ZenPop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack is a monthly subscription from Zenmarket that sends unique Japanese ramen + sweets handpicked by their staff in Japan.
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 ZenPop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack
The Subscription Box: ZenPop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack
The Cost: $24.50/one-time purchase (save with longer commitments).
The Products: 2-3 bowls of noodles, 6-10 Japanese sweets + snacks
Ships to: Worldwide for free!
Our Review
Every box begins with a nice thank-you note from the creators, as well as a coupon!
Each box also features an info sheet that explains special instructions, ingredients, and common allergy warnings for food items.
To our teensy-bit late Halloween special!
Pumpkin Potage Soup – Buy 3-pack for $3.99
I’m very familiar with this creamy pumpkin soup! I cook a very similar Korean pumpkin soup (hobakjuk) around this time, so I was happy to find this soup.
It first comes out as powder with solid baguette cubes. After stirring and letting it sit, the soup thickened and tasted SO good (a bit salty).
The bread cubes were such a good idea because who doesn’t love bread dipped in warm soup?? I was surprised by the thickness of the soup; maybe they added rice flour in the powder?
Rich Tonkotsu Ramen
Just the other day I had tonkotsu (pork broth) ramen at a restaurant! This cup was a two-step process. The first step was to soften the noodles with broth powder.
Then you add beef fat (??) to give that beef broth flavor. I was surprised to see it was solid fat because the info sheet had said liquid soup mix… BUT it tasted amazing and VERY salty.
I ended up adding lots of water and adding rice because the broth tasted so good! I thought a kick of spice would’ve been nice, so I ate it with kimchi.
Calbee Pizza Potato Chips - Retail Value $2.98
Whoo! There was quite a powerful cheesy smell when I opened the bag! These chips are in ruffle form and have lotsss of cheddar cheese and garlic powder—tastes exactly like cheese pizza dipped in garlic sauce!
Chocolate Taiyaki – Retail Value $1.50
Taiyaki, in the shape of tai (seabream), is a fish-shaped cake usually filled with sweet red bean paste or custard. The bread portion is waffle batter cooked in a hot cake maker, and the cake is a common street food. This snack imitates taiyaki by using a crispy waffle encasing chocolate mousse.
The chocolate inside is so, SO light—have you ever tried Aero by Nestle? They’re all over the UK and have air bubbles inside chocolate bars for a very light texture. This snack was gone much too quickly and was very delicious.
Supplement Pure Gummies – Estimated Value $2.98 (try different flavors here!)
These are a Japanese gummy staple! And they’re good for your skin 😊 They contain collagen, Vitamin C, and hyaluronic acid to help moisturize and brighten.
There were three flavors: lemon (yellow), blueberry (purple), and peach (pink) and are the perfect balance of sour powder covering a sweet gummy. The bag was resealable (I ate them almost like vitamins!)
Halloween Caramel Corn
Ooh! These Tohato caramel corn are very common; you can probably find them at your local H-Mart or Lotte. They’re very light corn puffs dunked in caramel flavor. I luckily got the limited-edition Halloween pumpkin pudding flavor, though they smelled like latte when I opened it! I had to read the packaging to find out, which was hard—did you know ‘panpukin’ was ‘pumpkin’??
KitKat Chocolatory Matcha Double Berry & Almond Flavor - Buy 15 piece bag for $12.90
Yay! Another everyday luxury creation from KitKat! I’m an avid fan of matcha flavors, especially KitKat’s dark matcha flavor. With cranberry bits giving a chewy texture, along with the crunch of the original bar and almond slivers, this snack defines luxury. (Also! there were 4 to enjoy 😉)
Umaibo- Cinnamon Applie Pie Flavor - Retail Value $0.16
This month’s umaibo (light puffed corn snack) had a cinnamon apple pie flavor. Simple, right? Nah. At first, there was a soft sweet apple taste (probably the apple syrup) but it turned into a sour taste later, then finished with that nice aftertaste of aspartame ☹ I enjoyed eating almost half? but gave up with the weird aftertaste.
Halloween Poteco
We’ve seen these before! In October Bokksu’s curation, we had Halloween potato rings of pumpkin gratin flavor. These were gone quickly but were such fun to eat. So crispy, tiny, and packed with flavor!
The Verdict: I loved this month’s curation—especially that pumpkin soup! That was one (small) lovely portion to eat with the still chewy chunks of bread and warm, earthy pumpkin flavor. The supplement gummies were also the perfect “vitamin” gummies, packed with a sour tang and nutrients.
To Wrap Up:
Can I still get this box if I sign up today? Nope! But subscribe for the December box here!
Value Breakdown: For $24.50, you receive 2 bowls of ramen/soup and 7 sweets + snacks, so you’re paying about $2.72 per snack (but free international shipping!)
Check out all of our ZenPop reviews and the Food Subscription Box Directory!
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What do you think of November's ZenPop Ramen + Sweets Mix Pack? Did you enjoy the special Halloween flavors?
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