Cheetos Minions Banana チートス ミニオンズ バナナ味

My 4 year old has been going through a phase where he loves the minions. He saw the Minions movie and collected the toys from McDonalds. 

Everywhere we look here in Australia there is minions merchandise, so it's hard not to get caught up in the fever. 

So when I saw these Cheetos online, my interest was piqued enough to buy a pack. Cheetos usually come in cheese or other savory flavours. I wondered how banana would taste.

Opening the bag I could see light yellow Cheetos with brown specks. An aroma like a cinnamon candle wafted out. Then I read the top of the bag and it said it is "cinnamon scented banana flavour".

The Cheetos taste buttery at first and then sweet. Then there is a big hit of cinnamon and a very vague taste of banana. Even though this is 'banana flavour', the banana has really been overlooked. This should be called 'cinnamon donut' as it tastes more like that, and the smell reminds me of a car air freshener or a cheap scented candle.

My 4 year old was underwhelmed and told me he didn't want anymore after having only two Cheetos. I had three for this review, my husband had one piece and said he didn't like it. Now we have a mostly full bag going to waste...

A shame really, as it could have been really good. But I guess they better just stick to savory flavours and leave the sweets to a candy maker.

Too marks for trying though.... :)

Choc Banana Tirol (Premium) チョコバナナ チロル

Sorry for my absence (again). Christmas happened, and then New Years, and life has been so hectic. I've just gotten some free time to blog and I thought I should get around to blogging about two more Tirol chocolates that I have.

This one is Choc Banana and the image on the wrapping shows some fireworks in the distance and a big banana covered by chocolate in the foreground. It's really quite cute. This is a premium Tirol so it's a bit larger than the usual size.

The chocolate is a banana yellow colour on the outside but doesn't really smell of banana at all. I can only smell a sweet chocolate scent. On the inside of the Tirol is a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom, followed by some white marshmallow sandwiched in the middle, then a thin layer of chocolate coloured banana flavoured sauce followed by the banana coloured chocolate.

The dark chocolate inside doesn't look really dark but it has quite a bitter taste to it, so much so that it overpowers the banana sauce. It's only really after swallowing that I get the taste of the banana sauce but the dark chocolate lingers on my tongue for a lot longer.

Overall I was disappointed. This could have been an amazing Tirol if not for the bitter dark chocolate. Who puts dark chocolate on their bananas anyway? I don't know why the marshmallow was in the middle either, it would have been better with a banana mousse or even a banana marshmallow. I'm sad, I was expecting so much more.

Will my next Tirol be a winner? Stay tuned!

Tohato All Banana 東ハト オールバナナ

Hey, long time no post, since December 1, 2010 to be exact! I've been on a really strict diet while pregnant and haven't made any allowances for Japanese snacks, but now that I can relax a little, I can try out the backlog I've got going on at my place!

I thought I'd start off with a rather summery fruit snack - All Banana - by Tohato.

This is the first time I've ever reviewed anything from Tohato, so it will be interesting to see what kind of product it is.

This 106.4 gram bag was bought by me at Nippon Food Supplies in Subiaco. It was originally $4, but was on sale for $1! Bargain.

I love bananas and it being summer, it seemed like a really good snack. The bag has 14 pieces inside, which are not individually wrapped, surprise! On the back of the bag it says that one serving is a whole bag, so that's an even bigger surprise. The carbohydrates contained in here though number 75 grams which is 6 servings of carbohydrate, that's a lot for a one sitting consumption. But one or two pieces would be ok as a snack.

The open bag smells divine, like lots of ripe bananas in a very small room. The biscuit itself is about 3cm x 3cm and kind of puffy, almost like its pie pastry on top and biscuit underneath. The banana is squished into the biscuit and sandwiched in the middle. It's a similar concept to the sultana slice biscuits you can get at a  supermarket. There is just enough banana to give a yummy taste but without overpowering the biscuit.

 

 

I'm not super keen on the pie pastry/biscuit combination, but it's ok. I think this would have been better if the biscuit/pie pastry was crunchier instead of it being a bit flat and limp. It seems kind of soggy, but it's not out of date, so I assume it's the squishy banana inside that makes it so.

These were a little disappointing for the texture but in regards to flavour they have a lot. If a soggy biscuit doesn't bother you then I would say to give them a go, if not, leave them on the shelf!

Looking on the website, they don't seem to make this variety anymore, they do have All Raisin, All Apple and All Apricot though.

Brand: Tohato Calories per box: 1681 Website: http://tohato.jp/products/allraisin/

Pocky Dessert Chocolate Banana Cake ポッキー・デザートチョコラのバナナケーキ風

I'm on a bit of a roll here. I just reviewed the Strawberry Custard Cake Dessert Pocky and now I'm going to review the Chocolate Banana Cake version!

I've heard mixed things about banana flavour in snacks, it would appear that it doesn't translate very well. That being said, I've always liked fake banana flavour so it's never been a problem for me.

I like the idea of making a dessert into a snack that can be eaten as a dessert. It's so much easier than carrying around a whole cake, and it's convenient to store! :)

This Chocolate Banana Cake Pocky is the same format as the Strawberry Custard one. It has a thick coating of banana chocolate around the pretzel stick and then it has a piped chocolate effect all over the top.

I love the style, it looks elegant and fun.

Smelling the stick, I am quite surprised to find that it smells more like rich cocoa than banana. There is a very vague banana undertone but it's not the prevalent scent.

Biting in, the chocolate on the top is soft and smooth and once again reminds me of icing on a cake. The chocolate is the first flavour that hits my tongue and it has a dark edge to it, and then boom! pow! the banana flavour takes over. The banana flavour is not close to the real thing, it's more of a "fake" banana, but it is sweet and light and I really like it. The chocolate and banana flavours combine near the end and go very well together. Overall, the chocolate is very strong and overpowers the banana.

The pretzel stick is nicely crunchy and goes really well with the chocolate coating.
To me this didn't really resemble a "cake" like the Strawberry Custard Pocky. These flavours were more akin to a mousse or whip. It's still in the range of dessert though and I do like it, but I have to say that out of the two, the Strawberry is the one I like more.

I think the Strawberry Pocky was done better because it fits more with the cake theme, so it's something I can imagine more than this one.

Brand: Glico Calories per box: 97 Website:  http://pocky.jp/products/dessert/index.html Buy it now at napaJapan

Meiji Kinoko no Yama Banana Milk きのこの山バナナ・オ・レ

Note to self: Don't order chocolates in the middle of Australia's summer (around 38~42 degrees celcius) or this post will be the result.

Unfortunately this box of Meiji Kinoko no Yama didn't make it all the way here without melting into a puddle. And when I say puddle, I mean puddle.

The little mushrooms all ended up becoming one big yellow blob with pretzel sticks poking out. Okay if you're planning to scoff the whole box down in one sitting, not okay if you're planning on sharing it with someone else.

Nevertheless, the review must go on.

Despite its blobbiness, the smell wafting out of the box is delicious. I am a big fan of banana, and in particular fake banana scent and essence, so I expected to really love this.

The chocolate is surprising as it starts off as a banana milk taste and ends up being quite tangy, almost lemony. I could also taste a fruitiness and when I looked on the ingredients I found apple paste was used.

This is a nice banana flavour, not too over the top, not too fake, and it has quite a few different elements mixed in to keep it interesting. The pretzel stick is plain, but it's a nice contrast to the banana and it's really crunchy so it adds a great texture too.

Just like when I drink a milk drink, this made me thirsty afterwards. So if you're going to eat this make sure you have a drink handy. In all, I would buy this again as I thought it was an interesting take on a classic flavour.

Brand: Meiji Calories per box: 430 Website: http://kinotake.jp Buy it now at napaJapan

Fujiya Milky Banana and Melon Flavours 不二家ミルキーバナナ味とメロン味

Fujiya is a sweets company that is well known for its female character Peko-chan and the male counterpart Poko-chan.

Unfortunately they have gained notoriety over the past couple of years because they used ingredients past the use-by date, or mislabelled ingredients and expiry dates on products they manufactured. As a result some Fujiya outlets closed their stores temporarily and just this week I've heard another case where the branch in Osaka did not put expiry dates on the products properly.

As a result of this Fujiya lost a lot of long-time customers; but because they did make a recovery onto the scene again seemed to be regaining ground they had lost.

In any case, Yasu and I have always been fans of Fujiya. In my case I have quite a few Peko-chan dolls and rare memorabilia, and one of Yasu's friends has a sister that works for a Fujiya outlet in Tokachi which we like to visit.

We have always been a fan of milky too. So that is why I picked up these two bags in Hokkaido, the Melon flavour especially resonating with me. These were bought at Seria for 105 yen each, around $1 and they both contain 14 individually wrapped candies each.

On the Fujiya website they have a few different flavours; original, salty balls, black sugar, caramel, strawberry milk, and even throat lozenges.

The new website expressly for Milky they have information about all the new snacks, flavours passed, horoscopes, information on how the candy is made, and you can join to get access to special features. It's worth taking a look, it's really pretty!

The candy is the usual size and shape, but each candy is half the normal colour and half the flavoured colour. Banana is white and yellow and Melon is white and green.


Banana


Has a very "banana milkshake" smell to it. The banana flavour is quite light, not overpowering at all. It's also quite sweet, more sweet than banana taste in there though. Very soft and easy to chew, but I'm disappointed in the strength of the banana flavour in there. The bag says there is 2% banana essence, I guess that is why. It would have been better with 10% perhaps. This candy leaves a sweet taste at the back of my mouth that makes me really thirsty.


Melon


The candy doesn't really smell like anything. The melon flavour is really strong on these and it's very similar to the real thing. There is a hard part in the middle of the candy that I didn't experience with the Banana. There is alot of creaminess in here towards the middle, a "milky" flavour really comes out and it's not unlike a less sweet condensed milk flavour. I really liked this but for the hard middle.

The Melon flavour is definitely my favourite. I love that burst of creaminess in the centre. Shame about the hard part, if only the texture of the banana and the flavour of the melon could be combined, it would be a real winner.

I would buy these again because they're cheap, they're abit "natsukashii", and they're good for sharing. They also have lots of different flavours coming out regularly so it's fun to try them every now and then to see what's on offer. I know kids love these too!