Japanese Snacks: Pretz

The savory, creamless version of Pocky, Pretz are also made by Glico, presumably in the exact same long-skinny-cylindrical biscuit factory.

To be honest, I never really ate these growing up. In fact, I don't even remember them. It's a shame, because they're pretty darn tasty. Like many of the Japanese snacks, they come in fairly idiosyncratic flavors.

Tomato is my favorite, with a salty, glutamate-rich savoriness that is not at all tomato-like. Speaking of things that don't taste like other things, salad flavor has exactly zero similarities to a real salad, unless you count slightly sweet, slightly vinegary croutons.

Roast is Robyn's favorite flavor, though it's again, very hard to discern what if anything it has to do with roast. The box features a picture of an orange and some whipped cream, and the stick itself tastes just like a regular chocolate-covered Pocky minus the chocolate, as if someone has already done all the hard work for you and licked it off.

Moving on, we've got Sweet Corn, which tastes just like a can of creamed corn. Butter and Super Butter are strangely consuming in a microwave popcorn-type way.

The one flavor we so wanted to try but couldn't find? Pizza Pretz. Have any of you Serious Eaters tried it? Whaddaya think?