Morinaga Pino Uji Matcha Ice Cream: These are popular frozen treats you can buy at most shops in Japan. They're shaped like large Dots candies with a thin outer coating and ice cream interior. The classic version has vanilla ice cream with a chocolate coating. I purchased their Uji Matcha flavor, which tastes of a mix of matcha and red bean, though both the shell and ice cream were matcha-green. I was surprised how much red bean flavor came through. The coating is not like American coated-ice cream, which tends to be cris... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese dessert redbean Maruetsu morinaga pino uji matcha ice cream 3.0
Morinaga Mango Pudding Snack: This is another flavor of Morinaga pudding packs. They come in packs of three at the grocery store and are small pudding cups, about 2/3 the size of America ones. (To be fair, the 3-pack comes with smaller cups than the individually-sized pudding cups you can also buy, which are actually bigger than American ones). The mango one is extremely sweet and reminds me of mango-flavored gelatin snacks you get in those miniature squeeze packets from Chinese grocery stores (similar to the lychee g... (read more) 2.5/5.0
inegaya gelatin japanese dessert sweets morinaga mango pudding snack 2.5
Morinaga Annin Tofu: Morinaga is a common Japanese brand that can be found in the supermarket for all sorts of things, probably most popularly in the US for their Japanese instant pancake mix. Recently I've been trying their pudding sets, which are overall decent and affordable. This was their version of almond jello (called annin tofu, though it doesn't contain tofu but just resembles it in its look), the type you get in asian restaurants with canned fruit or goji berries. It has a familiar concentrated almo... (read more) 3.0/5.0
inegaya pudding japanese almond morinaga annin tofu 3.0 dessert sweets
Mont Thabor Chocolate Croissant: The best and most popular baked item from this shop is their Hokkaido milk bread, a pastry that can easily serve 2/3 people and consists of a fluffy baked bread with a sweet crumble coating. I had purchased it once but seemingly didn't photograph it, so here's a another item I purchased from the bakery instead. This is a chocolate croissant, shaped like a cornucopia, that has both a chocolate sandwich cookie at its end plugging a very rich and substantial chocolate filling. The entire pas... (read more) 3.0/5.0
pastry azabujuban dessert japanese montthabor chocolate croissant 3.0
Lotte とろ～りれん乳三昧 苺れん乳 Strawberry Kakigori Popsicle: These are unique popsicles that could only be manufactured through modern food science. They consist of a milky outer coating, made with Hokkaido milk, that encapsulates multiple layers. At the top is a viscous syrup, which has a slight tropical pineapple flavor to me though perhaps it's just a type of acidic milk – with my first popiscle, the liquid layer came as a surprise when it came pouring out. Underneath the syrup is a strawberry popsicle, somewhere between a freeze pop and fruit b... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese naniwaya dessert frozen lotte とろ～りれん乳三昧 苺れん乳 strawberry kakigori popsicle 3.0
Tsukishimaya Imagawayaki waffle dessert: In my neighborhood in Tokyo, there's a very small to-go stall selling a traditional Japanese dessert called Imagawayaki, which is a wheel-shaped waffle/pancake with red-bean filling. Here, you can purchase a custard version as well, each for just over a dollar, and they're made fresh right in front of you with a heavy-duty cast-iron mold. I really enjoyed the crispy coating and slightly chewy interior. The pancake itself had a nice wheat flavor, which was pleasantly surprising because I e... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended desserts azabujuban japanese tsukishimaya imagawayaki waffle dessert 4.0