The Trader Joe's Product Discussion Thread (S/D)

Lol at the Cafe Gratitude stuff upthread. I miss Berkeley!

tj's has an awesome sweet potato gnocchi w/ sage and brown butter. i wasn't expecting it to be this good.

and the kennebunkport pumpkin ale is decent if a little sweet for my taste.

Chile spiced pineapple may be better than chili spiced mango.

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.

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.

OIC I didn't know Red Oval had a history to it...

used their bolivian coffee to make turkish coffee this afternoon. i like! not too acidic, has kind of a desserty flavor.

i've been drinking joe's dark bc it was cheaper but i think i really have to go back to bolivian.

Wheat Berry Salad was kinda good. Not everything with a sweet component needs bleuueue or goat cheese to "balance" it, though.

i made the chicken egg rolls with dinner -- i can't get them as crispy as i want them, but i did get them tasting great by finishing them off in a skillet with oil, soy sauce, turmeric, and black pepper.

I had the frozen Chicken Tikka Masala today and it was not bad at all. Probably about on the level of an average indian buffet.

Bolivian coffee is the best one I've had so far too, although I can't say I'm thrilled with it. My last purchase I spent $12/lb on some Crop to Cup Ethiopian and it was hugely better. I'll still probably mostly drink the TJ's to save cash.

Oh, btw the brown rice blend with daikon radish = YUM.

suddenly addicted to their "spicy chai latte" powder

meanwhile i've had to wean myself off the chicken tikka masala boxes, since i don't have a microwave anymore

I just bought a box of JOE's Os (instead of Cheerios) - test-drive tomorrow AM

did i get excited about the return of their puff pastry yet? because i am excited about this. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES.

Adult Gummy Multivitamin Dietary Supplement is the bee's knees.

thumbs up on the cha siu bao (pork buns). would buy again!

I am big into their bags of freeze dried bananas or starwberries. I never got over my childhood idea that food they eat in space is probably the most glamorous food.

thumbs aloft on TJ's frozen edamame

wasabi peas, what's up?

One thing I have to say, pretty much all their frozen stuff has WAY too much sodium, and I always get this weird tingling on my tongue after I eat one (is that sodium or MSG) and feel a little crappy.

I mean maybe that's just the only way to make a frozen thing taste good, but still I think they could go a little easier.

Ran in and grabbed a caprese salad today for lunch - these are pretty good: mozzarella fresca, cherry tomatoes, giant pile of arugula, basil vinaigrette. When I got back to the office to eat it, I noticed something odd about the mozzarella. At first I thought it was moldy around the edges, but no: it had somehow turned a pale purple-gray where it was touching the arugula.

That post was short, but it was still a roller-coaster ride of skepticism, appreciation, and disgust, then relief.

Have I mentioned that their pre-made sushi is profoundly horrible, even by the low standards of grocery store sushi? The rice is mealy and mushy.

I made the sushi mistake one time only. Not worth it even in sushi desparation.

no, it is patently disgusting
gluey

have i mentioned that i love their $3.99 turkey & swiss sandwiches? one of the best lunch deals in town.

rice cakes, but I wish they had an unsalted version

dijon mustard

tuna, which is a kind that is neither white nor non-white, and comes unsalted

coffee filters (very cheap)

I bought two boxes of excellent peaches from Trader Joe's this past summer.

Have I mentioned that their pre-made sushi is profoundly horrible, even by the low standards of grocery store sushi? The rice is mealy and mushy.

ha, my only TJ experience involved their horrible sushi. guhhhhh

Their dark chocolate peanut butter cups are awesome. Also, boxes of frozen naan and garlic naan... and their three layer hummus. Very sad I can't go to Trader Joe's more often. Very glad my friend shops there often and brings snacks to my house.

My local chain market started carrying naan and so does Target...still not as good as restaurant naan but I love it when supermarkets make so-called "hippie" food available, like when old people can buy soy milk and couscous not just people in cool urban areas.

I miss Trader Joe's. I don't know where the best places to shop are down here in the sticks.

what i know is that they have veggie potstickers (frozen) that are AOK

and that you should never buy their soups, because they are extremely nasty

and that they have sesame crackers that are the best ever, but often not in stock

and that they have nice cabot sharp white cheddar for cheap, which you cannot otherwise get on the west coast, yes!

and that they are otherwise mostly worth avoiding

I'm getting very aggravated with TJ's overnaming or misnaming things, particularly in cheese For eg.

The only actual made in Italy mozzarella is labeled by the brand name not what it is whereas everything from string cheese to grated industrial rubber gets labeled as mozzarella
Grana Padano Parmesan, two names, one label, which is it?

OK so these are the only two I noticed yesterday but its annoying.

maybe it's a blend of grana padano and parmesan?

does not compute in block form

which is it?

Probably neither? If you want Parmesan in the US, gotta make sure it says "Parmagiano Reggiano" or you could get whatever the maker considers "parmesan".

This was, on closer inspection of the label, Italian Padano.

I know I'm a stick in the mud European and think things should be labeled as what they are and where they come from. The California Ersatz "Mozzarella" is pretty good really. Domestic parmesan is pretty awful though.

There's one place I know of in Wisconsin that does a decent parmesan, but yeah most are geared to emulate Kraft parmesan rather than Parmesan parmesan.

f all u all, tj's parmesan is delicious and also the best deal in town

TJ's actual italian parmesan is the best deal in town, and he padona is good too, I just object to the label.

tbh i haven't been to a tj's in many moons cause if i only ever want either some cheap shit at a place w/a huge selection (supermarket) or quality food that i'm splurging on (whole foods). any time i go to tj's i get like 20 mediocre things and mayyybe 1 or 2 legit "hey you need to try this shit" tasty things. i was just reminded about the choc-covered edamame tho so think i'll have to go back and give the place yet another try.

http://greenlagirl.com/cafe-gratitude-los-angeles-now-under-construction-opens-feb-2011/

i generally go to tj's first for my staples, and then fill in the rest from whole foods and other local stores. i've found that food costs around here are ridiculous, but i can generally get staples cheapest at tj's. i know i can count on getting my yogurt and canned goods and coffee and lemons, etc.

they've just opened in my parents' town, after at least a 15 year wait. i think it will be too mobbed for them to actually shop there :( (this also happened when whole foods opened).

Ok really guys, the fucking sodium. A little-ass thing of curried lentils should not have 60% of my daily sodium.

Yum!