It’s no surprise to hear that Japan is home to some amazing snacks and sweets – from the random snacks you’ll buy throughout the trip, to ones from souvenir specialty stores.

But with so many options to choose from, which ones should you actually get? Today, I’ll be going over some of the Omiyage (Souvenir Sweets) I’ve come across during my last trip. Let’s take a closer look at what these sweets are like, how they taste, and if they are worth the money. Let’s get to it. How Good are these Snacks & Sweets from Japan Actually?

–The Butter Financier–
–NY Perfect Cheese–
–Shiroi Koibito–
–BAKE Creamy Cheese–

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🧈 The Butter Financier (Butter Butler) 🧈

Price: ¥1,080(4pcs.) // ¥2,160(6pcs.) // ¥3,240(12pcs.) // ¥4,320(16pcs.)

Starting this list off with (spoilers) by far my favorite Omiyage from Japan, here’s The Butter Financier from Butter Butler.

🍴 Taste 🍴

As soon as you open the wrapper, the first thing that hits you is that intense aroma of butter and maple syrup. (Seriously, the thing is incredibly fragrant!) And when you take a closer look at the Financier itself, you’ll also notice a glitter-like shine to the cake from all the sugar crystals. 

As for the taste? Once you bite through the slightly crispy golden crust, you’re instantly met with some truly intense flavors.

There’s the sweetness and fragrance of the maple syrup. The richness and nutty notes of the brown butter. Top that off with a light and airy Financier cake that just melts in your mouth (from all that Maple Syrup and Butter,) and you have a little treat that packs a whole lot of powerful-tasting flavors.

Overall an incredible experience – one that I highly recommend you try out. The prices can be a little high compared to the standard Omiyage, but as a little treat every once in a while, you really don’t want to miss this!

🌏 Where to Buy? 🌏

You can find Butter Butler at several Omiyage sweets shops around Tokyo (Tokyo Station, LUMINE Shinjuku, inside JR Shinjuku Station, and Shibuya Scramble Square.)

My visit was at Tokyo Station, where you’ll find the shop at Tokyo Gift Palette – around the 1st Floor of Tokyo Station’s Yaesu North Exit. 

Side Note: Like with a lot of Omiyage sweets shops, don’t forget to ask for a Tax-Free form if your purchase is over ¥5,500.

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🧀New York Perfect Cheese 🧀

Price: ¥1,166(8pcs.) // ¥1,749(12pcs.)  // ¥2,624(18pcs.) // & more

While I was in Japan this trip, my friend has been constantly reminding me non-stop to buy some NY Perfect Cheese. And after a confusing walk around Tokyo Station and a surprisingly long wait in line, I managed to secure myself one of their last available boxes to try for myself. 

Special mentions to NY Perfect Cheese’s unboxing experience. The golden box and individual wrappers really gives the sweets a premium-feeling quality to it. 

🍴 Taste 🍴

NY Perfect Cheese is a folded Gouda Cheese Langue de Chat cookie, filled with a blend of cream cheese, nuts, and two white chocolate bars (not a single bar that runs through the cookie.)

Flavor-wise, I thought it was pretty good! The cookie was crispy and had that salty, buttery hint of the Gouda, while the creamier elements from the cream cheese and white chocolate provided a nice blend of (mild) sweetness and tartness. And despite the decent amount of filling the cookie had, the final profile of the snack was actually quite light. 

Overall, NY Perfect Cheese was very solid! The complexity of textures and flavors do a really good job in separating itself from its “thin cookies + white chocolate filling” inspiration, and despite the (slightly) higher price and potential long wait in line, it’s an Omiyage I’d recommend you check out when you’re in the area.

🌏 Where to Buy? 🌏

You can find NY Perfect Cheese at a couple of places in Tokyo (Tokyo Station, Keio Department Store Shinjuku, TOBU Ikebukuro, and Haneda Airport Terminal 1.) My visit today was at Tokyo Station, and the shop can be found within the ticketed area of the station, right around Platform 4 and 5 (Yamanote Line). 

NY Perfect Cheese sells out quite fast, so if you want one, make sure to head there as early as you can!

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🍪 Shiroi Koibito 🍪

Price: ¥712(9pcs.) // ¥950(12pcs.) // ¥1425(18pcs.) // ¥1,900(24pcs.)

Being Sapporo’s most famous souvenir sweets, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that this box of Shiroi Koibito was actually gifted to me from a friend during their trip to Hokkaido.  

🍴 Taste 🍴

Shiroi Koibito is a pretty simple snack,  two Langue de Chat cookies sandwiched between a piece of white chocolate. The flavors work really well together, with the cookies being light, crumbly, and mildly sweet, and the white chocolate center providing a bit of richness and depth to the overall profile (plus being the main sweet component of the dish.) 

Overall very nice, with not much to complain about – though if I needed to be critical, its simplicity means there’s no real defining element that separates it from the competition. (But if it works, it works, right?)

So if you need a recommendation for a snack that checks all the necessary boxes (and as *the* iconic Omiyage of Sapporo,) you really can’t go wrong with Shiroi Koibito. 

🌏 Where to Buy? 🌏

As a regional Omiyage of Sapporo, you can buy Shiroi Koibito at souvenir sweets shops around the Sapporo & Hokkaido area. But if you’re travelling in a different region of Japan and want some, your next best bet would be at Duty-Free snack shops at the airport.

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🧀 BAKE Creamy Cheese (Morinaga) 🧀

Price: ¥171 per box

Although not technically an Omiyage by definition, let’s end this review with a snack that I always have to bring back for my friends every time I visit Japan – Morinaga’s BAKE Creamy Cheese.

🍴 Taste 🍴

Each box comes with 10 pieces of BAKE, divided into two sections of six and four (is there supposed to be a reason for this?)

It’s pretty difficult to describe what BAKE is, but if I had to, it’s like a baked cream cheese & white chocolate bar – that’s soft and melty when at room temp, and sets up a bit more firm (with a crispy shell) when chilled. 

Flavor-wise, the first thing you’ll notice is the aroma of cheese and white chocolate. And when you finally bite into it, the thin, slightly browned crust crumbles away nicely and you’re hit with this mix of sweet, creamy, and slightly tart interior that instantly melts-in-your-mouth for an incredible tasting experience.

It’s definitely more sharp tasting (both on the sweet and tart side of things) than a lot of the snacks I’ve tried, so it might be too much to eat all of it in one sitting. But as a little snack that packs a whole ton of amazing flavors, I’d definitely recommend you grab some BAKE Creamy Cheese!

🌏 Where to Buy? 🌏

BAKE is sold exclusively at Donki stores throughout Japan. You can buy each pack separately at ¥171, of course, but if you wanna buy a bunch, you can probably grab one of their unopened boxes and take it to the cashier (since that’s exactly what I did.)

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⭐VERDICT⭐

So how good are these Japanese Omiyage snacks & sweets actually? As a whole, they’re all very good – and between these four, you really can’t go wrong with any of ‘em. But if you wanna see how I’d personally rank them, my order goes something like this:

The Butter Financier >> BAKE Creamy Cheese > Shiroi Koibito > NY Perfect Cheese

Butter Butler is just on a different tier for me. The intense flavors combined with the light and airy Financier really sets itself apart from the (comparatively) milder-tasting sweets out there.

Similar story with BAKE, actually – with its own defining flavors (plus at a really affordable price point.)

Shiroi Koibito is a classic, so no real complaints here.

And as for NY Perfect Cheese, while I thought it was really good, I felt it was missing that final something to push it to the Top 2. (I’d still recommend you give it a go yourself for the experience!)

Again, you can pretty much buy any of these and end up with a satisfying little treat. If we’re going by Omiyage per its definition, then NY Percect Cheese is my recommendation based on price, novelty, and flavors. But if you need a single (personal) recommendation from me – Butter Butler is absolutely the way to go! 

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