Here are mine:
Overrated: Tokyo Banana – After having the chance to try it for the first time recently I was very underwhelmed with it. I had thought about buying some a few times in the past but never did and now I’m glad I didn’t. Wasn’t worthy of the hype.
Underrated: Kujukushima Senbei (Nagasaki) – Tried these on a recent trip to Nagasaki, and while I usually think senbei omiyage is pretty mid, the peanuts in these made them taste really good and my coworkers and friends liked them as well. The castella was underwhelming though.
Honorable mention: Kasuta-don (Kagoshima) – I used to like these a lot, but recently my sweet-tooth has diminished and they’re just a bit too rich for me.
35 comments
Tokyo Banana is to Twinkie as KitKat is to KitKat.
Edit: Didn’t expect this to become one of my most controversial comments. Did I offend Tokyo Banana lovers, Twinkie lovers, or just people with a sense of humour?
It’d a bit tricky question, because omiyage is for giving, not personal consumption, the hype may be more important than taste. Hence an overrated omiyage might be the perfect omiyage lol.
But my take:
Overrated: NY perfect cheese cake. Can’t believe people lining for hours for this lol.
Favorite : fresh nanbu せんべい from 小山せんべい aomori.
Or more ubiquitous : Nagoya ゆかり えびせんべい shrimp senbei. But in general, whatever is the specialty of the place I visited.
Any region also has it’s cheap and expensive omiyage. The best that I received and the best that I ever gave was the Marusei Butter Sandwich from Hokkaido. I wanted some for myself so I bought extra!
Every single wafer/filling biscuit that is “ONLY FROM X PREFECTURE” when all that changes is the logo burned on the outside.
Anything made to be omiyage is usually bad. Totally stale and designed to be stale.
Omiyage’s purpose is to have a stylish brand name from a stylish location.
That said, 丸房露 (marubouro) cakes from the Kaneido company in the Kyoto area are the best omiyage I’ve ever tried. In large part because they expire quickly, i.e. they’re not a radiation-proof stale wafer.
I have always looked down on 鳩サブレー for it’s unappealing packed design and simpleness, but once I tried it, damn, that shit is goood!
通りもん from Hakata is one of the best.
Osaka 月化粧 is a rip-off version of that and is way worse.
Kamome no Tamago is one of my favorites and unless I’m in a weird bubble, it seems underrated since I rarely hear about it.
There’s a set of little lemon cakes that they sell as omiyage in Miyazaki that I love. No big brand name, just labelled in English and Japanese as “Miyazaki Lemon Cake”. Reminds me of a good slice of lemon pound cake, but with just a little stronger lemon flavour.
I am always happy to receive any local edition of Royce chocolate from Hokkaido! (Seriously, why isn’t Royce easier to find, they have like the best chocolate bars in Japan?)
God, I love Kasutadon from Kagoshima. My GF is from Kagoshima, so every time her family is sending stuff, I make sure that there is a good amount of kasutadon in it. From time to time I even order it myself online. Kagoshima ramen are amazing as well since I am a sucker for tonkotsu.
For me personally Shizuoka is a bit of a letdown. I was told that it’s famous for tea, but after trying it a never really got what’s so special about it. Maybe it’s just my taste.
I totally feel you on the Tokyo Banana. I also live in Tokyo and bought a box out of curiosity. Threw most of them away.
I’m surprised not to see Hiroshima もみじ饅頭 mentioned yet, which I think is unambiguously the greatest of omiyage.
I cannot for the life of me remember what it’s called, but I love the mochi thing with the kinako powder and the sugary sauce. I think it’s from Yamagata or Yamanashi?
I’m also a huge fan of yatsuhashi from Kyoto, even though that’s very basic lol.
Overrated: Tokyo Rusk, or any type of “rusk” which are basically flavored crispy toast.
Underrated is the “Caramely Yatsuhashi” that you can only get in Kyoto. I’m not a big fan of sweet red beans so these caramel filled mochi are a delight.
My favorite is Maple Mania! I get these from my coworkers when they go to Tokyo and they’re soooooo good!! Someone mentioned Hato Sable and I love those too♡
langue de chat (shiroi koibito and its other copycats) at first was nice but after n-th variation it got a bit boring
I personally like tokyo banana as it’s a good introduction of how something simple as cream bread can be made moist with balanced taste while shelf stable
Tokyo Banana is ok if you’re giving to someone with kids. You’re only supposed to have one anyway really.
Things I won’t say no to – Mito Ume. Peanut Monaka, Unagi Pie, Shingen Mochi.
Hokkaido anything. Awesome.
Okinawa regulars – Pass.
Oh and I love Goma tamago! Yum!
Honestly, any おせんべい is underrated. When I first lived here, I was all about the sweets for omiyage, but now I’m an おせんべい fan.
Depending on the flavoring, a lot of おせんべい are gluten free since they’re made from rice flour, so they’re a good purchase for those with allergies or sensitivities.
Kamome no Tamago, especially the 紅茶 version.
Miso bread from Sekiguchiya （味噌パン、関口屋）. Not only is miso bread rare and always great, this one is particularly good. Can order from Rakuten.
Anything you can grab at the station is overrated. The real omiyage you can only get in town
Overrated: omiyage
Underrated: not stressing over omiyage on your last day of the trip and coming home with the same light packing you left with.
I have no idea if people think Press Butter Sand is over/underrated, but it’s one of my favorites.
Overrated: Torimon from Hakata.
Appropriately rated: Royce, Jaga choco from Hokkaido.
Underrated: Can’t think of anything.
Okinawa milk cookie in the blue package. I could never find something similar on mainland. It’s so soft. I’m waiting soon they bring it in my neighbor to sell.
It feels (that’s feels meaning I’m sure I’m wrong so please don’t hurt me) that Japanese お土産 is always one of 5 things. There’s rice crackers, that weird sticky cake, some kind of icing between biscuits and some other things buys it’s ALWAYS the same.
As someone said here all that changes is the logo.
who is buying royce potato chips with chocolate?
Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion, but basically all お土産 snacks are inferior to major-brand snacks in my opinion…
They’re always either really average biscuits with little to no flavour past just “butter”, sandwich wafers or some sort of plain cake (without icing).
Honestly I’d be much happier to receive a boring old kit kat or country marm or something. I don’t need another dry flavourless biscuit or matcha wafer.
At least they’re packaged nicely. I guess that’s the whole point.
it’s all overrated
Tokyo Banana is hands down the best
Monaka… it tastes/feels like Styrofoam
Underrated: Kibi Dango (Okayama)
I always enjoy flavourful bite-sized mochi.
Most things are overrated to me, and I get a bit frustrated with getting the low quality wafer things.
I’m trying to lose weight, but I equally hate food waste.
I will eat something if it is delicious and worth the calories, like a well made chocolate cake or donut from a good bakery. But I hate having snacks that pretty much are tasteless or a bit rubbish. I feel like it’s a waste of calories, but equally I don’t want to chuck then because I hate food waste.
I’d rather get nothing and just choose my own sweets and snacks.
I also get given these things directly, so it’s not like I can just not eat the shared office snacks, and let others go at it!
Overrated: All omiyage
Underrated: The satisfaction when you go on holiday, come back empty handed to the office and realize no one actually cares.
Underrated: Search “青森りんご砂糖漬け”
These sliced candied apples from Aomori are the most coveted omiyage of my friends when I go home from Japan.