Waitrose Menyu Japanese selection [@NLi10]

 I foolishly forgot to take pictures of the boxes for these before they went in the recycling, but luckily the Guardian talked about the original launch of this range from 2023.  

The 2025 versions are different - more refined - and more suited to a mix and match approach.

We had

Chicken Karaage

Mushroom Gyoza

The fabulous vegetable rolls

and rice!

We had the meat and mushrooms solo, and split the rest, which was a decent meal.

And the flavours and textures were very surprisingly similar to Japanese restaurants here in the UK.  The Karaage was flavoursome and crispy and the vegetable rolls had a lot more flavour and no sogginess at all.

I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that the Waitrose signature range for Japanese food is authentic and affordable, but I do worry sometimes about the flavours we get sold.  Here I'd be happy to try more in the range - if any has survived to the 2025 refresh.

Geisha bar and pätkis bar - Ikigai, Leamington [@NLi10] @ikigai.uk

 Leamington Spa is an unusual place, lots of older buildings and new ideas crammed into a network of always busy roads. This mix does allow for some fantastic small businesses to flourish - and we bumped into one the other day.

The shop is called Ikigai and is full of treasures from Japan - so naturally I gravitated towards the snacks.

The helpful shop owner informed me that I’d actually found Finnish snacks - which is great as thats probably even rarer - but designed to appeal to that unique connection that the two nations have.

Geisha is a pretty little bar, with a fresh chocolaty smell, and the contents are a slightly crunchy hazelnut praline.

Not as sweet as a Nutella, and with a sublime texture this is a hit. As ever, I wonder if there are fruiter versions.

Next up is the less pronounceable pätkis bar - which was £1 and had a mysterious vibe to it that begged to be taken home.

This is not a crispy roll as I’d thought - but essentially a kind of peppermint fudge.  It has a different texture which I appreciate, not too chewy and not too crumbly, which makes it a really good snack.  Again - the flavours are strong and you don’t need much of this to be happy.

Very glad that neither had fish or liquorice in them (or bean paste!) as is often the case with regional snacks.  I wonder what international people despair that England uses too often - maybe vinegar?

Www.ikigailiving.co.uk

Anyway - the shop is well worth a visit (both in person and online) and I can’t talk about the other things I bought as they are gifts :) I’m sure we will go back at some point.

ISO Sushi - Japanese food in Walsall [@NLi10]

We had a mini family get-together and fancied something other than Pizza so had a look on the usual apps then ordered directly from the ISO Sushi app (20% off!) as I'd not seen decent Japanese food in Walsall before and that kind of thing should be encouraged.

  Link here - there are actually a few in the UK by the looks of things.  Wolverhampton too which means when I'm in the remote office I can pick it up...

This meant that it was around £80 for 7 of us including driver tip.  We tried to do delivery but it wouldn't accept the postcode, but as we'd filled it in like that the restaurant phoned us to see if we did want a delivery and it all worked out.

I had the Chicken Yakisoba which came with Udon noodles (unexpected bonus) and it was great - nice deep flavour and a hint of spice to keep things interesting.  Most everyone else had variations on the Katsu (although the youngest had the Ramen)

I also added a drink - a little expensive for what it was but that's typical of the mangajo style drinks

The sharp lemon was a refreshing contrast to the spicy sauce so I was more than happy that I'd added it.

I also added these lovely Biscoff Gyoza! BUT - everyone was too full after their generous mains so I took them home then ate them solo for lunch the next day (pic at top)

The inside is almost like a Baklava - sugar syrup infused Biscoff crumbs and general awesomeness.  If you like this sort of thing then a sweet gyoza is definitely a new flavour sensation and makes a change from endless (but lovely) deep fried bananas.

It was the first time some of my family had tried Japanese food (!) so they were pleasantly surprised and also very full too.  Great value for money and somewhere I'll definitely order from again should I find myself with family again.

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Beer [@NLi10] & Piccolini Pizza - Iceland

It's a big wrestling weekend in the UK - Money in the Bank was in London! I mean - it wasn't in the big arena, that's to come in Aug. But it was big enough.  It's a busy time of the year for me so I decided to let other people have this one - but it didn't mean I couldn't join in.

I picked up three of my favourite beers - the Hitachino Nest ones - recently, but had two new flavours to try.  The first of which is this red rice beer.  It's fruity, and it's certainly got a strangeness to it - but it's very much in line with the original White one that I usually have.

And to accompany it - a nice spicy pizza from Iceland. Part of the 3 for £10 Italian range I've not really had this before - we tend to go for the meals instead. 

And it's certainly lush.  Now they've stopped doing the Lewis Capaldi pizzas this is probably the most deluxe one they have.  All the meats are good, and the variety of cheeses are very Italian and not like a lot of the frozen brands.

Not too filling unlike the Chicago town ones too - this is so much lighter and fluffier.

Perfect for a projector size wrestling show!

Plant Kitchen No Chickn Gyoza (@NLi10)

 Japanese food is great - and it’s even better if everyone can join in. That makes veggie/vegan versions superb.

Here we have some V approved not Chicken Gyoza

All sealed up and ready to fry - so what are they - are they veggie or fake meat?

Well it certainly looks like meaty contents- not great for fans of just vegetables. But nice for those that want a healthier version of chicken gyoza.

Kit Kat Mini Strawberry Pop Choc (Candy Mail) By @cinabar

I got these super cute Kit Kat Mini Strawberry Pop Choc from an import shop. To be honest, the packaging is in Japanese, but they look like Pop Chocs, a product that Kit Kat makes and the pink and the fruit on the pack lead me to strawberry as a flavour.

Inside the bag are cubes of wafer covered in chocolate, they are in a resealable bag, but I’m not sure if Kit Kat understands how much I can munch in one portion.

I gave them a try, but I have to admit the flavour wasn’t as sweet as I had expected. The strawberry flavour is quite sharp and zingy, which was a good contrast with the creamier milk chocolate. They tasted good, and I liked the flavour combination, even if wasn’t that sweet strawberry cream flavour I’d been expecting. I wish we got bags like this Kit Kat Mini Strawberry Pop Choc in the UK as they are such a nice idea for gazing on during the day.

Pokenori by Yakinori - delivered Pokebowls (@NLi10)

Last week,  no one really fancied cooking so i bravely looked on Uber eats for something that wasn't too unhealthy - and found that our good friends at Yakinori now had their own range of pokebowls for delivery.

Luna is quite excited too!

This is the veggie option, it has aubergine in and noodles underneath

.

This was mine - chicken with some avocado stashed in 'off menu' on some really tasty rice.

and both were amazing.  We'd been meaning to visit their Birmingham store since they opened on New Street - but then their landlord had a flood in the flat above and it's been closed ever since.

This was a great, healthy way to sample their fantastic food without visiting the store, and a much healthier option to pop on the regular delivery schedule.

The Best Katsu Chicken Curry Pizza (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

Sometimes you just need a quick and easy tea, and what better than a limited edition pizza? I spotted this Morrison’s The Best Katsu Chicken Curry Pizza, and thought that it sounded a bit different and worth a try. Katsu Curry is one of my favourite Japanese foods, and pizza is my favourite take-away, so this sounded like it was made for me.

We popped it into the oven and then gave it the taste test. I was in two minds about this pizza. I think the first part was that it didn’t remind me of Katsu Curry. The base felt a little like a thin naan, and the topping like a mild curry, specifically a Chicken Tikka Masala with added cheese. I liked the cheese element, not a problem. So the other part is the fact that I really liked the pizza, there was nice spice from the chilli pieces making it hotter in places, plenty of chicken, spinach and a decent base. It was thoroughly enjoyable to eat. The only issue is this Morrison’s The Best Katsu Chicken Curry Pizza didn’t feel Japanese to me at all. I felt it was tasty. I’d even buy it again, but I couldn’t quite get passed the feeling that it did not quite hit the Japanese brief.

MI SO TASTY - Silken Tofu Miso Soup by @NLi10

I like Japanese food, but I don't really like mushrooms.  This means I tend to avoid things that use them as the ingredients in large ways.

I do like Miso soup though - even though I understand that Real Dashi contains mushrooms.  I blame my time as a teenager in the Japan Cultural Centre near Totenham Court Road buying the cheap Miso soup with fish food (tempura batter flakes) as it was the only way I could eat there.

Aged mushroom water - yum...

You get some cubes, & some paste

And you get a nice hot drink for a Feb evening starter before dinner.  Just the right amount of salty and tangy and umami and 'mouthfulness'.  Great split between two as a starter, or you could probably have one solo as an alternative to a nice cup of tea.

Have to bring your own flakes, but this tastes pretty darn close to the real deal!

Muji - Fake Japanese Snacks - Raspberry Balls & Vanilla Wafers (@NLi10)

 I love getting little presents - and I love Muji - so this was a lovely surprise!  Snacks - but from Muji!

Now - normally I get household things as it totally matches my aesthetics, and the occasional bit of clothes - but snacks? Like with Ikea these are a great sneaky reason to get me going back - if they are good quality.

Made in Malaysia - but I'm guessing in a Japanese style.

And look at them - glorious little cubes (ish).  And surprisingly these taste a lot closer to English pink wafers than the Euro choc wafers we get from the Polish shops.  Very nice - easy to eat a lot of these - but probably not wise.

Here we have Raspberry coated with Milk Chocolate

Made in ... Bulgaria!  But presumably to a Japanese style.  Frankly - who cares - these are amazing.  Look at how thick the chocolate is - that's a real snack.  And it's part of my five a day if I eat a handful.  At £2 a bag though it's going to prove an expensive hobby...

I've got one more left to review - but that one is more of a meal than a snack so I'll do that seperately.

Ramune - Strawberry Drink (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Back when we were allowed out I used to go to a Japenese restaurant in Birmingham city centre called Mount Fuji, my go to drink there was a soft drink called Ramune. It is a sort of lemonade but sweeter than that with a nice hint of almost bubblegum like flavour. As curious as the drink is the bottle is also quite fascinating, it is called a “codd neck” and has a glass ball holding the seal in place. A bit of a novelty but one I like!

I haven’t had Ramune since before the first lockdown and was quite surprised to find it stocked on Ocado, they also had this their strawberry edition which I hadn’t seen before so I added a couple of bottles to my order. When it arrived it brought back memories of Japanese meals out and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into the fun process of opening the bottle. So, in short, you take the wrapper off, take off the outer lid, split this into two, discard the ring, use the T-shaped part to sit on top of the bottle, push down, wait for a pop and you have released the the glass ball sealing it! It isn’t actually that complicated - see photo.

Once the drink was in the glass I could see it was quite fizzy and a nice pink colour. The flavour is very sweet, there is more sugar than strawberry in the flavour, but it is still fruity. It is a fun drink and it may be too sweet and syrupy for some, but I loved it. I loved the strange bottle opening and I loved the memories of Japanese restaurants, which hopefully I’ll be able to visit again later in the year.

Nagozo Choco (Japan) By @SpectreUK

I used to write about import snacks a lot in the past. I used to frequent the Indoor Market and other Chinese supermarkets in the city centre where I used to work. I browsed around in those stores that many times that I ran out of snacks and drinks that I wanted to blog about. A friend of ours brought back a few snacks from his trip to Japan. Cinabar wrote about the Macha tea flavoured chocolate sweets sometime ago (matcha sweets). These caramel chocolate sweets are my snack for this week's blog.

 

I probably sound more than a little bit 'old school' when I say this, but I was rather impressed by the Google translation tool that Cinabar used to take a photograph of the original Japanese packet, which translated onto a new photograph for you to see. I haven't seen that translation tool before on photos. It makes me think back to those blogging days of import foods in the past and wonder how many more snacks I could have tried if I'd had the App then, rather than wondering what some of them were on about!

I remember tasting one of Cinabar's mocha tea flavoured chocolates, which had a squidgy texture. I'm expecting these caramel chocolates to have that same squidginess. These Nagozo Choco chocolates are like an eclair with a milk chocolate filling and caramel chocolate coating. The inside is a milk chocolate jelly. On unwrapping the first sweet you can see from the photograph that they have a pretty design on the top. The outer coating is more like Caramac, which is a favourite of Cinabars. The inner jelly milk chocolate complements this outer coating flavour. However, Caramac and jelly milk chocolate aren't really my thing, so I passed the rest of the packet onto Cinabar to devour rather than me waste the calories!

Information on the packet; Each sweet is 32 Calories, with 0.5g of protein, and as far as I can tell from the photos; 1.6g of fat, 3.9g of sugar, and 0.007g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Mystery Brown Kit Kat from Japan (Amazon) By @Cinabar

Recently I bought a big box of mixed Japanese Kit Kats from Amazon. There are two of each flavour and a cute little menu to explain what the different varities are. Sometimes I go to it and do a lucky dip to choose a flavour and some (like dark chocolate) are not that crazy but some are super interesting. I picked out this one in a brown packet, found its partner and then looked for it on the menu, and it wasn’t there. Oh, this posed a problem. I have the Google translate app though so took a photo of the translation…. “oh tona sweet” I think something was literally lost in translation, I guess my tastebuds were on their own this time.

I opened up the Mystery Brown Kit Kat and it was a dark cream in colour with specks of dark brown so not really any clues there but it did smell like Matcha tea, even though it wasn’t the expected green. The packet for Matcha Kit Kat is also green so this isn’t the same. The flavour was sweet with hints of bitter that made me think of coffee, but the after taste was still like matcha tea. Curious, this bar has got me confused is there such a thing as Coffee Tea that would be my best guess!! This was nice, different and fun the have a guess at. If anyone knows what it actually is do please leave a comment below.

Pringles Rice Fusion - Japanese Katsu Curry flavour (@NLi10)

Pringles are honestly the worst thing in the world to review because it's always the same pictures - with slightly different dust.  These are the rice fusion Pringles which if you've not tried are a slight texture change to the original Pringles.

And they are often on sale because the unusual flavours are scary.  The red thai ones were ace - lets see if these are too.

Oh - the excitement!

This dust does have more visible 'bits' in it which adds some colour.

They smell a bit like the Japanese gravy/curry that is katsu - and they taste a lot like it too.  Maybe not quite rich enough to be convincing, but it's definitley as close as I think you could get with a little disk instead of crispy pork or chicken.

These are enjoyable, but they mostly make me miss my trips to Yakinori for their Katsu.  

They do have the usual Pringles almost addictive factor so if you eat a whole tube to yourself expect to get cravings for more!

 

Kit Kat Custard Pudding - Japan (Amazon) By @cinabar

So I had another loo into my box of imported Kit Kats from Japan, did a lucky dip and pulled out this Kit Kat Custard Pudding edition. There was a menu included with my selection of chocolate of bar and that is how I know it is custard pudding flavoured. I also have the Google translate app on my phone which translates from photographs so I ran that through the app as there was such a lot of writing. This confused me.

The front came back translated as:

The back came back translated as:

I think I am supposed to heat this bar? Really though, it is tiny? In a toaster? But on a saucer? The translation is rather confusing and I appreciate it is a free app so I’m not complaining. Sorry readers I chickened out and just ate it straight. The Kit Kat has a distinctive toasted aroma without cooking. The Kit Kat Custard Pudding is very creamy and it tasted a little burnt, with tones of caramel. It is actually a really good flavour and smokiness works well with the white chocolate and the sweetness, balancing it out. I may not have brave enough to cook this bar, if that is what I was sup[posed to do, but it was a nice new flavour to give the taste test. Burnt custard would be the best description but it worked.