Lays Garden Tomato & Basil

I've seen these around enough that I'm not sure they're 'strange' anymore, but I can only find them at a few places (Duane Reade being one of them) and I've never tried them so I pronounce them: 'strange chips'.  And now I shall eat them!  I'm not sure how the 'garden' bit factors in... perhaps these are certified organic?

But what do they taste like?
Tastes tomato-y and basil-y, but not super strongly of either.  There's a satisfying tomato taste at the first bite, and then the basil follows, but it disappears pretty quickly after that.  Where do you go, flavor?  Has someone stolen you?  For the most part these taste a bit like they have tomato paste on them... not quite tomatoes, but something a bit chemically.  This works well for me as I love the taste of tomato paste, but it's perhaps misleading from the bag.  I am not tasting garden fresh tomatoes, Lay's!

Are they bad?  No, certainly not.  Are they good?  Yeah, they're pretty good.  Would I seek them out again?  Ehhhh - if it was the choice between that and plain Lay's then sure.  If I had other options?  Probably not.  They taste kinda like a tomato-y BBQ chip almost, but the regular Lay's BBQ chips are better... stronger.  These are pretty mild, and if you like tomato or basil I suspect you'll like these.  If you're looking for something that will punch you in the face with flavors then you'll probably do better elsewhere.

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Walkers Tomato Ketchup

I've found that I kinda like ketchup flavored chips so I'm pretty excited for these.  They certainly smell ketchup-y.  I'm a bit confused by the added 'tomato' in the title... what other sort of ketchup would it be?  I'm quite sure I don't know.

Bag is pretty basic and pink-ish which I guess stands for... ketchup?

But what do they taste like?
Wow salty.  Not in a bad way, but surprising.  They're salty and have the tanginess of ketchup without all of the tomato flavor.  It's an odd mix.  It tastes a bit like what I'd imagine the clear stuff that sometimes comes out of the ketchup bottle would taste like.  They're also a bit deceptive, as they don't look particularly ketchup-y, but, in fact, they are!  Mysterious.

Tangy is definitely the word I'd use to describe these.  I happen to like tangy, so I like these just fine, but I can see someone expecting a more traditional 'ketchup' flavor being confused.  Do I like 'em?  Sure!  They're ketchup chips and those are neat.  I don't remember much about the Lays version, but I'd be interested in comparing the two.  Which ketchup chip is supreme!?  Who knows?!

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Dirty Potato Chips Sundried Tomato and Basil

These I've been looking forward to!  I love sun-dried tomatoes (and tomatoes in general, come to that) and basil.  Let the chip eating commence!

To start, they have a very strong smell that smells more like strange basil and maybe a hint of tomato paste.  They also have weird brown seasoning nibblies everywhere which I can only imagine is the basil flakes?  Some chip are an orange-y/red which is the tomato, no doubt.

But what do they taste like?
Salty.  They taste very salty.  With a very strong, sweet sort of tomato paste aftertaste.  I don't know if I'd call these tomato and basil - I'm not sure what I'd call them, but they're not bad.  They're also weird.  I don't quite know how I feel about them.  The strongest taste is the taste of tomato paste and salt I think, and a bit of sweetness after (leftover from the paste taste?).

One thing that's so nice about chips is they go with so many different meals.  These?  Their flavor is so strong I'm not sure what you'd eat them with that they wouldn't completely overpower.  There are also some absolutely giant chips in this bag which seems strange.  Somehow kettle chips seem like they should be smaller.

While I like these, the flavor is so strong and... unique... that I can't see myself eating them again unless I want this specific tomato paste-y flavor.  I can't think of anything these would go well with other than overkill on tomato soup maybe.  Still, they aren't bad - I like the flavor well enough... it's just that a few of these go a looooong way.

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