Cape Cod Potato Chips

Update Review, 2025/2026

Whenever I visit the east coast I make sure to enjoy a bag or two of Cape Cod chips.  While they are ~everywhere around New England, I never ever see them in California.  Still such classics for me.

Original.

"Our Original chips are made with potatoes, oil, sea salt and the good vibes of the Cape."

These are the quintessential New England chip to me.  They are what should come with your lobster roll or what you get to dunk in your chowder.  They are super fried, they are crispy, they are thin, they are greasy, they are not good for you ... and they aren't trying to be anything else.  Classic well salted flavor.  In my childhood memories, they are best dipped in onion dip.  I rarely want a plain chip these days, but, these are good for that basic style. 3.5/5.

Sea Salt & Vinegar.

"Everyone loves the delicious combo of salty and sour that you get when you crunch into a sea salt & vinegar chip. That’s why we knew we had to create our very own version of it which has a bit more vinegar than what you'll find on a thinner chip to stand up to the robust potato flavor of our hearty chip."

I don't tend to love nor hate salt & vinegar chips.   They are fine, but, I'm more of a bbq girl. Still, since I love Cape Cod bbq chips so much, I wanted to give the salt & vinegar a chance.

The base chip is the classic thin crispy Cape Cod style that I really do like.  Certainly thinner than most.  I particularly like the pieces that are rolled over into themselves.  

The flavor was more tangy than salty, fairly average salt level, but nice tang.  Still not the flavor I'd pick given other options, but a nice salt & vinegar chip.  3.5/5.

Update Review, 2023

Since rediscovering Cape Cod chips a few years ago, every time I visit the East Coast now, I make it a point to have at least one bag of Cape Cod Chips.  They really are quite good.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We channeled our days grilling on the beaches of Cape Cod to craft a blend of tomatoes, onions and spices into a barbeque seasoning perfect for our chips."

When I think of a great bbq chip, these are essentially what I think of.  Super crispy.  Blistered.  Very clearly not a "light" style of chip.  True kettle chips.  Very zesty coating, deep mesquite flavor, tangy and smoky and sweet.

Maybe it is because I grew up with these, but, they really are a gold standard for me for a very good bbq chip.  4/5.

Original Review, 2020

Over the years, I've reviewed many snack foods, and many bags of chips, in particular.  By now, you probably realize that while I love taro chips, and other more exotic veggie chips, I pretty rarely get excited by plain old potato chips.  I see them as a vessel for dip, and little else.  Maybe sometimes I get drawn in by unique flavors in other countries, but besides that, chips? MEH!

But I recently re-discovered Cape Cod potato chips, and that all changed.

"We transform simple ingredients – hand-selected potatoes, oil and salt – into delicious, satisfying kettle cooked potato chips. Cape Cod Potato Chips are always made one batch at a time in our custom kettles to give them their distinctive crunch and unique flavor."

I remember Cape Cod chips from growing up in New England.  They were not the standard chip offering, usually we had Ruffles in our household, or Lays were common at sandwich shops or parties, but when we got to splurge for a fancy bag of chips at the convenience store, or perhaps at a friend's house, I remember getting Cape Cod chips, and being very happy with them.  They were always crispier, greasier, than others.

In my memories that is.  I didn't really trust my memories, but it turns out, this is one area where my memories lived up, basically, entirely matching accurate to my experience today.

Cape Cod chips are still based in Massachusetts, although they have expanded dramatically since when I knew them.  The classic chips come in different flavors.  They have reduced fat offerings.  Waffle cut or wavy style.  Um, "infused" chips.  Limited Edition flavors with partners like Samuel Adams Brewery.  But I can't tell you about any of those, as I had eyes only for the originals.

Classic Potato Chips

"Hand selected potatoes. Pure vegetable oil. Salt. How do you transform the simplest ingredients into such a satisfying kettle cooked chip? For us, it’s done one small batch at a time, using select potatoes, sliced thick and cooked at precisely the right temperature in custom kettles to a golden amber hue. No two chips are the same. Except that they all share a hearty potato flavor and that wonderful Cape Cod crunch."

The classic potato chips are what I always knew, and I didn't even know they came in multiple flavors (maybe they didn't before?).  But now they do, with flavors like Sweet & Spicy Jalepeno, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, plus more standards like Sea Salt & Vinegar and Sweet Mesquite Barbeque, among others.

But I went for the originals.

Original Chips.

These are no frills chips, they really are just potatoes and vegetable oil and salt.

But somehow ... they are just really damn good.  Is it the small batch cooking?  Is it the oil they use? The potatoes?  I have no idea.  But they are really good.

The crispy factor is sky high.  Perfectly crunchy and crisp.  Salt level is high, but not over the top. Most are folded over in unique ways, making eating a bag an adventure in "what shape will come up next?".

They are highly greasy, leaving your fingers coated instantly.  You know they aren't trying to be healthier.  The bags are smaller than other brands, and that is ok, because, well, they are heavy chips.

I don't know how to describe these beyond just ... perfect crispy chips?  I honestly am just happy with a bag of these, alongside a salad (or ideally, a lobster roll, right?).  They are awesome tucked into a sandwich, particularly a BLT.  Sometimes I think about making onion dip, or something else to dunk them in, but really, they don't need anything.  Just perfect as is.

I'll devour a bag any day.

4/5.

Less Fat

The Less Fat lineup comes in Original, Sea Salt & Vinegar, Aged White Cheddar & Sour Cream, and Sweet Mesquite Barbecue, the later of which I immediately went for.

Sweet Mesquite Barbeque.

"We may have tossed our 40% Less Fat Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips one more time in the kettle, but we seasoned them with the same delicious blend of spices so they taste just like our classic Sweet Mesquite Barbeque chips. 40% less fat than the leading brand of potato chip."

I didn't intentionally seek out Less Fat chips, but my office had them, and they were still Cape Cod chips, and were still barbeque, which I was definitely going through a thing for, so I gladly grabbed a bag.  I wish I'd grabbed a second (2 bags is just ... 120% fat right?).

They were perfectly crispy, I loved the bent over pieces, and they were oily, but in the right way, not the gross way.   Form factor: A+, and I think I liked the lower fat version more than the classics, actually.

The barbeque flavor was good, I prefer a less sweet version (these had sugar and molasses), but the flavor was complex with tomato, onion, garlic, paprika, and more.

A very solid chip, one I'd gladly get again.

4/5.

Read More...

Tillamook Ice Cream

Update Review, 2021 - 2026

Several years passed since my run-in with the adorable baby loaf bus slinging free ice cream.  And during those years, Tillamook productionized their ice cream, and found widespread distribution channels (and offer frozen custards and ice cream sandwiches now too!)

It was time for me to try Tillamook again, this time, purchased from the local grocery store.  I first went online to learn about available flavors, and I grew quite excited.  Tillamook has a lot of flavors these days, including 3 (yes, three!) kinds of vanilla (old-fashioned, made with a blend of vanillas, vanilla bean with crushed vanilla bean seeds, and french vanilla, which uses a custard base).  But it wasn't the vanillas I sought out.  If I was feeling fruity, there were many many options, such as the interesting sounding peaches & cream, Oregon dark cherry, mountain huckleberry, white chocolate raspberry, and classic strawberry.  Speaking of classics, of course there is standard chocolate (or chocolate mudslide, udderly chocolate, or chocolate peanut butter), chocolate chip (or mint chocolate chip), cookies & cream, and rocky road.  And then there are spins on classics, like caramel butter pecan, oregon hazelnut and salted caramel, waffle cone swirl, and banana split (yes, with vanilla, strawberry, and banana ice creams, with walnuts, cherries, and fudge too!).  The list goes on and on.  Of particular interest to me was the "Monster Cookie" flavor - not because I like monster cookies in cookie form, but the flavor promised a cookie dough base, with salted peanut butter swirl, crispy oats, chocolate flakes, and sweet candies!  The marionberry pie flavor also called out, with hunks of pie crust within, along with the marionberries.

I wasn't able to find the more interesting flavors, alas, limited shelf space at downtown SF location, but I still was able to try a few flavors.

Vanilla Bean.

"Rich vanilla ice cream made with real crushed vanilla bean seeds."

Tillamook makes a bunch of different vanilla ice cream.  French vanilla.  Old fashioned vanilla. And this, vanilla bean.  From the ingredient list, they all use the old-fashioned vanilla as the base, as it has the fewest ingredients. That one is described as "Rich vanilla ice cream made with our special blend of the very best vanillas", and has a relatively short ingredient list: cream/skim milk/milk/sugar/egg yolks, then the vanilla extract, and a few gums (tara, guar).  Oh, and "Natural flavor" of course.  The vanilla bean has all of the above, plus vanilla bean.  French vanilla is where the ingredient list starts to get lengthy. Again, all of the base of old fashioned vanilla, no vanilla bean, and then more "stuff": citric acid, annatto (for color), and more gums (xanthan, locust bean).  Curious why those are needed to create this "silky smooth French custard ice cream"?  It is a big higher cal and fat as well, so I assume it has more egg yolk than the others.  Anyway.  3 vanillas, this was the most interesting sounding to me.

The vanilla bean specs were evident.  The color was very white, in a way that came across as quite pure.  It looked really quite appealing and high quality.  It also melted remarkably well, soo creamy and smooth.  The flavor was good, but not as intensely vanilla as I was hoping.  Häagen-Dazs® really is my benchmark for vanilla bean ice cream, and theirs has more vanilla going on.  

Overall, a good quality vanilla bean ice cream that I'd be happy to eat anytime, but I wouldn't go out of my way to purchase it. 3.5/5.

Chocolate.

"Simply smooth, rich, chocolate ice cream."

Another simple flavor: chocolate.  This one looks to be the same base as the vanilla flavors, just with cocoa powder instead of vanilla extract.  

It too melted beautifully, and was quite creamy.  Excellent consistency. The flavor was fairly mild milk chocolate.  Chocolate ice cream is never my flavor of choice, so I found this a bit boring, but it was fine chocolate ice cream.  3/5.

Birthday Cake.

"Sweet cake batter ice cream with pieces of delicious yellow cake and rainbow sprinkles." 

I had high high hopes for this flavor, the first interesting one I purchased.  I had been craving cake in particular, so this sounded perfect (as I always pair my cake with ice cream).

My first bite and I was ... more than disappointed.  Almost ... repulsed.  It was cloying.  It tasted fake.  It tasted like packaged snack cakes, in a plastic way.  It was everything that gives "cake batter" flavored things an eye roll.   I was so sad.

But ... I kept trying.  Maybe the "delicious yellow cake" pieces would win me over?  So I dug for a few of them, finally figuring out that the strange bright yellow-orange tiny pieces must be the cake.  The color was unnatural, and they were barely bigger than the equally colorful sprinkles.  And, um, delicious yellow cake they were not, but I did almost sorta like the texture.

Speaking of the colorful sprinkles, I adore sprinkles, and appreciated the colorful pops, but, they didn't actually add anything to the taste of the ice cream.

So, sprinkles? Lost.  Cake?  Pretty much lost, slight texture.  But the real issue was the base flavor, the "cake batter", that was just fake-cloying-plastic.

Sadness.

2.5/5.

Update: But ... I had a half gallon of this ice cream, and I'm not really capable of letting ice cream go to waste, no matter how mediocre it seems to be.  While I never wanted to just dig into a scoop of this, I did find that it paired well with cake.  Warm cake (best with a funfetti cake, but any kind seemed to work) with a scoop of this, and some extra sprinkles, worked well enough.  3/5.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.

"Cookie dough ice cream with delicious chocolaty bits and cookie dough bites."

Next I went for a classic crowd pleaser: cookie dough.  I hoped that the hunks of dough would be far better than the hunks of cake in the cake batter.

The base ice cream was good enough vanilla ice cream, nicely creamy.  Nothing revolutionary, but, good.  I appreciated how generously studded with mini chips it was, nearly every bite had several.  The bits of cookie dough were considerably fewer, and frequently took some digging to find a couple.  They were the small square type that you find at self-serve froyo places as a generic cookie dough topping, just slightly bigger.  They didn't taste particularly better than those, but weren't bad.  Basically, fine, but not noteworthy in any way.

So, good quality base ice cream, good amount of nice quality little chips, average cookie dough.  3.5/5, a gallon I easily finished, but wouldn't buy again.

Original Review, 2016

About year or two ago, I became aware of the Tillamook brand due to their catchy "baby loaf bus" commercials, and the ensuing drama when someone stole a bunch of them (yes, for real ... go read about it).  But, I thought they just made cheese.  I like cheese, don't get me wrong, but, cheese is cheese (unless it is Brillat-Savarin of course, swoon), and not something I get THAT excited about.

But, it turns out Tillamook makes more than just cheese.  They also make yogurt, sour cream, butter, and ... ice cream.  Now we are talking.  They've even made it since 1947.  They sell standard cartons of ice cream at the supermarket (1.75 qt size), plus "Tillamookies" (ice cream sandwiches with wafer cookies like waffle cones as the cookies), and "Tillabars" (chocolate coated ice cream bars on sticks).

But this isn't a story about any of those products.  In February 2016, they are launching a new product line of ultra premium ice cream, gelato, and custard, available in pint sizes too.  And, to promote their new products, they sent out ... the baby loaf bus!

Baby Loaf Bus!

I was walking past The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen, when I spied ... yes, a baby loaf bus parked out front.

It was a cold, almost rainy day, and totally not ice cream weather, but, that didn't stop me.  Luckily for me, it seemed to stop everyone else, and there was literally no line.  No line, and free ice cream?  WHAT?!

On offer were four of the soon-to-be-released flavors:

• Dark Chocolate Gelato
• Stumptown Cold Brew Coffee Ice Cream
• Oregon Hazelnut Chocolate Gelato
• Marionberry Cheesecake Custard

Marionberry Cheesecake Custard,  Oregon Hazelnut Chocolate Gelato. 2016

I stepped right up and ordered the one that sounded most interesting to me, the Marionberry Cheesecake Custard.  After dishing out a full scoop, not just a tiny sample as I expected, the friendly Tillamook staff member said, "and what else?"  I was shocked, not only were they giving me a full scoop, they wanted to know what other flavors I wanted?  I hesitated a moment, knowing it was late in the day so I didn't want caffeine, so I ruled out the obviously caffeinated coffee flavor and the dark chocolate, and settled on the hazelnut chocolate gelato.  The server asked if I wanted any others, and I said no at this point, quite happy with my two scoops.  Amusingly, the guy who strode up to line after me, did opt to get a scoop of all 4 flavors!

Marrionberry Cheesecake Custard
"Sweet mascarpone frozen custard swirled with an Oregon marionberry ripple and pieces of graham cracker crust."

I started with the Marrionberry Cheesecake Custard.  It had lovely swirls of marionberry jam, and bits of graham cracker crumble.  I didn't really taste cheesecake, but the texture was very smooth in the base custard, it melted perfectly, and I liked the bits of crust for crunch and the fruity swirls.  The distribution of ingredients was great.  I wasn't in love with the flavor though. 3/5.

Hazelnut Chocolate.
"Creamy hazelnut gelato and thick chocolate fudge, topped with morsels of roasted Oregon hazelnuts."

I moved on to my second choice, the hazelnut chocolate.  I ended up loving this one, which is interesting, as I don't actually really care much for hazelnut.  The base of the gelato was again great, a rich, creamy texture, that melted really nicely.  It was loaded with quite a lot of hazelnut.  The pieces of nut were the perfect size too, adding plenty of texture and crunch, without being too big and hard to eat.  The real winning element for me however was the chocolate fudge swirl.  Just like the marionberry jam swirl, it was a generous swirl, this time of rich chocolate.  I loved it. 4/5.

I really enjoyed both flavors, and the care that went into crafting the ingredient mix was obvious.  Each bite left you wanting more, another bite with crunch, another bite with a fruit or jam swirl.  Maybe, just maybe, I really could have tried all 4!

California Pistachio Farmhouse Gelato. June 2016.

"Creamy, nutty, and truly indulgent pistachio gelato with the perfect hint of sea salt."

And ... the baby loaf bus came back!  A few months later, during the actual summer.  It was perfect ice cream weather, and I was thrilled to see the bus.

They had three choices this time, the same Stumptown coffee and Marionberry cheesecake as before, but this time, no hazelnut chocolate (darn!  That is what I wanted again!), so, I went for the pistachio, made with California pistachios.

It was perfectly melty, and had a slight pistachio taste, but, there was something about it I didn't care for.  I'm really not sure what it was, but it had a bit of a funk to it.  Still, very creamy, nicely made gelato, just, not in a flavor I wanted. 3/5.

Read More...

Harborview Restaurant

Harborview opened near the Embarcadero in San Francisco in 2018, and got a lot of attention quickly, as it is an extremely large establishment (20,000 sq ft over several floors), offers fairly upscale Cantonese cuisine, and was founded by the person behind famed R&G Lounge.  It seems to be doing well, as it is still open now, 6 years later, and some of those years were the rough pandemic lockdown ones.

"We proudly serve Cantonese Chinese Cuisine in a sophisticated yet unpretentious setting with a stunning view of San Francisco Bay."

They offer a variety of private event spaces, multiple styles of dining, a large bar area, an outside patio, a takeout only area, and catering.  Open every day but Monday for both lunch/brunch and dinner.  Like I said, it is a big operation.  I've considered it for large group dinners on several occasions, but the price point was always outside our allowed range.

Visit #1: Takeout Dessert

After eyeing Harborview for so long, my first visit was finally inspired by a new menu item: Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust. These are basically a dessert version of their signature bbq pork buns, same crunchy sugar crust, just, different filling. I know people love the bbq pork buns, but I've shied away, only because I had the very famous ones from Tim Ho Wan in Singapore and ... I wasn't really into them (too sweet!). But taking a sweet bun the dessert route sounded good to me.

Packaging.

My order needed to be made to order, so it took 20 mins.  This was no problem, I went to Farmer's Market over at the Ferry Building (4 min walk away), my already planned next stop.  Got what I needed quickly, and was back in less than 20 minutes.  Perfect really.

I returned just in time for them to be finished, literally, can't get fresher than this.  They came packaged up in a standard take out box.

Baked Coffee Lava Buns with Crunchy Sugar Crust / 雪山咖啡包 (3 pcs) $8.

"Baked buns with a special coffee lava filling, topped with our signature crunchy sugar crust!"

My box itself even was piping hot, and I was overjoyed.  I walked right up to the 3rd floor rooftop patio above Embarcadero Center, found the space entirely empty, with plentiful seating, sunshine, and flowers.  I opened up my box, and was met with further joy.

Yes, these were indeed hot and fresh, and yes, they were so good.  The order size is normally 2, but for some reason, I got 3.  I am *not* complaining.  Great value for $8.

Baked Coffee Lava Bun: Sugar Coating!

The top of the buns sugar coated, and I expected it to be crispy, e.g. "signature crunchy sugar crust", more like a pineapple bun, or at least like the crispy top of the bbq bun I had from Tim Ho Wan, but it wasn't really.

Not quite what I thought it would be, but still quite good.  Plenty of sugar, but it was more like a freshly made sugar donut, rather than a crispy bun.

The bun itself was lovely - soft, sweet, fluffy.    Much lighter than those from Tim Ho Wan.

Overall, the bun delivered: warm, soft, and sweet.  It really reminded me of a freshly made very good donut, just a touch crispier, and obviously baked.  It would be good just as a sugar bun, to be honest.  But of course, this had a filling. 4/5 for the bun alone though.

Baked Coffee Lava Bun: Coffee Lava Filling.

The filling inside was "coffee lava" - basically, a coffee cream filling.  It didn't exactly come flowing out like lava, but, it was warm, slightly sweet, slightly bitter, creamy, and quite tasty.  The coffee flavor was certainly there, but not that strong.  Coffee lovers might be a bit disappointed, but I thought the coffee level was nice.

I think I'd prefer a regular custard cream filling (or, sesame or ube ...), or a thicker cream, but this was quite enjoyable, and I'd gladly have more.  4/5 overall.

Visit #2: Takeout leftovers

My next "visit" was entirely unintentional, when some co-workers visited in person for a team lunch, and brought back their extra food to share.  Of course, I was happy to try a few things, even though obviously not hot and fresh (I heated items up myself at home, later).

Chilled Jellyfish. $11.

The jellyfish is a chilled plate, and one that looked a bit like perhaps some kind of pickled or fermented vegetable.  But, nope, that's jellyfish!  I haven't had much jellyfish in my life, but I have such found memories of the last jellyfish I had at Mumu in Sydney, in a dish I totally adored.  Bring on the jellyfish!  Here it was in its simplicity, I believe marinated a bit?

It was very interesting, and not bad at all.  Nicely ... crunchy?  Juicy.  Refreshing.  Not fishy in any way, in fact, you could definitely easily convince someone this was not seafood.  I enjoyed it. 3.5/5.

Pan-Fried Turnip Cake. $7/3.

I only took a small hunk of one of these as I wasn't expecting to like it all that much.  

It really was quite good, super crispy outside, good size little chunks within, strong flavors, well seasoned.  Sooo much better than the version from Yank Sing. 3.5/5.

Vegetarian Bean Curd Rolls. $9/3.

I really enjoyed the bean curd rolls.  Granted, I adore yuba and had not had it in ages, so that was definitely the main appeal for me.  The wrapper was delicate, lightly creamy (I know that sounds strange, and yes, it is a soft sheet, but it tasted, well, fresh and creamy if that makes *any* sense), and tasted very fresh.  They were well rolled, the wrappers without punctures, and they didn't fall apart too easily.

Inside was a mixed chopped vegetable filling, I'm not entirely sure what everything was, but there were bits of mushroom and many other things, all chopped up very small.  Good mix of textures and flavors.  These are also available with a shrimp filling.

I enjoyed them with a little soy sauce and chili crunch on them, warm and fresh like this, and later, with some leftovers I grilled them on my panini press, which also worked really well - as much as I liked the soft, pliable, fresh yuba, the crispy version was pretty fun too.

I'd love to get these again.  4/5.

Read More...