The last time we tried the Tokyo Treat box, it was October last year where we dived into some neat Japanese Halloween snacks. Considering it is now June, that was a long time ago, and a lot has happened to Tokyo Treat since then. The Tokyo Treat subscription box has been UPGRADED!
We were luckily given the opportunity to review the June 2022 Tokyo Treat box and I admittedly loved its June theme – ‘Snackin’ Shibuya’. Having visited Japan in 2019, walking the Shibuya Scramble was one of the highlights of my visits. As silly as it sounds, wandering across and through the streets of Shibuya was unlike any experience I’ve had before. I even got excited when I visited the Hachikō Statue. So, you can imagine my excitement when I received my June Tokyo Treat box.
Not only has the design of the Tokyo Treat box had a face lift, but the snack range has improved immensely, with every detail well-thought out and lovingly curated to a specific theme of the month.
Regarding the face lift in the design of the box, the Tokyo Treat box maintains its trademark orange colour, but now it detailed with some additional colours of yellow, white, and blue, and there are some super stylish designs of both snacks and things that represent Japan, like the bullet train and waves that are both inspired and a tribute to Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’.
The booklet has also had a revamp. Instead of being presented in a magazine shape with cover art showing an anime style girl drawn together with the snacks of the month, the new booklet is more square-shaped, has more pages, and shows real people on the cover of the booklets instead.
If you’re wondering, here’s what’s new; the Tokyo Treat subscription boxes now come with Japanese instant ramen (yes, instant noodles), Japanese desserts, Japanese bread and/or cakes, and a 24-page booklet which not only shows in detail the snacks you get including allergy information, but the booklet also contains fun facts on Japanese food, destinations, and culture, all in relation to monthly theme.
With this month’s theme being inspired by Shibuya, I found myself flipping through the booklet, keen to read about each snack that I had received and was delighted to see that the booklet not only mentioned Shibuya’s must-visit food spots, but there was even a story about the beloved Hachikō Statue that I visited during my trip, which honestly warmed my heart.
The snacks themselves were very tasty and consisted of:
- The Manneken Cookies & Cream Waffle which smelt and tasted delicious. Out of the packet, I did try it, but when I heated it up in the toaster, it was even better, especially with cream and/or ice-cream!
- The Sankaku Cracker, although vegetable flavoured, was very addictive and tasty, which is a good thing!
- The Porickey German Potato Pretzel Sticks were a bit weird at first. Admittedly I am not usually a fan of pretzels, but I kept snacking on these until the next thing I knew – they were all gone!
- The Caramel Pop Corn Soda bottle design was a pleasant reminder of the movies, and the taste, well I liked it, but it is probably one of the most tangy and wildest things I’ve ever tasted.
- The Strong Cola Jumbo Ramune is basically fizzy candy, like a cola soft drink but a fizzy, fresh, candy tablet.
- The Kamsen Cracker: Light Salt, which consisted of little almost popcorn looking tiny crackers. A tiny and tasty, yet extremely crunchy salted light snack.
- Jaga King. This one was a bit weird. It’s apparently pan-fried potatoes, shaped as wedges that were mostly very mild in taste and when you eat them, they fall apart in your mouth quite smoothly.
- Scone: Quattro Cheese, which is basically like Twisties except with a mix of cheeses containing the result of combining flavours from gouda, camembert, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese. Honestly, after I had taste tested all of the snacks, this was the one I went back to devour and finish first.
- Puku Puku Tai Lemonade. Honestly, I loved this. It’s a fish shaped taiyaki, but a wafer, and the lemonade wasn’t too strong, nor too weak. It was just right. I am absolutely going to try hunt these down the next time I am in Japan.
- The Spicy Napolitan Tomato Pasta is Japan’s take on Italian spaghetti, but with instant ramen. I don’t necessarily enjoy spicy things in general, but it definitely was an acquired taste.
- Fujiya Assorts… Okay this was a bit strange. Fujiya is a Japanese cake and confectionary company and they provided Tokyo Treat with three different choices of snacks for their box. However, the recipient (that’s me), only received one of the choices. The choices consisted of Night Temptations Parfait a la Mode (I genuinely have no idea what is in this one), Heart Appreciation Happiness Yellow Banana (I love banana flavour, so I wish I received this one), Baskin Robbins Chocolate Poppin’ Shower (I did receive this, and I’m not necessarily a fan of popping candy, but my partner is, so he snatched these in an instant – it’s also bubblegum flavoured). I really wish there was a way to choose the ones you wanted when it comes to these multiple choice or surprise snacks. Because you end up looking at the booklet later and you’re either really happy with what you received, or sad about what you missed out on that other people got.
- Matcha Thunder – now this one was my favourite! It’s a crunchy chocolate biscuit/bar with an Uji matcha flavour. I love, love, LOVED this one.
- Last but not least, a Tokyo Treat box is not complete without some Kit Kats. For June, the box included a limited edition Kit Kat Pudding flavour which combined flavours of caramel, cream, custard and white chocolate. For me, it was pure bliss.
Overall, Tokyo Treat have outdone themselves with their new and improved subscription box. Granted, if you purchase one now, you won’t get the same snacks that I received, as the monthly box is always pre-purchased the month before. So, the July box will be available to pre-order from June. But this is not a bad thing, as it’s good to be able to see what you want to order beforehand. And while I am like many that are aching to go back to Japan once their international borders properly reopen, in the interim, I’m definitely sold on the Tokyo Treat subscription box once again and I honestly can’t wait to see what’s in next month’s box.
For more information and to order your own Tokyo Treat box, use our special referral link here:
https://tokyotreat.com/?rfsn=6609481.6490dd
A Tokyo Treat box was provided for the purpose of this review.
