YBC Garlic Steak Chips: Aerial is a junk food staple in Japan consisting of layered fried corn pieces with a crispy and light texture. The underlying fried corn flavor reminds me a lot of Bugles (which also have their Japanese equivalent in a snack called Tongari Corn), but the texture of Aerials is much more fun. This particular bag inspired by garlic steak is smoky and has an intense garlic flavor, the type that leaves an aftertaste so strong that I was a little thankful I've been working / snacking in isolatio... (read more) 3.0/5.0
junkfood japanese ybc garlic steak chips 3.0
Meiji My Style Apollo Strawberry Chocolate: These are fun conical chocolate strawberry snacks that I discovered, through my research, are meant to resemble Mount Fuji, which makes them extra Japanese. About 3/4 of the cone is a pink strawberry chocolate, and the last quarter is a milk chocolate base. The chocolate has a satisfying snap, and the strawberry is also nicely tart, though overall it's definitely on the sweet side. I can see how if I grew up eating them, they could easily have become a nostalgic favorite. 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese meiji my style apollo strawberry chocolate 3.5
Nezu No Pan Mugwort Bread with Red Beans: My friend purchased two different mini loafs from Nezu bakery Nezu No Pan, whose bread has a texture unlike any I've had before. The outside of the loaf is a normal thin crust, but the inside is stretch and chewy, a bit like mochi but definitely lighter (for example, you can easily break off a piece). This bread has a vivid green color and slightly bitter herbal flavor from mugwort, a plant used to flavor some Asian desserts (the only other time I had it was also in Japan, and it was used ... (read more) 4.5/5.0
exceptional japanese nezu tokyo bakery nezunopan megwort bread red beans 4.5
Toppo Caramel and Butter Sticks: Toppo is sort of like Lotte's response to Pocky, with a very similar stick-like form factor but with the flavoring on the inside. The exterior is a sort of pretzel / cracker hybrid, and this particular one has a strong buttery flavor and a salted caramel-flavored filling inside. Sweet and savory, like chicken and waffles, this snack could have been good in theory but is somehow both too sweet and too savory at the same time; in other words, not well balanced. This standard size you can fi... (read more) 2.0/5.0
familymart japanese toppo caramel butter sticks 2.0
Kubota Strawberry Milk Popsicle: This frozen treat is flavored with milk but has a consistency more like a fruit popsicle than ice cream (it doesn't have the smooth texture of ice cream when you bite into it, but has more water content than cream). Slices of strawberry are embedded in the ice cream so you get both the fruit and the bar in each bite. The strawberry was nice and tart, but I wasn't fully convinced about the milk bar, which had a fairly neutral flavor overall. Purchased from Queens Isetan. 3.0/5.0
popsicle queensisetan japanese icecream kubota strawberry milk 3.0
Morinaga Marie Lemon Tea Cookies: Lemon tea is a common drink you can find in grocery stores in Japan, basically like iced tea in the US but generally less sweet. Marie is normally a very plain circular biscuit from Japanese food giant Morinaga (hockey puck shaped and the type you'd see labeled as "digestives") but this box contained lemon-tea flavored sandwich cookies that had a surprisingly solid herbal black tea flavor with a bit of sweet lemon acidity. The biscuits themselves are crumbly and much more like cookies than... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese coop morinaga marie lemon tea 3.5 cookies