Thai Basil?

Lays Sweet Basil Flavor

After a couple of recent experiences with chips from overseas, I hesitated a bit before buying these. Still, your intrepid chip-taster must carry on!

I got them at Jungle Jim's (of course). From the packaging it looks like they were made for distribution in Thailand - the ingredients and product information is all in Thai, covered over with a sticker in English to meet US labeling laws.

Opening the package yielded an ... interesting ... smell ... that I couldn't quite identify. It wasn't the basil or chili pepper I would have expected from the picture on the front. I suppose it could be something like nam pla (fish sauce), but if so then it's not very fishy.

Just so you know, I also hesitated a bit before trying one.

They weren't bad, per se. They had a little bit of a bite that was closer to wasabi than chili, though it did have an afterburn. The taste was sweet, with a hint of Worcestershire sauce, which probably really is nam pla. I suppose there might be basil buried in there somewhere.

All in all it wasn't a bad experience, but it also wasn't one I'd be eager to repeat.

Rating: 3/5

Chip Dip Chip

Pringles French Onion Dip

This chip uncovered a generational gap when Celeste looked at the can and asked if French onions were different from American ones. I had to explain how back in the 70s it was a big thing to make dip by mixing powdered French onion soup mix into sour cream, and how that became something you could buy ready-made.

Which is all kind of weird now that I think back on it.

Anyway, the chips had a nice, onion-y smell and tasted exactly like French onion dip. Caramelized onions, sour cream, and chip all in one. It probably was nostalgia or something but I think I liked them a lot more than Celeste did.

Rating: 4/5

Feel the burn!

Pringles Jalapeño

With a couple exceptions I've been pretty impressed with the various flavors of Pringles, and this one turned out to be with the majority.

On opening the package I was greeted with a strong, but not unpleasant, vinegar scent similar to what you get with most salt & vinegar chips. That was promising, but I've learned that sometimes a good smell doesn't end up matched with a good taste, so I proceeded with caution.

The first chip had a good, recognizable jalapeño flavor mixed with vinegar - pickled peppers then, no problem. I like pickled jalapeños. There was also a mild amount of heat.  After the third or fourth chip I realized that the burn was steadily building. The jalapeño flavor was still there but zowie!

I kept eating them.

The level of heat never quite got to the point of painful and never overwhelmed the other flavors. This is one of those chips that I can easily scarf down the whole package.

Rating: 4/5

Chickened Out

Tayto Roast Chicken

Leaving the whole "Big" bag thing aside, Ireland, what the heck is wrong with you?

Way before I started keeping track of the potato chips I've tried, I got the chance to taste some of Walkers brand Roast Chicken chips. They were pretty impressive - it was exactly like eating a piece of crispy roast chicken skin, only vegan. That was kind of what I expected with these.

Well, that was dumb of me.

You know how people will often give kids the lower grade of stuff? It's understandable, really. Why give a 6-year-old a decent piece of steak if they're just going to smother it with ketchup? Kids will happily stuff down the cheap foil-wrapped novelty chocolate so why waste the money on a premium brand?  Tayto seems to have taken this approach with their customers.

I wasn't sure what the smell was when I opened the package, but it wasn't chicken. The chips didn't taste like chicken either.  It was only after eating a few that I figured it out. It was "chicken flavor" - the stuff in the little foil packet that comes with the ramen noodles. It tastes like chicken the same way that "banana" flavored candy tastes like bananas ... which is to say, not really.

Rating: 2/5