1 March 2012

Mr. Simms Orange Surprise (Mr Simms - Birmingham) [By @NLi10]

Just popping into sweetshops is a highly dangerous activity. Mr. Simms has the imported goods of a Cyber Candy or Selfridges (less range, cheaper prices) but also has its own range of what I could only describe as traditional sweets.

Oddly I'm not sure whether these are repackaged things made by lots of different other companies just for Mr. Simms, or they genuinely do have a Willy Wonka style factory somewhere. Research needed. Of these traditional things there are a few oddities that stand out and one of these is the bright orange 'chocolate' bars. These bars are made by Daniel's Delights Ltd.

When I was young enough to wear Christmas jumpers and not be able to reach the top of the Christmas tree we had some synthetic Tom & Jerry Christmas tree treats. These were advertised as chocolate but turned out to be fruity flavoured. I think I was the only person who genuinely enjoyed this odd combination so got to eat a lot more of these than normally would be possible and the flavour stuck in my brain. I have been convinced for some years that they were a raspberry blue choc and maybe an orange one too. This large bar is maybe the closest that I've come to replicating the strange taste sensation (probably due to stricter rules around the chemicals you can put in food!).

The colour is more pumpkin than Orange and it's not as bright in colour of flavour as you'd expect but this means it's far more palatable. The smell is reminiscent of the old Christmas tree treats and the 28% cocoa butter means that it melts just enough to be chocolaty in texture. The flavour is good, and I tend to eat it by the row instead of by the cube as with the 80% dark chocs that I love. It's nowhere near as sickly as a Milkybar and would probably be amazing if used to decorate cakes etc. as it wouldn't overpower the baking.

I'm not sure I'd buy the bar again - they also do 'buttons' which are a lot more snack friendly and fit in my coat pockets. I tend to go in every-time I go past as they sell some lovely red liquorice sticks that are pre bagged and so soft and fresh compared to the stuff you usually get so I'm sure I can bring out some more treats from this most traditional of UK shops.
By NLi10


Anonymous said...


I'm quite regular at the Mr Simms in Oxford; and i get samples to try, and later to give them my feedback.

Mr Simms works on a franchise system; and they have different prosducers making their stuff for them. I know a few of them; but i cna't put this info up here.

Needless to say: the orange surprise was horrible. I agree with you. Even worse than a Terry's orange.

They are releasing a new Coke bar soon. That one; was utterly artificial and repugnant to "chocolate".

Richie said...

Ha, what a coincidence, i looked in a Mr Simms yesterday after discovering they now stock some american stuff and this bar caught my eye on the other side of the store, needless to say despite my interest the unnatural orange colour just make me think too many E numbers and I avoided it, so it's good to have a review.