We Try M & S The Big Daddy Pistachio ........

OMG, look what we managed to get our little mits on in our quest to find the best budget Dubai Chocolate, only the M & S Big Daddy version (£8.50 - 280g, so pushing Darrell's household spreadsheet to the max, truth be told). 

We thought there might be a scramble in the aisles if we went in store in person, so we took a gamble and ordered it from Ocado, no substitutions or anything, we got the real deal!  

Let's just say the box was filled from end to end, no disappointingly small bar within as we have often found with some other confectionary products.  

However, the bar itself wasn't wrapped in cellophane or foil which surprised us, we were straight into it.

I don't think the size disappointed, especially as this was (we hoped) an extra special and tres indulgent treat.

Our Ocado gentleman must have stored it in the chiller section of his van as it was quite hard to cut into, but once we gave it time to rest and reach room temperature, oh wow......

...... can you believe it?  But how, did I hear you ask, did it taste?

Absolutely, flipping lovely, but we think it was the gooey, soft caramel that did it for us!  We had to account for this being M & S's version of Dubai chocolate, so it's not an exact copy, hence the caramel!  Although it doesn't have any kataifi in it, there is still a crunch (not sure what that is), but we have to say, we much preferred the small pistachio pieces much better instead.  The pistachio creme was as expected, if a little firmer in texture, to counter act the soft caramel perhaps? There is also a hint of saltiness which was a pleasant and acceptable surprise.  

Soooooooo, how shall we put it? M & S dun gud, Big Daddy is certainly a very inspired and unusual confection.  We liked it, we liked it a lot and we shall certainly indulge again as a treat of a luxurious type nature, to be eaten, very slowly and quietly savoured.  We are also now wondering if M & S do a soft caramel bar of some sort, as it was really the caramel that truly pulled it all together.

It's going to be hard to top this one, so we are going to relax our search for the next Dubai Chocolate for a while, as we think prices after this might get a bit silly.  Instead, Darrell fancies getting his hands on some of the also trending pistachio spread, if he does, rest assured, you'll all be the first to know!