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