Having become the more or less official Magyar Microwave meal tester for Chew, I was thus faced with the obligation of trying the Tesco line of quickly-nukeable meals. I should make it clear at this point that I only sampled the meals that looked like I would enjoy them, instead of just grabbing them off the shelf. I actually had a Tesco Tuna-Pasta Bake in the UK once that left me feeling nauseous, so I wasn't about to sample the similar one over here. Nonetheless, I put myself through sampling most of the options available at the closest Tesco to me, (the one near the Pillangó utca metro stop), and discovered that while some are okay and some are mediocre, others are actually quite good.

First up for a trial was the Coconut Chicken with Rice, which in reality is basically a Chicken Korma, but with plain white rice and a non-creamy sauce. Tastewise, it's fairly good, even if the sauce is a bit runny and they skimp on the meat, although it was still better than some of the other ones I tried.

The next test was the Beef Paprika with Rice, which is arguably the most "Hungarian" of the meals, more or less trying to be a pörkölt. This one left me quite underwhelmed however, for despite promising the paprika, it didn't deliver. I know every house makes it differently and you are most likely to enjoy the kind you grew up on the best, but while not bad, it certainly wasn't good either.

The Cheese and Spinach Gnocchi, to be honest, looks kind of gross. This is especially so when the cream covered spinach hangs from your fork as you go in for a bite. But don't let that turn you off, as it's actually one of the best and most filling meals of the whole line.

The Spaghetti Carbonara in the picture above doesn't look all that enticing, nor was it. Describing it as a bland mush would be generous. While not as bad as this, don't even bother considering it as an option unless you feel like being penitent for something.

The Chicken and Pesto Farfalle was also one of the best options. I must admit, pesto is my kryptonite. If I was running to help children escape from a burning bus and someone shouted to me "Hey, try this pesto!," well, sorry kids. The pesto admittedly isn't close to the best I've had, but it's not bad at all, and the pasta retains its moisture quite well, not to mention they add enough sauce so that everything is covered in a creamy pesto sauce.

The Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice was okay, even if it did nothing to set itself apart from the other meals. The sauce was less runny than that with the coconut chicken meal. Otherwise, it was a fairly standard meal.

Somehow, the pictures for the Chicken and Olive with Penne and Chilli con Carne with Rice have gone AWOL. The Chicken and Olive Penne is fairly dry and uninspired, and not recommended, while the Chili is more or less comparable to Pick's Chili, in that it's alright if you need a quick fix, but it's not comparable to the stuff you can get from the States, or even the canned Tesco-brand stuff located a few aisles over in the "international food" section.

All of the meals are either Ft 449 or Ft 699 a pop, (€1.70 or €2.70), so it's not going to put much of a dent in your wallet. On the negative side of things, it's quite apparent that at least in terms of the chicken-based meals, the chicken breast pieces were added at the last minute, meaning that while it's there in your dish, it's soaked up none of the flavor that surrounds it. Also, they could add a bit more meat to the meals, which tend to have lots of sauce with only five or six pieces of chicken in them.

From a healthy eating perspective, the meals tend to be fairly low on calories and not too fatty, being between 400 and 600 calories per meal. On the other hand, these refrigerated meals have an in-fridge life of at least a week, and at least a couple said they would still be good two weeks after the date of purchase, thus leaving me to question the amount of preservatives they must contain.

So, in conclusion, if you manage to impress a date with one of these, you should seriously consider aiming higher on the social ladder. But if you can't be bothered to make a meal and want to eat something quick, some of these options are quite excellent, and the rest still better than just about any other microwave meals I've come across in Hungary.