Snack Review: Meiji Meltyblend

Today I am snacking on Meiji's Meltyblend Fruity Strawberry メルテイーブレンドフルーテイーいちご flavor. I had heard about this chocolate on various Japan related blogs, and decided to try it out when I saw it on the shelves at Mitsuwa. This is a seasonal item, for the winter as evidenced by the snowflakes adorning the package. I got this awhile back so I can't say for sure if it's around anywhere now.

There was a just chocolate version, but I love strawberry and I think it's a little more fun to have some flavor combination going on. As promised by the package, this chocolate is a melty chocolate. It dissolves slowly on your tongue if you're not greedy and chomp into it right off the bat like me. But it does maintain it's petite cube shape well when handled, and is cover with bitter chocolate powder.

The strawberry inside melts just as well as the chocolate shell, but it's true charm point is it's bright bold, fruity flavor! The strawberry is not much more sweet than it is when in berry form, so it's a great balance for the creamy chocolate. This sweet is not cloying like American sweets, but it's got enough sugar to keep you satisfied. And it's small size will not ruin your diet or next meal!

Review Quick Facts

Name: Meltyblend fruit strawberry flavor

Source: Mitsuwa Market

Rating:★★★★★

Snack Review: G Fresh cola flavor

For this next (long over-due) snack I have decided to introduce G Fresh gummis in cola flavor. Cola flavor gummis were a favorite of me and my ex-bf, and actually there's a couple different varieties to choose from in Japan. This type is covered with a slightly sour sugar coating.

The inside is very mildly sweet, and once the initial sourness of the coating subsides, it becomes sweet and works well with the gummi center. The really wouldn't be anything but a less sweet version of Haribo cola gummis if it were for that nice coating. There's not too many in the zip top package, but it's the perfect little candy snack.

I always grab these up whenever I find them. While I brought these home from my last Tokyo vacation, I believe they are available at Mitsuwa market

Review Quick Facts
Name: G Fresh (cola flavor)
Source: Lawson
Amount: 1 packet
Rating:★★★★☆

Snack Review: コーヒービート

I first tried Coffee Beat last month while I was in San Diego, I picked it from the Japanese market Mitsuwa. In the past I never really like coffee or coffee flavored foods, but since my last trip to Japan when I ate some coffee flavored caked (to be reviewed later) I acquired the taste haha. I bought a mix bag of Coffee Beat, Apollo, and Choco Babies and bought a small tube of the Coffee Beat just before I left SD.

The outside of the individual candies is crispy like Reese's Pieces and really gives you that feeling of eating a chocolate covered coffee bean. The crispy outside coating is also where all the coffee flavor is, so you get a nice firm burst of it as you take the first bite. In the middle is some medium grade chocolate which becomes a little melty and creamy as you eat it. The chocolate and coffee flavors combined and tastes similar to a mocha.

Coffee Beat is a perfect candy for anyone who enjoys candies, people who are real coffee enthusiasts might think the coffee flavor is not strong enough. The small package is also nice as it's really easy to over eat on these little candies pieces!

Review Quick Facts

Name: コーヒービート (Coffee Beat)

Source: Mitsuwa super-market

Amount: 1 tube

Rating:★★★★☆

Snack Review: まるでバナナパン

This bread has the "real taste" of banana, and it's almost like eating a banana only much better and less healthy! ^^ The outide is very smooth, as if it is coating with something the way melon bread is coated. Besides being smooth, the outside is very cute and cleaver with it's banana spots! And as you can see by the picture the inside is very soft, and formed in soft little layer. The texture is very pleasant, almost like you are eating a dessert of some kind. In the middle is the best part, cream! A very banana flavored cream lies in the center and adds more sweetness to the bread.
I am a big fan of anything banana flavored so I made a bee-line right to this when I saw it on the shelf at the conbini. I was definitely not disappointed by this bread (it's one of the best I've ever had), and I'm sure you will feel the same! Please try it if you can.

= Quick Facts =
Name: まるでバナナパン (banana pan)
Source: Lawson?
Amount: 1
Rating:★★★★★

Snack Review: Riska Corn Potage chips

I bought this snack on a whim just to try a new flavor that I never actually tried in Japan. I had noticed corn potage fairly often in Japan, but I was never really sure of what it was. I assume its some sort of corn soup, as pictured on this package.

Anyway this product is a puffed product, so it has a texture similar to puffed cheetos, but softer. It still has a crisp, but not a crunch haha. It is covered in little green flecks, which I am not sure what seasoning they are. The flavoring coating leaves a little residue on your hands, but its not profuse. And the smell, they smell exactly like cream corn!

My mom was the first to give them a taste test, and by her reaction you would have thought they were a toxic poison! haha. She told me promptly she would not eat anymore and I had to eat the rest so they wouldn't stink up the room. At first I was a little put off by the taste, I'm not sure why, but it just wasn't right to me. After I ate a few more a started to like them, and quickly finished the bag a few days later.

I think this sort of flavor can't be enjoyed by everyone, if you decide to try it don't give up after the first few tastes! It may grow on you! Or not, who knows haha, but it's a unique flavor and an interesting try.

= Quick Facts =
Name: Riska Corn Potage puffed chips
Source: Uwajimaya market
Amount: 85 g
Rating:★★.5 ☆☆ (2.5 out of 5)

Snack Review: LOOK premium chocolate apricot flavor

This review is coming in very late, I'm not sure why I had put it off for so long, but better late then never I suppose. Today I am reviewing LOOK premium filled chocolate apricot flavor. I bought these at a local shop that sells cute goods from Japan and Korea. They have a tiny section of snacks, but often have things that you can't find elsewhere (in MN) my mom choose this from their offerings.

I wasn't sure that it was going to taste that great, considering the price and the fact that it was imported, but it really was fabulous! There is a coating of chocolate that is just the right thickness and tastes very creamy. It wasn't gritty or bitter in the least. Inside the chocolate is a center of solid white cream, that slowly melts in your mouth.

All this sounds really sweet and perhaps a bit too decadent, but there is a surprise hidden in the white filling - apricot bits! These are crunchy and very flavorful pieces of apricot. I'm not sure if it's real freeze dried apricot or something synthetic, but it's tangy non-sweet taste stands out well against the chocolate and cream.

If it had just been cream filled chocolate it really wouldn't been anything special, delicious, but not special. The crispy apricot pieces really make this snack choco very satisfying, and very difficult to put down.

= Quick facts =
Name: LOOK premium chocolate, apricot flavor

Source: import store

Amount: 10 pieces

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5)