Yuki no Yado Salad Senbei

Even though I love Japanese snacks, I have always had a hard time enjoying senbei (rice crackers). The ones I ate always tasted like pure soy sauce and I couldn't get over the saltiness. But about three years ago, one of my friends came back to the US from two years abroad in Hiroshima. She shared some of her favorite senbei, Yuki no Yado, with me.

These are a little different from normal senbei, in that they have a lightly sweet glaze and less soy sauce flavor. I've always been a big fan of salty/sweet combinations (I used to dip my fries in my Frosty), and these were the first sembei I liked.


The crackers had almost no smell (they are made from rice, after all), just a vague saltiness. They were very crunchy, even moreso than American rice cakes. Of course, these were very salty, but the subtle sweetness from the light frosting was really nice. It made for a delicate balance that satisfied many cravings: crunchy, salty, and sweet.

These make a great snack. My only complaint is that they have a weird sort of stale aftertaste (maybe the salad part), but it's nothing a glass of water can't solve. Plus, they taste so good that I don't mind. These made a good gateway senbei for me, as I now have a much better opinion of more traditional senbei than I used to. I'm no expert, though, so please see Japanese Snack Reviews for many informative senbei reviews, including another take on these!

A-

Sanko Website

Puccho Dragon Fruit and Muscat

I've never had dragon fruit. I may have seen it before, but I really have no idea what it should taste like. This particular variety of Puccho was supposed to be a dragon fruit/muscat grape combo.

According to the side of the package, the green and white layers were muscat flavored, and the red gel bits that give Puccho it's famous texture were supposed to be dragon fruit flavored. In any case, the color combination was attractive.


It smelled like muscat grape with a hint of a strawberry type sweetness. The taste was definitely strongly muscat, and was fairly authentic with a nice tartness. I didn't taste much else, but as I mentioned, I don't know what dragon fruit should taste like.

The color combination was great, but the red gel candies that were supposed to be the dragon fruit really just brought texture. I did find them to be really sweet, but with something like this, I was expecting it. All in all, it was tasty, but not something I'd seek out again.

B

UHA Mikakuto website

Morinaga Choco Ball Bitter

Here's the second of two Choco Ball reviews. The marketing ploy worked, because I just couldn't buy one and not the other. This time, I've got Bitter, or dark chocolate. It's meant to be more of an adult taste, but I'm glad Morinaga kept the cute mascot on the package.

As you can see in the following picture, the candies are gorgeous and glossy. Again, they are like malted milk balls, but with a bitter chocolate coating over a cocoa biscuit.


When I smelled the package after opening it, I mostly smelled the dark chocolate, along with a hint of something that I couldn't place (maybe the wax they might have used to make these so glossy). The chocolate by itself was all right, very bitter, and the texture of the biscuit was nice.

They certainly were bitter! The biscuit seemed even less sweet than in the white chocolate variety, and the chocolate didn't have much sweetness at all. Even though I'm a fan of dark chocolate, I wished the balance was a little better here. Bitter + bitter is good, but these weren't as addictive as the white chocolate/cocoa combination. However, those who with an aversion to sweet chocolate may like these more.

B

Morinaga website

Morinaga Choco Ball Sweet

I've seen Morinaga Choco Ball many times before but never tried it. Kelly over at Tasty Japan has reviewed many kinds, so I decided that I would try some if I saw some.

So, at a Japanese store, I was excited to find Sweet and Bitter Choco Ball, and I bought them both. Today, I'll review Sweet, and Bitter will come tomorrow. Since this is a white chocolate snack, I was a little nervous that it would be too sweet, but I was pleasantly surprised.


This type of Choco Ball was essentially a malted milk ball, and this particular flavor had a white chocolate shell with vanilla bean flecks and a cocoa biscuit in the center. I could smell the cocoa when I opened the box, and the sweetness of the white chocolate.

The balls had the feel of cookies and cream, with the texture of a malted milk ball. I really enjoyed these, and the white chocolate wasn't too sweet. The vanilla flavor was mild and milky, and it was in good balance with the cocoa. I'm definitely looking forward to trying the Bitter!

A-

Morinaga website

Mountain Dew Game Fuel Horde Red

I feel that I must get something off my chest. I am a gamer. There, I said it. I'm not ashamed though. Neither my husband nor I ever got into World of Warcraft, but back when we used to stay up late playing video games, we probably would have appreciated something like this. We used to drink Surge, so you can probably figure out about when I was a teenager.

Anyhow, here is part two of the Game Fuel review. At work, my friend and I split this can of Horde Red Game Fuel (again, no trace of a name on the package), eager to taste "Cherry Citrus" flavor. If you remember correctly, she had liked the Alliance Blue, and I was indifferent towards it.

Well, we were definitely in agreement about this one - it was bad. At least Horde Red made Alliance Blue seem a lot better. Red smelled like cherry medicine, and tasted sort of like a melted orange Slurpee. We might have been imagining it, but both of us felt like this even had a bit of a tongue numbing effect.

There wasn't much cherry flavor to speak of, just citrus with a hint of medicine. But, another positive was that it didn't taste like a previously released flavor of Mountain Dew, so at least they took a chance. It didn't work for me or my friend, but it was fun to try something new.

D

Mountain Dew website