24 HR FOOD CHALLENGE in Japanese Convenience Stores

24 HR FOOD CHALLENGE in Japanese Convenience Stores

Hey guys, it’s me, your best friend, Jimmy. What’s behind me is one of 50,000 convenience stores in Japan. And it’s not an understatement to say that the convenience stores are in the core of everyone’s lives in Japan. Japan has the second highest number of convenience stores per capita, only second to Korea, and they sell all kinds of products, particularly food, for very affordable prices. So, in this video, I’m going to challenge myself to be one of these good Japanese people and only eat at the convenience store for the entire day. There are three major convenience store chains in Japan. And today, I think I’m going to start my breakfast at Family Mart. Before I start the video today, guys, I’d like to tell you guys that as an experienced traveler, getting a fast, reliable, unlimited data plan has always been my number one priority before going to any country. That’s why I’m happy to tell you guys that this video is brought to you by Olafly. With Olafly, all you have to do to get unlimited data everywhere you go is simply buy their eim on their website or on their mobile app. And just like a magic, you got data in your destination. They have over 200 different destinations. So pretty much anywhere you go in the world, you can get yourself covered using Olafly. In fact, if you’re going to more than one country in the same region, they have a bunch of different regional plans where you can buy one plan that’ll cover multiple different destinations. You can buy them for the exact number of days that you need it for. So you don’t have to pay for the whole month that you’re not going to be using it for. And even better, for over 200 of their destinations, they also support hotspot data. So if your friend runs out of data, you can be their savior angel. That being said, by using the promo code Jimmy Kim, you guys can save yourself 5% on your eim purchase, which is crazy. 5% is an insane amount of money, guys. So please go ahead and use the link in the description. Get the eim for the next trip using Olafly. And again, use my promo code Jimmy KM. Okay, thanks guys. All right, let’s go inside. Let’s get a basket. Get some good food. Like I said, they don’t only have food. A lot of the times they have everyday products like t-shirts or underweares. They even have nice denim shorts. So, of course, they have a lot of cup noodles, the instant noodles that are very popular in Japan. But in Japanese convenience stores, there are better options. And these are the convenience store meals or bentos. Because this is the first meal of the day. I want to have a very Japanese meal. Oh, I think I’m going to really like this. This is egg pork cutlet lid rice bowl. There’s only 630 yen. Awesome. Oh my god. I was going to take that one. Anyway, um in Asia there’s no such thing as too much carbs. So, I’m going to get this rice roll. And this one has natto in it. They don’t only have rice. They actually give you some healthy options here, too. things that are high in protein, like these chicken breasts. Looks like this one has cheese within the chicken. I think I’m going to like this. Everywhere you go in Japan, you see a lot of products that are anime related. They always do very interesting collabs. I’m not really a fan of Demon Slayer. I feel like it doesn’t have a story. It’s kind of cringe, but I’ll take this juice. When I see yaki like this, I just have to get it, too. So, Family Mart is very well known for their fried chicken. They actually have it at the front like this and they call it demi chicken. Once you pay for the food, there’s an area with microwaves so you can heat up your food. And not all convenience stores have this, but there is a dedicated dining area. Interestingly, they have a dedicated smoking area here, too. If you look at the labels of the food, it’ll tell you how long you have to microwave it for. Got to remove the plastic. And to microwave it for 60 seconds, you press nine. the number that’s right above it. Okay, so that is done. Oh my god, that looks like that’s just at the right temperature. Oh wow, the soup is like all runny now. Well, my friends, I don’t know what you guys think, but it looks unbelievable to me. Oh, I actually want to start with the fammy chicky. So, they put it in this cute paper bag for you. I believe this is boneless chicken dye jiggling. Let’s take a bite. First off, I want to say I like it. It has a lot of pepper flavor. And I will say that the chicken, it’s super super tender. The surface isn’t like super crispy. But regardless, it’s very tasty. Kind of oily on the inside and very juicy. Now let’s move on to the egg pork cutlet rice. So the container design is very interesting. The rice is actually separated. There’s like another layer to this bowl. And underneath it is the white rice. What you do at this point is dump everything onto the rice. This way your rice doesn’t get soggy over time and it’s a lot more pleasant when you eat it. The egg with the sweet savory sauce with the pork cutlet. It is just delicious. As good as a restaurant, I’m not sure. But if the pork cutlet was crispy, I think it could be matchable to a restaurant, actually. The pork cutlet also has some thickness to it, too. So, it’s not just fried batter. There’s actually meat in it, and I love it. This is actually so good. Crazy. My observation in Japan is that a lot of people in Japan, they like to have their meals at a convenience store or at least buy at the convenience store and eat at home just because it’s so affordable. And the quality, as you can see, isn’t bad at all. It’s decent food. Oh, let’s have this yaki soba. It’s Japanese pan fried noodle. It’s so simple yet I love it so much. I will say that the yaki soba is missing some good protein. So I’m going to add 16 g of protein by adding this chicken breast. I like how this one still has skin intact. Mine is long gone. Wow. It has a sweet, savory smoked chicken flavor. I like how there’s some cheese in it. I worked out really hard earlier today. So, I think I deserve this protein. I think some of you guys might be upset that I didn’t really like Demon Slayer, but there’s an anime that I kind of enjoyed recently. I thought Brian was really fun. Hey, if you guys have some anime recommendations, let me know down in the comments. I also got this tanaki, which is rice hand roll. So, this one is a little bit tricky because they don’t want the dried seaweed to get soggy. They actually separate the rice from the dried seaweed. So, the packaging is a little funny. There’s a way of doing this. Unwrap everything, peel the plastic wrap out, and then complete the roll yourself. They had all kinds of different flavors. I got this natto flavor. So, natto is Japanese fermented soybeans. It’s a traditional Japanese dish. It’s known to be a little stinky for some people. Oh, it does smell a little funny, but it’s kind of like kimchi to Koreans. Like a lot of Japanese people consume this daily at home. Oh, so natto has this really slimy, silky texture. [Music] I still need more training. I’m not really enjoying this natto. It kind of tastes like I’m eating beans that are actually rotting. I’m thirsty now. Let’s end the meal with this Demon Slayer juice. Looks like it’s peach, banana, and apple. It’s literally what it says. It tastes like it’s a mix of peach, apple, and banana juice. I would say this is artificially flavored. tastes very milky. So, I also noticed that some of the customers here in the dining space um they bring their own bento and then they just get like a little bottle of drink and they eat the bento that they brought from home. It seems that people are very frugal. Okay, first meal of the day. I enjoyed it a lot. Let me go around spend some time on my own and then I’ll come back for lunch. So, it is lunch time for me and I think for my lunch I go to the biggest convenience store chain in Japan, 7-Eleven. So, I want to say my breakfast was more traditionally Japanese. So, this time I want to go a little more western, you know, a little more international. First, let’s pick up a drink. I think I’m going to pick up this Aquarius sparkling. So, Aquarius right here, I believe is a Japanese electrolytes drink. This one is just a carbonated version of that. And I like fizzy things. What Japan has prime after the forest incident? Unacceptable. That’s crazy. People in Japan, they’re way too forgiving. Every time I come to a Japanese convenience store, I always see spaghetti. Obviously, not Japanese, but it must be really popular. So, let’s try one for the first time. So, one item that’s extremely popular in any convenience store chain in Japan is this egg sandwich. It’s just creamy egg salad in between bread. But my god, this is delicious and affordable, too. I just told you guys that I’m going to go western this time. This rice with the egg and fried chicken, it looks too good to skip. All right, lastly, I want to try something that I’ve seen on social media. That is their smoothie. Apparently, convenience stores in Japan now, they sell smoothie, frozen fruits in these plastic cups, and you can blend the smoothie at the convenience store. I’m going to have to figure out how to do it. I’m pretty sure I use this blender right here. So, there’s an instruction on how to do it. So, I scan this barcode right here. Cool. That unlocks the door. Just simply peel this off and I place it in the machine. I can’t really see it, but it’s blending the whole thing. And that’s my asai smoothie. In this 7-Eleven, they don’t have a sitting space. So, let’s walk around and see if there’s a place where I can sit. So, here’s my humble lunch. It was about 1,800 yen, which is just over $12, I believe. It’s a nice $12 meal. Even the gentleman behind me, he’s very impressed that all this is $12. Yeah, I’m impressed. Oh, hell yeah. I feel like the current situation in Japan for the most people, it’s kind of similar to Korea where a lot of people feel poor. It’s kind of a sad thing, but just being a middle- class person making like median wage, which is not much. It’s just tough. Rent is a lot here in Japan. And after paying rent, most people don’t really have a lot of money to spend. So, I feel like the popularity of the convenience store food is cool, but then there’s a bitter other side of it. Well, I’m just a visitor, so I’ll just happily enjoy this convenience store food. The fried chicken, of course, it’s soggy, but it looks good. Wow. It’s very good. A little too salty. Let me have some of that smoothie. That’s good smoothie. It was just over $2 for this smoothie, but it actually had real fruits and it’s purely just that. So, I feel like this is such an amazing deal. If I was living in Japan, I’d be drinking this daily. No doubt. I like how there’s a lump of egg in this. Oh, man. Okay. Why don’t I have some spaghetti next? Is this Italian good? Let me see. It’s very, very sweet. It has more sweet flavor than tomato flavor. It kind of tastes like a kids meal. It seems that all convenience stores have this spaghetti, and I imagine that’s because it’s very popular. I just don’t see how and why this would be so popular. And it’s their egg sandwich. This whole thing is less than $2. And it’s very simple. It’s just bread and egg salad inside. The egg part, it doesn’t really have vegetables in it. It’s just very creamy egg. This is so simple, but so delicious. It’s definitely one of my favorite things to get from Japanese convenience stores. because it’s so cheap and it’s just consistently delicious. You guys sushi. Hope you guys can get a bite, too. I will say one thing about Japan, and it’s the fact that during summer, it’s extremely hot, extremely humid, so you sweat a lot. In fact, my underwear right now is like M&M’s palms sweaty. So, when I walk around in Japan, I very often get electrolyte drink. I usually get this thing called pukari sweat, but let me try this one today that tastes pretty much the same as pkari sweat. It’s just a touch salty and sweet. It doesn’t really have a lot of artificial fruity flavor. If I had to make an apple to apple comparison between this and the smoothie that I had earlier, of course, the smoothie is better, but I guess this is more of an accessible option. Not bad for a lunch. I’ve had a long day in Tokyo today. It’s my dinner time now. I’m actually on my way back to the hotel. So, I think right now is the best time for me to finally try the last chain that I wanted to try today. Lawson. It’s very large, extremely clean. So, it is the last meal for me, too. So, I want to have something good. I also want some kind of a dessert, too. First, let’s pick something that can be a good meal. And I think this pork ramen can make a great meal. I also want to try this. So, there’s an egg omelette with rice and this sauce. This could be quite nice. This is a drinkable plain yogurt. After eating all that today, I think my gut microbiome needs some rebuilding. Oh, you know what? I think I can have this Japanese style pudding. That looks milky. Peach tart. 320 yen. I’ve been seeing this very often in Japan. I actually never tried it. Maybe today’s the time. This is the one that I was talking about. Pocarizto, the electrolyte drink that’s really popular in Japan. This sky blue one is the low calorie version of it. I really like it in Japan. They just don’t have it in Korea for some reason. It seems that Lawson has their deep fried food section here, too. Beef cutlet. I think I want one. I think a lot of people who’s traveled in Japan can relate to this, but there’s something really special about going back to your hotel with a bag full of convenience store food after walking around in the city for hours on end. It’s like finding a moment to finally relax after a long journey. So, this is going to be the dining space for the day. It’s my hotel room. I don’t know if you guys can see it in my face, but I’m like crazy tired right now. So, let’s have the food. I want to start with this omurisu. So this is egg omelette with rice. Hence they call it omurisu. It comes with this sweet sauce and you’re supposed to like eat them all together. So the rice it has a lot of ketchup in it. So it’s like ketchup flavored rice and the egg feels pretty fresh. It honestly might be an acquired taste because everything is so sweet. I generally don’t like rice dishes that are too sweet. M. If you don’t mind everything being so sweet, I feel like this is a great rice dish. It gets better as I eat it. I also want to try their fried beef cutlets. They call it menchi katsu. I think I won’t lie, it could be crispier, but what I like is the fact that the meat is very densely packed inside. And by now, you guys can probably tell, but I’m a huge fan of dense meat. It’s like ground beef with some onions in it. It’s a little bit sweet. Could be crispier, but I like it. Match match. [Music] Oh my god, that’s so good. It’s like a lemon flavored soda. A very sugary soda. Time to get a little Japanese again. This is ramen. When I picked it up, it was kind of solid. It didn’t seem like there was a lot of soup in it, but I think by microwaving it, it kind of melts the fat and it releases into this soup. I guess that means a lot of the soup is fat. Well, let’s see if it’s any good. The soup kind of smells like mushroom and garlic. I think the noodles in some parts got a little dry because when I was microwaving it, I guess I did it for a little too long. For the most part, it’s pretty good ramen. Not as good as a restaurant ramen, but almost as good, actually. The quality of the noodles is surprisingly good. And the soup is also very flavorful. Super rich. Now, if it was a real Japanese ramen restaurant, this chashu would be a lot thicker and fresher. It’s kind of like a supermarket bacon. By the way, it seems that at convenience stores in Japan, they just put this styrofoam or plastic food container into the microwave. I guess they’re not really concerned about microplastics. Or maybe because it’s Japan, even their microplastics are better. The Japanese microplastics, they’re like stardust. It makes you more kawaii. Maybe. Okay guys, I think I’m going to move on to the desserts. Let me reset my palette by drinking this Dinku yoga plane. It’s kind of thick for a drinkable yogurt. It’s the same plain yogurt like anywhere else in the world. I enjoy that one more than I planned on. And this is a Japanese pudding. I love Japanese pudding. The texture is very jiggly. Let me scoop it up and eat it. [Music] It is so sweet, gooey, and delicious. It’s like an egg jelly, and in the very bottom, they have a lot of caramel. As somebody who likes real fruits, I am very excited for this one. What’s kind of crazy is the fact that it actually has a peach on top of that tart. Is this a good peach? M. Wow, that peach is surprisingly good. I want to say that this is more like fresh peach rather than all those canned peaches. You know how they’re like very mushy and slippery and the fiber is really gone. I feel like I’m eating fresh fruit. [Music] Well, the cookie layer and this jelly like thing, they’re just not as good. The whole selling point here is the peach that’s actually good. And with that guys, I think this video comes to an end. I hope you guys enjoyed this video and if you guys want me to do a similar challenge in Korea, you just need to let me know down in the comments, okay? And for now, go watch other videos that I have on my channel. Also, if you’re traveling, get EIM from Olafly. That helps me too. Okay.

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Convenience store food is probably one of the most popular dining options for many people in Japan — and for good reason. It’s incredibly affordable, and honestly, it tastes amazing.
In this video, I’m challenging myself to eat only from convenience stores during my time in Tokyo.
Let me show you what kind of delicious and surprisingly high-quality meals you can expect from Japan’s famous konbini culture!

00:00 Breakfast / Family Mart
08:45 Lunch / 7Eleven
14:22 Dinner / Lawson

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