Review: Best Snack in Japan? Tokyo Rusk

One of my favorite types of snack that I like to gorge myself on when I’m in Japan is the ‘rusk’! Rusks are a popular type of snack that you see in Japan but rarely in the States. It’s basically a crispy twice baked piece of baguette (similar to the biscotti) topped with sugar, cream, or frosting. While I’m not a big fan of biscotti’s, Japan has perfected the art of making dried bread into  a piece of heaven. In this review, we take a look at one of Tokyo’s most popular rusk brand: “Tokyo Rusk”.

Different flavors available to try in store :)

Tokyo Rusk was started in 1996 and has now grown to 18 stores in Japan. They sell a variety of of rusk flavors, from the original sugar rusk to the more seasonal sakura rusks. Luckily, I was able to get my hand on a variety gift box, which included 3 different flavors.

Sakura Seasonal Tokyo Rusk

Mini "Corocoro" Rusk

Almond Rusk

Japanese Kinako Rusk

Packaging:

The art on the box is very neat and gives it a hip yet rustic feel to the brand. On the outside of the box it says, “The age old tradition of re-baking day old bread is a delicacy, rarely seen today. This process of double baking or ‘to Rusk’ is a slow and expert process that we take great pleasure and delight in introducing to you. We have re-baked the finest of French bread and developed outstanding flavors for your enjoyment. We are very proud of our Tokyo Rusk and are sure you will be delighted with them too. Enjoy Tokyo Rusk.” And man, did I enjoy them! But first, back to the packaging. While the artwork is cool, the quality of the box itself is not the best when compared to other Japanese snacks (ie: Fugetsudo). But once you open the box, everything is neatly partitioned, and the rusks are all individually packaged.

Taste:

In this particular assortment box, we had 3 flavors: Original Sugar, Raspberry, and Milk Chocolate.

The rusks are the size of a medium-sized baguette and depending on the flavor, you might get 1 or 2 per individual package. If you get the Original Sugar variety, they include 2 pieces per package. For all the other flavors, you get 1 per package. I wish they kept it consistent and included 2 per package for every flavor.

Raspberry Rusk

Raspberry Rusk is made from regular bread

The Raspberry rusk was very good with the thin layer of frosting covering one side of the bread. I actually liked that the frosting was only on one side, as it prevented it from becoming too sweet and overwhelming the delicate savoriness of the bread. The bread itself was very light and crispy, yet not rock hard like biscotti’s can get. If you like slightly fruity or yogurty flavors, then this is the flavor for you.

Milk Chocolate Rusk

The Milk Chocolate rusk is a chocolate bread!

The Milk Chocolate rusk was also very good. Similar to the other flavors, the thin milk chocolate frosting covered one side of the rusk. But unlike the others, the bread for this flavor was also chocolate flavored, giving it a very rich and decadent taste. Personally, I would have preferred it to have used the regular bread, but that’s a personal preference. If you like chocolate, you will love this rusk.

The Original Sugar rusk is the mildest tasting of the bunch, but my personal favorite. One side of the bread is covered with coarsely granulated sugar, and the other side lightly buttered. The bread itself was still very crispy but slightly airier than the others.

TLDR:

If you’re ever in Japan, Tokyo Rusks are an absolute must buy. They are delicious, and you need to try all the different flavors!