I Tried This Popular Mystery Box, and It Had So Many New-to-Me Snacks I Could Never Get at My Grocery Store

Whenever I travel abroad, I love finding a grocery store to pop into to grab some local goodies (like this tarragon Dijon mustard I discovered in Montreal). But international travel can be expensive, which is why I like picking up different boxes online filled with snacks from other countries. I subscribed to Universal Yums, a subscription box packed with snacks from a different country every month, for years. And recently I learned that Bokksu Market has a Mystery Pack with an assortment of Asian snacks for just $20 right now. I’ve tried two in the past month, and it gives me a little boost of fun every time I open it up.

The name “Bokksu” might be familiar to you. The brand originally sold a subscription box filled with Japanese snacks (which you can still sign up for online). Now it’s expanded to include a virtual marketplace where you can buy a la carte items as well as snack assortments, like the Mystery Pack. 

If you like to try all sorts of different Asian goodies, both sweet and savory, and don’t mind not knowing what you’ll get, then the Mystery Pack is for you. It comes with anywhere from six to 10 items, including individual bags of chips, candies, and even drinks that hail from countries like China and Japan. And it costs just $20 (it’s 33% off right now). Honestly, this price feels like such a steal for something that brings me so much joy. 

My first Mystery Pack came with seven goodies, and my second came with 10. And while both boxes came with an assortment of items, there were a few that remained the same: Asahi Mitsuya Cider Soda, Ninja Ramune Grape Gum, and Bokksu White Strawberries, which were one of my absolute favorite snacks both times. 

My boxes also included the following:

• Lay’s Golden Fried Crab Potato Chips (which I’ve wanted to try for awhile now)
• Cheetos Japanese Steak Chips
• Gateau Peurepos Matcha Cake
• Pocky Cookies & Cream
• Kawaguchi Peach Candy
• UHA Mikakuto Puchao Soda Mix Gummy Candy
• Chip Star Seaweed & Salt Potato Chips
• Jolly Sheep Grape Hopping Cotton Candy
• Sangaria Caramel Milk
• Koikeya Suppamucho Refreshing Ume Potato Chips
• Soka Senbei Ume Zarame

Apart from the drinks, which are still chilling in my fridge, I have tried everything in both boxes I received. In one box, I got a couple of different ume-flavored products (ume is a tart fruit, often referred to as a Chinese or Japanese plum). I really enjoyed the tartness it brought to savory snacks, like a rice cracker and potato sticks. 

I also loved getting to try different flavors of snacks from brands I already know I love. One of my absolute favorites was the Pocky Cookies & Cream. I’d never had this flavor before, but it tasted just like cookies and cream ice cream to me. The Lay’s Fried Crab Potato Chips were fun to try, too. The best way I can describe these chips is to say they tasted like a crab boil; they have a distinctly sweet and savory crabby flavor without being fishy, which I appreciated. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the two boxes I tried. They were packed with lots of new-to-me snacks that I can’t find at my local grocery store. Plus, for $20, it’s so convenient to have a box full of snacks shipped right to my door. 

Buy: Bokksu Market Mystery Pack, $19.99 (on sale!) at Bokksu Market

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: The Popular Snack Box I Ordered Twice in One Month Is 33% Off