Cedric Grolet & Dominique Ansel Bakery Le Citron, La Noisette, and La Fraise pastries: About 24 hours ago, I was waiting in line at Dominique Ansel Bakery at 7am, an hour before opening, in what would turn out to be a 2 hour await for a taste of French pastry chef Cedric Grolet's NYC debut. This chef is known for concocting fruit desserts whose outward appearance mimics the texture and color of the real fruit, a style many describe as works of art. When its thin shell is shattered, the desserts reveal a layer of cream and a molten filling of fruit compote. Winner of the 2018 W... (read more) 2.5/5.0
nyc pastry strawberry chocolate lemon mint dominiqueanselbakery cedricgrolet chef cedricgroletdominiqueanselbakery le citron la noisette fraise pastries 2.5
Meller Caramel chocolate chews: Not-quite chewy caramel candies with a chocolate filling. Texturally comes closest to American Nips candies, but with a waxier texture and bite as if it had been sitting out a little too long. The sugary milk chocolate on the interior holds it shape when you bite into the caramel. Overall, passable as a mass manufactired candy - neither good nor bad, it meets expectations. Purchased from the Copenhagen airport with loose Danish kroner coins. 2.5/5.0
candy danish junkfood meller caramel chocolate chews 2.5
Lotte Crunky Crunch Chocolate: I had been curious about what this popular milk chocolate bar tastes like. Most Japanese chocolate bars are thinner than American bars; Crunky comes in a simple cardboard packaging with the chocolate wrapped in silver foil. The milk chocolate has puffed rice inside that is less crispy than a Crunch bar but has a slightly nuttier taste to it, almost like it's flavored with almonds. It's fairly unremarkable - kind of exactly what you expect it to taste like, which is neither particularly go... (read more) 2.5/5.0
chocolate japanese lotte crunky crunch 2.5
Lotte Cookies and Cream Crunky Chocolate Balls: I bought this bag of candy from the Lawson convenience store, and it instantly brought me back to Hershey's Cookies and Cream chocolate bars, with their waxy white chocolate and dominant vanilla flavor. The form factor of this chocolate are bite-sized balls, and the interior has a crunchy cookie-like texture. Flavor-wise, it was neither good nor bad, but health-wise it was definitely not worth the calories. 2.5/5.0
japanese lawson lotte cookies cream crunky chocolate balls 2.5 cookiesandcream
Lotte Cupcho Doraemon Chocolate Covered Corn Puffs: Cupcho are snacks you can find in konbini (convenient store) in Japan that are accurately named for their plastic cup packaging featuring a popular cartoon character - there seem to be Doraemon and Rilakkuma versions. I didn't know what it was but thought from the picture on the packaging that it was malted milk balls, a flavor I haven't had in a long time but was a favorite of mine during Halloween. Unfortunately, the actual snack was less satisfying – corn puffs similar in texture to che... (read more) 2.5/5.0
lawson kids japanese lotte cupcho doraemon chocolate covered corn puffs 2.5
Toms Giant Chocolate Turtle: This chocolate turtle was sent to me from Denmark as part of a conference "goody bag." Its shape is much more realistic than the pecan-caramel chocolate turtles I've had in the states and features a hexagonal shell pattern, paws for its legs, and two extrusions for the turtle head and tail (but with no discernible face). The chocolate shell is pretty thick and about 50% dark chocolate, and inside is a caramel and rum creme that's fairly molten and viscous in texture. I'm not really one fo... (read more) 2.5/5.0
chocolate danish toms giant turtle 2.5