This Hojo Seika Ōsaka no Koibito, which translates to Ōsaka’s Lover, is Ōsaka’s answer to Hokkaidō’s Ishiya Shiroi Koibito. They’re langue de chat as well, but it’s more of a joke rather than a serious answer to Shiroi Koibito, with the cardboard packaging bearing no similarity and pretty basic in construction and design.
Each cookie is individually sealed with a black pattern on a white background and labelled langue de chat.
These cookies consist of a square of white chocolate sandwiched between rounded square langue de chat. Unlike Shiroi Koibito, the square of chocolate is smaller than the biscuit.
The cookie has a very rich dairy aroma and on tasting, the langue de chat have an audible crunch and minimal crumbliness. The white chocolate is firm and the source of the rich dairy aroma, bringing a sweet creaminess with a light fruity finish.
Comparing the Ōsaka no Koibito to the Shiroi Koibito, the latter has a much more luxurious and refined mouthfeel as a result of the finer crumb and crispness of the biscuit that seems to melt in our mouth along with the mellow sweetness of the white chocolate. There’s also a larger biscuit to chocolate ratio in the Ōsaka no Koibito, which results in the flavour of the biscuit taking prominence. Perhaps the rich dairy flavour was to compensate for that but only results in a heavier and less delicate mouthfeel, unfortunately.
This Hojo Seika Ōsaka no Koibito contained 12 pieces. It was produced in Japan and gifted by a colleague visiting Japan in 2017.