Nico Black Sesame Donut: This was a donut I purchased about two months ago in the Azabu-Juban neighborhood of Tokyo. The small stand, selling donuts to go, has a menu of small soybean-flour-based donuts dusted in flavored sugar. The soybean flour gives it a uniquely texture more similar steamed bread than American fried donuts. Flavored sugar is also not overly sweet but also easily identifiable as black sesame. A little bit pricy for the size, at least by Japanese standards (a little over $3 for the donut), but... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Nihonbashiya Apple Mochi: This shop adjacent to the Akihabara station has mini fruit-shaped mochi that are incredibly cute. I bought two to try: apple and persimmon. This apple one was my favorite with a surprisingly concentrated apple-flavored paste at its center. I didn't realize it would actually taste like apple, and it was well balanced and not too sweet, even though it's covered in sugar. 3.5/5.0
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Nissin sesame sable cookies: I grew up eating the very buttery coconut biscuits you get in a silver foil package from Asian grocery stores. These cookies have a slight resemblance, with a biscuit-like base and glazed, coconut flavored top, but it's not as sweet as the normal coconut cookies, and the black sesame balances out the sweetness. At five cookies to a serving, it's not the most filling snack, but the flavor is memorable, and it's reasonably priced. 3.5/5.0
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Nissin Coconut sable matcha cookies: Classic Asian sable cookies with a matcha twist. The wheat biscuits are sweetened with coconut milk and have a sugary glaze. Matcha powder seems to have been mixed in to the flour, rather than used as a coating (the cookies are not green). Contains individual serving packs of 5 crackers. Though there is quite a bit of sugar in each serving (22g), I still found the biscuits enjoyable. They taste more like matcha than most matcha-flavored snacks I've had, and the mix of coconut and matcha... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Nissin Annoimo Waguri sweet potato cookies: I grew up eating coconut sable biscuits from Asian grocery stores, the type that has scalloped edges and a glazed coating with flakes of sugar. I like them so much that i made the biscuit my avatar for Tasty Snacking. It turns out that in Japan, there are extended flavors of this basic coconut cookie. For autumn, they have a sweet potato flavor with decorative packaging featuring maple leaves and chestnuts. I was pretty amazed by how concentrated they were able to get the sweet potato flav... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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Nongshim Onion Flavored Rings: I mostly know Nongshim for their portfolio of ramen noodles, but I heard good things about their snacks, and these onion rings did not disappoint. The snack has a savory yet sweet onion flavor that tastes much more true to a vidalia onion than Funyuns. Texturally, they’re crunchy yet light and yielding. It’s definitely not healthy, but it’s a junk food that’s worth the calories. I purchased them at Berkeley Bowl, which doesn’t stock unhealthy snack brands, so I didn’t feel too bad about eati... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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