McDonald's McShake x Doraemon Yogurt Shake: Doraemon is a much beloved Japanese cartoon character, a fixture of children's television and merchandising that is pretty impossible to escape in Japan. This year marks the cartoon's 50th anniversary, which has led to many partnerships and exclusive products. McDonald's in Japan currently has a line of celebratory Happy Meal Doraemon toys, but I opted for their special Doraemon yogurt milkshake; a small drink cost 120¥ or about $1 USD. I can't say I've actually had a shake from McDonald'... (read more) 3.5/5.0
recommended drinks fastfood japanese mcdonalds mcshake x doraemon yogurt shake 3.5
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
Morinaga Chestnut Cake: The Japanese snack aisle is full of seasonal items, and it looks like we're now in chestnut season, with a variety of chestnut-flavored cakes and desserts. I purchased the Japanese version of Choco Pies from popular brand Morinaga, consisting of a circular cake base filled with a layer of creme and covered in chocolate. Overall, I prefer the texture of Choco Pies, whose cake is less crumbly (most of the individually wrapped cakes in my Morinaga box were not in one piece when opened), and t... (read more) 2.0/5.0
japanese inegaya morinaga chestnut cake 2.0
Haldiram's Kashmiri Mixture: I had Haldiram's a bunch of times growing up on playdates and have fond memories of eating Lachha potato sticks, mini match-stick like potato straws, deep fried and seasoned with a robust blend of spices. This was my first time having the Kashmiri Mixture, consisting of mung beans, potato sticks, and cashew nuts, though there are a few other types of textures, including small crunchy "noodles" (they remind me of miniature ramen noodle snacks) along with fried pieces resembling halved rice c... (read more) 3.0/5.0
indian haldirams kashmiri mixture 3.0
Glico 牧場しぼり Affogato Ice Cream: These little ice cream cups, about the standard size of paper-cup ice cream snacks you'd get as a kid in the states, come sealed in plastic packaging. The affogato flavor consisted of milk ice cream surrounded along the perimeter and at the base with an espresso-flavored ice, whose consistency was somewhere between shaved ice and bruleed sugar. Overall, it was decently enjoyable, in the way that normal store-bought ice cream has a familiar but comforting taste. 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese glico 牧場しぼり affogato ice cream 3.0