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.

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? 

Fujiya Strawberry Shortcake Chocolates 不二家 苺ショートケーキチョコ

I've been saving this box of chocolates. I received it from a friend in Japan a while back but I held onto it because the box is so pretty.

These chocolates are based on Japanese style strawberry shortcakes which are usually made from a soft sponge cake with layers of strawberries and cream. I find a Japanese shortcake to be much less sweet than a Western version.

Japanese style Strawberry Shortcake courtesy of Google

They are made by Fujiya - a well known sweets manufacturer in Japan. Their mascot is Peko-chan - a girl in pigtails with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.

The top of the box is one big photograph featuring shortcakes. In the middle is an image of what the chocolate is supposed to look like. A biscuit layer on the bottom, followed by cream, then a layer of strawberry, covered in milk chocolate with a fleur-de-lis imprinted into the top.

Inside the box, each chocolate is encased in a bright strawberry red packet, there are 9 in the box.

The chocolate is quite a good size, 3cm diameter, and 1cm high. It smells milk chocolate mixed with strawberry. Biting into it the first thing I tasted was strawberry, but it wasn't very sweet. In fact the second flavour I tasted was the chocolate, and although it looks like milk, it tastes quite dark. The chocolate was much stronger than the strawberry so it was overpowered. In regards to texture, the biscuit on the bottom is crumbly, so biting into it there is the taste of strawberry and a texture of crumbly biscuit, then the dark chocolate. I couldn't really taste the cream element, that was somewhere in there with the strawberry and probably contributes more to the texture than the flavour.

Although it didn't have nearly as much strawberry in there as I expected, it's actually very accurate to what a Japanese style shortcake is like (minus the chocolate). I find the sweetness in a shortcake is downplayed, to the point of being non-existent.

If you find strawberry flavoured chocolate, or chocolates in general are too sweet for your tastes, then I'm sure you would like these. I would like these when I'm dieting because they don't make you crave for more. Each chocolate will set you back 38.8 calories, which I think is pretty good.

Caramel Nuts Tirol (Premium) キャラメルナツ チロル

So here is my last blog about Tirol for now. I've managed to review quite a lot of different Tirol flavours during 2012 and that's all thanks to a very kind friend in Tokyo who sent them over to me during the year. So I'd like to take this opportunity to thank her so much for her kindness, not just for the Tirol and all the other snacks she sent me but for her friendship and support. Thank you so much S! :)

Caramel Nuts....it sounds pretty good and it's one of those combinations that is used over and over by confectionery makers the world over. Just think of Snickers and Picnic for starters. 

When I opened this Tirol I couldn't smell anything but a sweet scent. However when I bit into it I could smell Snickers! It smells just like it!! The chocolate on the outside is a caramel colour and there is a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom followed by a biscuit piece, peanuts, caramel and then chocolate. There is a lot going on in this chocolate, that's for sure!

Sadly, the flavour just wasn't as good as a Snickers. The chocolate and caramel were just so sweet, that even though the nuts were plentiful, it just wasn't that good. I really feel like the peanuts needed some salt to balance out the sweetness, then we could have had that salty peanut butter and chocolate combination going on.

I'm kind of sad that this one didn't live up to my expectations either. I usually really enjoy the Tirol chocolates. I will be looking forward to trying some new ones in 2013.

If you have tried some Tirol chocolates this year, what were your favourite?

Choc Banana Tirol (Premium) チョコバナナ チロル

Sorry for my absence (again). Christmas happened, and then New Years, and life has been so hectic. I've just gotten some free time to blog and I thought I should get around to blogging about two more Tirol chocolates that I have.

This one is Choc Banana and the image on the wrapping shows some fireworks in the distance and a big banana covered by chocolate in the foreground. It's really quite cute. This is a premium Tirol so it's a bit larger than the usual size.

The chocolate is a banana yellow colour on the outside but doesn't really smell of banana at all. I can only smell a sweet chocolate scent. On the inside of the Tirol is a layer of dark chocolate on the bottom, followed by some white marshmallow sandwiched in the middle, then a thin layer of chocolate coloured banana flavoured sauce followed by the banana coloured chocolate.

The dark chocolate inside doesn't look really dark but it has quite a bitter taste to it, so much so that it overpowers the banana sauce. It's only really after swallowing that I get the taste of the banana sauce but the dark chocolate lingers on my tongue for a lot longer.

Overall I was disappointed. This could have been an amazing Tirol if not for the bitter dark chocolate. Who puts dark chocolate on their bananas anyway? I don't know why the marshmallow was in the middle either, it would have been better with a banana mousse or even a banana marshmallow. I'm sad, I was expecting so much more.

Will my next Tirol be a winner? Stay tuned!

Yuraku Black Thunder Cocoa Cookie Crunch ユーラク ブラックサンダー ココアクッキークランチ

I first learned about Yuraku's Black Thunder Bar when I reviewed the Yuraku x Tirol in May of this year (2012).

This bar strikes me as a kind of mix-up of an Oreo, Malteasers and some chocolate all mixed together and made into a slab. It is called Black Thunder for one reason, it literally is black inside, with little bits of white biscuit pieces scattered through it.

Biting into it is like being in heaven, if you're a cookie lover like I am. It's so crunchy, and it's like eating crushed chocolate biscuits coated with chocolate. The biscuit inside is so chocolatey and rich. There is a strong hit of cocoa with every mouthful.

I'm really surprised this exists in the Japanese market because they are not really known for their strong, slap-you-in-the-face flavours, they seem to prefer more subtle tastes. This is a chocolate bar that says HELLO! when you eat it.

The only downside is it's quite crumbly and breaks easily.

This is a very simple bar...it's just chocolate on chocolate, there are no other flavours. So if you're a chocolate fan then you'll love this. It's the perfect size really, because it's so rich. You wouldn't want any more than this 22 gram pack at one time.

Have a look at the Yuraku website here.

Tirol Ikinari Dango [Kumamoto] Sweet Potato チロル 熊本いきなり団子 さつまいも・紫いも

I heard about this regional pack of Tirol on the Tirol Facebook page and a friend in Tokyo was kind enough to track it down and send some to me.

This Tirol is based around a Japanese sweet or "wagashi" called Ikinari Dango - a steamed bun with chunks of sweet potato in the dough, with anko (red bean) in the centre, a local specialty of Kumamoto.

The black bear featured on the wrapper is the mascot for Kumamoto and his name is Kumamon. "Kuma" is Japanese for bear.

I have to tell you right now. I LOVE sweet potato. It's one of my favourite foods. It's also low GI so I practically lived on it during pregnancy. I used to steam it and eat it as a snack. My favourite of all time is Murasaki-imo (purple) but it's hard to find in Australia, and when I can find it, it's expensive.

I'm happy to be able to try both types of this Tirol. So lets start.


Satsuma-imo (Orange)

The chocolate on the outside is orangey-yellow and when I put it to my nose there is a strong smell of sweetness and something earthy. In the middle there are two layers, on the bottom is a dark yellow jelly and on the top is a red-brown paste. I'm certain the jelly is representing the sweet potato and the paste is the red bean component. I can really taste the red bean in this chocolate and it's very accurate in flavour and quite sweet. Unfortunately it kind of overruns the sweet potato which is a bit too subtle. The last flavour I can taste after eating is still the red bean.


Murasaki-imo (Purple)

This is quite pretty because it's a lavender coloured chocolate covering a white inside. There is only one layer inside this chocolate, a yellow jelly surrounded by a white chocolate which I think is meant to be the sweet potato. This has a much stronger flavour and the sweet potato is more apparent. There is no red bean to drown it out, so the flavour is loud and clear. There is some earthiness to this chocolate and I think some people might be put off by it. I really like it though.

I did like both of these chocolates even though the Satsuma-imo was not as strong on the sweet potato as I expected. I'm a big fan of red bean so I did enjoy this one a lot. The Murasaki-imo was bigger on the sweet potato with the exclusion of the red bean.

I've never actually tried Ikinari Dango but I can say after having these two Tirol I really want to try the real thing! Maybe I need to take a trip to Kumamoto! ;)

I would have to say I liked the Satsuma-imo the best, simply because I like the red bean. If you get a chance to try this I would very much recommend it. The colours and inside layers remind me very much of eating Japanese sweets so even if you're not usually a fan of these flavours I recommend them just for the experience and nostalgia :)

Takoyaki Caramel たこ焼きキャラメル

A friend sent this candy to me and I had forgotten about it, until I was searching for something and knocked over a box and it fell out. I pulled it out and thought I should taste it to see if it's as good as the real thing (haha).

This box of Takoyaki Caramel has 20 individually wrapped square pieces inside, and it's not a very appealing colour. It looks like someone has blended a takoyaki ball and poured it in a square mold. Hub wasn't too keen to try this as I had previously bought Genghis Khan Caramel a couple of years ago (I reviewed on a former blog) and he wasn't keen on it (but I loved it).

Aside from it's unappealing colour, it has absolutely no smell, and is quite hard. Biting into it I immediately get a taste of ginger, followed by brown sauce and onion. The ginger is the strongest flavour of all and gets quite hot on the tongue. I can see where they were going with this but there is really no taste of tako (octopus) in this which is quite a shame really (but I guess it's hard to replicate).

Hub said it was so-so, I guess he felt that the star of the show was missing so the flavour was a bit wishy washy. I'm not a huge fan of it, but I don't want to waste the 18 pieces left so I guess I'll find some friends who would like to be guinea pigs (haha).

It's a novelty item really, so it was good to try it out and see how it measures up, I think it would make a great souvenir from Japan if anything, and probably I would only buy it for that purpose.

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. :(

Uji Matcha Tirol 宇治抹茶 チロル

Matcha (Green Tea) is a popular flavour for chocolate and snacks in Japan, so it stands to reason that Tirol would release that flavour over many different incarnations. In the past I've reviewed Matcha with Mochi , Matcha Milk, and Matcha Soy Latte, but I'm sure there has been many more.

This Matcha Tirol is a premium version which means it's slightly bigger than a regular Tirol chocolate and it costs slightly more. The flavour is Uji Matcha, Uji is an area in Kyoto which is popular for the green tea powder.

The design on the wrapper is striking, with a forrest green background, cherry blossom in one corner and a bright orange sunset with a cup of green tea in the foreground. There is also a temple far off on the horizon. The chocolate is dark green in colour and smells like the green tea powder from a Japanese Tea Ceremony.

There is mochi inside this chocolate that is soft and jelly-like. The chocolate around the mochi is strong and bitter, with a hint of sweetness. The matcha flavour is much more intense in this than previous versions. This is less sweet than a normal Tirol, the bitterness of the tea plays a much bigger role. While I don't normally drink the tea because I don't like bitter flavours, I really enjoyed this because it wasn't really sweet like Tirol chocolate tends to be. I felt that this was a very "adult" flavour, and very classy.

The danger is, I could eat a lot of these in one go because it's not too sweet! :) 

Have you tried this? If so, what did you think?

Kinako Mochi Tirol (Premium) きなこもち チロル

Kinako Mochi seems to be a flavour that Tirol brings out every year or so. I guess in part because it's so popular. I reviewed this same flavour in 2010 but it was a smaller version that came in a pack.

This version is a premium Tirol which is slightly bigger (and costs a bit more) and the added bonus to this newer version is there is kinako powder inside the chocolate. Nothing else has really changed all that much, the wrapper colour is more orange this time around, but it has the same mochi character as last time, and only one big ball of kinako mochi instead of 3 small balls.

I guess Tirol know that you don't have to mess around with something when it's guranteed to be a winner no matter how many times you release it.

I am a kinako lover so I was looking forward to trying this one. As in the previous incarnation, the chocolate looks the colour of kinako, a kind of caramel colour. I can smell the kinako through the chocolate and it's so nice!!

Although I knew there was kinako powder inside, what I didn't expect was that when I bit into it kinako powder would explode out and fall down the front of my shirt. Yum though!! It has that lovely nutty flavour and also the sweetness of the chocolate. There is a piece of mochi inside although it's quite hard to bite through, there is powder surrounding the mochi and it just melts in the mouth. So buttery and nutty at the same time. There is so much powder, you really can't eat this in bites like I tried to do, because the powder gets everywhere!

This was so delicious, I just wish I had about 10 more!! I love how they added the powder, it gave it such a kick in flavour. I'm so glad that this was a premium too as you get that bit more than the usual size. I hope Tirol release this one again soon, can't wait!!

Did you try this? If so, what did you think?