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Is there a problem a chocolate can’t solve? Whether it’s a case of the Mondays or it’s that time of the month, a little sweet treat can work wonders.
Many of us will likely reach for the likes of Cadbury or Tony’s Chocolonely when the cravings hit, but are these really the best?
After several supermarket own-brand products recently beat out big name brands in Metro taste tests, we couldn’t help but wonder how the retailers would fare when it came to chocolate.
Following the recent craze for loaded chocolate bars like The Big Daddy from M&S and the viral Dubai chocolate (which don’t come cheap), we put 13 bars to the test to see which are really worth your money.
Interestingly, it was a supermarket product that came out on top, with several other supermarket options proving to be just as good as pricier options.
Keep on reading to find out which ones we loved and which chocolate bars we wouldn’t bother buying again…
Big Daddy, Marks & Spencer or Ocado, £7.50
It’s certainly a big chocolate bar and it’s rammed full of filling. The flavour is overwhelmingly that of peanut butter, so if you aren’t a fan, this won’t be one for you.
It’s very much like an oversized Reese’s Cup, in a slab format, so if you’re expecting something more luxurious, this might not fit the bill.
Very tasty and a little bit of this bar goes a long way — but sorry M&S, I’m not convinced it’s worth the £7.50 price tag.
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
Big Daddy Pistachio, Marks & Spencer or Ocado, £8.50
The Big Daddy is definitely too big for a quick snack. There’s no breaking this bar of chocolate with your hands, unless you have a similar type of super strength as the Hulk.
If I’m being honest, this felt a bit too sickly for me. The caramel is slightly overpowering and you can’t taste too much pistachio, despite there being a lot crammed in the bar.
A few bites was enough, but for the novelty aspect, definitely worth a try.
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed by Jessica Hamilton, lifestyle reporter
Raisins, Almonds & Hazelnuts in Milk Chocolate, Marks & Spencer or Ocado, £5
Twice the size of a regular chocolate bar, this extra-long number from M&S contains raisins, almond brittle and nibbed hazelnuts
All the components are good, but the chunky nuts make it feel a bit too healthy for my taste. I prefered Tesco’s biscuit and raisin bar, which might be smaller, but it’s mightier.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewied by Jess Austin, first-person and opinion editor
Biscuit & Raisin Bar, Tesco, £2.25
Tiffins are an underrated baked good, but one of my favourites and this chocolate bar is a tiffin reincarnate. Unlike like a tiffin, where my sweet tooth keeps me to just one portion, I could eat the whole bar of this (Tesco biscuit and raisin)
Rating: 5/5
Reviewed by Jess Austin, first-person and opinion editor
Crispies, Caramel & Almond Bar, Tesco, £2.25
Tesco’s Crispies, Caramel and Almond loaded milk chocolate is a moreish triumph.
You might think its crunchy almond and chewy caramel texture, paired with a salty aftertaste are too much for the senses, but it’s the perfect blend of flavours.
My only critiques would be that the pieces are quite big and the chocolate could be a little creamier. But it’s got all the ingredients to pack a superb punch.
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewed by James Besanvalle, assistant opinion editor
Pretzel & Salt Bar, Tesco, £2.25
Those who love anything sweet and salty, with a bit of a crunch will love this chocolate bar.
While the flavour of the chocolate itself doesn’t quite live up to favourites like Cadbury, it’s wonderfully creamy and there’s plenty of filling, with pretzel pieces in each bite. A nice little salty kick comes through in every mouthful too.
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
Pecan & Honeycomb bar, Tesco, £2.25
This one is good, but doesn’t quite measure up to the others from Tesco’s range.
The pieces of honeycomb and caramelised pecans are quite small, meaning they don’t pack a lot of punch in terms of flavour.
It’s essentially just quite a sweet chocolate bar, with a little bit of crispiness. This is disappointing as I love pecans and think this combo had so much potential.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
Blonde Chocolate with Pecan Praline, Waitrose, £2.75
While the minimalist packaging and slender size makes it seem like it’d be super grown-up, it tastes similar to one of my childhood favourites, Caramac.
The butterscotch flavour is nostalgic, and there is a hint of saltiness, but it’s hard to detect much beyond the overpowering sweetness.
Texture-wise it was also a miss, with no discernable nuts or difference between the filling and shell.
Yes, I hate half the bar – but that’s because I’m a gannet, not because I particularly enjoyed it.
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed by Jessica Lindsay, assistant lifestyle editor
White Chocolate with Pistachio Nuts & Sea Salt, Waitrose, £2.75
We’ve already established I’m a fan of the sweet and salty combo, but I don’t think it works quite as well with the white chocolate here as it has with other milk chocolate bars in this taste test. Perhaps because white chocolate doesn’t have the same richness to it. For me, this bar was too sweet and too salty all at the same time. It was overwhelming and not in a pleasant way. I felt my face scrunch up on the first bite.
What I did like about it though was the generous amount of pistachios inside, they gave it a lovely crunch. The chocolate is also super smooth and the bar looks sleek and expensive.
Rating: 2/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
Cadbury Dairy Milk &More Nutty Praline Crisp and Caramel Nut Crunch bars, £3.65 at Sainsbury’s
I LOVE Cadbury, Dairy Milk is always my go-to when I need a little chocolate pick-me-up, but the &More bars did not hit the spot for me.
There are two different options to choose from; a Nutty Praline Crisp and the Caramel Nut Crunch, but neither wowed – especially as the products look nothing like the imagery on the packets. From the pictures, I’d been expecting chunky bars, filled with layers of filling, when in reality they’re just regular-sized chocolate.
The flavours were disappointing, with both tasting quite artificially sweet and cheap. This isn’t the Cadbury chocolate we all know and love.
For the praline one, I couldn’t pick out any specific individual flavours from the fillings, unlike with others in the taste test. While the caramel nut crunch, didn’t bring the crunch it promised, the nuts inside were pretty soft, and it was more chewy.
Rating: 1/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
Everything Bar, Tony’s Chocolonely, various supermarkets, £4
When they said this is an ‘everything’ bar, they weren’t kidding. The milk chocolate is chocker block with caramel, pretzel, almond, nougat and sea salt.
It’s crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty all at once – a real feast for your taste buds.
I did like this a lot and I’m a big fan of Tony’s chocolate and the brand’s ethos, but I’m not sure I could eat an entire bar, or very much of it in one sitting – there’s just so much going on.
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
PATISLOVE Dubai-Style Chocolate, Aldi, £3.99
The Dubai chocolate craze has recently been usurped by the new Angel Hair chocolate, but we can’t talk about filled chocolate bars without including at least one of these. Like the others, this contains pistachio cream and kadayif all wrapped in milk chocolate.
I’m firmly of the opinion that Dubai chocolate is an acquired taste. I’ve tried a few different ones now and haven’t been overly keen thus far, but I actually didn’t mind this one.
It manages to remain on the right side of being too sweet, with the pistachio cream bringing a little earthiness to the flavour to tamper it down. But it’s the satisfying crisp from the kadayif (shredded filo pastry) that makes the whole thing interesting.
With most of the Dubai-style chocolate costing £10 and over, this one is a steal for the price.
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
The Nice Slice – Cinema Edition, Hotel Chocolat, £17.95
This isn’t a regular chocolate bar, it’s more of a sharing treat – almost a dessert.
Stuffed with popcorn, tortilla chips and peanut praline, the milk chocolate slab is said to offer the best of the cinema at home. And it definitely does.
The box says it serves eight… which really just means it’ll serve me, eight times.
This makes it a little dangerous to have in the house. I could easily see myself going back for a little bit more again and again until there was nothing left.
If you eat it without refrigerating, it’s akin to those chocolate shredded wheat nests we all used to make at Easter. If you refrigerate it as the box recommends, be careful, you’re likely to break a tooth.
I loved the idea of this and as the name suggests, it’s really nice. The size is also impressive, but let’s be real, at almost £18 it would need to be made of solid gold to justify the price, which is why I just can’t give it full marks.
Rating: 4/5
Reviewed by Courtney Pochin, specialist food writer
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