KFC Canada and Frito Lay Canada announced an epic new food collaboration – KFC x Lay’s Bar-B-Q Tenders. This limited-edition item features KFC’s 100 per-cent real Canadian farm raised chicken tenders coated in Lay’s sweet and smoky Bar-B-Q potato chips.
When we saw they had this promotion, we had to check it out. We found that it’s not available at all locations. We first went to the food court at our local mall, but they didn’t have the equipment to make the tenders.
So, we drove a little bit further to another location and they did have it available in various combos. I went with the bucket for 1 as it has a little bit of everything and 2 of the Lay’s BBQ Chicken Tenders.
The tenders are quite meaty with a thin coating of Lay’s BBQ potato chips and spices. It really had a strong Lay’s BBQ flavour to it and was surprisingly enjoyable. If you are a fan of Lay’s BBQ chips, you’ll enjoy this. Remember to eat them right away, so you get the most amount of enjoyment as it is still hot and the outside is more crisp.
The Bar-B-Q Tenders are available starting October 7 until November 17th, 2019, while supplies last.
Tim Hortons in Canada quietly launched their new Kit Kat menu featuring 2 treats and 3 beverages. It’s great to finally see some new items that fit more with their brand as the last few items like omelette bites and Beyond Meat Burgers didn’t really suit them very well, nor did they taste good.
They launched these 5 items:
Caramel-Filled Donut with Kit Kat
Chocolate Truffle Bar with Kit Kat
Kit Kat Iced Cappuccino
Kit Kat Hot Chocolate
Kit Kat Latte
I had to go to the closest Tim Hortons to check out all these Kit Kat items to see if they were any good.
Menu
Caramel-Filled Donut with Kit Kat
It is essentially a caramel-filled donut with chocolate frosting and Kit Kat crumbs on top. The donut has a really good ratio of filling to donut, so there is caramel in every bite.
The one problem I find is that it is very very sweet. The caramel with the chocolate frosting and then the topping of Kit Kat was a bit much.
Chocolate Truffle Bar with Kit Kat
The chocolate truffle bar is topped with whipped cream and Kat Kat pieces. I actually found this to be much sweeter than the Caramel-filled donut. My husband liked it but not a win for me. I could feel the cavities creeping on.
Kit Kat Iced Cappuccino
Tim Horton’s classic Iced Capp now comes in Kit Kat flavour. It has the regular Iced Capp ingredients but with added Kit Kat syrup inside when they mix it. It is then topped with whipped cream and Kit Kat pieces.
It was alright but it did have the essence of Kit Kat flavour.
Kit Kat Hot Chocolate
I got the Kit Kat Hot Chocolate in a small size and it is their regular hot chocolate but with Kit Kat syrup. I can see this being a fun treat for the kids.
They put a lid on my hot chocolate so the whipped cream melted and the kit kat got soggy. It used to look really delicious. Get it without the lid if you want your kids to enjoy it visually a bit more.
Kit Kat Latte
The latte comes in Medium, so no small size. It is a regular latte with the Kit Kat syrup inside. This does have a better balance of the syrup and the latte so it isn’t overly sweet. It has a nice aftertaste of the Kit Kat.
Similarly with the hot chocolate, when you put the lid on, the whipped cream dissipates and the Kit Kat crumbs get soggy.
As I was observing them, I could see the Kit Kat syrup container. As the container is unmarked, I think these items are limited time only.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely adore Kit Kat treats but these Tim Hortons creation using Kit Kat are way too sweet. I will stick with my classic go-to items like steeped tea, coffee and honey crullers.
With September here, everything is pumpkin spice themed in anticipation for October. Dairy Queen’s Blizzard of the Month is Pumpkin Pie and this is pretty exciting! I was very curious how this tastes.
As the weather is changing from Summer to Fall, I love this time of year as you can start putting on a light jacket or sweater. It’s not too hot and not too cold. Perfect time to eat some ice cream too.
We went to our local Dairy Queen in Coquitlam to check it out before it’s gone at the end of the month.
You can get this in 4 different sizes:
Mini
Small
Medium
Large
Pumpkin Pie Blizzard
The pumpkin pie blizzard has pumpkin pie pieces blended with their vanilla soft serve, then topped with whipped topping and nutmeg.
The colour was a dull orange with the dollop of whipped cream and the sprinkle of nutmeg on top. As I took the first few bites, I was impressed by pieces of pumpkin pie and the sharp taste of the pumpkin pie incorporated into the vanilla soft serve. I definitely wasn’t disappointed as it matched what my expectations were.
If you’re a fan of pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice, I think you’ll enjoy this. Grab it before it’s gone as it’s only her for a limited time only.
Taco Bell Canada has just introduced their new Toasted Cheesy Chalupa. Canada among one of the 10 countries launching the Toasted Cheesy Chalupa as part of Taco Bell’s largest-ever global product launch. Instead of launching in one country first and testing how it does. It will be available internationally in Aruba, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Puerto Rico and the United States.
The Toasted Cheesy Chalupa is not just the year’s biggest chalupa innovation from Taco Bell (so they claim), it is also the largest global release of a menu item from Taco Bell since the Naked Chicken Chalupa in 2017.
As Canadians, it’s always annoying to see the US have more exclusive items on the menu. I always have to cross the border to get a taste.
Toasted Cheesy Chalupa Review
This filled with seasoned beef, then piled with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheddar cheese, and reduced-fat sour cream inside the chalupa shell toasted with 6-month aged sharp cheddar cheese.
They put the Chalupa shell inside out for me…for some strange reason. Nonetheless, the whole toasted cheesy chalupa was there. I found the cheesy chalupa shell to be too thick and chewy like Greek flatbread.
The whole experience wasn’t cheesy at all as there could have been a lot more cheese on the chalupa shell and inside. I expected it to have more crunch as well.
I found the Naked Chicken Chalupa to be far superior. Do you need to go out right now to get the Toasted Cheesy Chalupa? I would say definitely not.
Pizza Hut Canada and Cinnabon are finally collaborating in Canada after a successful launch of Cinnabon Mini Rolls to Pizza Hut menus across the United States. Sometimes all the fun things happen in the States first and then finally to Canada.
Cinnabon has locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia, but not in the other Provinces of Canada. There are other competitors in the space, but it’s now your chance to get some Cinnabon.
Crafted By Cinnabon Mini Rolls are delivered warm to your front door and include 10 mini cinnamon rolls made with Cinnabon Makara cinnamon swirls, topped with a lot of Cinnabon signature cream cheese frosting.
It may not look like much when you open the box, but once you get the first bite of those cinnamon rolls, it’s a really nice sweet treat after having pizza. Because the rolls are mini and slathered with frosting, they aren’t dry at all. It’s like a warm hug.
This is only available for a limited time until end of September, so order your Pizza Hut pizza and Cinnabon Mini Rolls before its all gone.
They currently have the Cinnabon Mini Rolls Bundle for $24.99, which includes a medium pizza, boneless chicken, and 10 mini cinnamon rolls. You can make modifications to your order as well. What we ended up doing was getting a medium meat lovers pizza with stuffed crust because that’s an Iconic Pizza Hut Pizza. We remember it so vividly from our childhood. Then we got the honey BBQ boneless chicken, the mini rolls, and added on a few cans of Dr. Pepper.
We ate all this and watched Netflix. Dinner made easy.
After the release of Tim Horton‘s Beyond Meat Breakfast menu, they are now releasing Beyond Meat Burgers on the menu, which are 100% Plant-based burger patties.
Tim Hortons has has different sandwiches on their menu, but this is a first time seeing burgers on the menu. Odd, but we were intrigued to see how it stacks up with A&W as they were the first to launch Beyond Meat burgers in the fast food industry in Canada. Then White Spot created their own versions too. Now, Tim Hortons is jumping on this opportunity too.
Beyond Burger
In the burger is the beyond meat patty, shredded lettuce, tomato mayo, ketchup and a slice of cheese.
The beyond meat patty was thick but pretty dry. I also didn’t like the bun as it as thick and dense. Might have been better if it was toasted.
BBQ Beyond Burger
This is the other version of the burgers but with BBQ sauce. They didn’t add much BBQ sauce to it, so not a very bold taste of BBQ in each bite. The sauce was mostly in the centre.
Other than that, same critiques about the patty and bun.
Final Thoughts
These 2 Beyond Meat Burgers were disappointing and you could probably make better ones at home. Nothing about the spices or seasoning is unique to Tim Hortons. Unlike A&W, they have their own unique blend of spices that permeate through the beyond meat patty.
Nonetheless, it still give options to Tim Hortons customers who are in their stores and would like lunch options that are vegetarian friendly.
Panago has been expanding their plant based pizza options on their menu. We noticed they are now offering Beyond Meat Italian Sausage on a few of their newer pizzas.
It’s a great options if you have a pizza party or an office party and you need some vegetarian and lactose-free options.
We decided to order these for dinner and give this a taste test.
Plant-based Beyond Summer BBQ
This pizza has BBQ sauce, Beyond Meat Italian sausage crumble, red onions, roasted corn medley seasoned with onions, red & green peppers, jalapeño peppers, and dairy-free Daiya cheese.
The Beyond Meat Italian sausage crumble has a good texture and it can be easily mistaken as sausage. If you’re not lactose intolerant, the Daiya cheese has a very gummy processed taste that didn’t sit well for us and couldn’t get past it’s texture.
Beyond Summer BBQ
This version without the Daiya has BBQ sauce, Beyond Meat Italian sausage crumble, red onions, roasted corn medley seasoned with onions, red & green peppers, jalapeño peppers, and mozzarella.
It’s so much better with mozzarella! You can taste the strong BBQ taste emanating from every bite. There is sweetness from the corn and the jalapeño gives it a kick of spice.
Final Thoughts
It’s great that Panago is giving more options for their customers were dietary restrictions. Since pizza is a common item found at parties, customizing for those who are lactose intolerant or vegetarian is easier now.
As a meat eater, I would definitely stay away from the Daiya, but their Beyond Meat Italian sausage crumble passes the test.
Tim Hortons has launched omelette bites on their menu and it comes in 3 flavours – Jalapeño & Cheddar, Bacon & Cheese, and Spinach & Egg White.
They have recently launched a lot of new items on the menu and seems to be straying away from what they know best.
I was just passing by and saw the omelette bites, so I just had to see how it compares to Starbucks Sous Vide Egg Bites. At first glance, it was weird that the omelette bites come in a burger box and it’s quite a lot of packaging being wasted.
Jalapeño & Cheddar
The Jalapeño & Cheddar omelette bites had the most flavour, but it was also the most salty of the three options. The taste of the Jalapeño & Cheddar is strong and you can taste all the spices.
Bacon & Cheese
You can see the specks of bacon and cheese in these omelette bites. It has a mild smokey flavour to it, but was a tad dense even when warmed up.
Spinach & Egg White
The healthier of the three options is the spinach and egg white omelette bites. It is also the most bland, but it’s still an option for those who don’t want egg yolks.
Final Thoughts
If you’re at Tim Hortons and want some more options, this could be it. These were ok, but did I love them? No. It’s definitely lacking something but could be enhanced with hot sauce if you can find some around.
Starbucks Egg Bites are still better than Tim Hortons Omelette Bites.
McDonald’s Canada is finally changing the way they cook and serve their classic beef burgers. It’s been a long time coming as the method hasn’t changed in a long time.
Remastered Big Mac
The improvements:
100 per cent Canadian beef patties now cooked in smaller batches for hotter and juicier beef
Storage changes for fresher and crisper produce
Onions added directly on the patties on the grill to intensify flavour
More of our legendary Mac Sauce applied on Big Macs
New bun recipes for warmer buns
You can taste the changes if you order items like the Big Mac, cheeseburger and Quarter Pounder.
Remastered Quarter Pounder
Taste Test
We ordered all 3 items – Big Mac, Quarter Pounder and Cheeseburger to see if we could tell the difference. Right away, it’s hard to tell the difference in the quality if you’re not a regular customer ordering any of these items.
We couldn’t tell the difference for the cheeseburger and big mac as we don’t get it that often. As for the Quarter Pounder, it is something my husband gets when he goes to McDonalds. He noticed the nicer pieces of onions and the juicer beef patty.
For all three items, we did notice the changes to the softer buns, which looks and tastes better.
Overall, very hard to tell the changes to the burgers, but it’s still a welcomed change.
Tim Hortons has brought back the limited time only poutine on the menu. I’m assuming they brought it back because of Canada Day. The last time it was offered was June 2018 and it received quite a bunch of mixed reviews from customers. As I missed it last year, I made sure to give it a taste for myself.
An iconic Canadian fast food chain like Tim Hortons can’t get poutine wrong right? Well, we are about to find out.
The Tim Hortons poutine is made of 3 things – wedge fries, gravy, and cheese curds. It is then served in a paper box.
First of all, wedge fries aren’t very traditional, so upon first sight of the advertisements, I thought it was a bit strange. I’m assuming they added this because wedge fries are already on the menu. All they need to add is the gravy and cheese curds.
Upon first taste, I didn’t mind the wedges, but we did notice the gravy has a very strong black pepper taste and was a bit watery. The cheese curds are from Montreal, but the quality was mediocre. It melted fast so it tasted like melty mozzarella that is gummy and sticks to your teeth.
For fast food poutine, its ok, but don’t have expectations where it will be great because it won’t be. All the fast food poutine options I’ve had so far, I haven’t found one that hits the mark.
If you see this at Tim Hortons and peaks your interest, you can give it a try, but you’ll probably be disappointed like us.
Starbucks Canada has launched 3 new Teavana iced beverages – Guava White Tea, Blueberry Black Tea, and Peach Green Tea.
These TeavanaFlavoured Iced Teas are enhanced with guava, blueberry, and peach flavoured fruit juice blends. I like how they launched coffee and tea options on the menu for tea lovers.
Teavana Iced Guava White Tea
Teavana Iced white tea is mixed with guava flavoured fruit juice blend, sweetened with liquid cane sugar and hand-shaken with ice. This is very fragrant with the guava and it was quite nice paired with the white tea.
Teavana Iced Blueberry Black Tea
Teavana Iced black tea poured and then shaken together with blueberry flavoured fruit juice blend, liquid cane sugar and ice. This was my favourite for sure as I really enjoy black tea. It does have a subtle taste of blueberry.
Teavana Iced Peach Green Tea Lemonade
Teavana Iced green tea is combined with peach flavoured fruit juice blend, liquid cane sugar and ice, refreshingly shaken to perfection. I got this one with lemonade to see how it tastes. The lemonade really enhances the peach flavour.
Final Thoughts
Be sure try the Teavana Flavoured Iced Teas with lemonade for an extra zest of flavour and you can always switch up the teas and flavours for a fully customized experience.
Starbucks Canada just launched two new items this Summer – Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte and Honey Almond Bar. Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte is exclusive to Canada only and not sold anywhere else.
Both items use real Canadian honey, so it was excited to give it a try. As today was the first day it launched, as usual, I was the only person that morning to order these new items.
Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte
The Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte uses real Canadian honey and smooth cold foam on top. The next layer has milk, Starbucks Blonde Espresso, and honeycomb lavender syrup.
It’s definitely sweet and milky, so I would cut down on the syrup. The Blonde Espresso isn’t very strong as the milk and syrup take over.
As with all Starbucks beverages, the Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte is customizable. You can get it hot, or with soy milk or even turned into a Frappuccino blended beverage. It would definitely taste better as a Frappuccino.
Honey Almond Bar
This has sliced almonds drenched in a Canadian honey glaze on shortbread crust. I loved this and I devoured this so quickly. The texture of the sliced almonds and shortbread crust were really nice. It isn’t too sweet either.
I would definitely get this again.
Final Thoughts
I had high hopes for the Iced Honeycomb Lavender Latte but sadly it was too sweet and milky for me that it masked the espresso. I did enjoy Honey Almond Bar a lot.
Tim Hortons in Canada just launched their new Beyond Meat Breakfast items on the menu at almost 4,000 Tim Hortons restaurants nationwide. With vegan and vegetarian options, it’s great to give customers more options. Beyond Meat has made it big in the fast food scene, first with A&W and now with Tim Hortons in Canada. You can even find Beyond Meat burgers in grocery stores too. The patty has the texture of a beef patty, well spiced and 100% plant based with no animal meat.
I was pretty excited to see Tim Hortons offering these 3 items on the breakfast menu – Beyond Meat Egg & Cheese, Beyond Sausage Farmer’s Wrap, and Beyond Sausage Lettuce Tomato.
When I heard they had it, I rushed to Tim Hortons to grab these items to do a taste test with 4 others and write this review.
Beyond Sausage Egg & Cheese
The Beyond Sausage Egg & Cheese has Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty, fluffy egg omelette and a slice of processed cheese. It is served on a freshly toasted and buttered English Muffin. You can alternatively have this on a Homestyle Biscuit or toasted Bagel.
Decent breakfast item and can’t go wrong. I do prefer it with a real egg and cheddar instead of the Tim Hortons egg omelette and processed cheese. A&W is still better for this as they use real egg and real cheddar compared to Tim Hortons.
Beyond Sausage Farmer’s Wrap
The Beyond Sausage Farmer’s Wrap is made with Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty, hash brown, egg omelette, creamy chipotle sauce and a slice of cheddar cheese. It is wrapped in a tortilla and grilled to order.
I really liked this the most as it has a little bit of everything for a breakfast wrap. With the saltiness and spices from the Beyond Meat Sausage, you can barely notice that it doesn’t have meat.
A very hearty breakfast option and the most expensive at $5.29. Prices do vary from location to location.
Beyond Sausage Lettuce Tomato
This is an entirely vegan offering, the Beyond Sausage Lettuce Tomato starts with a toasted homestyle biscuit that is topped with the savoury 100% plant-based Beyond Breakfast Sausage patty, crisp lettuce and fresh cut tomato.
It’s good to see the fresh Romaine lettuce and tomato in this but the texture of the veggies do take away from the sandwich. Nonetheless, it’s still a good breakfast sandwich with lots of textures. The homestyle biscuit was good too. It’s the least salty out of the 3 options and you can taste more of the beans in the Beyond Meat sausage patty.
Final Thoughts
Overall, all 3 items are decent for fast food vegetarian and vegan options. The Beyond Meat sausage patty is generally salty so it’s pretty hard to determine what mysterious ‘patty’ it is but the texture is on point and will trick meat eaters.
The Tim Hortons Beyond Meat breakfast sandwiches and wrap isn’t for everyone so don’t expect an amazing breakfast as it is still fast food. If you are a regular Tim Hortons customer, it’s good to have the extra choice to go meatless. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, it’s great that you aren’t limited to choices when you are at Tim Hortons.
Church’s Chicken debuted a new item on the menu called ‘Defy the Fury’ which is an 8 pepper spicy chicken as what I could tell from the posters.
I’m not exactly sure what these 8 peppers are but according to images it looks like it could be black pepper, jalapeno, red pepper, birds eye chili, white pepper, habanero, crushed red chilis, and paprika.
We got 3 pieces and it came with 2 thighs and a drumstick. The chicken tastes like their spicy chicken but topped with a hot sauce and sesame seeds.
Upon first bite, the spicy sauce is actually sweet and really counteracts the spiciness of it. It definitely could be a lot hotter given the ingredients but it reminded me of Korean Fried Chicken with gochujang sauce. You’ll also notice that unlike the advertisements, there isn’t any green onion on top of the chicken. Perhaps this was just the location that I went to that omited that step.
For those spicy lovers out there, you’ll be disappointed that you’re not really defying the fury in this 8 pepper fried chicken.
KFC Canada just launched their Chachos, which are chicken and nachos combined into one item. It is their deep-fried chicken strips topped with nacho cheese, sour cream, jalapeños, tomatoes, and chives.
You can get them as a Chick N’ Share Chachos, Chachos Box Meal, Chachos combo or a la carte. I went with the Chachos Box Meal and upgraded to a poutine. It comes with a cookie, drink, popcorn chicken, a side, and of course 3 pieces of Chachos.
After taking a few bites, the Chachos are quite salty but with the jalapeño, it does even out a little bit. The nacho cheese and the sour cream were a great addition but I wish I had more of the sauce as I felt it was a bit sparse.
The Chachos is like a drunk or high person’s dream of mashing chicken strips and nachos together… without the nacho chips. Would I order them again? Probably not, but it did give me a great idea to buy some nacho cheese and cream cheese to go with fried chicken if I ever want to do something similar.
McDonald’s Canada is back with their ‘Great Canadian Tastes’ Menu featuring Fish & Chips and Chocolate Nanaimo McFlurry inspired by Canadian flavours from coast to coast.
The Chocolate Nanaimo McFlurry represents the West Coast. It is inspired by the Nanaimo bar with coconut graham crackers, chocolate chips and cocoa swirled into vanilla soft serve and blended with fudge.
The coconut graham crackers and fudge adds a nice texture to the McFlurry base of Vanilla ice cream. It does have a subtle sweet coconut flavour. The McFlurry overall is pretty sweet and I’m not a big fan of this version. I much prefer the Oreo.
The Chocolate Nanaimo Bar McFlurry is only available until June 17th, 2019, so catch it before it’s gone.
McDonald’s Canada is back with their ‘Great Canadian Tastes’ Menu featuring Fish & Chips and Chocolate Nanaimo McFlurry inspired by Canadian flavours from coast to coast.
The Fish & Chips represents the East Coast. It is made with 2 pieces of 100% wild-caught MSC certified sustainable Atlantic Haddock coated with a golden, crunchy batter, and served with classic McDonald Fries and a tartar dipping sauce.
The Fish & Chips is $7.29 for the 2 pieces of Haddock, fries and a container of tartar sauce. Pretty expensive but it’s not often that they have fish items on the menu except filet-o-fish. The fries were crispy, tartar sauce was good as usual, but the haddock was a bit on the small size. Imagine a really big McNugget size. It’s fun to try it once but I would order something else next time.
It’s only available until June 17th, 2019, so catch it before it’s gone.
A&W has launched their newest line of Bistro Burgers – Bistro Buddy Burger, Bistro Teen Burger, and Bistro Uncle Burger. All 3 have the addition of the grilled onions, arugula, tomato, cheese and garlic aioli. Only the Teen Burger and Uncle Burger have the added pepper bacon. All 3 are available for a limited time only.
I tried asking for the Bistro Burger as a Papa Burger, but they did not allow it at the location I went to, so we just grabbed the Bistro Buddy Burger and Bistro Uncle Burger.
Bistro Buddy Burger
The Bistro Buddy Burger has seasoned 100% pure beef patty, topped with fresh arugula, grilled onions, tomato, cheese and garlic aioli between a toasted bun.
The buddy burger version is a good snack size or for someone that needs something extra but not a full burger. I didn’t feel like the arugula added much to it as there was very little of it. The cheese also masked the garlic aioli too.
Bistro Uncle Burger
This has a seasoned 5oz 100% pure beef patty, topped with fresh arugula, peppered bacon, grilled onions, tomato, cheese and garlic aioli between a toasted sesame bun. This was better than the buddy burger as it had the added peppered bacon to it, but we also felt the arugula didn’t do much for the uncle burger either.
Final Thoughts
It’s good that they tried adding more fresh ingredients that you would normally find in a burger like arugula, tomato and cheddar, but it really didn’t add too much to the overall experience. I still prefer the regular buddy burger and uncle burger. I usually love their limited edition burgers that they release but these didn’t stand out very much.
