UmaiBox is a Japan-based monthly box from NihonBox that is filled with the best treats from JAPAN! Each box includes 13-18 items of the best snacks and products from Japan plus a Gachapon to collect each month. Bonus items are placed in boxes at random!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: UmaiBox
The Cost: $21.49 a month + $8.90 shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save $2 off your first box!
CODE: ILOVEUMAIBOX
The Products: 13-18 snacks + a Gachapon
Ships to: Internationally
Check out all of our UmaiBox and NihonBox reviews and the Kawaii Subscription Box Directory!
Keep Track of all Your Subscriptions: Add UmaiBox to your subscription list or wishlist!
There is an info booklet included each month. Inside you will find a list of each item featured in the September box with a little description so you know more about each item! The back also tells you how you can purchase the NihonBox.
Now let's get to the snacks!
Kracie Poppin Cookin Kit - Colorful Peace Ironuri Kyan Land - Value $1.90? (based on similar product)
This little DIY kit allows you to make hard candy in multiple colors! You will receive red, yellow, and blue that you can use to turn your candy all sorts of colors. The information booklet also provides a link to watch a step by step video on how to mix and make your candy. My DIY kits always seem to be a huge miss, I guess I am bad at following directions because they always turn out wrong. My candy turned to mush, but the colors were super vibrant!
Okonomiyaki Sembei - Value $3.00?
Sembei is a type of rice cracker and okonomiyaki is a savory pancake containing a lot of different ingredients. The dressing that you find in the package is typically used on okonomiyaki. So this snack is very authentic! The cracker itself had a delicious crunch and really tasted like a beef broth. The sauce itself tasted like steak sauce with a bit of sweetness. So this really is a savory snack!
Cookroll - German Potato - Value $1.43
This snack is inspired by the German dish "Bratkartoffeln" or home fries! From the looks of the snack, you would think that this is a sweet wafer cookie, you would be wrong. This snack tastes exactly like meat and potatoes with a roll dunked in. Everyone that tried this in my house did not like it because they were thinking it would be sweet and were caught off guard by the meat flavors. For me, I could not stop eating these! You honestly get this cream texture that tastes as though you are actually eating mashed potatoes and the wafer itself mixed with that tastes like a dinner roll. This is comfort food on the go and in box!
Bonus Snack: Umaibo, set of 2 - (buy a pack of 50 for $12.48)
The umaibo flavors for the month are teriyaki burger and mentai flavor. The teriyaki was the most flavorful umaibo I have ever tasted! You really get the strong teriyaki flavors mixed with the meatiness of a burger. The mentai tasted like a cheesy meat. Umaibo snacks are growing on me, but I always have such a hard time detecting the flavors. I was really excited though to have one that I finally could pinpoint what it was!
Chips Gyoza Flavour - Value $4.00?
When you look at the packaging you will know that this is going to be some sort of dumpling flavor. OMG, I could have eaten an extra large size bag of these! It honestly tastes exactly like you are eating a dumpling. You get that creamy potato flavor mixed with the meat that a dumpling would be filled with. The booklet says it is almost as if you are eating the real thing, and I don't think I could describe it any better. Crunchy dumpling goodness!
Sweet Potato Snack - Value $2.99? (pricing based on similar item)
The information booklet notes that this is a traditional snack that has existed in Japan since Edo period. The snack itself is a fried sweet potato in sticks that are covered in sugar. The booklet also notes that this snack is very sweet, and maybe I am just eating too much sugar lately, but I didn't think these were sweet at all. That is in a good way though because I think it allowed the sweet potato flavors to shine through! I loved the crunch that frying the potato provided and that you can really snack on these so easily!
Bubble Gum Gudetama - Value $0.49
Gudetama is a lazy character that was invented by the Japanese company Sanrio. Your own little packet of bubble gum will come with an adorable sticker of little Gudetama! My son thought this was the best thing ever! The gum itself was very light and thin and tasted like soda, without the bubbles of course. A little sweet and a little bitter. I really loved this whole snack from packaging to tasting!
Choco Flakes Ball - Kinako (buy a similar product in a 4.22 oz. bag for $10.44)
Judging by the bag I would have thought this was a snack, but after reading the booklet it sounds like this is a cereal. I wish I hadn't eaten the whole bag already dry because I totally would have used it as a cereal! The cereal itself is grilled soy flour covered in chocolate. There is nothing powdery or artificial about these flavors though, you get such a rich chocolate flavor that is almost creamy. I bet this would be amazing as a cereal with almond milk, I'll just have to dream about it now!
Cookie Pokemon, 2
I received two of these cookies with the Pokemon packaging depicting Sun and Moon. According to the booklet, there are a total of 16 different illustrations for this packaging! I wish I had received more of these or that they were larger because they were so good! They were honestly soft like a warm brownie. Each bite just melted in your mouth with that rich chocolate flavor. Enough said, delicious!
Kandemina - Long Vacation - (buy a similar flavor for $3.29)
These candies are tropical fruit and soda flavored, which is most likely why they aren't overly sweet. Even with the outer sugar coating, you don't get too much sweetness, but instead, you got the fruity flavors. According to the booklet, Kandemina means come on, chew! That totally makes sense because these candies are really hard to chew so make sure to not pop a whole handful in at once. The snack itself is a little longer in length to represent the wish to extend summer vacation, too cute!
Curry Sembei Shin-chan - Value $0.80? (price estimate based on this size bag)
Shin-chan means curry and sembei! We already learned earlier what sembei means and who doesn't love curry?! The snack itself is a rice cake, a little longer and flatter than the other version we tried. The rice cake is flavored with a curry powder that isn't too spicy considering that is the main flavors! I love curry but I did find this to be a little too artificial and powder like for me, but everyone else in my house that tried this thought this was the best snack of the month!
Ame Oni - Aurore Sauce - Value $1.53
These are basically a blooming onion in a corn snack form! They taste exactly like onions and I could not get enough of them! The manufacturer decided to add an Aurore sauce, which comes from France, to add some more flavors that include bechamel and tomatoes. The onion mixed with a bold spice was almost too good to be true. I have never had a blooming onion before, but this snack makes me think I need to try one.
Country Ma'am Mini - Matcha - (buy 14 piece box for $7.90)
These are a very popular snack in Japan that are essentially soft biscuits. They make them in a variety of flavors, and this month's box features the matcha. I have never had matcha in a biscuit or sweet before, I know that is a very popular sweet treat, but I have had it with a warm tea and loved it. Can I just have it in soft biscuit form from now on though?! OMG, these were beyond good. They really are a melt in your mouth soft biscuit with this sweet matcha flavor. I think this was hands down my favorite snack of the month!
Macoron
I sadly wasn't able to find this anywhere online, but I will continue looking because I want to buy more of them! Macarons are made with almond flour, but these little guys are made with peanut powder. You might wonder why there is a different version of a macaron with basically the same name, and that is because in Japan in the Edo period almond flour was very hard to find. So they created these little biscuits with peanut flour. When you first bite into them they are very crunchy and crumble in your mouth, but as you continue chewing they create this thick creaminess. Basically, they taste like a peanut butter cookie that you would buy fresh from your bakery. I absolutely loved these little cookies!
Gachapon Pokemon Metal
Every month you will receive a bonus gachapon to add to your collection. This month, I have received a Pokemon metal! There are 10 different plates that you could receive with different Pokemon characters. What a fun little gift to receive to add as a friend for the bonus item I received last month!
Verdict: This was my second time receiving UmaiBox and I really loved all of the snacks this month! I think there is a perfect mix of sweet and salty items. You also receive so many snacks in large bags that you have extras to go around, which I love because sharing each unique snack with friends is my favorite! This month I received a total of 17 items, 16 snacks and then my Pokemon metal. UmaiBox comes in at $25.49 a month including shipping so that equals out to around $1.50 per item. While I wasn't able to find many of the snacks to purchase online, I do think based on similars and the size of each snack bag that the value is there. UmaiBox is one of the larger snack boxes that I have seen and I always end up loving everything that I get so nothing goes to waste. Plus, you have the added bonus of learning about new snack foods, ingredients, and brands from Japan!
What was your favorite snack from the September UmaiBox?
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