Let's cut to the chase here.

"Crisp Asian-inspired vegetables, long grain rice and marinated chicken pieces in a deliciously rich honey soy sauce"

Bla bla ... something about how can vegetables be inspired... bla bla... asia is a big place... bla bla bla bla... like saying "white man food"... bla bla bla... 

Cooking time 5 minutes. Detecting a pattern yet? I can't describe what it looks like because the meal is cooked inside the opaque bag. Probably for the best, then.

 

Ah Wattie's. The king of frozen meals (in New Zealand at least) ... unless I'm missing out on something. I happily admit that they are the yardstick against which I measure all other microwave meals. Truly masters of their craft - especially compared to Dakshin's. Speaking of which, my flatmate ate my microwave Dakshin's Thai Green Curry with Chicken the other day.. He said it was one of the worst things he had ever eaten, but that surprisingly the peas and the rice were ok. The chicken was like shredded jellymeat, and it smelt like someone had drank a litre of coconut milk and then thrown it up again. I won't be reviewing that one, ever.

Anyways, where was I. Oh, wait a second. The law has come into force - no customers for 45 minutes until the very moment I sit down to enjoy my meal. You know what, I don't care I'm going to continue eating and reviewing. 

The rice is delicious, cooking in the bag steamed it to perfection and the honey soy sauce has permeated each grain so that it bursts with flavour every bite. The carrots, baby corn and broccoli taste fairly fresh and again are cooked to my liking and infused with flavour. The sauce itself is bombastic and rich, fairly generic flavours but it does the job well. This is the first microwave meal I've had where the chicken was actually tender, but Wattie's are humble enough to not proclaim such on the packaging. My only gripe is that some of the chicken pieces have a little fat on them, or veins. 

As far as microwave foods go, this is the cream of the crop. The cooking process results in a nicely steamed dish with the tasty sauce permeating the rest of the ingredients. Well done Wattie's, you have the approval of an anonymous unpopular food-blogger who knows next to nothing of food critiquing or fine cuisine.

Final Verdict:

As a microwave meal : 9/10

As an actual meal: 6/10