When my dad returned from a mission trip in the Philippines, one of his stops was Tokyo, Japan airport. He has purchased a box of what was supposed to be one of their most popular candies. The kids and I couldn’t wait to try it and experience “candy” from another country. I took one bite and immediately knew that candy in Tokyo wasn’t quite like candy in the United States. It was very interesting to me. So, when Tokyo Treat agreed to send us a box for review, we were so excited! The kids were excited to try new things and I must admit, it got my curiosity going. So, when we saw this HUGE orange box arrive in the mail full of snacks from Tokyo we were ready to dive in and try this stuff out! So, what we received was the premium box, however, there are 3 different plans you can choose from which include:
Small: This subscription costs $14.95 and you receive 5-7 Full-size Japanese candy and snacks.
Regular: This subscription costs $24.99 and receives Full-size Japanese candy and snacks AND 1 DIY candy kit
Premium – This subscription costs $34.99 and you receive 13-17 Full-size Japanese candy and snacks AND 1 DIY candy kit AND 1 Drink AND 1 Special item (i.e. drink, premium DIY, high-quality Gachapon toy)
It was so much fun to do this with the kids because they were intrigued by the writing on the packages that totally had them guessing what was inside. Thank Goodness for the Tokyo Treat guide they included that gave the name of the product (in English) and a description.
First up, the Karamucho Hot Chili Flavored Chips. In America, we would call this BBQ potato chips but even so, they had a different taste than the chips we get here. They had a “kick” to them and definitely lived up to the “hot” in their name.
Next item and one of our favorite in the box was the Crunchy Panda Z. These chocolate panda-shaped cookies are made of up chocolate cookies on one side and on the other they have created a panda face out of chocolate. Very tasty and one of Brayden’s favorite!
When we saw the next package, we thought we had it all figured out. We all looked at it and said, “Oh we love those!” and then we opened it anxiously awaiting the taste of pop rocks in our mouth. Well, we immediately realized something was not familiar about this at all! It was bitter, no, not really bitter, more like salty. In fact, when I tasted it (not being a salt fan) I felt my sodium levels jump a couple of notches. What is in this, I’m not sure. But, to me, it tasted like pure salt with some fizz. What is this stuff called, you ask? Meiji’s Plum Pati-Chan.
I have to give Brayden, our 7-year-old, props. When he was taste-testing on video with his dad, he took these like a champion. You would have no idea how salty or bitter they are by the way he reacts to them on camera. Later, he tells me, “Mommy. Don’t tell dad but I really didn’t like those pop rocks.” Now that’s taking one for the team!
So what else did we find?
Well, another favorite of Brayden’s was the Meiji’s Pucca Chocolate. Basically, these were stuffed little goldfish crackers with pretzel-like outside filled with a chocolatey filling of some sort. Pretty tasty, I might add.
The next item was called Raw Ramune Candy. After a little research, I found that Ramune Soda is a popular drink in Japan and this candy is little cubes that are ramune flavored. Apparently, if you put them in the freezer, the texture changes. We didn’t try freezing them yet but Brayden was fairly impressed with the taste of them in their “raw” form.
The next treat is called Baby Star Yakisoba Sauce Flavor which are dried noodles that have a unique, yet tasty flavor. The crunchy texture makes it even more of a tasty snack.
These first six items we’ve looked at so far are what you would get if you were a subscriber to the Small package. Now let’s see what additional items you get with the Regular subscription…
The DIY Kit for April was the Chocolate Flour & Green Tea Flavored Mochi. To be honest, I wasn’t a fan of the idea of chocolate flour and green tea flavors mixed and once we tried it, the combination wasn’t so bad. The Mochi, on the other hand, wasn’t my favorite. When we were trying it, I felt like I was eating little styrofoam circles dipped in some really strange combination of powder and chocolate icing. What I didn’t know is there were instructions on how to eat the mochi that included using water. I’m not saying I would have liked the taste any better but it appears we didn’t put it together according to the instructions so, who knows?
Very similar to the Pucca Chocolate is the Lotte Koala’s March – Custard Pudding which is small cookies that have a filling of custard pudding with caramel sauce.
Another of the favorites was the Carrot Chopped Rice Cake. When I think of rice cakes, I think of the round rice cakes we get here in the US. This was a little different in that it wasn’t a “cake” at all. It was more like little rice cereal pieces in a carrot shaped bag. But, they were quite yummy!
Everything you’ve seen up until now, along with some Wasabi Grilled Seaweed and Baby Star Bonito Kelp Udon (which we didn’t try), is what you get with the Regular Subscription box.
So, what else do you get with the Premium Box?
Let’s take a quick look…
You get a bottle of Sakura Pepsi which is pretty good. It had a cherry-like flavor to it.
The special item for this box is this Doraemon Hello Kitty Coin Purse:
Probably my favorite of all the snacks was the Chocolate Monaca which is like a chocolate wafer with chocolate filling. We were fighting over the last piece!
The next item was a little confusing to me. They call this back of snacks Calbee BBQ Flavored Sapporo Potato Snacks, however, there is a picture of a baked potato with butter on the front of the bag and when you taste them, that is exactly what it tastes like! A baked potato! It was a little mentally challenging for me for when I think of BBQ I think of spicy, BBQ chips, not baked potatoes. Overall, they were pretty tasty after I got used to the difference in the definition of BBQ.
Whew! All I can say is who needs dinner after tasting all these snacks? We really liked trying out all the different snacks and the kids had a lot of fun trying new things. It’s very cool to get to experience foods from Japan. Especially when you haven’t every been there and have no idea. It’s a chance to get a little of their culture delivered right to your door!
We would definitely recommend you try out Tokyo Treat! Head over to their website and sign up for the subscription box that works best for you.
Website: tokyotreat.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/tokyotreat
Twitter: @TokyoTreat
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