Potato chips are addicting on their own.  So is chocolate.  And now I’m happy to say they are both even more addicting together!  I came to this conclusion courtesy of Aldi’s Chocolate Covered Potato Chips, which are available around the holiday season, and are part of their new Specially Selected line of gourmet products.

I’ll admit to being a little disappointed upon taking a sniff inside the 6.5 oz. bag (which retails for $1.99 here in Ohio, but may vary depending on the market), and being reminded of a cheap chocolate bar.  There’s the strong smell of cocoa, sure, but it’s almost bitter, and if there’s one thing I do not like in my chocolate, it’s a bitter taste (hence my disdain for dark chocolate).

But my fears melted away, both literally and figuratively, once I took my first bite.  It takes a second or two to kick in, but once the Belgian chocolate starts melting in your mouth, you’ll really think you’ve died and gone to heaven!  That is, unless you were expecting more salt.  To me, all the chip seemed to provide is a crunch, as I didn’t seem to notice too much of a salty flavor in the initial taste, meaning the chocolate more or less overwhelmed the chip, as opposed to striking a solid compromise between the sweet and the salty.  But really, who cares?  The chocolate is really quite addicting, especially for the price, which makes it a little too easy to take on the whole bag in one sitting.

My only downside, is once the flavor of the potato comes through, it’s generally in the form of a rather unpleasant aftertaste.  My wife didn’t seem to be as bothered by it as I was, so maybe it’s just me, and it certainly didn’t deter me from digging in on several occasions, so it’s obviously just a minor quibble, but worth mentioning.  Also of note, though it should pretty much go without saying since it mixes two terrible junk foods together into a new one, but these are really pretty bad for you.  One serving contains 14g of fat and 6g of saturated fat.  The main problem?  A serving is only 4 chips.  Again, it’s probably to be expected, but these numbers were a little worse than I thought they would be.

Overall: 7.5/10.  A delicious snack that’s perfect for when you’re in the mood for something new!  Even though the chip doesn’t seem to provide much more than a crunch (at least initially), the Belgian chocolate is ridiculously thick and creamy, and is definitely worth the shallow price tag entirely on its own.  The salt (and potato) arrive late to the flavor party in the form of an unpleasant aftertaste, though it’s not so terrible that you’ll ever think twice before digging in.  The bag looks small, but don’t let that dissuade you…there are really quite a few chips in here.  Should also be noted that the fat content is rather high, and the serving size only 4 chips, so if you’re on a diet, you should probably look elsewhere (which probably should have gone without saying, but hey, just thought it was worth mentioning).