Calbee is the company behind some of Japan’s most well known packaged snacks. Potato chips, Jagarico, shrimp crackers. These are everyday snacks you buy in supermarkets and convenience stores. Mass produced, but with a lot of attention to texture, seasoning, and flavors.
Calbee Plus is Calbee’s concept store and snack cafe. Instead of bags on a shelf, you get snacks made to order. Freshly fried potato chips and fries, hot from the fryer, topped with different seasonings, sauces, or limited collaborations. The idea is to take familiar Calbee snacks and show them at their best.
When I stopped by the Calbee Plus store, they were doing a collaboration with the Japanese chocolate brand Royce, which immediately caught my attention. I’ve loved Royce chocolate for years (the dark blue Nama is my favorite), and I’ve honestly never had anything from Royce that wasn’t good, so there was no way around ordering the potato chips with Royce chocolate and soft serve.
Chocolate on potato chips might sound strange, but I’m telling you it’s awesome. The salt, the crunch, the rich chocolate, and the cold soft serve on top. I took my photos and then finished the whole thing. Such a fun spot.
Calbee Plus, Japan, 〒100-0005 Tokyo, Chiyoda City, Marunouchi, 1 Chome−9−1 東京駅一番街 地下１階 東京おかしランド内
If you’ve never had JagaRico before, this is a great place to start. JagaRico are Calbee’s iconic potato sticks, made from real potatoes and baked into these crunchy, hollow sticks that somehow manage to be light and deeply satisfying at the same time. They’re not chips and they’re not fries. They’re very much their own thing.
This variety pack includes three classic flavors: Umami Seaweed, Hokkaido Butter, and Original. Seaweed has that savory, slightly oceanic depth Japan does so well, Hokkaido Butter is rich and comforting without being heavy, and Original lets the potato flavor shine. They’re the kind of snack you start eating without thinking and suddenly realize the cup is empty. Perfect if you’re curious about Japanese snacks beyond what you usually see, or if you already know and love JagaRico and just want a solid mix of the essentials.
