Konbini Kinyoubi: Choco Monaka Jumbo and Butter Ice Cream

Welcome to Konbini Kinyoubi, where every Friday (Kinyoubi) we visit our local convenience store (Konbini) and buy something delicious. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read our affiliate disclosure.

What is the point of existence? Are we all simply doomed to suffer? Would our desolate planet be better off if humans simply ceased to be, if we were wiped off the planet forever? You and I will never matter. We are pointless. Our lives will be erased from history and we will turn to dust, senseless beings contributing to the destruction of what once was beautiful. Anyway, butter ice cream.

This is Kajiru Butter Ice, a new treat Eriko found at 7-11. I was quite excited as it combines two of my favorite things, butter and ice cream. I’ve actually enjoyed artificial butter flavor before: it’s my favorite flavor of Kit Kat, so I was ready to dive in.

The butter flavor is kind of strong in this thing - definitely stronger than in the butter Kit Kat. The texture is nice and smooth, with not too much drippage and no chunks falling off. At first, I thought the butter taste was too strong, but I enjoyed it the more I ate. I’d say it’s right on the edge of being too much, and it’s definitely kind of artificial-tasting.

“I’m not sure I like this,” said Eriko after a few bites, which is perhaps the meanest thing she’s ever said. I’d say it’s worth a try, but I doubt I’ll get it again. It really depends: if you’re the type of person who thinks the Buttered Popcorn Jelly Belly is the most disgusting thing in the world, you would hate this. But if you actually like those jelly beans, you’ll probaby like this.

Because we’re big fat piggies, we also got something else!

This is Choco Monaka Jumbo, a classic Japanese treat that proved quite popular with visiting foreigners during this year’s Olympics. It features vanilla ice cream, a nice thin slice of chocolate, and an exterior made of waffle cone that perfectly protects it from the elements, meaning there’s no mess!

The ice cream and chocolate are superb - just the right ratio to keep a boy like me happy. The one criticism I have regards the waffle exterior: it’s not super crisp, and rather chewy. It doesn’t bite cleanly, making it so you kind of have to rip it off like a wolf gnawing flesh off a bone. Eriko seemed to think it was okay, but I felt it was less than perfect due to this stale exterior, though the flavors were excellent.

That’s it for this week. All in all, I’d say 15/10 all around. Thank you 7-11 for continuing to give us delicious things to eat whenever we find an excuse to go to your store.