Fujiya Home Pie Chocolate

Everything I've got my paws on so far has been from Japan Crate, but thankfully there are also Japanese delights I can go on the hunt for just outside my den. One such place for these is Nijiya Market, a local Japanese store. Walking in here the first time to try some snacks was confusing. I mean c'mon, learning one human speak was hard enough, now I have to learn another to understand what I want to shove in my mouth? Or I can just take risks and buy things. This particular item was a half-risk. I saw the word pie and I love me some pie, and there's chocolate, so among things I didn't understand I pounced on this one.

Instantly when I opened the package I thought I had been duped. This isn't pie! There's no crust, no filling to be found. These are cookies. And not that my ears don't half-instinctively perk up at the word "cookie", but you promise me pie and give me this? No big deal really as a nice chocolate cookie smell wafts into my sniffer.

The cookies themselves have a hard texture kind of like thin crispy cookies. They have horizontal ridges all throughout, and seem to be sprinkled with some sort of white crystals. Sugar maybe? That would make sense. Or maybe it's sea salt for that extra gourmet touch. The top and bottom edges have a heavier dusting of these crystals. Seems promising, and the smell is starting to put a dent in my self control, so let's dive right in.

Instantly I'm impressed at the texture. I should mention that I greatly prefer soft baked cookies over crispy cookies, but these crunch down a bit better than crispy cookies, especially with my puppy teeth still getting there. The chocolate taste isn't as pronounced as the smell was, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It tastes more like shortbread with a touch of chocolate. Odd considering the brown color of the cookie. Maybe it really is based on pie and the pie crust flavor is mixed in somewhere. That would be genius.

Overall I'm pleased with the taste of these, and with two per pack they know how to make a hungry puppy feel like he's getting a good value. Not anything mind blowing like chocolate pie in individually wrapped packs would've been, but good enough to keep around as a tiny snack here and there.

Rating: 5 - Ruff!