TokyoTreat – April 2021

April marks springtime and the beauty of the Japanese sakura (cherry blossom) season.

TokyoTreat has the perfect theme: Sakura Snack Surprise!

The menu promises as assortment of goodies celebrating this very special time of year.

Sakura Ramune. 

Ramune is Japanese soda, and is a favorite soft drink at festivals. It has the unique bottle that is actually sealed with a glass marble. Fortunately the menu booklet contains on how to open it. This version is lemonade flavoured with cherry blossom, and is the perfect fragrant springtime drink.

Onion Taro Snacks and Curry Turtle Crackers.

These aren’t sakura flavoured of course, but both these delicious savory corn snacks are reminiscent of the street food that is so popular at Japanese festivals and events. People often have parties and gatherings at this time of year especially to view the blossom, so these are a great accompaniment.

Mike Popcorn Classic Salt and Sakura Latte Marshmallows.

Classic salted popcorn is always a delicious snack. The marshmallows have two flavours, the pink sakura flavour and the white sakura latte. They’re creamy and sweet, and perfect for sprinkling on top of drinks or desserts.

Umai Sugar Rusks and New Mochi Taro. 

Two more crispy snacks here. The sugar rusks are a corn snack version of the popular Japanese snack consisting of twice baked and dried sugared bread slices. The Taro crackers are a great salted treat, perfect with the ramune soda, or even a cold beer!

Tempura Fried Lemon Squid Snacks, Fruit Doughnuts Gummy, and Ramen Shop Taro Snacks.

Lemon is a great complement to both sweet and savory, and the tempura squid snacks uses the delicious sour flavour of lemon to give a real refreshing bite. Cute gummies are always a favourite in Japan, and the Taro Ramon snacks are delicious savory pieces of dried noodle with a deep umami flavour.

Umaibo Cheese and Sankaku Vegetable Crackers.

Umaibo is one of the most famous and popular of Japanese dagashi snacks, a tube of puffed corn in a huge variety of flavours. This is a cheese one that has a pleasingly deep flavour. Vegetable crackers are also a popular salty snack, little bitesize crackers that contain real pieces of vegetable and a terrific flavour.

Mashro, Mini Monster Gummy, and Banana Man.

Three fun chewy candies there. The Mashro is a fun twisted marshmallow stick, that looks a little like a Flump. The Monster gummy is mixed fruit flavours with a sour coating, and it’s also striped like the rainbow! Banana Man is another marshmallow candy, though this one is banana flavoured on the outside and then filled with a creamy chocolate sauce.

Pringles Japanese Fried Chicken Flavour. 

This full-size tube of Pringles is a limited edition flavour exclusive to Japan! Fried chicken is another popular party food in Japan, and this special Pringles version is very tasty, with lots of garlic and onion.

KitKat Sakura.

Japanese KitKats come in a huge assortment of different flavours, and special limited edition varieties are very popular. This lovely cherry blossom flavoured white chocolate version is a special charity edition, and Nestle makes a donation to an NPO that plants sakura trees in areas affected by the Tohoku earthquake.