Lobster Thermidor is a dish I’ve eaten perhaps three times in my life, all at fancy restaurants, all at someone else’s expense. It’s rich, creamy, luxurious, and absolutely not something I associate with crisps from Aldi.
Yet here we are.
The amazing thing is, these actually capture something of the dish. There’s a seafood note that doesn’t taste fishy or artificial. There’s a creaminess, a hint of cheese, something approaching that brandy-laced richness of the real thing.
The umami situation
What Aldi has really nailed here is umami. These crisps have a deep, savoury satisfaction that transcends their novelty status. The seafood flavouring provides glutamate punch, the cheese adds another layer, and the whole thing comes together into something genuinely luxurious-tasting.
But is it lobster?
No. Obviously not. These don’t taste like actual lobster any more than prawn cocktail crisps taste like actual prawns. But they taste like an idea of lobster. A memory of lobster. A crisp-based tribute to lobster.
For a seasonal novelty flavour at supermarket prices, this is remarkably successful.
