I love the fact that I can order an interesting snack food from a country on the other side of the world and have it show up at my home in a few weeks. It is a testament to the power of technology and how the internet has brought all corners of the globe closer together.
Also.
I hate the fact that I have to order and interesting snack food from a country on the other side of the world and have to wait weeks for it to show up at my home. It is a testament to the laziness and lack of creativity at American snack food companies.
I know I have waxed on before about the lack of interesting flavors available in the U.S., especially with regards to chips, be they corn or potato, so I won’t go too much into it again. And the fact is certainly not lost on me that there could not be more of a first world problem than me complaining that I can’t get junk food in the flavor I like fast enough.
“You could flash fry a buffalo in forty seconds.”
“Forty seconds? But I want it now.”
But everyone needs a hobby and complaining is mine. I don’t understand why the American arm of Doritos doesn’t do anything interesting with their product. No bizarre flavor experiments. No weird limited editions. Nope. Just the same old business as usual. How many Cool Ranch Doritos can one man eat in a lifetime?
I can’t buy that even a one-month limited run of Clam Chowder Doritos or Grilled Chicken Skewer Doritos or even Squid and Soy Sauce Doritos (all real Japanese varieties!), wouldn’t completely sell out in the U.S. I would buy all three, and I never buy Doritos! Sure not everyone would love them, but many people would. And the rest would still try them at least once, so they could tell their friends.
The nosegrope upon opening the bag is a little fishfoody, worrisome, but the chips themselves are not overly fishy. When I was a kid, my mom banned Doritos from our house because she claimed they stunk up the place. But it has been my experience that Japanese Doritos never go overboard with the amount of seasoning. It’s there and it’s good, but it won’t knock you out. The finger remnants are very manageable.
Let me assure you that your local grocer would have no problem unloading a pallet of Clam Chowder Doritos. Novelty aside, they taste good. As with all weird flavors, the go-to test is the Blind Flavor Identification. I would guarantee that most of your friends could identify these as clam chowder. The flavor is surprisingly authentic.
Also, if you’ve never had any, Japanese Doritos are a little denser that their U.S. counterparts, and they have rounded edges, because rounded edges are just classier. These are part of the Doritos Gourmet line after all. And yes, Doritos Gourmet. I know!
I recommend these without reservation. You can get them on the internets. I got mine at NapaJapan. They’re a fun flavor. What I enjoyed most was mentioning them to my friends and associates and having them go slack-jawed and wide-eyed while repeating the flavor back to me in disbelief. I would simply nod knowingly, as if to say, “Yes. I am way cooler than you.” But sadly, because of flavors like this, none of us will never be as cool as Japan.
Food Junk 
I think the packaging is suggesting that you should dip these in clam chowder. Which would be amazing.
That might cause a rift in the space-time continuum!
Doritos in the US once made a Mountain Dew flavor. But they haven’t created a weird flavor like that since. I think whenever they come up with a new flavor nowadays their intent is to find out if it can be a permanent flavor (Tapatio Doritos) or something they can bring back for a limited time every year (BBQ pork Doritos). I wish Doritos here would grow a pair and release unusual flavors.
Agreed. And didn’t know about the Mountain Dew. Thats awesome. And I do enjoy the Limited edition Stadium Nachos.
I agree on the lack of interesting and delicious flavors on potato chips in the states. even frito lays have awesome flavors in asia! my dad was asking me “isn’t lays from the States? why are you buying them here in Taiwan?”
The seaweed flavor is my all time favorite.
Didn’t realize there were so many “gourmet” Doritos available! Clam Chowder Doritos sounds disgusting, though.
What other websites besides napajapan can “I order these online? Al types of asian flavors?
Other online order websites?
Are you crazy – the US has an amazing range of fast food flavours! I thought Australia was bad (our Dorito range is pretty much limited to Nacho Cheese, Cheese or Original), until I lived in Germany. I shit you not, they only have plain or paprika flavoured chips. AND PAPRIKA (AUS: capsicum / US: bell pepper) IS BARELY A FLAVOUR.
Be thankful for your abundance of snack food flavours. Be very thankful.
Haha, alright alright. We have some flavors. But come on, why can’t we do the crazy Japanese limited edition runs?
I just found your site while at work (uh oh!) and have been reading every article I randomly click on for the last 45 minutes. This is the perfect blog, and I think I’ve found a new homepage. My friends and I at college undergo this science daily, as junk-food-gamer-bums studying at a college overrun by hipsters, where foodies outnumber junk food enthusiasts 400-1. As such, we are often forced to go out to wild new restaurants with meals such as “brined game hen and grilled radicchio.” We definitely appreciate these meals (have to admit they always taste amazing) and they have really enhanced our ability to interpret flavors and dismantle the ingredients that go into food + describe them. However, when it comes down to it, our favorite times are making ridiculous cheap food concoctions and sampling various fun fast / junk food ( I encourage macaroni and cheese with crumbled cheetos on top).
Anyways, these Dorito reviews really hit home, as they are one of the most classic chips in the snacker’s repertoire. I also had no idea Japan had their own special variety / flavors of doritos, Im jealous 😦
I need to tell as many people as I can about a Dorito variety that was available from about 2007-2008 (at least in the Oregon region) called SMOKIN CHEDDAR BBQ. They were heaven, unlike any other food I’ve ever had, and I bought at least a bag a day at the 76 gas station across the street from my HS. Sadly Doritos nixed them and I have never seen them since. If you ever get a chance to consume them, I really encourage it. YOU WONT REGRET
Thank you for all your work, and keep it up!
Thanks Shane! Glad to hear you are on the frontlines fighting the good fight in the junk food sciences! Man cannot live on organic, urban garden dandelion salads alone. I don’t know those Doritos, but going by name, I would like them. Doritos in the US need to step up their game.
And I’ll also be crumbling Cheetos in my mac and cheese in the very near future.