Melon Cream Soda Chips

This... has to be one of the most bizarre flavor combinations I've ever seen. Melon cream soda sure, chips sure, but together? What a combination that is. I can't even imagine how this would work, but it very well could work. Although salty and sweet combinations haven't worked well for Japanese chips just far. Maybe this could be the one to break the trend?

The very first sniff of this bag is a shocker, because these chips do in fact smell just like melon cream soda. I would've definitely failed a blind smell test on these for sure, but I think the rest of my pack would've too. While these look normal, almost like Lays, the smell suggests that they are anything but.

Biting into these chips continues to be a confusing experience. Now I get the texture and salt and potato flavor, but the melon soda flavor is still there in droves. It almost has a fizzy taste to it but I can't tell if that's the cream soda mixing with the salt or actual intentional fizz. In short the taste experience for this one is almost magical, like this flavor should not be able to be combined with this texture. The melon cream soda flavor that is there is nice, the melon comes out nicely and it's not overwhelmingly sweet. I wouldn't exactly say it mixes well with the salt, but the two somehow find a way to coexist. You get the salty potato chip, but also the melon cream soda, and they don't really interfere with each other and you choose which one to focus on. That can turn eating these chips into quite the interactive experience. I don't think it's going to become a hit anytime soon, but I'm pretty impressed at how this concept worked!

Rating: 6 - Aruff!

Koikeya Scone Rich Corn Flavor

Normally this type of snack I'd pass over as disinteresting, but two aspects of this make me think otherwise. The first is that it's corn flavored, and while Japan is not known for corn they do great justice to corn in the snacks from them that I've had, whether it be the puffed corn umaibos or the Dos Tacos corn chips with a surprisingly rich corn flavor. Also the previous "scones" I had actually had the appearance of french fries but delivered a very nice flavor experience, so maybe the same will be true for this.

While not the most appetizing looking snacks, these scones like the last have a very appetizing corn flavor to them. The corn flavor is ever apparent, like the smell of freshly grilled corn, and it certainly makes my mouth water. I have never been a corn pup, always favoring rice or bread, but the true essence of it is brought out from this aroma.

Tasting it, I get even more of that. The flavor of the corn is accentuated so well by the nice helping of butter and salt here, I feel like I'm eating some of the best quality corn fresh from the fields, even though I'm from NorCal and not the midwest. The crunch alongside it is spectacular too, being so satisfying but not inhibiting any of the wonderful corn flavor. Definitely something I can't stop eating, and it's a shame because while they include so many in the bag, they're dwindling fast! But I just can't get enough of this, it tastes so fresh despite being a packaged snack. Whatever Japan found in making the perfect corn flavor, Mexico's got something to learn.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Sriracha Rice Chips

 

Hmm, another box, another spicy snack. I do like sriracha, but in very small doses, as it packs nice flavor but also a ton of spiciness. Hopefully this one can do the same! The other ingredients listed on the package all sound like the components of a very nice rice bowl, although I had to look up what okara is (it's a type of flour). Sesame and soy beans and the pictured garlic and brown rice should also add a number of nice complementary flavors to this.

All looks good so far when I open the package. The crackers have both a nice appearance and smell. They're quite solid and have a varied texture, lots of little air bubbles, but can definitely see that they're baked perfectly and have lots of little sesame seeds in them, and a nice sriracha dusting. The smell brings to mind a lot of crispy rice snacks, with the nice accents of both sesame and spicy tomato-ey sriracha. Now I just have to hope it isn't too spicy!

The spiciness is definitely there but manageable, I'm certainly not rushing to lap up water. The first thing I notice though is the nice crunch as I break through the crispy rice layer. It's neither burdensome nor unsatisfying, and then my mouth is introduced to a wave of flavors straight out of a rice bowl. It almost feels like I'm eating just that, it's incredible just how realistic this is, and the nice aftertaste of that bowl lingers for a while. Even though I'm spice adverse, the spice here doesn't feel cheap either, it's a long lasting heat that adds to the flavor and doesn't cover it up. It also seems to taste a little nutty, and maybe that comes from the soybean flavor. All in all a really nice treat that's really representative of Asian cuisine!

Rating:  9 - Arooooo!

Don Tacos Grilled Corn Flavor

What's this Mexican snack doing in my Japanese snack box??? Just kidding, the text confirms it's fully Japanese, but the title makes it sound like something else. I actually love Mexican food as well, might as well call me a Mexican wolf, but Japan definitely has the more inventive snacks. So much so that it seems they're doing it for the Mexicans now. No matter what the concept for this is or the culture I'm excited as grilled corn sounds like a great taste to make a savory snack from.

Of course the snack inside seems to be a direct copy of a Mexican snack too, the tortilla chip! I should've figured as a corn snack it might be this. The flavor, however, is different. I get a much sweeter smell from the box than your typical tortilla chip, it smells very buttery, just like the corn slathered with butter on the package. So this may be a different approach to the tortilla chip.

And as expected, the taste is sweeter too but it also tastes much more... authentic than your typical tortilla chip? Maybe this is because it's actually trying to capture the flavor of grilled corn. If not for the texture I'd think I was having corn nachos topped with butter and some cotija cheese. It's a nice blend of sweet and salty and buttery and well... corny... and there does seem to be a bit of a cheesy taste in there but I'm not quite sure. I quite like it, it has more flavor than your average tortilla chip. The original may blend better with salsa and queso, but this stands out very well on its own. But it certainly makes me worried for the future of Mexican cuisine... if Japanese snack makers are producing chips like these, will they eventually take over the entirety of Mexican cuisine? Not that I'd mind ramen burritos.

Rating: 9 - Arooooo!

Calbee Plum Seaweed Chips

Although TokyoTreat has very good box curation, I have to question why there's another bag of plum chips in this box, only two months after the last one. Though it is different, this time we have seaweed, a Ruffles-like texture, and a custom bag designed by SOU SOU, whoever that is. The flowers on the bag are nice, but only taste will make me go ARF ARF.

As expected, the texture is that of Ruffles, which is great as I love the feel of those ridges! True to the theme of the chip there are also pink splotches on the chips, but no green to also represent the seaweed. Last time I had plum chips there wasn't much of a plum flavor to begin with, so I'm glad to see some visual evidence. From the bag I get mostly a chip smell, but slightly accented with the fruity sweetness of the plum and the umami of the seaweed.

One of the things I complained about last time too was the fruity and salty flavors clashing and I still get a bit of that from these chips. I'm not sure if it's just an acquired taste? Because every time my brain is telling me these don't go together. Silly humans. Chip wise those the crunch of the ridges is on point, I think I would like the chips more slightly cooked for a bigger crunch. The seaweed flavor is definitely third fiddle to the potato and plum. I get it if I really concentrate on tasting this but otherwise it's just a microdose of umami to go along with this confusing combination. They do seem to have dialed back a bit on the salt to make these flavors work but it still... doesn't. Slightly better than the other chips though for the texture and seaweed.

Rating: 4 - Boof!

Cadina Taro Chips

Well well, we've got one of our first bits of Engrish on a snack! That's when you know it's legit. Or maybe the definition of happy really is yummy taro chips. That would be quite a bold promise. Would anything else compare afterwards? I don't even know much about Taro except for having had a bit of taro flavored tea, but I do appreciate the sweet, gritty flavor that it offers. I can also see it transferring well to chips if the chips have a little bit of salt but don't go overboard. I haven't been impressed with too many Japanese chips though, so not holding my breath. Also not a fan of the creature-person-thing on the front. Looks like a Jimmy Neutron character...

Regardless of the look of the packaging, the look of these chips are quite nice. You can see the purple streaks of taro swirled through them in a marble-like fashion. It would be a nice texture to have on the walls or ceiling of a building. From the bag I get a smell that seems like a nice mix of salty and sweet root vegetable flavors, which is very promising.

From a taste point of view the sweet flavor is more present than the salty flavor in this one, which is good. I got taro chips and I want to taste taro, and I do taste it. It's an interesting addition to potato here. Since they're both root vegetables they mesh well together, and the taro shares the starchiness of the potato, but also adds a sweet nutty flavor to the mix, with almost a vanilla flavor in there. The salt in potato in this case don't drown out those flavors like other chips, but instead enhance it and stop it from being one note. The potato chip side brings out a bit more of the starch backing and some salt to overall enhance the sweetness of the taro. It overall works very well. It's not a snack that I'd be dying to eat all the time but it's certainly a more interesting and satisfying taste than your average potato chip.

Rating: 8 - Rowf!

Calbee Sapporo Potato Vegetable Chips

Long overdue review here, as I also received this as part of a Christmas mystery pack at my local Japanese market. I'm really surprised why, because it looks rather promising, who doesn't love veggie chips? They're always nice for throwing some extra splashes of flavor into your traditional potato chips, whether they're actually healthier or just tricking you into thinking you're eating healthier.

As shown the potato sticks are quite tiny, more akin to the size of shoestring fries. But as promised there are the little splashes of vegetable color in here. The bag smells like the typical veggie chips, potato with all those other vibrant flavors and some salt.

A bite reveals these to have that same pleasing flavor of the mixed vegetables, and surprisingly not over-salted which is a good thing in my book. Though I have quite a few qualms with the texture and size, as it is there's a heavy crunch to these on the outside and a seemingly almost-hollow inside, which means with every bite there's something lacking, I want so much more of the flavor. It feels like a snack that's on the right path, but doesn't quite hit the mark of satisfaction. Even putting two or more in my mouth leaves something to be desired... So as a whole I'd go with the usual American brand veggie chips over these, these seem to stop a little bit short in terms of flavor and texture.

Rating: 4 - Boof!

Koikeya Sour Plum Chips

By now I've more than had my fill of strawberry, and cola.. and chocolate, though you can never had enough of that. Thankfully, the fine folks at TokyoTreat may have seen this coming and threw in a completely different flavor in the form of plum! I'm not the most familiar with plum flavor, but that makes it all the more exciting. I am also curious how these will taste in chip form.

Cannoli Chips, Cookies & Cream

This snack when I saw it was definitely a puzzler. How can the flavors of cannoli be recreated in a simple chip? Sure there's the shell, but to also have the filling and powdered topping be represented in a single chip would be an extraordinary feat. And this one adds on a cookies and cream flavor, adding onto an already difficult flavor profile to recreate.

Potato Chips Salt and Hokkaido Konbu

Two potato chips in one Japan Crate, both with the same konbu (kelp) flavoring? That's questionable curation to say the least. But maybe this one will be different in a significant way, who knows. These potatoes come from Hokkaido, which is... *looks up* an island in Japan. Cool! It may not have any impact on the potatoes but it's cool to know where they come from. Maybe I'll move my den there if they taste good.

On first sight and sniff, these potatoes seem to be pretty much the same as the other ones. Normal potato chip flavor with a slight umami tint to them. Once again look liked they are cooked just right. On first bite however I wish the texture could be a little bit crisper, it was a little soft. But the flavor is on point. It's everything you might expect from Lay's except Japanese. Although I do get that slight umami flavor from it, it's ever so subtle and only comes out every once in a while. Though I do think that flavor is more prevalent than the other ones, especially in the aftertaste. There is also a strong salt flavor in these chips, which could be overbearing but it manages not to be and end up being just right. I think overall these get the edge over the other chips in the pack for a more noticeable umami flavor.

Rating: 7 - Aroof!

Koikeya Savory Salt Potato Chips

At first glance these just look like plain potato chips, granted with 100% on the bag twice for whatever reason. However, these chips have their own Japanese touch to them in the form of an umami flavor consisting of bonito flakes, anchovies, and konbu (kelp). So basically land meets see, potatoes with a touch of the ocean's offerings. Guess I'll find out if that's a pleasant marriage.

Sour Cream and Onion Scones

Usually scones refer to baked goods, but I guess in Japan they refer to stick-shaped chip. Crazy how each country has their own interpretations on snack food names,with Britain having the different usage of chips from the US. These snacks seem very American, both the sour cream and onion flavor and the cheeto style take on it. Both of which I haven't been much a fan of in the past. Can Japan do it better?