Seabrook Lattice Food Heroes Akbar's Chicken Jalfrezi

Seabrooks, from sunny Yorkshire, used to be a stalwart of perfectly produced simple flavour crisps( which they likely still make), but look! They have leaped with both feet into the complicated flavour market. And, it has to be said, with some success.

I confess I was dubious about chicken jalfrezi Lovingly made in Yorkshire as a flavour for crispy snacks, but never mind what I thought; just about everyone even including Managerial taste tester said they really liked these lovely lattice crisps. Managerial hardly ever hazards an opinion; mostly he doesn't even try. I think he's a chocolate biscuit man rather than a crispy snack fan and there' s no disgrace in that.

This crisp has a lovely lattice design, and a nice light crunch. Then there's the flavour. Quite hot and spicy. Not a curry fan myself, you probably guessed, I thought this flavour surprisingly true to the actual curry taste. And hurrah for that.  The reluctant taste testers liked these a lot.

Impressively the whole of the front of the packaging  peels away to allow you to stick a half eaten packet shut. I usually use a miniature bulldog clip if I can find one but this extra huge sticky seems like a good idea.

Apparently Akbar's was established 20 years ago and is a country-wide chain of restaurants and 2015 curry champions in the UK. Impressive. Once again, not a curry fan myself so I didn't know that but I guess they know their chicken jalfrezi.

Take a look at the packet though. It's weird. If you haven't noticed the great big peel-off sticky on the front there... you don't see it. I didn't. Now you see it, now you don't. Or vice versa.

Seabrook Lattice Hand Cooked Crisps Sea Salt & Red Wine Vinegar

Well, the reluctant taste testers very much enjoyed the sea salt version of this lattice cut crisp, and I think they enjoyed this sea salt & red wine vinegar version too. Only not so much. Quite a lot of people don't like salt & vinegar as a flavour; the Chef doesn't care for it much nor Senior taste tester I think.

I remember liking the sea salt crisps a lot but I wasn't so taken with this crisp. The salt & vinegar flavour is quite subtle, not harsh as so often, and a very nice crunch. But I thought this crisp was a little bit greasy.

However, I don't want you to run away with the idea that this was not a nice crisp. The reluctant taste testers snapped up two large bowlsful of this tasty crispy snack (not really a crisp because of the lattice structure) with no trouble at all. And nobody mentioned any greasiness so possibly that's just me. One or two of the taste testers as I say, like the Chef, aren't mad for salt & vinegar as a flavour, but still this crispy snack was, er, snacked up enthusiastically.

Lovingly made in Yorkshire, and very nice too. Just not so good (in my opinion) as the sea salt flavour.

Lay's Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut Roasted Garlic & Sea Salt

Another gift from lovely friend Lynn who packed them carefully in her suitcase when she came to visit from the USA. And I must say the lattice cut crisps survived the journey far better than the regular crisps she brought.

I don't think I have had lattice cut crisps before but I really like the texture. There's a very pleasing crunch and they feel good in the mouth.

And then there's the taste. A delicate garlic flavour and not too much salt. Pretty good. We liked these crisps.

Plus they work terrifically well with our favourite sour cream and chive dip. So what could be better than that?

Well... but the bag is giant! 198.4g (7oz) is a massive amount of crisps to buy at a time. Especially when the serving size is 28g (1oz or about 13 chips - very precise eh?). And actually, this is interesting (to me anyway); US crisp bags are quite different from European crisp bags. They're much more matte. I wonder why? I wonder what they're made of? And there's quite a bit missing from the scan of this bag. It was simply too long to fit in the A4 scanner.

The packet tells me all sorts of interesting things. For instance, the crisps are

• Guaranteed Fresh! 
• Lay's Kettle Cooked Lattice Cut potato chips - perfect for sharing and Crafted With Care™
• No artificial flavors or preservatives
• Made with Lay's "signature potatoes"
• From the FritoLay® Flavor Kitchen® 

and the brilliant information that they are Deliciously Indulgent. Take a moment to relax (it says), unwind from your day and savor right now - one delicious bite at a time.

What good advice.