Nabisco Cream Sandwiches

Ritz? What's a Ritz?

The Attraction:
After finding the Ritz Custard Sandwich so delectable a few weeks ago, I figured this "sister" or "cousin" item (cause it's not a Ritz cracker), was worth tasting. I like lemon, I like Ritz crackers, this sounds like a slam dunk, I'm thinking. Let's find out...

The Review
Much like the Ritz Custard Sandwich, the Nabisco Lemon Pack Cream Sandwich comes in two neatly arranged rows of crackers, but unlike the Custard Sandwich, these aren't legit Ritz crackers because.......they aren't round! Shape aside, they are everything else a Ritz cracker is; crisp buttery cracker with signature bits of salt. They even have the same type of holes. Not sure why they decided to change the shape of the cracker and not use the Ritz name, but I suspect they may have a similar product in the market or they are not allowed to market Ritz crackers with lemon in them. All just speculation, but I can't image why else they would switch it up. OK, time to eat one of these suckers.

The first bite is no different than biting into a Ritz cracker, but about 2-3 chews in, the lemon cream hits your lounge and quickly transforms your normal Ritz cracker eating experience into a night out on the town. As like the Ritz Custard Sandwich, the sweet cream plays the perfect spoil to the cracker's salty constitution, with a lemony twist. These dang things are so good! Why don't they sell these in snack aisles everywhere?!

See the family resemblance?

The Sweet:
Nabisco does it again with this variation of their "not-Ritz" cracker sandwich snack. The sweet lemon cream flavor is a nice compliment to the saltiness of the cracker and throws a welcomed monkey wrench in what can be a very straight flavor. The cream with lemon flavor adds a complexity, not just taste-wise, but also textually. It also provides a nice cleansing finish on your palate to brace yourself for yet another lemon cream sandwich.

It's what on the inside that matters! (sometimes)

The Bitter:
Not much to complain about here. Just find a place that carries these babies and you are golden. I'm a fan of lemon-flavored cookies, so I wouldn't have mind a bit more lemon flavor, however that may have compromised that delicate balance between the saltiness and sweetness.

Conclusion:
There are many other lemon-cream flavored snack cookies / crackers on the market. What sets this product apart is that most other products partner up the cream with an already sweet cookie or a neutral flavored cracker. The addition of all those things that are a Ritz cracker, in a not Ritz shaped cracker sandwich gives it layers of flavors to keep you interested.

Now for the million dollar question; do I prefer the custard or the lemon variation? It's tough, they are very similar in flavor and textually they are identical. The lemon is fairly subtle, which makes it harder to distinguish from the custard variety.You can't go wrong with either one, but for me, it's custard by a nose.

Video of the Week
Do you like pizza? No, you think you like pizza. Dan Janssen, from Maryland, now he likes pizza. He likes it so much that he has almost been eating nothing else but pizza for the last 25 years. This clip is brought to you by the fun folks over at Vice.

"I wonder what I want for breakfast, lunch and dinner?"