BIJOU-REVIEW: Paldo – Crab Chips

Rating: ©©©-3/4 chips  (notable)

Do you like crab?

Do you like chips?

Do you think you would like crab flavored chips??

Well, for the most part, we here at Chip Review do not necessarily enjoy eating sea-food flavored chips.  We just don’t love the combination of chips, with the flavors of the sea, or sea creatures.

Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate when a company puts forth some chips that, despite our disgust with them, are impressively accurate.

Paldo’s Crab Chips taste like shrimp that have been sprinkled with a light dusting of sugar.  Their seafood essence is impressively spot on!

The chips themselves are of an unusual variety.  An odd puffed wheat creation.  Sort of like a cheese puff crossed with a Popchip.

Well, there you have it.  Anyone else out there tried them yet?  Thoughts?  As always we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree.  Let us know.

Crab Chips provided to Chip Review by MunchPak for review

Paldo Official Website

MunchPak Official Website

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REVIEW: Doritos Royal – Ahijo (Japan)

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

Doritos Royal = Rich Taste Tortilla Chips….. Okay, we can definitely buy into that!  Plus, we’re pretty sure that these chips are double fried.

As you may or may not know, we are slowly working our way through a variety of unique flavored Japanese Doritos and Cheetos from eBay.  So far we have reviewed: Doritos Black Pepper, and Tandoori Chicken flavors.  Next up, Doritos Royal Ahijo?!

Not sure what Ahijo is…?  Well, neither were we; so we did a little research.  Obviously the pic on the front of the bag looks like shrimp and clams, in some sort of soup or stew, and sprinkled with some herbs.  According to what we found on the world wide web, Ahijo = Garlic Seafood (not sure if this flavor is supposed to be a misspelled version of the popular Spanish dish Gambas al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)?  Either way, yes that’s right GARLIC SEAFOOD flavored Doritos!!  All together now “Ewwwwwwww!!!”

These are amazing!  Wait, that may have come out wrong.  These Doritos are amazing-ly spot on, 100%, seafood flavored tortilla chips!  We definitely taste shrimp or prawn.  There’s a touch of garlic in there.  Good splash of sea water, or seaweed. Really wow, we have not tasted very many seafood, fish, shellfish, etc. flavored chips, but we cannot deny that these are spot on!  However, due to said accuracy, there in lies the question “do you like garlic seafood flavor sprinkled on your corn tortilla chips?” Well, we here at Chip Review have come to the cohesive conclusion that we certainly do not like garlic seafood flavored tortilla chips!!  Maybe this flavor combination is simply too foreign to us, but in the end none of us actually enjoyed eating them.  If we were rating these chips solely on our taste preference then they would have received our worst possible rating, however due to their unique flavor accuracy we have bumped that rating up a bit.

Doritos Royal tortilla chips themselves are shaped just like the example on the front of the bag – sort of like a bell.  They are a tad thicker than our traditional U.S. Doritos, with a harder crunch.  No qualms with the chips themselves until they try to carry seafood seasoning into our mouths!!

Well, there you have it.  Anyone else out there tried them yet?  Thoughts?  As always we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree.  Let us know.

Chips purchased from market_tokyo on ebay.

Frito Lay – Doritos Japan Official Website

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BIJOU-REVIEW: GimMe Chips – Wasabi Seaweed Rice Chips

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

If you are looking for a more detailed description of who and what GimMe Chips are, then please see our original review of their Teriyaki flavored chips located right over here.

However, if you are simply looking for the quick and simple low down on these wasabi flavored seaweed rice chips, please continue reading.

Wasabi + seaweed + rice = winning flavor combination for a very long time.

However (you knew there was going to be a however), GimMe Chips wasabi flavored seaweed rice chips somehow in our opinion do not knock this one out of the park.

Plain and simple, the seaweed flavor is too prominent for our paletes, and dominates the usually powerful wasabi flavor.

It’s not that we don’t taste any wasabi, because we do; and it tastes like the same old burning nasal punch as it always does.  However, despite wasabi’s undeniably powerful presence, somehow the seaweed still steals the show (and like we’ve said before, we don’t love licking the bottom of the ocean!).

The chips themselves had a strong, hearty crunch, with a grainy mouth texture.

So, if you are a big fan of that seaweed ocean flavor, and you also like getting your sushi maki on, then you may very well like these chips and we suggest you give them a try for yourselves.

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review from Gimme Chips for review.

Gimme Chips Official Website

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REVIEW: GimMe Chips – Teriyaki Seaweed Rice Chips

Rating: ©©-3/4 chips  (tolerable)

According to the back of the bag to your left, GimMe Chips got their name for two reasons: 1) Gim is Korean for seaweed, and Korea is where GimMe Chips grows their seaweed.  Well, that makes perfect sense!  And, 2) GimMe Chips are so crunchelicious, everyone wants more!  Ummm, well, we may not necessarily entirely agree with reason #2.

So that’s right, we got roped into trying some more SEAWEED chips!! We were convinced by the unique flavor – TERIYAKI (don’t see that flavor every day!), and by the inclusion of rice in the chip base (meaning that there couldn’t possibly be enough actual seaweed used in the recipe to really taste that unmistakable ocean flavor, could there?!).

The answer to that question is: YES, there could be!  Once again the unmistakably prominent “ocean” flavor is front and center.  There is no denying that these are seaweed chips, and they do in fact taste like seaweed.  That being said, we found that if you get on a good crunching role, and just keep popping these into your mouth without breathing very much, than you can actually bypass much of that seaweed flavor; but, do note that the moment you pause for some air that unique ocean floor aftertaste creeps up the back of your palette, and gives you no choice but to think about it! If you like that flavor than these may be for you! We, on the other hand do not.

The rice and seaweed chip texture is pretty good. The chips are classic triangular cut, with a rough, dense crunch, and a grainy mouth texture. Let’s just put it this way, their texture sure seems healthy!!

Probably the best part of the chips was the Teriyaki seasoning. That classic flavor combination of tamari (sweet soy sauce), garlic, and onion is a proven winner, and it actually translates pretty well to chips! Certainly on the sweeter side of seasonings, but then again teriyaki means something like glazed – so sugar coated sounds about right.  Teriyaki is certainly not a popular snack flavor.  In fact, according to our Teriyaki flavor database, we have only tried one other Teriyaki flavored chip over the years.  We are thinking that more brands should give this flavor a shot!

In the end, we just haven’t connected, or been sold, on the seaweed chips yet.  Maybe the “ones” are still out there, but we’re not getting our hopes up!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review from Gimme Chips for review.

Gimme Chips Official Website

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REVIEW: Ocean’s Halo The Seaweed Chip – Texas BBQ

Rating: ©©© chips  (notable)

Yep, that’s right, we’ve decided to jump in and ‘swim against the tide’ again.  We are all about second chances, and figured what do we have to lose by giving Ocean’s Halo newer Texas BBQ flavor a try!  A while back we tasted and reviewed their Korean BBQ flavored chips and well, to put it lightly, we did not love them.

Once again the “fishy” flavor, or more accurately speaking, flavor of the ocean is prominent and unmistakable.  These are seaweed chips, and they taste like seaweed.  So, ask yourself: do you crave or enjoy those flavors of the ocean floor?  If your answer is ‘no’ then these chips may not be for you; but, that being said, even we, who don’t necessarily love those ocean flavors, liked these chips much more than the Korean BBQ ones.

Who would have known that Texas BBQ would mingle more naturally with seaweed than Korean BBQ?!  But, for one reason or another, the potently smoky, smooth tomato, and dash of heat flavor notes compliment the dark-blue-black, hard crisped seaweed chips.  The Ocean’s Halo Texas BBQ seasoning is very savory, and balanced with garlic, smoke, tomato and chile.  We quite enjoyed the seasoning.  Once again, it is a bit difficult to try and taste past the natural seaweed flavor of these chips, but overall everything just worked better this time!

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we appreciate brands that try to push the limits.  Brands that give us a healthier snacking alternative, and try very hard to deliver great taste.  As far as we know, these are one of a kind!  And delivering a completely unique chip on the market these days is an impressive feat.  They obviously do use seaweed in their chips, and it is quite amazing just how much sea flavor the chips retain even after the cooking process.  And lastly, seaweed is a plentiful, healthy and underutilized, and we value Ocean’s Halo’s attempt to deliver it to us in a new medium.  Are the chips for everyone, certainly not.  But, we’re guessing that there are plenty of people out there who love them for different reasons, and we’d be willing to say that we love them for their ingenuity and uniqueness!

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Chips provided to Chip Review from Ocean’s Halo for review.

Ocean’s Halo Official Website

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REVIEW: Ocean’s Halo The Seaweed Chip – Korean BBQ

Rating: ©-3/4 chips  (return to sender)

OK, we tried.  We tried our hardest to Swim against the tide as Ocean’s Halo tells us to on the back of their packaging; but, in the end, and truth be told, these Seaweed Chips simply had us backstroking – with the tide, in the opposite direct, as fast as we could!!!

Are you a fan of “fishy” flavored things?  Do you crave those flavors of the ocean floor?  Were you raised in a house on the coast, each morning waking to the scent of that cool ocean breeze?  If your answer to any of those questions is NO, then may we suggest you tread the flavor waters lightly before diving into a bag of these seaweed chips!

We are not fans of these chips (as you can probably tell by our rating of them).  But, we do really appreciate what Ocean’s Halo has given us here.  As far as we know, these are one of a kind!  A completely unique chip on the market these days is an impressive feat.  They obviously do use seaweed in their chips, and it is quite amazing just how much sea flavor the chips retain even after the cooking process.  And lastly, seaweed is a plentiful, healthy and underutilized, and we value Ocean’s Halo’s attempt to deliver it to us in a new medium.  Unfortunately, in our opinion, not one we ever want to try again!

As for the Korean BBQ seasoning, well, we can’t really taste it from behind the potent chip flavor.  We could recognize some of those common Korean ingredients like soy, garlic, tamari and vinegar, but they all seemed muddled, and minor compared to the seaweed flavor that lingered in our throats for quite some time after eating these chips.

So, once again, if you crave a big glass of sea water in the morning, or if you have hopes and dreams of marrying a mermaid and enjoying a seaweed side salad every night at your dinner table at the bottom of the sea – then these chips are for you!  If not, give them a try anyways and let us know what you think, maybe we are way off here (probably not, but maybe…).

As always, these are our thoughts, we would love to hear what you think.  Agree or disagree, let us know.

Discovered at Whole Foods; Hinsdale, Illinois

Ocean’s Halo Official Website

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REVIEW: Nabisco Chip Star – Nori-Shio (Seaweed Salt) Potato Chips (Japan)

Rating: ©© chips  (tolerable)

Comments:

A little while back we reviewed Chip Star’s Ceasar Salad flavored potato chips, and just like with those, these Nori-Shio flavored chips are unique, from Japan and ultimately unappetizing.

Chip Star’s potato chips come in a canister similar to that of Pringles, and their crispy texture is also very, very similar to Pringles.  However, unlike Pringles, these chips are not very flavorful, and certainly not salty.  Huh?!?  The flavor Nori Shio literally translates to Seaweed Salt.  So, how can these chips not be salty?  First of all, salt is salty.  Secondly, seaweed = weeds that live in the salty sea.  Is it not fair then to assume that these chips should at the very least be heavily salted?

In the end, the only redeeming characteristic of these chips are their ultra subtle, practically unrecognizable, earthy, sort of mushroom-truffle essence.  Which must represent the seaweed aspect.  Like we said, very unique.

On that note, we must sign off, and leave it up to you to chime in.  Do you agree or disagree, make sure to let us know?  Have you tried these?  Been to Japan?  Love seaweed?

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