Well my dear reader, here is the post I never thought I would write. I have steered away from fast, processed foods and aimed to provide wholesome treats. Sometimes decadent, sometimes frugal, but always tasty and easy to make.
As far as reviews are concerned, I have stayed with preferred eateries or foodie events – that is, until today.
Most of us who work away from home know what a bind lunch can be. It is mostly split into two factions, cold (sarnies & salads) or warm (fast food & pastries). Largely to do with the available time to eat to it is not possible to have a ‘proper’ meal. Even if you have access to a microwave oven, there is the etiquette of who goes first and queuing, as well as some thoughtless person who decides their spud needs 20 minutes!
I have a fondness for instant noodles – the pot kind. I am not talking about products such as, “Pot Noodle” but the Asian kind such as “Naked Noodles” or “Asian Street Style”.
As you know I am following a Slimming World plan and every food is counted in terms of a SYNergy value. Having a limit amount of SYNs per day to deal with means your choices for a bought in lunch are very limited. I will give you an example, a Greggs Chicken Tikka baguette weighs in at 25.5 SYNs. SYN limits range from 15 to 35 per day dependent upon BMI. Therefore, the average person could blow a day and half’s worth in one sandwich.
Onto the review then. I am guessing that we all knew “Pot Noodles” were pretty unhealthy right! Some have 11 SYNs per serving, but the Asian Noodles range up to 3.5 SYNs, and these are the type I am looking at.
Three have I tried, and I must say, I enjoy, are “Pot Noodle Co. Asian Street Style Thai Red Curry”, “Naked Noodles Thai Sweet Chilli” & “Newgate Express Sweet Thai”.
You’re probably familiar with Pot Noodle & Naked Noodle brands. I will look at these first. These pots range in price and are usually on a promotion in the supermarket. At worse you’re paying £1.20 for a 78g pot, and at best 50p when bought in a 4-pack.
Flavour wise, each has a rich tasting, spicy soup which is best after the initial mixing and then left to stand for 5 minutes. For a quick, hot meal, you really can’t go wrong. The biggest difference appears to be in the SYN values. Naked Noodles is 3 SYNS & Pot Noodle 2.5.
I mentioned Newgate earlier; these are exclusive to Lidl. Priced at 59p per pot and have a SYN value of 1.5 each. The flavours are exactly as advertised and in a blind taste I actually preferred Newgate over the bigger brand rivals. Admittedly the range is not as wide as the competitors. however, there are 3 flavours on the market, Chow Mein, Thai Sweet Chilli & “Singapore Style Curry” which is sublime.
Adding a postscript. I have now bought and tried the Newgate “Chow Mein”. The first thing that hits you when you open the pot is the faint, tantalizing aroma of Chinese 5-spice. The sauce is an amalgam of garlic & soy sauce, which compliments the fine/thin/light noodles very well. I found the right amount of spring onions and peppers in the soup which was thick and tasty. For 59p each, & 2 SYNs, you really can’t go wrong.
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Tags: Choices, healthy, Noodles, Review, Value, Work