Haldiram's Panchrattan: This snack combines potato sticks, cashews and almonds, and raisins with curry leaves to create an impressively delicious blend of sweet and savory. Haldiram's potato sticks are the closest I've found to french-fry-tasting snacks, and the pairing of french fries with raisins isn't a combination I would have thought could work so well. There's also a range of textures, from the crispy sticks to crunchy and rich nuts to soft and tangy raisins. It's a bit of a messy snack, so I pour it into ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended indian haldirams panchrattan 4.0
Ginbis Asparagus Biscuits: These are biscuit snacks you can find everywhere, named for their stick-like-shape rather than flavor. The scallop-edged biscuits have a sprinkling of black sesame seeds and a lightly sweetened flavor that also tastes lightly buttery. A decent and affordable everyday snack. 3.5/5.0
recommended lawson ginbis asparagus biscuits 3.5
Glica Cafe Ore Purin: I've always loved Japanese purin, or custard pudding with a sweet caramel base. It has a very satisfying jiggle that's more set than American pudding but less bouncy than Jello. I had never tried the Glica coffee version, which is flavored after the beverage line Cafe Ore. it has a typical yet still robust coffee flavor; the roasted coffee taste does round out the typical sweetness of the pudding (though it is definitely still very sweet). Would purchase again! 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese pudding glica cafe ore purin 3.5
Bourbon Kitanotamago no Sable Biscuits: I've been having a lot of plainer snacks recently, but this biscuit is definitely one of the better ones I've had, in Japan and otherwise. The box comes with 8 individually wrapped cookies, shaped like eggs and reminding me of dinosaur egg cartoons. They have a crumbly texture and sweet, buttery flavor that's surprisingly satisfying and richer than your typical biscuit. 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese bourbon kitanotamago no sable biscuits 3.5 Maruetsu
Morinaga Carre de Chocolat Strawberry Dark Chocolates: One of the delightful things about chocolates in Japan, even inexpensive options available from convenience stores, is they often have clever packaging, the type that make you want to display them and share them with other people. This box of 18 chocolates, costing about $3 USD, contains gold-foil-wrapped dark chocolate squares sized similarly to banquet-style individual servings of butter, the top half tasting of tart and sweet strawberry and the bottom half dark chocolate. The base of th... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese morinaga carre de chocolat strawberry dark chocolates 3.5
Wanpo Tea Shop Oolong milk tea with boba: I've had bubble tea in Japan at a handful of shops, and most have been very disappointing, with watered-down powdered tea and overly soft boba. When I saw that there was a Taiwanese chain of bubble tea shops near Ueno station whose wall is lined with loose-leaf tea canisters, I thought they might be different. Luckily, my suspicions were confirmed, and I was actually able to communicate with the shop in Mandarin, a big win for me as I normally feel pretty useless with the little Japanese I... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended bubbletea japan wanpoteashop oolong milk tea boba 4.0