Korean Snacks Review #1 (#꼬북칩 인절미맛, #꼬북칩 콘스프맛, #알볼로 피자칩)

Is it weird to say that I was never addicted or even liked to snack? I find that the chips here in Malaysia are either too salty, too much colouring, too dry, and most of the time, they just taste the same. (Just my personal opinion, please don't come for me) There are no exciting new flavours, a new type of chips... which I find very opposite to the Korean market. Innovations are everywhere and are leading the trend not only in the skincare/ makeup market but also, in the snacking department. We have all seen how a food trend can blow up by looking at how when the Honey Butter flavour combination was being introduced to the world and ended up being utilized into all kinds of food like Honey Butter chips, Honey Butter Almonds, Honey Butter ice cream, Honey Butter Fried Chicken, Honey Butter Bread... and the list goes on. Or another trend that took over the food industry globally - the Fire Chicken flavour which started from SamYang's Fire Chicken flavour ramyun, and has now prospered into almost all food of any shape and form you can find.

One of the latest snacks that gained a lot of consumer attention is the Turtle chips 꼬북칩 by Orion. It comes with 3 different types of flavour - Injeolmi (Korean steamed rice cake covered soybean powder), Corn soup and Chocolate. I could not get the chocolate flavour so I will only be reviewing Injeolmi and Corn soup flavour.

It was said that this particular snack took 8 years of research and development before being introduced to the world. 8 years is a looooong time to be investing in a chip but it was all worth it. Look at how it took the whole industry by storm when it came out! The turtle chip is shaped like the shell of a turtle, hence its name. It is made to puffed into 4 layers to give it a more aerated texture (and it does). This is really one of a kind and I can see why people are fascinated with this. Although they were said to be caught up in a plagiarism claim for its similarity to a Japanese 7-11 snack. Orion claimed that the manufacturing process is totally different and was already in development even before the release of the Japanese snack. Not going to get too deep in this, let's just enjoy good food.

It is quite a bag to finish it all in one sitting by myself. Or maybe I am just not a big snacker. For people who don't know how Injeolmi taste like, it is nutty and taste like a peanut butter flavoured chips. It will be perfect for people who prefer sweet to savoury snacks. However, it is a light weighted sweet snack where people who don't have a sweet tooth find it enjoyable as well. Speaking from a person who is on the savoury snack 파.

The packaging of it is cute, with an animated turtle promoting the turtle chip. Not sure if it is the design of the packaging or the animated turtle on the front, it reminds me of a comic book. 

The real chip vs display on the packaging for comparison. It really does have 4 layers!

Probably due to the structure of the chips and how thin the layers are, I find them easily crushed. You might want to be extra careful while transporting them.

I love the design for the Cron soup flavour! It says 'BIG NEWS 4 LAYERS FINALLY DISCOVERED! First 4 layered chips in Korea.' I personally prefered the Corn soup flavour to the Injeolmi flavour. Mainly because I like my snacks to be savoury and I love corn. Also, I have to compliment the flavour. It is made so light, but not tasteless. The flavours still came through but it does not make you feel sick of it and it is not greasy at all too. The airy texture of the chips does help to cut the boredom of munching on the same flavoured snack. It is like eating little air pockets, which makes it fun. I finished a whole bag by myself before I even realised it.

Not much of a difference between the display to the real thing. 

It is a good bite-size, Not too big, not too small.

I was craving some pizza in the middle of the night and found myself googling for good pizza flavoured chips. And found this eventually. It was my first time hearing about this brand, Alvolo. It is a locally founded pizza chain in South Korea and apparently, it has made its way into some pretty popular dramas such as It's Okay To Not Be Okay and Hotel de Luna. I will definitely be going to visit the place when I have a chance to go to Korea again. If they can make chips taste like real pizza, I'm sure they can make bomb pizza as well.

The smell of a pizza place just hits me right in the face as soon as I opened the bag. I would've dead believed that I have a pizza in front of me if I have my eyes closed.

The chips come in 2 different shapes. Triangle and round. Probably mimicking the shapes a pizza usually comes in - a whole pizza and a sliced pizza. The flavour is a basic marinara-based pizza flavour. I don't see them having other flavours besides this for now. I would definitely try new flavours if they were to come out in the future. This is a collab between Alvolo and GS25, you will be able to find this in GS25.

Those of you who have tried them, what do you think of it? 

I can't wait to share more of my latest snack findings soon! Till then.