Prawn cocktail crisps have always been an odd proposition. They taste nothing like prawns. They taste nothing like cocktail sauce. They taste like prawn cocktail crisps, which is its own distinct flavour that exists nowhere else in nature or cuisine.
Snackrite’s version delivers that familiar pink-tinged, vaguely tangy, slightly sweet experience that millennials remember from childhood party bags. It’s comfort eating, pure and simple.
The sweetness problem
Here’s where these stumble: they’re too sweet. The tomato and paprika notes get drowned out by a sugary undertone that makes them feel more like a dessert crisp than a savoury snack. After a few handfuls, it becomes cloying.
The base crisp is the same Snackrite standard. Nothing to write home about, but nothing offensive either. It’s the flavouring that does the heavy lifting, and while it lifts enthusiastically, it perhaps lifts in the wrong direction.
Who are these for?
If you’re buying crisps for kids, these will disappear. Children love them. Adults with fully developed palates might find them a bit much.
There’s a place for Snackrite Prawn Cocktail in the world. That place is probably a primary school disco.
