Snack Review: Morinaga Pachi Pachi Choco Ball

Who follows my snack reviews for a while, might remember that I just love Morinaga choco balls. Too bad that they are so hard to find. Therefore I consider myself very lucky that I was able to get my hands on a new flavor over at J-list.

The outside of these little balls are just made of milk chocolate. The inside however is crispy, a bit like crispy M&M's. But there is another surprise inside. Do you remember those frizzy candies from when you were a child? Well that is exactly what is going on in here. The is some frizz powder hiding in the inside that is tingling in your mouth. Quite funny actually to experience that again. I would think it is fun to offer one to a friend who wouldn't expect a thing ;) (But I guess that all of my friends will read this review, so I can't use that trick). Anyway, if you are in for a taste of nostalgia, hop over to J-List. They are only $1,75 a box. But better be quick because it might be sold out in no time!

And for those who missed it last time.. here is the Japanese commercial ;)

Enjoy ;)

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Snack Review: Petit Pastel Ice Cream Chocolates

From Tofu Cute I got these cute little chocolate ice creams from the brand Kabaya. I reviewed several snacks of this brand before and in general I like this brand. Let's continue to get to know this fun little snack.

As you can see it are milk chocolate cones with colored "ice cream" on top. The smell of these things is really sweet. Not too much but just sweet enough to boost your appetite. The cone is a bit like M&M's crispy and this is a nice addition, in my opinion. The colored chocolate does taste a bit sweeter than the milk chocolate cones. There are two bags in the box and each bag contains 10 little ice creams. This is just a fun and tasty little snack which I wouldn't mind buying again. You can do so at Tofu Cute for 2,50 pounds.

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Snack Review: Pocky Almond Nutcream

Regular visitors should know that I like to review different types of Pocky that I can get my hands on. Today the Pocky Almond Nutcream will be in the spotlight.

When I opened the package, the Pocky smelled a bit strong and mocca like. Don't let this put you off though, because it doesn't taste like that at all. It taste more sweet and reminded me of x-mas flavours. I thought these were very tasty and addicting, therefore I am glad that this package does contain two sachets with 10 sticks each. Not bad at all.

Most Pocky nut flavours include chuncks of nuts on the outer coating, but that is not the case with this Almond nut cream flavour. This Pocky just has the biscuit stick and a creamy coating. Therefore this snack is perfect for people who like nutty tastes, but not nuts itself. This could be my new favourite Pocky of the moment! They can be bought for 2,50 pounds on the Tofu Cute website!

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Snack Review: Meiji Apollo

Sometimes there are snacks that I don't expect to like but end up loving. Meiji Apollo was ones of those snacks.

Meiji apollo are chocolate cones with milk chocolate on the bottom and strawberry chocolate on top. In general I tend not to like strawberry snacks because they always taste so artificial. Now I won't say these taste like real strawberry, but at least they lack the chemical aftertaste that a lot of snack have. The chocolate is of good quality and very soft and creamy. They are highly addicting, so be warned. Another good thing is that these are rather cheap compared to similar snacks. One package contains a lot of chocolate goodness! I will certainly buy these again. You can buy these for 1,99 pounds at TofuCute.

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Snack Review: Pocky - Almond Crush - Chocolate

They keep coming with all kinds of Pocky flavours and the almond crush ones come in two different types. This time I will review the Almond Crush Chocolate Pocky.

Give me any type of chocolate and nut combination and I am sold. These have a thick dark chocolate coating with little pieces of almond worked in. The taste of the chocolate is somewhat bitter, but because of the sweetness of the almond this evens out nicely. I even taste a hint of coconut, which I love. The only downside is that because this is a more luxery kind of Pocky, the package only contain 12 sticks. They are wrapped in 2 packs of 6. You can buy these on Tofu Cute for 2.50 pounds each.

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Snack Review: Meiji Rice Poporon - Black Sesame

I have to say that this is one of the more odd snacks I've had so far. But odd doesn't have to equal bad. So lets see what we have this week.

These look just like the same common chocolate stuffed biscuit, but they are not. They have a rice like coating which makes the taste different to anything I have had so far. Also mixed in the coating are black sesame seeds. The coating isn't sweet but has a more savoury taste and with the combination of the sweet, creamy chocolate, this is something else. They are a bit on the dry side, but because the chocolate is more liquid, this evens out nicely. As for the black sesame: I find that taste coming through in a subtle way and I notice it more in the after taste. I have to say that I did have to get used to the taste, but I do like them.

You can buy a package on J-list for $3,50.

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Snack Review: Toppo Custard Pudding

Next to Pocky, I also really like Toppo sticks. These are kind of an inside out Pocky and carry the filling inside of the biscuit. With the right flavour these can be a real treat.

Toppo is manufactured by Lotte, famous for their koala cookies. The package contains two sachets and each sachet contains about 12 sticks. They smell a bit like caramel, this is because of the flavour of the biscuit, which is sweet, but also a bit salty. The filling is indeed a vanilla custard and it tastes really good. They don't have a really strong flavour but are nicely balanced out. I really like this type of Toppo and I would surely buy those again. I got these on J-list for about $3.50.

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Foodie Pen Pals - October 2012

When I visited De Bakparade, one of my favorite Dutch baking blogs, I came across the concept of Foodie Pen Pals. People are matched and send a package full of foodie stuff to another person and also get one back from a different person. I always love to try new things and that is why I signed up! This is my first package I received.

My package came from the UK and was sent to me by penpal Andrea. I was allowed to give your preferences and I love to try candy the most so I got a lot of that! It is a really great package!

These are Fruit Rocks and Coconut Ice. Both traditional candy. I haven't tried them yet but I am very curious. I love coconut, so I am sure I will like those. I also got some goodies from Scotland like these Shortbread Fingers. I never had those, but ever since I watched the British Bake Off, I wanted to try some and now I finally can :)

Another Scottish treat I got is a bag of tablet. I heard of this before, but never had them. And there is also vanilla fudge. My boyfriend really loves fudge type of things, so I have no choice but to share them ;) There is also English tea in a cute telephone booth tin (which I love!) and a tiny jar of orange marmelade to have English breakfast. And a lovely card with cupcakes!

Last but not least are Cadbury Fingers. I love Cadbury chocolate and whenever my friends visit the UK or UK friends visit the Netherlands, I ask for Cadbury buttons. I never had these fingers before, but I am sure I will like them!

Andrea, thank you so much for all the lovely goodies. I had a great first experience with foodie pen pals and I will join in November once more :)

Edit: I have tasted some of it already now and my favorite so far are the shortbread fingers! They are so good, that I just have to make an attempt to bake my own! The Cadbury fingers we also great! And indeed, one does lead to another ;) The tablet is incredibly sweet. The rest I haven't tried yet.

I got to send my package to Sarah. Please look at her blog what she thought of my package :)
In the left sidebar there is the foodie pen pal button which will take you to the site, if you are interested to know more. I am part of the European group, but there is a USA group as well.

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Snack Review: Tsubu Tsubu Banana Pocky

From all the Japanese snacks, Pocky has to be the most famous. It is one of my favorites too and now I can get my hands on exotic flavours more easily, I can't resist on trying them. Today I cover the Tsubu Tsubu Banana Pocky.

Tsubu Tsubu means food with bits in them. These Pocky sticks contain banana bits in the thick banana coating that covers the biscuit stick. This gives them a more juicy flavour than normal Pocky does. When the package is opened, a strong banana smell arises. Unfortunately the banana taste on this one is very checmical and they have quite an after taste. This isn't one of my favourite types of Pocky and I do love the plain choco-banana ones better. Maybe that is because the chocolate biscuit stick offers more balance together with the strong banana flavour. One package contains about 17 sticks and can be bought for 1,99 pounds at Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Saku Saku Panda Chocolate Biscuits

I have been wanting to get my hands on these for ages, but this is a very wanted snack and it is sold out on regular base at Tofu Cute. But finally I was able to taste them myself.

These biscuits are made by Kabaya and they are a lot bigger than the usual biscuit snacks. It is a choc & bisc combination with a thick crunchy cookie at the base and both milk and white chocolate on top. The panda faces are very cute and they show different funny emotions. They smell great and they made me hungry from the moment I opened the package. Luckily they taste very good too because of the good quality of the chocolate. I also love that there are thick layers of each. The only downside? There are only 10 biscuits in the package ;) I would surely buy these again!
You can get your own for 1,99 pounds at Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Pudding Pretz

No Pocky this week, but Pretz. They are both from the same company Glico, but Pretz normally is the more savoury kind of snack. However, these Pudding Pretz are actually more sweet than savoury.

This package contains one sachet of Pretz sticks and a sachet of sauce to decorate them with. I am not really into decorating those sticks, so I just tossed it on there. The sticks taste sweet, but I don't really get the pudding flavor. The sauce is more like a jam and tastes like a combination of strawberry and caramel. It is really nice. I have to say that without the jam, this snack isn't that special, but together it does make a good snack.
You can get these for 1,99 pounds at Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Milk Chocolate Pocky

While recently I have shown more decadent snacks on here, today I am going back to basic with these Milk Chocolate Pocky sticks.

The normal chocolate Pocky sticks have a darker kind of chocolate coating but now there is also a variation with milk chocolate. These are just the same kind of basic Pocky sticks, but I do feel that the quality of this creamy milk chocolate is a lot better. The package contains two sachets with about 17 sticks each. I think it is really nice to be able to enjoy Pocky with milk chocolate because I do prefer milk over dark.

I bought these at Tofu Cute, but they seem to be out of stock atm. However I am sure they will return, so just keep an eye on their site :)

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Snack Review: Mango Mousse Pocky

Doesn't this sound delicious? Only the name makes my mouth water already, haha.

These mousse kind of Pocky are classified as dessert Pocky. The biscuit is enclosed in a thick, and I mean really thick, mousse layer. They smell really sweet and lovely. They really taste like mango without being overpowering or with a chemical aftertaste. None of that here! Just fruity, creamy goodness. The only downside? They only contain 12 sticks in total. They are split up in 2 packages of 6.
You can get these at Tofu Cute for 2,50 pounds.

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Snack Review: Meiji Meltykiss Creamy White Chocolate

It seems that all I have been writing for the blog lately are snack reviews ;) I mean to write other posts but I haven't been cooking up a lot of exciting stuff lately. I know this will change around again but for now I have this huge pile of snacks laying here, so I want to keep up the reviews at least.

Because my boyfriend Zeronic is really into white chocolate, I thought these would be nice to try. Personally I will almost eat any kind of chocolate and I like to have myself some white chocolate too every now and then.

These little cubes are presented as a more luxery kind of snack. The cubes are individually wrapped and have a cacoa dust layer. On the inside there is a creamy white chocolate that melts into your mouth. I really love the taste of the white chocolate but because it is a mild flvour, the cocoa dusting tends to overpower it. Still I really do like this snack overall. Because the cubes are wrapped this snack provides a good option for portion control. I didn't keep eating them and they are just a small tasty treat. The package contians about 14 cubes of chocolate. With 4,50 pounds, this treat is a bit on the pricy side. But that is quite normal if you come into the more luxery types of chocolate. They would make a nice gift for someone who likes the milk-white chocolate combo. You can buy them here at Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Winnie the Pooh Lemon Biscuits

I got these cut biscuits from my friend Immi. She bought them at some place in Utrecht, a large city in the Netherlands. Even though I don't know where else you can get them, I wanted to review them anyway. This because they are different from any japanese snack I've had before, so I wanted to include them.

Compared to other filled biscuit snacks these are quite large. They are shaped like bear heads and have images on them from Winnie the Pooh characters or cute nature pictures like flowers or butterflies. They are filled with a lemony custard and they surely smelled like that when I opened the package. The biscuit is sweet and has a nice crunch. They could have used a bit more filling, but the taste of the filling is good. It is a nice lemon flavor without it being too strong or too sour. I have to say that I really love these biscuits and I surely hope I can get my hands on them more often!

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Snack Review: Lotte Kancho Love Biscuits - Chocolate

There are countless of types of biscuits with chocolate filling in the world of Japanese snacks. I like to try new brands or types because they are all slightly different and some have a better quality than others. This time I tested the Kancho Love Biscuits from the brand Lotte.

These are just round filled biscuits with basic chocolate filling. The cookie is thick and a bit off balance with the filling. I already wrote a review about the hazelnut filled biscuits from the same brand, and like those, again these cookies tasted a bit stale. That is something I didn't like at all. In my opinion these kind of cookies should be nicely crisp. Because both packages have this I have to say it is no mistake of a bad batch. Unfotunately this means that I won't buy these cookies again because there are various brands that offer the same concept in a much better quality. These are the cheapest on the Tofu Cute site with 1,20 pounds a package, but I happily pay 1,30 for the Hello Panda biscuits or even 1,80 for the koala biscuits they also sell. These are the better options if you want a good quality type of biscuit.

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Snack Review: Hello Kitty Yan Yan Chocolate

I just love Yan Yan sticks. The concept is really basic, they are just thick biscuit sticks that you can dip into a sweet paste, but I just can't help loving it.

This snack is produced by Meiji and that means that the quality of the chocolate is good overall. The chocolate dip is very rich and creamy. This biscuit sticks also have a little extra because they are coated in sesame seeds, which gives them a subtle salty flavor. I am not sure if the normal chocolate Yan Yan has this too, or if it is just this Hello Kitty version, but I liked that little something extra. It gives a little more depth to the flavors. You can buy several kinds of Yan Yan on Tofu Cute for 1,20 pounds.

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Snack Review: Milk Chocolate Salty Pocky

A good while ago I posted weekly snack reviews but when I got more busy, I stopped doing them for a while. However, now that Abunai! is over and I have bought some new things there too at the Tofu Cute stand, it is time to bring this back to the blog. I will start with one I still had in my archives and the first one of those is the Milk Chocolate Salty Pocky.

This more luxery kind of Pocky is a seemingly odd combination of sweet and salty. But it is a combination that works really well. The milk chocolate is very creamy and rich and is coated with some salt. The snacks are still more sweet than salt but the salt gives them quite a nice kick. In the box there are two packages with about 15 sticks each. They are a bit on the expensive side, with 2,99 pounds a box. But these are normal prices for luxery Pocky. Even though they did make me thirsty, I did enjoy these very much and I wouldn't mind buying them again. You can buy these snacks at Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Pepero Nude

I only had the almond version of this snack before and that one was really tasty so I was looking forward to trying this.

Pepero nude is comparable to Picco, the inside out Pocky. These are made by Lotte, a brand that I mainly know from their variety of filled biscuits. These are biscuit sticks with the biscuit on the outside and a chocolate filling on the inside. These sticks are quite thick in comparison to other stick biscuit snacks. The chocolate is tasty but in some biscuits there is more chocolate than in others, leaving some a bit dry due to a biscuit overload. These sound pretty standard so far, but there is a surprising twist. The biscuit is slightly salty! They reminded me a bit of salty sticks, but they are not nearly that salt. Still I like the combination of the salty stick and the sweet chocolate. These sticks have a very friendly price of only 0,99 pounds on Tofu Cute.

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Snack Review: Orion Choco Boy

It has been a while since I posted a snack review. This was mainly because I was out of material. But I got a new batch in from Tofu Cute, so expect regular snack reviews again during the next weeks :)

This time I am reviewing Choco Boy from Orion. I actually thought they were toadstool shaped biscuits but it really seems like a boy and a hat. All though I can see it on the package, the biscuits are a bit too abstract to be boys in my opinion ;) Anyway, the stick is made from biscuit and the hat is made from a creamy chocolate. I liked the quality and the sweetness of the chocolate. The biscuit was pretty neutral, but because the hat is large compared to the biscuit stick, this snack is pretty well balanced in flavor. I like the fact that these biscuits are very reasonable priced. They only cost 1,20 pound and that is cheap if you compare it with other types of these biscuits. I am very satisfied with the quality of the snack for that pricing. You can order these on Tofu Cute.

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