What Chris says makes sense, however I have to disagree based on personal experience.
I have cycled while eating decent amounts of food and getting the extra calories/protein from shakes 3-4 times day, and I have cycled eating only huge amounts of food with a only a shake at bed time....my overall intake of protein/carbs/fat was about the same for both. The latter method of eating produced more substantial and more quality gains than the former, however I was actually using more AS (not too much more) with the former method of eating. All other variables (that I can perceive) were the same...
I can't help but deduce from this that real food is better than powder...I think many others on here will agree with this as well.