Lay's France Jambon Braise

I am so torn by this bag.

On one hand, I love the flavor of Ham. Ham chips will always and forever be some of my favorite chips.

However. I tried these on the same day I ate some Walkers. And it reminded me so strongly that Walkers makes some of the best damn chips around.
The texture of chips manufactured by Lay's France can not come close to the texture of Walkers. Not in any universe are they even neighbors!
France always makes thin, crumbly, flakey, overcooked, semi flavorless chips.... and once again we have that here in this bag.
Which is unfortunate, because the flavors from Lay's France are incredible. The Ham flavor is decadent and rich and meaty and sumptuous. But it is almost wasted on a lackluster potato chip.

Now, don't get me wrong, on it's own, the chip holds up and is a nice treat. But, when you are eating it, literally at the same time you are eating Walkers, the failures become overwhelmingly obvious.

Final Thoughts: If you are in France and you like these meaty flavors, please feel free to pick up a bag and eat it. Lord knows there are worse chips around. But, if you are looking for Potato quality, search elsewhere.
But, what do you think? Have you tried French Lay's? Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below.

Gotta Get At This: Lay's USA Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Popper Walmart Exclusive

Do you guys remember back when Lay's unveiled the "Do Us A Flavor" 10 Semi finalists. IDK, if yall remember me saying that this flavor sounded so good that it should be a permanent flavor... but I did and I guess Walmart felt similarly. Right now, as a tie in to the "Do Us A Flavor" competition (That's stupid and weird btw Lay's), you can find the "Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Popper" flavor exclusively at Walmart. I don't know how limited the run of it will be, but it is a bag being carried by Walmart outside of the competition, so it could stay a store exclusive. That's weird, but I think Walmart got a good deal. These are a sure fire seller regardless of what they taste like.

So... if you want to try these, climb over the mountain of homeless people outside and make your way down the stinky aisles of Walmart to hunt these down. Who knows how much longer you'll be able to.

Happy Hunting!

Lay's USA Everything Bagel

I caved guys. I caved.
Here is a bag of the Kettle Cooked "Everything Bagel" flavor from Lay's USAs current "Do Us A Flavor" competition.
In the lead up to trying it, it didn't sound very good. I imagined heavy cream cheese flavor (like a "sour cream & onion" bag) and minimal "everything bagel" flavor. I was wondering how they could replicate the unique potency of poppy seeds and all the other treasures on an everything bagel... well, now we know.
First of all, I was shocked by how mild the cream cheese flavor was. I could almost go out on a limb and say they could have added more; but I don't want to nit-pick. It was very tasty, just enough cream cheese flavor to compliment the garlic, onion, AND.... poppy seed... real... poppy seed!
What shook me the most about this bag was how strong that flavor of "Everything Bagel" really was. When I gave the chips a better look, I noticed they were actually covered in REAL poppy seeds. I didn't think Lay's would pull off that move... but they did; and it pays off big time with this bag. It lends an incredibly authentic flavor to what they were trying to accomplish with this bag. The bag really tastes like an Everything bagel.
Lastly, I just want to touch on the fact that the Kettle Cooked chips used to be my favorite cook on chips from Lay's USA... but today I consider it hit or miss. These fell somewhere in between. I can't say I loved the texture. But, they were cooked, not burnt, and tasted very fresh, so, It was just the texture that I didn't care for as much as the seasoning.

Anyways, let me know... have you guys tried these? Have you tried the competition yet? What did you think? Did they surprise you like they surprised me?

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Canada Sizzlin’ Szechuan and Paprika & Sweet Onion

We get it Lay's Canada! You watch Rick & Morty!
(Canada is so cool you guys)

Look at that! Capitalizing on the WAVE of Szechuan Sauce fans coming out, here is Lay's Canada's new "Sizzlin' Szechuan" and "Paprika & Sweet Onion". The two flavors are very bold in contrast to the rest of Canada's range... but I find that exciting!
I tried the US's "Chinese Szechuan" offering last year and it was good... it tasted JUST like Chinese takeout, so, I'd give the Canadian version a chance. As for "Paprika & Sweet Onion" I love Paprika the spice... put it on anything for me... this sounds like a WIN.

Anyways, these are available now, possibly for a limited time, grab em, order em on ebay, do what you gotta do.

Happy Hunting everyone!

OK Here's Some Late News: Lay's Canada World Flavourites & Chalet Sauce

These came out last year, I missed them, I know I did... but THANKFULLY, none were truly original flavors.
The flavors were part of Lay's Canada's "World Flavourites" (get it, like, Favorites?) a promotion that ran last Summer in Canada. The Thai inspired flavor is "Thai Sweet Chili", which is a favorite of mine when Walkers in the UK makes it. The Canadian inspired flavor is from Lay's Canada's 2014 "Do Us A Flavour" competition... it is the "Bacon Poutine" flavor. And The UK inspired flavor is "Cheese & Onion"... one of the classic Walkers UK flavors... I think this tastes like "In & Out" a local fast food chain here in California, it's an awesome flavor combo. Sooooo.... sorry for the outdated news, but the bags are still something cool to look at. I've never seen this packaging before from Lay's and I really like it. It blends the "Do Us A Flavor" packaging with a new look.

Secondly, there was a new Canadian release last Fall with the flavor "Swiss Chalet Chalet Sauce". The bags are exclusive to select Swiss Chalet restaurants in Canada. They emulate the flavor of the Chalet Sauce, a cult favorite since the sauce was developed in 1954. Apparently, these sold out SUPER fast, so Lay's ordered more. I'd guess you can still hunt these down if you were to call up a few Swiss Chalets.

That wraps it up for late news, there are also a pair of new flavors from Canada that just released, I'll give you the details about all that asap. Enjoy & happy hunting.

Contest: Lay's USA Do Us A Flavor 2017 Finalists

Well, it was a nice run America.
We tried to do some cool shit here. But then somehow we got a Cheeto for a President, and we got these 3 bags of dumpster garbage as our "Do Us A Flavor" Finalists.
I read about this in the book of Revelations, and I thought it was all a Metaphor. I was wrong. So wrong.

Look, Ima keep it 100 with yall. I'm not going to buy these for review. They all sound stupid and gross. If someone shares one with me, and I don't die of potato chip poisoning, I might discuss. But otherwise, I refuse to give Lay's USA my money here.

You can read my thoughts on these flavors in the last post I wrote about Lay's USA's Semi-finalists. I'm not going to reiterate how lackluster all of these sound. I will note that here in California, the only flavor I've heard anyone even debate tasting is the Crispy Taco flavor... which to me also seems like the only one of the 3 that might pack any sort of interesting flavor.

So, here are your finalists America. Enjoy the End of Days.

Lay's Spain Mix Jamon & Queso

Two Flavors in One!!
Here is a mix bag from Lay's Spain that combines "Jamon & Queso" aka "Spanish Ham & Cheese".
I think my bag was pretty Jamon heavy, but it was still pretty tasty. The Jamon chips taste a bit like Bacon & the Queso chips taste really lightly of cheese. Not Cheddar like in America, but generic cheese similar to swiss but not strong enough to say swiss. I don't know if this is typical of these bags, but I really thought almost all of mine were Ham chips. When I didn't get a Ham flavored one, the other chips seemed lightly flavored by comparison, so I can't really say this bag lived up to it's promises. BUT I really love the Jamon flavored chips from Spain, so that isn't really a complaint. I don't consider this a perfect bag but still edible and enjoyable.
Have you tried these mix bags from Spain before? Did anyone else have these imbalanced flavor problems? Let us know in the comments below!

Lay's USA Kettle Cooked Indian Tikka Masala

These chips are hilarious to me guys. They really are.
Look, I don't eat a lot of Tikka Masala okay. I don't eat much Indian food at all. I really hate/despise Cumin, and Indian Food seems to be rife with it. So, my point is, I don't know how representative of Tikka Masala these are.
BUT. If you are looking for a spicy bag of Kettle Cooked Chicken Top Ramen flavored chips... LOOK NO FURTHER!

These are TOP RAMEN flavored chips. Dead on. Yes they are spicy and smell of the devil's favorite spice: Cumin. BUT the flavor is exactly Chicken Top Ramen. But Spicy.

The chip quality is fine. USA makes a solid Kettle Chip. The seasoning is bright and gives the chips and orange glow. The chips look fine.

The dopeness in this bag is the seasoning. It is a magical secret.

I used to eat Top Ramen Chicken seasoning loose in the palm of my hand. OR break apart solid Ramen bricks and season those and eat them dry... I do NOT know if that is bad for you, I just know that I did it. And this seems like a better way to get your fix.

SO, if you just dont smell into the bag, these are AMAZING! lol.

What do you think? Have you tried these yet? Am I crazy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Contest: Lay's USA Do Us A Flavor Semi-finalists 2017

HEY FAM! Here are the 10 Semi Finalists for 2017s Do Us A Flavor USA Contest.
I'm not going to go too in depth on these because only 3 of these flavors will actually get manufactured and get sold in stores. In fact, the point of releasing 10 semi finalists is STUPID. It's just going to piss people off when a flavor that sounds good to them doesnt end up being made. AND the 3 finalist are going to be announced in less than 10 days from the announcement of these 10 flavors... SO this news is stupid. Period.

So, here we are, I'll give yall some short thoughts along the way.

So, we have "Crispy Tacos" and Kettle Cooked "Smoked Gouda & Honey"...

Crispy Tacos are gross knock offs of real, authentic tacos.

I feel like these would taste like "El Paso" Taco seasoning thrown on chips.

I also didn't love the "Smoked Gouda & Chive" Limited Edition chips that came out 2 years ago. I couldn't identify the Smoked Gouda flavor... HOWEVER, my friends could.

Either way, I think a Cheese & Honey flavored chip actually sounds INCREDIBLE. So, I'd be excited for this bag.

Wavy "Fried Green Tomato" & Wavy "Avocado Toast"... These are 2 flavors that sound DOPE on a menu, then you think about them and it sounds BLEGH. In my mind, Fried Green Tomatoes are bland green tomatoes that have been fried. They need something else like a sauce to taste good. So this bag would be a snore.

"Avocado Toast" is delicious, but it's another plain taste. How does this get conveyed in a bag of chips? If it was guacamole toast, then I'd feel different, but... It just sounds in my mind like another snore.

These Two flavors sound INCREDIBLE. Wavy "Spinach Artichoke Dip" & "Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper".

"Spinach Artichoke Dip" seems like something that would taste great on a chip, mostly because its something that goes well on a chip in real life. I can see the seasoning being creamy and acidic and really tasty.

"Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Popper" is a sure fire win if they do it right. Lay's already makes great Bacon flavored chips, Jalapeño flavored chips, and cream cheese flavored chips. If they combine these 3 seasonings well I could see this becoming a permanent chip bag.

"Toasted Ravioli" & "Nashville Hot Chicken".

"Toasted Ravioli"? It could work, maybe. I think it would be like a tomato & cheese flavor combo... the chip will play the part of the pasta. Hmm. IDK.

"Nashville Hot Chicken"... sorry guys. I do not know what this tastes like in real life. Wikipedia says its a form of fried chicken that originates (obviously) from Nashville that is marinated in a water-based blend of seasoning; then floured, fried, and sauced using a paste that has been spiced with Cayenne pepper. (Oh, I'm allergic to Cayenne, I can't try these yall). Also, served often with Pickles.

It definitely can work in chip form. The previous "Fried Chicken & Waffles" pulled off Fried Chicken convincingly, AND bags like "Sriracha" have shown an uncanny ability to replicate types of Hot Sauce. Could be a big hit if they produce it.

The last 2 semi-finalists are "Sloppy Joe" and Kettle Cooked "Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese".

"Sloppy Joe flavoring actually could probably lend itself easily to chips. But, in the same way I felt "Crispy Tacos" could just be generic Taco seasoning. This bag could literally end up tasting like McCormick Sloppy Joe seasoning.

"Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese"? OKAY. SO. Cream Cheese. Just say that Lay's. "Cream Cheese" flavored Lay's. Sounds do-able, but weak for this contest. MEH.

So those are my quick thoughts on these... which ones do you think Lay's will choose? Which do you want to try? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Lay's Spain Gourmet Corte Fino

Mmm. These are fantastic!
These "Corte Fino" or "Fine(ly) Cut" chips from Lay's Spain are simplicity at it's finest. The chips are lightly salted and cooked in Sunflower oil which gives them a really delicate flavor.
They are thin cut, however they have a lot of crunch...i'd guess they are small batch or kettle cooked.
Unlike the Olive Oil cooked chips Lay's Spain offers, which I found to be a bit bitter and unpleasant... these chips offer similar distinct oil taste but with salt and without the bitterness. That Sunflower oil makes such a difference in taste and really elevates this from a simple bag of salted crisps.
There isn't really much more to say about these. They are SO simple, but SO addictive.
If you pass through Spain and can get your hands on these, I highly recommend them!

Lay's USA Lime & Sea Salt

OH HELLO BEAUTIFUL!
Look what we found in the wild guys! A Limited Time Flavor from Lay's USA! I found these "Lime & Sea Salt" Lay's when I was cruising Fremont Street in Las Vegas, NV. I had heard NOTHING about them, but that flavor looked DELICIOUS, especially in the 100 degree heat.
The potato is thin and has a nice light yellow color. The light cook on this chip really lent itself well to such a refreshing flavor. The flavor was VERY complex. There was a noticeable sweetness from the Lime but also a refreshing sour/ acidic taste. Sharing this bag with my friends, we all compared the bag to "Salt & Vinegar" but noticeably sweeter. The sour flavor is very clearly juicy Lime.  And the Salt is the perfect amount for this bag.
So it's this beautiful, even balance of Salt & Sour with a bit of refreshing sweet. I really LOVED this bag. It was really perfect for a day in the desert, lol.

I haven't heard a peep about these online, so I don't know how long they will be available. I would guess it's a Summer flavor. So, if this sounds like something you'd want to get a hold of, I would start looking now. If you can't find it in Supermarkets, I'd suggest checking liquor stores or gas stations. This is THEE Summer bag for fans of Lay's "Limon" or "Salt & Vinegar". Happy Hunting!

Lay's USA Poppables White Cheddar

What are Poppables you ask? Well, obviously they are "Perfectly Poppable Crispy Potato Bites"!
.
.
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WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?
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I'll tell yall the secret. These... are... potato... CHEX!

Thats also the whole review:
These are potato chex. YUM.

In all seriousness, these taste nothing like chips. They taste like potato chex, but that is not an awful thing. They are fun to munch on. I pretty much inhaled them. The texture is fun and makes them a bit addictive. The flavor didn't do much for me though. It was kind of like Ruffles Cheddar and Sour Cream flavor. Which I personally don't like. It was VERY rich tasting.
I actually think these would be BOMB in Cheetos flavored Cheddar. That just reminded me of the OLD school 3D Doritos... the texture is SUPER similar. But, back to these, the flavor was too much for me. The texture was the highlight of this bag. So, I'm interested in trying the second flavor in this collection... "Sea Salt" (although I don't know that that flavor is well suited to this shape either). I'd love to see it in more flavors.  If you are a fan of the Ruffles "Cheddar & Sour Cream", this is probably a great bag for you. It's a good party bag for sure, but not for me.

What do you think? Have you had poppables? Do you miss Doritos 3D? OR the lil Mini 3D Doritos? (aawww). Discuss in the comments below :)

Lay's France Cheese & Onion

Here is a flavor from France that felt familiar; "Cheese & Onion".
Opening that bag gives off that lovely scent you expect of Cheese & Onion, but as I've said many times before, the visuals in French Lay's leave much to be desired. The chips are overly bright yellow, they are thin and transparent, which often leads to a bag full of broken chips, most of which are burnt. However, the flavor was very nice. They tasted like Ruffles Cheddar from the US, but much more subdued. I wouldn't say the onion flavor was significant though. I could only find it at the tail end when I really racked my palette looking for it. There was a bit more when you ate more of the chips. But, again, fairly tame. I good bag for that person who loves Cheesy chips. Nothing too spectacular though.

Lay's France Chips a Ancienne Sabor Moutarde A l'Ancienne

Tried this exciting little bag from the "Ancienne" line in France. That means "Ancient" which I think is weird, but, we going with it. So, this flavor is "Ancient Mustard". The bag smelled of "Salt and Vinegar" Chips. As with all of France's chips, the texture is thin and bubbly, very transparent, with burnt edges, and brightly yellow colored. Not my favorite texture to be honest. The flavor on these was not very strong of potato (again, pretty common for France). They start of sour, then you get the Mustard flavor, but suddenly it's TOO much Mustard and begins to burn your palette. The flavor, is something I would describe as "pungent". It left me with a burning sensation on my tongue and a very unpleasant aftertaste. I don't know who I would recommend this bag to. Probably no one. Leave that Ancient funkyass Mustard in the past where it belongs. Aint no one want it here!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's USA Poppables

Lay's USA got some recent additions to their brand... "Poppables" in "Sea Salt" and "White Cheddar" hit the shelves back in February. I don't know what they are but Lay's describes them as "Perfectly Poppable Crispy Potato Bites"... super descriptive.
Anyways, do you wanna try a potato disc filled with air that will surely be discontinued before the end of the year? Tell us why in the comments below!

Gotta Get At This: Lay's Wavy Milk Chocolate Covered Potato Chips with Almond Bits

WHOA WHOA WHOA. Stop the presses!! I just stumbled upon this majestic beauty on FritoLay.com... upon further research it appears to be a THIRD Holiday flavor release from Lay's. If you don't know, Lay's have release Milk Chocolate Covered Wavy Chips every year for the last few years. They expanded the collection to include Dark Chocolate Covered Wavy Chips 2 years ago, and NOW it looks like they have done it again for 2016! The Chocolate Holiday line will now include a Milk Chocolate with Almond Bits variation. These are decadent and delicious to begin with, but adding Almond Bits is overkill in the best way possible!
These have a tendency to sell out rather quickly, although last year, they made it to the Target Clearance racks (PS They are a Target exclusive I believe). So, I would swoop on these quickly if you are a Sweet x Salty fan.
Happy Holiday Hunting folks!

Lay's USA Korean Barbecue

HEY GUYS! Here's another late review! You can't get these anymore BUT REALLY, I'm doing you a flavor by procrastinating, because these were mediocre at best.

To begin with "Korean Barbecue" tastes like HELLA Molasses Barbecue. It also could have been labeled Chicken Satay and we all woulda been fooled. It's tasty for sure, but I wouldn't call it Korean Barbecue. It was just kind of a basic, overly sweet BBQ. The molasses stood out pretty strong, and looking at the ingredients list, molasses was pretty high up on the list.

The chip quality was basic af too. The chips were riddled with grease bubbles, burnt edges, and a transparent, flaky texture. The potato flavor was decent, but suffered due to the chip texture.

SO, what did you miss out on? Not much. Of all the flavors in the Flavor Swap promotion, I think the major standout was the Habanero flavor. The rest; Smoked Gouda, Olive Oil & Herb, and this one, were just uninteresting.

Lay's Korea Classic

YO!
This tastes like plain salted Lay's yall!

I wish I could give this bag a solid review, but it is LEGIT the exact same thing as Lay's USA Classic.
That's a great thing though, as most other nations can't seem to get the basic Classic Salted flavoring right.
The potato quality is nothing to write home about, but they are far from bad.
I imagine that this bag is a welcome sight to a picky American eater traveling through Korea.


That's about it. Not too much to say.
No need to hunt this bag down, but if you need it in Korea, it'll be there for you. #LaysIsASecurityBlanket 

Lay's Spain Mix Pizza & Queso

This is the bomb! Take me back to Spain RIGHT NOW so I can get another bag!!
This is a bag from the Lay's Mix range, it features 2 flavors in 1 bag. Half the bag is filled with Pizza flavor, the other half with Cheese flavor.
Before we discuss flavor, I have to talk about how awesome the texture is on these chips. I ate them at the same time I ate a bag of chips from Lay's USA. The difference in chip quality was ASTOUNDING. While USA has a ton of greasy air bubbles and a flaky, transparent texture, these Spanish chips were smooth and evenly cooked. The potato flavor is rich and stands out on it's own (& while Lay's USA has done much to improve the quality of their chips recently, it's still not even comparable to the flavor in a bag like this).
Now, there are 2 flavors in here; the Cheese flavor is strong and reminded me of Jarlsberg. The Pizza flavor was more like a Tomato & Herb flavor. BUT together, it was almost scary how much it tasted like Pizza. A really cheesy pizza. It reminded me of those days as a child when I just wanted to go to a Pizza Parlor, play video games, and shovel cheese pizza in my face.
I can't complain about a single thing in this bag. The chips are well cooked, have loads of flavor, the seasoning is spot on and tasty af.
I'm a big fan of this bag, so book your flight & go get them! I hear Barcelona has some nice sights, you can probably see some cool stuff too!

Lay's USA Flavor All Stars 2016

Lay's USA is running another promotion to end out 2016; this time it's the return of 3 popular flavors from the last 3 years of various promos known as the "Flavor All-Stars". The 3 returning flavors are "Wavy Truffle Fries" aka "Wavy West Coast Truffle Fries" from 2015's Regionally themed "Do Us a Flavor" competition, "Smoked Gouda & Chive" from this years "Flavor Swap" promotion, and my personal favorite "Chicken &Waffles" from 2013's "Do Us a Flavor" competition.

I've reviewed all 3 of these bags here: Truffle Fries, Smoked Gouda & Chive, Chicken & Waffles

I'm pretty keen to get a few bags of "Chicken & Waffles", I absolutely loved that flavor. What about you? Excited to see an old favorite return? Let us know in the comments section below!