Tirol Premium Ichigo Daifuku チロル いちご大福

Wow, I now have a tonne of Tirol chocolates to review thanks to an awesome friend! I'm starting off with this Ichigo Daifuku (Japanese sweet made out of rice with a strawberry filling).

Hubby chose this one to try first, maybe because the wrapper was so pretty! It is really so cute, a checkerboard of light and dark pink with a cute picture of an ichigo daifuku on the front.

Biting into this chocolate I had the feeling that this was made out of sherbert, not chocolate. The strawberry was present but there was a very big tartness to it that made me think of sherbert. There was a brown jelly-like centre, which I thought was chocolate but then realised it was meant to be red bean paste, but to be honest I couldn't taste very much as the strawberry was so overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but I wish it was more balanced.

The chocolate was so soft and crumbly

I really liked this Tirol chocolate, the strawberry flavour wasn't the same bland old strawberry chocolate, it had a kick with the tartness, so I wished I had some more of this. Hubby claimed that this was one of the best Tirol's he had ever had.

There are quite a few reviewers on the net who are sick of Strawberry flavoured chocolate as that seems to be the fall-back flavour of Japanese snack makers, but I recommend you give this one a go as it could be the chocolate that changes your mind :)

Get yours at napaJapan, and visit the Tirol website.

Meiji Melty Kiss Rich Green Tea Chocolate 明治メルティーキッス濃抹茶

Seriously, I have some really good friends, for which I'm eternally grateful! Yet another wonderful friend sent me a parcel filled with some delicious Japanese snacks and this box of Melty Kiss was inside.

I was aware of Melty Kiss and had seen it around but had never bought it. This box of Green Tea Melty Kiss is a seasonal flavour, meaning it won't be around forever. The kanji (chinese characters) refer to it as 濃抹茶 which translated to English means "rich green tea".

I am not such a fan of Green Tea as a drink, but I love it in chocolate and sweets. This Melty Kiss was no exception.

  

Not exactly how it's meant to look but whatever, it tasted good!

When I opened the wrapper I couldn't really smell anything but when I placed the (somewhat melted in transit) chocolate into my mouth I immediately tasted the bitter dark chocolate coating mixed in with the rich green tea, a match made in heaven! I could really taste the bitterness of the green tea too but it gave the chocolate depth and I was really sad it ended that I immediately opened another one! Hubby really liked this too, even though he's not really a fan of Green Tea either!

So I thoroughly recommend this one to you. There are 14 individually wrapped chocolates in the box so there are plenty to share with friends!

Melty Kiss Website

Kameda Seika Curry Senbei 亀田製菓カレーせん

I've had such a big craving for senbei (a type of Japanese rice cracker) lately, but the only options in the Japanese supermarkets here seem to be either soy sauce or salt flavour. I'm not really into either of those flavours to be honest.

So I asked the help of a friend in Japan to send me some senbei over and she kindly obliged. She sent me a few different types, the bite size senbei that my son loves, these Curry Sen and some fancier Ebi Senbei which I hope to blog about soon.

These curry senbei are those which you might call "soft". They are big and round and when you bite into them they melt in the mouth. Hubby and I were really happy with these and ate the packet over two sittings but could have quite happily ate it in one if we wanted to be piggies!

So soft they broke up in transit.

The curry sen were coated back and front with lots of curry spice and on the packet it claims the flavour leans more towards Indian spices which I can attest to as at the end of each bite my tongue warmed up with the heat of the spices.

As you can probably tell we really loved these and were sad when our senbei love affair was over. I'd definitely recommend these if you want something a bit different from the usual rice cracker.

Each pack has 18 crackers and the company's website is here.

Imuraya Azuki Bar 井村屋あずきバー

  

It's quite warm tonight so for dessert I'm having this Azuki Bar by a company called Imuraya.

I picked it up at the Japanese supermarket for 99 cents on sale.

I thought it was going to be an icecream bar containing Azuki (read bean) but its not. Basically it's Azuki purée and bits of beans stuck on a pop stick. It does taste yum and very authentic, but I'm not so sure about the texture as red bean blended has a strange texture and then there are lumps of beans poking out too.

It's a different dessert and one I'm sure an Azuki lover would quite enjoy, but for me I can't get past the odd texture and it made me really thirsty too.

I probably wouldn't buy it again but I'm happy to have at least tried it. For the record I do really like Azuki, I'm just not so in love with this bar.

Kimura Annin Ramune 木村 杏仁ラムネ

I've had this bottle of Ramune sitting in my fridge for a while. I bought it on a whim. Annin is almond flavour. I've tried Annin Kit Kat before and so I thought Ramune would be good.

In Japan the most popular use of Annin is in Annin Dofu, a kind of almond pudding, borrowed from China I think.

I've noticed this brand of Ramune don't use the traditional glass bottles but a plastic version which is easier to release the small ball in the centre.

At first the soda just tastes like lemonade, flat lemonade at that, as there is not very much fizz at all. Then after swallowing there is a big hit of almond flavour at the back of my throat, and mixed with the lemonade flavour becomes a taste of childhood nightmares aka kids medicine.

Hubby had one sip of this and told me I could have his bottle as well, because no way is he drinking something that tastes like medicine. He said that the cold and flu medicine in Japan tastes the same.

Oh well. I'm not a fan of this Ramune, but I guess I'll end up drinking it. It's a shame they couldn't pull it off, at least the bottle cover is cute, I think that is the only thing going for it!

Teaming Up With Rattling Reviews

Thought I better mention that this blog has already gone live in a monthly publication called Rattling Reviews.

From now on I will be doing two reviews for Rattling Reviews every month and endevouring to branch out into reviewing homewares and other fun Japanese products as well.

This is the cover of the latest issue which you can subscribe to free from the website.

My review in Rattling Reviews

You can also find them on Facebook here.

I'm so excited to have been given this opportunity! I love blogging online but also in a Newzine is just so fantastic, I love being able to spread the word about unique Japanese products. :)

Echigo Seika Bite Size Prawn Crackers 越後製菓 味の追求 ひとくち 海老せん

 

I am a big fan of prawn crackers and usually when we have Chinese Take-away I get a big bag of them.

Ebi Senbei are a lot like prawn crackers except they are usually round, thicker and harder. I got a friend to send some senbei (Japanese rice cracker) over for me and in the box she included this pack of bite size ebi senbei with my 11 month old son in mind.

I wasn't sure if he would like them but they were a massive hit and quickly became "his" senbei, in fact he ate the whole pack by himself except for one or two that we sneaked so we could try.

I know why they were so popular, they are the perfect size for his little hands, they have lots of flavour, and a satisfying crunch.

These are adults senbei, not marketed towards children but they seem perfect for the whole family.

The packet contains 60g worth of senbei which is probably around 30 pieces and a packet contains 474 calories.

I'm definitely going to buy more of these, they are just so worth it!!

The manufacturers website is
http://www.echigoseika.co.jp

Meidi-ya My Syrup Blue Ramune めいじや マイシロップ ブルー ラムネ風味

It's getting quite hot in Australia now as we are well and truly into summer. Today was 36 degrees and the perfect day for Kakigori (かき氷).

So I decided to open a new bottle of syrup. It's by a company called Meidi-ya and the flavour is Blue "Ramune" which is a basic soda or "lemonade" in Japan.

The syrup is bright blue and smells sweet. It's quite thin but is full of flavour. It tastes really sweet and like lemonade without the bubbles. I had condensed milk over the top and it was a match made in heaven.

I would fully recommend this, it's so yummy. I'll be having this again soon I think!

iPhone blogging

As a busy mum to a very active 9 month old I no longer have time to spend hours in front of the computer posting reviews, so from now on I will be posting shorter reviews from my iPhone (thanks to the blogger app!) as I still love reviewing, and don't want to give it up.

The reviews will be shorter but more to the point, I hope that my readers will continue the journey with me :)

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

Kabaya Juicy Cider カバヤ ジュー Ｃ サイダー味

I picked up this tube of Juicy thinking it was Ramune flavour, because usually Ramune candy is this same blue colour, but when I got home I realised it's Cider. Never mind, because I like cider anyway.

When I opened the lid it smelled very similar to ramune anyway...very much like lemonade. Usually "cider" means apple, because it comes from "apple cider", but this doesn't smell like apple.

Each tablet is white and has blue and green specks. At first the taste is like soda water with a hint of lemonade, and then it gets sweet. The specks in the tablet are crunchy but don't seem to have much taste. There is a very vague apple flavour, like I'm almost imagining it to be there. The tablet has a slight fizzy effect but I can't work out if it's from the specks or the tablet itself.

These are kind of weird...they don't really taste like cider. More like a distant relative of cider. I think the person who made this was really thinking of Ramune at the time. I can't really say I'm a fan. They leave a funny aftertaste in my mouth too...

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.

Tirol Matcha Soy Latte チロル 抹茶ソイらて

Wow, who would have thought to combine Matcha and Soy? I certainly wouldn't have...though I think maybe dairy intolerant people in Japan must already do this.

The colour of this chocolate is absolutely beautiful. It's beautifully layered, just like the Tiramisu Tirol. When I put this chocolate up to my nose, all I could smell was white chocolate, so I wasn't too excited to be honest...thinking it may be a bit of a dud.

But, biting into it there is a wonderful, strong matcha flavour that just gets better and better. There's a jelly layer in the centre that adds bitterness, and the soy cream in the middle adds another dimension. Yum! I have been disappointed with other matcha chocolate in the past when it hasn't had much flavour but this Tirol is just so full of flavour and it's so yum!

I just feel like shouting yum yum Tirol!! yum yum Green Tea!

Snack love also reviewed this flavour, and you can buy it at NapaJapan.

Tirol Tiramisu チロルティラミス

I've been sitting on this and another Tirol for a while, and have been meaning to get back to reviewing snacks, but finding the time to actually photograph them and then write a review is really hard with a 4 month old! I've been saying it all along though...but now that hub has a day off work, I finally squared away a couple of hours to sit down and do it!

So here goes. This Tiramisu Tirol has layers, like that of the real dessert. It's an Italian dessert made up of lady fingers dipped in coffee and layered with marscapone cream and cocoa, sometimes flavoured with liqueur too.

The Tirol version smells like coffee and biscuits. It has 3 distinct layers - the chocolate top, a creamy second layer that has a light coating of coffee in between and then the final layer which is a white chocolate. I actually expected some biscuit in there somewhere, but there is none. The creamy second layer is totally yum! It's soft and reminds me of fudge. You really get a sense of coffee, chocolate and cream in here and it's totally yummy! Just sorry I only bought 3 of these...

Snack Love also reveiwed this Tirol, and you can buy it at NapaJapan.

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

Kabaya Juicy Grape カバヤ ジュー Ｃ グレープ

I was wandering around Nippon Food Supplies and wondering what to get as a small snack that would satisfy when I came up on this pack of Juicy by Kabaya. I love anything grape flavour and it was only 80 cents, so that pretty much sealed the deal for me.

When you open the pack it is basically filled with little round discs, similar in texture to a hard sherbert (like the ramune candy) and it has a very light lilac colour with a K imprinted on to one side and a random cute picture imprinted on the other. I'm guessing the K is for Kabaya. The smell is strong and smells just like grape candy that we all know and love from childhood.

I didn't count at the time but I estimate there to be about 20 tablets in one pack. The candy tablet has a strong taste of grape from the moment I put it into my mouth and it dissolves in the same way as the ramune candy, and it also has a tartness to it like sherbert, which I love.

They dissolve rather quickly, and can also be chewed even quicker. I'm sure kids could chew through a pack of these in ten minutes or less. However, I have to watch how much I consume so I still have about 5 tablets left. The outside is pretty cute too which I'm sure appeals to Kawaii lovers of all generations.

I'm pretty happy with these candies, I love the flavour and the texture and would definitely buy some again.

Brand: Kabaya Calories per box: 94 Website: http://www.kabaya.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

Kit Kat Cola & Lemon Squash キットカット コーラ味とレモンスカッシュ味

Wow, long time no Kit Kat review! I've had this box sitting in the fridge since last year and it still hasn't expired, in fact it won't expire until May, but I thought I better get around to it now before bubs arrives, because then I definitely probably won't have any time to.

This Kit Kat is a duo flavour, Cola, and Lemon Squash. It contains two individually wrapped packs, one containing two sticks of Cola and the other containing two sticks of Lemon Squash.

The Cola is a light brown chocolate, similar to the colour of actual Cola drink and it smells like a flat Cola. Biting into it at first is a flat Cola flavour but inside the wafers there is some fizziness which makes it taste and feel like a real Cola drink. I really love the fizzy sensation, it's quite fun and the chocolate is not too sweet, in fact the fizzy factor is the dominating flavour.

The Lemon Squash is white chocolate which smells like lemon cheesecake. Biting into it the flavour is quite tart, like a lemon tart, and the chocolate is quite sweet. There feels like there are some small granules inside the wafers, and these have quite a sour flavour which give it a real kick. This flavour is too sweet to really be considered as a lemon squash but I do like the flavour overall, because I'm a fan of the sour-sweet combo and lemon cheesecake flavour.

In all, I though this was a good effort from Nestle. Two distinct flavours in the one box and both are really enjoyable. Wish I bought more of these!


This Kit Kat got a mediocre review from Jen's Kit Kat blog, and got the thumbs up from My Kit Kats.

Brand: Nestle Calories per box: 100 Website: http://www.nestle.co.jp

Asahi Mitsuya Cider Lemon Burst Zero 三ツ矢サイダー レモンはじける・カロリーゼロ

I'm not usually a fan of diet sodas, mainly because I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners. But that all changed once I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and majorly limited what beverages I can drink. These days it's a choice of water, milk, diet soda, or juice which is severely watered down.

So when browsing in Nippon Food Supplies I came across this bottle of Mitsuya Cider Zero. The label states that it has zero calories, but it has 175.5kj and 11 grams of carbohydrate. It seems moderately ok, even for me having to watch my carbs, it's still under one serve. Surprisingly this drink has the same amount of calories and carbohydrates as the original Mitsuya Cider which doesn't claim to be low in calories. Strange?

 

Lemon Burst (known as Lemon Hajikeru on the label) is quite fizzy when first poured out into a glass. It smells quite lemony too, but more like a dish washing liquid than a soda! The first sip is really tart, the lemon is just so strong and overpowering and kind of burns the back of my throat. I can really taste the artificial sweetener in here, but maybe that's because I'm not used to it, however I just can't get over that taste and it's somewhat chemical.

I found this to be really harsh on the tastebuds. It's quite fizzy and the lemon is just so strong and sour, even though it's only 1% juice. I can't say that I would buy this again, even though it's meant to be reduced calories. I think I'd rather stick with juice and water! I seriously wouldn't recommend it unless you love sour, fizzy, burn-your-throat-out beverages. I don't think it's worth it.

Brand: Asahi Calories per bottle: 175.5 Website: http://www.asahiinryo.co.jp/products/carbonated/mitsuya_hajikeru_lemon/

Riska Umai Wa Cheese リスカうまい輪 チーズ味

 Photo courtesy of Riska as by the time
I got around to photographing Yasu had already opened the packet!

Here's a similar product to something I reviewed earlier, except this one is called Umai Wa, instead of Umai Bo. The difference is that Umai Bo is a long tube snack, whereas this one is made into separate rings. Umai Bo seems to be made by Yaokin, while Umai Wa is made by Riska. It's odd how seemingly the same product with the same characters are made by two different companies. Or maybe they are the same but different branches...maybe someone can enlighten me?

This is a large size 75 gram bag full of cheesy flavoured rings. The cheese has a very strong flavour and the rings smell very sweet, unlike Western snacks where if cheese is featured it's usually more savoury than sweet.

The rings are not uniform in size or shape, but they have a very thick coating of cheese powder on the outside. They are really light though and when biting into one there is a loud satisfying crunch. The cheese flavour is quite nice but it's sweet at the end, so that if you eat the bag in one sitting you end up needing a drink straight after as the flavour build up is so strong.

Yasu really loves these, both Umai Bo and Umai Wa so this is the main reason I bought them. This cheesy snack gets the thumbs up from him. They are a pretty "el cheapo" snack but the flavour isn't lacking so it gets my thumbs up too. I found it to be enjoyable and the pack size means it's great to share.

By the way, don't you think the character on the bag resembles Doraemon?

Riska Character

Doraemon

Brand: Riska Calories per bag: 1849 Website: http://www.riska.co.jp/catalog/page1/item10.html

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/