Sakupan Choco Monaka カバヤ さくぱんチョコモナカ 『いちごミルク』

*My apologies to Oyatsu Cafe in getting this review up. Their parcel of goodies arrived just before I left for a 3 week holiday to Japan. Now that I'm back the reviews will start to flow again.

This is the first edition of a series of reviews I will do on snacks sent to me by Oyatsu Cafe (as previously blogged about). The first item that I really wanted to try was this chocolate monaka made by Kabaya. This monaka seems to be based on the same premise as the Saku Saku Panda biscuits, because they use the same character but the whole head makes up the shape of the monaka.

For those of you unfamiliar with monaka it's basically a wafer cookie on the outside and a type of sweet like red bean or custard in the middle, and resembles a kind of sandwich but is a sweet. It's quite popular in Japan to have a red bean (anko) monaka or icecream monaka. (Google monaka in "images" to see some examples).

This monaka however is one-sided. The wafer is on the bottom and the air-in chocolate (very similar to a mousse) is on the top. Unfortunately my monaka melted on the way to me so the face of the panda was distorted.

 

The flavour written on the wrapper of this product is "strawberry milk" however the air-in chocolate was milk chocolate and strawberry flavours, represented by the brown and pink areas.

The wafer part of this monaka made a satisfying crunch when bitten into and the chocolate was soft and fluffy. The flavour was very strong on both the chocolate and strawberry. My husband also had a couple of bites of this and unfortunately it was over too soon. We would have liked more!

It's a delightful treat, and very cute too. It's easy to eat and comes on a tray inside the package so you can eat it over the top of the tray without making a mess.

I think this snack would appeal to people of all ages from children to adults. Even if you aren't into "cute", the flavours are there and it's a snack that's quite different to anything we can get in Australia.

The Kabaya website states they have two more flavours of this monaka - Chocolate and Strawberry. In all I was very pleased with this snack and would definitely like to try the other two flavours.


Thank you to Oyatsu Cafe for providing this product for review. You can buy this chocolate monaka at their store for $1.99 by following this link.

Oyatsu Cafe - Online Japanese Snack Store

When I started this blog in January of 2009 there was only a couple of places that sold Japanese snacks online, and after each post I had many people emailing me asking where I got the product from. In the last couple of years as more and more people have become interested in Japanese snacks and candy, I've noticed online Japanese snack stores popping up all over the place.

As I don't live in Japan, and we only have one small Japanese supermarket here in Perth (that are way too expensive), I too have to rely on sellers in Japan. Just like any other customer I am interested in a store that has a wide variety of snacks, as well as good value and great customer service. Out of all the online snack stores I have bought from over the years, I can usually get one or two out of 3 of these points, but never all 3.

So when Oyatsu Cafe approached me and offered up some snacks for review I jumped at the chance. I love reviewing Japanese snacks of course, but I also want to help my readers find a place where they can buy and request all the Japanese snacks they are seeking at a store that cares about them as a customer and and a place where they can get value for money.

If this is the first time you have heard about Oyatsu Cafe then let me fill you in. They are a family run online Japanese snack store that operates out of Chiba. Their team is made up of multi-cultural staff who all have a love for Japanese snacks.

Oyatsu Cafe also have a rewards system whereby you gain discounts for repeat orders. After an order is placed and processed you will have several points credited to your account. On your next order you can use these to get a discount on your total order price.

Oyatsu Cafe Website

The Oyatsu Cafe Website is very nice to look at they even have a cute Shiba Inu as their mascot. The layout is very easy to navigate and since the time they opened they have gradually been adding more and more products. They also accept customer requests for specific items.

Oyatsu Cafe are very active on social media such as Facebook and Twitter and also have their own blog where they talk about new products and Japan. In this way I feel they are very transparent as a company because they put themselves out there to interact with their consumers. 

One thing I really like about Oyatsu Cafe is the fact that you can order "extras" such as to have Japanese stamps on the parcel instead of just the printout from the post office. This may seem like a trivial thing but it personalizes the transaction and for customers with an avid interest in Japan it adds that special touch. You also have the ability to request what kind of stamp you would like. 

Today I received my parcel of goodies from Oyatsu Cafe. It was packed very well with newspaper, so that all of the items arrived in perfect condition. Over the next couple of weeks I will be reviewing the items contained in the box. In the mean time, why don't you pay Oyatsu Cafe a visit? 

Yummy snacks from Oyatsu Cafe