Yifang Matcha Brown Sugar Bubble Tea: I was delighted to come across the Taiwanese bubble tea shop Yifang in Shin Okubo, the Koreatown of Shinuku in Tokyo. I wish I were able to read the menu of fruit tea options, but I had to go by the pictures and decided to try their matcha latte with brown sugar, a drink that has a fixed amount of sugar (unlike some other menu items, where you can adjust how sweet you'd like it to be). I did find the drink to be sweet for my taste, but the combination of bitter matcha with sweet brown suga... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended drinks tokyo taiwanese boba bubbletea yifang matcha brown sugar bubble tea 4.0
Oreo Crispy Matcha Rollcake-flavored cookies: I like Oreo Crispy cookies more than regular Oreos - their thinness makes them more snackable and less overwhelming sweet, and I think they have a better ratio of filling to cookie. I wasn't sure what to expect from this Matcha Rollcake flavor, wondering specifically what would make them different than just matcha-flavored Oreos. Buying them did not give me that answer, but I can say that they are enjoyable; the slight bitterness of the matcha filling is a nice complement to the also-bitte... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese cookies oreo crispy matcha rollcake-flavored 3.5
Meiji Tsujiri Matcha Cone: It's been a long while since I had packaged ice cream like this in the states, with its familiar waffle cone base lined with chocolate that's a favorite at summer camps. The Japanese version if different in a few ways: first, the ice cream is level with the top of the cone, rather than overflowing in a round scoop topping the cone; second, the entire ice cream treat itself features a narrower cone, giving the snack an overall smaller footprint. I actually liked this ice cream a lot - the i... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese Daiei icecream meiji tsujiri matcha cone 3.5
Azabu Sabo Matcha Ice Cream: Azabu Sabo is an ice cream stand located in Akihabara station that offers a variety of classic flavors as well as several green tea options. I ordered their stronger matcha flavor, which had a solid balanced bitter green tea flavor. The texture of the icy was fluffy, which was pretty surprising, but you could also taste the sugar crystals so it wasn't entirely smooth. Overall, not bad but not one of the better options in Tokyo. 3.0/5.0
icecream akihabara japanese azabusabo matcha ice cream 3.0
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
Kellogg's Hershey Matcha ChocoBIts: It's fun to discover new products and brands in Japan, but there are also a lot of familiar brands offering different items especially for the Japanese market. You can find Kellogg's cereal, for example, but I've never heard of ChocoBits in the states, and I've definitely never had matcha-flavored cereal. The product photography is pretty misleading for this one. The square chocolate nuggets have a more muted tan-ish brown color and are unglazed; the matcha inside is more like a hardened i... (read more) 2.0/5.0
cereal kelloggs hershey matcha chocobits 2.0 japanese Daiei