Spicy Chicken Wings Pretz

Once a year, usually around the summer in my experience, Glico issues regional flavors of Pretz. For East Japan, the flavors are these spicy chicken wing pretzels and gyoza (pot sticker). West Japan gets yuzu koshoo (boy, do I envy that!) and a peppered fish flavor (which I envy a good deal less). This King Solomon approach, split the country in half and divide the Pretz between them, is ameliorated to some extent by the inclusion of two nation-wide varieties, one of which I will review at a later date.

You can buy these nearly anywhere right now, but I got them for a mere 50 yen (64 cents) at a discount snack shop in Koenji called Okashi no Marche. I've mentioned this place before. They are absolutely the cheapest game in town when it comes to snacks, though they also carry some pretty expensive imports (especially from the U.K. and Russia). They had four varieties of Pretz available. I'm not sure why they were so cheap, but I wasn't going to turn down the chance to sample them for that price. One box has two packages of about 1 oz. (28 grams) each and provides 137 calories. It's a good portion size for serious salty snacking.

These have a nice savory flavor which hits the hardest on the first few sticks. There's a peppery flavor and savory chicken and garlic in the mix. The saltiness level is just about right, but a little more might not have hurt. My main "issue" with these is that the flavor seems to be something one acclimates to rather rapidly. After about 6 sticks, you mainly just taste pretzel. It could be my tongue, or it could be there's something about these spices. Regardless, these are good pretzels and, if nothing else, the flavor acclimation issue may encourage lighter consumption. I'd definitely buy them again.