Marukin Muffin Cake

There was some signs of moisture in this package,
but it was still good. How is that possible?

The Attraction:

I love baked goods and I usually enjoy Japanese snacks, so when I came across a Japanese muffin, it was like trying to tell Pepe Le Pew not to pursue that black cat with white paint on the back. Who can be THAT strong?

The Review:
I have very little doubt this won't be at least OK at the minimum. I can't think of a Japanese pastry that I have tried that has really disappointed me. Let's hope that streak doesn't end now!

I open the package of four and am quickly welcomed with the smell of sweet vanilla. Actually, it reminded me of Tortuga Rum Cakes, minus the alcohol part. I wonder if it'll be moist like a rum cake? I take a muffin out and carefully peel off the perforated wrapping on the bottom (I love the Japanese attention to detail) and take a big bite.

It not only smells like rum cake, it taste like it too! For those of you who have never been gifted a rum cake from someone on vacation or got one yourself when you were away, the cake is similar to a corn muffin, but not quite as dense. There's hints of vanilla and it's soft, light and fairly moist. These muffins are not as moist as a rum cake, but not bad considering the journey it took to get into my mouth.

This looks like the creme brulee of muffins

The Sweet:

Lightly sweetened muffins that somehow taste relatively fresh.

The Bitter:
Doesn't bring anything new to the snack world. What the hell is in this stuff that makes it last so doggone long?

Good stuff!

Conclusion:
This stuff taste good. There's no argument there, but when was the last time you had a baked good come from the other side of the world, endue however long on the grocery store shelf and another 2-3 weeks in your cubbard and not only not have mold, but still taste OK? I've bought pies from local farmer's markets that don't even last a week. What on earth must be in these muffins to have this kind of a half life?

Where it falls short here in the States is that there is nothing particularly special about these muffins compared to anything else you can get at the local bakery or grocery store. Yes, they are tasty, but you can find something comparable that is cheaper, fresher and less processed than this snack a stone throws away. Where this flavor may be more unique in Asia, it's rather pedestrian here in the USA. Now that I think about it, the flavor is probably not even that unique in Asia.

When you sit down to do the math, you'll find that although the flavor is good, it's not worth the premium you would pay both financially and processed food-wise to make this snack investment balance out.

Video of the Week
Earlier this week, the trailer for the new Marvel movie, "Captain America: Civil War" was released. After watching it another 20 times and analyzing every frame, I thought those of you living under a rock might want to check it out also.

This can't end well for someone

Smartfood Popcorn Cinnamon Brown Sugar

Pop it like it's hot

The Attraction:

While strolling the snack aisle on my work break, I came across this shiny, red bag of potential snack goodness. I love popcorn, cinnamon and brown sugar. Can this be too good to be true? 

The Review:
The good people at Smartfood have been making popcorn standards like White Cheddar and Movie Theater Butter for awhile now, but recently I've been seeing some flavors like this one sneaking into the mainstream, perhaps to slowly dip their toe into the off-the-beaten-path flavor pool like many other snack brands.

Upon opening the bag, the smell of cinnamon comes wafting out of the bag. That's a good start. I pickup a piece of popcorn and go in for the kill. There's that cinnamon flavor on the front end and it's accompanied nicely with the sweetness of the brown sugar, but it's not as sweet as I thought it would be. Maybe it could be a little sweeter. It is a bit reminiscent of a cinnamon based cereal. Before you conclude that bite, towards the end there is an interesting savory note. It's a subtle savory butter flavor. "What? Where did that come from?", I think to myself. Then the cinnamon after effects kick in and your mouth feels like you have cotton mouth . Why must cinnamon be so delicious, yet dry your mouth like this! Oddly enough, a few more pieces later, I didn't have that experience. Maybe some of the cinnamon shifted into one spot?

If you stare long enough, you will see the face
of your future spouse, if your spouse was made of popcorn

The Sweet:

The light fluffy popcorn isn't overly aggressive with it's sweetness.

The Bitter:
The cinnamon leaves your mouth feeling dry. The slightly buttery finish confused me.

"Who you calling a Cracker Jack?"

Conclusion:
I'm on the fence on this one. It's a well made product that you can tell some attention was paid to it in development. The buttery finish, the nice sized popcorn pieces, the measured amount of sweetness applied...it all points to care in a quality product. With that, it all boils down to flavor, snacking experience and my true test; would I actively pursue this snack to get more of it?  I regretfully say "Nay".

Video of the Week
Back in the day, I used to love riding roller coasters. Then one day I rode one and I had the worst headache after it. Since then, I've not been able to handle anything beyond the bumper cars. For those folks feeling a bit more frisky and just happen to be in Germany, I present to you a spinning car on a roller coaster!

Why not add some snakes while we are at it?

Riska Sittori Ichigo

I wonder what they are saying is 70g?
Strawberry flavor?

The Attraction:

It appears as though my local Asian grocery has decided to take on some new snacks from Japan. This strawberry take on something that looks like a porous stone looked too strange not to try. 

The Review:
I really wasn't sure what to expect with this snack. What I was pretty certain about is that I would encounter an exaggerated Asian strawberry flavor as seen in other snacks such as Strawberry Pocky or Strawberry Yan-Yan. Like it or not, you must come to accept that this is what strawberry flavored anything will taste like in Asian snacks.

I open the bag and before I can even take a deep inhale, the sweet smell of strawberries comes pouring out of the bag. Well, I guess that probably means the strawberry flavor will be strong enough, but what's the point of having another strawberry flavored snack on the shelf? What the heck could be so different?

I pick up a biscuit out of the bag and notice how odd these cookies look. They look somewhere between a crouton and that pumice stone you use to scrape callouses off your feet. I wonder why the odd shape? "I hope these aren't too dry", I ponder. If they are just a strawberry-flavored crouton, I'm going to hurt myself.

I take a bite and although they are crunchy, they aren't quite as dry as a crouton, but as you continue with your bite, you get a weird sensation of a small "burst" of strawberry flavor. Almost as if there was a small pocket of strawberry moisture inside. It's an odd experience and difficult to explain, but it certainly has gotten my attention now. Let me try that again...and again.

Should I eat them or exfoliate with them?

The Sweet:

Interesting and tasty "pop" of strawberry flavor

The Bitter:
Not the most natural presentation of strawberry flavor

Little pockets of strawberry goodness

Conclusion:
After downing a few of these cookies, I Google translated what "Sittori Ichigo" means and it translates to "moist strawberry" in English. Ahh...it  all makes sense now.

The taste itself is run-of-the-mill-stuff; standard artificial strawberry flavor, however where it separates itself from the crowd is that sensation of strawberry moisture, for lack of a better term. It's so unusual and unlike any other snack, you can't help but have another and another to have that "hit" of moisture again. Ingesting artificial flavors in a snack has never been so much fun!

Video of the Week
As if video games couldn't be anymore realistic, a company called Force Dynamics has products that work in conjunction with gaming consoles to create motion and the actual feeling of being in the game. Now if only I could scrape together $85K to pick one up. (Feel free to click some ads to help me move closer to that goal. I only need 8 cajillion clicks to get one)

Christmas IS just right around corner...

Kettle Brand Thick + Bold Carolina BBQ Potato Chips

Thick+Bold = Good+Tasty?

The Attraction:

I was trying to pair up a bag of chips to go with my pesto chicken sandwich when I happened upon this little beauty. Let's see if adding adjectives to a flavor actually translates to something good.

The Review:
Not too long ago, I reviewed another Kettle Brand product, Maple Bacon Chips and although it didn't rock my world, I thought it was a nice attempt to expand it's flavor horizons. I'm hoping this bbq flavor variation pans out and hits closer to the bullseye.

I open the bag and do my standard whiff test. Nothing unusual, just the smell of something fried. Unusual considering that it's a bag of bbq flavored potato chips. I would have thought for sure there would be a stronger smell of bbq, but it was not to be. "Will the flavor be weak also?", I thought to myself. Too late now, the bag is open and there's only one thing left to do.

I pull out a thick cut chip and notice that even the chip itself doesn't have that customary reddish bbq color. Admittedly, this takes some getting used to. After years of eating bbq chips with added food coloring, it's a bit odd to have bbq chips that don't have a red hue to them. It's sort of like when you first had root beer that was clear. Probably better for you, but still an adjustment just the same.

I finally take a bite and as with the maple bacon flavor chip, immediately notice the super thick crunch on this chip. This chip means business. First the smoked component hits your taste buds and it's quickly followed by a slightly sweet flash, then caps it off with a savory finish. The sweet notes aren't quite as exaggerated as other bbq chips I've had, but this simplification of the bbq flavor seems to make the experience more refined. Less cliche and more substance. The thicker Kettle chip really grounds the whole product nicely. A lighter or thinner chip may have left the flavor floating in your mouth trying to find a home.

Funny, they don't look like bbq chips?

The Sweet:

Super thick, crunchy chip with a refined taste. No artificial reddish color! Non-GMO

The Bitter:
I get why the thicker chip, but I don't know if I can do a large bag's worth of chips these thick

It's so thick, I could pour a jar of salsa on this thing
and it would just laugh at me

Conclusion:
These ain't your Daddy's bbq chips. Kettle Brand Thick and Bold Carolina BBQ chips feels like a more mature, grown-up potato chip. I can see getting tired of eating chips this thick, but with the straight-forward, no-nonsense approach Kettle Brand Chips took on with this flavor, it couldn't have been any other way. Going thinner would have felt flighty and this is not a chip to be toyed with. Although I can see an occasional visit with a small bag, ultimately the thicker cut is it's undoing. A frequent visit or a purchase of a large bag is too much of a commitment for me and my promiscuous snacking habits.

Video of the Week
I'm not sure why this guy would think of this. There are bad ideas and then there are bad ideas. A bad idea is lighting fireworks in your apartment. A bad idea is lighting fireworks and pointing them at your nipples.

I think I have a great idea on my hands... 

Nuggle

Ain't nothing like a good "Nuggle" on a cold winter's night

The Attraction:

A few weeks ago I was in a local Duane Reade stocking up on discounted Halloween candy (yes, I'm that guy) when I was walking the aisle and found this candy bar that I have never seen before. It was located in an area with other local ethnic snacks and foods, so I knew I had to give this snack a shot.

The Review:
I can't say I've seen or ever heard of Nuggle or it's manufacturer, The Charles Candy company out of San Juan, Trinidad in the West Indies, so I was really curious what this candy bar might taste like. "Any interesting ethnic flair? Will they incorporate any local flavors? Does chocolate taste the same  made in the West Indies?" were all questions I had racing in my mind when I finally got this chocolate bar home.

I quickly unwrap the chocolate bar and see that as the wrapper proclaimed, there are some serious nuts on this snack! It's like a chocolate covered Thing!

I proceed to take a bite, start to chew and realize you can't chew once without biting into a nut. This is like peanut nirvana for nut lovers! As solid of a candy bar and tasty as this is proving to be, it's also well covered ground by many snack makers previously. Don't get me wrong, it's well made; the nuts are plentiful and the chocolate isn't too sweet, but they aren't bringing anything different to the chocolate bar parade. Think of a Nuggle as a Snickers with three times the amount of nuts and minus the syrupy caramel in between. That sounds pretty good to me.

I see your Snickers and raise you a Nuggle

The Sweet:

Great nut to chocolate ratio, if you are a peanut lover like I am.

The Bitter:
Nothing really new to the snack arena

Might want run, not walk if you have a nut allergy

Conclusion:
OK, so there's nothing groundbreaking here. The tried and true recipe of chocolate and nuts strikes again. Where Nuggle differentiates itself from it's American counterparts is the amount of nuts in this thing. It's crazy. The closest thing I've had with this much peanuts in it in a commercial candy bar is Nutragaeous from Reese's. The only obvious difference between the two is the addition of peanut butter in the Nutrageous candy bar. As much as I loved Nutrageous as seen here, Nuggle is not to be taken lightly either. If loving Nuggle is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Video of the Week
You can always count on the Japanese to leave nothing sacred in the name of entertainment. In this case, it's a game show of who can hold, umm..."air" in the longest while arm wrestling. Seems like a game in which no one really wins if you asked me.

I've seen that face somewhere before

Pik-Nik Ketchup Fries

Could Ketchup fries actually be good?

The Attraction:

I was haunted or shall I say scarred recently by a snack that was ketchup flavored. I was so turned-off by the flavor, it made me wonder if the product was just so bad or was I just not a fan of ketchup flavored chips. It was time to ponder no more.

The Review:
The snack in question, were these Changheyuan Potato Chip DJ Mix that I reviewed a few months back. Not only did I not like them, I had to toss them out. I couldn't bare to share these with my co-workers as I may have been accused of trying to "poison" them with their unusual flavor.

I wasn't too excited to try another ketchup-flavored chip, but I thought I had to find out for myself what was going on with these things. Can this flavor really be popular enough were snack companies like Pik-Nik continue to produce such an item? Am I missing something? Do I have that gene where instead of cilantro tasting like soap, ketchup-flavored anything taste like poop?

I do have to say that I enjoy ketchup; I have them on hot dogs, hamburgers, sometimes eggs, hash brown and so on and so forth. It's not that I don't like ketchup. Maybe on a deep-subconscious level, I love it too much and I refuse to take any substitutions. Well, enough of the head-shrinking session. Let's get to snacking, Doctor.

I peel the seal off the canister and am greeted with a slightly fried smell. I stick my hand in and pick up a stick and toss it in my mouth. There is a hint and feel of a french fry, but an old, crushed french fry. After the initial savory flavor passes, the ketchup second course begins. It's more reserved in the presentation of the ketchup essence versus the DJ mix where they punch you in the face with it. It's not bad, but do you really want to spend hours at the gym working off a "not bad" snack?

They look like fried wonton strips in here

The Sweet:

Crispy crunch and a flavor that vaguely resembles french fries with ketchup.

The Bitter:
When I say "vaguely", I mean in a stale "I found a fry in the couch with ketchup on it and ate it" kind of a way.

..or smashed french fries here

Conclusion:
Yes, they are better than I imagined, but I still can't see myself throwing a canister of these into my cart with joy. Perhaps I'm just not a fan of "ketchup flavored" anything. In the end, I think like many things in life, there are just no substitutions for the real thing. Now how about we stop by McDonald's and move past this phase?

Video of the Week
What are a couple of guys to do when you are in Paris with a Go-Pro camera and hours on end to spare? How about sneak onto the Eiffel Tower and free climb throughout the night? That literally might be the last thing that would ever come into my mind, but thanks to these chaps, you won't need to even think about doing it anymore.

It's not that high, really (gulp!)

Snyder's of Hanover Pretzel Dips Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwich

How could I NOT resist?

The Attraction:

I saw these at a Target a few weeks back, but was too much of a slacker to wait in line for 15 minutes to pay for a bag of these, so recently on my way home from work when I stopped at the drug store and saw these on the shelf again, I knew it was snack kismet. (That and I was hungry)

The Review:
In case you missed a few of my reviews, I have a thing going with peanut butter and chocolate snacks. (please see here, here and here). Its pretty hard to mess it up, in my opinion, so with this combination, it's a bit more like, how great can they make this snack?

I get home, peel open the bag and peer inside. For what I paid, it's not too bad, but I wouldn't have complained from the bag being "too heavy".

I pick up a sandwich and although it's not as pretty as the picture on the outside of the bag, the coverage and layer of chocolate on the sandwich is more than I expected. I was expecting a light coating, but from the appearance, you wouldn't necessarily have been able to tell what was under the chocolate.

Finally, it's time to dig in. I take a bite and the smooth chocolate texture gives way to a firm pretzel hidden under the coating of chocolate. The flavor waves follow the same sequence; the sweetness of the chocolate followed by the saltiness of the pretzel. Hmm..I know the bag said "peanut butter" on the outside...oh, there it is. As you can imagine, when you are dealing with these kind of strong flavors, something has to play the third fiddle and in this case it's the peanut butter. It's in there, but it gets lost in the shuffle with the shot of saltiness from the pretzel masking the salty nutty flavor of the peanut butter. It's not a salty and crunchy Reese's Peanut Butter cup, like I wished it would be like, but how many things in the world can be?

I could of used a couple of more of these

The Sweet:

Chocolate and pretzel is a great classic combo. Throw in some peanut butter for good measure.

The Bitter:
A little pricey at $3.50 a bag. The peanut butter flavor gets lost in the mix somewhere

In case you were wondering where the pretzel was

Conclusion:
These are a delicious snack. I would have liked the pb to come across a bit stronger, but I think the original configuration without the chocolate allowed the peanut butter flavor to be more pronounced. With the chocolate bath, the subtleties of the nut flavor get lost, but even at that, I cleared out the bag without much help. The next time I can scrape together a few bucks, I'll be fine with letting this little keeper join the snack party in my pantry.

Video of the Week
If you are a geek like me, then you actually watched the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer a few times. If you were a uber geek (possibly like me), then you stepped it up a notch and watched the Japanese version of the trailer to get a peek at some additional scenes.

I don't know, I might see this. (haha!)

Yotchan Amazu Soft Ashi (Seasoned Squid)

Boy, this is about to get "real"

The Attraction:

I've been a fan of squid for a while. Not so much as a pet, but more on a consumption level. So much so that I even tried some dried snack variations like this. As unmistakable as the squid was in that experience, I was ready to step it up a notch, so when I saw this little prize hanging on the rack, I knew what I had to do.

The Review:
I've been eating dried squid snacks like these since I was a kid. They are really popular in Asian cultures, so they were always accessible. One of the things I never really loved about them was how dry they were, so it seemed like a natural progression to gravitate towards squid snacks that weren't as dry. I just never thought it was possible. Well, leave it to the Japanese to make my wishes come true, but you know what they say; careful what you wish for.

I waste no time. I tear open the bag and peer in to see all the squid parts on a clear plastic tray. Oh, and there's a decent sour smell coming out of the bag as well. I don't think it went bad, I think it's part of the seasoning. We've gone this far, we can't stop now...

I take a nice squid tentacle out and take a healthy size bite out of it. It's chewy, in a good way. Very shortly after that bite, I quickly discovered that the source of the sour smell was a result of the vinegar based flavoring that the squid was seasoned with. "Hmm, do these come in another flavor?", I ponder.

Tasty bits of squid await inside.

The Sweet:

Nice chewy squid texture. As close to eating a fresh squid from a bag without getting physically ill.

The Bitter:
I didn't love the sour taste that accompanied it, though.

Oh, you know it's squid alright!

Conclusion:
Everything was great about this snack, except the flavor. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't particularly inviting either. Unfortunately for the snack makers at Yotchan, flavor is a big part of the snacking experience. I enjoyed the texture so much that as I write this, I can visualize myself chewing on a piece right now in spite of the sour flavor vibe.

The packaging seems to indicate that this snack should be consumed with beer, which I whole heartily agree with as it would probably help wash some of that flavor away, but for me, that's not what I'm looking for in a snack. The beer should be optional, not mandatory and after a few of these, it sure does feel mandatory.

Video of the Week
The only thing I enjoy more than people freaking out during a hot pepper challenge is watching the same hot pepper challenge video with music put to it. Oh, I don't think it's possible to not laugh during this poor woman's challenge.

"This probably was a pepper"

Doritos Dinamita Chile Limon

If only I knew what Dinamita meant...

The Attraction:

While roaming the aisles of a Asian grocer that stocks their shelves with some snacks that I haven't seen at some other places, I came across this oddity that I didn't even know Doritos released. Odd shape, new flavor and it says Doritos on it....was there ever a chance I wasn't going to try it?

Edit: I forgot to mention that the folks at Doritos probably noticed the popularity of a snack called Takis in Latin American countries and decided to jump into that market with a remarkably similar product. Coincidence? I think not.

The Review:
I was so excited to find out what this new line within Doritos was that I took this bag home and immediately cracked it open. I take a deep inhale and the only this I could detect was that slightly fried smell that you get with chips sometimes. No heat, no lemon or lime smell. That's OK.

I then take a good peek inside and see this color that I've never seen in nature before. It's like a radioactive red. "How hot are these suckers?", I think to myself. I pick one up and inspect it. It looks as though they took a regular Dorito chip and rolled it after they fried it. Interesting approach, but how does it taste?

I finally take a bite and the crunch is not unlike what you would imagine a rolled up Dorito would be like...and that's a good thing. Oddly enough, despite the intense red color, the first flavor that seeps into your taste buds is the slightly salty flavor of lime. It reminded me of these Tostitos, but milder. It's not quite tart enough to be lemon. Then towards the middle to end of the bite, the heat starts to kick in and it's a nice burn. It's not a meek, "Umm, hi. Is Bobby home? May I speak to him?". It's more of a, "Yeah, Bobby live here? Tell him to get his ass outside!" kind of a heat. You know it means business. Even with that, something doesn't quite seem right.

Can this color be real?

The Sweet:

Extra crispy crunch with some serious heat.

The Bitter:
Somehow the "limon" and "chile" flavor doesn't quite totally hit the snack taste bud spot

Yes, this is the color!

Conclusion:
Although the folks over at Doritos did an interesting thing by rolling their nachos up to create a new and crispier crunch, this specific flavor misses the target. I enjoy the spice and the "limon" flavor, but it came across flat. It's missing a stronger flavor element. The heat itself is a great peripheral flavor, but the flavor of lime isn't strong enough to hold a snack lover's attention. Perhaps their other flavors like Nacho Picoso or Mojo Criollo might do a better job of it or maybe I'm not their primary market, but for me this first sampling of the Doritos Dinamita series left me feeling like this was more of a bust than a boom.

Video of the Week
This really isn't a video, rather more of a website. In my never ending quest to match-make people, here's a website devoted to matching up zombies and or zombie lovers. Yes, this is a real site and no, I received no compensation for showing this to you. Besides, isn't knowing that such a thing like this actually exists payment enough?

Zombies need love too