Pocky Strawberry Heartful ポッキーつぶつぶいちご ハートフル

Thanks to Jen who sent me this delightful snack to try.

It's called "Heartful" because the pretzel stick is pink and actually supposed to be shaped like a heart. If you see my photo you will find they didn't quite accomplish this but it was a nice marketing idea!

The chocolate on the stick is quite thin but it is full of flavour. The "tsubutsubu" which is small bits of strawberry is very tart and exactly the taste of a real strawberry so it feels very realistic. The pink pretzel stick is also very sweet and has a slight strawberry flavour so this is actually quite a nice little snack.

It comes in two packets inside the box which is great as you don't have to eat the whole contents at once and you can share with someone else!

Overall I really like this Pocky, it is just a shame that the stick wasn't heart shaped, but I do love the name of it and all the pink!

Glico Pocky Midi Butter Custard ポッキーバター華やぐぽってりカスタード

The name of this Pocky basically translates to "Brilliantly fat butter custard". The fat is probably referring to the thick layer of chocolate over the pretzel stick.

This packet of Pocky contains 3 bags of 4 short and stubby sticks each. Unfortunately mine melted in transit because here in Australia they arrived at the tail end of summer which is still quite hot.

The chocolate on the Pocky stick is a light yellow colour and it smells sweet and salty. 

The taste is quite light, there is a tiny hint of custard. There is some sweetness and again, the salt. But for me, these were disappointing as I thought the custard should have been stronger. The flavour was too vague here, and not what I expected.

Not recommended if you want a hit of custard flavour, but if you like sweet and salty chocolate on a stick then you'll probably like this. 

PS - at the top of the box it states that these would taste good while drinking Royal Milk Tea, so if you try it let me know. Maybe the pairing of tea brings out the custard flavour?!

You can buy these at napaJapan 

Chocolate Mint Pocky チョコレート・ミント ポッキー

A good friend in Japan told me about this Chocolate Mint Pocky. She said it was to die for and then she sent me a box of it to try. I was a little bit apprehensive about trying it at first, and I kept it in the box and looked at it every now and then.

You see, when I was pregnant, I had horrible reflux for the first 3 months of the pregnancy and the only thing that really soothed that terrible burning was to drink ant-acid. I'm not sure about other countries, but in Australia, the majority of ant-acids are peppermint flavour. I drank ant-acid about 3 times per day for those first 3 months and after the reflux went away I couldn't even look at anything peppermint flavour without wanting to vomit.

Previous to getting pregnant I was a huge peppermint fan. I used to love the Cadbury block chocolate with the peppermint cream that oozed out the middle. I would devour bags of Peppermint Pods (which they no longer make) and Nestle Peppermint Crisp bars. And now....well I've stayed away from peppermint for the last 2 years.

So this was a challenge. I accepted in the spirit it was offered in, and of course my friend wasn't to know that. I promised myself that when I needed "something" after a really hard day at the office (so to speak) that I would get out this box of Pocky and treat myself and hopefully not overwhelm myself!

This box of Pocky is actually quite heavy even though it only weighs 66 grams, and it's very attractive with turquoise and white stripes.  There are two bags inside, each holding 15 sticks.

 

Unlike the previously reviewed Peanut Pocky, the amount of chocolate on each stick is decent and more than just a thin coating. Opening the bag I got a very strong whiff of mint and for a minute there I didn't know if I would be ok or not.

Once I took a bite though I realised everything was going to be okay. The chocolate is quite dark, and there is a strong mint flavour that comes through with the slightly bitter flavour of the chocolate. It reminds me of an Arnott's Mint Slice biscuit! To die for, and they don't even remotely taste like ant-acid, which is great!!

I gave my hubby 5 sticks and kept 10 for myself...and I'm happily munching away on these. They're pretty addictive I must say!

Peanut Pocky ピーナツ ポッキー

I'm not such a big fan of eating peanuts but I love peanut butter. In Japan they have Peanut Cream, which is aimed at the Japanese taste and not the same as what we Aussies and Americans like to eat. Peanut cream is very very sweet and it comes in a tube. Whereas American and Australian peanut butter is not sweet but salty and very heavy on the peanut flavour.

This box of Pocky is interesting because it has "Peanuts" written in Japanese on the cover and in English underneath the word "Pocky" it has "nutcream" written in white lettering. I have to be honest and say, it's not the best word to use in English, some might even think it's a little bit lewd.

This pack has two separately wrapped bags of Pocky sticks, all coated with Peanut "nutcream". Each bag has 11 sticks and opening the wrapper the scent is immediately of salt and sweet mixed together with peanuts. Looking on the ingredients list I was surprised to see "peanuts paste" included.

Each stick has a rather thin coating of peanut flavoured chocolate, I would prefer more to be honest. The chocolate is sweet but also has a touch of saltiness which I'm surprised about, and the presence of peanuts is underwhelming, it's quite a reach to actually taste any.

I really like the idea of this Pocky the problem is there is not enough chocolate to build up the peanut flavour in my mouth and I'm left with a taste of plain biscuit after each stick.

I think Pocky were a bit stingy with the nutcream which makes this snack very disappointing.

I don't recommend buying this one unless you like Pocky with a vague peanut flavour and an aftertaste of cardboard. :(

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

Pocky Dessert Strawberry Custard Cake ポッキー・デザート 苺のカスタードケーキ風

Introducing the latest flavours in the Pocky Dessert range courtesy of Jason @ napaJapan, a plumper and more elegant version of the original Pocky. I reviewed the Mont Blanc version back in March when these were also released.

Like the Mont Blanc version, these have a double coating - a layer of yellowish white chocolate coating the pretzel stick and a weave-like design of strawberry chocolate over the top.

The smell is very sweet and all I can smell is strawberry! Biting in, the strawberry chocolate on the top is very soft and the texture reminds me of icing on a cake. The flavour is like that of a strawberry sponge cake. The custard chocolate underneath has a flavour of vanilla, it's buttery and rich like a good sponge cake.

The pretzel stick underneath is crunchy without being overly so. The blend of custard and strawberry is absolutely gorgeous and I can't stop eating this Pocky! It really is like a nice dessert, in fact I could eat this for dessert any day! It's decadent without being too rich. The strawberry is mildly sweet and has a few tart notes bursting out without making the chocolate sour.

Yum! is all I can say on this one! I definitely recommend these! 

You can find another review of this Pocky at 8tokyo.com 

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

Pocky Dessert Mont Blanc Chocolate ポッキーデザートモンブランショコラ

It's been a long time since I've had Pocky, the celebrated snack of the Anime Otaku. In fact, I've never reviewed it on this blog. Funny that, how such well known snacks are overlooked in favour of weird and wacky or more interesting variety snacks. I really should go back and do the tried and true flavours shouldn't I.

This is the last part of a parcel from a very nice friend in Sapporo (Thanks D!), and I have been holding onto it for a while now. I squirrelled it away for a rainy day. The rainy day came and went and I forgot about it, and then when I was cleaning up the front room I found it again. Timely.

This is not an average Pocky, it's part of the Dessert range which is abit more premium than the average Pocky. It's more in line with it's competitor - Fran by Meiji - which is still a pretzel stick snack though it has a thicker coating and more luxurious flavours. It's the Louis Vuitton of the pretzel world.

This box has 4 clear wrapped packs of 3 sticks each. So you basically get 12 sticks in a pack that is big enough to probably house 24. But with Pocky desserts its all about quality not quantity Dahlings.


The pretzel stick looks like it is double the size of a regular stick, about half of a centimetre thick. It is then covered in a thick layer of regular milk chocolate, and then layered with a light brown coloured white chocolate in a kind of spiral fashion.

This flavour is Mont Blanc, inspired by the French dessert of the same name that is a cake or tart made of pureed chestnuts and whipped cream, sometimes on a meringue base. So basically we have a chestnut dessert on a stick. The light brown coating on the outside is very similar to the coating on a real Mont Blanc dessert and represents the chestnut flavour.

To me, the chocolate on the outside smells like coffee more than anything else. The light brown chocolate has a slight chestnut flavour by itself but when it is sucked off the stick together with the milk chocolate is when the roasted nut taste starts to emerge.

The pretzel is nice and crunchy, and the two flavours of chocolate merge well together, but I still get that sense of coffee underneath the chestnut flavour. The texture of the chocolate is smooth and is mousse-like.

This Pocky is special because of it's appearance. The flavour is not as luxurious as I thought it would be but nevetherless it is rich and creamy and a really great chocolate snack. I like the individual packs inside the box because I can put one in Yasu's bento and have one myself without the rest of the pack going stale.

If you want to try these you can buy them now at napaJapan.

Pocky Almond Crush (Thai)

I didn't realise when I bought this Pocky that it is actually a product of Thailand. This is made by Thai Glico.

I didn't know if that would make a difference, hopefully in Thailand they use the same ingredients, but whether or not the ingredients are the same quality, well that is the question.


The box weighs 38 grams and has 10 sticks inside. It's really overpackaged, there is so much space inside for 10 sticks. Sadly they are on par with the way Japan packages products.


The sticks themselves have a faint coffee smell, and when I bite into it I find a coffee flavour. I take another look at the box. No, it definitely says Almond Crush. The coffee flavour stays around.

The pretzel is the same as normal. I can't get that yucky coffee flavour out of my mouth. It's a really bad aftertaste.

Notice on the box it says "biscuit stick coated with chocolate flavour", no actual chocolate here. There are plenty of almonds (17.5%), so that is quite good, but that coffee flavour is too strong, even though the ingredient list does not mention coffee.

Ingredients: Wheat flour, Palm Oil, Sugar, Almonds, Milk Powder, Cocoa Mass, Cocoa Powder.

If you can shed some light on why these ingredients would taste like coffee, please do so.

I gave a stick to Yasu and he hated it. He couldn't be convinced into eating another. There is definitely something wrong with these Pocky. Hopefully along the way I can pick up some made in Japan Almond Crush for a comparison. The Japanese made Pocky couldn't be this bad.

I don't this would even suffice as a poor man's Pocky.