One of my favourite things to pick up at Narita Airport in Tokyo is Tokyo Banana. It is a basically a sponge cake with banana-flavoured custard inside. This is usually sold in boxes of either 8 or 12, for about US$10 and US$15 respectively.
The soft and airy sponge cake makes for an excellent afternoon snack. The custard inside is also very yummy, without being too sweet. If you google 'Tokyo Banana', you can find several other blogs talking about it. Some hate it as they think the taste is too artificial and chemical but I love it.
There is a shop in basement level 4 of Ion (near Muji and Watsons) which sells many popular snacks from Japan. I'm not sure if Tokyo Banana is available there but the shop is worth a look at as they carry quite an extensive range.
The soft and airy sponge cake makes for an excellent afternoon snack. The custard inside is also very yummy, without being too sweet. If you google 'Tokyo Banana', you can find several other blogs talking about it. Some hate it as they think the taste is too artificial and chemical but I love it.
There is a shop in basement level 4 of Ion (near Muji and Watsons) which sells many popular snacks from Japan. I'm not sure if Tokyo Banana is available there but the shop is worth a look at as they carry quite an extensive range.
I've tried the Black Tokyo Banana version! Yummy~~
ReplyDeleteI love snacks, especially the cute looking ones...this one looks cute and seems so yummy :D
ReplyDeletebeen looking for it for a friend but the japanese shop @ ION B4 needs pre order before they take in. =( they have another one but its not the one that you've shown here....
ReplyDeletebut thanks for the review. =D
the shelf life of this is too short for my liking, maybe it's just my purchase. the filling tasted really funny. Now that you mentioned its banana custard, i kinda get how come it tasted like that.
ReplyDeletenarita airport is not in tokyo, its in narita lmao
ReplyDeleteYes, Narita Airport is in Narita city, hence the name. But it's the main international airport serving Tokyo.
ReplyDeleteJust to add on, there's really no need to be rude, especially on someone else's blog. Please go laugh your ass off somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI love Tokyo Banana! Whenever anyone goes to Japan and asks me what I want, I always ask for them to bring back Tokyo Banana, Ichigo Choco Daifuku and Rare Chocolate Daifuku. I have never heard of Black Tokyo Banana.
ReplyDelete*Kat*
Iris~ Do you know where you can get this outside of Tokyo? I'm gonna go look on Ebay, but I seriously doubt they will have it, LOL. Thankies! <3
ReplyDeletehi Sheila,
ReplyDeleteSorry, I don't know where this is sold outside of Tokyo. But if you are flying through any major airport in Japan, there's a possibility that they may stock it, just like how Narita Airport also stocks popular snacks from Hokkaido and Osaka.
hi Kat,
I've also never heard of the Black Tokyo Banana, sounds interesting! I also love Japanese 'nama' chocolates, like those from Royce.
ahhh my favourite!! just looking at your photos makes me drool T_T
ReplyDeletei love tokyo banana too! the one with chocolate filling is yummy as well.
ReplyDeletei love to visit the supermarkets in japan, all the bakeries there make one drool.... the quality, packaging, exquisite presentation. YUM!
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x55/diyanahomie/black.jpg
ReplyDeleteLuckily I still have the photo of the Black version!
i vaguely remember that tokyo banana has some other pdts like pie or cookie. 白色恋人 is very nice though. my favourite snack purchase from NRT. Just to add on, i think it's cheaper to purchase Tokyo banana in the departure gates rather than outside.
ReplyDeletehi diyanahomie,
ReplyDeletewow, thanks for the pic! It looks yummy!
hi Von,,
Yup, it's definitely cheaper to buy after the departure gate in the dutyfree as you save on the 5% sales tax. Shiroikoibito is lovely too. I usually also stock up on the different varieties of Kit Kat like green tea and sakura.
heehee these look like twinkies :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE Tokyo Banana.
ReplyDeleteThis is always my fave!! ^_^
My Japanese ex-colleague loves to give me these when he comes over to Singapore. Sometimes, I feel so selfish that I kept quiet about it not wanting to share my loot.
ReplyDeleteOh man, reading this makes me miss some of my favorite snacks. I can't remember if it was last summer or this past Christmas when my son brought home the Shiroi Koibito. That was sooo YUM! The green tea KitKat is yummy too.
ReplyDeleteI will have to think hard to find someone who will be coming from Japan soon. Unfortunately my son won't make it home this summer.
*Kat*
pop/instant japanese snacks are always so cute and quirky! i love trying them but i've never really liked any enough to keep repurchasing, somehow most of them taste at least a little 'artificial' to me. -stella
ReplyDeleteThis looks crazy yummy!!! I wish they have it in SG!!! I love banana by-products!!!
ReplyDeleteHello (again) Haru,
ReplyDeleteThis stuff is simply delicious. And the black ones are just as nice...soft and yummy too. You must try it the next time you're in Japan.
my boss lovesss to buy this whenever he's back from business trip like every month but cant seem to get my tastebuds to like it very much!! :/
ReplyDeletemuch much prefer biscuits from yoko muku (hoe i got the name right) they are the besttt!!
Am not sure if these are the Ikebukuro Banana ones that I once bought for my family.
ReplyDeleteBut I love love love Hokkaido stuff (after I went to Hokkaido this yr). IMHO, Japanese pastries (and stuff in general) are of a good quality and tasty but so expensive when you compare them to what you're likely to pay for in Singapore.
I may pay S$3 for a cookie in Japan, but I'll be damned if I do that in Singapore. Ironic huh.
im sorry i didnt mean to come across as rude, i just thought you had made a mistake...
ReplyDeletei didnt mean anything by it, i apologize if i offended you
*sorry forgot the add this on last comment
ReplyDeleteits just that i come from narita so its just a common misconception people have, like people think im from tokyo when im not etc...
again im very sorry and deeply ashamed that you included a mention of my remark in another post about blogging advice. i really do enjoy your blog and again i am sincerely apologize
hi morpheuslove,
ReplyDeleteIt's ok, thanks for explaining. I wouldn't have minded you pointing it out at all except for the part where you had written 'lmao' and I guess I got a bit over-sensitive. Anyway, let's just forget it. Thanks for reading my blog!