Capi Spicy Ginger Beer: According to my records, I have reviewed 39 different ginger sodas on this site, so whenever I come across one I haven't seen before, I'm especially excited. I made a trip to National Azabu, a grocery store in Tokyo featuring many international items, and they had a brand from Australia called Capi that was new to me. Their spicy ginger beer has a yellow-tan color, with ginger sediments you shake to distribute before opening. While I did find the spiciness level to be decent, the soda had... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Marunaga 焼きおいももなか Roasted Sweet Potato Ice Cream Sandwich: This ice cream sandwich is shaped like a roasted sweet potato using potatoes from the Kagoshima prefecture. It is impressively textured to mimic the wrinkly skin of a sweet potato using monaka, a thin rice-based wafer used in many Japanese treats. The monaka doesn't have any flavor on its own, but inside the two halves of the potato are a white sweet potato ice cream and a yellow paste, almost like a cross between a jam and a mash. Overall, I found the dessert to be too sweet, especially ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Morinaga Hi-Chew Momotaro Grape and Goyomitsuhime Fig: I used to love eating Hi-Chew fruit chews as a kid, which have a texture somewhere between a gummy and chewing gum. They come individually wrapped and usually have a milky, translucent color and are initially firm but become much softer and chewier the longer you eat them. I hadn't felt the need to buy this snack since living in Japan, but I also hadn't come across two-flavored Hi-Chews before this week and made this purchase for grape and fig flavored Hi-Chews at a local Family Mart conve... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Denroku Rice cracker mix: A standard but tasty mix of rice cracker snacks with small dried silver fish and peanut-encased crunchy rice balls. Sweet soy glaze coats many of the rice crackers, but the overall flavor leans savory. 3.0/5.0
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Capi Blood Orange Soda: When visiting National Azabu, a grocery store known for its international selection, I purchased two bottles of this Australian brand of soda: their spicy ginger ale and the blood orange flavors. The spicy ginger ale wasn't particularly good, so I didn't have the highest expectations for the blood orange kind. The soda itself is a little cloudy, a sign of it being made with real fruit, and the taste is definitely distinct from regular orange soda or grapefruit soda – a little more tart but... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Calbee Fried Chicken Potato Chips: Thickly cut, ridged potato chips whose seasoning is reminiscent of fried batter and chicken bouillon with a deeply savory flavor. It tastes like when you lick your fingers after eating fried chicken, which is it say you get the sort of greasy flavor of fried foods with a hint of meat, rather than full on chicken flavor. 3.0/5.0
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