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 2.0Lotte 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 2.5Lotte 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