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Glico Mikado Dark Chocolate Kcal 10 Fat 0.4g Fat(sats) 0.2g Carbs 1.5g (per stick)
These Mikado Dark Chocolate came described as 'biscuits coated in dark chocolate' and came in a 75.0g box. If you look back to my review of the Mikado White Chocolate you will see that the milk chocolate variety was to my preference when it came to the taste. I can tell you now that having tasted these dark chocolate ones, that the milk chocolate variant is still my favourite, however there is a slight caveat that makes these a more than worthy alternative. In terms of the core taste, in my opinion the dark chocolate didn't quite reach the levels of the Mikado Milk Chocolate, as it came across as more of a 'mass consumer friendly' tasting chocolate, and not as differentiated as it could have been. Whilst it was richer and less sweet, it lacked the definitivness of the creamy flavours of the milk chocolate, and it didn't raise the cocoa volume enough to compensate this. The redeeming issue of all this, was that in comparison to the milk chocolate variety, these dark chocolate Mikado were a little more satisfying as the chocolate flavours left a greater lasting impression in the mouth. Worth checking out if you like the originals but want something a little different.
8.3 out of 10
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Glico Mikado Totally (Hazel)Nuts Kcal 11 Fat 0.5 Carbs 1.5g (per stick)
You may be able to tell that I wrote that review on the Mikado Dark Chocolate a little while ago. Since then these Mikado Totally (Hazel)Nuts have been released here in the UK and they come described as 'Biscuits coated with milk chocolate and hazelnut pieces'. My initial thoughts about these were that it was going to be terribly difficult to integrate nuts into Mikado considering how thin they are. Looking at the sticks it was immediatedly apparent that Glico had gone about this by implementing tiny hazelnut fragments into the milk chocolate coating. Addmiteddly I was sceptical to how much of a hazelnut nut influence these minimal sized pieces were going to create, however I was surprised by what I tasted. Amazingly these (Hazel)Nuts sticks retained all the creamy milk chocolate biscuit flavours of the originals, yet also managed to layer a strong ... yes strong note of woody fresh nuts in the latter stages of the taste. Your own enjoyment of these will be dependent on your own liking of hazelnuts. It sounds silly to say that but I genuinely believed these were going to struggle get the nut element involved so thats a good thing for me to be able to write.
8.4 out of 10
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Glico Pocky Chocolate-on-Chocolate CreamyKcal 86 Fat 4.7 Carbs 9.8g (per 16.0g packet)
As good as the Mikado offerings are here in the UK, when it comes to biscuit sticks we all know that the Japanese are the kings! Thankfully for me (and you guys of course!!) J-List are at always at hand, allowing me to try all the latest new Pocky flavours. Having tried so many different Pocky, Fran, Toppo etc products in the last three years, my most common complaint is that they are never satisfying or fulfilling enough to be an all round great snack. Well it seems that the people at Glico towers have answered my wishes with these new Glico Pocky Chocolate-on-Chocolate Creamy as they included 70.0% more chocolate on each stick! Hopeully in my photos you can see the two different chocolate layers and how they were layered to create a far thicker chocolate coating on the biscuit below. A little disappointingly these two different chocolates didn't produce much in the way of differentiated flavours, though the sweet milky taste was still very tasty when matched with the buttery flavours of the wheat biscuit sticks. I would love to see Glico make more of their more interesting variants this substantial - it's another ChocolateMission thumbs up for Pocky here.
8.4 out of 10
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Meiji Fran Premium Hard Chocolate/Strawberry & Bitter Chocolate & Bitter - Kcal 94 Fat 5.4g Carbs 9.8g (per 17.0g packet)
Strawberry & Bitter - Kcal 88 Fat 5.1g Carbs 9.3g (per 16.0g packet)
As well all know Mikado and Pocky aren't the only ones who make these chocolate stick products. Indeed there are vast amount of alternative offerings in Japan, and Meiji's Fran brand is probably another that can claim to be obscenely popular. By the looks of things, Meiji didn't want to 'miss the boat' offering consumers a more up-market version of their original Fran product line, so like Glico with the Pocky Chocolate-on-Chocolate, they have also just released a premium tier product line of Fran. Both of these Premuim Hard flavours came in stylish looking matted cardboard boxes and both contained four individual serving packs that contained three thick looking sticks in each. The blue flavour you see on the left was the original 'Chocolate & Bitter' flavour, whilst the one on the right was a 'Strawberry & Bitter' variant. Out of the two, the original chocolate was by far my favourite, and I felt that the flavour journey going from an unsweetned outer chocolate to a creamier, sweeter one below was really rather good. The strawberry sticks on the other hand didn't sit so well with me, as not only did the sticks smell artifical, but they unfortunately tasted rather like this to which came to me as a great disappointment. The blander tasting biscuit make these a less appetising product than the Pocky equivalents, though I would offer the original Chocolate & Bitter flavour as a worthy ballpark competitor.
Chocolate & Bitter -8.1 out of 10
Strawberry & Bitter -6.3 out of 10
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56 comments:
I was trying to hunt down a review of the mikado dark a few weeks ago. No wonder I couldn't find it. I just assumed you had reviewed it previously, obviously not.
Mikado could do with adding more than just hazelnut. There are some many different ones they have out in other countries now it would be easy for them just to replicate them if they wanted to.
Its such an untapped area of the market, it would be like printing money for Kraft but it almost seems like they cant be bothered to take advantage of it. They should strike whilst the iron is hot and all that.
Cool reviews Jim. This should stop all the people complaining you don't review enough Pocky chocolates etc. I don't see what all the fuss is about them myself. I would much rather have a decent chocolate bar then waste my time with these fiddly snack things.
I would have envisaged the chocolate on chocolate ones getting better marks than the plain ol crummy ones we get here. Hmmm perhaps that is a tad harsh, the ones we get aren't rubbish, they just aren't the most exciting when you compare them to all the mental flavours that are about abroad.
If I could pick a brand of products that we could get more of from abroad it would hands down be pocky every single day of the week.
Forget your ritter sport, milka and lindt etc. Pocky is where its at. Not only do they taste amazing but they make new flavours at a pace that no one else does. Not even the people that copy them like Fran can keep up with what they make.
Dx
Are there any new flavours of Kit Kat coming out soon? Why have Nestle suddenly stopped making new flavours?
I love these sort of chocolate biscuits but I get frustrated that the packs are always so small. Like you say on the Fran, what is the point of having only 3 sticks in one of those small packets. Before you know it you will have eaten them all.
Personally I just think you should get more for your money than what you generally get.
I'd totally forgotton about Mikado. There was a time when they were available all over the place but they have disappeared more of late. I'm astounded to hear they have made some new flavours, I had no idea about them.
I don't want to be a party pooper but am I the only one that doesn't get why everyone makes such a deal out of mikado/pocky etc? Some of my friends are absolutely obsessed with them, they will buy like big multipacks of the normal chocolate ones and devour all of them. I find them boring myself, they are only like chocolate biscuits people!!!! Why so much noise about them?
Rxxx
Heres a question for the eggheads. Why are Mikado not called Pocky in this country? Its not like its difficult to say or there are any similarly named companies. I like the name Pocky better myself.
Wicked reviews Jim lad. A blend of mikado and pocky is always going to be a winner with most of us :-) You've even thrown in some cheaper rip offs for the price concious. Awesome.
Hey J
Did you see us play on Monday night? How brilliant is Maxi Rod been recently huh!? 8 goals in 3 games is one mean return for anyone.
Cheers for the revies but to be honest with you I dont have much time for these sort of snacks. I generally find them a fuss about nothing. Give me a good ol traditional Double Decker any day please.
Cheers
N
5 reviews in one :) Bits and bobs are always so good :)
Jim have you ever come across any mint flavoured chocolates from Japan?
The reason I ask is because from what I have seen they bassically don't make any at all.
Is it just a cultural thing that they don't put mint in their confectionery? It seems odd that they are willing to make stupid stuff like sweet potatoe and green tea but then they don't make a single mint chocolate at all.
For a guy that said he would never review chocolate biscuits you aren't doing a very good job of not doing so :P I'm not against it for the record. I appreciate your thoughts on all these sorta things mate. Keep it up.
I think theres great potential for Mikado to be ten times the size it is here at the mo. I cant think of a single person I know who has tried them and not liked them. Its always a pretty tell tell sign that something can be successful if everyone that tries them like it. These hazelnut ones are the first 'risky' flavour they have tried. I'm not sure everyone I know would be as keen on them as they have been on the plainer chocolate ones.
Quality reviews again matey. I love the look of those double choc ones from Japan. The flavour doesn't sound the most exciting but it looks marvellously decorative.
POCKY FTW MAN!!!!! You can't do enough pocky reviews Jim. Keep them coming.
I hope they bring back that hilarious Mikado advert (the one with the photocopier lol). That puts me in stitches everytime I see it lol. Its the best chocolate ad in recent times thats for sure.
I saw the new hazelnut mikado ages ago they aren't new. I wont be trying them anytime soon thank you very much. I can't stand nuts!!! You haven't reviewed the white chocolate ones either have you? I wouldn't bother they are rubbish, I just get milk chocolates ones every time still.
I have never understood why glico have allowed so many people to copy the idea of pocky without them getting in to trouble. Those fran sticks look and sound every bit as nice as the pocky do, have they not heard of pantenting an idea? They must have lost so much money to rivals.
Was this post designed to turn me green with envy? If It was then you have 100% succeeded lol. Pocky sticks are the best snack in the world. I can sit and eat packs and packs of them without even thinking nom nom.
The milk chocolate mikado are better than any of the new ones. Originals are always the best.
One thing you do notice comparing our mikado with their pocky is the extra effort they have put in making them look nice.
Don't you think that the Pocky and Fran look like ten times smarter than our ones do!!!! I think it is more a case of them putting extra effort in rather than Mikado not looking right. It must just be the way they do things out there, they put the finer details on everything by the looks of it.
I say this every time we have Pocky reviews but the best ones I think are the coconut white chocolate ones. Please can you view this as an official request for a review please J.
How do you manage to stay ahead of us all with all these new products Jim? Even with you posting less than you used to you manage to stay 5 steps ahead of me.
Just how do you get these things before we do all the time. Luck or inside contacts?
Well done Jim. You've done a fine job highlighting how boring Mikado is compared to what they get overseas :)
Its always the way isn't it!? Boring boring UK!!!
I've had an amazing idea for pocky. They should stick soft fillings in the middle of the sticks running up at the middle.
Imagine how lush it would be if the sticks had caramel or some sort of cream running through them. *droooooool*
I want to see more of thos Tirol chocolates reviewed please. The green tea and tiramisu ones sound interesting enough for a review I think. Get on the case Jim, make it happen my friend.
Loving the post today Jim. It was a good idea lumping the foriegn pocky and mikado together so we can see them side by side.
I still find it odd how they have more developed ones than we do but Im sure we will catch up one day. Well I hope we do anyway :). Top reviews mate.
I'm not a fan of these biscuit sticks things but it always interesting to see how far we are behind with different snacks. I know they have been really popular since they launched, it wouldn't be surprising to see them slowly become one of the monster brands like mars and dairy milk if they continue to push them.
Jim i would love to see what you think of the Pretz which are the savoury version of pocky. They do some pretty crazy flavours of them aswell mate. You could make them your Snack of the Week if you don't want to post something non-chocolatey. Just an idea. What do you think about it?
Lol here was me thinking you couldn't like pocky that much because you never reviewed it :P Looks as if you werre saving them all up for this one big one :) Good idea if you ask me.
By the looks of things the Japanese Pocky/Fran market is the same as technology :-) They are way more advanced than we are here in the west lol. I don't get why they are always one step ahead of us in everything we do.
@Harry its about time mars and cadbury got some competition. It might make them step their games up a bit.
The Japanese sticks are loads prettier than the mikado. Even the fran look uber posh next to the knobbly mikas :) At least they still taste nice lol.
Why give the nutritional information per stick. Lol not a single person on this earth is ever going to eat these one at a time. Its so stupid, it would have been x10 times more useful doing it per half pack or something like that.
Pocky/Mikado deserves so much more attention and plaudits than it gets here. They seem to be slowly but surely getting more and more fans as more people become aware about them.
The profit margin on these must be so bloody high. I used to work for a biscuit company that shall remain nameless lol, and the mark up this company made was incredible. We are talking about the 45p packets aswell. If they sell these at like £2 a pack that must be raking it in. Thats going to be the reason why they are popular over there I think.
Its very interesting to see our versions compared to other countries, theirs look more interesting. But like others have said Ive never really understood the fascination or huge popularity of these type of things. Theyre ok but I dont see whats so special about them really lol.
I'd rather have a Choc Dip I think, it would be more filling and of course you have the fun of dipping the sticks in the chocolate lol :) Its interesting to think the idea isnt such a new one its just the implementation (ie coating the sticks rather than dipping them)thats changed.
Quality superpost Jim - Mikado are a great little snack so new flavours are always good to try :) Thanks for checking whether Tesco were stocking the new Bliss bars - hopefully they'll get 'em in soon! x
Hi All,
Great stuff hearing all your thoughts and opinions on all these different chocolate sticks. I thought it would be a popular one today given the amount of requests I get on near daily basis for these type of reviews.
Its interesting that some of you guys have picked up on the Japanese loving these type of snacks more. Someone made a very good point about them liking the 'lighter' snack options a lot more which makes a lot of sense when you think about the sort of products they make a lot of - pocky, kit kats, tyrol etc. They do seem to be way more inclined to those sort of ones as opposed to big chunky chocolate bars don't they!
I also think you guys who have said Mikado could be bigger in this country are right. They do seem to be very popular and from what I know they are growing sales quite considerably if there latest PR reports aren't fabricated. I think we are a way off seeing lines like the Chocolate-on-Chocolate but who knows, I think there will certainly be some new flavours coming along soon.
ANON - The amount of Kit Kats does seem to have slowed down a bit. I'm half expecting a new brand to come to the fore now. A new trend could be upon us.
RACHEL - Most people I know like them because they are something totally new. In this country there aren't any alternatives to it.
STEVEN - I'm no egghead it seems. One explanation might be that Mikado is managed by Kraft, whilst Glico manages Pocky!??? No idea though to be honest with you chap.
NIGEL - Yeah you were alright weren't ya :D ok ok! Haha you were brilliant. I have been mega impressed with Liverpool since Dalgleish took over. I'm still not buying that Maxi Rodriguez is a decent player though :D
GOLDEN - You are quite correct, mint doesn't seem to be that popular at all does it. I can offer no explanation as to why this is the case I'm afraid. I haven't got the first clue. Like you say it must be cultural.
ROBERT - I have reviewed them here actually http://www.chocolatemission.net/2010/03/march-19th-mikado-white-chocolate.html
EMILY - Im going to take that as a backhanded compliment :D
PETER - Request noted. Let me see what I can do chap.
LEE - I got the Pocky & Fran from JList. They send over samples for the site.
STEVE - I could well do that. I will send the idea over to my main man Peter at J-List to see if he would be prepared to send any. I would of thought so.
ALICIA - Eating one stick at a time would take you years to eat a packet :D Indeed it was a bit silly giving the information like that.
TONY - I would imagine the PM are huge yes. They must cost very little to produce.
ALAN - The KP Choc Dip ... how has that one alluded me eh!? Sounds like a job for next weeks snack of the week I feel. I will get on the case :D
ROXY - When you try them be sure to leave your thoughts. I'm sure it wont be long before Tesco get their stock. These things normally only remain as exclusives for a few weeks at most.
Thanks everyone - I will check in again tomorrow.
JIM
Thanks for the reviews Jim. The hazelnut flavour sure have funny packaging don't they. Do they even get squirrels in Japan lol!?? The cartoony squirrel is such a departure from the japanese flag background they have across all the rest, I'm starting to think that it must just be a flavour that is made in the UK or something.
I know progress is slow getting them out here but if you consider our supermarkets only had one flavour at most about a year ago, they now have four. If they keep growing at that rate it wont be long befre they are one of our top snacks alongside our current names.
I just saw your review of the chocolate jammie dodgers linked in below and I 100% agree with what you said about them. They needed to make them taste way more like chocolate, I thought they were bland as well.
I hadn't bothered keeping up to date with the mikado flavours so its cool to see some reviews on them.
For a while me and my mates were totally nuts (excuse pun not intentionel) about mikado and used to eat them by the lorry load when we could buy them in our college canteen. They are one of those things you don't see on sale in most shops though so its easy to forget about them.
Meiji look like they have a decent alternative made with those Fran. Do they make any better flavours or are they just the bog standard ones you got there?
Well done for not having any green tea in this week. Lol all the green stuff last week was just a little much for liking.
Im currently awaiting a big order from Jlist and it includes a pack of those strawberry fran. I love strawberry chocolates so hopefully I will like them more than you did. Had I known you would were going to score them this low I probs wouldn't have bought them though. Oh well, I have plenty of other high rated chocolates in there, I will let you know what I think of them. I hope I don't agree with you lol.
I have to ration myself to 10 sticks whenever I have Pocky. If I let myself at them I would eat boxes and boxes of them lol. They aren't as bad as for you as your average chocolate bar but they are hardly healthy are they.
After seeing the last few special pocky x2 chocolate ones I was hoping to see some more of the speciliast flavours and not the plain chocolate ones. If you get the chance can you review the white chocolate or praline ones please. They might be called vanilla actually.
Ahhhhhh so many new things to try I just can't keep up anymore :(
Rather than try everything new now I'm going to start prioritising some over others. I would like to try these new flavours of mikado but they aren't my favourite either so I will try the new dairy milks before buying either of these. If I remember right the dark chocolate have been out for a while anyways.
If shipping wasn't so expensive I would be all over the Fran from Japan (lol that rhymes if you say it aloud).
Its getting to the point where I want to try a credible amount of different chocs from Japan now. It's probably going to be worth it if I put them all on the same order and buy them all at once instead of one at a time. Lol thats what I will tell myself anyway lol.
The hazelnut flavour look awfully like these ones called 'almond crush' which I have tried before. They were very nice and similarly had only small bits of nut in them aswell. It must be something to do with the quality of the nuts used or something.
This is such a wicked post for you to do for us Jim thanks so much. It would have been less good if it has just been all about japanese pocky and fran because I doubt most of us will ever bother buying them over. Mixing in the mikado was a top idea. I want to try the dark chocolate ones now :) Thanks for the inspiration lol.
At last!!! We finally get some proper Pocky reviews :P You took your time getting them together but I really enjoyed reading this one. Just don't take so long doing it next time please :P
JULIE - Squirrels in Japan??? No idea :D
ASHLEY - Fran is pretty big brand over there. It is one of Pockys most serious competitors so I would expect there to be a fair few more flavours. I will see what I can do about reviewing some of them.
ANON - Vanilla Pocky review? You got it chap/chapess :D
GAMER - Took my time!?? Thats not a nice way of putting it :D I try my best to complete requests asap.
Thanks all.
JIM
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