Tohato Caramel Corn Vanilla Ice

こんばんは！

Tohato Caramel Corn is a classic Japanese treat. It's the sort of treat you see pop up in anime and comics on occasion and can be found in most Asian/Japanese food stores. I've had the original flavor in the past and it's very good but because the bag tends to be pricey, I find I don't typically pick them up. In the spirit of winter, when I saw this new specialty flavor I went for it. I purchased this at Asian Food Market for $2.99.

The Tohato bags are always very cute with the face on them! I like how the colors match the winter/vanilla feel they are going for. The ice cream even has vanilla bean pieces in it!

 

I apologize for the quality of this picture...I wanted to show you all the Tohato bag on the back sitting in a lounge chair in a tropical locale and consuming vanilla ice cream. It's adorably nonsensical.

 

The texture is very similar to Union's Choco Corn snack and sort of like a softer cheese doodle. The flavor really does taste like vanilla ice cream! It's sweet and almost creamy. This snack was very good but since I prefer caramel and chocolate to vanilla, I would opt for another flavor next time.

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Morinaga Caramel Choco Ball

こんにちは！

Today's fun treat is a Morinaga product called Choco Ball. I've seen this snack plenty of times but for some odd reason I kept thinking there was only a banana flavored variety and never really took the time to check out the package. This was purchased at Mitsuwa for $1.49.

I'll be honest, I needed another less expensive treat and so threw this in my basket with the thought of finally giving this common snack a shot. When I noticed it was caramel later at home I was pleasantly surprised! The box is very cute and colorful with the bird mascot and a cross section of the Choco Ball itself.

 

There is some sort of entreaty on the back asking which we would choose: (Choco Ball or Morinaga?) World or Universe. I don't really understand what the point of this is...

 

I love how the top of the box opens! It's very easy to grab just a few Choco Balls and save the rest for later. With M&Ms, I'd have to worry about the rest falling out of the bag if I didn't finish them. It's also themed like the beak of the mascot- adorable!

 

The Choco Balls themselves were just OK. The caramel was much chewier than I had hoped for- sort of like a Tootsie Roll texture. It definitely got stuck in my teeth and the flavor was not exciting enough to make me want to deal with that more than once. I would likely try the other varieties- plain chocolate or peanut, but caramel is a no go.

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Glico Balance On Choco Sand

I want to thank you all for your patience. After 12 days I finally got power back in my apartment. My neighborhood was not close to the Jersey shore but I have never seen such extensive widespread damage in my life. My heart goes out to all of those who lost homes and fared worse than I! In my real world job I have been working 16 hour days due to those displaced by the storm and while it's been the most challenging 2 weeks of my life, I am very very thankful that I was lucky with only power outages. Now onto some snacks!

This snack was documented and consumed before the storm. I purchased this during my last trip to Mitsuwa for a reasonable $.89. I have had great experiences with Glico's products in the past (The soft caramel was delicious!) so I was willing to look past the plain packaging.

Glico makes Pocky, but their other products seems to strive for a healthy angle. The caramels contained oyster extract while these "sands" (No I don't know why they are called "sands" and not "sandoicchi", which is how you would say sandwich in Japanese) are named Balance On.

I assumed there would be a few sandwiches laying horizontally but to my surprise there were 6 little vertical cookies in the package. This was a great size to split with my husband or to break into 2 snack servings. The sandwiches look like they are made of whole wheat.

They were delicious! The cookie was slightly sweet and the chocolate creme flavorful. I really enjoyed these. They were a good size and priced well. I would not hesitate to throw a few of these in my basket during my next trip.