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Kcal 560 Fat 38.1g Carbs 43.0g (per 100.0g)I couldn't possibly let a whole week go by without featuring some sort of Galler product on the site now could I? My poor postmen again had to struggle to my door this week carrying a heavy parcel, his back must be hurting what with all the chocolate samples I have received off Galler recently. Contained within my latest sampling selection, this Galler Inventive Amandes Grillees was yet another bar requested a review by ChocolateMission readers. The Galler Inventive range is a line of bars that come with a somewhat cheesy descriptor line of 'creative, generous chocolates, discover new sensations'. This Amandes Grillees is just one of the offerings, and came billed as 'nuggets of toasted almond coated in a mix of rich chocolate and dried fruits' - I was excited to see what it could offer.
The 'Inventive' range forms part of Galler's larger size chocolate bar offerings and came in a 100.0g form that I shared with a few of my other family members. Being their ever reliable selves, the packaging and presentation was all first class. The premium looking wrapper was supplemented by an additional cardboard piece and thick foil wrapper to ensure the chocolate stayed in immaculate condition. I hope you will agree looking at my photograph above that the chocolate cut an appetising look, with the white chocolate outer portioning contrastingly nicely with the much darker filling which contained an abundance of almond pieces. Aroma wise I was possibly expecting the nutty scents to be a little stronger, though I found it understandable that the chocolatey smells were not exactly the most forthcoming given the white chocolate constituents.
If you have peaked already at my rating and construction of the scoring chart, you will have noticed that there must have been something fundamentally wrong for the product to have scored so lowly. If I can quickly refer you back to the product description supplied on the wrapper - 'nuggets of toasted almond coated in a mix of rich chocolate and dried fruits', I think the majority of you would agree that it wouldn't have been wrong to expect a fruit and nut type experience with this chocolate. To the surprise of myself and every member of my family that tried this bar this wasn't to be the case at all. Starting off with what turned out to be one of the only positives to come out of the bar, the white chocolate outer coating was up to the usual high quality standards of Galler produce. It was balanced in it's sweetness and produced a delicious array of cream and vanilla flavours that created a very pleasant taste from the outset. Unfortunately what sat below was by no means up to par with what I have come to expect from Galler. The inner praline centre had a very forthcoming bitterness which I can only theorise was generated by the almonds. I understand the almonds were supposed to be toasted, but I think whoever in the factory was in charge of toasting them may have done so for to long, as they created an overriding plethora of burnt nut flavours. Unlike stated on the wrapper, the bar also didn't contain any dried fruit content, so there was nothing to detract attention from the unpleasantness created by the nuts. I'm sure that this chocolate was fine to eat, but neither myself or my family went back for more after sampling a few blocks each.
Overall this is the first post of it's kind - a review in which I use the words 'Galler' and 'deeply disappointed'. This Galler Incentive Amandes Grillees was simply not up to the usual standards that I have come to expect from this wonderful Belgian brand. The bar not only failed to deliver what it promised in regards to the lacking dried fruit content, but also it was still poor in the execution of what it did actually have to offer. The white chocolate as ever was very palatable and very much to my liking, however this bar fell down in all other aspects of the taste and texture test. The toasted almond nuts were burnt and not cooked properly which subsequently spoilt the taste. What also didn't help too much was the fact that the almond pieces were jagged and small in size, which meant that the mouth feel of the chocolate melting wasn't altogether that pleasant either. At the end of the day, the less probably said about this bar the better - there are way too many other Galler products for us to preoccupy ourselves with, just check the archives (See HERE).
5.6 out of 10
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30 comments:
Oh Jim just when you had us all thinking they were invincible you throw this in the mix lol.
I was thinking Galler were along the lines of hotel chocolat and were on top of their quality with everything they made. This disproves that by the looks of it.
Well that was a rather surprising rating! I peaked at it before reading the review and was keen to find out how this Galler bar aquired such a low score.
The picture looks rather appetising, though my first thougth was, that milk/dark chocolate would have been nicer, but that's just me not being such a fan of the white stuff. Also, the description with the dried fruits sounded really good! So I can understand your disappointment at finding the filling not only lacking in the fruits but also having a compeltely unpleasent taste. But I guess every company has some products that aren't as good as the rest of their range. And that's perfectly normal. Would only be a shame if that was the first bar one ever sampled of Galler and then was totally turned off...
Jim it looks so pretty how can it possibly taste as bad as you? I know its quite common for hazelnuts to come toasted but burning them is just careless if you ask me.
If that was really the case they should have never have made it in to the chocolate. What a shame.
Rxxx
Oh dear this is one I had actually contemplated buying from them before. I'm so glad I didn't now, they must had made a whole dodgy batch, this can't of just been an isolated incident in one bar.
Interestingly enough if you look on the website now they say they have stopped making this bar now. I wonder if its because they got complaints?
Excellent review Jim. You write about products you don't like just as expertly as the ones you do. Your reasons for not liking this are chocolate are pretty clear and justified by the sounds of things.
The chocolate still looks really nice in your photo. Lol I wouldn't have expected it to taste as bad as it did from your snap.
It's bars like this one that make me worried about spending loads of money on chocolate. Say you bought this, you would have to pay a lot of money for something that is going to really disappoint you. At the end of matters you are better off just paying less for something you know will be consistently nice, like a galaxy bar or something. Sorry if that sounds boring.
Great review Jim. I didn't see such a low score coming from Galler. I was shocked by what you said in your end paragraph. I wasn't expecting that at all.
Toasted hazelnuts are cool but I can do without them being burnt thank you very much.
You would of thought a company like this would have stringent quality control checks in place. Obviously not judging by the bar you tried here. Thanks for the review.
Wow it's a real shame to see this bomb out so hard, it was one I was thinking was going to be really nice. One thing we can take from it that is a positive is that they make good white chocolate by the looks of it.
It hasn't put me of trying that lovely sounding manon chocolate. Mmmm I can't look at that review without licking my lips lol.
Dx
So you can criticise these people then? It's good to finally see you write a balanced and honest review for once. It was all getting a little boring and suspect you giving them 8s and 9s every time you reviewed a chocolate from Galler.
No no no. Why would you throw this at us Jim? Up until now I was convinced Galler were going to be the make of chocoaltes I was going to buy my mum for her birthday. Would you still advise I get her a ballontin of pralines? The last thing I want to do is give her a horrible box of chocolates that cost loads.
Overall this is the first post of it's kind - a review in which I use the words 'Galler' and 'deeply disappointed'. This Galler Incentive Amandes Grillees was simply not up to the usual standards that I have come to expect from this wonderful Belgian brand.
This was the first line I read (lol I always skip to end) I nearly spat out my tea lol. If they didn't score really highly for presentation they would have been right at the bottom of the barrel. Naughty Galler.
I've been eating chocolate bars all my life and never have I eaten one that I thought wasn't the quality it should have been. I've had plenty of crap chocolates before but those have always been rubbish, what I mean is I have never had one where the manufacturing is at a fault. Would you reconsider reviewing this again?
You wouldn't have expected this from such a high quality company. I would have been extremely annoyed if I had paid for this.
Did you complain to them? Its unacceptable.
I had a similar occurance once with a Lindt bar I think it was. The nuts inside weren't roasted or anything but they were just really soft and obviously way past their best.
I sent off the chocolate with a letter to them but I never heard anything back from them. I have bought Lindt since but I have never bought a bar with nuts in it again from them.
Every brand has it's dodgy bars this just goes to prove that even more. It's an over reaction if people are are going to be put off buying anything from Galler just because Jim gets one bad chocolate bar. Get realistic peeps!!!! There must be millions of consumer complaints about nestle and mars each day.
At first I thought you rated it badly because it was white chocolate ;) I swear you don't like it as much as you say you do.
Not having the dried fruit in there must have sucked. Perhaps it got lost in translation or something? I assume english isn't the first language they put on there.
Thanks for the honest review. I will avoid this one now I think :-)
Lol I was well shocked by the score, I read the review extra carefully today to find out why it was so bad.
You got to be paying upwards of £3 for this right? I would be so peeved if I had bought this. I would get on the phone and ring them to tell them about it.
As bad as any chocolate is I would never throw it away. That is just wasteful, I'm sure you must have known someone that would have liked it?
Did you not give any away to friends to make sure it wasn't your palette playing up?
Jim you've always said that every range has its bad bars. It was inevitable really that you were eventually going to come across a poorer than normal chocolate of theirs. You have had the same with the likes of thorntons and hotel chocolate before.
Do you think there is a chance this bar was actually ok but you just didn't like it as much as the others so it seemed worse? I'm not saying you are lieing or anything. It's just a thought?
Out of interest what was your justification for some giving it such a low score for texture? I've read your review a number of times and you don't appear to make any reference to anything about there being any issues with that. Apologies if I have missed anything.
Well you were always going to find one of their chocolates that you didn't like. It wouldn't be relalistic if you didn't, lol some of us might start thinking this was all a little suspect and that you might be an undercover Galler reporter lol.
It's a shame but these things happen.
Surprise surprise, Galler make a dud chocolate bar. I guess every company has one. I agree about the description, it does sound cheesy. And the name "Inventive range" is a bit pretentious considering it doesn't even have the dried fruit it advertises, lol.
Hey at least people can't accuse you of being being in bed with Galler now ;)
@Joel - Jim says "the almond pieces were jagged and small in size, which meant that the mouth feel of the chocolate melting wasn't altogether that pleasant either."
This is a shame I was expecting to find some nice jucy raisins or other fruits in the truffle bit lol it really is odd that they put it on the wrapper but not in the product. But I guess as everyone has said there are bound to be some not so good bars in every range, no manufacturer is perfect afterall. It looks very nice though.
@Joel - I think the low score for texture is perhaps down to lack of the fruit but also the jagged nut pieces that Jim didnt like the feel of very much. I have to agree when I get chocs with nuts in like that they do spoil the texture somewhat.
I hope they gave you a refund for this one. It doesn't sound satisfactory in the slightest I would be most displeased if I had bought something like this.
I haven't ever bought a chocolate bar before that hasn't been what I expected it to be. By that I mean I have haven't ever had a dodgily made one or anything. You must have just been unlucky by the sounds of it.
Maybe the inventive part was to burn the nuts instead of toast them :)
This doesn't sound nice at all. I would never have bought it in the first place tbh.
how disappointing, this bar looked so good.
Hi All,
There have been some really interesting comments today on what was a very interesting review to have to write. Suffice to say this wasn't up to the usual standard from Galler, I certainly wouldn't let you off trying any of their other products though. As you will have seen they have mostly been absolutely terrific.
David / Phil / Mark / Lauren / Alan RE: 'Every range having its duff ones'
Indeed this is true of almost every brand you can think of. If you look at any of the brands on this website where I have checked out a decent amount of products you will have see I have always come across something of their's that I don't like. That saying is very true.
Anne - RE: 'Lack of dried fruit'
To be honest this was the thing that disappointed me the most out of everything. I always find it tremendously disappointing when things are promised yet not delivered on. Especially when the initial idea is so good - dried fruit pieces would have been excellent.
Rachel / Golden - Re: 'Quality control
Every company is going to have some sort of measures in place. Like you say it's surprising that this one slipped through the net ... surprising but not unbelievable I guess.
Golden - Re: 'This bar is now removed from the website'
I hadn't see that. That's an interesting spot you have made there. There might have been complaints.
Richard - Re: ' At the end of matters you are better off just paying less for something you know will be consistently nice'
Life would be tremendously boring if we never tried new things chap.
Alex - Re'It's good to finally see you write a balanced and honest review for once'
Excuse me! If you have nothing nice to say please refrain from saying anything at all. All my reviews are my own opinion.
Francesca - Re: 'Would you still advise I get her a ballontin of pralines?'
In a word 'YES!' if she likes pralines she will love that box.
Chris - RE: 'Would you reconsider reviewing this again?
Possibly if someone told me that it was a lot better than what I reviewed here. It doesn't seem like this would be a possibility anyway now it's been discontinued.
Paul / Gary / Sally - Re: 'Did you complain to them?/Did you get your money back?'
Haha no! I can't complain or get my money back on a free sample.
Karen - Re: 'Not having the dried fruit in there must have sucked. Perhaps it got lost in translation or something?'
Or perhaps they just never meant to include it in the first place!? I would be interested to hear what Galler have to say about it.
Lucy - Re: 'Did you not give any away to friends to make sure it wasn't your palette playing up?'
As I said in the review I tried it with my family and they thought similarly to myself.
Joel - Re: 'Out of interest what was your justification for some giving it such a low score for texture?'
I believe Alan and Phil have drawn your attention to this :D
Phil - Re: 'the name "Inventive range" is a bit pretentious'
It is a bit isn't it. Thanks for pointing Joel in the right direction. Its good to see some people read the review haha!
Alan - Re: 'I was expecting to find some nice jucy raisins or other fruits in the truffle bit '
Haha you and me both chap! It was very disappointing to not find them in there. You are very correct about the small, jaggedy nuts. I tend to find they irritate the top of my mouth, you know me, I always prefer them chunkier.
Thanks for the comments today again everyone. Like you guys have noticed this wasn't up to standard from Galler. It's probably a wise decision of there's to take it out of their range until they can ammend the recipe. I'm running a competition for some Ritter chocolate on Twitter ... be sure to enter now!
JIM
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