Kabaya Hello Kitty Pretzel Chocolate カバヤ ハローキティー プレッツェル 『チョコ味』

I once was a huge Hello Kitty fan. Well that is an understatement, I was obsessed. The first time I went to Japan in 2004 I spent probably a thousand dollars or more at Sanrioland in Tokyo buying Hello Kitty character goods. In fact I shipped 17 parcels of Hello Kitty stuff home! Can you believe it? I still have most of those parcels sitting in our shed, the contents in pristine condition. My kitchen cupboards are mostly full of Hello Kitty cups, saucers, plates, bowls and glasses which I hardly ever use but can't bear to part with. My husband has learned not to say anything...he after all comes from the land of Otaku!

So when I opened the box from Oyatsu Cafe and found this box of Hello Kitty Pretzel in there, I immediately felt a fondness for the product, even though as a reviewer, it is my job to be unbiased. This is a stick snack, similar to Pocky, made out of a long thin biscuit with a milk chocolate coating.

It's obviously marketed towards Hello Kitty fans and fans of "kawaii" (cute) with all the hearts and cupcakes on the pack.

Inside the box contains one clear pack of chocolate sticks. They are about a third smaller than the size of a Pocky. The stick smelled like chocolate and strawberry surprisingly, and when I bit into it there was an audible crunch and the biscuit itself had a faint taste of strawberries. I thought I must be dreaming so I asked my husband to taste it too. He confirmed that yes, the pretzel stick tastes like strawberries. The chocolate coating on the outside is so thin as to be non-existent. It really doesn't add much to the flavour unless you eat the whole pack at once and even then it's vague at best.

 

I wondered why they called this pretzel snack "chocolate flavour" when in fact the dominant flavour is strawberry, and the fact that the pretzel stick tastes like strawberry is not mentioned anywhere on the pack so I'm wondering if it's meant to be a surprise, or just some wacky aspect of the snack.

The chocolate coating on the pretzel was a disappointment, it was too thin to even taste it properly. I really wanted to like this snack because Hello Kitty is on the front but it just didn't live up to what I expect from a pretzel stick. In saying that though, I think these would be ok for kids, especially if you want to limit how much chocolate they are having and the size of the snack.

Kellogg's Brown Rice Flake Brown Sugar & Honey ケロッグ 玄米フレーク 黒糖＆ハニー

I was browsing at Japanese snacks on Rakuten when I came across this packet of brown rice flakes made by Kellogg's. Kellogg's are familiar to me as the brand of cereal my son most likes, they make a lot of breakfast foods that are popular in Western countries. I was a little bit surprised to see that they make this kind of snack for the Japanese market and in such a Japanese flavour!

This pack weighs 40g and I'm pretty sure it's just one serving. Brown sugar, which in Japanese is pronounced "kokuto" and originates from Okinawa, is made by boiling down sugar cane until it has a deep rich brown colour. In Okinawa it's known as a health food and lots of people take it to ward off fatigue. Added into this mix is honey which on the packet it is said to match with the brown sugar very well.

What I thought of as a snack when I purchased it, is actually a type of breakfast food and on the back of the packet they refer to it as "cereal". I'm not sure if Kellogg's want you to eat it with milk, with a cup of tea, or by itself. But as they refer to it as a "biscuit", I think I might just eat it that way.

Opening the packet there is a strong smell of molasses and a sweet scent. Each biscuit is quite flat,
and measures 3cm long x 2.5cm wide. There are 14 biscuits inside. When I bite into a biscuit there is a satisfying snap and crunch. The first thing I taste is oats, and sure enough when I look on the ingredients list there is oat flour used.

The big punch of brown sugar and honey flavour that I expected is not there. The brown sugar is only apparent right at the very end, with a vague sweetness that must be the honey. The smell of the brown sugar is actually stronger than the flavour in this biscuit which is a disappointment. The oat flour here is the star of the show, and although I don't mind it, it reminds me more of a muesli bar than what it is supposed to be.

It does taste healthy, so if that is what Kellogg's were going for then they nailed it. It just doesn't live up to the image on the pack of a big pile of brown sugar covered in oozing honey. It's only a vague representation of that.

I must admit, I ate the whole pack. They were somewhat moorish, I do like oats, and I don't think anyone else in my house will eat them. Personally, I would have to eat these while having a drink as they made me quite thirsty. I guess a nice cold glass of milk or a hot cup of tea would do the trick.

If you have tried these, what did you think? 

Glico Bisco Matcha Milk グリコ ビスコ 抹茶ミルク

Bisco is a brand that has been around since 1933, they're made by Glico, maker of Pocky and other much loved snack brands.

The packaging of Bisco always contains a child, because these biscuits are primarly for children. This is the latest flavour of Bisco - Matcha Milk or green tea and milk.

 

 

From the Bisco website, listing the new flavours, strawberry and match milk

Each biscuit is 3.5 cm long and 2 cm wide. It has a layer of green matcha milk cream sandwiched in the middle. The smell of the cream is very strong and very much like matcha. The biscuit is very soft and crunchy and the cream is soft and sweet. The biscuit and cream are a match(a) made in heaven because the matcha is very pronounced and you really get a strong flavour coming through in each chew.

The size of these biscuits means they are great for little hands, but also great for diet control. Each pack contains 5 of these biscuits, and the pack itself is small enough to fit in a lunch box or a zippered part of a backpack or handbag.

I recommend these if you want a small snack or your kiddlywinks like green tea, they're very enjoyable.

Riska Shittori White Choc リスカ しっとりホワイトチョコ

I'm a fan of white chocolate and when I happened upon this bag of Riska White Chocolate crunch I decided to grab them. They were only $1.40 for an 80 gram bag which is surprisingly good value for a Japanese snack.

When I opened the bag, a very sweet smell wafted up that reminded me of a cross between condensed milk and white chocolate. Yum!

The only weird thing about this snack is that the biscuits themselves are really ugly. When I first tipped them out my first thought was "smoker's lungs" - because they reminded me of the advertising campaigns a few years back when they would squeeze the tar out of smokers lungs and the results would be something like a dark grey holey sponge. Sorry for the analogy!

Each biscuit is about 2cm in diameter and 1cm high and is really crunchy. On the pack it says there is Xylitol in the ingredients but the white chocolate is sweet enough to cover up any xylitol flavour that might have been. I can't taste any. The white chocolate coating on the outside is delicious and really does taste like condensed milk. It's sooo yum. The delicious crunch when you bite into these is so addictive!! I could seriously eat the whole bag by myself.

I must point out that white chocolate can sometimes be overpoweringly sweet, but in this case it's not like that, it's very well balanced with the biscuit, so you don't feel that need to drink 10 glasses of water afterwards.

I've got to go back and get some more of these! I definitely recommend them! I wonder what the milk chocolate version is like? Hmm. I found a review of them here. Sadly no-one seems to have reviewed the white version.

Brand: Riska Calories per box: 2343 Website: http://www.riska.co.jp

Koala no March Highland Vanilla Icecream コアラのマーチ 高原のバニラアイス

I'm getting around to my backlog of Japanese snacks. This box has been sitting in the cupboard since before Christmas. Yasu has been eying it off every time he opens the cupboard...probably wondering when I'm going to crack it open. Well Yasu will be happy when he gets home from work today! :)

This flavour is called "kougen no vanilla ice" in other words Highland Vanilla Icecream flavour. Not sure why but they seem to have a theme going. The last box of Koala no March I reviewed was "mountain hut" flavour. I guess they like the mountain theme?

The biscuits look and smell the same as always, Koala shaped biscuits that are lightly toasted, with pictures of various Koala's on the front in brown ink. From the outside there is a sweet smell, and biting into it there is a creamy vanilla cream in the centre. These really taste like vanilla icecream, my only complaint is there is not enough cream in the middle, as always. I wish there was more filling.

The biscuits are really crunchy though and deliver a satisfying loud crunch when you bite into them followed by the sweet vanilla cream. I love these as a sweet snack, they're really pleasant and great for sharing too.

It was nice to try once, but I probably wouldn't buy it again because it's just not that special. But I'm sure kids would love these!

And as an aside, by buying this pack you are also making a donation to the Australian Koala Foundation - www.savethekoala.com

Brand: Lotte Calories per box: 259 Website: http://www.lotte.co.jp

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/

Glico Cheeza 52% Cheddar チーザ５２％ チェダーチーズ

I like cheese. Most people like cheese. But do they like strong cheese? Really really strong cheese?

I'm willing to say no. When the Tirol Hokkaido Cheese chocolate came out most people were shaking their heads in a very definite NO.

This is why I think that this flavour of Cheeza 52% won't suit everyone. This has the same cheese flavour as said Tirol. It is strong, pungent, and rich.

The biscuits themselves are triangular shaped with holes, and very crunchy. Eaten by themselves the flavour quickly builds up to breaking point - after about 5 pieces Yasu couldn't take any more - but with a beer in hand and a Cheeza in the other, this is when an epiphany is reached.

Cheeza 52% is good as a snack with a beverage, but not good on it's own unless...well unless you're like me, and like the flavour of cheese so it burns your throat.

I enjoyed this, and Yasu did but only with a beer. I'm not sure this is suitable for everyone, if you like your cheese mellow and mild I wouldn't recommend it to you. If you like your cheese loud and obnoxious then this is for you! :)

Brand: Glico Calories per 38g bag: 199 Website:  http://www.glico.co.jp/cheeza/ Buy it now at napaJapan

Meiji Porte Hokkaido Creamy Whip Filling ポルテこだわり北海道クリーム

This was another gift from a friend in Japan, and it's something I have never seen before. The fact that it's got Hokkaido cream inside excites me because I love Hokkaido everything. Especially dairy.

Porte are small, individually wrapped biscuits for want of a better word. It has a dense chocolate biscuit base and a creamy white whipped marshmallow on top, covered in a thin layer of chocolate and coated in cocoa powder.

Heaven in a box.


Biting in I get the bitterness of the cocoa powder followed by the crunch of the biscuit base and the soft creamy marshmallow. The flavour is absolutely divine and is like eating a cloud, that's how soft it is. There is a beautiful vanilla icecream like flavour in the whip.

Yumm. Who could stop at one? Not me. There is nothing more I can say about these except they are totemo oishii, divine, beautiful, delicious and excellence. Pure excellence.

Whoever dreamed these up needs a raise!

Of course these are recommended!! Go!! Buy!! :)

Alfort Chocolate Biscuit

These were given to my husband and I as part of a gift pack. I had seen them before but they are the kind of thing I would usually pass over in the supermarket, in favour of a chocolate bar or actual biscuit. I'm not sure when you are supposed to eat these. I would say it is as a small snack in between meals because of the biscuit content, or with a hot drink.

I'm not so much of a chocolate-and-biscuit-together fan, besides the odd Wagon Wheel. These strike me as odd in that the biscuit is on the other side of the chocolate, but it not covered by the chocolate. This is a whole new idea to me, I've certainly never encountered that kind of idea in Australia.

Inside the box is a gold foil package, which opens up to reveal a tray of 2 x 3 cm rectangular milk chocolates with an image of a ship imprinted on it. The website doesn't give any clue about what the ship means so I am guessing it's only an image.

It does say however, that the biscuit is made from whole wheat flour, basically a digestive, and fragrant milk chocolate, and is a perfect combination of the two.

The milk chocolate smells sweet, but tastes alot darker than it appears. It has those bitter notes that dark chocolate has, and if I hadn't read the package I would say this was dark chocolate. The biscuit is slightly sweet and very much the same as an average wheat biscuit. Both singularly not very exciting.

When eaten together, the flavour seems to take on an almost malty quality. Underneath the bitter chocolate is the humble sweetness and grainy goodness of the biscuit, a good match as far as I'm concerned. I really like the texture of the two combined, the bitterness of the chocolate is matched by the sweetness of the biscuit.

I didn't think these would be a winner, but I was wrong. These are a surprisingly great little mini snack for on the go. Abit more filling than the average Japanese chocolate bar too.

Alfort is something I could definitely see myself eating again in the future, if I come across them.

Balanceup Maple Cream

Unlike Australia, Japan doesn't seem to sell a broad range of muesli bars, that is, healthy-style bars made from muesli or bran that are good as meal replacements, breakfast, or snacks on the go. Most supermarkets are big on these Balanceup bars that come in regular flavours and cream filled flavours.

This was released for Autumn in Japan and features maple cream sandwiched between two bran biscuits. It is a 2 pack, and both cream filled biscuits are wrapped in their own packets inside the main bag.

I was surprised to find this is made by Asahi rather than Kelloggs or some other well known breakfast cereal company. After looking around I did find some bran cookies in a bag that looked very similar to this one made by Kelloggs. The only difference is they did not have cream, but the flavour was also maple infused.

In Japan, a bag of these would set you back around 158 yen.

Opening up the small bag the scent of Maple hits my nose immediately. The bran biscuits themselves seem to be somewhat fragile, and crack easily, meaning that one corner of mine has broken off.

The cream to biscuit ratio is such that there are 2 parts biscuit and one part cream, but this is good because you get a good amount of crunchy bran biscuit and enough cream for a taste. The cream is quite sweet, so I am glad that the amount of cream in the biscuit is what it is.

I like the bran biscuit, but only for the texture, the definite crunch when biting into it and chewing. It has quite a few grains and seeds mixed in which give it such a great texture. However there is something about the texture which I also don't like is that it is quite powdery, and leaves a funny feeling on my tongue and the roof of my mouth.

The flavour is quite good, an authentic maple flavour, not too sweet, and definitely something I would want to eat at breakfast time or as a snack on the go. The crunchiness is a definite winner for this bar. If it wasn't for the powdery feeling in my mouth after eating this would be something I could see myself eating on a regular basis.

Mobaccho! Strawberry

The Japanese snack world is going in new directions. Not only can you have a takeaway cup of tea or coffee but you now can have your chocolate snacks in a cup for on the go.

I thought the cup is quite unique so I picked it up while shopping at Feel supermarket. It was ¥128.

They seem to be little rounded biscuit pieces covered in strawberry chocolate. These have butter, shortening, strawberry paste, milk seasoning, and malt extract in them.

The best I can say about these are they taste exactly like strawberry Pocky, but in small pieces. One little piece doesn't have much taste but handfuls at a time recreate a Pocky moment for me.

It is a unique idea, but the flavour is somewhat unoriginal. I only saw a strawberry flavour in the supermarket, and a look on the Glico website reveals no information about this snack. If you can find it, please let me know.

These were a bit of a let-down for me, and unless you want chopped up pieces of pocky in a cup, then I wouldn't recommend them.

Tirol Assorted

I thought I better finish off reveiwing the bag of assorted Tirol chocolates I have so here goes.

White & Cookie Crunch
Smells very creamy and looks like it's filled to the brim with cookie. The white chocolate is sweet but not overly so as the cookie is the main flavour that shines through. Lots of crunch on this chocolate, really nice

Milk (with rare cream)
I expected it to be white chocolate to be honest, so was surprised when I opened it and there was milk chocolate. Biting into it I realised the milk is in the centre, as a creamy filling. The chocolate is a little bit bitter, like dark chocolate, but is offset by the creamy rare milk centre, which is like a paste. Quite nice, and the two flavours match each other perfectly.


BIS Milk Choc
This comes in two wrapper colours, pink, and blue. They are both the same chocolates inside however. The "BIS" is short for biscuit. The chocolate coating is slightly darker than regular milk chocolate and has that cocoa flavour. The biscuit inside is just a plain biscuit. There is more chocolate here than biscuit and right at the end, the last bite there is a sweet and bitter flavour from the chocolate. I'm not really a fan, maybe because it's just too plain.


Tirol Chocolate aka Coffee Nougat
Yasu told me that this one, and milk, were the only flavours available when he was a kid. Back when they sold them for 5 Yen each. I thought this would be just a chocolate square because the wrapper says "Chocolate" but I was wrong. It has a coffee toffee-like substance which according to the back of the pack is coffee nougat in the centre! It's quite nice, the coffee is the main flavour in this one.


Out of all of these I would have to say that the White Cookie & Crunch, and Milk were my favourites. I was not really a fan of the BIS. The coffee is ok, but I don't like it in toffee form.

Cisco Apple Pie Biscuits

Image from Cisco website

The image of the apple pie on this packet caught my eye, it looks yummy. On a whim I bought it. $3.95 for 110grams.

The inside of the packet smells like there is an applie pie in there! It smells like freshly baked apples.

Each biscuit is about 2cm round and has a light glaze with a few specs of sugar. It doesn't smell like anything but when you bite into it, you immediately get the flavour of apples and cinnamon, and combined with the texture of the biscuit it tastes like I'm eating apple pie!

I thought these would be another failure but they are indeed yummy!

Yasu and I thought these would even be good with icecream or with some cream poured over the top, and we both couldn't stop eating them.

These would be really good if you couldn't get the real thing for whatever reason. They make a great after-dinner dessert just by themselves.

The maker, Cisco, is actually a subsidiary of Nissin and they make a lot of cookie products, plus chocolate, cereals and snacks. I also found another kind of biscuit that they make, hotcake cookies, which I have seen in the same store that I bought these but passed up because I didn't think they would be any good. I guess I will have to go back and get those and find out, now that these have been such a success.