Food and Drink

A roundup of recent and notable product collaborations—including Thomas & Friends x J.League merchandise, Lay’s Thailand Lobster Hot Plate chips, and Nestlé Thai Tea ice cream cones—alongside a personal book signing in Osaka and a feature appearance in the current issue of Golf Digest Choice magazine.

Ketchup-flavored potato chips are popular in Canada, and the author draws a humorous parallel to lasagna-flavored chips now available in Thailand as a similarly unconventional savory snack option.

A personal reflection on memorable brand collaborations across Japan and beyond, including a Sapporo x Royce’ chocolate beer, a regrettably missed Mizuno x Lamborghini sneaker, Kashima Antlers x Suntory drinks, and a newly acquired pair of Mizuno x Michelin trail running shoes ahead of a race in Chiang Rai.

A stay at the Onyria Palmares Beach House Hotel in Portugal offered stunning views of the Atlantic, the Lagos coastline, and an adjacent golf course, along with locally inspired dining featuring lamb chops and carob pie.

A traveler documents a multi-week trip across Japan through regional dishes, including whale (kujira) and horse sashimi (basashi) in Kyushu, fresh nattō and tiny whole shrimp in Ibaraki, and a jerk chicken burger at Natty Dread, illustrating how food reflects the geography of a journey as distinctly as temples and shrines.

At the Kuay Tiaw Yai To restaurant on Samui Island, a surprising display of golf caps from Bandon Dunes, the Masters Tournament, and St. Andrews sits alongside a trophy shelf, while the kitchen turns out exceptional Thai dishes including crispy pork with rice, leng (a pork rib soup with roasted chilies), and fried rice with salted fish.

Specialty single-spirit bars — from a rum bar in Brisbane to a sake bar in Niigata — offer an unmatched depth of selection, and the author argues this focused approach is the ideal way to experience a drink.

A writer reflects on time spent in Bangkok and the smaller Japanese city of Yuzawa, where they worked on a book and enjoyed snow, food, and hot springs, before returning home to rearrange their office with souvenirs including a bottle of Yuki Otoko sake alongside their copy of Yuki Guni.

The author announces that their Japanese-language book Micah no jikan is now complete and available for worldwide order on Amazon.co.jp, and also highlights a wave of internationally-inspired new convenience store snacks in Japan, including wasabi potato chips, Korean barbeque chips, English cheddar chips, and Coconut Cream-O cookies.

A botanist shares observations from studying Japanese grasses (Sasa senanensis) before returning to Bangkok, where they mapped their 2016 flight routes and celebrated Thailand’s pleasant dry season weather with a dinner of miang kham—a traditional Thai leaf-wrapped snack that also inspired a novelty potato chip flavor.