Skoshbox Review

I was delighted recently to find an email in my inbox asking me if I would like to receive a box of Japanese goodies from a new subscription service in the US called Skoshbox.

Skoshbox is a company founded by two close friends from childhood who have lived in both Japan and the US throughout their lives. Raised by Japanese mothers and brought up on Japanese snacks, video games, and comfort food, they noticed a severe lack of variety and accessibility to affordable Japanese items in the US. Out of this they created Skoshbox - a monthly subscription service that will deliver a variety of new and quircky snacks to your doorstep.

They hand pick every item that goes into the box, because it is important to them that each item reflects the Japan they know and love so much.

The subscription service is priced at $12 which includes shipping. At the moment it is available within the US only, but according to their Facebook page, they are working on bringing Skoshbox to the international community as well.

For my readers who live in the US I have a special promo code that you can use at checkout which will entitle you to a FREE mystery snack included in your box. Just type the code TASTYJP05.
The code is valid until July 15th 2013 which is the cut-off date for ordering the first box. (Unfortunately because I live in Australia, my parcel took quite a while to arrive so my readers will have less time to use the code.)

I've looked for information on the website and Facebook page as to why Skoshbox is named that. Where did the name come from? I can't find any info but I can only assume it comes from the Japanese word "sukoshi" - meaning "a little bit" because the parcel that came in the mail was filled with lots of little bits and pieces.

When I opened the box, I noticed that it was very professionally packed. There was a postcard that greeted me, which had all the snacks listed on the other side in English. The white tissue paper wrapped around the snacks was a nice touch and it made it feel like I was getting a gift.

Even though the parcel was quite small, it was filled to the brim with a variety of snacks which gave me the feeling of receiving a lot. I knew all the snacks in the box, they are my husband's childhood favourites.

The one thing I observed though is that if you can't read Japanese, then you wouldn't know what snack is which, just by reading the postcard alone. In my opinion, the postcard needs an image of the snack next to each listing. Otherwise, customers will have to find out purely by a process of elimination. 

There was a total of 14 items in the box. 13 of which were edible. When my Japanese husband saw what was in the box he exclaimed "natsukashii" (nostalgic) because these are the snacks he grew up eating, and some of them he still eats now, even though we are in Australia.

My husband and 2 year old son joined me for this review, purely because we all love Japanese snacks and they were hanging around watching me so I had to invite them to join. ;)

We started off with the Senbei (rice cracker) which was soy sauce flavour. There were two crackers in the pack and they are supposed to be "soft" senbei (easy to bite into), but they were quite hard. I thought maybe they were a bit stale. The soy sauce flavour was hard to detect, my husband and I first thought that it was salt or salad flavour because we could only smell the soy sauce. The cracker itself was quite salty. None of us were very big fans of this senbei sadly.

Kaki no Tane
There were two small packs of Kakipi, and my husband and I had one pack each since my son has a nut allergy. We both felt there were too many peanuts in the pack. Usually (and this is just personal preference) we like to eat 2 or 3 hot crackers with one peanut, but each pack seemed to have a high ratio of peanuts to crackers, meaning when we had finished the crackers there were still peanuts left. If we ate the crackers and peanuts together, then the spiciness of the crackers was mellowed out by the peanuts.

Marble Chocolate
The packaging was very cute and my son made a grab for it straight away. We all liked the crispy shell and the chocolate inside had a very strong cocoa flavour. Some of the chocolates had a picture of a cow on the outside so we felt lucky, because they are rare.

 

Koala's March
The outside of this packet is also very cute and shows pictures of Koala's that may show up in your pack indicating you are "lucky". Unfortunately I got no such characters, or if I did, I couldn't tell because the insides were broken. This happens sometimes and because it came such a long way, it can't be helped. We found that the shell was very crunchy and nice but the chocolate had an odd flavour, like it was old. My son made a swipe for this packet too!

Umaibo Cheese
Umaibo is a long tubular corn snack, similar to what Aussies would know of as a "Cheezel" but sweeter. This was broken into 4 pieces inside the pack but I have found them to be somewhat fragile in the past, so it's no wonder. It's probably not a good snack to send internationally because it is easy to break. The flavour was quite cheesy but it also had a sweetness that Western savoury snacks don't have. We all enjoyed this one!

 

 Umaibo Mentaiko (Fish Roe)
I have to admit, I am not a fan of seafood, but my husband loves mentaiko. I was not looking forward to trying it but was pleasantly surprised. There wasn't too much seafood smell or flavour and to me this could have been bbq for all I knew. We all liked it but preferred the cheese. My son chomped the last half of the stick all by himself!

Haichu Strawberry
How to split this candy three ways was our difficulty, however we managed and liked it. It was very mini indeed, I would have liked a couple of each flavour in the box. The strawberry flavour was very light. The candy was very chewy and stuck to my teeth.

 

Haichu Melon
This was green and white in colour and tasted like rock melon. The flavour was very strong and reminded us what we love about Japan. All three of us wanted more of melon Haichu. It was a very pleasant candy to eat.

 

Look Chocolate Matcha Azuki
We all like the combination of Matcha (green tea) and Azuki (red bean) so we expected great things from this chocolate. The matcha flavour was strong, rich and quite sweet, but we couldn't taste any azuki which is a real shame. I preferred this chocolate out of the two flavours.

Look Chocolate Matcha Milk
The "milk" inside this chocolate was clear and stringy, unlike the image on the box of a white creamy liquid. However, I could taste a creaminess which I imagined was the milk. The matcha in this chocolate was not as strong as with the azuki which I didn't like but my husband loved. My son devoured both chocolates and seemed to love them both equally...he would have had another box of them if he could!! ;)

 

Chocoball
Besides Tirol, Chocoball is my husbands favourite snack ever. He loves the combination of peanuts and chocolate. I expected him to love this as it's the original version of chocoball. However he told me that the flavour of this mini pack was different to the normal box of original Chocoball and he thinks that the layer of chocolate is thinner. I liked the crunchiness of the toffee and coating inside, and the flavour of the dark chocolate on the outside, but I too noticed something different but I couldn't work out what it was. The only thing I could say is that these small snacks seem like they come from a share-pack so they could have been modified a little bit for that purpose.

 

Orange Bubble Gum
Bubble gum is not something I eat a lot of, so I have no real expertise in this area. I am familiar with this gum mainly because I see it for sale at oriental supermarkets in my city. This was my first time trying it, and sadly will be my last. The orange flavour was strong and it burned my tongue. Both sides of my tongue were on fire while eating this and afterwards I had acid indigestion. I can only assume that whatever chemical used in this gum just doesn't agree with me. It is a cheap and nasty addition to Skoshbox and I would recommend they leave it out in future.

Milk Hardcandy
There was only one of these candies so I got to have it to myself. I was glad I did because it was so creamy and tasted very milky. It was really hard so it lasted a long time. I wished there were more of these candies in the box!!

Air-in Eraser
I thought it was kind of strange to put an eraser in a box of candy from Japan. I know that Japan is popular with geeks and they must like using mechanical pens and erasers. But for the rest of us who aren't students, what will we do with an eraser? If it has to be an eraser, I would prefer something more "Japanese" such as one of those cute erasers that look like a bowl of ramen or a sushi roll. Otherwise I would have liked to see a cultural item such as some chocolate in the shape of 5 yen coins or a phone strap, or maybe even a sushi keyring.

I really like the idea of Skoshbox but I thought the contents were somewhat hit and miss. I guess being a seasoned snack reviewer and regular consumer of Japanese snacks, the contents of the box feel a bit "meh" to me, but to someone who is just getting to know Japan, this would be a great introduction.

It's also really good for those who like getting parcels every month, it feels a bit like getting a gift in the mail, especially because it is packaged so beautifully. Skoshbox is the kind of thing I would have liked when I was in high school and just starting to learn Japanese. I feel that it is marketed towards Japanophiles who have an avid interest in everything Japan. My husband said that if he was missing Japanese snacks and he couldn't buy them in his area then he would buy a Skoshbox every month. I guess for Japanese people away from home, this could even help cure homesickness.

On the Skoshbox website you can see what is in each month's box before it is delivered to you. I will be interested to see what comes out each month, and even more so when Skoshbox go international. Who knows? I might even buy one myself. :)

How you can find Skoshbox
- Website:  http://skoshbox.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Skoshbox

Here are some other reviews of Skoshbox

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy5JREANS30&feature=share&list=UUAF7DMTeAnZOZvikNygerOA

- http://youtu.be/e9PeEH9-hb0

- http://polishmaniacs.wordpress.com/2013/07/04/skoshbox-june-2013-unboxing-review/

- http://www.subscriptionmaven.com/2013/06/new-subscription-box-skoshbox-review.html

- http://www.ramblingsofasuburbanmom.com/2013/06/june-skoshbox-review/

- http://ayearofboxes.com/2013/06/27/june-box-review-coupon-code-skoshbox/

- http://www.subscriptionboxtalk.com/2013/06/skosh-box-review-and-coupon-code-new.html

- http://www.girlmeetsbox.com/skoshbox-june-review/

- http://ebidebby.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/skoshbox.html


**The Skoshbox reviewed here was shipped to me for free by Skoshbox and reviewed honestly and fairly. At the time of writing Skoshbox do not ship internationally but it seems like this might change in future.

Country Ma'am Strawberyy Parfait カントリーマアム いちごパフェー

When I saw this pack of Country Ma'am cookies at Daiso for ¥105 yen I just knew I had to have them. I am a fan of strawberry flavour but more than that the image on the packet was so pretty and looked delicious. I love Japanese parfait. It's one thing I love about Japan, they do desserts so well.

So here is a share pack of Country Ma'am that has 5 individually wrapped cookies inside. 

It's not the prettiest cookie I've ever seen but it does smell very nice. There is a strong smell of strawberry even when I'm nowhere near the cookie. Something that baffles me with Country Ma'am is that no matter what the flavour, every cookie has choc chips inside. Sometimes it doesn't go well but other times like with strawberry parfait flavour it is a match.

When I was little I had a Strawberry Shortcake doll and the stand out feature of the doll was it's pink curly hair and the scent of strawberries. When I smell this cookie it makes me think of that doll, the scent is pretty much the same. 

To smell it is nice, but to taste it, I get a real sense of chemical/artificial strawberry taste. It is really tart and has an unpleasant taste at the back of my throat. The outside is crunchy but the inside is like uncooked dough so it is like eating glue. The only thing that really saves this cookie is the chocolate and white choc chips in the middle. In fact, after eating this I had a burning feeling in my mouth and started to get a headache. I am not sure what chemicals they put in here but I wouldn't recommend anyone trying it.

As pretty as the packet is, this is one awful cookie. I'm disappointed as all my reviews so far about Country Ma'am have been positive but this one is not anything like a real strawberry nor a parfait.
Do yourself a favour and steer clear of this one!

Country Ma'am N.Y. Cheesecake カントリーマアム N.Y. チーズケーキ

I've never been to New York so I wasn't familiar with what makes a New York Cheesecake different to other cheesecakes around the world. Wikipedia tells me that a NY cheesecake relies on heavy cream or sour cream, and that it is rich and has a dense, smooth and creamy consistency.

This is a share pack of 5 individually wrapped cookies, which I bought in Daiso for ¥105 (roughly $1). 

The cookie is mostly white on the outside with a "baked" look, as if it has been slightly browned in the oven. It smells like yoghurt and cheese, actually quite a nice smell. It is soft on the outside and crumbles easily when bitten. The inside is quite soft, almost as if it was uncooked dough.

The taste is very much like cheese but more like an unbaked cheesecake. There are white choc chips in the centre which add a touch of sweetness to the whole thing. I think it needs the white chocolate to add contrast, otherwise the flavour of the biscuit would be too rich. 

This cookie really is quite rich and the flavour is strong so I'm not sure I could eat any more than one at a time. The only thing I don't like is that it is so crumbly. When I bit into it most of the cookie fell away, and I had crumbs everywhere.

If you don't mind the crumbs, then I would recommend you try this cookie. It's really quite a nice flavour and something different to the usual Country Ma'am fare. I would definitely buy it again.

Kit Kat Passionfruit キットカット 大人の甘さ こだわりパッションフルーツ

As I was leaving Japan to come home, Nestle released a new Kit Kat flavour. It was a surprise, mostly because the flavour is so mundane. A fruity flavour for summer but something I would expect to see at home in Australia, not in Japan.

However, I was happy to be able to grab a share pack of 12 minis for ¥298 to take home as souvenirs for my friends, who were delighted to try it and all raved about the flavour. I wish I had brought more than one bag home with me!

The Kit Kat itself is a creamy yellow colour and smells strongly of passionfruit from the chocolate coating which is smooth and soft. Biting into the Kit Kat finger the chocolate is sweet, and the wafers are crispy but the cream inside is tart and makes an interesting combination when mixed. 

 

I can see why my friends raved about this. I like the tart and the sweet together, and as well as that at the very end there is an unexpected creaminess. This Kit Kat is delectable and really lends itself to being more like a dessert than a snack. 

It is really more sophisticated than previous flavours, and I could imagine it more as an elegant dessert for adults. I really do like this, and luckily I have 3 minis left so I can keep them all to myself!

If you haven't already tried this I recommend that you do! But make sure that you keep it hidden so no one steals it! ;)

Nestle Kit Kat Green Tea (Matcha) キットカット 大人の甘さ 抹茶

It's been a while since I have reviewed a Kit Kat, probably at least a couple of years. It's good to be getting back into reviewing Kit Kat though as I've never lost my interest in the weird and wacky flavours that Japan keeps putting out.

It seems since the disaster of March 2011 (I hate saying that as my son was born the same month and year), that Nestle have been releasing less Kit Kat flavours than they did before. I know you can still get regional versions but when I went to Japan recently I really struggled to find anything other than regular, white, and green tea.

Japan seems to have renamed their Kit Kat to be "大人" (adult) flavour, or sweetness at an acceptable level for adults. I am not sure why this is, but they have a lot of advertising featuring office ladies or "OL's" so maybe they are aiming more towards weight conscious women?

This is a share pack of 12 individually wrapped minis which is great for me as I have been able to give lots away as souvenirs after coming home from Japan. This flavour was released in both a share pack and a single pack edition. In Japan, the share pack of 12 Kit Kat retails for around ¥298 which is how much I paid for this bag at Mega Donkey (a large discount retailer).

The one thing I noticed about this Kit Kat is that the chocolate coating is very mousse-like and it melts very easily. We are in the throes of Winter here and it's around 18 degrees during the day, but even with the heater on low this little mini melted. 

  

The outer chocolate is green tea green and smells strongly of matcha. Biting into it I get a very strong hit of matcha from the soft green chocolate. The matcha cream inside the crispy wafer also tastes very strongly of tea but with a sweetness. Right at the end there is a familiar bitterness from the matcha.

This Kit Kat was a hit with me. It was very authentic to the taste of real matcha and the soft outer chocolate, even though it melted easily, was delicious. I also enjoyed the crispy texture of the wafers inside. Unfortunately for me it was over too soon, so I might need the whole bag of minis to myself! 

I would recommend trying these if you like matcha or if you want to try a really authentic Japanese flavour paired in a Kit Kat.

Country Ma'am Crispy Almond カントリーマアム クリスピーアーモンド

I have 5 more packs of Country Ma'am to review, and this is the next one in my stash. This is the "crispy" version of Country Ma'am whereby the cookie is very crispy and crumbly and as you can see by the photo below, falls apart quite easily.

These cookies are very dark and like the previous share pack, are individually wrapped. There are 6 in this bag, which I bought from Daiso for ¥105 (around $1). 

The flavour is "almond" but actually I can't smell any almond from the cookie itself. All I can smell is strong cocoa and a slightly burnt scent. There seems to be a theme with Country Ma'am in that no matter what flavour the cookie is, there are chocolate chips inside. It's more suitable for an almond cookie to have choc chips than a matcha cookie though, in my opinion so this cookie seems interesting.

Biting into the cookie it completely crumbles, as expected. The flavour is strong cocoa and the dark chocolate chips really shine here. Unfortunately there are only the smallest dots of almond to be seen in each cookie and they don't add anything flavour or scent wise. I think this cookie should be renamed "dark chocolate chip" or something like that. Really, what was the point calling it "almond" when the almonds are non-existent. 

I would have liked to have seen big pieces of almond in here so in that respect this cookie was a let down. However, I did enjoy the dark chocolate flavour and the crispy texture of the cookie, so it's not a total fail.

If you just expect a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie when you buy these then you won't be disappointed. As these have 6 individually wrapped cookies, they are also good to share with friends and family. 

Fujiya Milky Candy 不二家ミルキー

While I was in Japan, I saw the Fujiya brand everywhere. Not only do they have their own brand of cake shops with the most delicious delights, but they also make every day biscuits, snacks, chocolates and candies.

What I have here is a box of original Fujiya Milky with the iconic image of Peko-chan, the company's mascot, on the front.

Inside there are 7 individually wrapped candies all bearing the Peko-chan mascot. The candies are small, round, and white in colour. There is no distinctive smell from the outside.

The candy is hard, not soft and chewy as I expected. The flavour is quite bland, and I suspect it's aiming to be "milky" which is sweet and creamy.

To be honest, Japanese people probably love these because it reminds them of their childhood. I don't have the nostalgia associated with Fujiya so I don't feel any enthusiasm for this candy. It's too bland.
In saying that though, I'm sure it would be great as a treat for kids, and my Japanese husband loves them.

You can buy this box of Milky Candy from Oyatsu Cafe.

Country Ma'am Vanilla & Fragrant Matcha カントリーマアム バニラ＆香り抹茶

Today I have a share pack of cookies by Fujiya called "Country Ma'am". In the past I have reviewed a black sugar version and a kinako version. Today I am reviewing a pack with 20 individually wrapped cookies inside. 10 are Vanilla flavour and the other 10 are fragrant Matcha (green tea) flavour.

I bought this bag of cookies from Ichimaru Supermarket in Tokachi for ¥258. It's quite a big bag and 20 cookies seems like a lot but actually each cookie is quite small - about 3.5cm in diameter.

The vanilla cookie is referred to as a "Chocochip Cookie Vanilla" on the wrap, but on the actual bag is only called vanilla. However, I think most people would think of this as a "choc chip" cookie as the most predominant smell is chocolate. The outside is crispy and the inside is soft and there is a slightly burnt and sweet caramel flavour. The milk chocolate chips give a hint of chocolate but only when you bite into them directly. Otherwise there is a vague caramel/vanilla flavour present. While it's still nice to eat, it's over rather quickly and it's not the strong vanilla flavour I was expecting.

The fragrant matcha cookie is green in colour and crispy on the outside. When biting into it I inhaled a strong scent of matcha. The flavour is very much green tea but there is a surprise inside : chocolate chips! Again the chocolate chips don't add much unless directly bitten on. This is a very strong flavoured cookie so if you like matcha then you would enjoy this cookie. There is a slight vanilla flavour right at the end that is not unpleasant but seems mismatched with matcha.

I'm not a big fan of the vanilla cookies, they are just "ok" but I really like the matcha flavour cookies. This bag of 20 cookies was great value because I shared them out with friends as part of a "Japanese snacks gift bag" when I got home. They are individually wrapped so they are the perfect kind of snack you can hand out to friends who like to try Japanese foods.

It's also a good pantry filler because you can keep a few in your bag or in my case nappy bag, and take them with you when you go out for a quick snack or when my toddler asks for a snack in the supermarket I can ply him with a cookie. :)

You can visit the Fujiya Website for more interesting Country Ma'am flavours.

Chuoken Hanairo Shion Senbei Set 中央軒 花色しおん せんべい

Recently when a Japanese friend got married I went to her wedding here in Perth and another friend also travelled over from Japan to attend. The friend gave us some premium Chuoken Senbei as a gift. I shared some on the day with Yasu and then quickly hid the rest away because they were so special. Its not every day you get given senbei from Ginza!

Each set contains an amount of Senbei, divided by two kinds in separate pink and purple packs. We had a set of 6 packages which means we had 3 each of pink and purple.

 Hanairo Pink

#1 - Soy sauce & Nori - with lots of crunch and some tiny sprinkles of nori (seweed)
#2 - Almond Arare - A very nice crunchy senbei with 3 small almond pieces on the top, very flavourful.
#3 - Hana - Tastes like Sakura and the texture is like little rice crips all glued together with sugar. Sweet senbei but very nice.
#4 - Aonori - Light, crisp senbei with a touch of nori and salt.
#5 - Kaifuri - Thin and crunchy, can taste soy sauce and dashi, and has sprinkles of nori on the outside for extra flavour.
#6 - Yuzu - A big hit of citrus on here, thin and crunchy with a lasting citrus taste.
#7 - Plum - Shaped like a Sakura petal, delicate crunch with plum flavoured sugar, has some sour notes as well as sweet.

My favourites out of here were the Plum and #1.

Hanairo Purple

#1 - Seaweed wrap - Thin and wrapped in nori, great crunchy texture and nice nori flavour.
#2 - Soy bean arare - Thick, crunchy and light toasted soy bean flavour, very interesting aftertaste of roasted beans.
#3 - Matcha arare - Green and thin, quite sweet and only light hints of green tea.
#4 - Soba Boro - Texture like a ginger nut biscuit, lots of smoky flavour, quite malty, has soba-esque hints.
#5 - White - Soy sauce flavour on a thin leaf-like senbei.
#6 - Rice arare - Like little rice crispies glued together, dashi and soy sauce flavour and a nice glossy sheen.
#7 - Ebi Senbei - Thick, crunchy and oily. Big prawn flavours.

My favourite of these were the Soba Boro and the Ebi Senbei.

In all, these Senbei were an exquisite snack, and Yasu and I both really enjoyed them and were very sad when they were all gone. If you happen to see these in Japan sometime, they make a great gift and an even better snack for yourself, and I thoroughly recommend them.

You can check out their website here. They also have an online shop.

Pokemon Noodle Soy Sauce Flavour ポケモンヌードル しょうゆ味

I am back to blogging after my husband caught a cold, gave it to my 2 year old son and then when they were over it, they had given it to me! So I spent a week trying to look after a busy toddler and feeling utterly miserable. There was no incentive to blog because I had lost my sense of taste. :(

I'm back now though with a cup of Pokemon Noodle to review. This will be attractive to fans of Pokemon or Japan-o-files. The packaging is a little scary, with two large dark grey owls in the background and what looks like fire, and Pokemon has his mouth open in an angry expression.
I don't know much about Pokemon so I don't know if this is normally a scary story.

The flavour is "shoyu" which is soy sauce. To eat this pack of cup noodle is simple. Just take off the outer plastic wrapping, unseal the lid half way and pour boiling water inside up to the line near the top. Then cover with the lid and wait 3 minutes, peel back the lid and eat!

 

In terms of flavour I thought this was just ok. What set it apart from other cup noodles is that it had flat pieces of kamaboko (fish cake) hidden amongst the noodles with images of characters from Pokemon. They were really quite cute and it was exciting to uncover all the little discs of kamaboko.

My husband also ate some of the cup noodle and on a scale of one to ten he gave it a 5. Average in flavour but because of its cute factor it would probably be quite popular with the young ones and otaku, so would possibly rate higher to others.

In all this was a fun product to try and I thank Oyatsu Cafe for letting me try it out. It's not something I would normally buy so it's been great to try something out of my comfort zone.

You can buy this product from Oyatsu Cafe now at their online store, along with lots of other great Japanese snacks.

The maker of Pokemon Noodle, Sanyo Foods, have a great website dedicated to this product with lots of cool interactive games and characters that move.

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.

Meito Puku Puku Tai 名糖ぷくぷくたい『チョコ』

 

In the previous post I blogged about monaka for the first time. Thanks to Oyatsu Cafe I have another monaka to review, this time in the form of taiyaki which is a traditional Japanese fish-shaped cake usually filled with anko (red bean) or custard.

This is an unusual snack made by Meito which consists of a monaka wafer on the outside and air-in chocolate on the inside. I was lucky enough to have the real deal on my latest trip to Japan but I can imagine that if you are craving taiyaki and you don't live in a place that has them readily available, then this snack would suffice.

Just like the previously posted about monaka, this taiyaki had a satisfying crunch when bitten into. The chocolate inside was like a soft fluffy mousse and had a strong chocolate flavour. The crunchy outer wafer and the soft inside was a very pleasant contrast in the mouth.

My husband breaking it open

My husband and I both enjoyed eating this but like Sakupan Monaka it was over too soon. Probably this is a snack that you just shouldn't share... However Oyatsu Cafe sell these taiyaki snacks in their store for $1.99 so buying more than one at a time is totally feasible and won't damage your hip pocket!

Puku Puku Tai also comes in Strawberry and Cheesecake flavour which both sound delicious. I definitely recommend this snack for it's wacky factor alone, but it also tastes great and it's not expensive, so in my opinion it's a winner!

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

 

Kellog's Brown Rice Flake Matcha Milk ケロッグ 玄米フレーク 抹茶ミルク

I purchased this pack of Matcha Milk Brown Rice Flakes at the same time as I purchased my previous review (Brown Sugar & Honey).

As the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes were very healthy tasting, I was reluctant to taste this Matcha Milk (Green Tea & Milk) variety, so they have sat around on my desk for a while, staring at me every time I turned the computer on.

I finally summoned up the courage to taste them, only to find that they're not that bad. Because they have Matcha powder inside, the texture is a lot better than the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes. You can really taste the Matcha flavour, and the texture of the powder in there, along with the crunch of the biscuit.

Matcha Milk Flakes don't come across quite as healthy as the Brown Sugar & Honey Flakes do. I could tell it was still cereal based, but the Matcha Milk texture and flavour masked it quite well to the point I felt like I was just eating a savoury snack. There is only a very vague sweetness in this biscuit, when it becomes soft in the mouth, but it seems like there is only grape sugar added and that is in the middle of the list of ingredients so it doesn't play a big part.

Everyone knows I'm a Matcha Freak but I can tell you it didn't make me biased towards this product. I was expecting it to be just as healthy if not worse than the previous review. I was pleasantly surprised to find that healthy doesn't have to be bland.