New England Lobster Roll potato chips.
It was supposed to start out as a joke.
One of those snarky pieces I haven’t written in a while.
We were on our way to Maine and what better to pair with a lobster roll with Lay’s new “Tastes of America” lobster roll potato chips?
And it would give us an excuse to stop for lobster (and crab) rolls.
Research.
When I finally found a bag, it wasn’t in Maine, but on our way home in the next-to-last convenience store on the Mass Pike. Only slightly embarrassed to be seen with such a sacrilegious product, I covered it by buying another bag from the same series—bacon wrapped jalapeno popper flavor.
The woman behind the counter, who looked like she’d enjoyed a bag or two of chips many times over, was impressed with my purchases.
“I didn’t even know we had those. They look good. I’ll have to get some.”
So I played it straight.
“We were trying to find the lobster roll ones and the others looked good, so we thought we’d give them a try.”
The bacon wrapped jalapeno popper chips were wavy, which generally means they stay on the store shelves for me.
The package says they’re “Inspired by a Southwest favorite and now nationally loved, here’s a taste of jalapeno peppers, cream cheese and bacon. Let’s spice up snack time!”
They tasted like a version of a sour cream and onion flavored chip. We kept eating them, hoping for some heat from the jalapeno (slight) or bacon flavor (negligible). If they were in a bowl at a party, I doubt you’d say “wow, these are great jalapeno popper chips!”
Sadly (maybe, maybe not), the lobster roll chips suffered from the same problem. “Inspired by lobster shacks of the Northeast, here’s a taste of fresh lobster served on a buttery grilled roll. It’s wicked good!”
Wicked maybe. Wicked good, definitely not.
Like the missing bacon, the lobster roll chips lacked the taste of the main ingredient—lobster.
And like the other chips, this was just a different flavored sour cream chip, this time with a slight hint of pepper.
Maybe they think if it’s the lead flavor on the bag, your mind will assume that it tastes like lobster or bacon, but trust me, it didn’t.
If you’re craving a new flavor of chips, these might be worth a shot. If you’re craving the taste of a lobster roll, buy one. You won’t find it in chip form.
