I finally bit the bullet and decided to try the Juicy Marbles filet that I have seen people praising online. It is supposedly the best meat alternative on the market at the moment, and when I saw the price of £9, I assumed that it absolutely must be the best for that price. I held off though for quite a while due to the price, however it recently went on sale at my local shop for £7 and I finally just took the leap.
And unfortunately I do not get the hype. Yes, it does look very realistic. Whilst cooking it definitely has a lot of juices, and the red colouring (which I believe is the beetroot juice listed in the ingredients) does give it that very ‘meaty’ appearance. It also had a similar texture, both pre and post cooking: It was slightly bouncy when first out of the packet, and even after it is cooked it has a very flaky texture that means it pulls apart. I know that a sign of a good meat steak is that you don’t need to use a knife, and I would say the same is true for this, in that you could pull it apart with just your fork if you wanted to.
That being said, whilst it looks very impressive for a meat product, it doesn’t taste as such. I personally thought it tasted very much like the Vivera steak pieces. Which isn’t a bad thing, because I really enjoy the Vivera products, but when you pay £9 for something you do expect something ground breaking. It has quite a smoky taste to it, but the beetroot does add a very slight sweet tang to it. I had this for the first time completely plain, so I didn’t add any sauces to it, so it is possible that if you made a traditional steak sauce – maybe like a peppercorn or mushroom sauce – then perhaps that might elevate the taste. But I still think that if I am paying £9 for a food product, if it needs something else added to it to make it taste great then it should include that product with the base product too. So if this does taste better with a sauce, the packet should include that.
I am also a bit disappointed with how small the filet actually is. Now macro wise it is amazing: 18g of protein for 156 calories per filet. Which is insane macros. But then again…156 calories?? For a main meal?? For £9?? Absolutely not. I had my filet with some thick cut chips and sweetcorn, and in all honesty I was still pretty hungry afterwards. I think the majority of the calories in that meal came from the chips. Which again, for £9, is absolutely not worth it as a regular main meal in my opinion.
I have spoken about the price throughout this because it is very much the most expensive option on the market. Even the Beyond Meat burgers are £5 for a pack of 2, whilst these Juicy Marbles filets are £9 for two and I really do not think you get enough substance for that price tag. It also tastes very similar to the Vivera products, and their steaks are £2.50 for 2. It’s not really much of a competition.
Taylor Talks Vegan 