Dilofski's Top 5 Japanese & Asian Candy Recommendations

My Top 5 Japanese & Asian Candy Recommendations

At many comic cons we get asked a lot "What our favourite snacks are and what we recommend?" So we have decided to make a list! Here are my Top 5 candies and snacks:

5. Kabaya Puchi Mini Pudding Chocolates

The first thing I noticed about this product was how amazingly cute the packaging is! There are lots of smiling puddings with various kawaii faces making it instantly eye catching! Also, the container is in the shape of the mini puddings inside, so it is like pudding-ception?!

It tastes like a vanilla pudding with a small topping of milk chocolate. You can either eat the mini puddings in one go to get the full effect. But you can also eat the chocolate and vanilla separately. The way the candy is made, it is easy to bite the vanilla or chocolate off and enjoy each flavour separately although the Sweetie Kawaii Maid tells me off saying, “why do you eat like that?” I get told that a lot and I then quote Billie Piper and say “because I want to, because I want to...”

In some packets of the puddings there is a heart shaped pudding. I have seen people get these and I can never find them, so I am either unlucky or eat them too fast to notice. Both sadly are possible…

4. Sakeru Gumi Super Long Over 50cm Belt Grape Candy

Firstly, to say about this candy is “long long maaaaannnnn”. There are amazing adverts for their products out there and they are hilarious! Watch the video below and you will see what I mean:

I have watched it far too many times. Secondly, it tastes really nice and tastes like the flavour it says on the wrapper. I love most grape things I remember being in Japan and eating grape ice cream at Sensō-ji and thinking this really tastes like grape. I get the same thing from Sakeru Gumi whether it is the long or short version. The gummy is quite stretchy can be peeled apart easily which means you do not have to eat things whole.

3. Tohato Caramel Mont Blanc Flavoured Corn Bites

Firstly, I would like to say all the Tohato products I have ever had have been amazing. These people really seem to know what they are doing and are very moreish. Secondly, I have never had Mont Blanc before this and I know it might be weird people thinking “this guy has never had a Mont Blanc but he is reviewing it and claims its one of his favourites” but I found it truly delicious with its slight taste of nuts and crunchy texture. I was asked before what they feel like and the closest thing I can think of is a nicer version of a Wotsit* without the cheese dust. I have eaten every Tohato product on our store and can say they have all tasted like they said on the bag. Also, something I found weird at first but there are actual nuts at the bottom of the bag.

*For those of you outside of the UK, a Wotsit is a British brand of cheese puff snack.

2. Cookie and Cream Pepero

This has been one of my favourite snacks for a while and look forward to getting more in future. I hear a lot of people saying “it’s a knock of Pocky” but its not and I often have conversations to get people to compare the two. Pocky is nice but it is the cookie and cream Pocky is a cookie and cream flavouring on their product as apposed to Pepero they have little pieces of cookie on the outside of the stick that really makes for a more believable cookie and cream flavour. Next the stick themselves are slightly different also Pocky has a very thin stick making it perfect for snapping off and the biscuit is very nice and light. In contrast Pepero has a thicker biscuit stick making it much more crunchy. I would encourage anyone to try a Pepero at least once and see which you prefer. Also, Pepero is Korean and Pocky is Japanese.

1. Kinoko no Yama Mushroom Biscuit

First fun fact whiles in Japan the sweetie kawaii maid and myself were in the samurai museum in Shinjuku and the tour guide asked if anyone could read what it said on a helmet. The Sweetie Kawaii Maid said, "I know this character as it is the same character as his favourite snack!" The character was Yama (山) as in mountain. The tour guide named Katsu said "Yes!" and laughed as it was true.

When I first saw this snack there was a contest on to see if the Mushroom or Bamboo biscuit was most popular. They gave each a leader and the mushrooms leader was victorious and became “Mushroom President”.

While both were nice I found the thing that really separated them was the stalk which has a very nice texture almost like Choc Dips* but slightly softer so not as crunchy. Also, there is a nice lump of chocolate which really compliments the stalk.

In store now we actually have a DIY set where you can make your own Mushrooms we have tried it and it was very simple and children really enjoy them. They are almost impossible to mess up and after they are done all look nice in the mould. If you want to keep a child entertained for a while give them one of these and they can enjoy and eat their own creations.

*For those of you outside of the UK, Choc Dips are a British brand biscuit stick that you dip into chocolate frosting.

For more candies and snacks please check out our collection!