Trader Joe's Chocolate & Peanut Butter Joe Joe's Sandwich Cookies: I'm not sure if there's anything more American than these single-cookie serving size sandwich cookies from Trader Joe's, with alternating peanut butter and chocolate layers (essentially an Oreo with peanut butter filling, covered in a peanut butter frosting-like exterior drizzled with more chocolate). On a hot day, the waxy outer coating can melt quickly in your hand. It tastes a bit like a better quality Reese's cup, but with a cookie base (the quality of the chocolate, in particular, is ... (read more) 3.0/5.0
cookies tjs traderjoes chocolate peanut butter joe joe's sandwich 3.0Seijo Ishii Butter Chicken Curry Rice Crackers: Seijo Ishii is a 24-hour supermarket I lived closed to in my early stay in Tokyo which stocked a variety of international goods and flavors. One of the most intriguing and memorable series of snacks I had there were their curry rice crackers, featuring classic southeast asian dishes like green curry and butter chicken. The non-resealable bag contains several servings of large crispy rice crackers coated with a powdered seasoning – this happened to capture the taste of creamy butter chicken... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended japanese seijoishii butter chicken curry rice crackers 4.0Toppo 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 2.0YBC Aerial Roe Butter Flavored Chips: It is very rare for me to come across a snack that is fundamentally different than any I've had before, and this fried Japanese corn snack is one of them. I found it at Weica, sort of like a CVS, which has an impressive stock of junk food. These chips consist of multiple crispy layers, each uniquely shaped probably due to the irregularity of the manufacturing process. Each square is about the size of a Wheat Thin in area. The separated layers gives it a light crispy texture unlike any sn... (read more) 4.0/5.0
recommended weica japanese junkfood yamazakibiscuitsco aerial roe butter flavored chips 4.0 ybcPuffworks Peanut butter puffs: I expected these corn puffs to be coated in a dry peanut butter powder, but the coating was surprisingly more like paste. That made them a little more challenging to eat, as they leave your fingers slightly sticky. The peanut butter is neither sweet nor savory and was frankly bland. The snack coats your mouth just like peanut butter does, so it also begs to be eaten with a drink. Purchased from Fairway. 2.5/5.0
organic fairway puffworks peanut butter puffs 2.5Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter protein granola: These clusters are more like cereal than granola, with a peanut butter flavor that leans more savory than sweet. There are some halved roasted peanuts mixed in too. I don’t really like that it falls in this no-mans-land as neither a sweet nor salty snack. And size wise, it’s impractical to eat as a cereal, yet not as substantial as eating a granola bar. A fairly forgettable snack from Trader Joe’s. 2.5/5.0
peanutbutter traderjoes peanut butter protein granola 2.5