OSJL Snack Items

Ocean State Job Lot’s snack selection is unparalleled in the brick and mortar universe. I’ve had so many weird and wonderful snack items over the last five years from this store that my mind reels. It’s high time I document some of them.

Go to the latest addition(s)!

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Dill Pickle Kracker Nuts:

nuts

Provenance: USA!
Price: $1.00
Odd Ingredient: “Vinegar Powder”
Monosodium glutamate? Yes
Tagline: “Cracker Covered Peanuts Bursting with Flavor”

While I usually hate any product with intentionally misspelled words in its name… and while I bought this $1.00 (!) snack on a lark… I love them. They are straight up delicious. Essentially just peanuts rolled in salty, dill pickely wonderfulness; not overdone at all.

Verdict: Frickin’ Delicious

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Ocean Creatures:

fish

Provenance: Vietnam (!)
Price: $1.25
Odd Ingredient: “Fat”
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Bite Size Crackers Cheese Flavor”

My son picked these out because he thought the name “Ocean Creatures” was hilarious – and he was right. That IS hilarious. They’ve stolen the Pepperidge Farm Goldfish package colors and snack size and theme, but these are from Vietnam. As a result, some of the ocean creatures are cuttlefish and pufferfish – and that is why I love OSJL. I’m eating a cuttlefish shaped snack chip ostensibly for kids. (You can see Mr. Cuttlefish on the top, towards the right of the high class martini glass. It’s the one that looks like a uterus. Mmmm, Vietnamese uterus.)

Less cheesy than their Pepperidge Farm counterparts, and with a weird sort of Asian twang to them, but my kids (and I) enjoy them just fine.

Verdict: Fairly Delicious

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Pretzel Pete Nuggets: Cheddar Ale:

pete

Provenance: Pennsylvania
Price: $1.75
Odd Ingredient: “Beer Buds”
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Irresistible blend of cheddar cheese and ale permeates each and every bite.” (among others.)

Aside from straight up potato chips, this is probably my favorite snack item from OSJL. I love them. They used to be $1.25, but now are $1.75. Good for Pretzel Pete, he deserves it.

No, they don’t taste like beer or anything, but they are a very pleasantly crunchy (yet soft) melange of cheddar and sourdough and salt. These are like pretzel Combos, but done by an Amish firm (or whatever) that does it right. Highly recommended.

Verdict: Frickin’ Delicious

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Pretzel Pete Nuggets: Spicy Hot! Sour Cream & Habanero

pete

Provenance: Pennsylvania
Price: $1.75
Odd Ingredient: “parsley flakes”
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “All-Natural Sourdough Pretzel Nuggets packing a hint of sour cream and a wallop of habanero” (among others.)

Great snack item? Or greatest snack item? The amount of heat with these things is perfect. If you down 4 in a row, your mouth will burn. Take em one at a time, you feel a pleasant warmth and a phenomenal flavor.

Verdict: Frickin’ Delicious

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Kiddylicious Carrot Crisps:

carrot

Provenance: “Lovingly created and packed in China.”
Price: $2
Odd Ingredient: None. These are literally just carrots.
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Each little bag is made with the equivalent of one carrot.”

This is nothing more than dried up carrot slices. There are all sorts of platitudes about the healthiness of this snack, blah blah blah. It’s an English company that sells them, but yeah, they are made in China.

The taste? They taste like carrot. Just carrot.

Verdict: Not so delicious

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Asian Cafe Spicy Seaweed Snacks:

seaweed

Provenance: Korea
Price: $1
Odd Ingredient: Perilla oil
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Quality Asian Cuisine”

Film-thin slivers of seaweed, with a dusting of salty spiciness. The delicate sheets sort of crinkle and melt in your mouth, coating it with salt and “kimchi powder.” I love these. I’d serve these at a party to a bunch of white people and freak them out.

Verdict: Frickin’ delicious

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Pirate’s Booty Veggie:

pirate

Provenance: USA!
Price: $1.00
Odd Ingredient: “Broccoli powder”
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Thar be Good”

Look at those things. They look like hops or marijuana buds.

Everyone knows Pirate Booty and their more popular snacks, but I’m not sure all are familiar with these green veggie things. But really, they taste pretty good. A bit grassy and not at all cheesy or very salty like you’ve come to expect from this brand.

And as much as I love cheesy and salty, these are still good.

Verdict: Fairly Delicious

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Asian Cafe Wasabi Seaweed Snacks:

seaweed

Provenance: Korea
Price: $1
Odd Ingredient: Perilla oil
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: “Quality Asian Cuisine”
Found: Bloomfield, 9/30/14

Same as two entries above, but with wasabi instead of “spicy.”

Film-thin slivers of seaweed, with a dusting of wasabi spiciness. The delicate sheets sort of crinkle and melt in your mouth, coating it with salt and “wasabi powder.” I love these. I’d serve these at a party to a bunch of white people and freak them out. As a result of the the above purchase, I bought a ton of these things. My wife is pleased.

Verdict: Frickin’ delicious

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Kohinoor Namkeen Aloo Bhujia:

aloo

Provenance: India
Price: $1.25
Odd Ingredient: Sago
Monosodium glutamate? No
Tagline: So much from which to choose! “With the variety that would leave your taste pallets (sic) satisfied in every sense, these much snacks are perfect companions for all those times which memories are made of.”
Found: Bloomfield, 9/30/14

This was the first expired product I’ve ever bought, I think, from OSJL. But do little tiny potato sticks covered in spices every really expire? My “taste pallets” say no.

This seems like a never-ending bag. The little tiny things are hard to eat, but pack a ton of Indian flavor. I’ve idea what Aloo Bhujia means, but to me, these snacks just taste exactly like what you’d think Indian snack food tastes like. I’d recommend a bag, but you can’t eat the whole thing yourself.

Verdict: Fairly delicious

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