Big Katsu Salty Fried Strip Review

Big Katsu is a fried savory snack. I purchased mine from Candysan and it just came in today! I bought a total of two of these strips because the price is really low and I was super interested in these. I actually didn't know what to expect, which was half of the fun!

This is the snack out of the package. It looks interesting!

It is very thin and the panko coating is crumbly!

Taste

This tastes exactly like curry bread. I am obsessed with curry bread and often make my own. This strip has the exact flavor so I cannot think of anything negative to say about it. It is highly addictive and I am now wishing I purchased more than two because they're currently out of stock on the Candysan website. D:< Blarg! Seriously, though, the flavor is fantastic. If you've never have curry bread, think of the flavor as being fried bread with curry spices.

Scent and Texture

I did not sniff it - sorry! But the texture is kinda of tough. Think of a piece of beef jerky - that is what this is like. It is thin and "jerky" like. It is fried and coated with bread crumbs, so I guess I would compare this to a fried piece of beef jerky, at least texture wise. It doesn't taste anything like jerky, though.

Repurchase?

YES!! I want to buy more, but the Candysan website is out of stock. I am hoping they restock them and put up at least several dozen because I really want to buy a bunch of these. I think they could easily rival my Hi-Chew addiction. The only downside is the package says it expires 8/28/14, which means they have a short shelf-life or Candysan had old stock!

Overall

9/10. These are absolutely amazing, cheap, and have no real cons. The flavor is terrific and I think I may be obesessed. I recommend giving these a try if you can find them!

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Hi-Chew Premium - White Grape review

Hi-Chew premium is a fun line of high quality Hi-Chew in a bag. The bag is also resealable, for easy snacking. The flavor I am reviewing today is white grape. It comes in a 40g bag that contains 140 calories. I bought the candy for $1.32 from Candysan.

The back of the bag contains all the product information.

The total number of candies. Each candy is about the size of a nickle, but much, much thicker.

Taste

The initial taste is just slightly sweet. I let it sit in my mouth for a moment and it didn't taste like anything or melt. If you lick it, it does taste sweet and reminiscent of grapes or muscat. Sucking on it really brings out a sweeter flavor, but still not strong. Chewing it brings forth the most flavor. The flavor of the candy actually isn't very strong. It is kind of light and sophisticated. Not too sweet, but sweet enough. It is not as strong as other, regular Hi-Chew flavors, but more refined, I suppose.

Scent and Texture

There is not really any scent to this product. The texture is interesting. I licked it, and the candy was rough. The candy is surrounded by a semi-soft shell, which wraps the soft, center, chewy candy. I let it sit in my mouth, and it didn't melt. Chewing it gets rid of this shell and I was left with a very chewy candy. I'm not sure if they are chewier than regular Hi-Chews. I don't think these last as long. Chewy, but not so chewy they stick to my teeth. That's good!

Repurchase?

Yes, I'd buy these again, but probably not as many as the regular rolls of Hi-Chew. I like the resealable package, as it is slightly less waste compared to the rolls, but the rolls are much easier to take along and share.

Overall

7/10. I love Hi-Chew, and these were good, but most of the rolls of Hi-Chew have tastier flavor. I'm not really certain what is so "premium" about these because I don't see any improvement over the regular Hi-Chew. In fact, there may be a slight downgrade in the flavor department. They are interesting and very tasty, but not the best I've had.

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OyatsuBox July 2014 Review & Spoilers!

I've been obsessed with subscription boxes for the better part of the past four years. They're just so... incredibly fun. So, when I discovered OyatsuBox, I just had to sign up! Every month, you get a box full of Japanese candies/snacks delivered to your door - straight from Japan! The cost is $25, which is pretty good! I was prepared to pay that much because I love subscription boxes and I love Japanese snacks. Seems like a no brainer to me!

Rilakkuma Honey Butter Pretzel Sticks - These are super good pretzel sticks. My daughter ate them right away, so uh, I only got a few and can't review them individually.

Dragonball Heroes Gummy and Collectable Card - Dragonball Heroes is an arcade game exclusive to Japan. This package contained 1 gummy candy and 1 card. The card is to be used in the arcade game, but if you live outside Japan, you're out of luck and it does nothing but look pretty.

Koikeya Scon - Japanese BBQ Corn twist - OMG, these are so good. I've had them before. They're not as strong and sweeter than American BBQ flavored stuff. It was a huge bag, with several servings, and I ate it in one sitting. I'd blame my daughter for eating them all, but she's 2, so it's like, she only ate 1 or two chips. So, yes, I'm just that fat. But really, try these.

LOTTE japanese drink candy mix - I've always wanted these, but never wanted to order from JBox or Napa Japan to get them. I'm not sure why. xD But anyway, I'm SO HAPPY these are in here! That alone keeps my subscribed. XD They're just so cute! I love the idea of candies flavored like popular soft drinks.

Yamoto sushi restaurant style miso soup - I am not big on miso soup, but I will eat this. There are 3 servings in the package. I've tried it already. There is a miso packet plus a packet of vegetables for each serving. There's a TON of vegetables in each serving, and I was pretty impressed. I do love me some seaweed, so I was actually happy with the soup, even if I wouldn't buy it due to my non-love for miso. Don't get me wrong, miso is alright, but I'd rather eat other stuff.

Umaibo Premium - Camembert cheese and Mentaiko  - I LOVE UMAIBO!! I'm sure everyone does. I'm so super happy to have gotten these. Oh, they're premium!

Hi-Chew Premium Grape - I wasted no time with this, as you can tell. :p

Koala no March - Strawberry - Lotte, you need to start selling the peanut butter flavor in the United States again. 20 years ago, as a kid, I would get the peanut butter "Koala's March" from the grocery store! I dunno what ever happened to them, but I assume they just stopped selling them in the US. I wish I could get them again! I remember loving them! I like the strawberry.

One thing to try: put them in the fridge! They're really good cold.

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As you can probably tell, this is a fantastic, fun box. I highly recommend signing up if you love Japanese snacks!

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Maxim Patissiena - Café Choco Parfait Instant Coffee Review

Maxim Patissienma is a brand of fancy "cafe" coffee drinks. I say fancy, but they're not too fancy considering they come in stick form. Also, the picture on the front makes the drink look much, much better than it really is. You do not get that much delicious foam and the chunks are kinda gross, unlike the picture.

Each box has 4 sticks. Each stick is mixed with about 150ml of hot water and has around 80 calories per drink.

It fills up a 6oz bodum double-walled glass. There isn't a lot of foam. At least, this isn't "real" foam, like on a cappuccino. For comparison, this is what my usual drinks look like:

So, you can probably guess I wasn't impressed by the appearance of the drink. :p

Taste

When mixed with the proper concentration of hot water, the beverage is very rich and chocolaty. It does not really taste like coffee. I can only pick up the chocolate taste. It tastes slightly better than the run-of-the-mill hot chocolate in the US, like Swiss Miss, but not as good as higher priced hot chocolates, like Bellagio or Ghiredelli. For a cheap, instant drink, it is quite good, but it makes a very small cup - about 6 oz. I

Scent and Texture

I pick up a light cocoa scent. The texture of this is kinda weird. There are small chocolate bits throughout the drink. They are soggy. They kinda taste like soggy Cocoa Krispie cereal. I'm uncertain if they are pleasant or not. I don't think they add anything positive to the drink. I don't mind them, but I can see how they might weird some people out. If you don't like soggy cereal, I'd definitely avoid this drink, because with every sip, you'll get some soggy cocoa bits. It would be a lot better if it were actual chocolate, like chocolate chunks or something similar.

Repurchase?

No, I'd probably not buy this flavor again. I don't think the soggy cereal bits added too much to this drink. I own a Nespresso, so it is quite easy for me to make a decent coffee drink at home, so these sticks just weren't very impressive. I'd imagine even if you didn't have a fancy coffee machine, you'd still probably wouldn't want to buy them a second time, because there are plenty of chocolate drink options out there that are better and can be purchased at your local grocery store.

Overall

5/10. It is better than low quality hot cocoa, but it still has some points deducted for the weird, soggy bits that add nothing to the drink. It also makes a really small cup, 6oz or so. It also doesn't have good foam. I like foam. If you like foam, you will be sad.

If you do want it, Candysan currently sells them.

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Site Updates!

I'm just giving a little bit of an update, mostly just ranting to myself and making myself feel important!

I'm doing a few slight chances:

This blog layout is not working. I need to change it. It looks really good if you're not flipping through pages, but if you press "next" and go to the next page of the front page, you'll see nothing but gigantic images. This is a problem. Whoever coded this layout did a poor job. XD Time to search for a new one!

I'm doing a slight name change --- Kawaii Kami to Cute Chew! Maybe someday I'll buy a domain. But nobody visits this blog, so it is pointless to buy a domain right now!

I need to create some pages with basic info. That will come when I actually find a functioning design for the blog. o.o

That's it for now!

<3 Manah

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Glico Collon - "Funassyi" Pear Review

This flavor of Collon features the Funassyi mascot. I do not know very much about Funassyi, but I think it is similar to Domo. If you wanna know more about the cute face on this package, you can read up about it here at Wikipedia.

This limited edition Collon is pear flavored, which is suppose to represent Funassyi.

This is the back of the package. Very cute.

The opened package.

The actual cookies.

Taste

These are really interesting. I'm sure you've tried Collon before, and these have the usual texture of Collon, but the center is super sweet and fruity. I'm not sure it really tastes like pear, but it does resemble fruit. The fruit taste is light and the cream is well, creamy. It's super pleasant and these might be my favorite flavor of Collon.

Scent & Texture

The scent was the first thing I noticed. It is really strong and fruity. The texture is nice and the cookies just melted in my mouth. I enjoyed the texture a lot. They are crunchy, but creamy and soft at the same time.

Repurchase?

Oh yes, I would buy these again! They taste really good and have such a lovely scent and texture.

Overall

8/10. While not the best cookies in the world, they are really enjoyable. I enjoyed the fruit flavor and the texture, along with the scent. If they stick around, I would buy them in the future.

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Candysan Haul Post #1 - Candysan Review

I've ordered from Candysan before, but I wanted to start posting about my hauls so you could get an idea of how they ship and pack the orders. :D

I ordered this particular package of candies on July 1st. It shipped on July 5th and I got them on July 16th. That's very fast! It came in a small box which was packed tight, so nothing could roll around and the chance for damage was minimal. Candysan is the cheapest place to import Japanese candies and food, so I usually try to order from them.

Look for future single post reviews for each product I ordered!

Pretz Pie Pear - $1.27 Each  - I did not know these had package variations, but aren't they cute? Pretz don't tend to be my favorite Japanese snacks, but I was really interested in these. They are suppose to be pear flavored sticks. Nothing too fancy here!

Pucchito Muscat - $1.13 each - I swear, Kracie has the best candies. I've actually already eaten one of these and it was totally amazing and I wish I had ordered more. These are little gummy candies shaped like grapes with sections. You can pull apart the sections and have a little fun eating them. That's not what was important, though. What was important was the taste and these were so amazing. Buy them! Yes, this flavor. You will not regret it.

Hi-Chew Premium - $1.32 each - Yes, I bought a lot of hi-chew in this order, because I'm absolutely in love with Hi-Chew or anything like Hi-Chew. I'm so addicted. I'm almost as addicted to Hi-Chew as I am to espresso. I think my diet may be 50% espresso, 25% Hi-Chew, 25% everything else.

Hi-Chew and Pucho - varies price points - I still don't think I bought enough to substain myself, though. I'll have to buy more really soon. Like now, maybe. But anyway, if you don't know what Pucho are, they are like Hi-Chew, but with gummies in the center. They add a little spice to my Hi-Chew diet.

Melon Pan Cookies - $1.96 Each - I had to buy them. They're totally adorbs. I make melon pan about once per month. I really like melon pan (who doesn't?), but I couldn't resist buying these cookies because of the cuteness factor. The boy version of the cookie tastes like a regular melon pan crust, and the girl version tastes like honeydew melon. :D It's really good! It makes me wonder if I can make honeydew flavored melon pan next time? I guess I'll try!


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So, I'll say, go visit Candysan and get some candy! There's really not much more fun than getting a package of Japanese candies. Seriously! I have a good time opening and eating the goodies. Let's hope I don't get too fat. XD

The only con about ordering from Candysan: they have never once responded to an email I sent them. I've sent them a few messages, but I've never gotten a response. This is sort of bad customer service, however, I've always gotten my packages quickly, so I don't know. Just don't expect them to be very responsive.

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