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
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
Parle Parle-G Biscuits: Another Indian snack I received in my snack care package. According to WIkipedia, these are the best selling brand of biscuits in the world, having been produced for almost 100 years since 1939. The rectangular biscuits feature its name surrounded by a laurel design and are a golden brown color, tasting slightly sweet and normally paired with tea or coffee. I ate them without any accompaniment and enjoyed their neutral flavor and texture, though they are pretty much exactly what you would... (read more) 3.0/5.0
indian parle parle-g biscuits 3.0
Lotte 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