There’s a game I like to play and the rules are simple. (1) Head over to Chinatown’s snack store, Uni. (2) Pick up some old favourites. (3) Hunt through the various packages of delightful (and some sometimes frightful) snacks and pick something you’ve never tried (extra points if you can’t figure out what the food could possibly be). (4) Eat! Winning is simple – you are victorious when you find a new delicious and favourite item.

Last night’s round came out a draw, I think. Upon entering the store, I was greeted by jars of dried goods, ranging from fruits to squid to teas and spices. Sometimes tiny, salty, dried fish make it into the game, but not this time. Instead, straight to the candy aisle!
Previous favourites include fruit jellies, which are similar to Jell-O shots, but without (unfortunately) the alcohol. The trick is to suck the pineapple, strawberry or apple gel out of its plastic cup in one powerful slurp. Lose points for every extra suck it takes to get it all. Also on the favs list are horseradish-seaweed-crackers. Light and crispy, and packed with wasabi hotness.
My nasal cavities clear, it was time for the new choices. The one that showed the most promise was the gyoza-flavoured chips. Dumplings adorn the bag, so without careful reading of the package, I was led to believe dumplings would fill the bag. Not so. Inside were simple potato chips, with a flavour similar to the poutine chips of yore and BBQ. Also disappointing were the preserved mangoes with chili. Bland, barely spicy, and lackluster.
But one million points were awarded to the find of the evening – a variety candy pack that included five different boxes of candy. The clear winner were the ChocoBabies, packed with rich, fudgy flavour. Just like Fudgicles, except these were tiny and not frozen. Second place were the Smartie-like candy, but in a strawberry flavour. CoffeeBeat candies were instant coffee wrapped in chocolate, and they took third place.
One million points lost to the strawberry-soda gum though. A past round had placed the cream soda candy on the favourites list, so strawberry had to be just as tasty, no? No! One of the players exclaimed after putting it in his mouth, “This is gum?!? Nooo!!! I want it out now!”

The number one rule for food should be trying it at least once. If you don’t try, how will you find your next favourite thing? Chinatown’s Uni makes this rule possible and fun, with only the occasional disaster.

Uni
1029, St-Laurent