Salty Dog Sea Salt

At last another chance to try a crisp from niche UK crisp company Salty Dog. I say niche because I have only ever seen their crisps for sale at Luton airport (which I have not passed through since August 2014) although it could be they are sold all over the place - just not in North London, or France or Switzerland where I do most of my crisp shopping.

Here we have the basic flavour: sea salt.

And? These are really good. A lovely texture with the skin left on for good looks and added taste, great crunch and just the right amount of saltiness. And a wonderfully old-fashioned - make that retro - taste of fried potatoes.

So many brands are keen to point out that their crisps are baked not fried for a healthier crisp. I'm sure I've said it before but I'm going to say it again; the secret to a healthy lifestyle isn't to eat baked potato crisps rather than fried but not to eat crisps at all. Too much salt, too much fat, and in many cases far too much sugar do not a healthy snack make.

However, some of us just love crisps. So the answer is not to eat too many. And luckily for us Salty Dog have put their crisps in a sensibly small 40g packet. But still, I'm going to share with the Chef to make sure I don't overdose on the first day of my holiday. Because (oh dear) I managed to buy 6 packets of crisps at Luton airport and another on the plane!

I'm not sure these crisps quite reach the summit of fabulousness but they certainly get way past base camp and some distance up the mountain. And I do love the little dog on the packet.

Update: I discovered yesterday (7 July 2022) that you can buy Salty Dog crisps on La Suisse, a Belle Époque paddle steamer, on Lake Geneva. Which probably means you can get them on other boats in the CGN fleet. Still a very tasty crisp.

Originally published on 12 March 2015.

Salty Dog Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar

Me, me, me, me, me! Nobody wants to read about me or what I think. Or so I keep reading on all the "how to write a blog" pages. Every so often I go looking for some technical help, and there are some amazingly helpful bloggers out there supplying answers to all sorts of questions, but somehow all too often there's a bit about how nobody wants to read about me and my views.

That's a little bit sad isn't it? Especially as all the blogs I read regularly are personal views from real people about their real lives and real interests. And that's what makes what they write and the photos they post so interesting. The world might be a better place if we all read the thoughts of grannies from Yorkshire or wild flower fans from the Pacific North West ("categories chosen at random" pronounced in those portentous tones you hear in TV commercials).

Anyhow, I can't see how I could possibly review any packet of crisps (or crispy snack) without including my personal thoughts. Or those of the Chef (if available) or the reluctant taste testers (ditto).

And so here we have my thoughts on another variant on salt & vinegar.

Oh boy! Salty Dog say their crisps bite back; and I think these really do. This is salt & vinegar in the grand tradition. And the traditional tradition of salt & vinegar. Grrr.

Or perhaps not Grrr but Woof!

Um, these crisps have a great salt & vinegar aroma, skin left on for added taste, terrific crunch, nice colour...but I can't help feeling this is quite an old fashioned taste.

So if you are a big fan of the traditional style salt & vinegar crisp these are definitely for you. And very nice too. But, if like me, you prefer a more subtle taste then perhaps you won't like them so much.

But that's OK. Because if we were all the same life would be dreadfully dull don't you think?

Salty Dog Sweet Chilli Crisps

Salty Dog the hand cooked crisps that bite back! it says here.

Do they? Well, I don't know about the bite but these are pretty good crisps. I picked them up at Luton Airport (not much else to do other than shop for crisps and fob off men trying to give up their seats for me) at vast expense: £1.15 for 40g for goodness sake. Oh well, it is an airport.

Anyway, you may have read that I recently tried one of Mr Tesco's new offerings in the crisp department: Goat's Cheese and Sticky Chilli Jam. Which I felt were much too sweet. Ever hopeful I thought I'd try Salty Dog's sweet chilli offering. Not bad at all.

A little bit sweet but not too much so. Nice taste, nice smell when you open the packet. Not too big, not too small. A fair number of folded crisps but I'm not fussed about that. Good crunch. Quite a bit of jalapeño flavour going on and most of the crisps are a darker orange than your average crisp. Mmm. What a pity I can't try them on the reluctant taste testers at work but this test is being carried out in Switzerland and I don't think any of these crisps will be travelling home with me. 

I will be looking out for their other flavours, and they produce popcorn and nuts as well as crisps.

I very much like the packaging too. The little dog (a terrier called Ruby) features in three different poses on the packet and all over the website which, if you'd like to check it out, is www.saltydog-grrr.com. And the colour combination of bright orange and shocking pink on silver works well with the chilli flavour. 

Salty Dog has been voted one of Britain's Cool Brands. You can buy mugs and the website advertises T shirts although as I write there don't seem to be any available. They also do car stickers and fridge magnets but I think you have to sell the crisps to qualify for these. 

We like these crisps. Woof! (as it says on the website).