Crabsticks and Fish Fingers

I love night snacks. Who doesn't? They are an integral part of university life, more so in the days running up to the exams, when they provide an extra source of energy and comfort. One popular hot snack is instant noodles, which are quick to prepare and consume. One of the problems, however is coming up with extra stuff to go with the noodles which are just as quick and convenient to prepare.

So Friday night I was on my way back on foot from the first night at the Proms when I realised that I would probably need to eat something to make up for my lack of eating anything substantial prior to the concert. Obviously instant noodles was going to be one of them. Since I was passing the local Sainsbury's on the way back, I thought I would revisit a couple of university memories.

When I was still rooming with my excellent roommate, we ate instant noodles quite a bit. My poison of choice to go with my noodles was the fish fingers. I discovered something similar in my first year - Tesco Value Fish Fingers, and bought them regularly, since they were only 19p per pack. Sadly, Tesco stopped stocking these a while ago, and Sainsbury's raised the price of their Basics Fish Fingers from 39p to 47p.



My roommate meanwhile had the crabsticks regularly. These were cheap and filling, and did their job well. Note that in the UK people usually call them seafood sticks, since technically they aren't actually made of crab, but of surimi.


Overall, a very pleasant meal, with nothing to complain about. The smell of the crabsticks may initially be a bit overpowering, but it's crabsticks, what do you expect? It helps that I'm not actually having the Basics Instant Noodles. Several people I have spoken to have noted that those are really bad, and not worth the 10p per packet you pay for; you are far better off finding your favourite brand in Chinatown and buying either a few packets or an entire box, depending on how much of it you're planning to eat throughout your academic year. I will not bother trying to review the Basics Instant Noodles unless pressured to do so or if I can find the time and the gut to stomach it.

Description	Price per Unit	No. of servings	Trade-up Premium	Trade-up Benefits
Fish Fingers	£0.47 (£0.188/ 100g)	2-3 (10 fingers)	N/A; Taste the Difference is £1.99 for 6 fingers (+£0.365/ 100g), Standard ones are £2.99 for 20 fingers (+£0.309/ 100g)	Firmer texture, crispier crumb coating.
Seafood Sticks	£0.68	4	+£0.41	+11% surimi content, not much else.