As many of you know, another Lay’s Do Us a Flavor contest is here, and there are three finalists for the $1,000,000 prize — Bacon Grilled Cheese, Korean-Style Fried Chicken, and Valentina & Lime — and we’ve reviewed all three. But I want to know, for those of you who have tried all three (or two of them), how would you rank them?
I reviewed only the Bacon Grilled Cheese on the site, but I have tried the other two as well. Here’s how I would rank them, from least favorite to favorite.
There’s something about the Korean-Style Fried Chicken flavor that tastes familiar. I’ve tried several Lay’s potato chip flavors from Asian countries, and that’s what kept popping into my head as I ate this Do Us a Flavor finalist. I’m not sure what specific chip it was because I’ve had a lot of different international chip flavors. While this reminded me of other chip flavors, it didn’t evoke Korean Fried Chicken in my mind, and its flavor didn’t put a taste trance on me that caused me to eat half the bag without realizing it, which often happens with other chip flavors, like the ones below.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Bacon Grilled Cheese is the safe flavor among the three and will probably win the $1,000,000 prize. But, as you can see, it’s not my favorite. Here’s some of what I wrote in my review:
“Lay’s Do Us a Flavor Bacon Grilled Cheese is a fine finalist, which is surprising because I believe Lay’s Bacon Potato Chips are mediocre. The addition of cheese to the smokiness makes a tremendous difference. However, while these chips are good, they don’t excite my taste buds as much as cheddar & sour cream or sour cream & onion. I wouldn’t be sad if I never got to try these again.”
My favorite ended up being the Valentina & Lime flavor. Prior to these chips, I had no idea Valentina Hot Sauce existed. I guess I should be more observant in the hot sauce section and not be so entranced by the wooden caps on Cholula bottles. But now I know about the hot sauce, and maybe I should add it to my kitchen to make the Taco Bell hot sauce packets in my fridge jealous. While I liked the peppery flavor, I wish the lime was a bit more punchy. Also, I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but these chips have a low level of spiciness. However, I suppose I could appreciate the flavor more due to the absence of heat.
So, what are your thoughts on these chips? Share your rankings in the comments. Also, don’t forget you have until June 13th to vote for your favorite at the Do Us a Flavor website.
We can’t eat spicy food, so the spicy chips are out. To us, it’s not flavor friendly.
We actually have opinions about this! Okay, here goes, best to worst.
Jen:
Valentina/Lime
Bacon Grilled Cheese
Korean Chicken
Drew:
Korean Chicken
Valentina Lime
Bacon Grilled Cheese
Valentina Lime: This one doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it was the chip I found the most enjoyable.
Korean Chicken: I liked this better than most, but do agree there was list potential here. It’s a good idea for a chip, but needed better execution.
Bacon Grilled Cheese: I initially liked this chip, but after a few handfuls, I suddenly found these nauseating. All these chips are obviously food science, but this one just tasted way to processed for me.
The Korean Chicken one has a big punch of gochujang right at the front, and the chicken flavor is just barely there. It needs more balance.
The Korean Fried Chicken was just a bag of nothing. No heat, no umami, just a complete whiff on every front. Meanwhile I can’t bring myself to even try the Valentina & Lime, because I’m completely burnt out on chips doused in citric acid. So yeah, Bacon Grilled Cheese wins by default – and I haven’t even tried it.
Valentina Lime for me..
I’m not going to vote for a hot sauce potato chip (or try it). The Korean Fried Chicken had no discernable chicken taste (they didn’t use chicken broth?), but instead tasted like a spice dump. Not pleasant. Possibly like gochujang without the heat. The Bacon Grilled Cheese was nothing special. I generally don’t like any sort of cheddar taste to potato chips.
No winners here, only losers. The Everything/All In chips were better, but I’ll take a regular bag of BBQ chips any day.
Too bad the Baked Lay’s never seem to go on sale here anymore.
Gotta admit that the real Asian flavors with the brothiness and the squid, eel, and seaweed taste much better to me than these.
I didn’t try any of these. I just want biscuits and gravy to come back.
Supposedly biscuits and gravy are coming back in a couple of weeks! For real.
I have only tried the Valentina & Lime flavor so far, but I did like them. They’re maybe like a 7/10 in my book.
3 way tie!
PS- The Valentina chips are the first lime flavored snack I have ever liked.
Really? Have you never had the Hint of Lime tortilla chips? Those are awesome, IMHO.
I have no idea, because they’re not for sale in my area! 🙁
The Valentina Lime was a surprise winner for me. I expected to love the KBBQ but it just fell flat and wound up in the bottom for me. The bacon grilled cheese was just ok.