Kotas Reviews Lay's New York Reuben Potato Chips

Lay's Potato Chips are often considered the Default Potato Chip of America. Thin, crispy, greasy and salty as hell, they represent the pinnacle of Classic American Snack Food. Of course, even the pinnacle of snack foods can't rest on its greasy, salty laurels for too long. Ladies and Gentlemen, today we look at Lay's New York Reuben Potato Chips.

What makes it a New York Reuben anyway?

The Reuben sandwich is a classic deli sandwich made up of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing (or Thousand Island dressing in a pinch). Generally served on rye bread, it is a staple sandwich of comedy routines and old men who sit on stoops and play checkers.I have a love of most delicatessen foods, so naturally I am an aficionado of this sandwich, and I am very skeptical that it can translate into flavored chip form. Let's take a look at this beauties!

Sure, that's one serving...if you squint.

Well, they don't look like anything special, save for a faint reddish coloration from the flavor dust that coats them. The scent is definitely reminiscent of corned beef and sauerkraut, though there are no cheese or dressing aromas to accompany it. The flavors are, as expected, quite on the savory side, with a bit of meatiness that is almost but not quite unlike corned beef, and the sauerkraut overtones come through, though they remain a sidebar to the main corned-beef-ish taste. It is remarkably odd how close these come to tasting like an actual Reuben, but they miss the mark just enough for one to go "Yep, that's a fakey flavor alright." 

On the FACE Rating System, these get 1 smiley face. They are certainly better than I expected, and I think they taste pretty good. They taste a lot like what I expected "fakey Reuban flavoring" to taste like, but they miss out on some of the flavor contrasts that make a Reuben sandwich a classic. Definitely worth trying, and some people will absolutely adore these. Me? I wouldn't turn them down.