Venus Delites Fig Filled Cookies: I purchased these cookies at Seijo Ishii, a grocery store specializing in imported products. I haven't seen Fig Newtons, or similar equivalents, since moving to Japan, and seeing them made me crave the flavor of the humble cookie. These were about 2/3 the size and had more of a crumbly rather than soft cookie exterior, but I found the chewy fig center to be more satisfying in texture and concentrated fig flavor than Fig Newtons, or the Newman's Own version. But I still prefer the softness... (read more) 3.0/5.0
cookies turkey venus delites fig filled 3.0 seijoishii
Nissin シスコーン BIG strawberry shortcake corn flakes: Nissin BIG is a popular brand of frosted flake cereal, the equivalent of Tony the Tiger frosted flakes. In Japan, there are much fewer cereal options, always in bags rather than boxes, and less than a handful are aimed specifically towards kids -- in the grocery stores I've been to, the cereal takes up a small fraction of the aisle compared to an entire side that you'd normally find in the states. I've had the standard frosted flakes flavor before, which tastes exactly as you'd expect, but... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese nissin シスコーン big strawberry shortcake corn flakes 3.0 cereal nissinworld
Haldiram's Kashmiri Mixture: I had Haldiram's a bunch of times growing up on playdates and have fond memories of eating Lachha potato sticks, mini match-stick like potato straws, deep fried and seasoned with a robust blend of spices. This was my first time having the Kashmiri Mixture, consisting of mung beans, potato sticks, and cashew nuts, though there are a few other types of textures, including small crunchy "noodles" (they remind me of miniature ramen noodle snacks) along with fried pieces resembling halved rice c... (read more) 3.0/5.0
indian haldirams kashmiri mixture 3.0
Glico 牧場しぼり Affogato Ice Cream: These little ice cream cups, about the standard size of paper-cup ice cream snacks you'd get as a kid in the states, come sealed in plastic packaging. The affogato flavor consisted of milk ice cream surrounded along the perimeter and at the base with an espresso-flavored ice, whose consistency was somewhere between shaved ice and bruleed sugar. Overall, it was decently enjoyable, in the way that normal store-bought ice cream has a familiar but comforting taste. 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese glico 牧場しぼり affogato ice cream 3.0
Meiji Essel Super Cup MInt Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: As far as flavor goes, this is a pretty standard mint ice cream, the type that's white rather than seafoam green and has thin slivers of chocolate throughout rather than chocolate cubes. The main reason I'm writing this review is for the size of the ice cream, which is a standard single-size serving you see everywhere in Japan. Even in normal grocery stores, I haven't seen gallon or even normal-sized pints. This container is slightly larger than the ice cream cups you'd get a field day gro... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese meiji essel super cup mint chocolate chip ice cream 3.0
Haitai Singdandong Hot Chicken Tteokbookkki Rice Cake Snack: I used to buy Haitai tteokbokki rice snacks from HMart regularly, so I was very pleased to see these Korean snacks at my local Lawson convenience store in Tokyo, though I hadn't tried this particular flavor. The normal ones are satisfying sweet, savory, and spicy glazed rice snacks shaped like large, ridged elbow macaroni, crunchy rather than chewy like the actual tubular rice cakes you get at a Korean restaurant. They were reliably good, the type of snack I would always manage to buy when... (read more) 3.0/5.0
lawson korean haitai singdandong hot chicken tteokbookkki rice cake snack 3.0