French Fry Diary 605: Lay's Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese Potato Chips

This has not been a good contest so far for Lay's Do Us A Flavor. The Cappuccino made me sick. The Wasabi Ginger was almost inedible, and while not bad, it would be sad if I had to vote for the Mango Salsa. That leaves only one more contender - the Lay's Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese Flavored Potato Chips. Some might say this flavor is the safest bet, and the cop out, I guess we'll find out.

I had been making The Bride try the chips first this year, and even though mac and cheese is her favorite magic food, which she loves as much as I love French fries, this year's Do Us A Flavor contest had her shell shocked, and afraid to try these. See what you did, Lay's? After some coaxing (well, not much really) she tried one, and was disappointed. She tasted no cheese, only bacon, which was her fear in this chip in particular.

Now, bacon is bacon, and there's nothing wrong with a bacon potato chip, but when you put 'em in a yellow bag, and the descriptive words 'cheddar' and 'cheese' outnumber the word bacon, maybe they should taste a little cheesy, ya know? Bacon is good, but so is cheese. The Bride was disappointed. When I tried them, yeah, there was a bit of a cheese flavor, but wow, the smoky bacon flavor was just overpowering.

These chips aren't bad but they really aren't as advertised. I have been very disappointed in the selection of flavors this year. If I vote, and it's a big if, I'll go for the Mango Salsa. Maybe Lay's should've gone with my entry of Poutine, or the special GAR! Podcast flavor - Feet…

French Fry Diary 604: Lay's Wavy Mango Salsa Potato Chips

Well, we're up to the third contender in Lay's 2014 Do Us A Flavor contest, and so far, no winners, hell, nothing I would vote for yet. Today I'm looking at Lay's Wavy Mango Salsa Flavored Potato Chips. It's intriguing that Lay's decided to make these Wavy, which is usually designed for dipping - because this flavor would actually make a good dip. Nice irony. Ironic or not, I just hope these taste better than the Cappuccino or the Wasabi Ginger chips.

The aroma I got when I opened the bag was interesting to say the least. Not unpleasant, but I couldn't really place it. I was expecting something a bit, oh I don't know, more citrusy. Having learned from the last two, I let The Bride try them first. She didn't spit them out or go pale, but her face said volumes. She didn't think they were as bad as the other two, and found the mango flavor disconcerting, "a potato chip shouldn't taste like that."

Again The Bride was on mark. These chips might not have smelled all that citrusy but man, did they taste like mango, and it's a fairly good taste. She compared it to Violet Beauregarde's final piece of gum in Willy Wonka. I think more in terms of Jelly Belly flavors like Buttered Popcorn or Toasted Marshmallow, where the taste feels wrong in this format. It's not bad really. This is the first bag that I've eaten more than a few chips from in this year's contest.

"Not as bad as the other two" is not a ringing endorsement, Lay's. I certainly hope the last flavor is something amazing because so far it's been nothing but disappointment.

The Hunt Is On

Okay, so far the search has been fruitless (or is that chip-less?). I haven't been able to locate any of the new Lay's Do Us A Flavor potato chips this year. So I'm reaching out to you folks.

If you're in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, and you've seen the Mango Salsa, the Cappuccino, the Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese, or the Wasabi Ginger, please let me know where… so I can write about them here. Thanks in advance!

Do Us A Flavor 2014

It's that time again, time to vote for the next flavor of potato chips from Lay's in their Do Us A Flavor Contest. The final flavors have been announced, and they are a bit different. Here are the finalists - Wavy Mango Salsa, Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese, Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger, and Cappuccino. Wow.

These are nowhere near the insanity of some Japanese and Filipino flavored potato chips I've seen, but they are a bit off the beaten track. Which one will you be voting for? You have between July 28th until October 18th to vote.

Head over to DoUsAFlavor to vote for your favorite, or vote via Twitter, Instagram and/or Vine using the hashtags #SaveCappuccino, #SaveBaconMac, #SaveWasabi or #SaveMango; and/or via text message by texting "Cappuccino," "Bacon Mac," "Wasabi" or "Mango" to 24477 (CHIPS).

And now my search for these chips begins...

French Fry Diary 573: Don Pablo's Mexican Kitchen

Don Pablo's is one of The Bride's favorite restaurants, but we don't go together that often because I'm not really much of a Mexican food guy. That said, the few times we've been to Don Pablo's I have been very happy. The chicken is quite good, and they have fries, so I'm happy.

The inside of Don Pablo's is like a Mexican town square... if a neon tequila bar exploded in it, that is. Dos Equis and Corona are kings here, there's a fountain in the middle and the constant overhead music is neon and appropriately flavorful too. None of these are bad things, I kinda like it, but I suppose if I was here for more than a few hours I might go insane. But for a dinner, it's cool.

We were started off with the corn chips and salsa that we always get as an opener. Again, I'm not a salsa guy but the corn chips were good and warm, could've had more seasoning, but I'm guessing that's the point of the salsa. Any chip that is warm is a plus, and these were, pardon the pun, double plussed.

I navigated the menu, which was worriedly different from the last time I was here and I found some mesquite chicken and got fries as well. The food came very quickly, crazy quick, standing applause for customer service quick.

The topping on chicken was hot, very hot, so I scraped it off (I am a picky eater still) but the chicken breast was very tender and good. The natural cut fries that came with were warm and good but surprisingly underseasoned for a Mexican restaurant. They were very good with the mesquite flavoring on the chicken though.

The Bride got something called El Matador, which seemed like it was a little bit of everything. It was a lot of food, for her, and even for me, and I ended up bringing mine home. It reheated well in both the nuke and the oven. Good meal, both at dinner and later. Thumbs up for Don Pablo's.

French Fry Diary 513: On the Border

Mexican food is just not my thing. So when friends suggested we go to On the Border for a late meal, I was concerned. I didn't think I'd find anything to eat there, but I did, and that's not counting the French fries on the kids menu. I just wasn't in the mood for the reaction of the server if I ordered off the kids menu, so I adjusted.

There were Avocado Fries on the menu. Hmmm… not tonight. We did in fact get chips as a table appetizer, not of the potato variety. These corn (?) chips for salsa dipping were to start the meal off. The chips were warm, I liked that, but I didn't dip. Like I said, I'm not a Mexican food guy. I ended up getting a grilled chicken dish, minus the massive chunks of hot cheese. It came with some sort of potato product at least.

These red garlic potatoes, sliced and spiced, were served under a sizzling grilled chicken breast. It sizzled for a good couple minutes, awesome. The potatoes are quite crisp in places, very hot, in temperature and spiciness. I really wish there were more. If that's the worst complaint I have - that's not really a complaint, is it?

All in all, it was a very good dinner, and a fun night out with friends. Maybe next time I'll get those kids meal fries and see what they're like.