Living in Japan for two years, I've enjoyed tons of great food both novel and familiar-with-an-Asian-twist. I've had my fill of okonomiyaki, my absolute favorite Japanese food, in Osaka until I literally got sick of it (never thought this was possible), inadvertently tried monkfish liver (never again!), eaten Burger King Japan's black burger, been fed a mouthful of shirasu (tiny white fish – also never again), eaten the most delicious curry flavored popcorn at Tokyo Disneyland, and had about the tastiest burger at a beach side shop in my previous home of Hitachi, Ibaraki (about the only place to get American food!). I love food! So I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting things to try.
As a self-professed sweet-tooth, I'm always searching for good places to satisfy my cravings when the weekend rolls around. Japan isn't traditionally a culture big on sweets, and when they do eat sweets it's usually mochi with sweet bean paste (not really my thing) or something green tea flavored (also not my thing). Unlike America, fro-yo bars, cupcakeries, or bakeries selling all sorts of cakes, pies, cookies, and muffins are almost nonexistent. That being said, nowadays Japan definitely appreciates sweets (there are even dessert-only or buffet restaurants such as Dessert Kingdom) and loves to invent unique, limited edition flavors! One thing I love is that in Japan Kit Kats come in all different flavors, while the ones back in the states are always the same. Besides green tea, "adult" (darker chocolate), and regular, all special flavors are limited edition. (For some reason Oreos are the opposite, leaving me pining for all the cool flavors being released back home, although you can find chocolate cream ones at Daiso and there is an interesting selection of Oreo bars). There's been a boom in new Kit Kat flavors this spring, such as these awesome Easter Kit Kats, which are pancake flavored!
Naturally I had to snatch it right off the shelf. The first bite I took tasted exactly like pancakes with maple syrup! Yum! They even have an adorable recipe on the back to make mini rabbit pies by slipping the Kit Kats inside pie crust, baking, and drawing a face with a chocolate pen. I wasn't brave enough to try this for fear of the chocolate melting but it sure is adorable!
In addition, Easter Kit Kats take it one step further by having multiple different wrappers and designs stamped on the chocolate! Each one features a different adorable bunny character.
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| Hungry bunny. |
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| Cutie bunny. |
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| Party bunny. |
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| Chick and bunny. |
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| Chick-kissed bunny. |
They're advertised as "Premium" mint, an effort to glamorize the chocolate and make you feel more justified that you're paying extra for special flavors while making it more appealing to adults. Nothing cutesy here, just good old chocolate. I'm not a huge fan of mint and chocolate, but I like the flavor of these, and the picture of the chocolate mint cake just looks so good (curse you marketing team!). You can find them in supermarkets, but get them quick before they're gone! They should only be around about a month or so. Some other great Kit Kat flavors released in the past are pumpkin pudding, raspberry (they come back every now and again and are currently in stores), strawberry cheesecake, hazelnut (delish!), sweet bean paste on toast, and my personal favorite beni'imo or Okinawan purple sweet potato (luckily they're available year round for souvenirs! I did find them at Don Quixote however). The last three are all specially sold souvenir flavors you can only purchase when you visit the region, naturally making them two or three times more expensive unfortunately. They usually come in a really nice package because of this, and I love the Mt. Fuji shaped one so much I use it as a decorative piece!
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| It's like Nutella Kit Kats! |
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| I keep the package just to add a touch of Fuji to my place. |
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| Sweet bean toast flavored! You can pick them up in Nagoya. |
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| My absolute favorite, purple sweet potato from Okinawa! |
Next on my list is this awesome snack! You may be familiar with taiyaki, the popular fish-shaped pancake filled with sweet bean paste and sometimes even chocolate or custard. Taiyaki is a sweet treat, so imagine my surprise when I stumbled across a mashup with my all-time favorite Japanese food, okonomiyaki!
It's called okonomi-taiyaki, and each one is only 180 yen (about $1.50). There are other flavors as well (sweet bean paste, chocolate, custard, bacon and eggs, apple custard (very tempting!), and strawberry cheesecake, which range from 140-220 yen, so you can sample as many as you want. You can also get mini taiyaki sets of 5-30, from 150 to 850 yen so you can really hit all the flavors! I'm not sure how small they are but they must be really cute!
I was wondering how it would be possible to fit okonomiyaki inside the fish pancake, but they did it! It spills out of the sides a little but I liked it (I hate having to take a lot of bites just to get to the filling!)
The inside is creamy and full of plenty of savory okonomiyaki sauce! Yum! You're going to need a napkin or two.
It took me no time to polish it off, and if I hadn't just eaten a few hours ago I would have had another in a heartbeat! You can find them at Omedetaiyaki Honpo at the first level of LAZONA Kawasaki Plaza (next to Kawasaki station) right by the food court. There are other locations but they are not properly listed so you'll have to do a google search using おめで鯛焼き本舗.
And last but not least, getting back to my sweet-tooth: these gorgeous ice cream pops from Cold Stone!
They come in twelve different flavors, and they're absolutely stunning works of art. You can check out my full article here.
For some reason chocolate was painfully absent, so I went with the strawberry shortcake instead. When you buy them they come in a plastic bag, and the berries are frosty.
I decided to let it soften a bit, but be careful because the bottom melts quickly while the top stays kind of frozen as well as the center. The little green leaf is edible too! It must be green-colored white chocolate. It was a little pricey – 480 yen for the top 3, 380 for the middle 3, and 280 for the popsicles. The bummer is that they're gone except for two locations, very soon to be one, as they're another specialty item. Japan just loves limited edition things! Everything from Pringles (I've tasted some pretty interesting ones such as sweet chili and green curry) to Japanese snacks all in strawberry or pumpkin flavors to reflect the seasons.
It's exciting to see new flavors, but sad that you'll either never see them again or have to wait a whole more year if it's a seasonal flavor.
Yet Japan is a country that appreciates the beauty of such fleeting things – cherry blossoms are gorgeous in full bloom, yet last a mere week or two. Perhaps Japan is trying to teach us the value of the brevity of worldly things.
And also that it's normal to pay two or three times more for such things. But hey, it's worth it.
I decided to let it soften a bit, but be careful because the bottom melts quickly while the top stays kind of frozen as well as the center. The little green leaf is edible too! It must be green-colored white chocolate. It was a little pricey – 480 yen for the top 3, 380 for the middle 3, and 280 for the popsicles. The bummer is that they're gone except for two locations, very soon to be one, as they're another specialty item. Japan just loves limited edition things! Everything from Pringles (I've tasted some pretty interesting ones such as sweet chili and green curry) to Japanese snacks all in strawberry or pumpkin flavors to reflect the seasons.
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| Green Curry Pringles. |
Yet Japan is a country that appreciates the beauty of such fleeting things – cherry blossoms are gorgeous in full bloom, yet last a mere week or two. Perhaps Japan is trying to teach us the value of the brevity of worldly things.
And also that it's normal to pay two or three times more for such things. But hey, it's worth it.
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