UmaiBox Food Subscription Review + Coupon – October 2018

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.)

About UmaiBox

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

UmaiBox October 2018 Review

There is an info booklet included each month. The “map,” as I like to call it, guides you through the snacks and gives you added information on the goodies. This month’s theme is “Bikkuri Halloween,” so let’s keep the spooky season alive and dive into the box!

Pumpkin Dorayaki

Normally stuffed with red bean paste (which is delicious), this snack was instead pumpkin-filled in honor of the holiday! I honestly didn’t taste the pumpkin in this, even though I would have liked to, but this was one of my favorite snacks this month; it was soft and tasted exactly like pancakes.

Choco Papiro Sanrio

The whole package on this is super-cute, but there is something about Hello Kitty dressed up as a witch that is just incredibly adorable! As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge chocolate person. I don’t hate it, but it’s just not what I reach for first. That being said, I liked these quite a bit. The filling inside was a mousse-like consistency, and the cookie outside had a nice crunch.

Milk Senbei Halloween

These milk-based senbei would’ve been interesting on their own, but these ones came with a Coke sauce that I found fascinating. The sauce was purple in color, and was extremely thick, which was definitely different, but it tasted like Coke! The senbei were super thin and crispy - they tasted like the cone of an ice cream cone.

UmaiBo Corn Potage

I love receiving these in the UmaiBox - they’re weirdly so satisfying! It’s a pretty classic corn flavor this time, but the texture is nice, like a hollow corn puff. The Halloween packaging this month is absolutely adorable, too!

KitKat Caramel Pudding x 2

I had high, high hopes for these KitKats! I always look forward to trying new KitKat flavors, and caramel is one of my favorite things to have in dessert. These were a slight let-down, but only because my expectations were pretty high. These were pretty good! I liked the white chocolate, but they didn’t necessarily taste overly like caramel.

Natto Chiple

Natto is a fermented soy flavor, so I was a little hesitant to try these guys. They were actually quite tasty! They did have a strong flavor, but it was nice and savory. They have a light, crispy texture, and are perfect for snacking while watching movies.

Ottotto Halloween

I’ve had these snacks before, and for some reason, I’m completed addicted to them! They’re light and almost cracker-y, and while their flavor isn’t really anything strong (they’re mostly just lightly salted), they’re extremely satisfying to snack on. The little shapes are so cute, and their hollow centers give them a crispy texture that I am obsessed with!

Morokoshi Wa Taro Doubanjiang

I like when there are savory snacks in the box, but I was worried about this one since the pamphlet said it would be spicy! I will be the first to admit that my tolerance for spice is fairly low, but thankfully, these didn’t have too much heat; just a little bit of almost a wasabi-like flavor, without the kick.

Horror Mask

These were perfect for the Halloween theme: little apple-flavored marbles of “blood,” packaged with a zombie mask. I received a cool pumpkin-head mask with a knife in it. I don’t know that this would be suitable for really little kids since the mask was a bit gory, but I appreciated the whimsy in this, and the apple candy was tasty - a little bit of sour green apple.

Suppai Budou Ni Goyoujin

This trio of grape candies holds a surprise within - one of them is super sour! While the packaging warned me that one of them would have a sour flavor, I was not prepared for exactly how sour they would be. It was much more so than I’ve encountered in American candy - I also wasn’t prepared for how much I enjoyed it!

Umaka Halloween

This seems to be a pretty common treat, and it was nice to have this savory flavor in the box. These little corn snacks are mayonnaise-flavored, and definitely just a few go a long way - they really taste like mayo!

Clear Coke

I’ve been to a few places before where you can try all different kinds of Coke from different parts of the world. Some of them are different flavors you’d never expect, like guava and raspberry. The fact that this Coke is supposed to be Coke in every way except the color is so fascinating to me! It’s funny, I didn’t know what to expect, but the first thing I noticed was that this is “diet” Coke, or at least, zero calories. I never drink soda personally, even diet, so I noticed that taste right away, but I also noticed that it tasted just like a slightly lemony Coke! Definitely a bikkuri treat!

Nanbu Senbei - Pumpkin

I’ve really come to like senbei from these boxes, and I think the story of this one is so interesting! Normally made with water and flour, this one was made with butter, sugar, and eggs, adding extra richness to the flavor. It’s super crunchy, so it arrived in a few pieces, but it made absolutely no difference in flavor. What really made this little senbei shine was the inclusion of pumpkin seeds. They added great additional texture!

Pokemon Cream Shake

This last item in the box was meant to be! I don’t always keep milk in our house, but we have some this week, so making this was really easy. I really liked that the directions were laid out clearly in the pamphlet to mix it, and I found the little reusable cup the perfect size for this little treat. I received the strawberry flavor, and while the flavor was a little on the sweet side, I was impressed with how thick the packets inside made just plain ol’ milk. And the little spoon at the end of the straw was so cute!

Bonus Snack: Chocolate Stars

I had an extra treat in my box this month - these delicious, chocolatey little star snacks! They have a sweet chocolate-corn base and a chocolate outer coating. They’re rich and have a nice crunch to them, but they weren’t in the pamphlet and I couldn’t find any other information out about them, which is a shame, because they were one of my very favorite things in this box!

Verdict: The snacks in this UmaiBox were surprising and the bikkuri theme was awesome for October. Bikkuri means to startle or to start, and I took it to mean that many of these treats would be surprising in some way or another, and they absolutely were! I loved seeing some old favorites, like the Ottotto snacks; and the clear Coke, milk senbei with sauce and sour grape candies kept me on my toes. I really loved all the senbei this month in general, like the pumpkin seeded one, and I would definitely enjoy more dorayaki in future boxes. I’m usually easy to please with Halloween anything because it’s my favorite holiday, but I was really impressed with how strongly this box was themed, and how well the items really fit in.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? Nope, you’ll get the November box. Boxes ship between the 5th and 9th each month, with a 20 day transit time.

Coupon - Use coupon code ILOVEUMAIBOX to save $2 off your first box!

Value Breakdown: This box costs $21.49 a month + $8.90 shipping, and I got 15 items (not counting the unlisted bonus snack). With the cost of shipping calculated in, that breaks down to $2.03 per item, which I think is a good value for what I received!

Check out all of our UmaiBox and NihonBox reviews and the Kawaii Subscription Box Directory!

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What was your favorite snack from this month's UmaiBox?