Oishi Fun Review – Monthly Japanese Snack Box

I recently received a complimentary snack box from the Japanese online snack service, Oishi Fun. The box arrived about a month after they had first made contact with me, and was packed full of curious treats and candies. I’ve experienced similar services through U.S. companies like NatureBox and JewelMint, but this is my first time trying out an International option.

Service

I was flattered to be contacted through my blog, and found their approach polite yet personable. They informed me of their delivery timeframe–if you order before the 15th of the month, you’ll get a box later that same month; if you order after the 15th, your first box will be the start of the following month. Because of the holiday season and the fact that I was receiving a complimentary box, I likely wouldn’t receive mine until after the New Year. I didn’t really mind at all since I would be out of town anyways for most of December.

I am curious, however, whether being a subscribed member would’ve given me the pretty box shown on their website. My food came in a standard cardboard box, and was filled nicely. The snacks were also inside a cute Christmas wrapping paper pouch. They included a personalized note with a complete list of the treats for January. I appreciated seeing my name and knowing exactly what I was given.

This site is a fantastic option for those without access to any Asian grocery stores or who need a little help wading through the countless possibilities of Japanese snacks. Signing up and canceling are easy and there’s no minimum on the number of months of service. Below are some images and brief descriptions of what I received!

January’s Snacks

Umaibo of various flavors

I’ve always been a fan of these fantastically empty snacks. Airy, crunchy, not filling in the slightest, Umaibo are some of the strangest flavored snacks that you can try. What’s great about them is that you can purchase and eat a box-full without ever feeling full. I get these pretty much every time my exchange sister sends me presents over the holidays, but I still like to see what new flavors there are. This time around, I received salami, chocolate,

The two chocolate-dipped umaibo were my favorite, with its surprisingly creamy outside. Because of the lightness of the inside, it didn’t feel as unhealthy as a full-out candy bar.

Note: I can’t help but think of the live action, Akihabara@DEEP, each time I eat an Umaibo. I don’t have the balls to actually shove an entire one in my mouth like Box-kun.

Angel Pie

This chocolate dipped cookie looked solid on the outside, but once I bit into it, I found a soft and chewy marshmallow center blanketed by a thin layer of crumbly cookie. KWoo swears he tasted a hint of mint, but I couldn’t.

Fruit Mix Cake Cookie

I hesitate to call this a cake since it’s so small, but the texture is more akin to a pound cake than to a cookie. The bread had a heavy sweetness to it, almost like it was mixed with some type of alcoholic liqueur.

Dark-chocolate Mushrooms

These are popular snacks that also come in a bamboo shoot shape (which are usually preferable to the mushrooms for some reason). I’ve eaten these for a long time and don’t have a preference between the shapes. The chocolate isn’t too sweet, making these easily addicting when you’re just sitting around.

Ramen Chicken Chips

I’ve had these before, but I always enjoy the strangeness of these chips, with their thin and wavy shape and oddly thickness for a chip. They’re addictive, and I finished the entire bag within minutes.

Puffy Cracker

I’m not sure what else to call this, but it definitely had a cracker-like texture, but puffed up in shape. It was a tad salty, but there wasn’t anything else remarkable about it.

Takoyaki “Chips”

These are eerily accurate in flavor to actual takoyaki, and have an airy, Umaibo-like texture. As easy as it would be to eat handfuls of this light snack, the sharpness of the flavor makes it hard for me to eat more than one or two at a time. It was one of the first snacks we opened, but also the last left over.

Soy Cracker

Individually wrapped, these are perfect snacks to have out on the table for guests.

Mini Baked Brownie

When I first opened the tiny wrapper, a whole bunch of crumbly chocolate flakes fell out, to the excitement of my dog. Other than the mess, this was a delightful miniature brownie whose only shortcoming was its small size!

Doughnut Candy

For some reason, I thought this was going to be a hard candy. But when I grabbed it, I felt the give in the chocolate. I really enjoyed this mix of strawberry (or raspberry?) and chocolate.

Cucu Patisserie Hard Candy

This was actually a hard candy and had a comforting coffee taste that I savored. This was probably one of my favorites in the box, and I really wish I could have had a couple more.

Mitsuya Cider Candy

This was more soda-flavored than I had hoped for; I wanted more of a melon taste. I actually don’t ever drink any type of carbonated beverage. I tried to finish this candy as quickly as possible!

Chocolate Cube

This was a bitter, dark chocolate cube with rice crisps. It really wasn’t up my alley, though KWoo enjoyed it quite a bit.

Hard, Sour Peach Candy

This was so cute and heart-shaped! I think I had more fun looking at it than actually tasting it, but I recall it tasting a bit like sour peach.

Hello Kitty Smarties

If you’ve ever tasted Pocari Sweat, you’ll have an idea of what these were like. They were chalky and melted on the tongue.

About Oishifun

The service is subscription-based at $25.00 USD per month and payment is processed through Paypal. Per the representative who contacted me: “The food in the boxes are random and you never really know what you are going to get except that we do blog about the possibilities. We’re trying to cram as much in as competitive, put in lots of the coolest stuff and some fun extras … make it a real experience.”

Website: http://oishifun.com