Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Choco Meltz

I'll have to admit that I'm quite partial to the ITC Sunfeast's Dark Fantasy brand. While their other food products have fared an average, they've cracked it with Dark Fantasy. I've reviewed their Chocolate Cream biscuits and centre-filled cookies, Choco Fills, before, and I've bought them over and over. They recently launched a variation of Choco Fills called Choco Meltz and it immediately went into my shopping cart.

Basically, Choco Meltz are a richer version of Choco Fills, because these cookies have chocolate not just on the inside, but outside as well. It might be one of the first indigenous product, inspired by the famous Tim Tam format. Tim Tams are chocolate-coated cookies that relatives from the US/UK brought you during their annual visits. But Tim Tams are now easily available here too. More about that later.

Choco Meltz basically are the chocolatiest biscuits there can be and are quite awesome. And here's what you do to make them awesome-er. Dunk them in hot chai or coffee to let the top layer of chocolate melt a little and go mmm...But frankly, it's a little overwhelming. As a product concept, I think I prefer Choco Fills to Choco Meltz, because the former has a crisp cookie shell that complements the filling. In the case of Choco Meltz, the outer coating of the chocolate dominates, and the inside filling is kinda lost. But hey, no one died of an occasional chocolate overdose, right?

A 120g pack costs INR 60 and has 6-7 individually packed cookies. Try it, I say.


RATING: 3.5/5

Sunfeast Dream Cream Bourbon biscuits

I've said this before and I'll say it again, ITC's Sunfeast is not the best of biscuit brands barring one or two exceptional products. ITC forayed into the biscuit market almost nine years ago with the brand Sunfeast and has since expanded to include pastas and instant noodles in their profile, but it might never catch up with the Nestles, Parles, and the Britannias of the world. Why? Because they've consistently made below par products like this one.

Sunfeast has replicated all popular biscuit types including Marie, Nice, and Bourbon. The Dream Cream Bournbon Delight is your typical chocolate cream sandwich biscuits with a sprinkling of sugar on the top layer.

As you can see, the amount of cream is quite meager and they don't look too good either. The taste is just as average. There's no reason why anyone would pick up a Dream Cream Bourbon over a Bourbon biscuit of some other brand, except maybe because they were the first things one saw on a supermarket shelf.

Sunfeast is probably worried about keeping the price on the lower side for affordability's sake, but the quality is compromised. At INR 12 for a 75 g pack, they are very easy on the pocket, and also perfectly forgettable.


RATING: 2.5/5

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Choco Fills

"Savour the taste of bliss as you bite into the new Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Choco Fills biscuit. The sun-baked rich crust enrobes the purest of smooth choco cream made to mesmerise your tastebuds..."

This copywriter for ITC Sunfeast's Dark Fantasy Choco Fills box really needs to take it easy. I know nothing about baking, but I find it hard to believe that these biscuits are left out in the sun to bake. That's what sun-baked means, right?

Although, a fan of Sunfeast's other Dark Fantasy product, I wasn't impressed with the Choco Fills. Perhaps I expected too much because everyone seems to be going gaga about it. While it is the first of its kind in the cookie/biscuit segment with a 'liquid' filling, the end result isn't anything to write home about.

I was disappointed mostly because the creamy chocolate filling inside isn't dark enough, and the cookie is sweet too, making the product a little cloying. However, it must be praised for the consistency, as the cookie is crunchy, and the filling perfectly creamy. The individual packaging for each piece helps maintain its freshness, though it may come across as wasteful to some.

A 75 g box costs INR 30 and has six biscuits in it, which makes it Rs. 5 per piece. Rather expensive for a biscuit, I say, but okay for an occasional treat.

RATING: 3/5

Sunfeast Dark Fantasy Chocolate

Because biscuits, especially chocolate cream biscuits, are forbidden to those that huff and puff about with weights in the gymnasium every morning, these are a staple in my larder. Between fitness and chocolate things, there's no question about who wins. So, carrying forth my streak of shamelessness into the New Year (resolutions be damned), I tucked into one of these with my morning chai. And mmm...

Sunfeast's Dark Fantasy Chocolate have got to be one of the best chocolate cream biscuits in the market. I'd even say they are better than the much-hyped Oreos. ITC has nailed it with this star product among its array of consumables manufactured under the Sunfeast banner. In fact, it inspired a host of similar products by competitive brands*. Before Dark Fantasy, most Sunfeast products I had tried were lame, despite Shah Rukh Khan crying hoarse about their goody-goodness.

These chocolate biscuits sandwiching the chocolate cream are quite divine. The biscuits are beautifully dark, and the cream wonderfully smooth. The degree of sweetness is just right and I'm obviously partial to them. The standard 96 g pack has about 6-7 biscuits and is priced at Rs. 25, which some might find a little steep. But what's 25 rupees to indulge your dark fantasies, I say? :)

Happy 2013, folks!

RATING: 4/5

*Britannia's Pure Magic