Reviews reviews

Charlie Bigham’s Chicken Thai Red Curry

Published on August 29th, 2020

This is my third Charlie Bigham offering. I just can’t help myself when I see it reduced to half price (meals typically retail at about £7-8). Whilst I bought this on offer, it does feed two, so the £3.50-£4 RRP per person is comparable to standard ready meals. It takes a little more time than… [Read More]

4 out of 5

Charlie Bigham’s Goan Fish Curry

Published on August 1st, 2020

My second Charlie Bigham meal – this time with rice. It’s already in better stead than the Moroccan Chicken Tagine. It comes with some foil you need to wrap around the curry and the rice, which are in two separate containers. It then goes in the oven for about half an hour. You can really… [Read More]

3 out of 5

Sharwood’s Curry & Rice Chicken Tikka

Published on July 25th, 2020 Sharwood's

I did not have high hopes for this. The portion size when you lift the lid is tiny. The rice looks like a meagre bowl of rice crispies: small, crunchy and yellow. But worse than that, you need a degree in mathematics to follow the instructions. “Fill to the fill line”, it says patronisingly, like… [Read More]

2 out of 5

Sainsbury’s My Goodness! Katsu Chicken Curry

Published on July 18th, 2020 Sainsbury's My Goodness!

The chicken is nice and juicy – but it’s not breaded, which for me is a KEY part of a katsu curry! Such a shame. I guess there are too many calories in breadcrumbs…! Even the sauce doesn’t taste like katsu – it has more of a lemongrass/Thai flavour. It comes with a sticky jasmine… [Read More]

2 out of 5

Sainsbury’s Chicken Coconut Laksa Noodles

Published on July 11th, 2020 Sainsbury's My Goodness!

Sainsbury’s has a real thing for laksa. Apart from the soup I reviewed in 2012, I haven’t seen it anywhere else. I think this is an iteration on the same product: a creamy, lemongrass-rich sauce with fresh vegetables and chunks of chicken. There’s more chicken than last time (though it still feels a bit mediocre)… [Read More]

3 out of 5

Jake & Nayns’ Mexican Chicken Burrito

Published on July 4th, 2020

This was nice and easy to cook – just open one side of the outer packaging to let steam escape, then pop in the microwave for 1m 30 seconds. The end result? A slightly daunting soggy/doughy looking wrap. But, taking a bite, it’s satisfyingly ‘full’ of filling, with a fair bit of chicken. It has… [Read More]

4 out of 5

Charlie Bigham’s Moroccan Chicken Tagine

Published on June 27th, 2020

I’ve recently moved to an area that has a Waitrose. There’s an entire fridge section dedicated to ‘Charlie Bigham’ meals. I thought he was the bloke who wrote Black Mirror. A man of many talents then…! These are all marketed as high quality, low effort meals for two. Unlike other Charlie Bigham meals, you can’t… [Read More]

3 out of 5

Sainsbury’s Spaghetti with Spicy Meat & Vegetable Meatballs

Published on June 23rd, 2020 Sainsbury's My Goodness!

The ragu is not rich, it’s basically tinned tomatoes with some garlic. It’s not bad, but it’s nothing special. There’s a pitiful quantity of cabbage, which just about tips the balance for it being 1 of your 5 a day. The meatballs allegedly contain beef and pork, but all I can taste is vegetable. It’s… [Read More]

3 out of 5

Waitrose Nasi Goreng

Published on May 26th, 2020

Simple to cook, clean, good recyclable packaging. The only faff is the ‘plastic insert’ used to separate the sauce and the rice – but the result is worth it. Has a real, unexpected kick to it. You can see the flakes of chili on the chicken and throughout. A little beyond my comfort levels to… [Read More]

4 out of 5

Heinz Cream of Chicken Pot Soup

Published on May 8th, 2020

£1.40 from Tesco at time of writing. A tin (as opposed to plastic pot) of exactly the same stuff would be less than a pound. It’s certainly easier/tidier than a tin – 1m45s in the microwave, stirring halfway, and no pan to wash up. All of the packaging parts are recyclable too. But the soup… [Read More]

1 out of 5