Meiji Lucky Stick Cappuccino

こんにちは！

My initial foray into Japanese snacks, like most, consisted of your typical Pocky, Ramune soda and Hi-Chew candy assortment. I always viewed Meiji's Lucky Sticks to be a knock off of Glico's Pocky and so I was rarely tempted to try it. My husband actually picked this out on our last Mitsuwa trip. Cappuccino is not usually my flavor of choice but if I'm going to go for a treat I have been hesitant about in the past, why not go all the way?

The box immediately makes me uneasy as it is all in English aside from the katakana below the logo that reads simply "Lucky Stick". The design on the box is pleasant, English aside. It gives a nice view of the treat and a lovely looking cup of cappuccino.

When opening the bag, I was immediately reminded of a coffee shop. This smelled exactly like a store in my local mall that ground coffee fresh for customers and brewed a mean specialty cup of joe. Isn't it weird how a smell can conjure such specific memories?

Anyway, the biscuit itself was relatively flavorless (as most biscuits in products like this tend to be). The chocolate was creamy and tasted sweet and coffee-like. It was actually pretty good quality and filled with flavor. I would like to try some other varieties of Lucky Stick in the future. This particular flavor did not edge out over Pocky but it was surprisingly close!

Kabaya Quattro Choco Biscuit

こんばんは みんさん！

Thank you for dealing with me during this few week delay! I'm in the midst of changing jobs and have been working for 3 weeks straight between the old and new. It's exciting and very scary and a Japanese treat or two have certainly eased the stress meanwhile.

Today we have a treat from my beloved Mitsuwa Marketplace. This was featured on sale on an end cap during my latest sojourn. It was priced at $2.50.

My experience with Kabaya treats have tended to be along the lines of,  "great idea! poor quality!" and so I was equally excited and nervous to try Quattro. The box is not particularly eye-catching but I suppose it is trying to go for a more mature audience.

The box contains 6 individually wrapped biscuits which is a terrible deal and an even worse one when not on sale! However, this sort of excessive packaging always reminds me of why I love Japanese treats and the pride taken in making sure each individual product is presented well to the recipient.

 

The snack is called Quattro as it contain 4 layers. The biscuit supports a white chocolate layer filled with "thick chocolate sauce" topped by a "bitter" chocolate. Fancy! The complete treat is certainly well done if not remarkable. The biscuit is crunchy, the sauce gooey and the remaining chocolate to standards. However, there is nothing so delicious or distinct to set this apart from the many other variations of biscuit and chocolate.

Meiji Suppai Lemon Gum

 おはようございます！

You might be thinking I picked this up because of the Meiji brand name but it's actually a different Meiji than the beloved chocolate company! If your second thought was that the lemon gumballs with faces were incredibly alluring- you would be correct. I picked these up at Mitsuwa for only $.89.

The package claims to be a sour lemon gum ball- and they were not lying. What you see on the package is exactly what you get (though without fun faces). I've never seen gum packaged so nicely! It's a little bit more fun to try a product that is packaged with care.

 

These gumballs were extremely sour. I like sour things, Warheads were my favorite candy as a kid, but these were intense. At first there was a normal level of sour, followed a few seconds later but a burst of almost-had-to-spit-it-out sour which then evened out into a slightly sour and less flavorful chew. I didn't dislike these but I don't think I would purchase them with any frequency. If you love sour candies than you will be very satisfied!