Because "Obese Monkey" just isn't as catchy (Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey)

Member Name: PyrettaBlaze

Product:	Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey
Date:	11/01/08 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gorgeous

Disadvantages: Pricey, hard to find and calorific

My current 1200 calorie a day diet is starting to wear thin, so instead of eating ice cream I thought I'd write about it, in the hope that some of my substantial cravings will subside...instead I fully expect to have blown my diet with an entire tub of B&J's by eleven PM tonight. Chunky Monkey is my favourite Ben & Jerry's ice cream, its certainly an unusual combination, and banana ice cream with chocolate and walnuts is enough to make some people feel queasy, but I adore it.


The packaging

Unlike some of the B&J packaging, which features cows, strawberries or chocolate fish (no jokes about chocolate starfish please, I'm eating), the Chunky Monkey packaging is a bit on the boring side...a few walnuts, a few bananas, nothing special...they should put a monkey on it! However the trademark B&J logo stands out as usual. If you were going on packaging however, this probably wouldnt be your first choice.


The cost

At £3.99 for a 500g tub, B&J ice cream isnt cheap, and if you are like me you can probably demolish the entire tub in two sittings...its a fairly expensive treat, considering you can get a much bigger tub of Mackies ice cream for about £2.99. As a treat however, its not too bad price-wise.


The taste

B&J use chocolate chips, full fat milk, banana and walnut in this recipe...its an odd combination but its gorgeous. The banana ice cream is gorgeously creamy and just sweet enough, you can really taste the difference with the use of full fat milk, and to me this ice cream is beyond comparison in creamy richness (the only other ice cream I've tasted that comes close is vanilla Cream O' Galloway ice cream). The chocolate used is dark but melts in the mouth unlike a lot of dark chocolate and adds interest to the creamy, mild flavoured ice cream. In my opinion Chunky Monkey would be fine without the walnuts, but then it wouldnt be Monkey would it, just Chunky. The walnuts taste fresh and crunchy and they too make the ice cream a bit more interesting and Ben&Jerry's-esque. Normally banana wouldnt be my ice cream flavour of choice but this is delicious. Trust Ben & Jerry's to take plain banana ice cream and make it ten times better!


Nutritional info

At 280 calories per 100g, Chunky Monkey is a fairly calorific treat. It also deliver a whopping 17g of fat and 27g of sugar per 100g. In its defence, its probably also fairly calcium rich (but all ice cream is so now I'm just making excuses), and walnuts are full of good fats, not bad fats. Chocolate and full fat milk on the other hand...


Availability

The only rubbish thing I can think of about Chunky Monkey is that its not very available...quite often you wont find it in the supermarkets, although my local posh shop sells it, they're quite often out too. I think probably this isnt one of B&J's best sellers given a lot of peoples aversions to banana ice cream, which is a shame, either that or it sells out very quickly. In your average ice cream fridge Chunky Monkey will be conspicuous by its absense. In fact, come to think of it I havent seen this stocked anywhere in ages...but according to the Ben & Jerry's website it IS still available. Boo to the shops, I need more Chunky Monkey!


If you're skint, its worth looking out for offers on these ice cream, Asda do them sometimes, as otherwise they are quite pricey, but then, given their calorie content, they should probably be an occasional treat anyway. Chunky Monkey is, in my opinion Ben & Jerry's best ice cream ever...it outdoes itself with creamy sugary yumness yet the chocolate and walnuts make it quirky enough to make it typical B&J.

Summary: Insert joke about "going ape for the stuff" here...