Sun Fruits Apple Juice: In the basement of the swanky Tokyo Midtown department store is a speciality fruit shop called Sun Fruits, the type of shop where sumo oranges (dekopan) are individually wrapped in a form-fitting web of styrofoam and boxes of pale white strawberries go for 8,000¥ ($73 USD). The one item I felt I could afford, and also I was most interested in trying, was a bottle of what I presumed to be a barely-pink fruit soda, which cost $3.50. It turns out that it was a bottle of apple juice, with frui... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Sunny Mart まじめなおかし Yuzu Biscuits: Purchased from Natural Lawson, a popualar convenience store, these round biscuits with scallop edges are thick and crunchy, rather than flaky like Ritz crackers. They have a glazed coating that has a sweet tangy citrus flavor. But they are also heavily seasoned, probably the saltiest snack I've had in Japan, so I never wanted to eat much of it. Not recommended. 2.0/5.0
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Suntory Melon Pop Soda: I'm not sure what I expected from this atomic green soda, somehow even more neon green than Surge, the height of artificial soda in America. But I think I was craving some variety after not drinking any interesting beverages for some time. I purchased the bottle from a 100¥ discount vending machine. It tastes just as you would expect: super sweet, but not actually tasting that much of melon; more like liquid fruit gummy candy. I've actually just realized that I believe this is the melon ... (read more) 1.5/5.0
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Suntory Grape Gokuri Juice: I expected this drink to be carbonated, but it's more like a grape juice that contains pulpy bits of grape. It comes in a thin aluminum bottle with a screw top, which is pretty convenient because the drink is too sweet to want to drink in a single serving. Overall, it was a largely average drink, not something I would purchase again. 2.5/5.0
drinks japanese suntory grape gokuri juice 2.5
Suzukake sogetsu Doriyaki: This Japanese treat was a gift from a visitor to my lab. The packaging had zero English, but with the help of Google Translate, I determined that the brand is Suzukake, and the snack is called sogetsu. I expected it to be dorayaki, but the pancake wrapper was actually made of glutinous rice instead of cake. As a huge fan of mochi, I am completely in favor of this substitution. Beside the texture, it tasted just like dorayaki, with a red bean filling that was sweeter than other Japanese confe... (read more) 4.5/5.0
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Sweet Box Japanese black beef potato chips: A common potato-based junk food I see here in Japan but not in the states is french-fry-shaped chips, thickly cut like the British type you get with fish and chips but crunchy: extruded fried potato sticks. The most popular is Calbee Jagabee, though I actually have not yet tried it (you can get it easily in the states), but the bag I purchase is substantial and hearty in comparison, at least in terms of the diameter of each piece. The chips have a strong garlic flavor that tastes slightly sm... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese sweetbox black beef potato chips 3.5