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Archive for the ‘Food’ Category

Review: McDonaldland Meal

Tuesday, August 12th, 2025

Today the new retro-themed ‘McDonaldland Meal’ was released at (of course) McDonalds. As you’ll soon see, I had to get one.

This is one of those overpriced ($17) meals designed for adults, and of the two options (nuggets or a quarter pounder) I chose the nuggets. I won’t beat around: they were terrible and I only ate a few before tossing the rest.

But the packaging! This is a meal designed around nostalgia, and I think they’ve done a decent job. For instance here’s the bag it came in:

In addition to the nuggets (and fries, in the usual sleeve), the meal also comes with a special ‘mystery flavour’ thick shake:

It looks like bubble gum or cotton candy doesn’t it? KLS first thought it was birthday cake flavour, but quickly changed her mind. Macca’s hasn’t (yet) revealed what it is, but it’s believed to be blueberry or raspberry. Kristin said it “looked great but the taste was meh”.

The reason I bought this meal had nothing to do with the food, it was the ‘toy’ that it comes with:

You get one of these sealed boxes, which contains one of six different tins filled with goodies. Here’s the one I got:

As you can see I got Hamburglar, and while the embossed tin and stickers are great the postcards are amazing! Beautiful art, thick cardboard, rounded corners – these are the real deal, and in my opinion make the entire meal worthwhile!

So I have a conundrum. The food is terrible and Kristin doesn’t want another shake, but I really want more of these postcards. I don’t want to buy another of these, but I’d lie if I said the chance of me doing so was zero.

(Incidentally, if you buy one of these please consider sending me a postcard!)

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Ramen Universes Beyond: Pokemon

Saturday, August 9th, 2025

It’s time to truly bend the rules with this licensed ramen review, since today’s product isn’t even ramen!

It’s a cup tteokbokki, which is a Korean sortof soup with rice cakes instead of noodles. This one is spicy flavoured. As you can see it’s Pokémon branded, and each cup contains one of 30 different Pokémon stickers.

The above shows the contents; a bag of rice cakes and a seasoning packet. To prepare, both are mixed in the cup with hot water and then the cup is microwaved. Here’s the finished product:

Of course I didn’t try this (Korean food is way too spicy for me) but KLS loves tteokbokki and said “This in the ok category of instant tteokbokki”. So it’s a good thing it came with a bonus sticker:

That’s Pokémon #906, known as Sprigatito in English, Naoha in Korean and Nyahoja in Japan. It’s a grass cat type that can mesmerize people with its pheromones!

I purchased this for KLS in NYC at a Korean grocer, and since they had two different flavors I got both. Here’s the other:

She said this one – which was plain flavour – was a little better. Here’s the sticker it came with (and how the sticker was packaged):

This sticker isn’t numbered, but is Pokémon #131, Lapras, who has the same name in English and Korean (and Laplace in Japan). This is a famous Pokémon since it’s been around for over 30 years now.

Have you tried instant tteokbokki? If not, and you see these ones in a shop, you may want to give them a go. Maybe they’re not wonderful, but you’ll get a cool sticker 🙂

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Ramen Universes Beyond: Tamagotchi

Sunday, July 13th, 2025

Its been half a year, so you’ve undoubtedly been wondering when the next licensed ramen review was coming. Worry no longer; it’s time for Tamagotchi!

Tamagotchi are the original ‘digital pets’ that were first released almost 30 years ago. The toys are still available in many (including retro) forms, but the characters are also available on a wide range of merchandise. In Japan, Cup Star is using them to sell instant noodles, such as this soy sauce flavoured example:

Apparently there are 20 different lids, each featuring graphics from the 29-year history of Tamagotchi devices. I wonder if collectors are going mad trying to collect all of them?

Opening the lid revealed an impressive-looking product, generously filled with pieces of egg, shrimp and unidentified brown rocks. To my surprise it smelled good, and I immediately became curious about the taste.

I added hot water and let it steep for three minutes, and the above shows the finished product. It smelled even tastier cooked, and unlike most of the (over) 70 ramens I’ve tried these past years it was with no hesitation that I extended my fork…

My verdict: actually quite good! If I had cooked this up in my Hakodate hotel room I would have been perfectly happy with it, and it’s only due to me simultaneously preparing a chicken ramen that I didn’t eat it all. Special props need to be given to the tiny shrimp, which rehydrated well and were very tasty.

As mentioned I purchased this in Hakodate, at a large and impressive supermarket. It was part of a large endcap display with all sorts of standees and point-of-sale graphics, none of which I bothered translating. This was a mistake, since I didn’t know that buying one entitled me to a free sticker, which almost certainly would have gone on that day’s postcard. 🙂

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The Man Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine Machine

Saturday, June 14th, 2025

I mailed Zoffy.

I went to Daiso and bought all their rolls of Kraft paper and a couple of types of packing tape, and spent two hours last night wrapping him up and reinforces the edges and corners. I had read shopping had changed since I was here last but the process didn’t seem different, and since I did the customs form online in advance the entire process went very smoothly.

This was at the head post office right next to Tokyo station. This was convenient since one of my goals today was to go to the souvenir food hall in Tokyo station and get some food to bring back. I succeeded (in spades), and by 11 I was back in Akihabara.

As I walked toward my intended lunch, a man gave me two stickers! Freebies like this are common in Akihabara since there is always some new game or anime being promoted.

Around mid-afternoon the rains came in, and the umbrellas appeared out of nowhere. I’d done enough shopping for the day and ducked into Hirose to play retro shooters for a time:

I ended up playing one game more than all the others, but that’ll get a dedicated post soon enough. Most of the retro cabs at Hirose are popular, and it being Saturday the place was particular busy today. Noisy as it was though it still beat walking in the rain.

I also did hours of packing today, and there’s just enough space left for me to squeeze a few other items in. Guess I’ll be doing some more shopping tomorrow! 🙂

Posted in Food, Japan, Trip | Comments Closed

Melonpan!

Tuesday, June 10th, 2025

‘Melon bread’ is a sweet bread popular in Japan. It’s a soft roll covered with a very thin coat of icing, and is a staple at bakeries and convenience stores (konbini). An Australian equivalent would be a finger bun, although melonpan have less icing. I’ve tried versions from konbini chains and here’s my opinions in reverse order of quality.

The New Days version of melon bread was disappointing. Not only is it weirdly yellow and unattractive, the bread itself was very dry and hard, and the icing layer almost tasteless. This konbini is operated by the rail company JR East, and they should be ashamed of their weak melonpan!

This one is from the Hokkaido konbini called Seicomart. Again, I was disappointed. It’s more visually appealing than the previous one, but the bread was again too dry and the icing layer was weirdly powdery. I was hot and tired when I bought this one, and even with a drink in my other hand could barely stuff it down.

This is the 7-11 version, and certainly had the most extreme appearance. It resembles a grenade more than a melon to me! This one conflicted me since the bread was fluffy and delicious but the icing was lacking because it wasn’t sweet enough. I feel the icing is the most important part of melonpan so regardless of the high bread quality this ultimately disappointed.

Family Mart delivered with their version. The bread was soft and fluffy and had a hint of butter taste (like a croissant) and the icing was just crisp enough without being overpowering. This was a fantastic product and could have easily taken the top spot!

But ultimately my favourite of the five was this Lawson version. It’s everything the Family Mart one was only very slightly better, and what gave it the win in my eye was the deliciously sweet taste of the icing, and the fact it had just the right level of crispness despite being so thin as to be almost invisible! If you’re going to buy only one melonpan, I’d suggest the Lawson version.

I’ll add that the melonpan from the ‘big three’ konbini (7-11, Family Mart and Lawson) are all good, so don’t be afraid to try any next time you’re in Japan.