For Canadians, Ketchup and All Dressed* are two of the most beloved chip flavours. They are also, for whatever reason, only and exclusively available in Canada.
*The "All Dressed" flavour is a melange of ingredients that include tomato, salt, vinegar, onion, sour cream, barbecue, a sprinkle of this and a sprinkle of that. It's the "everything bagel" of Canada.
So we asked some American BuzzFeed staffers to taste them for the very first time and write a review.
For the ketchup chips, they tried Lays, which is the most common brand associated with the flavour. They were also given Ketchup Doritos, currently offered for a limited time. For all dressed chips, Ruffles. Always Ruffles.
The reviews were varied, but all thoughtfully opinionated and very American.
Here's what they had to say:
Ketchup Lays
Consensus: Would only eat if absolutely necessary.
Tried the Lays ketchup chips and my mouth is not sure what hit it. It's sweet like ketchup, but weirdly salty... I hate it on the first bite — particularly because I wouldn't mouth ketchup to the face (by the spoonful) which is what this tastes like.
As a team mustard over ketchup fan, I am very OK with these. I wouldn't seek them out at the supermarket, necessarily, but if they were in front of me, I'd totally eat a bunch of them, because chips.
Tastes like regular chips dipped in off-brand ketchup.
Tastes like a mistake.
Would I ever buy a bag? No. Eat it if it's in front of me and I'm waiting for lunch to be served? Why the hell not.
Ketchup Doritos
Consensus: Almost unanimously better than Lays (for some reason).
I've been dipping Doritos in ketchup for years and now finally I feel understood. The ketchup-flavored Doritos taste exactly like they do when I manually dip them in ketchup myself, and I loved them! THANK YOU, CANADA. GOD BLESS.
I was expecting the Ketchup Doritos to taste WAY different, but it was surprisingly pleasant and subtle. Vaguely nacho cheesy? I definitely didn't hate it. Although, there's no way they can match the classic Cool Ranch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Doritos are good — very robust, but slightly metallic.
OK, I think Doritos suck, full disclosure. But this might be the best Dorito I've had. HOWEVER. THAT DOESNT MEAN I LIKE IT VERY MUCH. It's just acceptable. It has a surprisingly pleasant aftertaste.
The supple, round-bodied ketchup Dorito is enjoying increased popularity as a pure varietal. Medium to neon red, it has a distinct nose of tomatoes, vinegar, and salt, among other Canadian herbs and spices. A zesty bright chip balanced for easy snacking, while its smaller size indicate a chip that should be enjoyed relatively infrequently.
All Dressed Ruffles
Consensus: Surprisingly AMAZING.
The All Dressed Ruffles are damn good and I would eat them all the time. It's sort of hard to describe the taste because they don't taste different, they're just flavorful. This is going to make them sound awful (which they definitely are not), but my immediate reaction was like, "Oh, it's like salty ranch dressing."
OMG.
I would eat the shit out of All-Dressed Ruffles. All day, every day. They're like the chip version of falling in love — a more flavorful salt and vinegar chip. Holy moly. I can't stop thinking about them.
These taste sooo much better than dresses.
And one public plea from a Canadian-American in the U.S.:
I CANNOT UNDERSTAND why they don't sell them in America. They taste like all the flavors at once. We live in a country that has taco flavored chips and chip flavored tacos and you're telling me that we can't handle "lots of flavors at once"? All Dressed chips are the MOST AMERICAN chip possible.
