic chicken was delicious and tender, with a lovely garlicky flavour. The Parmesan cheese sauce was lovely, very creamy. I just wish there was more of the pasta as the portion seemed small compared to their other ready meals. Highly recommended!

Price: £3.00

Rating: 5/5

M&S Rhubarb and Custard Iced Buns

Where is the custard?! I was expecting a nice blob of custard inside, but there was just a sour tasting rhubarb filling.The bun was lovely though; moist and soft. I loved the icing, too - lovely and sweet, plus the pink and white icing is really pretty. A little disappointed with the lack of custard, though.

Price: £1.30 for two

Rating: 3/5

M&S Belgian Chocolate Milkshake

A nice and rich, creamy chocolatey milkshake.The bitterness of the chocolate wasn't too strong. If you're a fan of milkshakes/chocolate, it's worth a try. A bit too rich for me, though.

Price: £1.30

Rating: 3/5

M&S Onion Rings

I'm a big fan of onion rings; they never disappoint. I really thought these would be just as good, if not better than other brands. These onion rings by M&S were awful, though. They were very thin, unlike the nice thicker ones by other brands, with an unpleasant onion flavouring. I do not recommend these.

Price: £1.00

Rating: 1/5

M&S Triple Chocolate Cookie Pudding

I finally got to try this triple chocolate cookie pudding; it's been on my list of things to try for a while, but it always seemed to be out of stock.

It's basically a giant cookie, studded with milk, white and dark chocolate chips, with a layer of chocolate fudge sauce underneath. It can be eaten hot or cold. 

I tried it both hot and cold, and I actually preferred it cold, but that's just me. It was very indulgent and I loved everything about it. The cookie itself had a lovely gooey/crunchy on top texture - a bit like a brownie. There were plenty of delicious milk, dark and white chocolate chips. I could taste a lovely vanilla in the cookie. The chocolate fudge sauce was amazing - lovely and chocolatey. 

I preferred the texture of the cookie and chocolate fudge sauce cold, plus the flavours were stronger. I did try it in the microwave, but it just became a gooey mess and sort of melted. 

Absolutely delicious and I will definitely be buying this again. Highly recommended!

Price: £4.00

Rating: 5/5

M&S Gastropub Coronation Chicken

This seems to be a new product in the Gastropub range as I haven't seen it before. It was really tasty, the chicken was full of flavour and tender. The sauce was delicious, with juicy apricots, coconut, onions and some cubed spiced potatoes. The not so good thing; there wasn't enough of it. The chicken was fine but the potatoes and apricots were a measly portion for what is quite an expensive meal. I would buy this again but I wouldn't pay full price for it.

Price: £4.25

Rating: 4/5

M&S Sticky Toffee Sponge Roll

First off, I couldn't see or taste any dates that were supposed to be in the sponge, so I was surprised by that. The sponge itself was very dry which was disappointing as all of their other sponge rolls are very moist. The toffee sauce was amazing though, very sweet and gooey. The buttercream was also creamy and just delicious. I would give this a 5 if the sponge wasn't so dry; maybe I just got a bad batch.

Price: £1.65

Rating: 4/5