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
Lotte Cheese Tart with Lemon Toppo : These are straw-shaped biscuits with an icing-like filling that are popular convenience store snacks in Japan. The biscuits are a little bit smaller in circumference than Pixie Sticks, a bit wider than Pretz crackers. I purchased this box thinking it was egg tart flavored, but the tart pictured on the packaging is actually a cheese tart with a bit of lemon from the Setouchi Region of Japan. You can definitely taste the lemon, but the cheese has more of a more neutral creaminess – kind of ... (read more) 2.5/5.0
japanese lawson lotte cheese tart lemon toppo 2.5
Lotte Strawberry Toppo: Toppo is another staple convenience store (kobini) snack in Japan. I read somewhere that they're like inverted Pocky sticks, but they're not so much inverted as redistributed: the snack consists of long straws with a neutral biscuit exterior filled with flavored hardened icing such as chocolate and strawberry. The strawberry flavor has a good balance of sweet and tart, reminding me of the Koala's March snacks but less sweet as there is a more balanced biscuit to icing ratio. Like many Jap... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese strawberry inegaya lotte toppo 3.0
Lotte Chocolate Caramel Choco Pie in Ginza : The iconic snack Choco Pie from Korean brand Lotte is available in most places shops in Japan. This particular Ginza chocolate caramel cake flavor is part of a special edition "around the world" series which takes iconic desserts from various cities around the world. For example, it previously featured the NYC cheesecake. I've never actually heard of a Tokyo-specific chocolate caramel cake (and a quick Google Search comes up empty). This is a very decadent Choco Pie, with chocolate cake i... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese desserts inegaya lotte chocolate caramel choco pie in ginza 3.0
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 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