Anime Midwest 2018 Haul- Part 3 Japanese snacks
Another Anime con staple is the Japanese snack foods from the Pocky, to bread to Ramune(I did not get any due to the fact I was worried about the glass bottles breaking). I find cons to be a great way to get these Japanese snack foods as most likely the only other way is a maybe basic strawberry and chocolate Yan-Yan and Hello Pandas at your grocery store or ordering online which is often expensive. I unfortunately did not find any melon bread which is a snack food mentioned in almost every anime, but hopefully next year they will have it. Now, onto the food reviews!
Red Bean paste bread- a wheat cake filled with red bean paste
Review: The bread tastes exactly like any normal sandwich/burger bun. It is honestly hard to describe the taste of the red bean paste but it's thick and sweet with a bean flavor. This snack bread is also very filling.
Green Tea bread- wheat bread with green tea(the bread itself is green tea infused giving it a green color).
Review: This bread tastes like you baked green tea into the bread giving it a nice chewy texture. The green tea taste is fairly mild and sweet making this a nice mellow snack bread.
Maple bread- wheat bread with maple syrup
Review: This bread is another mellow snack bread with baked in maple syrup. It has a nice mild taste of maple and is the most mild of the 3 breads.
Green Tea Hello Panda- Green tea biscuit with matcha green tea filling
Review: The biscuit tastes like not an all too pleasant mix of wheat and green tea but the cream tastes like a sweet creamy green tea. I don't care for the taste of the biscuit and likely won't get this one again.
Pejoy mixed berry sticks- like a reverse Pocky with the cream on the inside
Review: The second you open the package you can smell the berries and cream mixture. The baked biscuits mix well with the berry cream that is inside, like a berry cream pie.
Cookies and cream Pocky- biscuit sticks with cookies and cream coating
Review: Tastes exactly as you would expect, a cookie and cream covered biscuit stick. It does taste good and will likely get again.
Choco banana(with a monkey on package)Pocky- Chocolate sticks covered in banana creme
Review: The smell of fake banana is overpowering and when eaten you only taste the banana not the chocolate. I'm not a huge fan of fake banana flavor to begin with, so I likely won't get again.
Chocolate Banana Pocky-chocolate sticks covered in banana cream
Review: This one's smell is not as powerful and you can taste a mild chocolate so if you must have chocolate banana pocky this is the one to go for.
Matcha Pocky- Matcha green tea cream covered biscuit sticks
Review: This green tea biscuit item is better than the hello panda for the fact that it's just green tea cream covering a biscuit and not green tea inside the biscuit. I like the matcha flavor on these better than well.
In conclusion, my favorites are the matcha Pocky, mixed berry Pocky, and the green tea bread. Next time you go to an Anime Con check out the Japanese snack foods they aren't often sold for much, and you can find unique flavors. What is your favorite Japanese snack food? Reply in the comments!