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
Lotte 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 2.5
Meiji Essel Super Cup MInt Chocolate Chip Ice Cream: As far as flavor goes, this is a pretty standard mint ice cream, the type that's white rather than seafoam green and has thin slivers of chocolate throughout rather than chocolate cubes. The main reason I'm writing this review is for the size of the ice cream, which is a standard single-size serving you see everywhere in Japan. Even in normal grocery stores, I haven't seen gallon or even normal-sized pints. This container is slightly larger than the ice cream cups you'd get a field day gro... (read more) 3.0/5.0
icecream japanese meiji essel super cup mint chocolate chip ice cream 3.0
Haitai Singdandong Hot Chicken Tteokbookkki Rice Cake Snack: I used to buy Haitai tteokbokki rice snacks from HMart regularly, so I was very pleased to see these Korean snacks at my local Lawson convenience store in Tokyo, though I hadn't tried this particular flavor. The normal ones are satisfying sweet, savory, and spicy glazed rice snacks shaped like large, ridged elbow macaroni, crunchy rather than chewy like the actual tubular rice cakes you get at a Korean restaurant. They were reliably good, the type of snack I would always manage to buy when... (read more) 3.0/5.0
lawson korean haitai singdandong hot chicken tteokbookkki rice cake snack 3.0
Calbee Black Pepper Potato Crisps: There are two Japanese versions of Pringles that I've seen on the shelves from major brands Calbee and YBC. Both come in familiar tennis-tube packaging and feature a hyperbolic paraboloid-shaped stackable chip. The differences are minor: the Japanese chips are a bit thicker and tend to taste more of fried potato than of their powdered flavoring. These black pepper flavored chips have a decent spiciness to them and are otherwise fairly expected – neither good nor bad. I recently learned t... (read more) 3.0/5.0
japanese inegaya calbee black pepper potato crisps 3.0
Mirch Masala Sandwich Bhakarwadi: Indian wheat sandwich snack that is a little bit spicy but also have an unexpected sweetness, which I believe comes from dried mango powder. The square crackers have a bit of a scalloped edge and irregular dotted exterior; they taste fried, rather than baked. In particular, the sandwich ends are pretty dense and remind me a bit of fried wontons strips, which often taste of the oil they're cooked in. I find them to be not quite savory or sweet enough, and the combination of tamarind and chi... (read more) 2.0/5.0
indian mirchmasala sandwich bhakarwadi 2.0