Potato Chip Lobster Roll?: Lay's New England Lobster Roll

Lay's Potato Chips released eight new temporary chip flavors as this past summer in an effort to highlight the local cuisine of regions around the country – a promotion called Taste of America. The eight flavors were available in stores regionally for a short time – Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice (Mid-Atlantic), Pimento Cheese (Southeast), Cajun Spice (Gulf Coast) Chile Con Queso (Southwest), Deep Dish Pizza (mid-America), Fried Pickles (Midwest), Thai Sweet Chile (Pacific Northwest) and, why we're all here today – New England Lobster Roll.

When I first saw this, I was skeptical. I might have even made a PFFFFFT sound knowing full well not even the most skilled potato chip maker could pull off this flavor. And definitely not without it tasting like the Portland waterfront smells on a 95-degree day. And honestly, I wasn't keen on putting that flavor in my mouth.

But you know the story... one friend buys a bag, then another friend buys a bag and the next thing that happens is you've been peer pressured into buying a bag and trying them. But it's a friggin chip and I knew it wasn't going to kill me to give it a go. So I ate the whole bag... for the good of the blog!

Once I actually had this bag of chips in my hands, I couldn't wait to stuff a whole handful in my mouth. I'm not going to lie... I'm not the most graceful chip eater. I love chips so much, I can't eat them fast enough. I wanted to bust open the bag in the car on the way home from the store, but surprisingly, I showed a little restraint and waited...

I know the suspense is killing you so I'll just come out and say it: THESE CHIPS TASTED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE A LOBSTER ROLL. There wasn't so much as even the essence of lobster. It was almost as if the taste testers of these chips had never even been in the same area code as a lobster. When I perused the ingredients of this product, nowhere did I see the mention of lobster in any form... but one ingredient listed was called New England Lobster Roll seasoning. Huh? I call bullshit. Lay's threw some spices together and voila – let's give it a fancy name!

Here's where you're probably thinking I hated these chips with a passion. Nothing is farther from the truth. While the chips tasted as far from a lobster roll as humanly possible, they were very tasty. I detected the base chip to be sour cream and onion which is generally not my favorite Lay's flavor but the seasoning boosted them to a different level. And the "seasoning"? Definitely NOT lobster roll flavored, but familiar. My guess is they just took the same flavor from the Chesapeake Bay Crab Spice and threw it on these chips. HELLOOOOOOO... have you ever heard of Old Bay??

I'd eat another bag in a heartbeat if they were still available in the stores. I would just imagine they were called something other than New England Lobster Roll... because that is a LIE!