The best things about fall, whether the food or the aesthetics, can arguably come from the recurring trendy store: Trader Joe’s. From soccer moms to broke teenage girls, this grocery store has something for everyone to love and consume. Therefore, junior Ella Lim and I have decided to give our very professional opinions on the goods we love and hate to hopefully steer our BV friends in the right direction for their next holiday craving.
Foods Tasted Previously:
Corn Bread:
My rating: 9.5/10
Why: It’s buttery and it’s really delicious, but I don’t know. Cornbread is just not my favorite thing in the world. It’s not going to be an amazing out of 10. So a 9.5, I think, is pretty good because it’s really good and the corn bits are unreal. Since it is not my favorite, I have to be in the right mood to want to make it, but overall when I do make it, the taste is amazing.
Would you buy it again? Yes
Ella’s Rating: 40/10
Why: “Out of a 10, it breaks the scale— it goes so far past that. It is like a 20 at least. It is godly, [and if] you eat it just once, you can’t go back because you will crave that every day. It is so good and it’s so easy to make. It’s like three ingredients you just need — oil, eggs, and milk. You just put it into a square pan, put it in the oven, bake for 40 minutes, and [then] it’s done. It’s the most godly, delicious, scrumdiddlyumptious bread you’ll ever have in your life and it actually has corn in it, which makes it like 20 times better. So maybe it’s 40 out of ten and not 20. Definitely my number one for Thanksgiving foods. It is so amazing”
Would you buy it again? What do you think.
Buffalo Chicken Dip:
My rating: GODLY/10
Why: As soon as you eat it, there’s just nothing else than tangy goodness in your mouth that literally could break the bank. It is a godly out of 10. It is a banger and it hits every time. It’s indescribable and forever desirable. The making of this goodness is such a crime that it makes me want to rhyme. There’s nothing better than just sitting down with a bucket of this stuff, and just shoveling it in your mouth. It needs nothing but love and energy to get it through the day and get me through the day. It is what I live for, it is what I die for. It’s what I stand for forever and ever.
Would you buy it again? Yes
Chicken Tikka Masala
My rating: 7/10
Why: This is a delicious and fast meal that is my go-to for cheap Indian food. They give a good portion of meat, which is juicy and tender, and the rice evens out the chicken nicely. My favorite combination is eating the chicken with garlic naan and soaking the bread in the creamy sauce. Bomb.
Would you buy it again? Yes
Ella’s rating: 8/10
Why: “I just eat it with the rice and the chicken that it comes with and I don’t add anything else, but it’s such a quick easy meal and it tastes so good. It has the perfect proportion of rice and chicken so you don’t have to worry about eating too much. I don’t have to worry about evening it out and so it’s just so good. Just eat it.”
Would you buy it again? Yes
Foods Newly Tasted:
Philly Cheesesteak Bao Buns:
My rating: 6/10
Why: This was an odd combination in my opinion. I like the filling, but it’s a little weird tasting and I don’t like the wrapper that much. I would finish the first one but I wouldn’t get a second one.
Would you buy it again? No
Ella’s rating: 6/10
Why: “I like the Philly cheesesteak filling, and I like the bao bun. I just don’t like the combination. It’s good, it’s just odd, [but] I’m not mad about it.”
Would you buy it again? No
Mac and Cheese Balls:
My rating: 5.5/10
Why: I liked the crispy outside of breading, but the mac and cheese wasn’t that good and it was way too mushy for me. After you eat a few it starts to get too greasy in your mouth and the flavor is just fried and cheese, nothing too special.
Would you buy it again? No
Ella’s rating: 5/10
Why: “I don’t like the combination of the outside fried part and the inside mac and cheese. For me, I would rather eat just [the] mac and cheese. I’ve had like five of these and it’s just so greasy — I feel like I’m getting the same things over and over again and I keep having to drink water.”
Would you buy it again? No
Caramel Apple Mochi Ice Cream:
My rating: 6.8/10
Why: At the first bite you get a wave of flavors, and I especially enjoyed the sour hint of the apple that was peaking in throughout the bites. The ice cream was creamy and sweet which balanced the apple out well. The only complaint I have is for the caramel part of the ice cream, it created a weird aftertaste that would ruin the bites and I could not eat another one after I tasted it. The bite becomes bitter after a few chews which I loathed.
Would you buy it again? No
Ella’s rating: 7.2/10
Why: “Usually I don’t like mochi and I don’t like caramel, so I didn’t know how I would feel about this. However, the combo of the flavors match each other and they mix together so well. I think it’s good even for people who don’t like the ingredients. The sourness of the apple and the sweetness of the caramel match each other very well. It’s good, but I have really mixed feelings about it. It is not amazingly good, and it’s not really bad. It is just there.”
Would you buy it again? No
Overall:
My overall opinion of Trader Joe’s is 8.78 out of 10. I love Trader Joe’s, don’t get me wrong, I crave it once a week. I think there are some really big hits, but as big as those hits are, I think that there are a lot of failures too, which hurt me twice due to the prices presented. For my taste buds, I think it’s a very good snack place, but it is not a grocery store for all needs.
“I will give Trader Joe’s, as a whole, an 8 out of 10. Even going into the place, all [of] the workers are so welcoming and the aesthetic of it is good. The food is usually amazing and I enjoy that all of their goods are branded as Trader Joe’s because [it’s cool that] they can make such a huge profit just by selling their own brands. But there are a few things that don’t match with my taste buds, which obviously makes sense,” Lim stated.
