I didn’t plan on going to McDonald’s today.The day started with a glorious amber light, sifting through the netted windows of my bedroom . I made a cup of coffee and ate a hearty bowl of cereal with low-fat milk. I felt healthy and happy. It was all good.

At about lunch time, I decided to do a snack review. As I’ve started the day on a healthy note, a wholesome energy bar sounds like just the thing to continue my healthy streak. Little did I know that it was this decision that led to a total downward spiral to fast food.

Go Natural Yoghurt Almond & Apricot Snack Bar. The name sounds healthy and the tag line — “Tastes good, naturally” — convinced me that the product would score high on the taste department too. But health food usually taste like cardboard or sawdust so I proceeded with caution.

The yoghurt looks dry and crumbly and tastes like sugar frosting that had been standing in the open for a few hours. But that is not the bad part of this bar… nooo…

I don’t have a problem with coconuts. I love them in curries and biscuits and young coconut juice is a refreshing treat on a hot day. I don’t have a problem with coconuts provided I know that I’m going to eat coconuts. The wrapper on this say almonds & apricots in yoghurt, so I expected a fair amount of almonds, apricots and yogurt, maybe a touch of honey as energy bars are inclined to have. But what do I get when I bite this mother? Coconuts. Specifically desiccated coconuts, the worst form a coconut could exist as. What looked like apricots tasted like coconuts and what I supposed are almonds tasted like, you guessed it, coconuts. This tasted a lot like a Bounty bar, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that this is supposed to be a yoghurt-coated fruit and nut bar! For your information, coconut is NOT a nut. And it doesn’t end there – the coconuty after taste lasted even after I drank 2 cups of water and sucked on a Mentos. What will it take to drown this horrible taste?

Which brings us to McDonald’s. I’m sitting down in the cool air-conditioned comfort of this fast-foot outlet with a coke and large fries. My healthy day ruined by a health bar.

Photo: Go Natural

Apricot & Almond Yoghurt Bar? More like Desiccated Coconut in Sugar Frosting.

There are many things in life that just go hand in hand -nuts and chocolate; Hollywood and botox; cats and toxoplasmosis. Of all these, only nuts and chocolate would qualify as a match made in Snack Heaven, unless of course, you have nut allergy, in which case, it would be your hell.

Pepero is an almond and chocolate dipped biscuit stick from the Korean company, Lotte. You see, Leibniz Minis Choco has already proven that chocolates and cookies are the best thing since sliced bread. Chocolate, cookies and nuts? Probably the best thing since Leibniz Minis Choco?

Although boxes of Pepero are always displayed beside Japanese cousin Pocky, I’ve never been compelled to give one a try. So why this change now? Well, there was a little white sticker at the front of a the box that read $1.20. I had to do a triple take – the cheapest fancy Pocky is $2.40.

The design of the box feels a bit old, not helped by the unsavoury shade of green. Inside this box is a matte foil, again in the same verdant shade. We know that pictures on boxes are usually poor approximation of what to expect inside but these gnarled chocolate and almond dipped sticks are true to its packaging.

The biscuit sticks are a touch thicker than Pocky’s. I had two boxes of Pepero Almond and the second box has slightly bitter biscuit sticks, like they were left in the oven a few minutes too long. The chocolate and almond are consistently…okay. There’s a good balance of not too sweet chocolate and crunchy, very nicely-roasted almonds. But is it better than Pocky? Maybe. If you don’t like your chocolate too sweet, you might like Pepero better than Pocky.

All in all, this is a good, cheap snack. The only complaint I have is that there are only 10 sticks in a box. Compare this to the 25 sticks in a chocolate Pocky and suddenly you realise why these tasty sticks are so cheap. Grrr!

A good alternative to Pocky, Pepero will appeal to those who prefer their chocolate not too sweet.