In previous posts, I had mentioned that this is an exciting time to be a Goldfish fan- Pepperidge Farm has been coming out with crazy new flavors lately, including the Goldfish Grahams line which I started reviewing a few posts back.  But this… this I did not expect.  I was in a supermarket in Ohio a few weekends ago and was in charge of picking out the beach snacks our group would be eating (they obviously chose the right person for this).   My first order of business was seeking out the Pepperidge Farm section, as the obligatory token bag of chips I would buy would come second in my snack search.  I find their Goldfish section and drop my basket on the floor in sheer horror when I see this:

PATHETIC.

They’re joking, right?  That’s all they have????  This must be an elaborate prank that was orchestrated with the sole purpose of giving me a stress ulcer.  En route to finding the manager so I could backhand him across his dumb face, I came across a GOLDFISH PUFFS display at the end of an aisle!  I had never seen these before, so I was caught off guard.  They come in a shiny medium-sized resealable plastic bag:

Stunning.  And with “mega cheese” as a flavor, we could be in for a wild ride.  I resisted the urge to rip them open right there, and instead took them to the counter and paid for them like a civilized member of society.  I couldn’t wait to dig into these mofos though.  We got home and headed over to the beach, where I donned Erica’s grandma’s American flag star sunglasses for fear of being blinded by the shining glory of these puffs when I gaze my mortal eyes on them for the first time.

Only a bald eagle perched on my shoulder could make this picture more American.

Woah.  These are interesting.  They’re bigger than normal goldfish, and obviously much puffier.  Check ’em out:

I ate a few and realized they’re much like puffed Cheetos, only in a smaller, fishier shape.  This is fine by me, because I usually don’t eat the puffy Cheetos because the texture weirds me out after a while, and the less bites I have to take per puff, the better.  The cheese taste is slightly different too.  They don’t have the trademark cheddar taste that regular Goldfish have either… It must be the mega-ness of the cheese.  While munching away, I also noticed that the powder doesn’t get on your hands as much as the Cheetos powder does.  Another plus.  However, I saw that people were reaching for them less and less after the initial excitement wore off, myself included.  Its not because they’re bad.. they just threw me off a bit.  I was expecting that familiar Goldfish cheese taste and it wasn’t there.  With the texture also being different, the only trait that had any resemblance to Goldfish was their fish shape.  Other than that, they’re a completely different snack (much like the grahams).  They’re good though, and I recommend trying them.  I am also going to try the Buffalo Wing flavor if I ever see them, because that sounds outstanding.  So yeah, give them a shot and let me know what you think!  Also, follow the blog by clicking the follow link at the top of your screen so you can get updates delivered to you and don’t have to furiously refresh every day in a frenzied sweaty panic.