Josephsbrau Grapefruit Radler

Apparently a "radler" is a mixture of beer and fruit juice, while a shandy is beer plus lemonade. Can't say they're really my thing, but a shandy can really hit the spot in terms of refreshment on a hot August day. I think Trader Joe's Grapefruit Radler is the first radler I've ever had, and it too is quite suitable for quenching one's thirst during these dog days of summer.

It's pretty grapefruit forward—sweet and citrusy like grapefruit juice. It's a little tart with a hint of grapefruit rind bitterness. Underneath the fruit flavor, there's a nice wheaty hefeweizen base. Hefeweizens tend to lend themselves to wedges of citrus fruits and this one blends pretty seamlessly with the grapefruit. I suppose you could add a wedge of ruby red or whatever you've got on hand to make the beverage even more fruitastic.

It paired quite nicely with Trader Joe's new Chicken Burgers (review upcoming) and Trader Joe's Deli Sandwich Potato Chips. The citrusy sweetness would go well with anything salty, spicy, smoky, or savory I think. It's perfectly suitable for backyard barbecues and picnic fare.

The Josephsbrau beers are brewed for Trader Joe's by Gordon Biersch. We've also looked at:

Josephsbrau Plznr

Josephsbrau Oktoberfest

Josephsbrau Winter Brew

Josephsbrau Spring Prost

Josephsbrau Drive Thru Red

$7.99 for a box of four pint cans. Would buy again. Eight and a half stars from the beautiful wifey. Seven and a half stars from me for Josephsbrau Grapefruit Radler.

Sonia's score: 8.5 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 7.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Chicken Breast Bites

This is one of those products that doesn't seem like it could possibly be impressive with just chicken and a bit of sauce and yet, somehow, Trader Joe's Chicken Breast Bites are actually shockingly good. At four bucks for just shy of four ounces, it's not exactly a steal, but as usual, you get what you pay for.

The quality of the chicken in this case is superb. Imported from Canada for some strange reason, this pollo is 100% pristine white breast meat. If you've been reading for a while, you'll know I'm a white meat guy when it comes to poultry, and this offering didn't disappoint. The seasoning blend is also top-shelf, featuring a rotisserie-esque combo of rosemary, vinegar powder, garlic, and black pepper.

When I first saw this item in the store, I thought I was looking at chicken with some kind of queso dip in the little reservoir. It's actually honey mustard, and it's also very good. Containing actual honey, mustard powder, and mustard seed, it's sweet, tangy, and turns the plain chicken into a satisfying snack all by itself. Sonia and I shared the small pack, and it was plenty of protein (22g) and sugar for an afternoon pick-me-up for both of us.

The pack comes with a little wooden skewer that Sonia was fond of using. I just made sure my hands were nice and clean and went in using my stubby fingers. There's just about the right amount of the sauce, and some of the chicken bites were surprisingly large and chunky.

We'd both buy this one again. $3.99, found in the refrigerated section near the wraps and salads. Product of Canada. Sonia gives Trader Joe's Chicken Breast Bites with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce a very impressive nine out of ten stars. I'll throw out eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bites

When I first looked at Trader Joe's Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bites, I made what I thought was a perfectly reasonable assumption: chocolate shell on the outside, cookie dough ice cream on the inside. You know...basically a miniature ice cream bonbon with a cookie dough identity crisis.

Nope.

Instead, Trader Joe's pulled a sneaky one. These little guys are actually made with a shell of chocolate chip cookie dough wrapped around creamy vanilla ice cream. If only all chocolate chip cookies had big globs of vanilla crème in their middles...

The cookie dough shell absolutely steals the show here. It's buttery, soft, and just a little chewy—the texture lands in that magical sweet spot where it's sturdy enough to keep the ice cream from escaping, but seldom feels tough or frozen solid. If they are feeling a little too firm, just let them thaw for a couple minutes and they get soft right quick.

There are chocolate chips mixed throughout, but they're refreshingly tiny. Rather than turning every bite into a dental obstacle course, they simply add little pops of chocolate without distracting from that glorious raw cookie dough flavor we all secretly know is the best part of making cookies anyway.

Inside, the vanilla ice cream is smooth, creamy, and pleasantly sweet without trying to overpower everything else. Honestly, I expected either the cookie dough or the ice cream to dominate, but Trader Joe's somehow found the Goldilocks zone. Every bite feels balanced, with neither component hogging the spotlight.

Sure, these aren't quite as sophisticated as that fantastic Lemon Tiramisu, actually imported from Italy. These bites aren't exactly transcendent or life-changing. But if we're talking pure enjoyment? This is probably the best sweet treat or dessert we've seen at Trader Joe's since that stellar citrusy delight.

They're poppable, dangerously easy to keep eating, and somehow manage to feel nostalgic without tasting gimmicky. Trader Joe's Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bites are simple, ridiculously satisfying, and proof that sometimes the best desserts don't need to be too fancy. Both Sonia and I landed on the exact same score without even comparing notes: eight and a half out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Passion Fruit Orange Guava 100% Juice Blend

Remember Pogs? That fad became popular when I was a teenager, so I was never really into it myself, but I remember seeing the youngsters playing the game in the 90s. "Who would want to collect milk caps?" I'd ask my teenage buddies. "Kids these days are lame." We had much cooler things to do like hacky sacking and butchering covers of STP and Bush with our cheap guitars and cracking voices.

Apparently the game was originally played with caps from a passionfruit, orange, and guava juice blend. Yep, that's actually where the name "Pogs" comes from. And this juice blend has been referred to as POG since the 1970s in Hawaii. While I've had each of these juices individually, I think this is the first time I've actually had POG.

I can totally see what all the fuss is about. This is an outstanding combo of juices. Passionfruit juice is nice and tart. Orange juice lends that bright, familiar citrus sweetness. Guava juice is tangy, sweet, and tropical, and it adds a bit of thickness. The whole thing together tastes exotic and refreshing—much more exciting than any single juice by itself.

Folks make POG lemonade with this stuff. Just add regular lemonade for a virgin cocktail or mix POG, your favorite lemonade, and one or two shots of vodka or soju for a tasty alcoholic version. I'm sure you could skip the lemonade and just mix the POG directly with your spirit of choice.

I think this stuff tastes and feels better on the rocks. It's so thick by itself, a bit of ice helps keep it super cold and also as it melts, it thins the juice just a tad. Straight from the can is perfectly viable, but it gets warm quite quickly and it's nearly nectar-esque in terms of density. Sonia and I both like it better with a bunch of ice. We think a version that comes pre-mixed with sparkling water would be worth a try.

$4.49 for four 8.45 oz cans. Product of Vietnam. Perfect summer beverage. Sonia likes this blend a tad more than Trader Joe's Organic Guava Nectar, while I'd lean toward the nectar just by a hair. I really like that guava and white grape juice combination. POG is a very close second. Eight out of ten stars from me on Trader Joe's Passion Fruit Orange Guava 100% Juice Blend. The beautiful wifey will raise me by half a star.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Cashews

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Cashews are the latest in a very, very long line of random things covered in dark chocolate. Don't believe me? Other things they've covered in dark chocolate throughout the years include:

Corn Nuts
Almonds
Graham Crackers
Pistachios
Bacon
Gummy Bears
Coffee Beans
Espresso Beans
Pretzels
Mango Sorbet
Dried Mango
Cookie Sticks
Elephant Dung

Okay, that last one may have involved an element of creative license, but all the others have been totally real, actually-available products at Trader Joe's at one point in time. And that's just a short list off the top of my head. There have been dozens and dozens more that aren't even listed above. Thankfully, most of them have disappeared never to return.

This product falls nearer the top of the list than the bottom I think, in terms of overall edibility. I love me some cashews. Thankfully, these cashews are nice and soft and creamy. They're nothing like the oddly hard and crunchy cashews we found in the Garlic Butter Nut Mix. It may have something to do with the well-above average temperatures we've been having, but I feel like these were among the softest cashews I've ever had. They're very high quality and taste great.

Unfortunately, most of that natural cashew flavor is drown out by copious quantities of dark chocolate. Even Sonia agrees. She'd prefer a greater nut to chocolate ratio. Also, I'd prefer milk chocolate—though I'm quite certain I'm in the minority on that point. And I must admit that as dark chocolate goes, this stuff isn't particularly bitter. I just generally prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate, but I'm consistently outvoted when debates arise. After all, milk chocolate makes your teeth rot out while dark chocolate is a healthy superfood rich with antioxidants. I digress.

The resealable bag is nice. Nuts are expensive, so five bucks for a 6 oz bag is fine I guess. They're kosher. They're salty and sweet. They're perfectly snackable. Sonia would buy them again. I won't hate on Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Cashews any more than I already have. If you like dark chocolate covered things and cashew nuts, you'll most likely enjoy these quite a bit.

Sonia's score: 8.5 out of 10.

Nathan's score: 7 out of 10.

Trader Joe's BBQ Flavored Potato Chips

As much as I love novelty and uniqueness, there are certain things a consumer should be able to rely on year after year, decade after decade. I was raised on two outstanding potato chip brands, both with outstanding barbecue flavor offerings. The first you've likely heard of: Utz. Based in Hanover, PA, they offer a widely-available sweet and mild barbecue potato chip that's easy to appreciate and much more interesting than a plain potato chip in my humble opinion. Some Redditors speculate that this Trader Joe's product is simply Utz in disguise.

The other barbecue chip I loved as a kid was Gibble's, made right in my hometown, Chambersburg. Fried in lard rather than vegetable oil, Gibble's offers a much richer flavor with a hearty crunch.

Trader Joe's BBQ Flavored Potato Chips have a softer, lighter crunch more similar to the Utz chips I know and love. They have a good bit of sweetness to them, but there's also a subtle hint of bite thanks to the presence of onion, garlic, paprika, black pepper, cinnamon, and clove. That's quite a spice blend for a simple potato chip.

But back to the reliability factor for a moment. These are the fourth or fifth barbecue chip we've seen from TJ's over the years, but most of those previous iterations aren't available anymore. If you've been shopping at Joe's for a long time, you'll no doubt remember Trader Joe's Hickory Barbeque Potato Chips. Those were a mainstay in our pantry for years and years.

In 2013, we saw Trader Joe's imitate the popular PopChips with their Barbeque Popped Potato Chips. I REALLY liked those, but of course, they vanished just as quickly as they appeared. Later, we saw a strange potato and corn snack with barbecue flavor. And in more recent years, we've had the Carolina Gold BBQ Potato Chips which I believe, shockingly, are still currently available. I like those a bit more than my erstwhile blogging colleague that penned that review seemed to, although I have to say I like these a bit better than the Carolina dealies despite being on record saying I prefer ridge cut potato chips.

$2.99 for the 10 oz bag. Pretty decent value. Kosher. Gluten free. Would buy again. Fingers crossed they keep these around for a while...or at least bring back those wannabe PopChips. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's BBQ Flavored Potato Chips. I'll think I'll match her score this time.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Gnocchi

The first thing that jumps out at me about Trader Joe's Gnocchi is the value: it's only two bucks...and it's imported from Italy. We're talking four servings of authentic Italian gnocchi for $1.99. And it did indeed provide two separate meals for two adults in our case. That's pretty mind-blowing in terms of cost-effectiveness and affordability.

The second thing that jumps out at me about this product is its shelf stable status. No refrigeration required. This bag of gnocchi wasn't even purchased on our last Trader Joe's run—it's from quite a few months ago. The "best by" date is in December of this year. It would have stayed good for the better part of a year. I didn't even know that was possible. You could buy a dozen of these and have them on hand in your pantry to prepare for months and months after you purchase them. That's ultra-convenient.

Just boil for two minutes. Drain. Simmer in your favorite pasta sauce for two more minutes. We decided to bake ours in the oven in a non-TJ's tomato sauce along with some beef sausage, mozzarella, and parmesan cheeses. Came out great.

We added some Trader Joe's Aglio Olio Seasoning as well as some Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute. The whole thing tasted wonderful. The gnocchi is potato-based, so there is a faint potato flavor to it. There's also a hint of sourness from the lactic acid which is added as a natural preservative. It blends quite well with the cheeses, sauce, and sausage.

I'm sure it's not quite as impressive as fresh-made stuff from an Italian restaurant, but the texture of this product is possibly the best gnocchi mouthfeel I've experienced to date. It's "pillowy," just the way good gnocchi is supposed to be. I'd also call it soft, fluffy, and slightly chewy.

If you were lacking the extra ingredients or wanted to keep things uber-simple, these would be fine simmered in some butter or olive oil with just a dusting of sage or your favorite Italian seasoning blend. You could toss them in soup in lieu of croutons or dumplings. I'd even throw them on a salad if I had a bunch of greens begging for carbs of some kind.

Sonia and I would both definitely buy Trader Joe's Gnocchi again. Found with the other pasta products. Product of Italy. Eight out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey. Seven and a half stars from me, losing a couple points because they're not exactly a flavor extravaganza on their own. They do need a bit of help. Also, some folks may find the sour lactic acid flavor off-putting. Still, the value is outstanding.

Bottom line: 7.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Organic Guava Nectar

Beverages don't get much more summery than this juice blend. It's sweet. It's tropical. It's refreshing. Traderjoes.com even threw us a bone and shared a recipe for a frozen guava daiquiri using this fine product right here.

Wish I could say I've actually made the daiquiris already, but alas, the most exotic thing I've done with it is mix it with orange juice. If you pour the guava nectar into your glass first, the OJ sits on top since it's less dense. It looks a bit like a tequila sunrise. It makes a very pretty and, more importantly, very tasty mocktail.

This nectar tastes extremely similar to the recently-reviewed Trader Joe's Organic Guava Spread, which we really enjoyed. It's like they liquefied the thick, jam-like spread and turned it into a chuggable beverage. This nectar is just a tad thicker than regular juice, but it's not quite as thick as some other fruit nectars I've tried.

Ingredients-wise, we're looking at water, guava puree, and white grape juice concentrate as the top three. White grape juice will generally add a bunch of sweetness to any juice blend, although we do have a bit of added sugar further down the list. It's more than enough sweetness to offset the natural tartness of the guava puree.

We did a beverage roundup/haul/showcase on video with about seven different currently-available Trader Joe's drinks, and I think this was my favorite one of all. Sonia and I have polished off the majority of the bottle in about 48 hours since it's so hot here and this drink really hits the spot in terms of refreshment and quenchability.

$3.99 for the 32 oz bottle. Shelf stable until opened, refrigerate after opening. Certified organic. Would buy again. Eight and a half stars from me for Trader Joe's Guava Nectar. The beautiful wifey will go with eight out of ten.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Salted Almond Honey Granola

Cereal is another one of those categories on this blog that probably makes me sound like a Debbie Downer more often than not. It's not that Trader Joe's cereals are particularly bad, it's just that we've seen so many that it takes something incredibly special to really wow us. The most recent cereal to do that was the outstanding Homestyle Cherry Pistachio Pecan Granola just a couple months back. While Sonia and I are not quite as enthusiastic about Trader Joe's Salted Almond Honey Granola, we'll definitely give this one a thumbs up and a positive recommendation—particularly if that cherry pistachio stuff isn't available for some reason.

This cereal has lots of big almond slices. In the video review, I called them "slabs" of almond. I have to say they were pretty generous with the nuts in this case. They're excellent quality and there are plenty of 'em.

The granola is nice. There are very few of those obnoxiously large boulders of granola that you have to use a pick axe to get apart like we've seen a few times in the past. Bonus: there are corn flakes in the mix. Some are floating free and some are fused to the little chunks of granola. There's also rice flour in there. Not sure where that comes into play to be honest. Maybe they're flakes of corn and rice..? At any rate, the flavor is more complex than most granolas that only employ oats. This one has oats, corn, and rice. Yum.

The cereal is pleasantly sweet, but not overly so. It tastes vaguely like honey because there is some actual honey in the ingredients list. If I have one complaint, it's that I'd want honey as the primary sweetener in the granola rather than cane sugar. Nothing against good old cane sugar, but this cereal would be more aptly named Trader Joe's Salted Almond Cane Sugar Granola...with a touch of honey.

Nitpick much? Yes. Yes, I do.

Overall, it's a nice neutral, hearty, grainy flavor with an appropriate amount of sweetness. Sonia and I would both buy it again. Kosher. $3.99 for the resealable 12 oz bag. We'll both go with eight out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Salted Almond Honey Granola.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Root Beer Float Bars

Sonia and I are 100% in agreement that Trader Joe's Root Beer Float Bars are a better summer buy than the recently-reviewed Trader Joe's Root Beer Float Pieces. These are cold. They provide more refreshment. Their taste is closer to that of an actual root beer float. The candy pieces melt in the heat. They're a tad too sweet. They don't taste quite enough like root beer.

The only point I'll give to the root beer pieces that I can't give to these popsicles is the novel presence of popping candies. The cookie chunks fizz like real soda. I kinda wish they'd put Pop Rocks or whatever we're calling them in these fun frozen treats. Sonia disagrees. She hates fun.

Just kidding. She's a girl and girls just wanna have fun, after all. I guess we just differ on what constitutes fun occasionally. For example, I love roller coasters. I think they're a blast and a half. Sonia? Not so much. She'll get on a kiddie coaster once in a while but she's terrified of the big rides. Okay, now I'm getting off track.

Back to the popsicles. I mean, these aren't just popsicles. They're also ice cream bars. They're the best of both worlds. Vanilla ice cream on a stick surrounded by frozen root beer. That's a fun idea. That idea's so summery, it should be illegal to keep these in your freezer and consume them in any season but summer. That's why TJ's takes them away come fall time. The root beer pieces go away around then, too, but they don't seem as summery to me.

Usually I'm cursing at Trader Joe for making half his inventory seasonal, but with these, it makes sense. There's a nice balance of sweet, earthy root beer and creamy vanilla bliss. The first bite kinda tastes more like root beer but once you get further down the bar, it seems like there's a plethora of vanilla ice cream.

$3.79 for six bars. Kosher. Found in the frozen section, duh. We'd buy these again next summer for sure—or maybe even on our next TJ run. But there's probably too many other new treats to try to make room in our freezer bags for these. I dunno. We'll see. Eight and a half stars from the beautiful wifey for Trader Joe's Root Beer Float Bars. I'll go with eight out of ten on this one.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Smoked Steelhead Trout

Looks like we've got another product of Norway here. Apparently Erling Haaland and his teammates have been importing tons of food from their homeland during the World Cup. If only someone had told him about Trader Joe's. He and his Nordic football buddies could have tried this steelhead trout with Trader Joe's Lefse Norwegian Potato Flatbread. I'm sure that combo would have been stellar.

We actually kind of forgot we had Trader Joe's Smoked Steelhead Trout in the back of the fridge and remembered it just in the nick of time. We rediscovered the package on its best by date and quickly downed the entire thing so we didn't risk spoilage. So...no video review on this one, but here are a couple pics and our thoughts:

$5.49 gets you 4 oz of kosher Norwegian steelhead trout. It's a thick slab of smoked fish fillet, very rosy, resembling salmon. There is "color added" according to the ingredients. TJ usually throws us a bone and lets us in on the secret—they're pretty good at not using weird chemicals or dyes and you'll note something along the lines of "turmeric for color" but alas, no such luck with this product. Your guess is as good as mine as to where that pink-orange hue comes from.

Although I've only had legitimate sashimi a couple times in my life, I can confirm the claim on traderjoes.com that the texture of this product is indeed sashimi-esque. It's very much like a slab of raw fish in terms of firmness and mouthfeel, although this one has been smoked. In that sense, it's not unlike smoked salmon lox. In fact, our favorite way to enjoy it was served on toasted sourdough with some cream cheese and Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel Seasoning.

Flavor-wise, it's a much milder taste than salmon. Sonia and I both love salmon because we like fish that tastes like fish, but every once in a while something a tad more delicate is in order. This is perfect if you don't like fishy fish. The smoke flavor is very apparent, though I wouldn't call it overpowering. It's savory, salty, and satisfying.

Although we wish it were packed in olive oil, Sonia and I both love Trader Joe's canned smoked trout product at least as much as this one. Still, this kosher fish fillet is a great buy if you're looking for a lunchy alternative to lox or salmon. We'll both throw out eight and a half stars for Trader Joe's Smoked Steelhead Trout.

Bottom line: 8.5 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Potato Cheese Sticks

Trader Joe's Potato Cheese Sticks look like something you'd find at a county fair right next to the funnel cakes and deep-fried Oreos. They're big, breaded sticks on wooden skewers, packed with potato and cheese, and just begging to be dunked into some sort of sauce.

Surprisingly, though, these aren't some Midwestern carnival creation. They're imported all the way from South Korea, where potato-coated cheese dogs and similar fried potato snacks are popular fare in Seoul and other cities. Leave it to Trader Joe's to bring Korean street food to suburban America's freezer aisles.

We cooked ours in the air fryer, which seemed like the obvious move. The outside got beautifully crisp and golden while the cheese inside turned into that glorious stretchy, stringy goodness that food photographers dream about. Between the potato coating and the mozzarella center, there's also a layer of starchy batter that holds everything together on the stick.

Flavor-wise, these are exactly what they sound like: fried potato and melty cheese. That's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it's downright tasty. The problem is that they're a little plain. After the initial excitement of pulling apart those epic cheese strings, we found ourselves wishing for just a bit more seasoning and personality.

Trader Joe's suggests serving them with ketchup or honey mustard. Sonia and I looked at each other and immediately decided neither option sounded particularly appealing. Instead, we asked ChatGPT for a dipping sauce recipe involving gochujang. It had us mix mayo, rice vinegar, and honey with the spicy pepper paste. The result was creamy, tangy, sweet, and just spicy enough to wake these sticks up. It turned out to be an excellent pairing and added the extra flavor dimension we felt the product needed.

Would we buy them again? Absolutely. They're fun, they're different, and they're satisfyingly cheesy. Sonia was more enthusiastic than I was, though. The beautiful wifey throws out an ardent eight and a half stars. I'll go with a respectable seven and a half.

Trader Joe's Potato Cheese Sticks are crispy, cheesy, Korean-inspired comfort food on a stick. They'll run you $4.99 for four individually-wrapped servings, found in the frozen section. They're a little tame on their own, but with the right sauce and beverage pairings they're a snack worth revisiting.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Surimi Imitation Crabmeat

Trader Joe's Surimi is one of the best imitation crab meats I've ever had. It's made with top-shelf Alaskan pollock fish, it's lightly sweet, and the texture is on point. Like your typical "krab," it's got those pinkish edges that resemble real cooked crab fresh out of the shell, and the rest of it is beautiful unblemished white fish.

The product is only four bucks for 12 oz, and it comes in a resealable bag. Our best by date was a full month and some change after the day we bought it. Of course, it's been in the fridge the whole time, but that's very convenient to be able to keep it that long.

It's perfectly edible straight from the bag, but we did find a recipe online that we wanted to try out. I guess we'll give ChatGPT the credit for this one. It's simply chopped cucumbers, Kewpie brand mayonnaise, lemon juice, and Trader Joe's Everything But the Bagel Seasoning. Stir it all together, and you can serve it in the manner of a "tartine" open-faced sandwich or as part of a snack bowl with crackers and veggies.

We opted for the former selection and ate ours with sourdough toast on camera for our illustrious YouTube channel. Although Sonia intended to make some ceviche with the remainder of our surimi, she actually wound up making another batch of that same crab salad—this time with less EBtB and more lemon juice and mayo. The second batch was even better than the first. In an attempt to drive some of our YouTube viewers to this written blog, I did promise to share Sonia's ceviche recipe on here, so...for you folks, here it is. Enjoy.

There are zero grams of fat in this surimi, but it packs eight grams of protein per serving. The pink dye comes from tomato lycopene, a natural pigment with antioxidant properties. There's a bit of sea salt in the ingredients, but honestly, the sodium isn't even that bad. Added sugar? Sure. But it's not excessive. From a health perspective, this is one of the better offerings from TJ's we've reviewed in quite a while.

This product gets a solid thumbs up from us. As far as seafood goes, Trader Joe's Surimi Imitation Crabmeat is convenient and tasty. It's not quite as fancy or sumptuous as the recently reviewed Black Cod Sablefish or the Patagonian Scallops but we would definitely buy this product again. $3.99, found in the refrigerated section. Eight out of ten stars from me. Eight and a half out of ten stars from the beautiful wifey.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Passion Fruit Meringue Tartelettes

$5.49 gets you two passion fruit meringue tarts imported from France. I guess "tartelette" is the French word for "little tart," but I mean honestly, they're not all that small if we're talking single serving desserts.

Super easy. Thaw Trader Joe's Passion Fruit Meringue Tartelettes for two hours in the fridge and you've got some world-class desserts ready to serve. Sonia and I shared just one of the tarts during the recording of our video review, and we were both plenty satisfied. We did share the second one later in the day. We knew they wouldn't last long even if we were attempting to exercise self-control.

Because these are simply scrumptious. The crust is buttery and dense, sweet, and bready. It's a little hard to cut through with a fork if it's not completely thawed, but once you start chewing it, it simply melts in your mouth.

The filling is at least as good, flaunting a sweet-tart tropical flavor that's unique and enjoyable. We love that passion fruit puree is the number one ingredient, and it absolutely comes through in the tangy taste. The meringue on top is smooth and eggy. It adds a bit of deliciousness to the flavor profile, but we think it's there more for presentation than anything else.

And I mean, the presentation is absolutely stellar. Considering this product has traveled all the way from France, and then from Trader Joe's all the way to our house, these tarts are very pretty. They both look and taste like they came fresh from a professional French bakery.

Sonia will go with nine out of ten stars on Trader Joe's Passion Fruit Meringue Tartelettes, found in the frozen section. Limited time only. I'll give these little tarts eight and a half stars, making these desserts a near-miss for our best-of-the-best category. We'd definitely buy these again.

Bottom line: 8.75 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Gözlemes

When I first saw these, I was thinking they might be like the Turkish version of a cheese blintz. They're not too far off in terms of texture, but blintzes tend to be sweet and gözlemes, I've gathered, are savory. This version features authentic Turkish flatbread stuffed with tulum, kashkaval, and mozzarella cheeses.

It's a delicious combination. It's much more like the Turkish version of a quesadilla or a grilled cheese sandwich than a blintz. In fact, I'd say it's right in between the two. A gözleme is thicker than a quesadilla but not quite as thick as your typical grilled cheese. It's a bit oily and buttery, salty, creamy, and tangy. The three cheese combo yields something akin to melty mozzarella, texture-wise, but it's much tangier and flavorful than mozzarella alone. The flavor is something along the lines of feta, another great Mediterranean cheese.

The flatbread gets nice and crispy on the outside during preparation. It's phyllo-esque in some respects but also doughier than typical phyllo. There's a chewy element to it, but it's very pleasant. Goes great with the cheeses.

This product does indeed come from Turkey. It's apparently a popular type of street food found throughout the nation. It's often stuffed with various meats or veggies like spinach or potatoes. They typically grill the flatbread and its fillings on a griddle and serve it hot. Preparation instructions for this Trader Joe's offering state explicitly that it's to be prepared from frozen on the stovetop rather than the microwave or conventional oven. I'd go out on a limb and guess they don't want you to toss it in the air fryer either, although I'm certain someone out there has tried it. I was tempted myself but resisted the urge.

Sonia heated ours on her nonstick skillet. Instructions said to "place in dry pan" and she did...and lo and behold, it stuck to her pan. I mean, it wasn't a total nightmare. She got the product off of the pan and onto our plate pretty much entirely intact. Subsequent attempts were even more successful when the HexClad was called up for duty. The product is fairly oily on its own and probably isn't begging to be deep fried or anything like that.

We plowed through all three gözlemes within 24 hours of opening the box, so that's a testament to its scrumptiousness, I'd say. In our video review, we muse about what condiments might work with it. In the same way I like Mexican salsa with my quesadillas, I wanted a Mediterranean hot sauce with this product. I pondered whether it might work with Trader Joe's Tunisian Harissa Paste. Sonia thought it would pair well with Trader Joe's Italian Bomba Sauce. Since we had some of the bomba on hand, we were able to confirm subsequently that they do indeed go very well together. I still wanna try it with harissa.

The beautiful wifey and I would both buy this product again. $4.99 for three cheese-stuffed flatbreads, found in the frozen section. Product of Turkey. Eight and a half out of ten stars from Sonia for Trader Joe's Gözlemes. I'll go with eight out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8.25 out of 10.

Trader Joe's Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches

Never had a macaron ice cream sandwich before. As you might have guessed these are two macaron "shells" with ice cream in the middle instead of your typical buttercream or fruit jam filling. Both the cookie element and the ice cream element are chocolate-flavored. It's chocolate on chocolate on chocolate.

It's a chocoholic's dream come true. The quality is there, and the taste and texture don't disappoint. In true macaron fashion, we have a slightly stiff egg white and almond flour outer layer. It's sugary and just faintly sticky to the touch. It gives way to a softer cookie underneath, and of course, provided you allow your ice cream sandwich to thaw for the recommended five minutes, the ice cream layer is soft, velvety, and creamy.

In terms of the flavor, it seems somewhere in between your typical milk chocolate and dark chocolate. It is sweet for sure, but there's plenty of that earthy, slightly bitter cocoa taste as well. It's rich and luxurious. Very pleasant even for Sonia and me, and neither of us really gravitates toward chocolate as far as our favorite dessert flavors are concerned.

I kinda wish Trader Joe's had done the Oreo thing and used chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream in the middle. Raspberry, blueberry, or vanilla macarons would have been A-OK with this guy. Or how about a speculoos cookie butter macaron ice cream sandwich..?

As far as I can tell, this product is domestic, while certain other macarons we've reviewed from Trader Joe's have been imported from France. In any case, this is a quality offering that chocolate fans will no doubt adore.

We'd buy it again even if it's just this chocolate flavor, and we would most definitely check out any additional varieties if TJ's ever rolls them out. $4.99 for two individually wrapped desserts, found in the frozen section...obviously. Sonia and I both give Trader Joe's Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches eight out of ten stars.

Bottom line: 8 out of 10.