Reviews of Trader Joe's products

Cafe Society
1

We’ve discussed our favorites before, but I thought we’d broaden it to what we like and what we don’t, and what scores a mere meh.

Winners for me lately:

Soyaki. On grilled zucchini, it made the vegetable the best part of the meal, and it will serve nicely as a dip for . . .

Chicken Gyoza. This is probably my favorite freezer-food meal. Serve with some rice and vegetables, or a salad with ginger dressing. YUM.

Cherry Granola Cookies. Only drawback is that they’re like crack. I could easily eat a whole package in a day, if I wasn’t paying attention.

Avocado’s Number Guacamole. Equally tasty as Wholly Guacamole, but the cooler name takes it up a notch.

Chocolate covered English Toffee. If the cookies above are crack, this is crack mixed with heroin.

Meh:

Vegetable egg rolls. No amount of baking is going to make these truly crispy, and the filling is somewhat scant and features tofu, which I found odd. Still, the flavor was good, and they are nice and easy.

Orange chicken. Pretty yummy, but really heavy.

Avoid:

Salmon burgers. Fairly dry and flavorless, with plenty of bone bits.

Creamy tomato soup. The one in the aseptic box. BLAND.

Not a TJ’s product per se, but Hansen’s Sodas. The Pomegranate and the Mandarin Lime both had weird off flavors that made me chuck the remainder of the six packs.

2

We very much like their Shaved Parmesan, Romano and Asiago Cheese. Fairly cheap and a wonderful accent cheese for a pizza or salad.

3

I’m addicted to their Mediterranean Hummus and their frozen gnocchis (both Gorgonzola and the marina-like one). The persian cucumbers are pretty awesome. I also loved their Thai-style frozen green beans but lately can’t find them :(. Their frozen Chicken Fried Rice is pretty good for quick lunch but the shrimp fried rice is not so good.

4

I suppose I’m expected.

TJ’s has a nice cheese selection, and you can hardly go wrong. I’m particularly partial to the triple-cream brie.

Their pre-made salads are very nice. I like the Chinese chicken, Thai chicken pasta, Southwest, and Niçoise salads.

TJ’s was the only place I’d buy leg of lamb. Unfortunately it seems to have disappeared. It was pre-seasoned, and all you had to do is put it in a 400º oven for an hour. Now when I want lamb I buy it at Don and Joe’s Meats. It’s easy enough to season (kosher salt, olive oil, rosemary) and it’s better (and I think local) meat.

COFFEE. I get the French Roast. Too bad they discontinued the Volcano.

I don’t like the breads.

The Cocoa Almonds have been replaced by Dark Cocoa Almonds. The former is better, so I don’t buy the latter.

5

Speaking of crack, T J’s ginger snaps have little bits of crystallized ginger in them, besides the usual powdered ginger in the dough. Ambrosia in a tub.

6

Triple Ginger Snaps.

Fresh, crystalized, and powdered ginger.

7

Love

Chili Lime Chicken Burgers
TJ’s General Tsao stir fry sauce
Ruby Red Chai Tea
Pomegranate Limeade
Dark Chocolate Pretzel Bark
Plain Meringues
Apricot Chicken Salad

Of course I expect all this stuff to be discontinued now that I’m addicted. Like their amazing extra sharp Vermont cheddar. :frowning:

8

Their Masala and Curry jarred sauces are wonderful poured over rice and chicken.

The english onion-orange cheddar is cheese-heroin.

I also don’t get the love of Hansen’s soda, they all taste chemically to me.

9

My latest faves are the mahi mahi burgers, country potatoes w/haricots verts & mild mushrooms, and quinoa quo with vegetable melange.

10

I always liked the spinach and dried cranberries salad with candied pecans and a yummy dressing. I can’t seem to find it anymore though:-)

11

Sunny rolls—sushi without seaweed or sesame seeds, wrapped with carrot.

Celtic cheddar cheese, reduced fat yet very tasty.

Peanut butter cups–so very creamy.

Gorgonzola, endive, romaine, and walnut salad. MMMMMMMM!

12

I saw it at my local TJs today. Almost bought one, too, but I went with a Country Italian and a Goat Cheese, Walnut & Red Bell Pepper instead.

I love Trader Joe’s!

13

TJ’s has recently started adding more and more selections of frozen Indian meals, and they’re all pretty excellent. The standout is the butter chicken, which is TO DIE FOR. It inspired me to learn how to cook butter chicken, and I now make a version even better than TJ’s. But it’s still nice to pick up a quick single serving every now and then.

A recent disappointment was their new snack mix, which is a blatant attempt at copying Chex Mix. Unfortunately, it tastes nothing like Chex Mix. It just tastes like blech.

14

My biggest problem with shopping at the local Trader Joe’s is that almost every time I go grocery shopping, bread is on the list. I have, in over 2 years, yet to find a loaf of bread at my local Trader Joe’s on which the sell-by date is later than the day I am shopping. Which is a shame, 'cause it’s mostly good bread, but I don’t care to have to remember to pull four slices out of the freezer two hours before I might want to eat lunch.

Also, the lack of consistency in products is disturbing. There was a frozen dessert–a lemon tart–that I quite liked, and suddenly it was no longer around. A decent enough potato salad, suddenly, no longer around. And so on. I don’t mind culinary adventure now and then, but I do mind every trip to the store being an adventure in whether I’ll be able to find what I want.

15

Coffee Latte & Cream ice cream bars. Only 90 calories! Good luck having just one.

I actually like their bread - the 100% white whole wheat is the only 100% wheat I’ll eat.

Their 2% greek yogurt is the cheapest greek yogurt I’ve found.

The SO loves their Indian Channa Masala. It’s frankly the closest to the real thing. Much better than the Deep or Amy’s or Tandoor Kitchen’s frozen dishes.

16

Their unpastuerized Orange Juice is the closest to fresh squeezed I have had. And, it still has the pulp, so it’s got that added goodness.

17

Their Middle East Feast is the cheapest Falafel in town, and pretty tasty too! I am always happy when I see it not be discontinued. I really like the Tabbouleh :slight_smile:

Their basic personal Pepperoni Pizza is very nice, I usually throw some prosciutto on top before I stick it in the oven, it is definitely a meal and a half for me.

The Korean BBQ Short Ribs are great! Even my super picky-eater friend loves them. Also the cheapest and easiest place to find them in my small town… Their Bulgogi in a bag, however, is not nice at all.

I find their tortilla selection to be generally sub-par, but I do like their breads and Na’an.

18

TJ’s Peanut Butter filled pretzels are the best around, and cheaper too. Their Lighly salted Potato Chips are just as good as the Kettle Chips I get from Costco.

Their Olive Oils are as good as any, and much cheaper.

I love the Sourdough Crown of Rolls, but they don’t last very long, so eat fast.

Same with the Bran Muffins. You get maybe two days before they are inedible.

19

Could you say a little more about this, please? I’ve been trying to find falafel everywhere with no success. Is it in the frozen section?

My newest favorite at Trader Joe’s is the peanut butter cookies. It was sooo good when I first tried it, I considered creating a new thread just for that. It looks like a nutter butter with two peanut shaped peanut butter cookies around a peanut butter filling, but it’s at least 10 times better than a nutter butter. The filling is smooth and creamy and the cookies are soft and chewy.

I always like their frozen samosas and their tandoori naan. I also like their noodle soups in a bowl because they’re inexpensive and they don’t have msg (monosodium glutamate).

20

:slight_smile: Actually, it is in the refrigerated section, which in my TJ’s is where they keep the sushi and the hummus and the cheeses. I found it right next to the burritos and vegetable wraps and the Grilled Eggplant Wrap (Also yummy!).

I think it is actually called “The Middle East Feast” and it has 3 falafel balls, already fried, pita bread, hummus, tabbouleh (which I really liked, it tastes really fresh to me), and what I think is Tahini sauce, disassembled in the little package so you can put them together as you want. You don’t have to cook anything but i usually put the bread and the falafel balls into the microwave or toaster oven to warm them up. It costs me 3.99 and is really filling. I think I discovered it in February, so I don’t know how it fits into the TJ rolling schedule.
Hope you find it!