Glico Wasabi Pretz

Today, the "s" key on my keyboard stopped functioning. As I looked at my puny buffer of posts on this blog, I pondered how things have changed since I started it. When I first started this reviews blog, I often had a buffer of nearly 2 months. In fact, it was so large that I was worried that, by the time the posts appeared, some of the food would be off the market. Now, I'm lucky to have the next week covered. That means that having a keyboard that is out of commission actually might mean an interruption in posting.

To combat this dire turn of events, I fished around in the closet for an old PC keyboard that might work on my Mac Mini. Lo and behold, I found a Japanese USB keyboard which was insufferably awful but worked on a Mac. When I say it's "awful", I mean because the keys are oriented differently and there are extra keys. Also, it's like typing on an old typewriter in terms of the feedback and touch. So, if I make more mistakes in my blog posts than usual (quite a feat in and of itself), blame the fact that I'm working with a keyboard handicap.

It's my intense dedication to bringing you, my wonderful readers, a post every weekday that has me slaving away at substandard equipment. Fortunately, I have the kick of wasabi to fuel my fingers as they are forced to hammer extra hard at the chunky keys I am working with. That makes me think that there should be a product out there with a mascot called "super wasabi monkey" that eats horseradish snacks and becomes charged up. I guess that sounds too much like Popeye with his spinach, but, hey, monkey! He should wield a wasabi root, and wear an eyepatch.

Getting to the pretzels I'm here to review, I picked these up at Okashi no Marche super discount snack shop for a mere 50 yen (62 cents), marked down to about half of their usual price. This gets you two foil packets of about one ounce (27.5 grams) of green pretzels. If you snarf down a whole packet, you're putting away 137 calories.

The pretzels smell a bit funky, but they taste very good. They have just enough of a grassy, chlorophyll taste to add a savory depth, but not enough to make you feel like your chewing on a leaf stem. They burn the lips a bit, and build up a little  heat on the back of the tongue and nasal passages, but it's a little flare of heat that dissipates rather than builds up. That being said, the "kick" grows with every bite, but it never does the searing burn that chili peppers or jalepenos manage with prolonged consumption.

These are nice, flavorful pretzels with much more complexity than most. The thing which is rather neat about it is that they get that depth without resorting to piling on a ton of flavor powder. The pretzels themselves are crispy, but just a delivery mechanism for the flavor. They're lightly salted, but that works well with the wasabi. If you're a fan of wasabi otherwise, I think these will be a delight. I think they'd make a great movie viewing snack, but would recommend a beverage along with them to slow down the heat build-up.

Variety Friday: Mister Donut's Cafe "andonand"

My friend Shawn, who is both witty and waggish, said of the name of Mister Donut's cafe experiment called "andonand" that there seem to be quite a few more "ands" in there than necessary. It is a silly name and I actually encountered it before the Mister Donut franchise annexed itself to the name. The chain "andonand" had a shop in Shibuya at one point but it disappeared. Apparently, it is being resurrected by Mister Donut.

Mister Donut is the biggest donut chain in Japan because they know how to craft a donut for the Japanese market. They are smaller, fattier, and less sweet than donuts at places like Krispy Kreme and lighter than the dense offerings at places like New York Donut (a franchise which has kiosks in major train stations in Tokyo). They're also great at incorporating traditional Japanese flavors such as kinako (toasted soy flour), green tea, "black" sugar, and sesame into their baked treats.

While researching for a review of new donuts on offer by the venerable "Misdo", I clicked over to their "andonand" link. The concept is to provide superior service and a more refined eating experience in the shop including metal utensils and ceramic dishes, but mainly to reduce waste by avoiding disposable wrapping. Their tag line is "sweet smile and heartfelt service". While I was on the site, I couldn't help but note that there were some very appealing flavors on offer that were very different from Mister Donut's varieties. At the time of this post (and I'm sure they'll change through time), they included lemon tea, caramel custard, orange caramel, maple almond, espresso affogado, and cassis and cheese. I also noted that the donuts are significantly more expensive with prices ranging from 180 yen ($2.21) for the cheapest to 250 yen ($3.07) for the mid-range to 430 yen ($5.29) for the most expensive. Most of the common Mister Donuts are 100-180 yen in price making these a premium price by comparison.

There are currently no branches of this franchise in Tokyo, but my husband and I stumbled across one during a trip to Yokohama and couldn't resist taking advantage of the opportunity. The staff were very friendly so they lived up to their motto in that regard. As part of the more upscale experience, they pack your purchase in a Krispy-Kreme-style flat box rather than in the type at Mister Donut (which places donuts in a paper bag or vertically in a long box) We were also very surprised to see beer for sale in a donut shop. This sets this apart from standard Mister Donut, which markets a lot of kiddy toys that can be acquired through fukubako or point cards, and is clearly a family place as well as a one-stop-shop for coffee and donuts for everyone. While I think it's all well and good to target adults, I can't imagine pairing beer with donuts, but then I don't drink alcohol of any kind.

top from left and clockwise: orange caramel, caramel custard, lemon tea, maple, honey twist

My husband is the donut aficionado so he selected more than me, but I split a caramel custard with him and had a lemon tea one for myself. The caramel custard one was sublimely good. The filling was rich, creamy and deliciously flavored with a good caramel (possibly even real) flavor that wasn't overwhelming. The lemon tea was a cake-style donut with excellent texture, and the flavor on the modest but adequate glaze was nice, but not as well balanced as I  might have liked. I think it could have used a little less tea or possibly less lemon. There was too much of both for me. I didn't eat the others, but my husband said they were very good, too.

The question is whether or not these are worth the premium price compared to the more easily available and cheaper donuts you can locate at Mister Donut's regular shops. My answer is, yes. They're really good and if you want something a little special and well-made (and you're in Japan and have access to these shops), I'd say go for one, especially the caramel custard. And if you have a donut with beer, tell me how that goes for you. ;-)

Ohayo Tappuri Mango Yogurt

"Ohayo" means "good morning" in Japanese and "tappuri" means "plenty". At first, I thought this was talking about "plenty" of yogurt, which seemed odd considering that this is 4 tiny little portions melded together. Though you only get about 70 grams (about 1/3 cup) of yogurt, the "plenty" applies to the amount of fruit. So, yes, you get about three bites, but each one is packed with fruity bits! Somehow, it still seems like lying in advertising, but I'll grudgingly let them off the hook because this is so tasty.

The company that makes this, Ohayo, has one of those quaint and highly contrived company philosophies which sounds like it was designed by a 12-year-old. It has priorities that all begin with the letter "S" (yes, in English). They are "safety, specialty, service, speed, slim, and smile." On the bright side, the company president actually manages to adopt a grim little smile for his profile picture on the web site because he can't have such a philosophy and adopt the usual grim or stoney look of most businessmen in Japan, so that's one benefit of having a goofy philosophy.

Ohayo is a dairy products company and this is my first experience with their products because I rarely consume yogurt with fruit and sugar mixed in. I usually eat plain yogurt if I'm going to have it, but my change in employment circumstances drew me to this. I now have to pack a lunch a few days a week and these looked like they'd be a nice, sweet finish while still bringing just a tad more to the table nutritionally. Besides yogurt and yogurt drinks, they make pudding, ice cream, and fruit/dairy combo products like smoothies.

This contains both  mango and passionfruit bits in generous amounts for such a small portion. It's only 56 calories, but then it really isn't all that much volume. This is more like a few bites of dessert than yogurt, but it's a very nice mix of intense fruit flavors, moderately sour yogurt and sweetness. It's also cholesterol-free, if that is something important to you. These days, everything in Japan seems to be labeled with regard to cholesterol content. That's a bit odd considering that this is hardly a place where heart disease is the highest risk (cancer is the biggest killer). Frankly, I'm not one of those people who is convinced that dietary cholesterol plays a big role in the formation of bad cholesterol in the body, but that may be me justifying my love of eating eggs for which I'll keel over some day soon.

These are delicious little additions to a meal. If you're the kind of person who craves a bit of a sweet but doesn't want to eat candy, I'd definitely recommend giving this a try to fill your sweet tooth. It's not as good for you as plain yogurt, but it's a damn sight tastier and more convenient for eating on the go. You can find these at nearly any fair-sized supermarket in Japan, along with some other variations like blueberry, kiwi, strawberry, and peach.

Random Picture 65

This post is a bit late in coming, but since most of my readers aren't living in Japan anyway and can't get these items, I'm guessing the timing isn't incredibly important. Awhile ago, I posted an ad for Krispy Kreme's mini donuts. My husband picked up a box of said donuts and got some freebies that came along for the ride. Each donut is about half the size of a regular Krispy Kreme and the flavors are chocolate, berry, caramel nut, ramune (essentially bubble gum), milk, and "purin" (pudding/flan). The ramune ones are pretty vile, and I think the caramel was best.

Early buyers got a little booklet and a very small glass stuffed into a box as a freebie. The booklet makes it clear that they are marketing the small donuts toward children and encouraging the pairing of milk when eating them. The glass is on the delicate side and I don't expect it to live out the year when it is at the mercy of my clumsy hands.

Look Chocolat 18

As someone who reviews food in an ersatz "professional" way, I've found out a thing or two about tasting food. One thing is that you never want to eat all of your supply at once. In fact, if you can string out the tasting through two or three different experiences, it's all the better. This is because your ability to perceive flavors is not always the same, and something which is pretty so-so in the morning might be very tasty at tea time.

In addition to when you sample, it's also important to consider what you ate before hand. The cleanliness of your palate has a profound effect on how you perceive the taste of something. This is particularly true if you have consumed a Lawson VL pizza with yuzu koshoo sauce just before eating chocolate. It's bound to leave a less than favorable impression. So, remember kids, a clean palate is an accurate palate!

So, since first sampling of these chocolates was tainted by my occasional penchant for bad pizza, I decided that I needed to give them a second chance. Fortunately, with 18 very tiny chocolates in this 47 gram (1.6 oz.) box, I had plenty of opportunities. When I snapped this up at Okashi no Marche discount snacks, I didn't really pay attention to anything other than the "Look" brand and the reduced price of 79 yen (98 cents). Usually, these come in boxes of 12 for 100 yen ($1.24). I've had good experiences with the Look chocolates that have various flavors in their soft fillings and I figured that these had a chance of being rather tasty.

There are 6 each of three flavors, ganache cream, truffle cream, and chocolate mousse. This is a nice way of saying, "chocolate, chocolate, and chocolate" of varying intensities and bitterness. That's not a bad thing in theory though. Who doesn't love chocolate except for sugar-eschewing freaks and mutant monkey men? In practice, however, I was a little disappointed. The "ganache" flavor is a bittersweet chocolate while "truffle cream" is a milky one with the telltale Fujiya aftertaste. I've mentioned this in previous reviews, but there's a distinctive flavor that comes along with all Fujiya chocolates of all brand types that isn't necessarily bad, but it really doesn't belong there. The final flavor, "chocolate mousse", is halfway between the somewhat intense bittersweet of the other two.

I don't think these are bad chocolates, but I also don't think they are great ones. Keep in mind that all of my opinions about food in Japan are relative to other food in Japan, not in comparison to foreign candy. I think these are actually better than a lot of consumer-level chocolates in the U.S. They certainly aren't as good as the more flavorful and varied Look varieties I've sampled before and if I could buy a box of Dars (which are similar consumer-level chocolates with soft cream fillings) for 100 yen or these for 79 yen, I'd go for the Dars every time. On their own, these are fine, though I really can do without that Fujiya aftertaste, and the serving size at only 14 calories per bite is pretty appealing for portion control. However, compared to other options that are easily available, I'd go for something else.