Gari Gari Kun is probably the most popular brand of ice
blocks In Japan and it has been around for many years (since my mum was a kid) and they
pretty much represent summer in Japan. They are super cheap delicious ice
blocks that come in the classic Samurai Blue flavour (soda flavour), many
different fruit flavours and also various limited edition flavours (some very
very strange).
This is the classic Samurai blue flavour which tastes like
soda flavour and is just very refreshing and delicious! While I did not eat
this one, the price is pretty low at 62 yen (60 cents AUD) and it is a classic,
I give this snack 8/10. The other one pictured is Japanese pear or nashi pear
flavour and it tastes EXACTLY like a nashi pear! The resemblance is
extraordinary! One thing I’ve noticed with Japanese snacks and Gari Gari Kun in
particular is the match of the true flavour of the food and the ice block form-
I don’t get how they do it but it blows my mind! I give this snack 8.5/10.
I should also explain the unique texture of Gari Gari Kun
ice blocks- the outside is like a very hard ice block- like a regular ice block
you’d find in Australia, but the inside layer is kind of like a snow cone- it
is less dense than the outer layer and is very easy to bite through!
A couple of limited edition flavours I saw while I was in Japan
were the Kiwi Fruit flavour and the Gari GaReeeeN flavour.
I really enjoyed the Kiwi flavour although it tasted more like a sweet green apple flavour to me – if you ever see it I definitely recommend trying it! I give this snack 9/10.
The name of the other flavour is a very funny pun that combines the two names of ‘Gari Gari Kun’ and the famous Japanese band ‘GReeeeN’ – I totally thought it was a great play on words and made me want to buy it- as well as the great packaging combining the GReeeeN logo (smile) and the well-known wide mouth of Gari Gari Kun. Gosh the packaging and advertising in Japan is crazy good! Anyways I didn’t enjoy the ice block as much as the packaging – it was a green apple flavoured ice block with little coloured sherbet drops through the middle. It was kinda fun to eat but nothing too special with regards to flavour. I give this snack 6/10 – but the packaging would have to score a 9/10.
And let’s not forget that this is the brand that created the
infamous Corn Potage (corn soup) flavoured ice blocks, continuing with stew
flavour and now - *DUN DUN DUN* Neapolitan (spaghetti with tomato sauce).
Having tried corn potage flavour 2 years ago out of curiosity, and not minding
the flavour (although it was very weird to eat something that tasted EXACTLY
like corn soup in the form of an ice block), I decided to try the Neapolitan flavour
this time.
Warning signal #1- it was reduced to 30 yen at the
supermarket (30 cents AUD)… not a good sign considering Japanese people eat a
lot of crazy things and this was reduced drastically to try and sell them.
Warning signal #2 – all the tasting videos on YouTube all pretty
much saying that it’s disgusting.
…Aaaand then I bought it and ate it…
Not the best idea I’ve had. It tasted like tomato juice and
it even had little bits of tomato jelly through the middle- YUCK! So then I
forced my family to try it as well *mwahahahaha*. One of the most foul things I’ve
ever tasted, I give this snack 1/10… It gets one point because of the company’s
bravery to release this flavour and the whole experience- like when are you
ever going to eat a spaghetti flavoured ice block?... and the answer is now
NEVER AGAIN!
I hope you enjoyed my very long post about Gari Gari Kun ice blocks–
thank you if you made it this far! If you’ve ever tried Gari Gari Kun I would
love to hear what flavours you've tried and your opinions on them!
That’s all for now,
Sayonara! xo
No comments:
Post a Comment