A taste of strawberry season from 7-11

There are a host of foods that signify winter in Japan to me. Piping hot bowls of ramen. Convenience stores starting to serve oden. Baked yakiimo. Nikuman that double as hand warmers. The list goes on. Of all the foods that give me those winter vibes, strawberries might just be at the top of the list. We love stocking up on locally grown Echigohime strawberries at this time of year, and I'm always partial to the strawberry themed desserts that start to pop up on store shelves. There are too many of them for one person to try (or maybe that's a challenge!), but this caught my eye at 7-11 recently so I had to pick it up.

Are you a strawberry lover? Have a peek at the offerings at your local convenience store - there are quite a few of them to choose from at the moment!

From the description on the package, I assumed this would be some kind of cookie sandwich that was filled with a cheesecake-like filling. The presentation to me was really nice - I liked the fancy looking drizzle on top and the addition of the freeze dried strawberry sprinkle as a garnish. For 257 yen (that’s inclusive of tax), I was pretty impressed!

Out of the package! I really liked the presentation of this sweet treat!

Even when I cut the cookie sandwich open, I thought it looked pretty fab - the cross-section showed the strawberry-filled center, and I was already salivating at this point! After the little photoshoot, it was time to do the all-important taste teste!

As always, here is the compulsory cross-section innards shot so you can see what to expect! The mix of textures and flavors was an A+ to me!

I’m honestly kind of disappointed that this is only a limited time addition to the shelves at 7-11 - I’d be more than happy to see it as a permanent fixture. It provided a great mix of textures and flavors - there was the moist yet flavorsome cookie part, the smooth cream cheese filling, and the sweet but slightly tart strawberry in the middle. For those of you who enjoy cheesecakes back home, it’s not as sweet as what you’d expect from an American cheesecake filling, for example - but the sweetness of the strawberry center made sure that it didn’t taste too “cheesy” like some cheesecake-style desserts here do.

The final verdict

If I was giving this product a star rating, I’d go with 4 and a half stars out of 5 - I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like strawberry-flavored desserts, go check your local 7-11 to see if it’s in stock. I don’t know how long they’re going to be around for, so I recommend heading in sooner rather than later - I’ll probably be back soon enough myself to snag another one! Happy eating, and enjoy strawberry season!

Have you already tried some of the strawberry offerings popping up at convenience stores at the moment? Are there any that you’d care to share with the rest of us in the comments?