I’d say I’m posting all sorts of food.. except that these days I don’t get out to eat anywhere, so it ends up being the convenience store or the supermarket.
Beni Haruka Chips
Calbee’s Beni Haruka series always seems to taste good. Although in the end it’s tasty because it’s been fried, more than because it’s sweet potato..
Iwatsuka’s Kuromame Warisen
Apparently they break the senbei on purpose so the soy sauce soaks in better. For my taste it was a bit sweet and salty.. Iwatsuka’s ordinary senbei is better.
Kappa Ebisen, Made with 100% Shiroebi
You can taste the shiroebi, but the style is different from ordinary saewookkang. Thinner and smaller, I suppose.. so the texture is different and it feels more refined, though I’m not sure it’s actually tastier. I did think it would have been better made bigger and seasoned a little more strongly, but then the shiroebi flavour would disappear.
Tonkotsu Genova
It’s a cup noodle with basil in a tonkotsu soup.. and it’s good. It’s genovese, so of course it couldn’t be bad. I just wish it came in a smaller size rather than the big cup.
Yamazaki’s Levain Raisin Butter Roll
It says butter, but what’s in there is margarine.. bread like this is really good.. a nicely balanced richness with a simple sweetness, the kind of taste both kids and adults like.
Tokachi Butter Walnut Stick
A mild, clean flavour that works well as a snack.
Calbee Potato Chips, Haitoku no Mayo (Sinful Mayonnaise)
I don’t know about sinful, but the acidity of the mayonnaise goes well with potato. This one is good. It’s a limited edition, so who knows when I’ll see it again.
Premium Ghana, Fully Ripe Kyoho Grape
Nice and sweet.
Kaki no Tane Choco Peanuts
This one is really good too. I think it’s because it’s a collaboration with Meiji chocolate – the chocolate is rich and the sweet-salty combination keeps you going back for more.
Hokkaido Apollo
I bought it because it’s a seasonal limited edition, but it was just okay. It’s not that it tastes bad, it’s just that this much is nothing special.
Matsutake Tokujo Cup Noodle
There’s a decent amount of matsutake aroma. Cup noodles do seem to have got a lot more expensive lately, though.
Cup Noodles Creamy Green Curry
A Thai-style ramen, and, well, it was just so-so..
They’ve got Oshi no Ko cards too.
Ruby striking a pose you never see in the anime.. Bandai really is selling hard.
Kappa Ebisen, Kishu Plum and Grilled Nori
I think this might be the best pick of the season – the sourness of the plum plus the umami of the nori keeps you reaching for more. If you made a refined version of saewookkang, this is what it would taste like, and they really should just sell it all the time instead of making it a limited edition.
Seasonal Kaki no Tane
Hmm.. I think the regular, non-limited chocolate Kaki no Tane is better. This one was a bit sweet and heavy.
Pure Gummy Premium
It’s strawberry season so I gave it a go.. but it’s not to my taste.. I don’t really eat sweet things like this any more.
Mont Blanc
A grown-up dessert loaded with liqueur.. 0.9% alcohol, apparently, so there’s no way kids are eating this.. there are chestnut pieces to bite into and a boozy aroma, so it tasted good.
Tiramisu
This one is 1.6% alcohol.. and very sweet..
Calbee Jagaimo-kan, Made with 100% Hokkaido Potatoes
Thick-cut potato seasoned strongly with rock salt, and it tasted good.
Levain Prime Crackers, Baked Sweet Potato Brulee
As sweet as if it had been coated in sugar. That was obviously the intention, but it’s not to my taste..
Menshokunin, Domestic Niboshi Dashi
This one is pretty good. A simple niboshi aroma comes through. The series is nice for a light meal, and every so often a really decent cup noodle turns up in it.
Calbee potato chips
This one is supposed to have Hokkaido butter in it.. but the plain rock salt version tastes better.. I think I’ve reached the age where butter doesn’t agree with me..
Iwatsuka’s Niigata Nuresenbei
A damp, moist senbei.. hmm.. the flavour is strong enough, but this isn’t the Iwatsuka I like.. Based on everything so far, Iwatsuka only has a handful of good senbei, so the conclusion is probably to stick to the classics wherever possible. I keep trying this and that because the classics get boring, but nothing quite hits the spot.
Torobe
This is dried kombu, meant as a snack. People eat a lot of snacks like this in Japan. A flavour that helps with dieting, you might say.
Seven’s Meiten Junk series, Sumire Miso Noodle
A junky-tasting ramen carrying a famous shop’s name.. and of course, being junk, there’s no way it wouldn’t taste good.. lard, sansho, everything intense goes in. Every one in this series has been decent.
Kanipan
It’s a bread with lactic acid bacteria in it, apparently, and since it isn’t very sweet or strongly flavoured it seems like a good style for kids. It looks like it’s been steadily popular for a long time. It could work as a meal replacement too.
Mire Biscuits
A tasty biscuit. Nice and crunchy. This one seems to be another that’s been famous for ages.
Join the Discussion