Cheeza brand crackers have been around for ages, and I have largely resisted them based on one point - price. They cost 168 yen ($1.78) for a one serving bag. When I see Cratz's salty pretzel goodness sitting right next to Cheeza in the otsumami (snacks to be eaten while drinking alcohol) section for a mere 100-120 yen ($1.06-$1.27), I'll just snap up the yummy Cratz. As fate would have it, Cheeza went on sale for about 130 yen ($1.40) and I decided to give in and give them a try for this week of cheese-based snacks reviews.
One of the promotional points for Cheeza's crackers is the fact that they are 52% cheese. I didn't really trust that the high amount of cheese as an ingredient was going to be reflected in the crackers themselves.That being said, they look very encouraging with their orange color. The design of the crackers is quite cute and looks like it would satisfy any discriminating mouse. Each is very thin and super crispy. The saltiness mainly comes from the cheese rather than added salt. The cheddar cheese flavor is pleasantly strong, and you can really tell a lot of cheese went into the dough both by the look and flavor. Note that the first ingredient isn't "cheddar cheese", but "cheddar cheese powder, followed by Trehalose. That sounds bad, but these taste good.
Each bag is 38 grams (1.34 oz.) and the entire contents are pictured in the picture above. It's actually a healthy amount of crackers for 199 calories. Though I'm still not happy about the price for such a small portion, I really enjoyed these and felt that they were the closest I'm going to come in Japan to the flavor of Cheez-Its. Frankly, I think these are actually better than Cheez-Its (which I love), and I'd recommend them for any fan of cheesy salted snacks.
Each bag is 38 grams (1.34 oz.) and the entire contents are pictured in the picture above. It's actually a healthy amount of crackers for 199 calories. Though I'm still not happy about the price for such a small portion, I really enjoyed these and felt that they were the closest I'm going to come in Japan to the flavor of Cheez-Its. Frankly, I think these are actually better than Cheez-Its (which I love), and I'd recommend them for any fan of cheesy salted snacks.
8 comments:
I just had these the other night! My hub bought me three kinds as a White Day present...these were the ones I ate last.
I liked them too. The gorgonzola ones were okay, and I forgot the other type. I would say I prefer the cheddar.
YAY! These are one of my favorite Japanese snacks. My coworker brought them over one night, and my husband and I now gobble any and all Cheezas we can find. I agree that they taste like Cheese-its, but they are crunchier.
Helen: I've been eyeballing the other types. I couldn't remember the third one either so I checked Glico's site and it's Camembert. I think that Gorgonzola would be a bit pungeant, and Camembert too mild, but I'll still probably try them eventually! I like that he gave you cheese crackers for White Day. That's just a pretty cool gift choice. :-)
Allie: I'm glad that you're right there with me. I actually can't trust myself to buy more unless I know I can waste the calories as I'd also just put the whole bag away. And you're right that they're crunchier than Cheez-its. I think that's one of the points that makes them a bit better than my beloved Cheez-its!
Thanks to both of you for commenting!
Agree - I love these things but rarely buy them because of the price.
Blue Shoe: Hi, and thanks for commenting! I do wonder what the market positioning is for these which causes them to be so much more expensive than similarly size bags of snacks!
Still, I guess it's better that they are expensive because it keeps us from eating too many too often!
These look delicious!
Your comment about it being as close to cheez-its as your going to get is exactly what I told one of my teachers when he asked me why I was eating them. It made me happy to read it in your post as well. I miss cheese... I even miss fake cheese...
I miss fake cheese sometimes, too! It's an odd thing because it's supposed to be so "bad", but sometimes bad is good. ;-)
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