Enjoy the things you can afford
Brand: Coop Cost: 3 for 25KR Found at: Coop Every supermarket I’ve been to in Sweden or Norway has an aluminum can/plastic bottle recycling machine. It’s easy to use, you just stick your old soda cans into the round opening, a conveyer belt takes it to the scanner, and the machine calculates the refund... Continue Reading →
The only thing as Swedish as a meatball is a cinnamon bun. They are everywhere. Every coffee shop, grocery store, and gas station offer the same spiced spiral – almost identical in their look and flavor. They are generally about 3 inches in diameter, an inch or two high, and topped with large lumps of... Continue Reading →
Brand: N/A Cost: 500 yen Found at: Osu Kannon I love the sweet potato. It’s a millennial thing - like the quiet, shy, stepsister of the avocado. Roast it, bake it, steam it, stir-fry it, blend it into a soup there is nothing that cannot be improved by a little sweet potato. And now, I... Continue Reading →
Brand: 7-11 Cost: 148 yen Found at: 7-11 An amazing thing has happened! A beautiful, wonderful, fantastic thing! The best thing that could happen at the end of a long, stressful week of work. A 7-11 has appeared a block from my house! Hitherto, the closest convenience store was a full 4 blocks from my... Continue Reading →
Brand: Rice Shop Stock Company Cost: 145 yen Found at: Family Mart Why do the snacks in Japan still contain whole, boiled chestnuts? It’s not autumn, chestnut season has passed, but still, I try to have a tasty treat and BAM – a chestnut: just sitting there, soggy and soft and smugly unnecessary. The... Continue Reading →
Brand: Family Mart Cost: 410 yen Found at: Family Mart I’ve always loved strawberry shortcake. I know it’s not a particularly bold statement to make – I’ve only ever met a handful of people who don’t like strawberry shortcake and they have largely been aberrations against the natural order of things. There’s just nothing... Continue Reading →
Brand: Grapeseed Company Cost: 900 yen for a package of 8 Found At: Narita Airport Kiosk I am ashamed to admit that I had never had a Tokyo banana. It is one of the quintessential food souvenirs of Tokyo, and by extension one of the quintessential food souvenirs of Japan, but I’ve never had the... Continue Reading →
Brand: Izusu Cost: 179 yen Found at: Yamadai The great lesson of my time studying abroad was realizing the benefits of being mistaken for a tourist. There are certain downsides. Every time I look at a subway map, for example, I find myself fighting off helpful grandfathers like I’m in an infrastructure-themed apocalypse film... Continue Reading →
Brand: Yamazaki Cost: 129 yen Found At: Family Mart THE STRAWBERRIES ARE BACK! The hardest part of the long, hot summer and the short, temperamental autumn was the absence of one of my favorite desserts in Japan: the strawberry mochi. Much like the chestnut mochi, this is just a regular mochi (red bean paste in... Continue Reading →
Brand: Uchi Café and Godiva Cost: 324 yen Found At: 7-11 “The Japanese diet is so healthy!” they said. “Japanese people are thin because they eat so well!” They told me. And then I showed up and I swear that this country is actively trying to give me diabetes. The sweets are the sweetest and... Continue Reading →
The Little Food Blog 