Kurkure Chilli Chatka: I was kindly sent a package of Indian snacks to review and started with this bag of familiar fried corn crunchies (like Cheetos) with an unfamiliar flavor or Chilli Chatka, containing a powdered coating combining a range of spices like garlic and chili powder, cumin, and fenugreek. The one item on the ingredient list that was new to me was ajwain powder, which I learned is commonly used in Indian cuisine and has flavor profile similar to anise and oregano. Definitely more spiced than spicy... (read more) 3.0/5.0
indian kurkure chilli chatka 3.0
Lotte Strawberry Toppo: Toppo is another staple convenience store (kobini) snack in Japan. I read somewhere that they're like inverted Pocky sticks, but they're not so much inverted as redistributed: the snack consists of long straws with a neutral biscuit exterior filled with flavored hardened icing such as chocolate and strawberry. The strawberry flavor has a good balance of sweet and tart, reminding me of the Koala's March snacks but less sweet as there is a more balanced biscuit to icing ratio. Like many Jap... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese strawberry inegaya lotte toppo 3.0
Parle Parle-G Biscuits: Another Indian snack I received in my snack care package. According to WIkipedia, these are the best selling brand of biscuits in the world, having been produced for almost 100 years since 1939. The rectangular biscuits feature its name surrounded by a laurel design and are a golden brown color, tasting slightly sweet and normally paired with tea or coffee. I ate them without any accompaniment and enjoyed their neutral flavor and texture, though they are pretty much exactly what you would... (read more) 3.0/5.0
indian parle parle-g biscuits 3.0
Calbee Black Pepper Potato Crisps: There are two Japanese versions of Pringles that I've seen on the shelves from major brands Calbee and YBC. Both come in familiar tennis-tube packaging and feature a hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped stackable chip. The differences are minor: the Japanese chips are a bit thicker and tend to taste more of fried potato than of their powdered flavoring. These black pepper flavored chips have a decent spiciness to them and are otherwise fairly expected – neither good nor bad. I recently learned t... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese inegaya calbee black pepper potato crisps 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
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