chicken gyozas are too garlicky and kind of salty. i'll stick to the chinese store's
― the girl with the butt tattoo (harbl), Friday, 3 September 2010 16:14 (thirteen years ago) link
but organic bolivian blend coffee is very good
in general i find trader joe's products to seem great in theory, and pretty ok upon first purchase...but three or so buys in and it all tastes gross to me, i dunno why, but i have had that experience with almost everything they sell. hummus, salsa, whatever. i burn out on their stuff really quickly
also they are notorious for suddenly discontinuing favored items. they used to sell really fucking good vegan raviolis. oh man.
if you live in a part of the world where you can purchase alcohol there then tj's is a godsend, though.
― momus comes out of the sky and he stands there (del), Friday, 3 September 2010 21:54 (thirteen years ago) link
chalk it up to the soylent green factor, i guess...
― momus comes out of the sky and he stands there (del), Friday, 3 September 2010 21:55 (thirteen years ago) link
i was looking for frozen ravioli a couple weeks ago and they only had the 2-serving size in the cheese section. i don't care about most of their premade foods though. i mostly just get bread, coffee, yogurts, and canned stuff.
― the girl with the butt tattoo (harbl), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:18 (thirteen years ago) link
the canned cuban-style black beans are a staple of my household.
― corn smut (get bent), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:25 (thirteen years ago) link
but i have had that experience with almost everything they sell. hummus, salsa, whatever. i burn out on their stuff really quickly
i'm this way with the frozen food, where it seems the more exotic the 'dish' the more salty and unsubtle they make it and it gets old, but the commodity type stuff (hummus, peanut butter etc) holds up pretty well for me. we have an indian garbanzo bean dish in the freezer almost makes me queasy to look at now.
― Mr. or Ms. Narc-on-the-couch (tremendoid), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:25 (thirteen years ago) link
i usually get a bunch of their indian dishes and mix them up in a pan with tofu and/or rice. it's a good, hearty weeknight dinner.
― corn smut (get bent), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:26 (thirteen years ago) link
i mostly just get bread, coffee, yogurts, and canned stuff.
that sounds like a good strategy. i haven't bought their yogurt in years but i remember it being pretty great. i imagine their coffee would be good, too. and i had their canned refried black beans recently as part of some nachos concoction and i was surprised by how good it was
i usually get a bunch of their indian dishes and mix them up in a pan with tofu and/or rice.
are you talking about their frozen stuff or the tasty bites-style stuff that comes in the pouches? if the latter, i am always pleasantly taken with how good that stuff is
― momus comes out of the sky and he stands there (del), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:45 (thirteen years ago) link
harbl otm re: bolivian coffee. it is pricier than crap coffee but not as pricey as *fancy* coffee and it tastes really good and is not too acidic <3
― tehresa, Friday, 3 September 2010 22:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i buy both.
― corn smut (get bent), Friday, 3 September 2010 22:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i tried the bolivian coffee and it's really really goodthanks for the rec!
― The Great Jumanji, (La Lechera), Friday, 10 September 2010 14:29 (thirteen years ago) link
got the 100% cran :D :D :D
― tehresa, Friday, 10 September 2010 23:13 (thirteen years ago) link
did that expose article confirm that the tasty bites stuff was actually repackaged tasty bites?it's got me curious now what all the other items are.i think they used to carry kashi cereals; maybe they still do, but under disguise?
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 10 September 2010 23:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Yup, it's Tasty Bite. I think the black bean and veg enchiladas are Amy's.
― Jenny, Saturday, 11 September 2010 02:29 (thirteen years ago) link
The pre-packaged tuna curry meals are back! Bought one tonight but haven't eaten it yet. Packaging looks essentially the same, but they've been gone for over a year.
― nickn, Saturday, 11 September 2010 04:08 (thirteen years ago) link
the greek yogurt is delicious, but my god, 60% rdv of saturated fat? in one serving?
― corn smut (get bent), Sunday, 12 September 2010 00:01 (thirteen years ago) link
i always get the 0%. still delicious.
― tehresa, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 12:39 (thirteen years ago) link
got genuinely excited yesterday when i saw that puff pastry is backit's the only puff pastry i can find that is packaged flat
now i can make little goat chz and onion galettes for a weeknight dinner (no tedious dough-making) and gazillions of other delicious warm flaky things
― The Great Jumanji, (La Lechera), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 12:46 (thirteen years ago) link
The location of the TJ on Lincoln in Chicago has always been something of a mystery to me. I'm never in the area and every time I am, I feel like it's like spotting a ghost ship. I'm looking forward to a new one opening on my walk home.
― Jesse, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 14:17 (thirteen years ago) link
that's the one I go to like 3x a week. It's three blocks from my house.
― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 14:18 (thirteen years ago) link
ITS LOCATION IS A MYSTERY
― Jesse, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 14:24 (thirteen years ago) link
to jesse
― The Great Jumanji, (La Lechera), Tuesday, 14 September 2010 18:57 (thirteen years ago) link
I drove there without looking at a map first so it can't be hard to find.
― Jenny, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 19:04 (thirteen years ago) link
It's like the Island on LOST to me.
― Jesse, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 19:06 (thirteen years ago) link
FOUND IT!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41894171796@N01/4991054943/
I was riding down Lincoln tonight and there it was.
Wound up going to the one on Clybourn b/c it was closer to where I was going. The Masala Lentil Dip is great! Despite having lost all sense of smell, and therefore most sense of taste, this dip tastes great and it has a weird effect on my tongue. Probably the hot spices, but it feels different from just plain hot.
― Jesse, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 02:27 (thirteen years ago) link
grrr stupid new Flickr
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/4991054943_7838668723.jpgphoto.JPG by Jesse1, on Flickr
the chili mango slices and peanut butter cups are their tastiest treats yet! and they have the best overpriced almond butter in town
― babygirlwc, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:05 (thirteen years ago) link
They were out of chili mango slices (they had pineapple) so I bought the "juicy" dried mango slices and put cayenne on them and it was wonderful.
― Jesse, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:08 (thirteen years ago) link
xp
ya the stuff with flaxseeds is amazing. and i assume you mean overpriced in general and not overpriced in comparison to other almond butter prices, cus 5 dollars for a 16 oz jar is probably as cheap as ive ever seen it
― /\/K/\/\, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:10 (thirteen years ago) link
I like the for real mozzarella cheese sticks. A+
― Jenny, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:10 (thirteen years ago) link
loved this place when i lived in california... we only have some indie-ish places and whole foods here in denver. whole foods blows beyond belief.
― lieutenant jimmy john (kelpolaris), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:40 (thirteen years ago) link
I love the almond butter/peanut butters with flax.
I've been liking the Dunkelweizen a lot lately (I think it says Josef Brau on it but it looks identical to the beers that say Trader Joes).
We're sort of addicted to the sliced goat cheese that comes in the blue pack.
Today I tried their newer frozen spinach lasagna and it actually had like a lot of spinach in it, which is good.
― Ground Zero Mostel (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 15 September 2010 03:46 (thirteen years ago) link
This Paneer Tikka Pasala with spinach basmati rice is pretty great. Can't complain about the $3 Red Oval, either.
― Green Manalishi (Viceroy), Friday, 17 September 2010 00:08 (thirteen years ago) link
*Masala
I noticed the Red Oval had been renamed to Name Tag in my TJs last month. Same graphics but a different name (the brewery name also changed). I assume they didn't get permission to use the older name.
― nickn, Friday, 17 September 2010 00:14 (thirteen years ago) link
i noticed that the tuna curries were back! i have a few boxes in the kitchen that i can hardly wait to dive into.
― microtonal hall & oates (get bent), Friday, 17 September 2010 00:20 (thirteen years ago) link
I got the TJ vegetable gyoza and they were OK, but the inside was sort of gummy. The ingredients list shows a couple kinds of flour and a couple kinds of starch, so I guess that's why. Overall OK, but could do without the paste.
http://vietworldkitchen.com/.a/6a00d8341ef22f53ef01156ff232b4970c-500pi
― dumplings (Jesse), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 02:18 (thirteen years ago) link
vegetable ones are so-so, i like the chicken ones
― buzza, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Lol at the Cafe Gratitude stuff upthread. I miss Berkeley!
― Oh man, schnitzelwich (admrl), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 04:48 (thirteen years ago) link
tj's has an awesome sweet potato gnocchi w/ sage and brown butter. i wasn't expecting it to be this good.
― that's so percussion (get bent), Monday, 4 October 2010 02:04 (thirteen years ago) link
and the kennebunkport pumpkin ale is decent if a little sweet for my taste.
― that's so percussion (get bent), Monday, 4 October 2010 02:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Chile spiced pineapple may be better than chili spiced mango.
― Jeff, Saturday, 16 October 2010 23:06 (thirteen years ago) link
Best to buy both and eat at the same time.
So Red Oval Lager has now become Name Tag Lager. Anyone know why they changed the name? I have a feeling it has something to do with the name/logo being very similar to Red Stripe and the Red Stripe folks weren't very happy about it.
― The Porcupine Captain With A Crew of White Rabbits (Viceroy), Tuesday, 26 October 2010 01:25 (thirteen years ago) link
But the logo is still similar. I assumed whoever owned the original Red Oval hadn't actually given them permission to resurrect it. It was an existing brand some decades ago, I thought.
― nickn, Tuesday, 26 October 2010 01:29 (thirteen years ago) link
OIC I didn't know Red Oval had a history to it...
― The Porcupine Captain With A Crew of White Rabbits (Viceroy), Tuesday, 26 October 2010 01:34 (thirteen years ago) link
used their bolivian coffee to make turkish coffee this afternoon. i like! not too acidic, has kind of a desserty flavor.
― the moray eels eat the (get bent), Tuesday, 26 October 2010 01:45 (thirteen years ago) link
i've been drinking joe's dark bc it was cheaper but i think i really have to go back to bolivian.
― tehresa, Tuesday, 26 October 2010 01:46 (thirteen years ago) link
Wheat Berry Salad was kinda good. Not everything with a sweet component needs bleuueue or goat cheese to "balance" it, though.
― BENDLESS WOOKIEE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 26 October 2010 02:34 (thirteen years ago) link