Vivit's Peach Mix Soda: This was a vending machine purchase made out of dehydration. In the US, I had solely associated Ito En with calorie-free bottles of ice tea, but they own a wide variety of brands of sweet drinks in Japan. This one is extremely sweet and reminds me a lot of ramune, but tasting of peach instead of pear. It's also very fizzy and one of the more carbonated drinks I've had here. Maybe it's the nostalgia of drinking ramune as a kid, but I really liked this one, even though I could tell it was ... (read more) 4.0/5.0
drinks recommended vendingmachine itoen vivits peach mix soda 4.0 japanese
Gua Maral Sea Berry Lactis: Purchased this miniature bottle of juice from the Tsukuba train station at a shop dedicated to local products. From the illustration, I gather that it's sea-buckthorn juice, and it was super tart and a little milky, almost like a yogurt drink in consistency. I've had sea-buckthorn a few times, mostly at Nordic shops and restaurants, and it has a very unique sour flavor. I love it, but I can also see how it might not be to everyone's taste. Would want to have it with breakfast every day, per... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended juice seabuckthorn berries japanese guamaral sea berry lactis 4.0
Oiwake Dango Strawberry mochi: Before I moved, I tried looking up in advance all the best specialty snack shops in Tokyo, but since arriving, I've found a better strategy is just wandering around and seeing where the lines are. This small confectionary shop in Shinjuku specializes in various types of dango, or mochi. I purchased a pale pink one that unexpectedly contained a whole strawberry as well as red bean. The mochi was very pillowy yet chewy, the strawberry a little tart and not particularly sweet. Overall, I enjoye... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese shinjuku oiwakedango strawberry mochi 3.5
Mont Thabor Turtle melon pan: I stopped by a bakery on my way to the train station and stumbled upon turtle melon-pan, which some may remember was the original avatar of Tasty Snacking until I designed my own. Having never seen one in person, I had to try it. The bread has a fairly standard dinner roll flavor, which is to say pretty neutral, while the "shell" of the turtle is sweet and reminiscent of Chinese pineapple bun, though less rich. It doesn't taste like melon (I believe it's called that for its appearance rather... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended japanese bakery bread montthabor turtle melon pan 3.5
Chicha Matcha Crepe Cake: After a long day, I decided to treat myself with dessert at this Montreal-based Taiwanese cafe that serves savory entrées, desserts, and beverages. They have a variety of flavored crepe cakes, but I went for the matcha, which was about $6 a slice - pretty pricy. I did enjoy it, though - it had many layers of eggy crepe, and the creme was not overly rich. The matcha powder was quite bitter, and the dessert overall was not very sweet. The best part was definitely the mix of chewy crepe and ... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended montreal dessert chicha matcha crepe cake 3.5
Nico Sweet potato donut: There's a pocket-sized store close to the train station that sells freshly made donuts about the size of a Montreal bagel. They're a bit pricy relatively, compared to how inexpensive most things are in Japan, but a purple Japanese sweet potato donut caught my eye, and I purchased one at about $2.50. The texture of the donut was very unique, not crumbly like cake donuts, but also not oily at all like heavily fried donuts. Almost like a very light pound cake, but barely sweetened. In fact, th... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended tokyo japanese dessert nico sweet potato donut 4.0