What's this? Pasta in a cup?

Wandering aimlessly into poundland, I decided it was time to review their food. 3 sachets of Mug Shot Pasta for a pound. It has to be worth it. It was a chilly day, and what better way of warming yourself up is there than to have a cup of pasta. Of course, it isn't all fun and games yet. I still have to cook it, however easy it might be. For those of you that don't cook, don't worry, as you get a free cooking lecture on the back of the sachet. I guess I should run you through the instructions, however.

How to make it?

"Creamy cheese" - one of many souvenir cups Mug Shot make

Thankfully, the instructions were set out on the back quite clearly in a step by step format. There were only 6 simple steps. First of all, you are asked to empty the sachet into a standard size mug. Already, they seem to be admitting there isn't much in the sachet. The mixture looks like your average cuppa soup, but with pasta in it, and once opened, you get a strong cheesy whiff, not disimilar to very cheesy crisps. Secondly, you are posed the task of filling the cup 15mm from the brim with boiling water. So i get my ruler ou... haha, only kidding!!! Anyway, this is not the time for joking. There is actually a decent amount of pasta in the packet and I have no complaints about the amount you get for 33p. The third step involves you stirring thouroughly. At this stage, the mixture starts to thicken and it actually looks pretty decent. After allowing the pasta to stand for 5 minutes, as step 4 suggests, and i say "suggests" because they probably are just suggestions, i get back to stirring it again. This was step 6. I decided to leave step 5 out because it was a completely pointless step that no one buying sachets of fucking pasta would do - "Top up if a thinner sauce is required". Required for what? Your fancyfuck dinner you're making for your family? I bet you were even telling them that you made it all yourself. Judging by how it tastes, they'd probably laugh at your chef skills...

How edible is it?

It doesn't taste wonderful. What did you expect? It's edible and still worth the pound for 3 sachets, but it's a fairly boring cheese flavour and the sauce runs out after a while, leaving a lot of pasta. With my first sachet, I found that the pasta never really got soft. It was still quite crispy even when i got to the bottom of the cup. Having reached the bottom, and deciding I didn't want to go through that experience again, I decided I may as well take this opportunity to try out the 3 sachets in 3 different environments. From that, I could answer the questions "Is it more enjoyable in different environments?", "Do you learn to love the taste?" and perhaps "Does the pasta go soft on most occasions or does it not do that?"

Environment 1 - Sitting on the sofa in the living room with the tv on

I have already detailed what my experience was like with my first sachet. The television being on did little to improve the experience, but it probably did distract me from the crispy pasta and knowing I had 2 more to go at some point slightly more than it could have if the television wasn't on.

Environment 2 - Walking about I think, but I can't remember where

I'm really sorry. But what I do remember is that the pasta was soft this time, which is a good thing. I may have left it standing less than 5 minutes the first time, which could explain the crispy pasta.

Environment 3 - A passenger in a car driving over a stony beach on an island off the coast

I do remember this one. I was making bonfires during the morning on an island off the coast. After a busy morning, I felt that being more hungry may improve the experience of "Mug Shot" pasta. It was a shitty wet day and I was going back onto the mainland to load logs off somewhere. There was an electric kettle back at the workhouse and it was a good opportunity to quickly boil some water and then miss out step 4 onwards. Surprisingly, the pasta was soft, but it was still as completely uninspiring as the other 2 cups. With numerous potholes and bumpy lanes, the pasta in the cup could have easily led to a chipped tooth or boiling cheese over my face, but it cooled down fairly quickly and I managed not to smash my teeth.

Are they worth £1?

Overall, the 3 sachets are definitely worth the pound you pay people! Taste-wise, it isn't great, but that's why there are better quality, more expensive pasta dishes out there. There wouldn't be any point having nutritious, tasty pasta dishes for lots of money and then similarly nutritious, tasty pasta dishes for less money. The important thing is that it is edible, and edible without any particularly nasty, lasting tastes. The pasta looks like pasta and the "cheese" flavour is pretty cheesy. How much you enjoy your cup probably does depend on which environment you are in, but the same goes for most things. And finally, what I can now say after 3 sachets, is that the pasta does go soft on most occasions. What more could you want from pasta in a mug, eh?