I was reading a post at SeriousEats.com the other day where they were comparing the various ice cream-type options at Wendy’s (Twisted Frosty), Burger King (Sundae Shake) and McDonald’s (McFlurry) and I realized two things:

1.  The reviewer was absolutely right about that Oreo Sundae Shake at Burger King.  That thing sucks.
2.  I’ve somehow made it through my life never having tried a McFlurry and I couldn’t figure out how or why (I’ve never had a Twisted Frosty either, but I’ve at least had a regular Frosty, so I at have an idea what a Twisted Frosty would taste like).

I had an ice cream craving last Wednesday, so I decided to cruise on over to McDonald’s to try their new limited time offering, the Reese’s McFlurry (by the way, I could almost guarantee this is not just a limited time offering and will become permanent…why wouldn’t it?).  I could have gone to Dairy Queen and gotten a Blizzard (the king of all ice cream treats), but I wanted to see how McDonald’s McFlurry stacked up since I have never had one before.

What I Got:  Regular Size Reese’s McFlurry $2.35

If you’ve never had a McFlurry, it is similar to a Blizzard.  They take their “reduced fat” vanilla ice cream, dump in Reese’s Cup chunks and blend.  It’s not very complicated.

When I got mine and saw the amount of Reese’s Cup chunks and the ample portion size of the McFlurry, I was very pleased and devoured the first half in about 1.3 seconds.  The taste of McDonald’s thick (I find it to be thicker than Dairy Queen’s) vanilla ice cream was a perfect mix with the peanut butter and chocolate of the Reese’s Cups.  Truly, vanilla, peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination of ice cream and candy that there is in my opinion.

The second half wasn’t as wonderful though as I noticed that I was missing something and thought, “hey, where the heck did all the Reese’s Cup chunks go?!”  Basically, they only put Reese’s Cup chunks in the top half of my McFlurry and not in the bottom half.  I’m not sure if that is standard protocol or if that was just a blending error by the employee that made my McFlurry (maybe someone that has had multiple McFlurrys can help me here?), but I was very disappointed.  I like the taste of McDonald’s plain vanilla ice cream, but that’s not what I was paying for here!  If I wanted plain vanilla ice cream, I would have gotten a plain sundae for $1 and saved myself the money!  I need my Reese’s Cup chunks!  C’mon McDonald’s, I’ve got weight to gain here!  Oh well.

Would I Buy It Again?  Most likely not. I went into this to see how it compared to Dairy Queen’s Reese’s Cup Blizzard and the McFlurry lost.  The McFlurry was just boring.

When you compare the two you are really comparing the taste of the soft serve ice cream that they use (Reese’s Cups are the same everywhere) and while I like McDonald’s ice cream in general, Dairy Queen’s is superior.  Plus, I know that when I go to Dairy Queen, my Blizzard is going to be made by an ice cream “professional”, so I won’t run the risk of getting screwed out of my Reese’s Cup chunks.

The only time it would be acceptable to choose this over Dairy Queen is if in you are dying for ice cream and there is not a Dairy Queen nearby.  Ugh…no Dairy Queen nearby…that sounds like the seventh layer of hell to me.

-IndianapolisEater

This has happened to everyone.  It seems to happen a lot to me.  The question of the day, what do you do?

I have heard of stories where people throw the food at the people back through the drive-thru window.  While I am not condoning this, this violation calls for desperate actions and I can understand people getting upset (maybe not to the point of throwing things…).   However, If they knew how much garbage that I have to deal with at work, the value of my dollar is pretty high.  Fill up the cup!!  Oh yeah, and not with ice.

Exhibit A, the evidence.

Arby’s Jamocha Shake: $1 value menu size.  Notice, this shake is un-touched.  116th and Allisonville location, Fishers.

Dairy Queen Oreo Blizzard. Zionsville, IN.   The week of the $.25 BOGO promo.

As you can see, a handful of problems here.

1. The peak of the ice cream should be above the cup.

2. Where are the chunks of Oreo?

3. The attitude heavy teenage worker walked up to me and said…”Oreo Blizzard, M&M Blizzard” as she jammed the spoons in the cup cafeteria lady style and then walked away. Of course she didn’t say thank you…I will never return to this DQ.

And yes, that is Pearl Jam’s 1996 release, No Code.

So, what do you usually do?  Write a letter, call a manager, just forget about it, return it right away and ask for everything to be made right, throw your fresh milkshake back at the window?

-wibia

Girl Scouts Tagalong Blizzard

It’s especially fitting that we have a post on this since this year is the 25th anniversary of the introduction of the Blizzard to America.  The Blizzard, in my mind,  is one of the greatest ice cream innovations in history and I only say that half-jokingly.  Also, through Dairy Queen’s Facebook page, I come to find out that they are offering a promotion this week (at participating locations) in celebration of Blizzard Customer Appreciation week (April 19-25) where you can buy any size Blizzard and get a second one for a quarter.  What a deal!

Anyway, in celebration of that, the fact that I saw this post on the Dairy Queen blog and with summer (warmer weather) approaching, this week’s random topic is one of my favorite summer guilty pleasures:  ice cream.  And when I say ice cream, I more specifically mean my ultimate summer guilty pleasure and that is the Dairy Queen Blizzard.  My newfound love of Blizzards is funny to me because when I was, ahem…hungrier, I didn’t really like ice cream.  Now that I’ve lost a bunch of weight, I can’t get enough of it.  I’m not the only one either as the Blizzard even has a fan club too.

There are many different flavors out there and they flavors come and go with the seasons and special promotions (Girl Scout Cookie Blizzards, Pumpkin Pie Blizzards, etc.), but I’m wondering what everyone’s favorite Blizzard actually is.   Personally, my favorite Blizzard is the Girl Scout Cookie Tagalong Blizzard (picture above) that I have reviewed before, but that is only a limited time offering flavor.  My favorite regular flavor is the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard although the Reese’s Pieces Blizzard is a very close second since they are essentially the same.

For the purposes of the poll and for the purposes of our discussion, we’re only going to go with the normal flavors that are available year round.

So, vote for your favorite flavor below and we’ll see which one wins out.  This poll is by no means scientific, but it is a fun way to waste time.  If you have a favorite seasonal flavor, another flavor that is not in the poll or just want to talk about this topic general, feel free to discuss it in the comments section.

-IndianapolisEater

Girl Scouts Tagalong Blizzard

What I Got:  Small Girl Scouts Tagalong Blizzard $3.29

This past summer, Dairy Queen introduced this as a monthly special Blizzard.  While I thought it looked delicious at the time, I lacked the nerve to try one at that point.  A few nights ago, I finally worked up the “courage” to try this one out.

Before I go any further, I should point out that Tagalong cookies are my FAVORITE of all the Girl Scouts cookies, so this may be a little biased.  If you’ve never seen or had a Tagalong before, it’s a peanut butter cookie coated in chocolate.  It’s basically an amped up version of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  To my taste buds, the difference is that the Girl Scouts peanut butter is a little sweeter and lighter than Reese’s.

As for what goes into the Blizzard…it’s just standard vanilla ice cream blended with crumbled Tagalong cookies and a little extra peanut butter topping.

Would I Buy It Again?  Absolutely yes. Since I already mentioned this was my favorite cookie, I knew going in that I would love this Blizzard and I was not disappointed.  This thing was incredible and was just like heaven.  Since it has proven to only be a monthly special (so far), I would recommend that you head out to get one before they take this off the menu again.

By the way, this Blizzard is not exactly a friend to your health, as if any of them are, as it checks in at 570 calories for a small.

-IndianapolisEater

Guess who’s back?!  I had a ton of fun this weekend and time well spent.  Wing Contest, Late Night pizza run and ended it with a party at WIBIA Headquarters.  Great Success!  Now back to work…

Arby’s
http://www.arbys.com

What I Ate: Jamocha Swirl Shake $2.60.  I had a BOGO coupon, so my wife had the chocolate shake.

I didn’t go to Arby’s for a while, but my visits have been more frequent.  It is a touch more expensive than McDonalds and Burger King, but with a coupon, they are competitive.  Check out the review archive for Roastburger reviews.

What does Jamocha really mean?   To me, Jamocha = kick ass shake.  I really enjoy this flavor, but not sure how to describe it.  Kind of malty, kind of coffee, who really knows what is in this?!   I had the Chocolate Malt Swirl Shake a few weeks ago and I enjoyed that as well.  Out of Burger King and McDonald’s, I think that Arby’s has the best shakes.

However, I almost like the plain old school Jamocha shake just as much.  This one seemed thicker than normal and the chocolate swril did nothing but stick to the sides of the container. As long as it has the Jamocha flavor, count me in.

Would I Buy It Again? Yes.  I really enjoy this shake.  Dairy Queen is getting expensive and I think that Arby’s is making the best fast food shakes.  I still have a place in my heart for a vanilla malt with extra malt powder at DQ, but for the price…Arby’s has their number.  Curly Fry gave her shake thumbs up as well.

Let’s do some nutrition facts on some similar shakes.  I will highlight serving size, calories and fat.  Warning, this is going to get ugly.

Arby’s – Jamocha Swirl Shake
16oz Serving Size, 610 Calories, 17g fat.

McDonald’s – Triple Thick Shake Chocolate Medium
16 oz Serving Size – 580 Calories -14g fat.

Dairy Queen – Chocolate Malt.  Medium
16 oz Serving Size – 900 Calories – 22g fat

Hardee’s – Chocolate Hand Scooped Ice Cream Shake
14 oz Serving Size – 700 Calories – 34g fat.

I suppose that I should call each place to see what their prices are to make the above nutrition facts meaningful, but I am just feeling too lazy.  Even with the pointless Chocolate Swirl, this shake is going on Recommended Fast Food!

-wibia