Here we are, with the third in my series of four oddly-named candy bars (that is, the Oh Henry!, Look!, 5th Avenue, and U-No).
In 1936 it seemed a great idea to William Luden (of cough-drop fame) to name a food after a street in New York City. Now, sure, linking your candy bar to arguably the wealthiest bit of real estate in the world might seem to be a good move to give your candy some cachet, but present-day maker Hershey should remember this: it also sets high expectations. (Yes, I know there’s a 5th Avenue in Reading, PA, where this bar was made, but don’t tell me they weren’t trying to associate their bar with the famous Manhattan boulevard.)
When you open this big bar (2 oz, 56g), you immediately smell the peanuts. Hershey’s label describes the bar as “crunchy peanut butter in a rich, chocolately coating.†Notice, they didn’t say a chocolate coating. We know what this means, unfortunately. Yup, it’s mockolate.
Still, maybe this candy tastes good anyway. Is it, for example, better than a Butterfinger?
Oh yeah it’s better than a Butterfinger! (However, you should know my feelings about Butterfingers before you think I’m paying the 5th Avenue a big compliment.)
The 5th Avenue has a single interior layer that’s crumbly, lightly crunchy, peanutty, and very sweet. Unlike a Butterfinger, the filling doesn’t gum up your teeth, and it has a better peanut flavor. Although the chocolate coating isn’t as waxy and terrible as Butterfinger’s, the 5th Avenue’s coating doesn’t win any prizes from me, either. It just barely tastes of cocoa at all (it’s the 8th ingredient), and it comes across more or less like a brown-colored blast of corn syrup.
Like the Look! candy bar I reviewed recently, the 5th Avenue has molasses, but here I could hardly taste it. The peanut butter of this bar is okay, but doesn’t taste very fresh or especially tasty. Like most cheap candy bars, the flavors aren’t very distinct or interesting. This bar loads on the fat and sugar, with the other ingredients sort of feeling like a smudge on your palate.
Still, this bar isn’t disastrous. I do like the texture, and it is… better than a Butterfinger. But that’s kinda like saying that your harmless boring uncle is better than your nasty grandfather.
But unlike your family, you get to pick your candy. I’ll have to keep looking for a good peanutty chocolate bar. Clark bar, maybe? Before I try one, though, I’m finishing my series of oddly-named retro candy bars with a U-No. U-Yes!
Buy 5th Avenue Online:
- at Old Time Candy
- at Amazon.com
I wonder if the lack of comments on this post means that not too many people are feelin’ the love for the 5th Avenue. I’m definitely in agreement with your review of them. They aren’t terrible, but why eat them when there are so many other tasty candy bars on the market? Clark bars are my chocolate and crunchy peanut butter bar of choice. They’re much better than 5th Avenues and Butterfingers.
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:39 pmI actually am not a big peanut butter fan but I think I like the texture of the 5th Avenues. I just remember Butterfingers having the really hard peanut butter center while the 5th Avenue’s were more flakey, easier to bite into.
I’m surprised they’re mockolate! Doesn’t change how I feel about them but to each their own, great review!
January 7th, 2009 at 10:18 pm